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9

Feb. 21.  Slept well and although the boat was small and not particularly clean on deck, there was no vermin in the stateroom.  We were up and out on deck by 7.30 and found ourselves in a group of small islands, making stops every few minutes.  At Achao we landed three lighters of passengers and one of freight - mostly fruit and vegetables.  At none of these islands is there a wharf so everywhere landings are made by lighter.  Next island after Achao was Chaulinec, a smaller island directly out from Castro.  Here we landed a few people, some groceries and four casks of wine.  The wine casks were merely thrown overboard and allowed to drift ashore.  From Chaulinec we turned in toward Castro, running between Quehui and Chelin and stopping at each of them.  After leaving Chelin we went to lunch, perhaps the most disagreeable meal that I have ever eaten.  The dining room was crowded, we were seated at tables of twelve and the food was served without neatness but with much dispatch.  The ceiling of the room was black with flies with more than an occasional large roach.  Every so often a roach would miss his footing and drop onto the table.  While at lunch we stopped at Pulquedon on the island of Lemuy.  That was the last stop before Castro where we arrived about three.  We were landed by rowboat at five pesos a head and our baggage was adopted by a small boy 

[[image - Black and white photograph of SS Chacao lying off Castro]]
[[caption]] SS Chacao lying off Castro [[/caption]]

who carried it to the hotel, five city blocks away and all up hill, for ten pesos.  The Hotel Luxor was practically new, a frame building of two or three stories.  It was clean and we had a small room each.  Our only complaint was that the partitions were thin and not noise-proof.  We walked a bit about town and sat for some time in the plaza