noon
That same evening we returned to Panama ; and next morning , being the 22d of such a month , I left my kind friends , and , with Peter Mangrove , proceeded on our journey to Cruces , mounted on two stout mules . I got there late in the evening , the road , from the heavy rains , being in sad condition ; but next morning the recua , or convoy of silver , which was to follow me for shipment on merchants account to Kingston , had not arrived . Presently I received a letter from Don Justo , sent express , to intimate that the muleteers had proceeded immediately after we had started for about a mile beyond the suburbs , where they were stopped by the officer of a kind of military post or barrier , under pretence of the passport being irregular ; and this difficulty was no sooner cleared up , than the accounts of a bullfight , that was unexpectedly to take place that forenoon , reached them , when the whole bunch , half drunk as they were , started off to Panama again , leaving the money with the soldiers ; nor would they return , or be prevailed on to proceed , until the following morning . However , on the 24th , at noon , the money did arrive , which was immediately embarked on board of a large canoe that I had provided ; and , having shipped a beautiful little mule also , of which I had made a purchase at Panama , we proceeded down the river to the village of Gorgona , where we slept . My apartment was rather a primitive concern . It was simply a roof or shed , thatched with palm-tree leaves , about twelve feet long by eight broad , and supported on four upright posts at the corners , the eaves being about six feet high . Under this I slung my grass hammock transversely from corner to corner , tricing it well up to the rafters , so that it hung about five feet from the ground ; while beneath Mangrove lit a fire , for the twofold purpose , as it struck me , of driving off the musquittoes , and converting his Majesty 's officer into ham or hung beef ; and after having made mulo fast to one of the posts , with a bundle of malojo , or the green stems of Indian corn or maize , under his nose , he borrowed a plank from a neighbouring hut , and laid himself down on it at full length , covered up with a blanket , as if he had been a corpse , and soon fell fast asleep .