t in
time to prevent bloodshed. He was taken and kept in confinement; and
soft-hearted Juliana and I had enough to do to prevent his being made
a stern example of. But we got him off for a fine of five hundred
dollars.

Again the little community of Escribanos was very near getting up a
revolution against its constituted government--a very common amusement
in Central America. Twelve sailors, deserters from an American ship,
found their way there, and before long plotted to dethrone Alexander,
and take possession of the mine. Mr. Day gained information of their
plan. The whole population of Escribanos were roused and warned; and
arming a score of the boldest natives, he surrounded the house in
which they were, and captured the conspirators, who were too much
taken by surprise to offer resistance, and sent them down to Navy
Bay, there to be handed over to the Government whose service they had
left.

Of course, my medical skill did not rust for want of practice at
Escribanos. The place was not healthy, and strangers to the climate
suffered severely. A surgeon himself, sent there by the West Granada
Gold-mining Company, was glad to throw _his_ physic to the dogs, and
be cured in my way by mine; while I was fortunately able to nurse Mr.
Day through a sharp attack of illness.

In consequence of the difficulty of communication with Navy Bay, our
fare was of the simplest at Escribanos. It consisted mainly of salt
meat, rice, and roasted Indian corn. The native fare was not tempting,
and some of their delicacies were absolutely disgusting. With what
pleasure, for instance, could one foreign to their tastes and habits
dine off a roasted monkey, whose grilled head bore a strong
resemblance to a negro baby's? And yet the Indians used to bring them
to us for sale, strung on a stick. They were worse still stewed in
soup, when it was positively frightful to dip your ladle in
unsuspectingly, and bring up what closely resembled a brown baby's
limb. I got on better with the parrots, and could agree with the
"senorita, buono buono" with which the natives recommended them; and
yet their flesh, what little there was of it, was very coarse and
hard. Nor did I always refuse to concede praise to a squirrel, if well
cooked. But although the flesh of the iguana--another favourite
dish--was white and tender as any chicken, I never could stomach it.
These iguanas are immense green lizards, or rather moderate-sized
crocodiles, sometimes three