THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA AND ITS PEOPLE, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE INDIANS.

[With 14 plates.]

By ELEANOR YORKE BELL.

INTRODUCTION.

The object of this paper has been chiefly to collect and record the somewhat scanty and widely scattered data concerning the Panama Isthmus, much of which is not available to the average reader, being written in either the Spanish or the French language, especially the most valuable information in regard to the aborigines. An attempt has also been made to describe the scenery and the natives (in many instances from personal observation), and to reconcile widely divergent statements, as given by various authorities, when occasioned only by minor mistakes, such as the confusing of geographical names, etc.

The notes throughout are numbered and refer to the list of books consulted.

Of the 31,571 square miles comprising the Republic of Panama only a small section is known to the foreigner, and even the educated Panamanians themselves possess a very slight knowledge of their country as a whole, vast areas of beautiful hills and valleys being practically unexplored. The great extent of coast line and proportionate small area, through which 463 so-called rivers flow, has worked against the development of the interior by means of extensive road building, as the small amount of native produce is easily transported down some navigable stream to a coast town. The climatic conditions, the scarcity of labor, the poverty of the country, and frequent political disturbances have also played an important part in this lack of progress in Panama. But Panama is undoubtedly a land well enriched by nature, and before long conditions must change which will result in the acquirement of many fortunes through the exploitation of its mineral and agricultural resources.

The Republic extends from the border of Costa Rica to the Department of the Cauca, in Colombia, about 470 miles, making, therefore, the greatest length from west to east. Panama City is east of Colon, a fact very confusing at first to the stranger who sees the sun rise in the Pacific and set in the Atlantic. At this point the Isthmus is about 47 miles in width, which is not, however, the narrowest part, as the distance from the mouth of the Rio Bayano to Mandingo Bay is only 30 miles. The country is scarcely half inhabited and in no sections at all thickly populated, except the above-mentioned cities and towns stretching along the Panama Railroad and the banks of the Chagres. The valleys of the Bayano or Chepo, the Tuyra, and lower Chucunaque have scattered villages, but west from Panama City, extending through the Department of Chiriqui are several large towns or cities with their surrounding districts well populated, the whole containing a larger per cent of the "sangre azul," white blood, than is to be met with outside of the capital city. The high Cordilleras are believed to be, to a great extent, uninhabited at the present day, though in several sections there are known to be numbers of Indians, as in the intervening valleys and coasts.

Geographically, the Isthmus appears to belong to the Northern Continent rather than the Southern, of which it has always been a part, politically speaking, yet its mountains are detached from those of Costa Rica, except a spur crossing the border between Chiriqui and Bocas del Toro, and at Darien there is also a decided break before reaching the Andes."

The mountain elevations vary from 1,500 to 7,000 feet, with the three volcanic peaks-Rico Blanco, 11,740; Volcan de Chiriqui or Barú, 11,265; and Rovalo, 7,020 (44). In many cases the figures given of these mountain elevations must be largely conjectural owing to the fact that much of the interior is almost unknown, but those obtained by marine surveys are considered more reliable. Panama lies 8 degrees from the equator, and has a temperature averaging 26° C. It has two seasons, wet and dry, the latter lasting only from December to April, when it does not rain at all. During this period the climate is very agreeable the days clear and the nights brilliant. While modern knowledge of sanitation and hygienic living in tropical countries has done much to improve the largely undeserved bad name of the Isthmus, still there are many sections of

a"La République de Panama appartient au point de vue géographique à l'Amérique Centrale. Elle se trouve au bout de la longue bande de terres isthmiques qui forment les anneaux de la chaîne de montagnes reliant depuis des temps tertiaires les continents septentrionaux et méridionaux de l'Amérique. La nature du sol, l'histoire de sa découverte, l'origine des habitants * fait classer la République de Panama parmi les contrées de l'Amérique Centrale" (19).

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low-lying coast and shut-in valley districts where, especially during the rainy season, when the climate is far from healthy for the unacclimated and where the enervation occasioned by the excessive humidity with a comparatively high temperature produces much discomfort and endangers health. The whole north coast, with the exception of Bocas and Colon, has never proved a suitable place of habitation for the white man, though it was first settled by them, and many successive attempts at colonization along the shore have been made.

Much of the scenery in Panama, aside from the "beaten track," is extremely and unexpectedly beautiful. In the bush, as it is called, far from human dwellings, where complete solitude reigns, the wonderful charm can best be appreciated. Lovely effects of light and shade are produced as the everpresent rain squall sweeps over the scene, changing, in a moment, a brilliant green savanna or fringe of jungle covered with waving vines and many colored parasites into a soft yellow gray. Toward evening, when the sky glows with violet and golden lights, just before the curtain of night falls, the air is filled with the thrilling songs of birds as they seek shelter, and the hum of millions of insects, till suddenly, as the last sun's ray disappears, all is hushed and still and utter darkness envelops everything. There is, indeed, a mysterious beauty and nearness to nature, the intensity of which can nowhere be appreciated as in the Tropics. Through dark overgrown stretches of the trails, where the instinct of the native horses alone must be trusted, and the sky is obscured by masses of low-hanging branches, new wonders appear at every step. By little pools and brooks swarm numbers of those gorgeous bluegreen butterflies (Morpho), resting in the cool shade, and the marvelous tropical ants, marching, each with a bit of flower or leaf, in ordered file, like soldiers on parade, give the appearance at a distance that the ground itself is actually moving. The jungle and marshes are the home of the armadillo, sloth, monkey," anolis, iguana, and snakes; among the latter are many of the pitviper family and also the boa constrictor. The coral snake is feared, as is the fer de lance of Martinique, and is a beautiful though rather small snake with alternating red and black bands. Among the larger game on the Isthmus are the tiger, puma, jaguar, cougar, ant-eating bear, tapir, fox, peccary, hedge hog, wild-cat, and deer. Living on the banks of the rivers and in the streams of many sections are innumerable caimans and water fowl, brilliant flamingos and the valuable egret being frequently found. Of the birds common to the Isthmus there are the eagle, toucan, maccaw, parrot, parrakeet, etc.

a The Chrysothrix monkey is found only in the Department of Chiriqui in Panama (44).

Panama is especially rich in rare cabinet and dyewoods, which with spices, vanilla, medicinal plants, rubber, fruits, ivory nuts, cocoanuts, coffee, hides, and tortoise shell form the principal articles of export. The native trees are mahogany, cottonwood, logwood, laurel, lignum-vitæ, ebony, cork, cedars (the yellow cedar is considered indestructible), manzanillo, pepper, almond, and orange. The chief medicinal plants are ipecac, guaiacum, croton, sarsaparilla, and "maria balm." There are many varieties of fruits, though the cultivation of them is still a small industry; chief among them are the banana, lime, plantain, pineapple, alligator-pear, mango, mamai, guava, granada, papayo, granadillo, melon, pomarosa, sapote, and bread fruit.

The mineral wealth of the Isthmus has been justly famed from the earliest days, though the statement in a recent consular report, "Le Panama possède d'immense richesses minérales," is probably rather overstated. However, the gold which the Conquistadores found everywhere in extensive use by the Indians for ornament and even articles of utility, proves that there is a good proportion of this valuable metal in the small area of the Isthmus. The mines already known are probably not yet exhausted, as their exploitation has been very spasmodic, and one may conclude also that in a country so little explored there are other and possibly richer mines than those already discovered. In fact, since the eighteenth century the gold mines have not been in operation to any extent, except the Cana mine (called "Potosi" by Bancroft) in the Santo-Espiritu Mountains of Darien, which is now being worked by an English company at a good profit. The expense incident to the operation of these mines and the lack of reliable labor have brought many attempts to ultimate failure, except in the case of the Cana mine, already mentioned, and the new enterprises just starting in western Panama. The gold of the Isthmus is of an unusually fine quality with a natural alloy of copper. Besides gold and copper, some silver, iron, coal, salt, manganese, cinnabar, and oil comprise the mineral resources. The famous pearl beds of the "Archipielago des Las Perlas" no longer produce any quantity of marketable pearls, though the industry is not entirely dead, and the trade in mother-of-pearl is extensive. Much tortoise shell is exported; from the port of Colon to that of

a The dyewoods and plants are "ribes glandulosum, weinmannia giabra, pterocarpus draco, opuntea tuna, ruellia tuberosa, morus nigra, persea gralissima, bixa orrellano, indigo-fero tintorio, and the muquera, which produces a beautiful red without preparation (4).

This mine was very productive, but was closed for many years by royal decree in 1685, owing to raids of the Indians and buccaneers. Its greatest output was 100,000 castellanos a year (5). The gold is brought on muleback to Real and thence taken in small ships to Panama.