Hatteras and "the vexed Bermoothes" permitted them to pass without a semblance of a gale. They sighted one of the islands of the Bahama group, and there was great excitement on board the steamer when it was discovered that a ship was stranded on the shore. Fred and Frank rushed below to tell the Doctor, and that worthy ran on deck as soon as he could don his hat and coat. The captain scanned with his glass the unfortunate craft, and relieved the general anxiety with the information that she had sent a line to the land, and there was no danger to the lives of her people, whatever might be the risk to the property. "If anybody was in peril," said he, "I would do all I could to save him; but when it comes to a mere question of ship and cargo, none of us care to take any risk, or even go out of our course for a minute. It is a serious matter to stop a great steamer like this, and, besides, it is a peril to her passengers and crew. We will save life always, and the property of our own company, but when it comes to the ships of other people, who would, quite likely, refuse to pay anything for the service without a lawsuit, we mind our own business and keep on our way." The correctness of his reasoning was apparent to all the listeners, and before the day was over the stranded ship was well-nigh forgotten. [Illustration: WEIGHING BAGGAGE.] They passed the eastern end of Cuba, and then steered between that island and Jamaica. The sight of the palm-trees that fringed parts of the shores reminded the youths of their journeyings in Ceylon and the Malay Archipelago, and increased their eagerness to be once more in tropical lands. In the Caribbean Sea they renewed their acquaintance with the flying-fishes, that darted from wave to wave, and were sometimes so numerous that hundreds of them could be seen at once. On the seventh day of the voyage the heavy baggage was brought from below and piled on deck, each piece being carefully weighed, and checked off on the purser's books. The Doctor explained to the youths that each passenger was entitled to free transportation of one hundred pounds of baggage across the Isthmus, but all above that amount was subject to an extra charge. At daybreak the next morning the steamer entered the harbor of Aspinwall and made fast to her dock. The city was named in honor of William H. Aspinwall, of New York, but the French persist in calling it Colon, which was its appellation before the Panama Railway was thought of. It was a place of little consequence until the discovery of gold in California, in 1848, called attention to the necessity for a route of speedy travel between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of our continent.