he Governor General passes." He also informed us that the
special occasion for this rather pompous parade was the execution of
some criminals at a park or prison not far away, and that this was done
by beheading them.

Our friend proposed that we also walk out in that direction, and we went
with him to the edge of the city, but when he turned into a by path that
did not seem much frequented, we declined to follow farther, and turned
back along the open road. The path looked to us a sort of robber's
route, and not exactly safe for unarmed men like us in a strange
country.

The man followed us back and took us into a large, airy saloon, in the
center of which a big fountain was playing, and the great basin in which
the water fell was filled with beautiful fish. Our friend called for an
iced drink for each of us, and as we sat at the table we tasted it and
found it rather intoxicating. For this they charged us one dollar each,
but we noticed that our friend paid nothing, and we set him down as a
sort of capper, after the style we had seen at the gold mines. We sat a
few minutes and then so coolly bade our friend good-bye that he had not
the face to follow us further, and continued our walk about the streets
which seemed to us very narrow, and the houses generally two stories
high.

A chaise passed us, containing two young ladies with complexions white
and fair, and eyes and hair black, in striking contrast. The carriage
was drawn by two horses tandem, the horse in the shafts being mounted by
a big negro of very dignified appearance, dressed in livery and having
top boots that came to his knees. This was the only vehicle of the kind
we saw on the streets.

We did not dare to go very far alone, for with our ignorance of the
Spanish language we might go astray and not get back to the ship within
the lifetime of our passes, and not knowing how much trouble that might
cause us, we were naturally a little timid; so we took a boat back to
the ship, and when on board again we felt safe. We had only about four
dollars cash left.

A big gang of darkies were coaling the ship. Each one carried a large
tub full of coal upon his head and poured it down into the ship's hold.
All the clothes these fellows wore was a strip of cloth about their
middle. When they were let off for dinner they skimmed off all they
could get from the ship's slop barrel which stood on the wharf
alongside, to help out their very scanty food. The overseer st