In the winter of 1886-87,Gauguinmet van Gogh who had arrived there in March and finally quarrelled with Pissarro who had allied himself with the so-called ‘scientific Impressionists’ (Seurat, Signac , ets.).Nevertheless, unconsciouslyGauguinwas influenced by the neo-Impressionists, and at this time began to use divided tones and purer colours, applied in a finer style of brushwork. Materially his situation had not improved, and by March 1887, unable to bear Paris any longer ,Gauguinand Charles Laval (who had been with him at Pont-Aven in the previous summer) took passage to Panama ‘pour vivre en sauvage3Ú4 I am taking my brushes and paints and will find new strength in a palace far removed from civilized man’. (Letter to Mette of early April 1887). But life in Panama was neither as simple, nor as cheap ,as they imagined, for the building of the Canal was in progress; consequentlyGauguinwas obliged to enlist as a labourer while Laval painted portraits to earn enough money for them to leave. They selected Martinique as their next place of residence, arriving in mid-June.