All that night we listened anxiously to the ceaseless din of the lake
breaking upon the shore; but it brought no enemy, and at morning we
were released from guard and sent out to forage. At our shed-camp of
the previous week the animals were turned out to feed in an inclosure,
and we were spared the troublesome duty of foraging. But at Virgin Bay
we were forced to go at it again under disadvantages; for the town had
no surrounding circle of cultivation like that of Rivas,--having been
but recently redeemed from the forest by the Transit Company,--and our
only resource was a few distant _ranchos_ scattered up and down the
lake shore. Beside this, we had the daily duty, as before, of searching
the open savannas in the forest for beef,--the commissary department
furnishing us no part of a ration but bread,--and other irregular
expeditions, which kept us in the saddle the greater part of the day.
Almost a week had passed in this manner, with no appearance or news of
the enemy, and we had grown heartily tired of riding and watching to no
purpose, when one day the steamer hove in sight towards the north; and
steaming down she went to land, almost directly opposite Virgin Bay,
against the island of Ometepec.
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