File:Mountains and molehills; or, Recollections of a burnt journal (1855) (14782609904).jpg

Identifier: mountainsmolehil00marr (find matches)
Title: Mountains and molehills; or, Recollections of a burnt journal
Year: 1855 (1850s)
Authors: Marryat, Frank, 1826-1855
Subjects: Marryat, Frank, 1826-1855
Publisher: London : Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans
Contributing Library: University of California Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Internet Archive

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evethat captains of large boats get testy sometimes fromserving in the Tropics, and object to passengers havingany opinion in matters connected with their own safety. CHAPTER XXIII. HERCULES FAILS—LAND CRABS—MR. BOBBINS— RUSHING THE SHIP—NEW YORK. May, 1852. The weather being fine, the roads were in tolerableorder when we arrived at Panama; we made light,therefore, of the jomiiey, and, having arrived atGorgona, we dismounted from our mules, and, takingboats, went swiftly down the rapid river, landing atthe village of Barbacoes, to which point the railwaywas now completed. The station-house consisted of a large shed, inw^hich hundreds of fowls and thousands of eggs werebeing cooked, eaten, and paid for with astonish-ing rapidity. I observed, among other things, thatthe cofiee was just as weak and scalding hot atBarbacoes, as at Wolverhampton, or any other refresh-ment station. There was no time-table here at this period; butthe line had this advantage over most others, that the
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HERCULES FAILS. 407 train started at the time specified by the authorities;for they waited until it suited them, and then gavethe order to let her shde/ On this eventful day, hov^ever, we had not slid above two miles when the train stopped. ReturningCalifornians are of a vivacious temperament generally,and are seldom at their ease when sitting downinactive; therefore, the instant the train stopped,every man jumped out to see what was the matter.The cause was soon apparent; we were ascending aninclined plane, and the little engine—which, Herculesby name, was not Hercules by nature—had declined toproceed any further. In vain the sooty stoker emptiedhis oil-can into the fire to induce if possible moresteam; the little engine, as it ineffectually tried afresh start, looked piteous, and seemed to say, Howcan you expect a little chap like me to pull ninehundred of these big fellows up a hill like this ?Let em get out and shove me over. This argumentseemed to strike the conductor, for, w

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