THE BATTALION.
a
^summit of the highest and grandest of
them all, and then left us until the
morrow in the charge of the milder
rulers of the night. What would to
morrow bring forth? Expectantly
every one looked for the government
revenue cutter and its official permission
to go into dock. We did not have to
wait long for our gun speedily brought
the cutter into view. It contained, be
sides the officials, the landlord of the
only first-class hotel Port Limon boast
ed, who invited us cordially to stop at
his place at $3.00 per da}n The captain
told us we could disembark whenever
we saw fit, so we availed ourselves of the
•offer of the portly old custom officer to
to take us ashore in his boat, and in the
•course of about a half an hour our feet
our feet once more touched land.
But lo, and behold, we had become
so used to the “ups and downs” of the
steamer that our progress to the hotel
resembled more the navigation of a lot
of the boys who had made a night of it
than the firm step of the soldies that we
used to be. The reader need not infer
that we were really “loaded,” such course
of behavior having been entirely aban
doned by us as unfit for gentlemen
traveling for their health. After a re
freshing repast, spiked with genuine
French Burgundy, we sallied forth to
enjoy the cool and fragrant evening and
to catch a glimpse of the town by moon
shine. Now I ought to introduce one or
two of my traveling companions, who took
part to some extent in our rambles after
wards. One was a German youth of
about twenty summers who had come
■all the way from the Fatherland to keep
books for his uncle, a rich coftee planter
of Costa. Rica; his name is Ullman,
and a very nice acquaintance he proved.
He introduced us to his uncle and to the
railroad officials—the railroad being
then in the hands of an English syndi
cate, Mr. Wigman, president and gen
eral manager. Another of our felio'w
passengers was a Mr. Bright, an old en
gineer of the “Mexican Central” who
was out for a vacation to see some of the
world ; he was about 55 years old and
amused us much with his stories of his
exploits on an engine during the war.
To return to my narrative. After a
pleasant walk through the four or five
streets of the city and a game of bil
liards in one of the numerous restau
rants we returned to the Costa Rica ho
tel to catch up with our sleep and be up
with the sun for exploring purposes.
The next morning bright and early
we arose to take a bath, but on going
along the shore we were not able to find
a single place whence we could have en
tered the bay. The shore in fact con
sisted ot a long coral reef which was so
ragged and had such sharp edges that a
man making a habit of taking morning
walks on it would have to own a shoe
store to pay expenses incurred in that
line.
We abandoned the idea of a bath,
though no doubt we needed it sadly,
and cast about for means of leaving the
port. After obtaining a pass which would
land us safety in San Jose from Mr.
Wichman, afore mentioned, we found
ourselves with a whole day’s time be
fore us in which to explore the x-egion.
around Port Limon. We plunged into
the wilds of forest and undergrowth
to dine near the mountains of coxxsidera-
ble height, from whose summit we
promised ourselves a glorious view. But
oh, the tediousne§s of that ascent in
the broiling sun in an atmosphere laden