of meat, whereby were hooked great
numbers of horned fishes of the feline species, commonly called cats,
which served to divert our leisure moments until the cooks pronounced
the market glutted, and we accordingly drew in the hooks, and again
steered lazily towards our destination. It may have been an hour past
meridian when the keel grated softly on the strand. We had chosen a
little jutting sandy point, where the wind made a cat's paw of us, and
came fawning and eddying around in the coolest manner imaginable. Days
are ever the same in La Paz--there had not been a sprinkle of rain for a
century, so we had naught to fear but the clear bright glare of the sun,
which poured down light and heat on the arid mountains and glassy sheet
of water, from which, like a polished mirror of silver, it was reflected
back again.

On the little promontory there chanced to be a stunted olive, and it was
but a minute's labor to cut away the lower branches, clothe the
umbrella-shaped top with a boat's sail, spread mats and awnings beneath,
build a temporary fire-place near by, and then repose happily in the
shade, with cigars in full blast, and supervise the interesting process
of cleaning fish, by the sailors, whilst the negro minstrels charmed us
with falsetto ballads, or highly-complicated jigs.

We had narratives of adventure, accounts of previous fourths of July,
and anecdotes of distinguished naval heroes, which last, I am sorry to
say, as a general rule, are not complimentary--a pint of ale and a bite
of luncheon. Then after multitudes of speculations upon the merits of
the embryo chowder, and many direful threats and disrespectful allusions
to the shins and pedigree of our sable cooks, in case the mess should
prove a failure--gradually one by one we fell off into siesta.

San Antonio, or that great fisherman, Sam Jones himself, only knows how
long we remained in this happy state of insensibility, or how long the
fishes, potatoes and _chillis_ had been bubbling in the cauldron, or how
often the jolly's crew had applied their lips to the punch jug--if I
might be allowed to conjecture, possibly very often; nevertheless, we
were all startled by a doleful yell from Mr. Speckles, who at the same
time expressed his opinion in emphatic language, that the larger portion
of the infernal regions "had broke loose." Appearances certainly favored
the conviction, for within a few yards there came tearing along the
beach a drove of bullocks, s