CARTAGENA

A TOUR THROUGH
SOUTH AMERICA
:: BY A. S. FORREST ::

WITH 145 ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR

LONDON: STANLEY PAUL & CO.
31 ESSEX STREET, STRAND, W.C.

First published in 1913
THIS BOOK IS BY KIND PERMISSION
DEDICATED TO
SIR OWEN PHILIPPS, K.C.M.G.
TO WHOSE NAME NO TRAVELLER TO SOUTH AMERICA
NEEDS INTRODUCTION
THE AUTHOR FEELS THAT THIS SLIGHT TRIBUTE
IS DUE TO ONE WHO HAS DONE AND IS
STILL DOING MUCH TO LINK UP
THE OLD WORLD WITH THE VAST TERRITORIES
DEALT WITH IN THE ENSUING PAGES

CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FOREWORD

THE artist or the writer who visits South America to-day finds it as a diamond of a hundred facets, and his main difficulty is to select those points upon which to concentrate his gaze. So vast is the subject, so full of romance, glamour, pulsating life, and world possibilities that not one book but many must be written upon it before the reader can form the barest idea of the well-nigh illimitable nature of the theme. Hence an author who offers any contribution to so vast a study has no need to excuse himself for his apparent temerity, provided he sets on record some new point of view or chronicles his impressions of paths not too well known.

Even if he fails in either or both these aims his work is justified if it contains individual conceptions of the myriad wonders which the continent discloses to the seeing eye. For this far-reaching stretch of earth is the last to be really explored and civilised by Western man. Compared with many portions of it, the forests of Central Africa, the plateaus of Middle Asia, and the deserts of Australia, are as open books. It is only South America to-day, or, to be more correct, a great part of it that is “a field enclosed, a fountain sealed.”

Consequently any contribution which aims at familiarising stay-at-home folk with the marvellous cities, the impressive scenery, the rich products, and the limitless resources of this mighty territory has surely a title to consideration.

The present writer claims to be neither an explorer nor a political theorist, nor, although profoundly impressed with the magnificence of South America’s destiny, has he attempted to forecast the lines along which that destiny will shape itself.

His aim has been far less ambitious, much more simple. Whatever he saw in the country or amongst the people that interested him he has endeavoured to transcribe with interest for the benefit of others. Even so he submits that the ensuing pages will give the general reader a fair conspectus of the rise and development of South America from those far-off days when it was discovered, subjugated, and colonised by Spanish and Portuguese conquistadores to the present day, where a dozen independent Republics have their seats of government in cities where once the flags of the conquerors waved.

The history of each State has been lightly touched upon and space has been devoted to a consideration of the men of light and leading who have helped to direct the fortunes of the continent from the earliest beginnings of its modern history. The romantic adventures of Pizarro are told in one chapter; in another the exploits of the sinister Dr. Francia of Paraguay are recorded; and the reader will not set down the book until he has learned what General O’Higgins and Lord Cochrane did for the independence of Chili, and how San Martin, the Galahad of South America, laid as though on a rock the foundations of that thriving State now known as the Argentine Republic. Moreover, the part played by Simon Bolivar in liberating the northern half of the continent from the Spanish yoke is, the writer trusts, set forth with a due sense of proportion.

Mighty men these, and more or less so because their dramas were enacted on a remote stage of the world-theatre.

But, like the age of chivalry, the days of romance have passed and the author has deemed it a necessary part of his scheme to deal with more prosaic matters, things which impress the work-a-day world quite as much as the sanguinary progresses of Spanish conquerors and the marvellous civilisation of the Peruvian Incas. Something will be found in the book concerning many of the resources of the country.

The imminent opening to universal traffic of the Panama Canal arrests the attention of the entire civilised world. It has been the lot of the author to spend a longer time on the Zone than is generally done by persons not connected with the undertaking. Consequently he has had abundant opportunities of studying, at first hand, not only its constructive arts but also the character of the people living on the isthmus.

His impressions are embodied in the early chapters of the volume.

The completion of this great waterway will make much of this enchanted land as easy of access to us moderns as it was difficult to those old Spanish mariners who dreamed that they were voyaging to an actual El Dorado or to the fabled land of Ophir.

A T O U R T H R O U G H
S O U T H A M E R I C A

CHAPTER I
Early Adventurers and Discoveries

THE history of the Isthmus of Panama, which was the point of departure for the whole of those notable conquests which placed nearly all South America under the heel of Spain, began with its discovery by Alonzo de Ojeda in 1499.

The great name of Columbus figures prominently in this period, for in the course of his fourth voyage he spent much time in sailing backwards and forwards from east to west along the coast of Terra Firma in a vain search for a passage through which his ships might pass to the land of the Grand Khan.

But it was not ordained that the great navigator should add this laurel to his crown, albeit his enterprise made the way easier for those who were to follow.

Baffled by contrary winds and other adverse factors he had eventually to retire from what in his chagrin he termed “the Coast of Contradictions” and return to Spain, never to sail from its ports again.

The reports of Columbus as to the plentifulness of gold in the region of the isthmus sent many other adventurous mariners and captains to the Spanish Main, and soon the history of the time resolved itself into intrigues, jealousies, and savage conflicts between the Indians and the intruders, the latter enduring all kinds of privations in the hope of reaching that rumoured land which overflowed with gold. Dramatic developments began to ensue under an expedition which set out from Hispaniola under the leadership of Enciso, a wealthy notary. On board the ship in which he embarked was a mysterious barrel sent from a farm situated on the seashore, and no sooner was the vessel well out to sea than there emerged from this cask a tall muscular man in the prime of life. Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, who had devised this means of escaping from his creditors, proved in the end to be a valuable addition to the expedition, though the commander’s first impulse and threat was to maroon the stowaway on the first uninhabited island they might come across. They landed at Cartagena and were menaced by the natives, who hovered around them, doubtless remembering previous invasions and the outrages they had suffered. By pacific measures, however, the newcomers conciliated the Indians, at whose hands they then received valuable assistance and supplies of such provisions as the country had to offer. Balboa soon assumed a prominence in the discussions and deliberations of the expedition. He recommended strongly the attractions of an Indian village which he had come across when sailing some years before with Bastides. It lay upon the banks of a river called Darien, and the country all around was not only fertile, but abounded in gold, whilst the natives, although warlike, never made use of the dreaded poisoned arrow. With such enthusiasm did Balboa urge the claims of this region that Enciso determined to follow his advice, and they set sail thither and arrived and founded the town or city of Santa Maria de la Antigua del Darien. The natives of the existing village they put to the sword, having robbed them of all the golden ornaments they wore and the food supplies collected in their huts.

Enciso immediately entered upon his duties as alcalde and lieutenant of the absent Governor Ojeda, but discontent soon broke out amongst the men, who, hoping for rich gains, had begun to get alarmed at the attitude Enciso took with regard to the golden treasure they had captured. Balboa’s chance had now come, and, taking advantage of this discontent, he sought to gather around him a faction strong enough to dethrone Enciso from his position of command, recollecting doubtless the latter’s threat to maroon him and availing himself of this opportunity for revenge. The legal aspect of the case aided in upsetting the pretensions of Enciso to rule on a territory which lay on the west side of the Gulf of Darien, for by the royal command it was clearly under the jurisdiction of Nicuesa, a rival adventurer.

“CARIBS” IN TERRA FIRMA.

The deposition of Enciso was accomplished, and Balboa and one Tzemudio were appointed alcaldes by the colony with a cavalier named Valdivia as Regidor. This arrangement, however, was not satisfactory, the general opinion being that the sole authority should be vested in one individual, and it was while the dispute concerning this matter was going on that two ships arrived commanded by Colmenares who, with provisions, was in search of Nicuesa. This man claimed that Nicuesa was the legitimate governor of the province, and that, in his absence, he, Colmenares, was the proper person to command. Balboa could hardly controvert this, and his authority having been acknowledged, Colmenares set out along the coast in pursuance of his search for the missing governor, whom he found at Nombre de Dios.

There ensued a long duel between Balboa and Nicuesa for the supreme authority, and eventually the former won, Nicuesa being placed on a wretched vessel and driven out to sea, nothing further ever being heard of him or his crew.

The rival claims of Enciso and Balboa for the vacant governorship of the community led to its division into two factions, and the high favour in which Balboa was held by the majority was such that, unable with all his eloquence to prevail against him, the erudite and skilful Enciso was put into prison and his property confiscated, after a trial which had but the merest semblance of legality, on a charge of having usurped the office of alcalde in a territory which did not come under his jurisdiction.

When at length, through the intercession of his friends, he regained his liberty he received permission to return to Spain. Balboa took the precaution of sending in the same vessel one of his most intimate followers, to prevent the deposed Enciso from gaining too much sympathy at court, and to answer the charges which would doubtless be preferred by him. Further, Balboa sent a handsome present in gold to the royal treasurer of Hispaniola to impress him with the richness of the new country and obtain what he knew to be a powerful influence with the King.

After the departure of the caravel with his predecessor on board, Balboa set about organising an expedition into the interior, to discover and obtain as much of the precious metal as he could, for he wisely foresaw that if he provided the royal treasury at home with an abundance of the much-coveted gold, any irregularities in his late proceedings would be overlooked by the avaricious Ferdinand.

He sent Pizarro and a band on one such errand into a province called Coyba, but on their setting out they were assailed by the Indians of Darien led by their native lord or cacique, Zemaco, and after a fierce encounter the Spaniards were forced to retreat. Balboa despatched two vessels to Nombre de Dios to bring away the remnant of Nicuesa’s followers who had been left there. While coasting the shores of the isthmus these vessels picked up two Spaniards, painted like the Indians with whom they had been living. These men had been well treated by Careta the cacique of Coyba and repaid his kindness by instigating their countrymen to attack this friendly native and rob him of his wealth and treasure. They carried back to Balboa the news of their discovery at Careta, and he, pleased with the intelligence, set out with a strongly armed force to carry out this base design. On his arrival the unsuspecting chief received him with all the hospitality his savage customs could supply, but even this was not sufficient to deter Balboa from using strategy to overcome resistance and plunder the village, making captives of Careta, his wives and children and many of his people, and taking them back as prisoners to Santa Maria.

The poor outraged chieftain pleaded with his captor to be released, offering to become his ally and show him the realms where gold and riches abounded, and as a pledge of his good faith to give his daughter as a wife to the Spanish Governor, who, seeing all the advantages that would accrue from the friendship of the natives, and not unmoved by the youth and beauty of the proffered wife, accepted the alliance. After impressing his new allies with the power of the Spanish armaments, and astonishing them with the sight of the war horses which were strange to them, he allowed them to depart loaded with presents, but leaving the chief’s daughter, who willingly remained as the so-called wife of the future discoverer of the Pacific.

GOLD NOSE RING.

ANCIENT GOLD NOSE RING.

Balboa, with eighty men, once more made his way to Coyba and assisted Careta in invading the territories of one of his enemies, who were compelled to retreat and take shelter in the mountain fastnesses. Continuing their invasion, the combined forces ravaged the lands, sacked villages, putting the inhabitants to the sword and securing much booty. They then visited the province of another cacique, Comagre by name, who was indeed one of the most formidable in the whole country, having at his command three thousand fighting men, and living in what was for these parts a very palace, built of stone and wood and containing many apartments. There was in this palace a great hall in which the chieftain preserved the bodies of his ancestors, dried by fire and wrapped in mantles of cotton richly wrought and interwoven with pearls and jewels of gold. Among the sons of this cacique was one who was of a lofty and generous spirit and superior sagacity. He it was who struck the scales and scattered the gold which the Spaniards were weighing out and quarrelling over. Disdainful and disgusted at their sordid spirit, he asked them why they quarrelled over such a trifle, and said that, from the lofty hills in front of them, he would show them a mighty sea navigated by people who had vessels almost as large as their own, adding that on the shores of this great sea dwelt kings who ate and drank out of golden vessels, and ruled over lands in which gold was as plentiful as iron was amongst the Spaniards.

Imagine the eagerness with which Balboa plied this youthful Indian with questions regarding the means of arriving at such opulent regions, and how his imagination must have been stirred at the intimation of the sea he was shortly to discover.

The difficulties to be overcome, the fierce resistance which he was assured would be offered to his advance through the country he must traverse, only stimulated his ambition to be the first to sail upon the unknown sea. Henceforward all his plans were laid with the one idea of reaching it, and he sent off envoys in great haste to Hispaniola laden with much of the treasure he had already obtained, hoping thus to arouse the interest of his King to such a pitch that he should be furnished with a sufficient force of arms and men to enable him to accomplish a mighty discovery. As some time would elapse before an answer to his request could reach him, Balboa with his followers made incursions into the country round their settlement, exploring the river and its tributaries, but always meeting with a steady opposition from the natives.

Of the hundreds of adventures they must here have met with history records but few, and although they discovered much booty and captured many slaves, they also lost much in their endeavours to transport it to their capital.

Many of the natives lived in huts built like nests in the branches of the trees and reached by ladders, which the inmates drew up at night or when suddenly attacked. These arboreal homes, built of light woodwork and thatched with leaves, were many of them large enough to hold good-sized families, and when other means of overcoming these nest-dwellers failed, the Spaniards would compel them to descend by threatening to fell the trees or set fire to them. And this all for gold. Gold was the object of their search, and no cruelty was too great for them to inflict on any who kept them from their booty. One golden temple, whose renown had reached them, was for many years to come the object of a restless enterprise on the part of the Spaniards. Hundreds of lives were lost in search of it, but never was its whereabouts discovered, clans and tribes joining in confederacy to resist the advances of their enemies.

“A DREAM IN LIVING BRONZE IS SHE.”

A native of the Isthmus of Darien.

Balboa at last constructed a fortress round the town to resist the attacks of and guard against surprise by his wily enemies. Weary of waiting for the reinforcements he had sent for, his followers grew impatient, and anxious and distressed at the non-arrival of help, he determined to go in person back to Spain and urge his claims for assistance to accomplish what he now looked upon as his mission. His followers, however, dissuaded him from leaving them in what was still a dangerous position, for they relied upon their leader to counsel and protect them. Other envoys were found and despatched with letters full of enthusiastic accounts of the wealth of the country, a portion of the gold obtained being also sent, each man giving some of his private hoard to swell the general amount. Surely the King on receiving this evidence of the wealth and resources of his new possessions would not fail to furnish means of extending and developing them.

It was while awaiting the issue of this second mission that the weary and discontented colony of adventurers grew troublesome, and it required all the resourceful ingenuity and sagacity of Balboa to prevent civil war from breaking out. Order had hardly been re-established when two ships arrived from Hispaniola with supplies and men and a commission for Balboa, which although not from the source of royal power itself at least gave a semblance of legal status to his governorship, coming as it did from the hands of the King’s treasurer, Miguel de Pasamonte, to whom the present sent had proved acceptable.

ANCIENT INDIAN POTTERY FOUND IN THE GRAVES ON THE ISTHMUS.

These were the events which led up to the great discovery, and Balboa was just congratulating himself on the security of his position and the hopefulness of his prospects when he received news from the colleague he had sent home that Enciso had succeeded in arousing the King’s resentment and indignation against Balboa, who was shortly to be summoned back to Spain to answer most serious charges on account of his harsh treatment of Nicuesa. The only comfort left to Balboa was the fact that the information he now received was private and that no definite order had yet reached him from the King. Desperate as he felt the enterprise to be without reinforcements, he yet determined to risk all upon the venture of crossing the isthmus before the King’s commands could reach him. Choosing one hundred and ninety of the most reckless and daring of the wild adventurers that composed his colony, and arming them in such a manner as he thought fitting for the occasion, taking with him several of the Darien Indians whom he won to his side by kindness, and a number of dogs, amongst them his famous hound Leonico, he set out on this perilous undertaking.

CHAPTER II
The Sighting of the Pacific

WITH his wild crew Balboa sailed from Santa Maria up the coast to Coyba, where he left half his men to guard the brigantine and canoes, and started out, after offering up fervent prayers to God to grant him success in his mission. Through a country which might have caused dismay to the boldest of adventurers, struggling through pathless bush which seemed almost impenetrable, over steep rocks with the sun blazing down upon them, encumbered with their heavy armour, and with supplies for only two days, they pushed their way, until they reached a forsaken Indian village, where almost overcome by their exertions they were compelled to rest for a time. Many of the band had fallen sick, and after recovering somewhat, were compelled to return to the boats. Fresh guides had to be procured who knew the country through which they were now to pass, and on the twentieth of September, 1513, they started off again through a country covered with a dense growth of forest, streams and water-courses often barring their path.

So slow was their progress that it took four days to go ten leagues. Hunger and thirst consumed them, but they kept on, until they arrived in the province of a warlike cacique who contested their progress. But when the Indians found their companions falling around them, shot down by the fire-arms of the invaders, they were terrified. Guns were new to them; in their ignorance they looked upon them as strange demons who threw out fire and thunder, and when the dogs were loosened on them they turned and fled. Many were overtaken and torn to pieces by the half-famished hounds, others were cut down by the sword, till over six hundred lay dead upon the field.

The conquerors marched into the village and gathered their spoil, gold and jewels, rested themselves from fatigue and tended

POTTERY FROM THE GRAVES IN CHIRIQUE.

their wounded. The village lay at the foot of a high mountain, and on the following morning, conducted by guides selected from among the prisoners, Balboa leaving his wounded behind him, started the ascent, with his remaining followers. When they had nearly reached the summit the leader gave orders to his men to halt, and forbade any man to stir. Then all alone he climbed and reached the topmost peak, from whence he was able to discern the ocean he had passed through such trials to behold. Often during the long and tedious journey doubts must have passed through his mind regarding the existence of the sea now lying in front of him, but all the strange tales and rumours which for years had been whispered amongst mariners were, after all, true, and he was the first European to know it! This bold adventurer, accustomed to bloodshed and wild disaster, knelt down and gave thanks to God for having privileged him to make this great discovery. Then, calling his men to ascend and share his vision, he addressed them. “Behold, my friends, that glorious sight which we have so much desired. Let us give thanks to God that He has granted us this great honour and advantage. Let us pray to Him to guide us and aid us to conquer the sea and land which we have discovered, and which Christian has never entered to preach the holy doctrine of the evangelists. As to yourselves, be, as you have hitherto been, faithful and true to me, and, by the favour of Christ, you will become the richest Spaniards that have ever come to the Indies. You will render the greatest services to your King that ever vassal rendered to his lord, and you will have the eternal glory and advantage of all that is here discovered, conquered, and converted to our Holy Catholic Faith.”

This perfervid utterance, the incongruity of which strikes us to-day as almost blasphemous, aroused enthusiasm in his followers, who swore to stand by their intrepid leader and follow him to the death in pursuit of their new prospects. They all knelt down, and led by de Vara the priest, who accompanied them, lustily chanted the “Te Deum.” Speculation ran high as to the possibilities that lay before them, but they were all convinced that they were at length on the right road to become possessors of the riches of the Indies. Summoning the notary of the expedition, Balboa called all present to witness that he took possession of all the sea, its islands and surrounding hills, in the name of the Sovereigns of Castile, and had a deed prepared to that effect, which those of his followers who were present signed. The curious ceremonies of piety and plunder were not completed until a tree had been cut down, formed into a cross, and erected on the spot from which Balboa had first viewed the ocean, the names of Ferdinand and Isabella being roughly carved on the trees surrounding the spot. The band then made their way down the hillside, and after massacring another tribe of hostile Indians, and forcing into their service fresh guides, they came to the domain of the warlike cacique, named Choapes, who, after a short resistance, was induced by the arguments of fire-arms and bloodhounds to submit. It is recorded that Balboa, doubtless softened by his religious exercises on the mountain, enjoined his followers to refrain from needless slaughter.

Meanwhile, Balboa sent out scouting parties to discover the best route to the coast, and when the successful one returned, they related how they had reached the ocean and found canoes, into one of which Alonzo Martin had stepped, calling on his companions to bear witness that he was the first European to embark on the newly discovered sea.

Balboa and his men went forward, and on coming to the border of a great bay gave it the name of San Miguel. As the tide was far out, they waited under the shade of the trees until it should flow in. When it did Balboa arose, and, taking a banner on which were painted the arms of Castile and Leon, he, with his sword drawn, waded into the water until it was above his knees, and in a loud voice took possession, in the names of Don Ferdinand and Donna Isabella, of all the seas and lands and coasts and ports and islands of the South, kingdoms and provinces, and, in fact, everything he could think of naming.

THE PACIFIC, FROM A PEAK IN DARIEN.

The exaggerated accounts which reached Spain of the wealth and riches of the new colony, of the gold which was to be found lying on the surface of the ground or taken from the rivers in nets, inspired Ferdinand with such enthusiastic pride in his new possessions that he christened them “Golden Castile.” Santa Maria was honoured by being made the capital city, and a bishop was appointed and sent out with all the necessary equipment of friars and other ecclesiastical paraphernalia.

A new Governor was sent out in the person of Don Pedrarias Davilla, with a magnificently furnished expedition to fittingly equip the new capital with all the pomp and pageantry so dear to the Spanish heart. Many youthful caballeros of high descent but low in funds were allured by the prospects of the new land, and flocked to join the expedition in such numbers that only the most favoured and influential could obtain a passage.

Hardly had this magnificent fleet set sail when news arrived of Balboa’s latest discovery, and the revulsion of feeling in his favour would have prevented the King giving such high powers to Pedrarias had the tidings only reached him in time. On the arrival of the new Governor at Santa Maria he was met by Balboa, who had returned from the Pacific shores, with every courtesy, and entertained in the palm-thatched habitation which served the latter as a palace.

Pedrarias contrived to hide behind a mask of friendship his real intentions regarding the new province, and through dissimulation gained as complete a knowledge as possible of all things pertaining to the country and the discoveries of Balboa, who, off his guard, was anxious enough to put the new Governor in possession of all the information he had gathered. But no sooner did Pedrarias feel that he had no more to learn from the pioneer of the Isthmian route than his attitude completely changed, and he ordered a judicial inquiry into the previous conduct of Balboa. The result of the trial was the acquittal of the accused, much to the chagrin of the new Governor, who from the first seems to have been determined to get rid at all costs of the man who, he felt, overshadowed and threatened his prospects in the colony.

Later news which came from the court of Spain, announced Balboa’s promotion to be Governor of the South Seas and the Province of Panama, and Pedrarias, fearful lest Balboa’s influence and popularity should again place him in the ascendancy, and in order to keep a hold over him and join their interests, proposed an alliance between his daughter and the Adelantado; the marriage settlements were drawn up, but before the young lady could arrive from Spain events happened which prevented the union.

The interest of Balboa having been secured to him, Pedrarias was now willing and anxious that further discoveries should be added to the already formidable list, and that more treasure should flow into the insatiable coffers of Spain, and to this end he permitted and assisted Balboa to fit out a new expedition to make further discoveries in the South Seas.

Acla, established and built by Balboa as a settlement near Careta,

HUTS NEAR THE ANCIENT CITY OF PANAMA.

was now fixed upon as the port best adapted as a starting-point for this expedition, one of the boldest and most considerable yet attempted by the Spaniards in Terra Firma. The plan was to carry from this port all necessary materials for the building of four brigantines upon the Pacific shore. The transporting of stores and materials over a country which, when traversed previously by Balboa, unencumbered with superfluous baggage, had presented serious enough difficulties, was a task of almost overwhelming magnitude; yet these hardy Spaniards under the leadership of the intrepid Balboa accomplished it. They were assisted by the more friendly Indians and negroes, but many lives were lost ere the first two brigantines were successfully launched on the River Balsas, which flows into the Pacific.

Their first cruise was to the Pearl Islands, and but for contrary winds, the discovery of Peru might have been added to the list of Balboa’s achievements, but he was anxious to complete the building of the other two brigantines which he had provided material for, and returned to proceed with the work. Whilst busy upon it, he heard rumours that a new Governor was expected to arrive from Spain, to displace Pedrarias, and apprehensive lest a new ruler should be opposed to the schemes he had in hand, he sent a trusted messenger back to Acla, to watch events and report, but was very unfortunate in selecting Garabito, upon whose loyalty he relied, but who ultimately betrayed him.

On his arrival at Acla, Garabito, learning that Pedrarias was still in command at Santa Maria, was indiscreet enough to arouse the suspicions of the colonists, who arrested him, and sent all his papers and letters to the Governor, whilst, under threats of punishment, they obtained from him a confession of the secret of his mission.

The antipathy and distrust of Pedrarias were deepened by the slanders he was only too willing to believe, and he ordered the absent Adelantado back to Acla, ostensibly to talk over the new expedition, but really to stand his trial. Balboa, on his arrival, was cast into prison, where he was visited by Pedrarias, who, with characteristic dissimulation, avowed friendship, and said that the proceedings which he had instigated were merely formal and necessary to clear Balboa’s character of the slanders and charges which had been brought against it.

The charge made was that of treasonable conspiracy to cast off all allegiance to the Crown, under a determination to sail, operate, and trade in the South Seas entirely for private benefit. The evidence rested largely on the testimony of the traitorous Garabito, and eavesdroppers, who stated that they had overheard Balboa and his officers planning to sail on their own account and ignore the authority of the Governor. In vain Balboa indignantly pointed out the flimsiness of the accusation, maintaining that, were there the slightest truth in the charges made, it was very unlikely he would have returned and put himself in the power of the Governor, when he could easily have sailed away in the ships he now had on the Pacific and found a land or island to supply him and his men with safe subsistence, far away from the chances of interference from the power it was alleged he was anxious to cast off.

The trial dragged along for many days, and the verdict of guilty was accompanied by a recommendation to mercy, on account of the prisoner’s great services, while the hope was expressed that permission would be granted to him to appeal to a higher tribunal in Spain.

Pedrarias, glad of the opportunity of clearing from his path a man of whom he was inordinately jealous, would listen to no entreaties from the many advocates of the claims of the prisoner to consideration, and the day following the verdict Balboa, with three of his principal officers, preceded by the public crier, walked in chains to meet his fate at the block erected in the Public Square; and for days afterwards his gory head, stuck on the end of a pole, met the gaze of the sorrowing inhabitants of the town of Acla.

Pedrarias soon found out the futility of attempting to maintain a prosperous colony at Santa Maria, for the implacable hostility of the Indians and the depredations in his ranks by sickness, combined with the disappointment of his expectations of finding the treasure he sought, drove him to shift his headquarters to a more advantageous spot.

Having got rid of the Governor of Panama, in the person of Balboa, he proceeded to establish himself within that territory, and fixing a site upon the bay in which are situated the Pearl Islands, he there founded a city to which he gave the name of Panama, and thither he transferred the seat of government, so that it became the capital of Terra Firma.

CHAPTER III
The Buccaneers

THE short-sighted policy of the Spaniards in exterminating the natives of the countries which they conquered, necessitated the importation of the negro from Africa, and led to the development of a huge traffic in slaves, in which England, France, and Portugal played an important part.

The men engaged in this trade were naturally a ruffianly set who soon became familiar with the operations in the newly acquired Spanish territories, and were quick to take advantage of the knowledge which they thus acquired.

Lucrative as the slave trade undoubtedly was, those engaged in it could not but be tempted by the untold wealth which they saw in the countries they visited and which passed them in the galleons crossing the sea; and the growing jealousy on the part of the other European nations of the power and opulence of Spain encouraged the more lawless and daring to organise attacks upon the wealth and treasure in course of transit.

Many of these hardy ruffians, the off-scourings of their own countries, conceived the idea of acquiring territory in the West Indian Islands, and were encouraged by their respective Governments.

A number of them possessed themselves of the small island of Tortuga, which lies to the north-west of Hayti, and from here roved the whole Caribbean Sea making war upon the Spaniards both on sea and land.

They had learned from the Indians the art of curing the flesh of animals killed in hunting so that it would keep for almost any length of time. The method adopted was to lay the meat upon a wooden grill placed over a smouldering fire composed of leaves, into which—to give a flavour to the meat—they cast the skins of the slaughtered animals. The meat thus smoked was called “Boucan,” and ultimately this name was also given to the place where it was cooked, and those who had adopted the preparing of meat in this way were called “buccaneers.”

This name came to be generally applied to the motley collection of characters from all Europe who settled in these parts, every type of social Ishmaelite of the period let loose on the world to fight and struggle for existence as best they could.

Some among them from England had started on their roving life from very exuberance of good spirits and love of adventure. Others were driven to this lawless existence by necessity, or by some trivial violation of the stringent laws then existing in their own country.

THE PIRATE “L’OLLONOIS.”

Whenever a successful fleet of these desperadoes arrived in Port Royal or Tortuga, it was the signal to the populace that festive times were at hand—such times as make the head dizzy to think of, lasting not only till the money was all spent, but until credit was gone as well.

The tavern keepers would give credit according to the faith they had in their customers’ ability to redeem their pledges. Doubtless their faith often received rude shocks, for the risks were many, but taking it on the whole their profits were immense, as the larger part of the ship’s plunder was spent with them.

Lawless as the buccaneers were, they yet had laws which regulated the conduct of each adventure they embarked upon. True these were liable to be changed by a successful majority, but, as a rule, all obeyed them, probably because sufficient inducement was offered or coercion used.

During the three distinct epochs of the history of these piratical adventurers the types were constant. From the time when they first forsook their wild calling in Hispaniola and took to hunting men for their treasure instead of animals for their flesh—up to the period when Morgan stood out as a hero who commanded the consideration if not the respect of all the inhabitants of the New World, they were unhampered by the interference of Government.

From 1671 to 1685 they extended the sphere of their operations, and ranged the whole of the Pacific Coast of America from California to Chili, and this has been called the second period.

The third extends from 1685 onwards, and marks the decline of their power, a degeneration in their methods, and a lessening of their numbers.

There is a glamour about their adventures which appeals to most persons, the fine courage and persistent daring which was undaunted by the terrible hardships and sufferings they underwent, giving a touch of heroism to their doings in spite of the inhuman butcheries and cruelties they perpetrated.

Outstanding names of buccaneers are familiar to everyone, Mansvelt, L’Ollonois, Morgan, Dampier, Kidd, Sharp, being a few of the more prominent. Round each of these romances have been written, and although there may be some deeds of valour credited to them, the glory of which they are not entitled to, and some atrocities, the gruesomeness of which they were guiltless of, yet it cannot be said that authentic details of their lives and enterprises do not furnish parallel instances.

Their callous indifference to the sufferings of their own companions prepares us for the studied fiendishness with which they treated their enemies, and their fanatical hatred of the Spaniards overmastered every consideration of humanity.

That the buccaneers had courage and daring is well borne out by the life of Henry Morgan, the son of a respectable Welsh farmer. He appears to have found his way to Jamaica, and there fallen in with Mansvelt, then the most notorious of the freebooters.

After serving a sort of apprenticeship with this redoubtable pirate, Morgan, on the death of Mansvelt was promoted to the command.

Using Jamaica as his headquarters he made excursions in the neighbourhood of Cuba which added to his reputation. His next venture was against Porto Bello, one of the best fortified ports in the West Indies.

SIR HENRY MORGAN.

From an old print.

Morgan’s profession and attention were directed to this spot by the knowledge he had of its containing the large storehouses, in which the treasure from the Spanish colonies in the South awaited the arrival of the fleet of royal galleons which sailed with it annually to Spain.

As formerly in Nombre de Dios, so here an annual fair was held, and the merchants who had business came over from Panama with their treasure of gold and silver from the mines of Peru, attended by an escort of Spanish troops.

Ships belonging to the West Indian Company arrived from Africa with cargoes of slaves, and the whole town was, while the fair lasted, a scene of great animation.

Porto Bello at this period was not considered quite a health resort, so that in the off seasons the population decreased. Morgan, who had four hundred and sixty men in his expedition, kept his plans secret, and, only telling his companions that he expected to make a big haul, he landed by night at a short distance from the city. Guided by an Englishman who had been a prisoner in these parts, they marched on to the town, capturing on their way one of the sentinels, whom they bound and carried in front of them. They surrounded one of the castles which stood near the town, and called upon the inmates to surrender, but the only reply was a volley which alarmed the town. After a brief but gallant defence the fortress was forced to surrender, and the pirates, thrusting the vanquished inside, blew both garrison and castle into the air. The Governor of the city and a number of the more influential merchants, had taken shelter in the remaining castle, against the walls of which the pirates now placed broad scaling ladders constructed hastily for this purpose. Up these ladders Morgan forced friars and nuns whom he had taken prisoners to ascend as a cover to his men following close behind, but in thinking the besieged would not risk harming members of their religious orders he was mistaken, for pious and pirates were alike killed by the inmates of the castle, who used all means they could to prevent the assault being successful.

After a long and determined resistance the defenders at length threw down their arms and surrendered, but the Governor fought to the last, killing many of the pirates, and even despatching some of his own men for not standing to their arms. He would accept no quarter in spite of the pleading of his wife and daughter who, on their knees, begged him to give in; and he fell fighting.

The pirates took possession of the castle, shutting up all the prisoners, men and women together. The wounded were placed in an apartment by themselves, “that their complaints might be a cure of their diseases, for no other was afforded them.”

This done, the buccaneers gave themselves up to a wild debauch which lasted well into the night. Next morning the prisoners were brought out and tortured till they should reveal the hiding-places of their treasure.

For fifteen days looting and carousing fully occupied the time of the marauders, and before departing Morgan fixed the ransom of the city at one hundred thousand pieces of eight, threatening to burn the town and blow up the castles if this were not procured at once.

Messengers were sent with this demand to Panama, and the Governor of that city, having got a force together, set out for Porto Bello.

The pirates, hearing of this, went out to meet him at a narrow gorge through which he was bound to pass, and a hundred of them were sufficient to check the approach of the bold men from Panama.

From a safe distance the Governor then sent word to Morgan, threatening him that if he did not retire at once it would go hard with him, to which the implacable buccaneer replied that all he wanted was the money, and when he got it he would leave, but not before. Persuaded that he was in earnest the Governor rode back to Panama, leaving the distressed citizens of Porto Bello to get out of their difficulties as best they could.

The ransom was raised and the demands of Morgan were satisfied.

So astonished was the Governor of Panama at the fall of so strong a city before such a handful of men, that he sent to Morgan to ask him for a pattern of the weapons with which he had accomplished so great a feat. Not without humour Morgan gave a pistol and some bullets to the envoy to take back, with instructions to his master to keep the same for a year, when the sender would come in person to Panama and claim them.

FORT LORENZO.

The Governor, thinking this was no joke, returned the proffered loan, assuring Morgan that he had no need of such weapons. At the same time he sent a ring of gold and the message “that he desired him not to give himself the labour of coming to Panama as he had done to Porto Bello, for he did assure him he should not speed so well there as he had done there.”

In July, 1670, a treaty was concluded between Great Britain and Spain with the object of putting an end to the depredations of the buccaneers, and bringing about peace and a settled state of affairs in the West Indian Islands. On the publication of this treaty, the buccaneers determined on a great expedition; fearing, doubtless, that the chances for their professional operations would be curtailed after the treaty had been put into force and was well established.

Morgan, therefore, made preparations and gathered around him men and ships for what was to be his greatest undertaking. The rewards to be given on this voyage, and the rules for the conduct of the enterprise, were all written out, agreed upon, and signed by each of the pirate crews. Morgan himself was to take one hundredth part of the booty, and the captain of each ship was to draw the shares of eight men over and above his own, for the expenses of his vessel.

The surgeons were allowed two hundred pieces of eight, besides their pay, for chests of medicines. The compensations for the loss of limbs or eyes were very liberal, the payment being made in money or slaves according to the sufferers’ choice. An extra reward was held out to the pirate who should, in any engagement, be the first to haul down the enemies’ colours, enter a castle or perform some similar act of daring.

Panama had been decided upon, by general consent, as being the richest of the three cities from which a selection was to be made, the other two being Cartagena and Vera Cruz.

The pirates sailed first to the island of St. Catherine or Old Providence to obtain guides from among the bandit outlaws from Panama who were banished to that place.

When they arrived at this penal settlement, which was strongly fortified, Morgan, with the connivance of the Governor of the island, put up a sham fight in order to give the appearance that force had been used in obtaining what he wanted.

Having obtained a plentiful supply of provisions and three bandits, who were acquainted with the route from Porto Bello to Panama and who were promised their liberty and a share of the plunder, should the undertaking prove successful, Morgan sent four ships and one boat well equipped to Chagres to take the castle there, while he remained at St. Catherine’s with the bulk of the expedition awaiting the result of this preliminary venture, and to avoid giving the alarm to the Spaniards as to his real design. The castle of Chagres or San Lorenzo, situated on the summit of a steep hill at the entrance of the river, was surrounded by high palisades filled in with earth, a formidable place almost impregnable in those days, yet notwithstanding the strong position it occupied and the extraordinarily brilliant defence which the Spanish untiringly maintained it fell at last into the hands of the enemy.

AN OLD SENTRY TOWER ON THE CHAGRES.

On receiving news of the capture of Chagres, Morgan sailed thither with the main portion of his expedition and repaired the castle, establishing a garrison there. Besides this garrison he left a number of his men in charge of the ships, and on the 18th January, 1671, with one thousand two hundred men, thirty-two canoes, and five boats laden with artillery started up the Chagres River en route for Panama.

The next evening they arrived at Cruz de Juan Jallego, where the river was so dry, and the way blocked by so many fallen trees, that they were obliged to leave the boats in charge of one hundred and sixty men who were ordered not to desert their post upon pain of death.

Some of the party continued the journey in canoes, and with great difficulty reached Cedro Bueno, the canoes returning for the rest of the party, and all were assembled that same night, hoping in vain to fall in with Spaniards or Indians from whom they might obtain food, as they were well-nigh exhausted from hunger.

On the fourth day most of the party marched by land, the remainder still keeping to the canoes, both parties being conducted by guides, whilst scouts sent on ahead took care to examine the sides of the track and to prevent surprise from any lurking enemies.

About noon they arrived at a point where the guide accompanying the canoes gave the alarm that he had perceived an ambuscade. Overjoyed at the good news the pirates hastened to the spot where the enemy were supposed to be lurking, but were disappointed when they discovered that the Spaniards had fled, taking with them everything of an edible nature, and leaving nothing but a few empty leathern bags. The enraged buccaneers set fire to the huts, and fell to and ate the leathern bags, so keen had their appetite become. The leather after being stripped of the hair was pounded between stones and then cut into small pieces and broiled, quarrels ensuing over the sizes of the portions allotted.

On the fifth day they arrived at a village where they found traces of recent occupation, and diligent search being made for some kind of animal or fruit on which to feed the army, they discovered a cave in which were stored some sacks of maize, two jars of wine and a few plantains.

On the seventh day they cleaned their arms and tried their firelocks, before crossing the river and arriving at Cruces. The sight of smoke issuing from the village raised their hopes, and caused them to hurry forward. Perspiring and out of breath they reached the spot only to find it deserted and nothing but the fires, of which they had no need, to welcome them.

They revenged themselves by setting fire to the huts, and eating the few cats and dogs that lingered round the village.

In what were called the King’s stables they found some wine and a large leathern sack with bread in it, but so ill did those who drank this wine become, that they jumped to the conclusion it had been poisoned. But their sickness was after all only the effect of the good wine upon their empty stomachs.

As Cruces was the last point in ascending the river to which their canoes could be brought their further progress had to be made entirely on foot. Before they set out on their march some of the pirates made rigorous search in the surrounding district for victuals of some kind wherewith to appease their gnawing hunger, but surprised by the late inhabitants of the town, who were in hiding in the bush, the buccaneers were compelled to retreat.

Morgan now sent two hundred men in advance of the main body to detect any ambuscade that might exist, and to discover the way to Panama.

On the eighth day after ten hours’ marching, the entire force reached a place called Quebrada Obscura, where they were suddenly assailed by a flight of thousands of arrows shot by some hidden foes, and from this point onward they were continually harassed by straggling parties of Indians commanded by Spaniards.

The ninth day had barely dawned when an early start was made to take advantage of the cool morning air, and after an hour’s march they ascended a high hill from which they could see the ocean and discern the ships and boats lying in the bay.

Their troubles were almost forgotten when, on descending to the plain below, they came upon a herd of cattle, and they were not long in killing and roasting a sufficient number of these, on which they gorged themselves in a most ravenous manner.

Filling their satchels with the remains of the feast, they continued their march, always preceded by a detachment of scouts who were now on the look-out—not only for ambuscades—but for any native they might come across from whom they could obtain information as to the position and strength of the defences of the city.

Before nightfall they descried the high cathedral tower, and soon camped for the night within sight of the city itself.

So eager and excited were they that it was with the greatest impatience they awaited the morrow, which they felt confident would see them in possession of the much-coveted treasure.

All night long the inmates of the threatened city kept up an incessant fire with their big guns, in a vain endeavour to reach the camp of the pirates, who indulged in revels and feasted on the remains of their morning’s meal.

When the eagerly expected dawn broke the camp was all astir, and Morgan marshalled his now enthusiastic followers, and with drums and trumpets sounding set out towards the city.

They kept to the woods as affording them cover, and the Governor of the city, unprepared for this change of route, came out with a strong band of followers to check the advances of the buccaneers. He had one novel regiment, composed of wild cattle driven and directed by the herdsmen.

So formidable did the Spanish army appear that many of the buccaneers were overawed, and had it been possible would have refused the encounter.

But Morgan urged them forward, and, dividing the troops into three divisions, ordered two hundred of his best marksmen to advance to the attack.

The Spanish cavalry, whose movements were much impeded by the soft nature of the ground, advanced to meet them, and the fight began in grim earnest. Very soon the horsemen were compelled to retreat before the deadly fire of the sharpshooters, and after making one final effort to disorganise the pirates by driving the wild bulls on to them from behind, the attacking defenders fled in all directions. Those who fell into the hands of the pirates received no quarter; and even friars, who pleaded hard for mercy, had but short shrift.

Before despatching them, Morgan learned from some of the prisoners he had taken that the whole force of the garrison was 400 horse and 2400 foot, not counting the Indians and slaves who were engaged to drive the 2000 wild bulls, the employment of which had proved so futile.

The loss of life on both sides had been great; but the pirates had more dangers to encounter before the city was completely in their hands. Guns which had been mounted in hastily constructed batteries directed a fierce fire upon them as they marched towards the walls, and many more were killed before they got through the gates and began to pillage the town.

For some reason that has never been properly understood or accounted for, Morgan set fire to the place, and all attempts to stay the progress of the flames were unavailing. Richly decorated buildings filled with fine tapestries and pictures were, with few exceptions, reduced to ashes. The fire, it has been stated, lasted for a whole month, and hundreds of slaves who had hidden in the buildings perished in the flames.

Only one of the churches escaped the fire, and the pirates used it as a hospital.

The main body of the marauders encamped at night outside the city, but all day long were busy within its walls ransacking the rich warehouses and dwellings before the fire should reach them.

There was one large warehouse in the city in which the Genoese conducted their slave market, two thousand magnificent houses filled with riches of every description, besides five thousand smaller dwellings and two hundred warehouses, and from these the plunderers obtained a very considerable amount of booty. But by far the most valuable treasure in the city was lost to the pirates, for the King’s plate and royal treasure, together with the gold and silver plate and jewelled vestments of the churches and monasteries, had been put on board a huge galleon and taken out to sea.

It has always been known that much of the treasure that escaped the buccaneers, as well as a large amount of the booty which they captured and hid in various retreats, has never been discovered or reclaimed, and for years many and varied expeditions have been fitted out with the object of seeking and finding these lost riches.

Morgan and his gang had, however, done very well out of their expedition to Panama, from whence they returned to Chagres laden with spoil.

As part of a deep-laid scheme which had matured in his own mind, Morgan, when half-way from Cruces to Chagres, ordered all the pirates to be thoroughly searched, in spite of the usual solemn oath which every one of them had taken, that they would conceal no treasure. He even permitted himself to be subjected to the same indignity in order to prevent the resentment which this unusual order might provoke.

But resentment and suspicion were expressed in murmurings and complaints when the spoil was divided on their reaching Chagres, for it was thought and alleged that the commander had kept the best jewels to himself. The grumbling reached such a pitch that it caused Morgan no little apprehension, but he had already determined on his plan of playing a dastardly trick upon his companions.

THE OLD CHURCH TOWER, OLD PANAMA.

After demolishing the fort at Chagres, and setting fire to the principal buildings in the town, he surreptitiously crept on board the vessel which contained the treasure and provisions, taking with him a few of his chosen companions, and, in the early hours of the morning, while the remainder of the band were in a deep sleep, he sailed away for Jamaica with all the plunder captured by the expedition, a rich store of the treasures which formed the staple commerce between the Old World and the New.

THE RAMPARTS. FORT LORENZO.

The resentment and fury of the deserted robbers knew no bounds, for surely in all the annals of their history there was no parallel to such treachery. The English pirates who were thus basely treated by their countryman set out in one of the remaining vessels in hot but unavailing pursuit, and the Frenchmen who had joined the bold enterprise with confidence now made their way back to Tortuga to brood over their wrongs and plan fresh expeditions, vowing vengeance on the lustful bully who had robbed them of their spoil.

CHAPTER IV
On the Way to the Southern Continent

AFTER leaving Kingston, Jamaica, one has an opportunity of observing some of the many types who journey to the isthmus of Panama.

The steamer is crowded and its comfort impaired by the numerous obstacles such as luggage and deck chairs, which prevent promenading and the taking of the usual form of exercise on board ship. On the fore deck, huddled together in endless confusion, are labourers from the island just left; behind their “household gods”—parrots, monkeys, poultry, and dogs—enjoying in many cases more comfort than their owners.

In the dim shadows cast by the awning spread to protect them from the glare of the burning sun, or the torrential rain which might at any moment descend; reclining upon chairs, hammocks or bedding spread upon the deck, men and women of varying age, colour and costume, seek oblivion in sleep from the nausea occasioned by the monotonous rolling of the ship.

On the afternoon of the third day, through the haze of a tropical downpour, Colon is sighted. Though the rain falls in sheets, the eye can trace through the silvery mists the faint outline of the coast and contour of the hills; whilst away across the bay, at its western extremity, the Toro Lighthouse is dimly visible.

This island of Manzanilla, upon which Colon is built, was passed and repassed many times by Columbus, when, on his fourth and last voyage, he searched so diligently for the Straits which he believed existed. His objective was to reach India, the land of the Grand Khan, and it was only after his ships had been reduced to mere leaking hulks, that he abandoned the search for the opening which he imagined must be there. Four hundred eventful years have passed, yet men’s minds have never ceased from

OLD WHARVES, COLON.

dwelling upon the idea of making a waterway through the narrow neck of land that connects two great continents and divides two vast seas. From the beginning of the eighteenth century, plans have been put forward for the accomplishment of this task; but it was not until the railway across the isthmus was completed in 1854 that any serious thought was given by responsible persons to such projects. The building of the Panama Railway was brought about by the discovery of gold in California in 1849, when hundreds of adventurers from every part of the globe found this the shortest and quickest route to the western El Dorado. The history of how Aspinwall and Stevens accomplished their task of completing this short railway across a fetid tropical country, is one of the finest records of human endurance and perseverance. Sickness and disease thinned the ranks of their labourers, and the graves of hundreds of workers who perished in this enterprise are scattered profusely across the isthmus. There is a legend current in Panama that every tie on the railroad represents a human life. (That this is an exaggeration, anyone who reflects will readily perceive; for it would mean that 150,000 deaths had occurred in the five years, a number ten times greater than the whole population of the isthmus at that period.) Trains carrying thousands of passengers, and tons of goods across the forty-seven miles of track, have never been able to cope with the enormous and increasing traffic. That a canal, through which the largest ships might pass from the Atlantic to the Pacific, would eventually be constructed, few people doubted; and when De Lesseps, fresh from winning his laurels at Suez, undertook to construct a waterway, his enthusiasm quickly spread to thousands of his countrymen, and a French company was formed to carry out his schemes. The history of the French Canal Company is sad reading, and is now almost forgotten. The Panama scandals and the trial of the De Lesseps, father and son, with many others connected with the affair, are things of the past: the United States Government have taken over the assets of the derelict company, and innumerable American citizens are carried annually to the scene of the great undertaking. From the moment the ship leaves New York, all the talk on board is of the isthmus and the canal, and those who have never visited the narrow belt of land look forward eagerly to catching their first glimpse of this much-talked-of country.

But the unfamiliar light that is frequently diffused over all, producing ever-changing and delicate tints of grey, purple, and blue, veils the landscape in indistinctness, so that expectations of beholding a land on which the sun pours down its burning rays, are unrealised, for a deluge of rain almost invariably welcomes the visitor.

Directly the vessel is berthed, the formalities attendant upon landing attract the attention. All the passengers are ordered into the saloon, and are medically examined by the officer of health for the port. Those unable to produce evidence of recent vaccination are promptly operated upon, and negroes and negresses reappear upon deck with crimson stains upon their long black arms, testifying to the work of the lancet.

Frightened mothers and terrified children are sobbing all around, adding to the general din that arises with the arrival of a steamer. The rain still pours from the leaden sky, which seems as if it could never exhaust its weeping grief, and even in the short distance from the shed upon the wharf to a ramshackle bus or cab, the exposure is sufficient to ensure a thorough drenching.

The main street, and indeed all of Colon, has undergone great improvements of recent years. A short drive and Christobal is reached, a kind of suburb of Colon, now within the territory called Canal Zone, owned by the American Government.

A FAMILY PARTY, COLON.

It was in one of the many wooden bungalows built in the time of De Lesseps, and facing Limon Bay, that I took up my first quarters on the isthmus. The house is quite typical of hundreds throughout the Zone occupied by the more responsible workers on the canal, and in every way possible the comfort of the occupants is considered, and the accommodation is ample for all ordinary purposes.

The verandahs surrounding the houses are securely screened with fine-meshed copper gauze to prevent the intrusion of the fever-bearing stegomyia mosquito and of the thousand other noxious insects which are the pests of this tropical country.

Every window is covered in the same manner, the doors which open from the verandahs being furnished with a strong spring, ensuring their being kept shut. The water cisterns are all covered, as are the rain-water tubs placed around the buildings, and there is no possibility of any insect finding a suitable breeding ground. During the whole of my stay on the isthmus I seldom encountered a mosquito, and it is no exaggeration to say that this insect runs serious risk of sharing the fate of the dodo.

The first work that the Americans undertook upon taking possession of their new territory, was to put into operation all means conceivable for the destruction of the mosquitoes, a work that would have been impossible if the Commission had not possessed the power to direct the sanitary and health measures in the towns of Panama and Colon, which both lie outside of the Canal Zone, but are so intimately connected with it as to be sources of danger, in case of epidemics. The maintenance of law and order is also vested in the United States, in the event of the Republic of Panama proving unable to cope with it.

For the greatest difficulty the Americans have had to contend with has been the climatic conditions so fatal to the workers during the construction of the Panama Railway in 1850, and throughout the operations of the two ill-fated French Canal Companies.

The careful attention which the Health Department of the Canal Commission has given to the sanitation and purification of their new territory, as well as of the towns of Colon and Panama, has amply justified the enormous expense by the wonderful results obtained. When one considers that yellow fever has always been regarded by tropical Americans as indigenous to their climate, it is indeed surprising that this disease has been practically exterminated from the isthmus of Panama in so short a time.

Houses have been entered, cleansed and fumigated; marshes drained, stagnant water treated with petroleum and the bush and scrub around all dwelling houses cut away, until haunt and breeding ground are alike denied to the germ-bearing mosquito.

Everywhere one comes across members of the Sanitary Corps, either lowly negroes and half-bred Indians with cans of petroleum from which they drop a small quantity of oil on any stray pool or puddle that they come to; or the doctors ever vigilant in their inspections of the most out-of-the-way holes and corners in which dirt or disease might lurk.

A CAMP AT BALBOA.

The large hospital at Colon, built upon piles over the seashore, was erected originally by the French, but has been improved and modernised until it is as well equipped as any similar institution. There has not been a case of yellow fever within its walls for some years now, and the many screens that formerly were placed around the beds have all been stored away, except one, left as a specimen to show visitors the methods employed in isolating patients suffering from the dread disease.

Colon has changed very much during the last ten years. The fires of 1885 and 1890 destroyed a great many of the wooden buildings of which it was formerly composed; and the only old buildings of any pretensions to durability are the railway station and offices, and a church which was built by the pioneers of the isthmian route in the middle of the last century. Reorganised and rebuilt for the purposes of the Atlantic terminus of the canal, the most prominent features of the town to-day are the large wharves and warehouses for the reception of the materials and supplies for the vast project. Laundries, bakeries, schools, court-houses and administration buildings, dwellings for employees, hotels, stores and machine shops, have been erected on this erstwhile mangrove swamp, an undertaking in itself of great magnitude.

A new railway terminus has been built. The trains which run each way, three times daily, across the isthmus to Panama, carry passengers and baggage to that city and to the numerous wayside stations along the route. They are always crowded with employees of the Canal Commission, and travellers on their way, via the Pacific port, to countries on the western side of South America.

Along the route of the canal, which follows closely the line of the railway, a busy scene of activity is presented. Only those who have travelled backwards and forwards over the line many times, and have branched off along the numerous side tracks that have been laid to carry the excavated earth to convenient or necessary dumping grounds, can be properly impressed with the magnitude and difficulty of the operations, as evidenced not only by the existing works, but by continual reminders of the French enterprise, in hundreds of disused and obsolete trucks, engines and dredgers which lie half-sunk in deep morasses or overgrown with dense vegetation.

The towns and villages that have sprung up along the line of the canal have grown rapidly during the last two or three years, for although the French had erected over two thousand buildings during their occupation, the new owners have added so largely to that number that such towns as Empire, Culebra, Las Cascadas, and Gatum are quite important and considerable centres of industry, with schools, hotels, court-houses and large dwelling houses scattered through them.

The headquarters of the Canal Commission are at Culebra, and it is here also that the largest excavation work is going on. The hill of Culebra (which means a “serpent”) is about thirty-six miles from Colon and ten from Panama, and it was at this point that the two French companies concentrated their efforts. The canal in course of construction, and now nearing completion, is a high-level one, the amount of excavation being considerably less than that required if De Lesseps’ original plan of a sea-level route had been adhered to.

Thousands of persons every year visit this famous cutting, for in it the majority of the great steam shovels are at work. The progress being made is apparent, for on the long terraces the positions of the steam shovels are always altering. Every now and then a great cloud of smoke and dust, followed by a deafening roar, intimates that blasting operations are in full swing. Dumpcars of the latest pattern have superseded the old French ones; and the trains are now composed of a series of new trucks, coupled together, one side of each car being left open with a movable iron plate connecting it with its neighbour. A large truck at on end of the train contains a powerful engine, which pulls a steel plough along the trucks, emptying them of rock and dirt when the desired dumping ground is reached. All day these long trains filled with spoil move backwards and forwards through the cutting, at the different levels made for them by the steam shovels. Gangs of labourers are kept busy laying the tracks to enable the shovels to carve their way into the huge rocky hill. The problem of keeping up a supply of men, fit to stand the climate, has been solved by importing on to the scene Spaniards, Portuguese, Italians, and West Indians, and they have endured the climate surprisingly. It is astonishing that in a shade temperature of from 89-91 so much energy can be displayed. In the rainy season the conditions become very difficult to contend against. The River Chagres rises and carries away long tracks of the railway, putting a stop to operations for days at a time. The rainfall amounts on an average to about one hundred and forty inches per annum, most of it falling from September to May. Yet the work proceeds rapidly in spite of the rain. The houses built for the labourers are all supplied with drying rooms, which are very necessary adjuncts to any dwelling on the isthmus, for otherwise it would be impossible to have any dry clothing.

But for the bad climatic and health conditions, the Panama Canal would have been finished long ere this, and had the De Lesseps company had the advantages of modern sanitary methods, the history of the canal might be different. In England it has been customary to hear exaggerated accounts of wasted money and material in Panama until the very name is almost synonymous with fraud and deceit. But on the spot the American engineers have discovered many evidences of the enormous amount of genuine work accomplished by the early companies, under depressing circumstances and difficulties. Much that they did has been utilised, houses, hospitals, and hotels have been put into order, and have proved of great assistance to the present owners. The task of keeping up a working force of thirty thousand men, feeding, housing, and caring for them, can only be appreciated by those who are acquainted with the tropics. As all nationalities are to be found in the vast army at work, this means that the labour camps to accommodate them have to be kept separate and the food supplies carefully chosen, in accordance with the various tastes of different nations. The world at large is the market in which the authorities buy their provisions. It is bewildering to the layman, and impossible for him to understand the numerous engineering problems into which the work is divided. The rival schemes of high level, low level, and sea level, have been subjected to the criticism of the world’s most expert engineers for over a quarter of a century, and although the original plan of a sea level waterway was abandoned by De Lesseps, it is still held by many experts to be the only satisfactory one. The canal scheme that is at present proceeding is one of locks. The River Chagres, which rises in the surrounding hills, is subject to enormous floods, and in the rainy season great tracts of country on the Atlantic side of the isthmus are under water. Villages and workshops are swamped, the railway tracks swept away and disorganisation sets in.

THE FIRST LABOUR CAMP, GATUM.

The control of this river has been the subject of much anxious thought and the experts’ opinion on it would fill volumes. The present plan entailed the building of the great dam at Gatum, about seven miles from the Atlantic terminus of the canal. This is now nearly completed and fills a gap between two ranges of hills, and much of the excavated material from the Culebra cutting (thirty miles distant) was dumped here. As the dam is about a mile and a quarter in length and half a mile in thickness, over two million cubic yards of material have been used for its construction. It has great controlling water sluices and locks, and completes the range of high ground, which will enclose an immense lake eighty-five feet above the sea level, having an area of over one hundred and seventy square miles. Towns and villages at present existing in the territory that extends from Gatum to Culebra will disappear when the great dam is finished, and the water is already being allowed to collect to form the great lake. Double sets of locks have been built at Gatum to raise ships up from the canal, a height of eighty-five feet. Vessels of one thousand feet in length and one hundred feet beam have been anticipated, and there will be accommodation for such boats when they shall be built and present themselves for entrance to the canal. The navigation channel through the great Gatum Lake will have a depth of at least forty-five feet and a width at bottom of one thousand feet until the Culebra cutting is reached, where the width will be diminished to two hundred feet. About ten miles from the Pacific terminus of the canal, at Pedro Miguel, the summit level will cease, at a series of locks which will lower vessels thirty feet, into a channel five hundred feet in width and about one mile in length. Two more locks at Miraflores will lower vessels to the Pacific sea level. The channel from Miraflores to Balboa (the Pacific terminus) will have a width of five hundred feet right to the open sea. Dredging operations are being carried on for the purpose of deepening and widening the channels at the Pacific and Atlantic entrances. Large wharves for the reception of steamers have been erected at Balboa, and dry docks for repairing have been constructed. In Panama itself, although the city does not belong to the United States Government, much money and time have been spent in putting it into a proper sanitary condition, for by treaty with the Panamanian Government the Canal Commission have jurisdiction over all matters connected with health. This ancient Spanish city has now been properly drained and a good water supply laid on, streets which were formerly quagmires in the rainy season, have been transformed by stone pavements thoroughly well laid by the Commission, but charged up to the Panamanian Government.

THE OLD CHURCH ON THE ISLAND OF TOBAGO, OFF PANAMA.

There are over five thousand white employees on the work. Police, magistrates, school officers, medical men, mining engineers, surveyors, train conductors, hotel managers, overseers, foremen, clerks, dispensers, judges, mechanics, detectives, chemists, teachers, indeed quite a state has grown up upon this tropical belt, which but for the work in hand would be unexplored bush. The engineering shops at Matachin have grown under the commission to four times the size of the original French buildings, and are capable of accommodating for repairs and putting together over twenty large locomotives at one time. Steam shovels, cranes, trucks, ploughs, and rolling stock generally undergo repairs in these shops. Everywhere along the line improved, modern, up-to-date buildings are occupied as fast as they can be erected, and the social side of life is highly developed. Dances, concerts, and amateur theatricals are always going forward, while of out-of-door sports the national game of baseball is easily first favourite. Everything is done by the authorities to make life on the isthmus as pleasant and enjoyable as possible, and very different from the early days when necessities were difficult to obtain and luxuries impossible. Ice is delivered to all the houses on the Canal Zone daily at a small charge, and bread, vegetables, meat, everything in fact that a dainty mortal can desire, is easily obtainable at the Commission’s Stores, so that in this land of “Perpetual Thirst” there is little of hardship and much of pleasure for the workers who have to live exiled from home.

The Commission has made a rule that every white employee shall take an annual holiday and spend it in the United States, so that there is much coming and going between the States and Panama. In fact, very few stay for long and the ranks are being continually reinforced with fresh recruits. The Commission have also a splendid sanatorium situated on the island of Tobago, a few miles south of Panama. Here, amidst perfect surroundings, the convalescents are nursed back to health and strength and tended with the utmost care. Even strangers who are not in any way connected with the canal, avail themselves of this retreat, and many Panamanians make it a holiday resort. At the foot of Ancon Hill, just outside the city of Panama, the Canal Commission have built a magnificent hotel capable of accommodating over three hundred first-class guests. It was opened in time to receive President Roosevelt when he paid his memorable visit to the isthmus in November, 1906, and since then has housed many other distinguished visitors.

CHAPTER V
Of the Labourers on the Isthmus

THE most difficult problem that has to be faced by undertakers of transit and construction schemes in South America is that of labour. The natives of the tropical latitudes have little inclination or incentive to give their time and strength to the furthering of projects that are introduced into their countries, and it has always been necessary to any enterprise on the isthmus requiring a large labour force to import men from other places.

The first experiment was made many years ago by the early Spanish settlers, who found it impossible in many places to subdue the native Indians. Negroes from Africa were imported, but many of them contrived to escape from the tasks set them by their enterprising masters, and found their way into the country districts and gradually mixed with Indians they fell in with, and so introduced new blood into the original stock of the country. An attempt to introduce labour on to the isthmus of Panama was made by the promoters and builders of the railway with disastrous results.

The Chinese, who prove so efficient as labourers in nearly every other part of the world, were a great disappointment, and although they are to be found to-day on the isthmus in large numbers, they are not employed in any calling that requires great strength and endurance.

The negroes who were imported proved to be the best available labour, and ever since the railway was established the islands in the Caribbean Sea have furnished much of the labour for Panama.

When the first French company started its operations, Jamaicans, tempted by the high wages offered, flocked on to the scene, and when the work was brought to a standstill in 1901 many of them were left stranded upon the isthmus, and those unable to obtain other employment were shipped back to their island at its expense. Many, however, remained and settled upon small patches of unclaimed land and lived in a primitive fashion without much difficulty, in a country which furnishes abundant subsistence to the cultivator.

A LABOUR CAMP (EVENING), CANAL ZONE.

The demand for labour again arose when the U.S.A. Government restarted operations, and numerous sources were tapped to supply sufficient numbers of efficient pick-and-shovel men.

Naturally attention was turned in the negro’s direction, for he is indispensable when such work is forward. Those who urge his expulsion en masse from the Northern States overlook the firm hold which he has got on the plantations of the South. However high racial prejudice may occasionally rise against him, he has made himself absolutely necessary to the Southern planter, who would be ruined if black labour were withdrawn. Besides, it is not a particularly easy task to expel ten millions of people.

It is interesting to note that the nigger is far more appreciated in South America than he is in the northern part of the continent. In Anglo-Saxon colonies the laws against the blacks have always been more stringent and oppressive than those of Spain, Portugal, and France. So much is the negro valued in Latin America that many of the Republics were unwilling to allow their black labour to be recruited for the canal. Only recently the Argentine Consul in Panama sent word to his Government that fifteen thousand of the workmen on the Zone were disposed to transfer themselves to the wheatfields of the South.

Through the action of a Governor of Jamaica in refusing to allow negroes from that island to go to the isthmus (unless upon terms to which the Canal Commission found it impossible to agree) other countries were tried, to make up for the loss of Jamaica as a recruiting ground. Cuba, whence many of the Spanish settlers were brought, suggested to the labour department that Spain would be a likely place from which to obtain labourers, and many were imported on to the work, and proved the wisdom of the choice. Italians also were brought, while the Jamaicans arrived in great numbers, although not under any form of contract. Barbadians, Martiniquians, and Trinidadians flocked in, but all of the negro labourers who are on the work are liable to take a holiday frequently and return to their native countries to spend, in ostentatious display, the money they have earned.

These negroes of the different islands exhibit such lack of sympathy with one another, that the authorities are compelled to house them in separated camps.

The Barbadians predominate on the isthmus, probably because theirs is the most densely populated island, and they have rapidly made themselves acquainted with the conditions on the Zone, settling down as if it were their native land.

The British West Indian negro has a great contempt for and prejudice against those of his own colour who speak the French, Dutch, or Spanish language, and whenever an altercation or argument arises between negroes of the different nationalities, reference is frequently made to the prowess and prestige or weakness and decadence of the rival nations. This characteristic is set out by the old joke which probably originated on the West Coast of Africa, but has of recent years been told of the West Indians. “Yah, you big, black, ugly Frenchman!” a huge Barbadian yelled at a Martinique gentleman of colour who was getting the better of him in argument. “What we give you at Waterloo, eh?”

The Barbadian has generally appropriated a name illustrious by the achievements of its original owner. A Mr. Horatio Nelson introduced himself to me one day near Gorgona, and when I suggested that his was a strange name, he assured me that it was quite a well-known one in England, and that one of his ancestors had made it famous. And on my still professing ignorance of it, he was very hurt and said, “You must be Frenchmans.”

The labourer from Barbados is a big, strong, impudent fellow, and has not got the same good name for honesty as his Jamaican cousin, although he is undoubtedly the better workman. But the negroes who have swarmed in hordes to the isthmus are reluctant to put forth all their strength and energy in profitable labour.

They will employ their hours of leisure in dancing till they stream with perspiration, but they are true artists in avoiding real work. Yet the strength which they undoubtedly possess is often shown in their moments of forgetfulness.

A gang of negroes were engaged in removing long, heavy lengths of timber a distance of about two hundred yards. After they had all gazed for some time at the stack, they were cajoled by the foreman into making a start, which was not accomplished without considerable palaver, the point of discussion being as to whether three men were sufficient to carry each beam.

Two of the gang, having lifted a heavy beam between them, returned to the discussion carrying it on their shoulders apparently little inconvenienced by its weight, and stood for fully ten minutes thus burdened continuing the argument. After a short acquaintance with them, their indolent ways and casual manner become so familiar as to excite little notice.

The quarters in which they are housed are shut during working hours, and none are permitted to enter the premises at night until they have produced evidence that they have put in a day’s work. Should they be unwell, they are examined by the doctor at the nearest dispensary and treated for their complaint. If only slightly indisposed and requiring a little more rest, they are placed in a building set apart for the purpose and allowed to loll about, read, smoke, or sleep until pronounced fit to resume their labours. In serious cases, of course, the patients are at once removed to hospital either at Colon or Ancon.

The accommodation provided for the labourers in the camps all along the canal work have been very severely criticised by a coloured journalist who lives in Jamaica, and who has paid brief visits to the isthmus in order to discover if his fellow countrymen were receiving that attention and care which he considered their due.

Any evidence of labourers’ habitations in Jamaica half as good as those provided by the Canal Commission would be difficult to obtain, for the miserable dirty yards which for the most part form the dwellings of the West Indian negroes in their own islands, with the disgusting huddling together of animals and human beings, cannot for a moment be compared with the cleanly large dormitories fitted with iron-framed bunks which are provided for them on the Zone.

Due regard is given to cubic air space by the Health Department, which insists on five hundred feet for each occupant, whilst the old tin cans and heterogeneous rubbish which the nigger is so fond of collecting and hoarding are rigorously excluded from the dormitories, only reasonable belongings which will not offend against the comfort and health of the inmates being admitted.

The buildings are raised on pillars about five or six feet from the ground, and the large space underneath has to be carefully inspected by the health officers, for, under the pretence of utilising this shelter as a store for odds and ends, there is a great danger of its becoming a heaving rubbish heap.

Sidewalks and drains have been laid all through the labour camps, and little could be done to improve or better the majority of them. In the married quarters, placed at a distance from those occupied by single men, it is more difficult to prevent the tenants from indulging in their extraordinary propensity for hoarding up a miscellaneous pile of articles of no possible use or value. If left to themselves, the labouring negroes neglect to give much care and attention to their dwellings, notwithstanding that many of them appear in public on high days and holidays dressed in the latest fashions, displaying spotless white linen, and giving the impression to casual beholders that they are neat and cleanly in their habits.

The picturesque costumes which are worn by the women from Martinique are reminiscent of the fashions that were in vogue in Paris fifty years ago, while the slight Oriental touch which the brightly coloured handkerchiefs tied round their heads impart is picturesque and attractive. The material of which their gowns are composed has weird patterns and in few other communities is there a variety of quaintly coloured prints to equal those worn by the women who hail from Martinique.

A TOILET ON THE ZONE.

All these Martiniquian women appear to be very tall, their thin lithe bodies, and small heads accentuating the effect, and the gracefulness of their erect carriage and walk is aided by the long ample folds of their walking skirts, when gathered up and thrown negligently over their arms.

There was a great deal of talk some little time back about the presence of these women on the Zone, and allegations were freely made that the United States Government were paying their expenses to the isthmus, and that the purpose for which they were brought was one that no Government could officially sanction. After a great deal of investigation, much evidence was collected, which went to prove that the women whose moral character had been called in question were quite respectable, and were meritoriously engaged as domestic servants and washerwomen, earning wages far in excess of those obtainable in their island home. Their presence on the Zone is doubtless appreciated by many of their fellow countrymen, and keeps them from growing homesick, for the dancings and rejoicings which they amuse themselves with on holidays and Sundays help to encourage a spirit of contentment.

Over a hundred and sixty affidavits were made by Martinique women upon the isthmus at the beginning of the year 1906, for the purpose of refuting the charges which were brought against them by newspapers in the United States, and the Governor of the Canal Zone at the time, C. E. Magoon, in a letter to the Secretary of War, stated that many of the women were much alarmed when questioned about the articles that had appeared against them, and were apprehensive lest they should be deported back to Martinique. They most willingly gave evidence as to their occupation. They were well satisfied with the wages they were earning and the conditions under which they lived, and all of them protested strongly against the statement that they were “living in sin.” The marriage customs among all the West Indian Islands differ from those obtaining in more civilised communities, and to rigid moralists of northern latitudes may seem rather lax and casual. Few of the women who subscribed to the affidavits put forward were able to write, only twenty-seven out of the whole number being able to sign their testimonies, the other hundred and forty all making a cross. All the names betrayed, as one would expect, the French origin of their owners. Some of them were ingeniously fanciful and almost ludicrous.

Such names as “Susering Johnabatist,” “Danshale Alptired,” “Catherine Maxemen,” “Vuss Marie,” sound rather odd, and the alliteration of names like “Pauline S’Paul,” “Dennis Denir,” “Philomen Philibert,” “Alcina Alcide,” is doubtless intentional, whilst a few like “Gabriel Paralo,” “Fluce Bernadette,” “Eleonore” have a romantic and not unpleasant sound.

But the Martiniquians are not alone in possessing extraordinary names. I remember looking through the register, kept in an official’s office in one of the West Indian islands, and was amazed at the extraordinary names written in it. I asked how it was possible for such inappropriate appellations to have been selected by negroes who surely could hardly have seen them before. The official produced a large old-fashioned dictionary, and explained that when parties came to register the birth of a child and were at a loss for a name, he would read out a list of long words, the most unsuitable of which was sure to be selected by the parents, regardless of absurdity. Fancy a small black child with little clothing or dignity having to support such a name as “Bathybius Johnston.” Luckily, the registered name is forgotten in a day or two, and unless a copy is written out the child usually grows up accustomed to hear itself called by some commonplace and familiar nickname.

During the year 1906-7 there were over twenty-four thousand labourers employed upon the isthmus by the Canal Commission, and most of these were imported from the neighbouring West Indian Islands and Italy and Spain, as it was found difficult to obtain the necessary labour from among the natives.

The country life of Panama is simple, and it requires little effort to supply the necessities of life. The poorer classes of Panamanians who dwell in the country are a mixture of Spanish, Indians, and negroes—all living a more or less primitive life. Marriages are very rare amongst this class, for the women prefer to remain independent of their mates, dreading the ill treatment which is usually meted out by the lords of creation to wives who cannot escape from their bondage. The more common form of family life is one in which the man and woman form a partnership, which can easily be terminated by mutual agreement, and when a parting occurs a division of the household belongings and assets takes place even down to the children.

Their houses are of the simplest construction, consisting of a few trees stuck into the ground roofed over with palm or other suitable leaves. Some of the huts constructed in this manner have an extra room in the roof, which is approached by a roughly constructed ladder. The sides or walls of the huts are made of bamboo split and woven into a kind of rough matting, although some have walls made of the bamboos placed side by side, the intervening spaces being filled in with clay. Partitions devised in the same way are made inside some of the dwellings. As one would imagine, the furniture contained in most of these houses is of the simplest and most elementary description.

Hammocks are used instead of beds for sleeping in, and stumps of trees serve for tables and chairs. The food consists of frigoles, (a kind of bean), bananas, plantains, and yams—which form the vegetable and fruitarian portion of their repasts, while for meats they have so large a variety to choose from that there is no need for them to complain of the monotony of their fare. Monkeys and the large lizard, the iguana, make favourite dishes. Wild turkeys, ducks, red deer, the wild hog or peccary all find a place on their menus, and they have the art which all countries seem to possess of brewing intoxicating beverages, the kind they make being fermented from the sap of a species of the palm. This custom dates from a very early time, long before the Spaniard first set foot upon these shores. Tobacco has been in use among the Indians of America for ages (the followers of Columbus were astonished to see the natives puffing out clouds of smoke from their mouths), and the leaf of the soothing weed grows around them at every turn. A little skill in hunting and hardly any in cultivating are all that is necessary to maintain existence in this fertile country, and until the native is convinced that there are things in life worth possessing which at present he has not got, he will never see the advantage of toiling and sweating to earn money he knows not how to spend, or to live a life he could not enjoy.

Thus he spends his days in a country that is to him

“A fair Utopian mead
Where his throat is never dusty,
And tobacco grows a weed.”

The negroes from the West Indian Islands have been so long in contact with the higher forms of civilisation that they have acquired some of the habits which belong to the white races, and although there is not in any of the countries which they hail from the compelling force of hunger to make them work, the customs of dress and living which they have acquired induce them to labour, in order to secure the artificial embellishments they have come to consider necessary to existence. The isthmus and the canal work have been a happy hunting ground for the negro who wished to enrich himself; and ever since the French Canal Company started operations, it has been almost a habit with many of the Jamaicans and Barbadians to go there and work for a time to earn high wages.

The negroes on the isthmus noticed with increasing alarm the gradual importation of peons from other countries—Spain and Italy in particular—and felt that they were quickly losing the secure position hitherto occupied. I have watched a group of nigger labourers standing outside the wharves at Colon when five hundred Spanish labourers were disembarking from a Royal Mail steamer, and although their faces were as impassive as statues their conversation betrayed their apprehensions.

The labourers recruited from all parts of Spain have settled down upon the isthmus; many of them are at work in the

A STREET IN THE OLD QUARTERS, PANAMA.

Culebra cut and elsewhere. There can be no two opinions as to their superiority to the negro as pick-and-shovel men, and the foremen have no trouble in keeping them at their tasks, as these men have a little common sense and intelligence, as well as brute strength.

WATER-BABIES BY A RIVER-SIDE.

They are employed in clearing away the bush, cutting down undergrowth, laying railway tracks, and attending upon the clearing of the dump trains, and it is surprising how quickly they get accustomed to their new surroundings. At first there was a little difficulty in supplying them with the kind of food they desired and were used to, and the negro cooks who waited upon them were apt to steal some of the rations served out and give them short measure. I remember seeing a body of about forty Spaniards advance to the headquarters office at Culebra to lodge a complaint about their food.

The two ringleaders had with them an old tin can containing water that was very dirty and a piece of meat that was certainly far from being choice. They had come about five miles to see someone in authority and air their grievance. It was pointed out to them that because they were in possession of some stagnant water and putrid beef it was no evidence that it had been served to them as food, and they were sent back with a promise that their camp should be properly inspected. It turned out that the deputation had been organised with the express purpose of getting rid of a Barbadian cook against whom they had a grudge. They had hunted round the district for the dirtiest water they could find, and had been fortunate in coming across a piece of stinking meat that had been thrown out of some wayside shack. So much regard for their comfort had been displayed by the officials that there was a tendency on the part of these Spanish labourers to presume upon it by bringing all their natural cunning into play.

On Sundays and holidays groups of the Spaniards congregate in Panama. They look very picturesque with their great balloon-like trousers and shirts of many colours, and their habit of carrying their coats and jackets on their shoulders like a mantle. They have not yet adopted the lighter styles of clothing usually worn in the tropics, but they do not seem to suffer unduly from the heat. Many of them have very fierce, villainous expressions, and it may well be that the Spanish Government spends less in support of its jails and prisons since so many of its subjects have found employment upon the isthmus.

There is a disposition on the part of these native recruits to the labour forces of the Zone to settle, and not a few of them send home for their wives and families. It does not seem at all unreasonable to suppose that the example of their forefathers will be followed by many of them, and it certainly would not be an undesirable thing to have a fresh influx of new blood.

The rapid increase of private building operations in Panama and Colon, and in the many smaller towns along the line, has given the labourer opportunities for selling his services to a variety of employers, and for years to come there will be a large demand for skilled workmen as well.

CHAPTER VI
Canal Projects: Old and New

THE transcendent egotist who declared that had he planned the universe he would have made health and not disease infectious, would also surely have included in his schemes the omission of the narrow neck of land which joins the two American continents. For ever since its discovery, the isthmus of Darien has been but an obstacle that men have wished to overcome by cutting through it a waterway to connect the two oceans which it divides. Whether Cortez ever penetrated so far south as Darien or no, certain it is that he searched diligently for a passage to the Pacific, declaring this to be the one thing above all others he was most desirous of meeting with.

For the best of all reasons, the persistent attempts to discover what was called the “The Secret of the Straits” proved unsuccessful, and it remained for human energy and ingenuity to create what nature had failed to provide.

As far back as the beginning of the sixteenth century, when the newly founded city of Panama was fast becoming a flourishing emporium for Pacific trade, a proposition was put forward by Angel Saavedra for a canal across the isthmus, and thirty years later Antonio Galvao was suggesting no fewer than four different canal routes.

Spain was, however, jealously guarding her new colonies and any information concerning them, fearing an awakened interest on the part of other powers. To such an extent did this policy prevail that, according to one authority, the mere proposal to open up navigation between the two oceans, or to explore the River Atrato with that object, was punishable with death. The Spaniards themselves possessed neither the skill nor the perseverance to carry out such a work as the excavation of a canal, and dreaded the undertaking of such a project by some more enterprising nation.

AN OLD CHURCH AND BUILDINGS, PANAMA.

They relied upon ignorance as a means of prevention, and appealed to the superstition of the age by declaring that the disturbing of what was a design of nature would undoubtedly result in the vengeance of Heaven on anyone attempting such a work.

The reports of the gold to be found in this region attracted the buccaneers, and led to their exploring the country to no small extent.

It can readily be understood that the fame of their exploits and their success in acquiring rich treasure by no means accorded with the policy of His Majesty of Spain who, in 1685, closed down, by royal decree, the gold mines on account of their being such an attraction to the pirates, inducing them to undertake the transit from the sea of the north to the sea of the south, to the prejudice of the public cause.

When, however, the power of Spain began to decline and her hold over her colonies gradually relaxed, a quickened interest arose in the Panama trade route, whilst the ever-increasing wealth pouring across the isthmus on mules’ backs or men’s shoulders, continually emphasised the necessity for better facilities of transit. By the end of the eighteenth century it had come to be recognised on all sides that the interests of international commerce demanded the opening up of a line of communication across this strip of land; and the construction of other canals such as the Caledonian and the Forth and Clyde, gave an impetus to the idea of a waterway from the Atlantic to the Pacific at a favourable point.