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 Cornell University Library 
 F 1566.B93 1914 
 
 Panama; the canal, the country and the pe 
 
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PAIS^AMA 
 
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 THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
 
 NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO • DALLAS 
 ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO 
 
 MACMILLAN & CO., Limited 
 
 LONDON ■ BOMBAY • CALCUTTA 
 MELBOURNE 
 
 THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANABA, Ltd. 
 
 TORONTO 
 
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The original of tliis book is in 
 tlie Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
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 Co^righteti by Harris &■ Eioinfr. 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON GOETHALS, 
 Chairman and Chief Engineer of the Isthmian Canal Commission. 
 
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PANAMA 
 
 THE CANAL, THE COUNTRY 
 AND THE PEOPLE 
 
 ARTHUR BULLARD', 
 
 ; (ALBERT EDWAS-KSyi'-'.': '• 
 
 REVISED EDITftJiT WITH ABDITlOfiTAL.' CHAPTERS 
 
 ILLU5T^iTE© 
 
 Wefa gorfe 
 
 THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
 
 1914 
 
 .rf// r»>i« reserved 
 
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• OOPTMHHT, 1911, BT THE OnTlOOK'^CeMAKT. 
 
 • •••.•; 
 
 ; .•". ; •■•••• PfMj^fT, uit,i9u,. 
 
 • ,... Bt THE>MAC]!IlIjSAl<C.c6dfAtrY.*. . 
 
 • •' ..' •«. . ' •• ••.'',.'. 
 
 '. :' *• ■; r^ 
 
 'gel vp'and electrotyped. ' Ptiiifished October, i*gftlf • Reprinted 
 Febniai^?i9Z2. ■-*,_ 
 
 Ncwlr^fed and enlarged edition, September^ <9z<r 
 
 • •' .•* .' •• * 
 • • • • • _• 
 
 
 J. S. Cashing Co Berwick & Smith Co. 
 
 Norwood, Mass., TJ.B.A. 
 
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 / 
 
 To my friend, 
 JOHN 0. COLLINS 
 
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Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
PREFACE 
 
 Chapters I, III, XXVI, XXX, XXXI, and XXXIII 
 appeared as articles in The Outlook; Chapter II in Harper's 
 Weekly; Chapter VIII in Success Magazine. Chapter 
 XXXIV is a compilation of material used in articles for 
 Success and The Coming Nation. They are reprinted here 
 through the courtesy of the original publishers. 
 
 The works of Bancroft, Fiske, Irving, Prescott and 
 Winsor — ^the principal authorities on the epoch of discovery 
 and colonization — have been freely used. 
 
 Other authors have been quoted^acknowledgment is 
 made in the text — and many more have been consulted. 
 The staff of the American History Department of the New 
 York Public Library have been of great assistance. 
 
 While on the Isthmus I have received courtesies too nu- 
 merous to mention from the canal men. I am especially 
 indebted to Col. George W. Goethals, the Chairman and 
 Chief Engineer, and to Mr. Joseph Bucklin Bishop, the 
 Secretary of the Isthmian Canal Commission. The chapter 
 on health conditions could not have been written except 
 for the kind assistance of Mr. Jennings, the Entomologist 
 of the Sanitary Department. 
 
 In a more personal way I am deeply in the debt of my 
 friend, John 0. Collins, for suggestions and services with- 
 out end. 
 
 The exact information contained in this volume is due 
 to those I have mentioned. The mistakes are my own. 
 
 ARTHUR BULLARD. 
 
 New Yokk Citt, 
 July, 1911. 
 
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PREFACE TO THE REVISED EDITION 
 
 The body of the book has been carefully revised, new 
 illustrations gathered and two chapters added. 
 
 My friend, John O. Collins, has helped me with many 
 
 corrections of the first edition and suggestions for this. 
 
 And I am especially indebted to my hosts of "The 
 
 Monastery," Mr. F. H. Cooke, U.S.N., and Mr. W. H. 
 
 May, whose kind hospitality made my recent visit to the 
 
 Isthmus most pleasant. 
 
 ARTHUR BULLARD. 
 
 1914. 
 
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. The Sea Route 1 
 
 II. A Cargo of Black Ivory 26 
 
 III. The Canal Zone in 1909 44 
 
 rV. Colon and Panama City 64 
 
 V. The Geography op the Isthmus .... 67 
 
 VI. The Panamanians 81 
 
 VII. "The Darien" 94 
 
 VIII. The Thirst fob Gold 108 
 
 IX. The Jungle 120 
 
 X. The Coming op the White Man .... 132 
 
 XI. The First Colonists . . .... 150 
 
 XII. Santa Makia de la Antigua del Daribn . . 169 
 
 XIII. The Southern Sea 190 
 
 XIV. Pedbarias 207 
 
 XV. The Conquest op Peru 229 
 
 XVI. Las Casas 253 
 
 XVII. The Days op the Great Trade 281 
 
 XVIII. Privateers and Pirates 302 
 
 XIX. The Buccaneers 317 
 
 XX. The Presbyterian Invasion 337 
 
 XXI. The Decline of the Spanish Empire . . . 356 
 
 XXII. The Wars op Independence — Miranda . . . 370 
 
 XXIII. The Wars op Independence — Bolivar . . . 382 
 
 XXIV. Early Isthmian Transit 397 
 
 XXV. The Panama Railroad 418 
 
 XXVI. Our Predecessors on the Job 431 
 
 XXVII. The 53 Revolutions in 57 Years .... 446 
 
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XII 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XXVIII. The Secession from Colombia 461 
 
 XXIX. Beqinninq Work 475 
 
 XXX. The Boss of the Job 497 
 
 XXXI. Pulling the Teeth op the Tropics .... 611 
 
 XXXII. Transplanted Americans 526 
 
 XXXIII. The Big Jobs in 1911 540 
 
 XXXIV. Experiments in Collective Activitt . . . 557 
 XXXV. Finishing the Job 579 
 
 XXXVI. The .Profit . , 588 
 
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 George "Washington Goethals Frontispiece 
 
 FACING PAGE 
 
 The Keepers of the Peace in Barbados 20 
 
 A Bullock Cart in Martinique 20 
 
 A Cargo of Black Ivory at the Colon Dock 42 
 
 The View from the Tivoli 60 
 
 Culebra Cut in 1909 60 
 
 Map of the Republic • . . 66 
 
 Water Front, Panama City 80 
 
 The Flat Arch of the Church of St. Dominic . . . .100 
 
 The Cathedral of Panama 100 
 
 Banana Market at Gatun, on the Chagres 110 
 
 Map of Indias 132 
 
 Chepigana 150 
 
 £1 Seal de Sta. Maria 150 
 
 Indian Cayukas on the Chucunaque River 170 
 
 Village of San Miguel, Pearl Islands 180 
 
 The Steamer Veraguas 200 
 
 The Deserted Rancho 200 
 
 A Cholo Indian Village 220 
 
 Hitting the Trail 270 
 
 Cocoanut Palms 270 
 
 Puerto Belle — the Grave of Sir Francis Drake .... 290 
 
 Native Village on the Site of the Old Town of San Lorenzo . 300 
 
 Old French Equipment 340 
 
 Modern American Equipment 340 
 
 John Findley Wallace, First Chief Engineer .... 360 
 
 John F. Stevens, Second Chief Engineer 360 
 
 Culebra Cut in 1904, December, looking North .... 380 
 
 Colonel Goethals' Home 400 
 
 Part of the Labor Problem 400 
 
 xiii 
 
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xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 FACING PAOX 
 
 Anopheline Mosquito 440 
 
 Isthmus with Completed Canal 460 
 
 Ancon Hospital 480 
 
 The Middle Lock at Gatun, looking South, April 1, 1911 . . 500 
 
 Cat at Empire, in 1911 516 
 
 A Steam Shovel 530 
 
 Culebra Cut, Culebra, looking South from the West Bank and 
 
 showing the Completion of the Bottom Pioneer Cut . . 550 
 Gamboa Dyke, separating Chagres River and Gatun Lake on the 
 
 Left, from the mouth of the Culebra Cut .... 566 
 
 The Blowing up of Gamboa Dyke 570 
 
 Blowing up Gamboa Dyke. View from the West Bank, showing 
 
 the Water rushing through the Opening .... 576 
 Suction Dredges operating on the North and South Sides of the 
 
 Cucaracha Slide, Culebra Cut, Culebra .... 580 
 Cross-Section of Culebra Cut, showing Increased Excavation due 
 
 to " Slides " 584 
 
 Culebra Cut, Empire, looking South from the West Bank near 
 
 Cunette 590 
 
 Gatun Locks, looking North from the Light House on the West 
 
 Wall. Atlantic Entrance in the Distance .... 592 
 
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PAIS^AMA 
 
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PANAMA 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE SEA ROUTE 
 
 The tropics should be visited by way of the sea. You 
 come into them gently, almost imperceptibly. You are 
 more impressed by the intensifying blueness of the water 
 and sky than by the increasing heat. It begins when you 
 leave the grayness of the Gulf Stream and deepens day by 
 day. Each night you turn in feeling that at last you have 
 perceived the ultimate blue. And each morning you wake 
 up to realize that yesterday's blue was as insipid as a first- 
 love compared to deepness of the color of this new day. 
 
 The fourth night out I was on the bridge with the cap- 
 tain watching the glory of the summer moon lazily climb- 
 ing up from the horizon — ^painting a silver "trail of rapture 
 in the wonder of the sea." Suddenly the rich notes of a 
 guitar broke the silence, and then — after a few preliminary 
 chords — a West Indian negro melody floated up from the 
 forecastle hatch. The captain stopped his sentry-like pac- 
 ing, smiled contentedly, and pointed with his pipe towards 
 the sound. 
 
 "Hear 'em?" he said. "They're getting near home. 
 They never sing above twenty-five degrees north. It's 
 time to get out your white clothes." 
 
 And so you pass into the tropics to the music of minor 
 
 1 
 
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2 PANAMA 
 
 chords. It is worth the trip just to see the delectable grin 
 of perfect joy with which the negro steward lays out your 
 "ducks." 
 
 Late the next night we caught the gleam of Culebra, 
 our new naval base off Porto Rico. It was the first sign 
 of land since the snow-covered Jersey hills had sunk into 
 the sea. 
 
 Before dawn the next morning I was startled out of 
 sleep by a sound I had not heard for many months, 
 for it is not heard on Broadway — ^it was a cock crow- 
 ing, answered almost immediately by the barking of a 
 farm dog. I was on deck as soon as might be. Our 
 ship was riding at anchor off the Danish island of St. 
 Thomas. The moon had set, and in the darkness there 
 was little to see except the jagged outline of the moun- 
 tains. The entrance to the harbor was dimly visible, and 
 inside a few early lights twinkled in the town. But the 
 land breeze brought us out many unfamiliar sounds and 
 innumerable rich perfumes — the pungent fragrance of the 
 Southland. 
 
 As the dawn broke we got under way. It is a wonderful 
 harbor. The entrance is less than half a mile across, and 
 within — the hills rising a thousand feet on every side — is a 
 six-fathom basin, a mile or more across. Nature has rarely 
 built so perfectly safe a harbor. And at the foot of the 
 bay, climbing up the hillside, is the many-colored town of 
 Charlotte Amalia. 
 
 The view from deck, as the ship creeps in to anchorage, 
 is the most charming in the West Indies. The bay lacks 
 the great sweep of Algiers, but it has the same moimtain 
 background, the same glorious blue of sea and sky. The 
 village, blue and orange and yellow and red, recalls some of 
 the coast towns of Italy. The garden walls of the hillside 
 villas shine out dazzlingly white against the luxurious green 
 
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TKE SEA BOUTE 3 
 
 of the tropical foliage. The ruins of Bluebeard's castle 
 above the town — a landmark of the old days of buccaneers — 
 present the only touch of gray. The rest is a riot of color. 
 Most striking of all is the gaudy red Danish fortress down 
 by the water front. I have never seen so red a building. 
 At first it is glaring and unpleasant, but after a time one's 
 eyes become' accustomed to the new scale of color values 
 which the intense sun of the tropics requires. And the 
 bizarre glory of this fort — which would be unspeakably 
 offensive in the gray north — seems to be not out of place 
 in the color scheme of St. Thomas. The town of Char- 
 lotte Amalia has taken the atmosphere of Algiers and the 
 gorgeous coloring of Venice, rolled them into one, and 
 reduced it to miniature. 
 
 But the place is beautiful only from the ship. As soon 
 as the harbor doctor had approved our bill of health, the 
 bumboats swarmed about the ship. We were taken ashore 
 by an old negro named Ebenezer. We chose him from all 
 the crowd of dilapidated ferrymen who had bid so raven- 
 ously for our traffic, because his white-bearded face looked 
 the hungriest. The poverty of the negroes all through the 
 islands is appalling. Old Ebenezer had never been out of 
 St. Thomas. And his horizon was even narrower than the 
 land-locked harbor. As he took us in he pointed out the 
 various places of interest — Bluebeard's castle, the factory 
 where the natives make the bay rum which they think has 
 made their island famous. At last his long, emaciated finger 
 pointed to an uninteresting modern building. 
 
 "Th' Barracks, suh." 
 
 "Have they a large garrison here?" I asked. 
 
 "Oh, yus, suh! an a'my, suh." 
 
 "How many?" I asked. "Ten?' 
 
 "Oh, suh! No, suh! Mo' than ten, suh. Thu'ty, sin 
 About thu'ty, suh!" 
 
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4 PANAMA 
 
 Ebenezer's whole vision was on the scale of a large army 
 of about thirty men. 
 
 It was immediately after breakfast when we came ashore, 
 but the sun was already hard at work. There must have 
 been a difference of twenty degrees in the temperature 
 afloat and ashore. For when we clambered upon the glar- 
 ing white concrete dock, the heat struck us like a blow. 
 The town is as iminteresting as it is hot. There are nine 
 hundred and ninety-nine colored people to one white. 
 The women were shapeless, and all seemed old. Their cos- 
 tume held no picturesqueness. There was rarely a touch 
 of color — for the most part their dresses were of the dirtiest 
 white. Poverty hangs heavy over everything. The rich 
 forests which once covered the hills have long since passed 
 away. The soil is almost sterile. Little grows but the bay 
 tree, from which the hair tonic— the island's one industry — 
 is produced. Steam traffic and cables have ruined the 
 place. The magnificent harbor which was once crowded 
 with sailing vessels waiting for orders is now almost de- 
 serted. 
 
 Charlotte Amalia is a good place to shop, as it is a free 
 port. European goods can be bought at fabulously low 
 prices. While I was stocking up on linen clothes, I was 
 approached by the tallest, lankiest, blackest negro on the 
 island. "General," he said, "liketohavesomebodycarry- 
 yourgoods?" I had to make him repeat it a dozen times 
 before I could locate the spaces between the words. His 
 eyes were so big and serious about it, his general scenic 
 effect so unutterably droll, that I took him on, and chris- 
 tened him "The Army." We taught him to salute, right 
 about face, etc., and loaded him up with our bundles until 
 he looked more like a pack mule than an army. 
 
 He proved of great service to one of our party who wanted 
 to get typical photographs. He posed in a dozen attitudes 
 
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TEE SEA SOUTE 5 
 
 himself, procured other groups for us — an old woman with 
 her hay-laden ass. Then we began to poke fun at him; 
 could he get the prettiest girl in the town to pose for us? 
 Certainly. He disappeared around the corner, and came 
 back in ten minutes with a girl who admitted that she was 
 the belle of the island. He was wonderfully solemn about 
 it all. 
 
 "Could you bring us a volcano?" I asked. "My friend 
 here wants a picture of a volcano." 
 
 "No, suh," he said, saluting with the utmost seriousness. 
 "They are not in season. You can't get them except in 
 May. Come back in May." 
 
 I paid him off after that and discharged him. I have a 
 sick feeling every time I think of it. My friends good- 
 naturedly insist that the man was stupid and didn't know 
 what a volcano was. But much as I would Uke to beheve 
 this, I can't. I think he was paying me back in my own 
 coin — overpaying me. I don't think I'll go back in May. 
 
 When the captain had finished business with the com- 
 pany's agent, he joined us and led us off in search of refresh- 
 ment. The Grand Hotel faces the public square by the 
 landing-place. It is built like first-class hotels in tropical 
 cities the world over — thick white walls, high spacious 
 rooms, and a veranda roofed over and protected by many 
 blinds and sunshades. The whole thing is built on a scale 
 ten times too big for a little town like Charlotte Amalia. 
 The great hall was deserted except for a child at play. 
 On the veranda a Danish officer was breakfasting in soli- 
 tary splendor. There was no servant in sight; no bell with 
 which to call one. The ofiicer, seeing our helplessness, 
 bawled out some Danish summons at the top of his voice. 
 By and by a waiter appeared. He was as black and shiny 
 as an ebony cane. He wore duck trousers, an open net- 
 work undershirt, to which he had added a high celluloid 
 
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6 PANAMA 
 
 collar and a soiled white tie. Could we get some ices? He 
 did not seem at all sure one way or the other. After severe 
 cross-examination he admitted that he could get some bot- 
 tled kola for the ladies and some beer for the men. 
 
 The Grand Hotel with its hundred empty guest rooms, 
 its vast deserted veranda, its barefooted, slovenly servant, 
 is ts^ical of this disappointed island. There is another 
 equally desolate hotel in St. Thomas, called "1868"— after 
 the great year when King Christian the Ninth signed the 
 treaty by which he ceded his West Indian islands to the 
 United States. 
 
 In those days the people of St. Thomas dreamed great 
 dreams. And these dreams were the foundation on which 
 these great hotels were built. At last the island was to 
 recover from the decline which steam shipping had brought. 
 From insignificance it was to rise to "The Gibraltar of the 
 West" — ^the great naval outpost of the United States. 
 England was spending millions on the fortifications of Ber- 
 muda and St. Lucia. Spain for centuries had been strength- 
 ening San Juan in Porto Rico and the different ports of 
 Cuba. But St. Thomas held the key to the Spanish Main 
 — as a glance at the map will show. American gold and 
 American life were to flow into the port. For half the 
 money the other nations were spending on their fortresses 
 the harbor of St. Thomas could have been made twice as 
 strong. So it was not a baseless dream. 
 
 A tornado and tidal wave — ^the only such catastrophe 
 recorded in these islands — spoiled it all. 
 
 Our diplomatic record in regard to these islands is the 
 blackest stain on the annals of the Department of State — 
 and it is to be the more blushed at because the nation we 
 slighted was too small to resent the insult with arms. Dur- 
 ing the Civil War the need of a naval base in the West 
 Indies became apparent. Lincoln and Seward were greatly 
 
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THE SEA BOUTE 7 
 
 interested in the project, and St. Thomas was selected by 
 them — as it would have been by any intelligent observer. 
 It was perfectly fitted to our purpose. Denmark, which 
 through the war had been more friendly to Washington 
 than the other European nations, needed money. The mat- 
 ter was broached at Copenhagen by our diplomats, and, 
 after considerable haggling over the price, was favorably 
 considered. England and Germany, who did not wish to 
 see our hands strengthened, objected as strongly as pos- 
 sible. But Denmark dared the ill-will of these powerful 
 neighbors and pushed on the negotiations. The proceedings 
 were halted by the bullets which killed Lincoln and wounded 
 Seward. But the matter was reopened as soon as Seward 
 had recovered, early in 1866. He visited St. Thomas to 
 satisfy himself that all was as represented. Things moved 
 rapidly, and in July, 1867, Seward cabled our ambassador 
 in Copenhagen: "Close with Denmark's offer. St. Johns, 
 St. Thomas, seven and a half million. Send ratified treaty 
 immediately." In October the treaty was signed. 
 
 Then occurred the tornado and tidal wave which picked 
 up the old United States frigate Monongahela and stranded 
 it high and dry in the middle of the town of Santa Cruz. 
 The ship was refloated, but the sensational stories of the 
 hurricane turned American sentiment against the island. 
 
 Denmark, however, considered the preliminary treaty as 
 binding. On the 9th of January, 1868, a plebiscite was held 
 on the island; almost unanimously the inhabitants voted 
 for the transfer. The Danish Rigsdad formally ratified the 
 treaty. And poor old King Christian sent out a pathetic 
 proclamation to his West Indian subjects: 
 
 ". . . With sincere sorrow do we look forward to the 
 severance of those ties which for so many years have united 
 you to the mother country. . . . We trust that nothing 
 has been neglected upon our side to secure the future wel- 
 
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8 PANAMA 
 
 fare of our beloved and faithful subjects, and that a mighty 
 impulse, both moral and material, will be given to the happy 
 development of the islands under the new sovereignty. 
 Commending you to God, . . . " 
 
 Our Senate was pledged to ratify the treaty within four 
 months. Action was postponed two years. And mean- 
 while the treaty became buried in some pigeon-hole of the 
 Committee on Foreign Relations. King Christian had to 
 swallow the insult as best he could, and the islanders re- 
 gretfully returned to their old allegiance. 
 
 Negotiations were renewed from time to time, and hope 
 still lived in St. Thomas until the Spanish War gave us a 
 naval base at Culebra. Then hopeless disappointment set- 
 tled down on the island. 
 
 It was still night when we sighted Martinique. The 
 black shaft of Mont Pel^e pushed up through the semi- 
 darkness to what seemed a ghastly height. The top spur 
 was lost in the clouds. But as the dawn came up out of 
 the sea the air cleared and the sinister peak stood out clear- 
 cut and cruel. The sides of the mountain are a dark, 
 angry red, scarred by innumerable black ravines. It is 
 rendered more appalling by the contrast of its barren flanks 
 with the luxurious vegetation below. The towering cone 
 would be a fearsome thing to see even to one who did not 
 know its murderous history. 
 
 About the skirts of the island runs a golden-green fringe 
 of cane-brakes; above are heavy forests of tamarind, mango, 
 and cabinet woods — ^the darkest shades of green; below are 
 the red rocks and the sea. The shores rise sheer from the 
 deep water, and we passed in close enough to see the white- 
 clad natives at work in the fields. The plantations run 
 high up the slopes to the "Great Woods," and, like French 
 agriculture everywhere, show minute care and a high de- 
 
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TEE SEA BOUTE 9 
 
 gree of culture. A farm road circles the island, dotted 
 here and there with white-walled homesteads, half hidden 
 in luxuriant gardens. Sleepy, nodding cocoa palms are 
 grouped about most of the houses, and in every garden are 
 the "flambeau" trees — red and brilliant as a Kentucky 
 cardinal. 
 
 We passed within sight of the gray blotch of ruins which 
 was once St. Pierre. It is scarcely a dozen years since Mont 
 Pel6e exploded and blotted out this gay city, this Paris of 
 the West, but stories which are told about it are already 
 becoming legendary. If, for instance, you grumble at the 
 lack of good hotels in the West Indies, some one is sure to 
 say: "Ah! you should have seen St. Pierre; there were no 
 better hotels in Europe — and the caf6s! Why, the Rue 
 Victor Hugo looked like the Boulevard des Italiens." Or, 
 if you find life in the islands dull, you are straightway 
 assured that St. Pierre was gayety itself. There was a 
 theatre at St. Pierre. There was a promenade in the 
 botanical gardens, where a band played every afternoon, 
 where ravishing Creole beauties smiled at you. The legend 
 is explicit in this matter. The beauties of St. Pierre smiled 
 at all strangers. There is not an old timer in the islands 
 who was not a hero in a St. Pierre romance. And on the 
 8th of May, 1902, a little after early Mass, Mont Pel^e 
 with its torrent of fire wiped out St. Pierre and its gayety, 
 and all but one of its thirty-five thousand inhabitants. 
 Nothing is left but the dreariest of dreary ruins. 
 
 Farther down the coast is Fort de France. It does not 
 pretend to be what St. Pierre was, but still it is a fascinat- 
 ing city. The harbor, which is unusually good, is made 
 picturesque by an old fort which is gray with history. 
 The Enghsh captured it in 1762, again in 1781, 1794, and 
 1809. After Waterloo the island was restored to France, 
 and it is thoroughly French. It was hot, but the heat was 
 
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10 P-ANAMA 
 
 soon forgotten in the joy of being again on French soil. 
 The mansard roofs, the iron balconies, the brass bowls 
 before the shops of the hair-dressers, the pdtisseries, the 
 gendarmes — everything recalled the cities of France. There 
 are two department stores called "Au bon march6." A 
 provincial French town without two such stores would be 
 as incomplete as an Uncle Tom's Cabin road company 
 without two Topsies. 
 
 But of more brilliant color and varied interest than the 
 stores are the open markets. In the early morning they 
 are crowded with natives, sellers of fruit and vegetables, 
 crude pottery, and general merchandise. There is an in- 
 cessant din of bargaining in the queer French patois — of 
 which I could not catch one word in ten. 
 
 The crossing of races has gone to the extreme in Marti- 
 nique. I had never before realized how many different 
 shades there are of black. Of the 180,000 inhabitants very 
 few are pure black, and fewer are pure white. The over- 
 whelming majority are of various degrees of mixed blood. 
 But they are a comely race — in striking contrast with the 
 natives of the northern islands. The women are lithe and 
 well formed, many of them fit models for sculpture. Their 
 dresses are a riot of color. The length of their skirts is a 
 mark of their station in hfe. A well-to-do Creole will have 
 hers made three feet too long in front, with a train of five 
 or six feet behind. They wear a sort of belt below the hips 
 and tuck up their skirts, by this means, to whatever height 
 their occupation demands. In their anxiety to protect 
 them from the dirt of the streets it is evident that their 
 skirts are worn solely as a decoration, and not at all from 
 a sense of modesty. It is a striking example of Professor 
 Veblin's "Theory of Conspicuous "Waste." Another thing 
 which attracted my attention was that, while most of the 
 women were barefoot, some wore a slipper on one foot. 
 
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TEE SEA UOVTE 11 
 
 invariably the left foot. I asked a policeman why this was. 
 He looked at me with condescending pity at my ignorance. 
 
 "Is it not Holy Week?" he asked. 
 
 Perhaps to one more familiar than I with the rites of the 
 Church in the tropics this may be an explanation, but to 
 me it only deepened the mystery. 
 
 The turbans of the women are quite wonderful affairs, 
 and the bandanna about their necks completes a close har- 
 mony of color which makes a parrakeet look like an ama- 
 teur. 
 
 The custom of carrying everything on their heads has 
 given the people a strange stride, in which the knee joint 
 is unused. This custom— if continued indefinitely — ^will 
 surely result in the atrophying of their arms. It is no 
 exaggeration to say they carry everything on their heads. 
 I saw one woman with a baby buggy balanced on her tur- 
 ban. I was not near enough to see if there was a baby 
 in it. But the greatest marvel was a big buck negro, with 
 perfectly good arms. He was strolling down the street with 
 a soiled and dilapidated brickbat on his head. I stopped 
 him, and asked why he carried with so much care so worth- 
 less a piece of rubbish. He took off the brickbat and showed 
 me a letter he was carrying, and explained that he had to 
 put on some weight to keep the wind from blowing it away. 
 
 After the monotony of the ship's fare a chance at French 
 cooking was not to be missed. At the Grand Hotel de 
 I'Europe I foimd a chef with the true artistic instinct. He 
 came up, dusted all over with flour, from his oven, where 
 he was concocting a p&te. Delighted at the idea of an 
 appreciative patron, he sat down with me in the caf6 and 
 sketched out a dejeuner. He was from the Faubourg St. 
 Antoine, and it was delightful to hear the twang of a true 
 Parisian accent after the slovenly patois of the natives. 
 The lunch was ready at noon, and he had done himself 
 
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12 PANAMA 
 
 proud. There was a fragrant melon, the pdti of calf brains 
 at which I had found him working, chicken en casserole, a 
 salad, and dessert. The only false note was the coffee. 
 It was native. There are people who claim that West 
 Indian coffee is superior to all others. But it must be an 
 acquired taste. 
 
 Later in the day I presented a letter of introduction to 
 the agent of an American business house. He came from 
 the north of Maine, of French-Canadian ancestry, and was 
 as out of place in the tropics as a snowball would be. And 
 the fever was melting him away as fast as if he had been 
 one. His hatred of the place was pathetic. He took me 
 over his house, pointing out all the villainies of life in Fort 
 de France. 
 
 "Look!" he said, with the eloquent gestures he had in- 
 herited from his forebears. "Look! look at this room! 
 They called it a kitchen! And that — that is supposed to be 
 a stove. And here, look at this — ^it is supposed to be a 
 bathtub! Not for horses — for us! Every time my wife 
 takes a bath in it she cries!" 
 
 He was perfectly speechless, he told me volubly, over the 
 lack of sanitary conveniences. He was a grotesque old 
 Northerner in his crisp white ducks, and it was hard not 
 to laugh. But the Tropics will kill him if he is not re- 
 called. 
 
 The show-place of Fort de France is the "Savane," the 
 great open square, where, surrounded by a circle of mag- 
 nificent royal palms, is the marble statue of Josephine. 
 I did not view it at close quarters, for it was raised by 
 Napoleon III, and the official sculpture of the Second 
 Empire could never tempt me to walk a hundred yards in 
 a broiling sun. But seen from the shaded caf6 of the 
 Hotel de I'Europe, it is exquisite in its setting. Pure white, 
 under the gigantic palms, it is outlined against a heavy 
 
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THE SEA EOVTE 13 
 
 green background of mango trees. Off to the right, past 
 the moss-grown old fort, you can see a clump of cocoa 
 palms on the other side of the bay. It is the plantation of 
 La Pagerie, where the Empress was born. Some ruins of 
 the old house where she passed the first fifteen years of her 
 hfe still stand. 
 
 My memories of Martinique center about a woman whose 
 life had been almost as eventful as that of the sad Empress. 
 I saw her first in the early morning. When our ship cast 
 anchor, we were surrounded, as usual, by a swarm of little 
 boats. They had to keep back a few hundred feet until 
 the Harbor Master had come aboard and lowered our yel- 
 low flag. Watching them, I noticed another boat a hundred 
 yards beyond this circle. It was manned by two sturdy 
 blacks, and in the stern-sheets sat a woman in a heavy 
 widow's veil. The moment our quarantine flag dropped 
 she gave an order to her men and they rowed rapidly along- 
 side. She did not wait for her meagre trunk to be hoisted 
 over the side, but disappeared immediately in her state- 
 room. 
 
 I found the affair quite mysterious; for our boat was to 
 stay twelve hours in port, and people are not generally in 
 such a hxury to come aboard. And even more unusual 
 was the lack of any one to see her off; for in this neigh- 
 borly climate there is generally quite a formidable mob of 
 friends on the dock, and leave-takings are loud and volum- 
 inous. 
 
 But the interest of things ashore drove the thought of 
 this solitary woman from my mind until, back in the ship 
 at dinner, I found her seated beside me. She had thrown 
 the heavy veil back over her shoulder. Her profile was of 
 the purest French type; long, drooping eyelashes held a 
 suggestion of Creole blood, but it must have been a very 
 shght mixture and many generations back. She knew no 
 
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14 PANAMA 
 
 English, so I became acquainted with her, helping her 
 decipher the bill of fare. She accepted my aid with gra- 
 cious reserve. Her long, delicate hands, the gentle refine- 
 ment of her manners, spoke of race and good breeding. 
 
 We were scheduled to sail at eight, but for some reason 
 we were delayed. And after dinner, as I was pacing the 
 deck, she came to me and asked — ^with a vain effort to hide 
 her anxiety — if I knew how soon we would leave. The 
 farewell whistle had blown a few minutes before, and I 
 told her we were going at once. But this did not reassure 
 her, and I had to go forward to get definite word from the 
 captain. Before I could rejoin her, the anchor was up and 
 we were swinging out of the harbor. I found her settling 
 herself comfortably in a steamer chair. The look of worry 
 had given place to one of exceeding good cheer. 
 
 "May I trouble you once more. Monsieur?" she said. 
 "Have you a match?" 
 
 I had, and I asked permission to draw up my chair and 
 smoke with her. Her face was animated, and she seemed 
 to welcome a chance to talk. There were a great many 
 questions about America — a strange country to her — and 
 then about myself. When I told her that I was a writer, 
 her face, which was ever a mirror of her thoughts, clouded 
 ominously. 
 
 "Madame does not like journalists?" I asked. 
 
 "Oh, yes, I do," and she laughed merrily. "My hus- 
 band is an editor." 
 
 Her use of the present tense surprised me, as I had 
 thought her a widow. After this beginning, she told me 
 much of her own story. When she was eight years old, 
 her father, who had been one of the richest ship-owners in 
 St. Pierre, lost his life in a hurricane only a quarter of a 
 mile from the port. Thrice she had had the roof blown off 
 her house by the hurricanes. After her father's death she 
 
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TSE SEA ROUTE 15 
 
 had been sent to a convent in Paris for her education. At 
 fifteen she had returned to the reckless city of St. Pierre. It 
 had been a gay time of balls and picnics and much court- 
 ing. Before seventeen she had married a professor in the 
 high school. 
 
 "My mother did not approve," she said, "but it was a 
 true marriage of the heart." 
 
 And then her husband had "fallen in love with politics" 
 — such was her expression. And politics in the French 
 islands is a sad thing. 
 
 The negroes have developed no ability for good govern- 
 ment. It is more than a century since Toussaint I'Ouver- 
 ture drove the whites away from the neighboring island of 
 Hayti. Since then the Black Republic has had external 
 peace. But its internal history has been one long record 
 of bloodshed and tyranny. And there is probably no place 
 in the Western Hemisphere marked with such utter degra- 
 dation. The French have kept a certain control over their 
 two other islands — Guadeloupe and Martinique. But it has 
 not been an efficient control, and while the French negroes 
 have not become so debased as in Hajiii, they are in pretty 
 sore straits. "The Rights of Man" are in full swing in 
 these colonies; adult men vote, irrespective of color. As 
 the whites are vastly outnumbered, nearly all the officials, 
 except the Governor and the gendarmes, who are sent out 
 from France, are black. The islands which are unusually 
 blessed by nature, and were formerly exceedingly prosper- 
 ous, are dying of the dry-rot of political corruption. The 
 French Chamber is now investigating the affairs of Guade- 
 loupe. The scandal which started with the negro deputy 
 has involved almost all the officials, notably the judi- 
 ciary. 
 
 Things were just as bad in Martinique. My acquaint- 
 ance's husband had tried to bring reform by founding a 
 
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16 PANAMA 
 
 new party — a coalition of the whites and the more respon- 
 sible blacks — against the corrupt gang of mulaittoes led by 
 the Deputy Severe. Her husband left his school work and 
 founded a paper — ^with her money, I judged. 
 
 By chance they were visiting his family at Fort de France 
 at the time of the eruption of Mont Pel6e. But every one 
 of her relatives perished at St. Pierre. He pushed on his 
 political work with success, and in 1907, in the campaign 
 for the Conseil G^n^ral, the new party elected all but two 
 of the Councillors. The following May the time came for 
 the election of the municipal officers of Fort de France. 
 The coalition nominated a negro named Labat for Mayor. 
 The old Mayor, Antoine Siger, was nominated by the 
 mulatto gang to succeed himself. Feeling ran high, but 
 the defeat of the grafters seemed certain. At the last mo- 
 ment the old Mayor appointed the boss. Severe, President 
 of the Election Board. It was as though some Tammany 
 mayor had chosen Tweed to count the ballots. Labat, with 
 several supporters, went to the H6tel de Ville to try to ar- 
 range for a more trustworthy Election Board. A number of 
 shots were fired, and Siger, who stood close beside Labat, 
 was killed. 
 
 "The shots were meant for Labat," she said. "It was 
 the old gang who fired. Why should we have killed Siger? 
 We were sure of winning the election. But the administra- 
 tion was all against us; the Advocate-General, all the 
 judges, owed their positions to Severe. So they tried to 
 convict the leaders of our party. My husband was away 
 in the interior, voting from our estate, but they arrested 
 him too. The trial lasted a long time, but they only proved 
 the guilt of their own party. 
 
 "The day after Siger was killed there was another panic. 
 It was terrible. The whites expected a negro uprising. 
 The old gang had told the blacks that we were planning 
 
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TEE SEA ROUTE 17 
 
 to massacre them. And the Governor from France, who is 
 a fool, made matters worse." 
 
 Since this tragedy Fort de France has been governed 
 administratively. No elections being permitted, the old 
 corrupt gang is still in power. Nothing but the presence 
 of the moimted gendarmes, who patrol the island day and 
 night, prevents wholesale bloodshed. As it is, duelling is 
 incessant. Her husband had been challenged three times in 
 the last year. He was wounded in the first encounter, 
 drew blood in the second, killed his man in the third. As a 
 result, he had been compelled to flee away by night to the 
 neighboring English island of St. Lucia. She had stayed 
 behind in Martinique to keep his paper alive. But every 
 day she had been insulted in the street, every mail brought 
 threatening letters, at night she slept with a revolver under 
 her pillow. At last she could stand it no longer, and was 
 now on her way to join her husband. Afraid of some hos- 
 tile demonstration — even of arrest if her departure were 
 known — she had masked as a widow and had been rowed 
 aboard, not from the public dock, but from the plantation 
 of a friend farther down the bay. 
 
 We sat up all through the soft southern night — ^it was 
 useless, she said, for her to try to sleep — ^talking of the polit- 
 ical tangles of the colony. It was a sordid, almost hopeless, 
 story that she told. It was not exaggerated, for I have since 
 had opportunity to verify it. 
 
 The morning held another surprise for me. As we drew 
 up to the dock at St. Lucia, I saw a man running wildly 
 towards us. And it is not often that you see a well-dressed 
 man running in the West Indies. He wore a spotless white 
 suit and an elegant drooping Panama hat. He was a negro 
 — as black as the coal-piles ashore. 
 
 "Mon mari!" And my beautiful lady was leaning over 
 the rail, frantically throwing kisses to the grinning black. 
 
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18 PANAMA 
 
 As soon as the gangplank was down he dashed aboard and 
 into her arms. I have seldom seen a more affectionate 
 greeting 
 
 Barbados is not very impressive from the sea. It is a 
 coral island and flat. But the open harbor of Carlisle Bay 
 is one of the busiest ports in the West Indies. Anchored in 
 between the great seagoing steamers is a host of small 
 fishing-boats. One of the first things you notice as your 
 ship comes to anchor — one of the things which distinguish 
 Barbados from the other islands — is the number of trim 
 police-boats which dart about the harbor, bringing order" 
 out of a maze of trafiic much as a London "bobby" controls 
 things on the Strand. 
 
 In the first quarter of the seventeenth century a ship, 
 bearing English colonists to a neighboring island, cast 
 anchor off Barbados. A landing party went ashore, and, 
 finding it a rich country, carved into the bark of a mango 
 tree: "James, King of England and this island." Since 
 then the sovereignty of Great Britain has been continuous. 
 And Barbados stands in striking contrast to the other 
 islands, which have changed their flags almost as frequently 
 as the neighboring Latin-American republics have changed 
 their Presidents. 
 
 The police-boats in the harbor are only a foretaste of the 
 orderliness which meets you ashore. The fruits of the three- 
 hundred-year English rule are apparent everywhere. So 
 impressive was the law-abiding air of the place that one of 
 the first things I did was to drive out to the centre of all 
 this order — the police headquarters. 
 
 Starting from the miniature Trafalgar Square in the 
 miniature metropolis of Bridgetown, the carriage passed 
 along the most beautiful, the most superbly kept road I 
 
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THE SEA SOUTE 19 
 
 have ever seen. It is of coral rock, which disintegrates in 
 the air till it looks like cement and is almost as soft as turf. 
 On each side are low white walls, over which hang the gor- 
 geous blossoms of the tropics — the brilliant red hibiscus, a 
 deep purple wistaria-like trailer, and an occasional flam- 
 beau tree. Towering above you all along the way are the 
 most magnificent of all trees — ^the royal palms, lofty Doric 
 columns of living marble, crowned with superb capitals of 
 agate green. And back of the flowering gardens, under 
 these graceful giant palms, are neat, prosperous-looking 
 English homes. Their wide bungalow verandas give an 
 impression of cool, care-free, almost lazy ease. 
 
 Then, abruptly, come the suburbs of negro slums, cabins 
 of palm-thatch, old boards, and scraps of corrugated iron. 
 The shacks are so crowded together, the alleyways so choked 
 with children, that it makes an ordinary ant-hill seem 
 sparsely settled It is appalling. In our city slums more 
 than half the misery and indecency of overcrowding is hid- 
 den by substantial walls. Here it is all open to the eye — 
 and unspeakably ugly. 
 
 It is a vast relief when the road comes to open country. 
 The white garden walls of the English, the squalid hovels of 
 the blacks, give place to the dense golden-green cane-brakes. 
 On every hillock there is a fat, stolid Dutch windmill, which 
 looks weirdly out of place among the cocoa palms. Here 
 and there you see a blotch' of darker green — the park which 
 surrounds some manor house. 
 
 After half an hour's drive we came to such a park, and, 
 turning in through the gateway, found a charming, well- 
 kept garden. The carriage stopped before a low but spa- 
 cious bungalow. There was nothing to show that it was 
 not a private home except for the sentry before the door. 
 
 In a reception-room upstairs filled with military pictures 
 and portraits of the royal family I found Colonel Kaye, the 
 
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20 PANAMA 
 
 Inspector-General. He is so gracious that he seems more 
 at home on the veranda of the Savannah Club than at Head- 
 quarters. But this mild-mannered gentleman is police chief 
 over a population of nearly 200,000, only 16,000 of whom are 
 white. There are 166 square miles in the island; it is the 
 most densely populated agricultural district in the world. 
 
 " However, there is not much crime," Colonel Kaye re- 
 marked. And, to prove his statement, he showed me the 
 calendar of the Supreme Court, which was about to con- 
 vene. "There are only fifteen cases of felony this term. 
 The court sits every four months. Say an average of fifty 
 serious crimes a year." 
 
 He said this in a matter-of-fact way, with no show of 
 pride. But I doubt if there is any commimity of 200,000 
 in America which could make so good a showing. There 
 are no regular troops in Barbados. A handful of white 
 men rule 175,000 negroes and keep the rate of felonies 
 down to fifty a year! 
 
 "The crime which gives us most trouble," continued the 
 Colonel, "is setting fire to the sugar-cane. This offence 
 comes from three sources: Sometimes the boys do it — ^just 
 to see the blaze. Sometimes a man who has been dis- 
 charged does it for revenge. But generally it is in order 
 to get work. When the cane has been scorched, it has to 
 be milled at once." 
 
 And this points to an added wonder. The mass of the 
 negroes are deathly poor. During the few months of har- 
 vest and planting an able-bodied man on the sugar estates 
 earns twenty cents a day. But during the long winter 
 months some become so utterly destitute that they put a 
 torch to the cane — and risk ten years of penal servitude — 
 to hasten the harvest and their chance at twenty cents a 
 day. Yet in spite of such poverty there are only fifty 
 serious crimes a year. 
 
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THE KEEPERS OF THE PEACE IN BARBADOS. 
 
 A BULLOCK CART IN MARTINIQUE. 
 
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THE SEA SOUTE 21 
 
 Colonel Kaye, like all the Englishmen I met on the island, 
 was convinced that the quiet and order in Barbados is due 
 to the limited suffrage. The right to vote depends on the 
 ownership of considerable property. This quaUfication 
 eliminates many of the poorer whites, the descendants of 
 the indentured servants, and almost all the negroes. 
 
 The race domination is frankly acknowledged. The 
 island has always been and still is run for the whites — "the 
 better-class whites." The abolition of slavery in 1834 did 
 not alter this in the least. Accepting this premise, the 
 island is well run, very well run. It is a heavenly place 
 to live for the white man who can ignore the frightful 
 misery of the negroes. And there can be no doubt that 
 the EngUsh residents succeed in shutting their eyes to every- 
 thing which is unpleasant or threatening. They get more 
 pleasure out of existence than any people with whom I 
 have ever mingled. It is an energetic, gay life of outdoor 
 sports, cold baths, picnics and balls, afternoon tea, and iced 
 drinks. 
 
 The social life centers in the parish of Hastings, two 
 miles down the coast from Bridgetown. The beautiful 
 parade of the deserted barracks has been turned into a 
 playground. The Savannah Club, on a polo day, reaUzes 
 the English ideal of gayety. The wide, shaded verandas 
 are crowded with fair-complexioned Enghsh girls in lawn 
 dresses — just such as are to be seen at a Henley boat race or 
 the Derby. Clean-limbed, clear-skinned EngUshmen, in flan- 
 nels, stroll about between the tea-tables trying to be senti- 
 mental without looking so. Inside is a cardroom where 
 "bridge" is being taken seriously. The inveterate golfers 
 are off early, as their course crosses the polo field. Tennis 
 is in full swing on half a dozen excellent courts. The gray- 
 heads and children are busy on the croquet grounds. The 
 polo ponies are being rubbed and saddled. At last the 
 
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22 PANAMA 
 
 Governor and his American wife drive up in their trap. 
 The police band begins to play, and the game begins. The 
 scene recalls some of Kipling's stories of the "hill life" at 
 Simla. 
 
 A quarter of a mile farther down the coast is the great 
 Marine Hotel, the largest and by far the best hotel I foimd 
 in the West Indies. It is the scene of the big island dances, 
 and is almost as important to the social life of the place as 
 the Club. In its lobbies you meet Britishers from South 
 America and the islands waiting for the Royal Mail boat 
 home. They are a sturdy, adventurous people. But it is 
 an aggravating fact that they will not tell the stories — such 
 fascinating stories they might be — ^with which their frontier 
 Ufe has been filled. The taciturnity of a Londoner never 
 troubles my spirit — how could a dweller in the dismal city 
 have anything interesting to say? But when I meet a 
 Britisher fresh from the jungle, tanned and scarred, who 
 refuses to talk about anything but the new Dreadnoughts, 
 I grind my teeth and curse the law against manslaughter. 
 
 It is not quite all gayety in Barbados. Sometimes — not 
 often — I heard complaints about the steady fall in the price 
 of sugar. As this is the one industry of the island, and the 
 price has been falling for many years, it is a serious problem 
 to the thoughtful. But I found very few who were willing 
 to do so gloomy a thing as think about the future. One of 
 the most popular social functions of the island is furnished 
 by the auction sales. I was invited to a tennis party one 
 afternoon, and when I arrived I found the plans were 
 changed. 
 
 "The Broughton auction sale is set for to-day, so we 
 decided to go over and see it instead of playing tennis," 
 my hostess said. 
 
 We all piled into carriages, and, after a beautiful ride 
 into the interior, we turned through an old gateway, past 
 
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THE SEA BOUTE 23 
 
 an Elizabethan lodge built of coral stone, into a century- 
 old park. Up the drive I could see an old manor house, 
 which, if it were not for the palms and the flaming hibiscus, 
 might well have been in Surrey or Kent. There was a 
 crowd of carriages about the door; the stable court was full 
 of them. The porch was dense with well-dressed people, as 
 though it were some grand reception. 
 
 "All the best people come to the auctions," my hostess 
 said. "Even the Governor comes sometimes." 
 
 As we drove up there was a clamor of merry greetings, 
 for in Barbados everybody who is anybody knows every- 
 body else who is anybody. We pushed our way through the 
 crowd into the dismantled- house. The rooms were splen- 
 didly large, decorated after the noble old English fashion; 
 the woodwork — some of it finely carved — was almost all 
 mahogany. But the carpets were up, the furniture ranged 
 stiffly along the wall, everything movable was numbered. 
 The sale was in progress in the dining-room. The great 
 mahogany table was loaded down with plate and glassware 
 and porcelain. It was being sold in blocks at a pitifully 
 low price. And there was the finest mahogany sideboard 
 I have ever seen. It was simple in its craftsmanship; 
 almost all the lines were straight; but it was marvellously 
 heavy, built in the old days when the precious wood was 
 as cheap in the islands as pine. It had been in the family 
 over a century. And it sold for fprty dollars! Such a 
 piece could not be bought on Fifth Avenue for five hun- 
 dred. I was tempted to bid — it was such a rare old treas- 
 ure — but I never hope to have a house big enough to 
 hold it. 
 
 My party had not come to buy — it was only a social 
 reunion. Most of the island aristocracy was there, and 
 every one enjoyed himself immensely. Out in the corridor 
 I noticed a lonely group of furniture labelled "Not for sale." 
 
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24 PANAMA 
 
 There were a tall hall-clock of ancient make, a high-backed 
 rocking-chair, and two family portraits. 
 
 "Isn't it a shame!" I heard some one say. "I would 
 like to buy that clock." 
 
 It seemed cruel to want to take even these few relics. 
 I wondered what last leaf of this fine old family of Brough- 
 tons had saved these tokens out of the wreck. The old 
 high-back chair — how many generations of happy mothers 
 had rocked their babies to sleep in it! And now the young- 
 est of the line cannot find heart to part with it. Some old 
 maid she is, I imagine. She will rock away what is left of 
 her life in that high-back chair in some strange, dismal 
 room, with only the ticking of the ancient clock and the 
 two old portraits for company. And the laughter which 
 came echoing down the dismantled hall seemed to me as 
 horrid as the merrsTnaking at a Flemish funeral. 
 
 For none of the fine hospitable Barbadian houses can 
 escape a similar fate unless the price of sugar goes up and 
 the negroes begin to bear fewer children. And neither of 
 these things seems probable. 
 
 But the climate is delicious. Each day, as it passes, is 
 perfect. The trade winds, blowing unobstructed from the 
 coast of Africa, bring a stimulating vigor to the air which is 
 unknown elsewhere in the tropics. It would be hard to 
 imagine a more healthy place. While I was there the 
 island was quarantined for yellow fever. There had been 
 six cases among the two hundred thousand people. None 
 of them died, and the one effect of the quarantine was a 
 vigorous polishing of sewer-pipes. As every one familiar 
 with the tropics knows, a port under quarantine is clean, 
 even if at other times it is unspeakably dirty, for quaran- 
 tine hurts business and makes the sanitary officials wake 
 up. But Barbados, being English, is always clean. So the 
 outbreak, while I was there, had no visible effect. 
 
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THE SEA BOVTE 25 
 
 Anyhow, it is a lotus island. Nobody worries. It is so 
 delicious to sit on a shaded veranda and hear the clink of 
 ice that even the residents forget the misery of the negroes 
 and the steady fall of sugar. So there is no excuse for a 
 mere visitor not to find the place charming. 
 
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CHAPTEE II 
 
 A CAKGO OF BLACK IVOBT 
 
 AiiTHOTTGH the outbreak of yellow fever in Barbados was 
 not serious, the quarantine wrecked my plans. I had ex- 
 pected to leave the island on the Royal Mail boat for 
 Colon. But as long as the quarantine lasted no ship which 
 touched at Bridgetown would be allowed to enter any other 
 Caribbean port. 
 
 If I had been a Mohammedan or something Oriental I 
 suppose I would have said "Kismet — ^AUah-il-Allah, " and 
 enjoyed myself. It is a delectable island. But being a 
 child of the Western Hurry Land, and overdue on the 
 Isthmus, I fretted exceedingly. The officials of the Health 
 Department had no idea when the embargo would be lifted. 
 It might last a week — or a couple of months. I once tried 
 to call on a Russian editor in St. Petersburg. His wife told 
 me that he was in jail. 
 
 "When will he get out?" I asked. 
 
 "Even God doesn't know," she said. 
 
 I was in a similar condition of uncertainty. Even the 
 American Consul did not know when I could get out. 
 
 But the quarantine had not been in force two days, when 
 I found a way out. On the veranda of the hotel I over- 
 heard two men in. earnest conversation. One was excitedly 
 insisting that it was an absolute necessity for him to be in 
 Martinique within a few days. The older man, a fine look- 
 ing G. A. R. type of American, said: 
 
 "I'm sorry, I can't help you get to Martinique, but I 
 could fix it, if you wanted to go to Colon." 
 
 26 
 
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A CABGO OF BLACK IVOSY 27 
 
 I told him my troubles without further introduction. 
 
 He turned out to be a man named Karner employed by 
 the Isthmian Canal Commission to recruit laborers. It 
 had been an interesting job — experimenting in racial types. 
 From first to last the Commission had tried about eighty 
 nationalities, Hindoo coolies, Spaniards, negroes from the 
 States, from Africa, from Jamaica, from the French Islands, 
 to settle down to those from Barbados. They have proved 
 the most efficient. This recruiting officer was about to send 
 over a consignment of seven hundred on an especially char- 
 tered steamer. They would avoid the quarantine restric- 
 tions by cruising about the six days necessary for yellow 
 fever to mature. Then, if their bill of health was clear 
 they could dock. My new acquaintance was not exactly 
 enthusiastic. It would be easy to arrange for my passage 
 on this boat, he said, but he did not think that one white 
 passenger among this cargo of blacks would have a very 
 pleasing time. But of course I jumped at the chance; it 
 was this — or the risk of being held up for weeks. I was 
 considerably cheered when I looked over the boat. I was 
 to have the first cabin all to myself and the freedom of the 
 little chart-house deck under the bridge. With a pipe and 
 a bag full of ancient books about the brave old days on the 
 Spanish Main, I could even expect to enjoy the trip. 
 
 After leaving the boat I met Karner at his office and we 
 went to the recruiting station. On our way we walked 
 through the little park which is grandiloquently called 
 Trafalgar Square. There must have been two or three 
 thousand negroes crowded along one side of it — applicants 
 for work on the Canal Zone and their friends. The com- 
 mission pays negro laborers ten cents an hour, and ten 
 hours a day. Their quarters are free, and meals cost thirty 
 cents a day. It is a bonanza for them. Barbados is vastly 
 over-populated, work is scant, and wages unbelievably low. 
 
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28 PANAMA 
 
 Last year the Barbadian negroes on the Isthmus sent home 
 money-orders to their relatives for over $300,000, so there 
 is no end of applicants. 
 
 Several policemen kept the crowd in order and sent them 
 up into the recruiting station in batches of one hundred at 
 a time. The examination took place in a large, bare loft. 
 When Karner and I arrived we found two or three of his 
 assistants hard at work. As the men came up, they were 
 formed in line around the wall. First, all those who looked 
 too old, or too young, or too weakly, were picked out and 
 sent away. Then they were told that no man who had 
 previously worked on the canal would be taken again. I 
 do not know why this rule has been made, but they en- 
 forced it with considerable care. One or two men admitted 
 having been there before and went away. Then the doctor 
 told them all to roll up their left sleeves, and began a mys- 
 terious examination of their forearms. Presently he grabbed 
 a man and jerked him out of the line, cursing him furiously. 
 
 "You thought you could fool me, did you? It won't do 
 you any good to lie, you've been there before. Get out!" 
 
 I asked him how he told, and he showed me three little 
 scars like this, . ' . , just below the man's elbow. 
 
 "That's my vaccination mark," he said. "Every negro 
 who has passed the examination before has been vaccinated 
 like that, and I can always spot them." 
 
 He caught two or three other men in the same way and 
 sent them out on a run. They protested vehemently, one 
 arguing that a dog had bitten him there. But the telltale 
 white marks stood out clearly against their black skins; 
 there was no gainsaying them. 
 
 Then he went over the whole line again for tracoma, 
 rolling back their eyelids and looking for inflammation. 
 Seven or eight fell at this test. Then he made them strip 
 and went over them round after round for tuberculosis, 
 
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A CAMGO OF BLACK IVOBY 29 
 
 heart trouble, and rupture. A few fell out at each test. 
 I don't think more than twenty were left at the end out ol 
 the hundred, and they certainly were a fine and fit lot of 
 men. 
 
 All during the examination I had never seen a more 
 serious-looking crowd of negroes, but when at last the doc- 
 tor told them that they had passed, the change was imme- 
 diate. All their teeth showed at once and they started to 
 shout and caper about wildly. A flood of light came in 
 through the window at the end, and many streaks shot down 
 through the broken shingles on their naked bodies. It was 
 a weird sight — something like a war dance — as they expressed 
 their relief in guffaws of laughter and strange antics. It 
 meant semi-starvation for themselves and their families if 
 they were rejected, and untold wealth — a dollar a day — if 
 they passed. They were all vaccinated with the little tri- 
 angular spots, their contracts signed, and they went pranc- 
 ing down-stairs to spread the good news among their friends 
 in the square. 
 
 Sailing day was a busy one. They began putting the 
 cargo of laborers aboard at sun-up. When I went down 
 about nine to the dock, it seemed that the whole population 
 of darkest Africa was there. I never saw so many negro 
 women in my life. All of them in their gayest Sunday 
 clothes, and all wailing at the top of their voices. Every 
 one of the departing negroes had a mother and two or three 
 sisters and at least one wife — all weeping lustily. There was 
 one strapping negro lass with a brilliant yellow bandanna on 
 her head who was something like the cheer-leader at a col- 
 lege football game; she led the wailing. 
 
 A number would be called, the negro whose contract 
 corresponded would step out of the crowd. A new wail 
 would go up. Again there was a medical examination — 
 especially a search for the recent vaccination marks. For 
 
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30 PANAMA 
 
 often a husky, healthy negro will pass the first examina- 
 tion and sell his contract. Then by boat loads the men were 
 rowed aboard. 
 
 Later in the day I encountered the yellow-bandannaed 
 negress, who had been leading the noise at the dock, sitting 
 contentedly in Trafalgar Square surrounded by three very 
 jovial young bucks. The negroes certainly have a wonder- 
 ful abiUty for changing their moods. My heart had been 
 quite wrung by the noise she made when her lover had left 
 in the morning. 
 
 About four o'clock I rowed out and went aboard. Such 
 a mess you never saw — what the Germans would call "ein 
 Schweinerei." There were more than seven hundred negroes 
 aboard, each with his bag and baggage. It was not a large 
 boat, and every square inch of deck space was utihzed. 
 Some had trunks, but most only bags like that which Dick 
 Whittington carried into London. There was a fair sprink- 
 ling of guitars and accordeons. But the things which threw 
 the most complication into the turmoil were the steamer 
 chairs. Some people ashore had driven a thriving trade in 
 deck chairs — flimsy affairs, a yard-wide length of canvas 
 himg on uncertain supports of a soft, brittle wood. The 
 chairs took up an immense amoimt of room, and the ma- 
 jority of "have nots" were jealous of the few who had them. 
 It was almost impossible to walk along the deck without 
 getting mixed up in a steamer chair. 
 
 There were more formahties for the laborers to go through. 
 The business reminded me of the way postal clerks handle 
 registered mail. Every negro had a number corresponding 
 to his contract, and the utmost precaution was taken to see 
 that none had been lost and that no one who had not passed 
 the medical examination had smuggled himself on board. 
 
 We pulled up anchor about six. All the ship's officers 
 had moved into the saloon; it was the only clean place 
 
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A CARGO OF BLACK IVOST 31 
 
 aboard — a sort of white oasis in the black Sahara. For 
 fresh air the only available space was the chart-house deck. 
 There was so much to do in getting things shipshape that 
 none of the officers appeared at dinner. So I ate in solitary 
 grandeur. The cabin was intolerably stuffy, for at each of 
 the twenty-four portholes the round face of a grinning negro 
 cut off what little breeze there was. There was great com- 
 petition among the negroes for the portholes and the chance 
 to see me eat. As nearly as I could judge the entire seven 
 hundred had their innings. I faced out the iBrst three 
 courses with a certain amount of nonchalance, but with the 
 roast the twenty-four pairs of shining eyes — constantly 
 changing — got on my nerves. I did scant justice to the 
 salad and dessert, absolutely neglected the coffee, and, 
 grabbing my writing-pad, sought refuge up on deck. The 
 steward, I suppose, thought I was seasick. 
 
 The negroes very rapidly accommodated themselves to 
 their new surroundings. The strangeness of it in some mys- 
 terious way stirred up their religious instincts; they took to 
 singing. A very sharp line of cleavage sprang up. The 
 port side of the ship was Church of England, the starboard, 
 Nonconformist. The sectarians seemed to be in the ma- 
 jority, but were broken up into the Free Baptists, Metho- 
 dists, etc. The Sons of God would go forth to war on the 
 port side, while something which sounded like a cross be- 
 tween "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," and Salvation Army 
 rag-time was in full blast to starboard. 
 
 There was only one song, a secular one, on which they 
 united. The tune ran something like "Tammany," and as 
 near as I could catch the words the chorus ran: 
 
 " Fever and ague all day long 
 At Panama, at Panama, 
 Wish you were dead before very long 
 At Panama, at Panama." 
 
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32 PANAMA 
 
 Not exactly a cheerful song, but they sang it with great 
 fervor. 
 
 The next day I had the opportunity to get acquainted 
 with the ship's officers. The captain, a Liverpool man, was 
 short and built on the lines of an English bull. His child- 
 hood had been spent in France and he was absolutely bi- 
 lingual. He had read much more than his hearty British 
 tar's look suggested. I sat at his right. Opposite me was 
 the purser, a light weight — a peach and cream complexion 
 and very dudish. He combed his hair carefully and groomed 
 his finger-nails — "a gay dog with the ladies, doncherno." 
 At my right was the first officer, a fine type of straight 
 limbed, straightforward Englishman. Under thirty now, 
 he will be a philosopher at forty. He had not read as many 
 books as the captain, but he had thought a lot more about 
 each one. He was the best of the crowd. Opposite him 
 was the doctor, an old salt, born in Barbados. He had an 
 immense waistline, but his legs tapered down at a sharp 
 angle to ridiculously small feet. His face was broad, his 
 beard cut at the same angle as his legs, his hair flared out 
 from his head in an amazing way, so that he looked just 
 like a turnip. Next to the first ofiicer sat the chief engi- 
 neer. He was also an oldish man from Barbados. He and 
 the doctor hated each other cordially and took opposite 
 sides on every question except the glory of Barbados. Any 
 slur cast at their native isle brought them shoulder to 
 shoulder in an instant. The second officer was a youngster 
 with a squint eye. He never took any part in the conversa- 
 tion except to startle everyone, now and then, with an 
 explosive request to pass him the pepper-sauce. 
 
 During coffee, while various yarns were being swapped, 
 the doctor woke up suddenly out of his coma — the state, 
 according to English novels, into which all elderly, fat 
 Britishers sink after a full dinner. He looked around vac- 
 
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A CARGO OF BLACK IVORY 33 
 
 antly for a moment, and then, without waiting for any 
 break in the conversation, began ponderously: 
 
 "One time on a P. and 0. boat — down in the Red Sea — 
 so hot — we had to stop — to cool the engines . . ." 
 
 But he got no further; the chief groaned and threw a 
 biscuit at him. The purser jumped up and tied a napkin 
 over his face. Everyone howled derisively. The captain 
 leading, they recited in unison: 
 
 "One time on a P. and 0. boat — down in the Red Sea — 
 so hot — ^we had to stop — ^to cool the engines " 
 
 By this time the doctor had pulled the napkin from his 
 mouth, and, calling them all "bloody rotters," he relapsed 
 into sullen silence. 
 
 "What's the story?" I asked. 
 
 "Oh, you'll hear it — often enough before you reach 
 Colon," the captain said. "In self-defence we can't allow 
 it at dinner." 
 
 "When he starts it," the purser put in, " 'one time on a 
 P. and 0. boat,' you'd better yell for assistance — it's awful!" 
 
 Then came another interruption. Suddenly all these di- 
 verse EngUshmen, who did not appear to be very friendly, 
 were brought together with a snap. There was a sharp 
 commotion on the deck above us, the growl of many angry 
 voices, some high-pitched curses, and the rush of many 
 feet. Then in the flash of an eye these Englishmen showed 
 me why their race owns half the earth. 
 
 "Come on, boys," the captain said, as he jumped up. 
 
 A queer idea shot into my mind that the order which 
 sent the Light Brigade charging down the hill of Balaklava 
 must have sounded hke that. But there was no time to 
 develop the idea, for we were all running up the compan- 
 ionway at top speed. 
 
 The soft southern moonlight was shining down on some- 
 thing very much like an inferno — a tangle of long sinewy 
 
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34 PANAMA 
 
 black arms ending in clenched fists, distorted black faces, 
 the whites of eyes, and gleaming teeth — and the low-pitched 
 angry growl of a fighting mob. 
 
 The captain's neck seemed to disappear. His head sank 
 right down on his square shoulders. With a yell he led the 
 charge, and all of us — in white duck— plunged into the black 
 turmoil. Seven against seven hundred. Englishmen cer- 
 tainly know how to use their fists. Every time they struck 
 somebody went down. We ploughed our way along the 
 deck to the storm centre. The captain gripped a man and 
 shook him like a rag. We all followed his example, up to 
 the limit of our strength. Personally, I felt like the tail of 
 the dog, for the man whom the Fates thrust into my clutches 
 was three times my strength. 
 
 One of the laborers, waving a guitar in his hand like a 
 banner, jumped on a box and yelled to the crowd to rush us. 
 
 "Shut up," the captain snapped, "or I'll put a bullet 
 into you!" 
 
 It seemed as though every one at once saw the glint of 
 his revolver. A sort of unearthly moan went up from the 
 negroes. They were utterly cowed. Most of them fell on 
 their faces and tried to crawl away. 
 
 "Here, you constables," the captain called, putting up 
 his revolver, "who started this muss?" 
 
 Ten of the huskiest negroes, it seemed, had been made 
 special constables. They had been discreetly absent during 
 the disturbance, but now turned up trying hard to look 
 heroic. They singled out two of the seven men we held — 
 I am sure it was an absolutely haphazard selection. With- 
 out further ado, with no pretence of a trial, these two men 
 were put in irons and thrown into the brig. 
 
 Then we went back to finish our coffee and cigars. I 
 asked the captain if he thought we had caught the real 
 trouble-makers. 
 
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A CASGO OF BLACK IVOBY 35 
 
 "Probably not," he said, "but what does it matter? We 
 gave them a good scare. It's pretty hot down in the brig. 
 We'll keep these two there a couple of hours and when they 
 come out they'll be sure to exaggerate the horrors of the 
 place. It will put the fear of God into all of them. Be- 
 sides, it will give a good deal of prestige to the constables. 
 If we had questioned their word, their authority wouldn't 
 have amounted to anything. You can't temporize with 
 natives, you've got to act quick — even if you aren't right. 
 It isn't exactly justice, but it works." 
 
 It is this quick, fearless action and cynical disregard of ab- 
 stract justice which enables England to hold the lid down on 
 her colonies. I could not help questioning the morality of 
 such actions, but as the captain said, "it works." I guess it 
 is the inevitable ethics of empire. It had saved what was a 
 very critical situation. If they had made that rush, they 
 would have swept us overboard in a minute. Sooner or 
 later, many of them would have been hanged for it. As 
 it was, we had cracked a score of their heads, imprisoned 
 two who were probably innocent. No serious harm — ^be- 
 yond injured feelings — ^had come to any of them and order 
 was restored. 
 
 The captain himself did not feel entirely at ease, but 
 I soon found that his scruples were the opposite from 
 mine. 
 
 "Perhaps I ought to have shot that beggar," he said. 
 "It don't do to bluff, with a crowd like that. I was in a 
 muss once on the China sea — a couple of hundred coolies 
 as deck passengers. I don't remember what started the 
 rumpus. The captain tried to bluff them" — he paused to 
 engender suspense — " It didn't work. Before we got through 
 there were three of us dead and about twenty chinks. I 
 guess some of the rest are still in the penal colony. A quick 
 shot might have saved it all. Keep your guns in your pock- 
 
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36 PANAMA 
 
 ets till you have to shoot — and then don't hesitate. But I 
 guess this lesson will keep them quiet." 
 
 And the incident was closed. 
 
 I began to feel an ache in my leg, and, looking down, I 
 saw blood on my white trousers. During the excitement I 
 had barked my shin on one of those infernal deck chairs. 
 The doctor took me to his cabin to disinfect and bandage 
 the wound. 
 
 "One time on a P. and 0. boat," he began, "down in the 
 Red Sea . . ." 
 
 But the purser came along and threatened to throw the 
 doctor to the sharks if he inflicted the story on me. I was 
 getting quite curious about what did happen on that P. 
 and 0. But the doctor was too busy reviling the purser to 
 finish the yarn. 
 
 That night we ran into heavy weather, and I have never 
 seen anything messier than the deck in the morning. Seven 
 hundred seasick negroes are not a pretty sight, but there 
 was a certain selfish joy in seeing that this storm had made 
 an end of those steamer chairs. They were all smashed to 
 splinters the moment we began to roll. 
 
 "I hope," the captain said at breakfast, "that this keeps 
 up. Seasickness will take the mischief out of them." 
 
 But his wish was not granted. By noon we had run into 
 a sea like a sheet of corrugated iron, just little ripples, and 
 a metallic look. We were running about eleven degrees 
 north, and it certainly was hot. There was not a breath 
 of wind. The negroes recovered with their habitual quick- 
 ness, and were in an unusually amiable mood. They 
 turned out willingly to help the crew wash down the decks. 
 I have never seen water evaporate so quickly. One minute 
 the decks were glistening with water, the next they were 
 already dry, within five minutes they were too hot to walk 
 on barefooted. 
 
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A CABGO OF BLACK IVOUY 37 
 
 Of course these negroes were not very comfortable. But 
 they were free! There are many men still living who can 
 remember when slave-ships sailed these very waters. It is 
 hard to imagine what life on a slave-ship must have been. 
 The effort to reconstruct the horrors of those days — not so 
 very long past — ^makes the inconveniences which this cargo 
 of black ivory suffer seem small indeed. Above all, there 
 was no one among them who was not here of his own free 
 will. There was not one of them whose heart was not full 
 of hope — this voyage to them all meant opportunity. Think 
 what it must have meant to their forefathers! Nothing 
 which happened to them after they were landed and sold 
 could have approached the agony of the long voyage in 
 irons, thrown pell-mell into the hold of a sailing ship. Not 
 knowing their captors' language, they could not know the 
 fate in store for them. The world does move. 
 
 When, in the far future, the history of our times is writ- 
 ten, I think that our father's generation will be especially 
 remembered because it abolished the negro slave trade. 
 They invented steam-engines and all manner of machines; 
 they cut down a great many trees and opened up a conti- 
 nent and did other notable things. But their crowning 
 glory was that they made an end of chattel-slavery. 
 
 Until these imported negro laborers are handed over to 
 the United States authorities at Colon they are under the 
 paternal care of Great Britain. The conditions imder which 
 they have been recruited, the terms of their contracts, have 
 been carefully supervised by English officials. Above all, 
 their health is guarded. Their daily menus — and they are 
 quite sumptuous — have been ordered by His Majesty's 
 government in London. 
 
 The sunset that second evening was glorious. Right over 
 our bow was a pyramid of soft white clouds; the sun sink- 
 ing behind them brought to Ught a glory of rich harmonic 
 
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38 PANAMA 
 
 colors. The whole mass shone and glistened like the great 
 thirteenth-century window in the chancel of Chartrej. 
 There was gold, bright and flaming on the edges, and the 
 heart of the cloud was hot orange. The sky above, clear 
 across to the east, was red, a thousand, thousand shades 
 of red. And the glory of the sky fell and was reflected in 
 the metalUc blackness of the sea. There was an Oriental 
 gorgeousness about it. If one were to wave a brilliantly 
 colored gold-embroidered Chinese shawl above an age-old 
 lacquer tray, it would give some faint idea of the gorgeous- 
 ness of this tropical sunset. 
 
 Several of the ship's oflScers were on the deck watching it, 
 and when at last the color faded the first officer spoke up. 
 
 "It's strange," he said, "in these Western waters you get 
 the best sunsets; the dawn is flat and not at all impressive. 
 It is just the opposite in the East. The sunrises count out 
 there." 
 
 It was a new idea to me, and I asked the others if they 
 had found it so. They all backed his statement, recalling 
 gorgeous sunrises in the Orient, but no one could offer any 
 plausible explanation of the fact, they all affirmed. 
 
 In a moment's pause the doctor started up, "I remember 
 one time on the Red Sea — on the P. & 0. boat — it was so 
 hot — " That was as far as he got. The younger men 
 pulled his beard, ruffled his stray hairs, and poked his ribs 
 till he went away breathing out death and destruction on 
 all of them. 
 
 Day after day we slipped along through that burnished 
 sea. As a rule the negroes were cheerful and all went well 
 until the last day. The night had been unspeakably close. 
 It could not have been any hotter that time on the Red 
 Sea the doctor tries to tell about when they had to stop 
 the engines. 
 
 I crawled out before five in the morning, hoping to get 
 
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A CASGO OF BLACK IVOBY 39 
 
 some air on deck. My stateroom was suffocating. Not 
 one of the seven hundred negroes was asleep; they were 
 fidgeting about from one unbearably hot position to an- 
 other. A couple of the officers were up on the bridge 
 talking in monosyllables, and I gathered that they were 
 planning against the possibilities which the evident unrest 
 among the negroes foretold. You read sometimes of sailors 
 feeling in the air the approach of a tornado. It was just 
 the same here; no one could help seeing that trouble was 
 brewing. The men were like tinder. For five days they 
 had been crowded on board with no chance for exercise, 
 and now, the sim barely up, the deck was almost hot enough 
 to fry eggs. 
 
 The fire-hose was run out and the decks flooded to cool 
 them, and the hose was left in place to cool the men if need 
 be. 
 
 There were a few scufiles during the morning, and four 
 men, one after another, were ironed and chucked into the 
 brig. It was a hard time for the crowd of negroes, but it 
 was certainly little — if any — easier for the few white men. 
 
 Trouble came with a rush over lunch. These negroes 
 probably had never had such excellent meals before. But 
 the fates arranged that just this last day, when every one 
 was wearied and cross, things should go wrong in the 
 kitchen. Perhaps the heat had affected the cook — or per- 
 haps some direct rays of the sun had fallen on the rice — 
 anyhow, it was scorched beyond eating. 
 
 I suppose the first fifty negroes who were served chucked 
 their rice overboard when they tasted it; no one is hungry 
 in such weather. But at last it came to a trouble-maker. 
 He swore loudly that it was not fit for a pig, that he would 
 not stand such an outrage, that the steward was making a 
 fortune out of them, etc. Part of what he said was un- 
 heeded, but a word here and there was taken up and passed 
 
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40 PANAMA 
 
 along, growing, of course, from mouth to mouth. Inside of 
 five minutes every negro on board felt that life without a 
 good portion of unscorched rice was not worth living. A 
 growl rolled back and forth from bow to stern, growing 
 deeper every trip. It was what we had been dreading all 
 day. 
 
 Half our little company pushed through the angry crowd 
 to the door of the kitchen, for there was some talk of rush- 
 ing that. The first officer in the bow, the second ofl&cer in 
 the stern, each with a negro quartermaster and two or three 
 able-bodied seamen, manned the fire-hose. The rest of us 
 formed a sort of reserve on the bridge. This display of 
 force cooled their ardor for a minute. No one of them 
 wanted to be a leader; they just groaned and growled and 
 howled. Almost all of them had crowded up forward in 
 the bow. The captain stepped out on the bridge and asked 
 what was wrong. A hundred began yelling out their 
 grievances at once. The captain — he has a voice like a 
 fog-horn — ordered them to be still. 
 
 "I can't understand when you all speak at once. Send 
 me a delegation, three men." 
 
 Then the negroes began to palaver. As far as I could 
 see six men volunteered. They were all rejected. It was 
 ten minutes before they chose their committee, and one of 
 them lost his nerve just at the foot of the ladder to the 
 bridge. They had to go back and get another man. Some- 
 how it had a ludicrous, comic-opera effect. 
 
 But the captain listened gravely to the committee and 
 tasted the rice. He threw it overboard with a grimt of 
 disgust — it must have been pretty bad. He talked for a 
 moment with the pale-faced steward and then stepped out 
 where all the angry crowd could see him. I think with a 
 good joke he might have saved the situation — ^but the joke 
 failed him. 
 
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A CAEGO OF BLACK IVOMY 41 
 
 "I am sorry about the rice," he said; "I have tried my 
 best to give you good food, and this is our last day. To- 
 morrow we will be in harbor and have fresh food. This 
 afternoon at three the steward will give you iced tea, and 
 I will see that you have an especially good supper to-night." 
 
 "But we want rice!" some one yelled. 
 
 However, the captain's little speech had appealed to the 
 common "sense of most of the crowd, and only a few took 
 up this cry. But things suddenly took another turn. There 
 were on board some deck passengers who were not contract 
 laborers — several families of negroes. And one girl — she did 
 not look above eighteen — I had already noted as a source 
 of trouble. During the captain's speech the three delegates 
 had climbed down to the deck unobserved and were lost in 
 the crowd. Suddenly, just when things were seeming to 
 smooth out, this girl jumped on a trunk and began to 
 scream: 
 
 "Where's our committee? They've put them into the 
 black hole!" 
 
 She yelled a lot more, but no one could hear her because 
 of the cry which went up from the mob. Her words were 
 like a whip. In an instant the crowd would be moving. 
 The captain put his hands to his mouth as a megaphone 
 and bellowed to the chief officer: 
 
 "Stand by with the hose!" 
 
 "Ay, ay, sir!" the response came back. 
 
 "Now, gentlemen," he said to us, "we must shut up that 
 girl." 
 
 I saw his hand go to his hip pocket, and suddenly I re- 
 membered the story he had told about the coolies in the 
 China Sea, and it did not seem like comic opera any more. 
 
 He took a step forward to jump down into the maddened 
 crowd on deck. Then help came from an unexpected 
 source. The captain's shouted order and the reply which 
 
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42 PANAMA 
 
 rang back had quieted the crowd for an instant. It had 
 not pacified them, but they had stopped their shouting to 
 gather breath for fight. And just in this lull a new voice 
 rose — or rather fell. It was from the lookout in the crow's 
 nest. 
 
 "Land ho!" he sang out. "Land on the port bow-ow!" 
 
 It saved the day. Two or three on the outskirts of the 
 mob ran to the rail for a look. "Land!" they "shouted. 
 Of course they could not see it; it was not yet visible from 
 the bridge, barely in sight from the crow's nest, but equally 
 of course they thought they could. The crowd melted 
 away instantly; every one wanted to see land. Each 
 cloud on the southern horizon, one after another, was picked 
 out as South America. When a baby bumps his nose and 
 you stop his crying by barking like a dog, it is the same 
 thing. The excitement of "Land ho!" had made them for- 
 get the scorched rice. 
 
 "Anglo-Saxon luck," the captain said to me. 
 
 By three o'clock, when the iced tea came out, the moun- 
 tain tops of Colombia were in plain sight and everybody 
 was happy. They were further distracted from mischief 
 about five o'clock when the wheel was thrown hard over 
 and we turned south. We were close inland now, and the 
 groimd swell was choppy; most of them were seasick again. 
 We dropped anchor a little after sunset and they began to 
 sing. 
 
 There were more formalities with the health officers in 
 the morning. Everybody had his temperature taken and 
 was re-examined for trachoma. Those whose vaccination 
 had not "taken," went through that ordeal again. And 
 then these seven hundred negroes scattered over the Isth- 
 mus to help us dig the ditch. 
 
 Although they are not interested in anything but their 
 dollar a day, I warrant that their children's children will 
 
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A CARGO OF BLACK IVORY AT THE COLON DOCK. 
 
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A CASGO OF SLACK IVOBT 43 
 
 boast that their grandfathers worked on this job. And I 
 wonder what their children's children will be like. These 
 men are free, their grandfathers were slaves. That is im- 
 mense progress for a race to make in two generations! If 
 their children and grandchildren keep up the pace there is 
 great hope for the negroes. 
 
 Just as I was going down the gang-plank, the doctor 
 flagged me. 
 
 "One time on a P. and 0. boat — down in the Red 
 Sea . . ." 
 
 But I was too eager to be ashore to hear him out. 
 
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CHAPTER III 
 
 THE CANAL ZONE IN 1909 
 
 It was good to land at Colon and see some workaday 
 Americans. For a monfh I had been among the carefully 
 dressed Britishers of the colonies. It was a joy to see men 
 in flannel shirts and khaki, mud up to their knees, grime on 
 their hands, sweat on their brow — men who were working 
 like galley slaves in a poisonous climate, digging the biggest 
 ditch on earth, and proud of it. 
 
 Colon is a nondescript sort of place; there are docks and 
 railway yards and Chinese lotteries and Spanish restaurants 
 and an "Astor House" which reminds one much more of 
 Roaring Camp than of Broadway. There are many mining 
 towns near the Mexican border which one might well mis- 
 take for Colon. 
 
 One of the Panama Railway steamers had come in during 
 the morning, bringing mail and newspapers from home and a 
 number of the Canal employees back from their leave in 
 "the States." One of them attracted my attention; he was 
 standing on the railway platform among a group in khaki 
 who had come down from their work to welcome him back. 
 They were asking him endless questions about "God's 
 country" and making much sport of his "store clothes," 
 and especially of some Nile-green socks. He pulled up his 
 trousers and strutted about pretending to be vastly proud 
 of them, but it was easy to see that he was keen to be back 
 in his work clothes. Their "joshing" was a bit rough, but 
 good-natured. For they are a free-and-easy lot. these 
 
 44 
 
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TSE CANAL ZONE IN 1909 45 
 
 modern frontiersmen of ours, undismayed by the odds 
 against them. 
 
 The Panama Railway is our first experiment in Govern- 
 ment ownership; and, as it is always enjoyable to see some- 
 thing accompHshed which people have for a long time 
 thought impossible, it was a pleasure to see what a thor- 
 oughly good railway it is. 
 
 An old college friend met me at the dock, and, after we 
 had looked over the railway, took me out to his quarters. 
 The boundary of the Canal Zone runs through the city of 
 Colon, and the American side of the line is called Cristo- 
 bal. Many of the houses were built by the old French 
 company, but the camp has grown, since the American 
 occupation. All those who work for the Canal Commis- 
 sion are given quarters free of charge ; and they are very 
 good quarters. Some of the bachelors have single rooms, 
 sometimes two have a double room together. There are 
 broad, shaded porches about all the American buildings, 
 and every living-place is guarded with mosquito gauze. 
 The quarters are allotted on a regular scale of so many 
 square feet of floor space to every hundred dollars of salary. 
 The employees are infinitely more comfortable than in any 
 other construction camp I have ever seen. The furniture 
 is ample: table and Morris chairs and comfortable beds. 
 Everything is wonderfully clean. There are abundant 
 baths for every one, and of course the sanitary arrangements 
 are perfect. The bachelor quarters would compare favor- 
 ably with the ordinary college dormitory. 
 
 We did not have time to inspect any of the married men's 
 quarters before our train left for Panama, but my friend 
 tells me that they are even more pleasant than his. Two 
 minutes out from Christobel the train jumps into the jun- 
 gle. And this jungle is one of the things which defeated 
 de Lesseps. The engineering problems which face us are 
 
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46 PANAMA 
 
 practically the same as those which the French tackled; of 
 course, we have better machinery and more money, -out 
 one of our greatest advantages is W. C. Gorgas, chief sam- 
 tary officer of the Canal Zone. He is the army doctor who 
 cleaned up Havana. He had a much harder job on the 
 Isthmus. Even to the layman who knows no more than I 
 of anopheles and stegomyia, the excessively heavy vegetation 
 of the jungle looks threateningly sinister. It is Colonel 
 Gorgas who has pulled its teeth. My friend tells me that 
 there has not been a case of yellow fever on the Zone for three 
 and a half years. And to-day there are only a quarter 
 as many men in the hospital with the dreaded Chagres 
 fever as there were in 1906. The health statistics of the 
 Zone compare favorably with those of any of our home 
 cities. 
 
 There was a motley crowd on our train. In the second 
 class carriage there were merry West Indian negroes, sullen 
 Spanish and light-hearted ItaUan laborers. I noticed espe- 
 cially a seat full of Martinique women — their gaudy, elabo- 
 rate turbans would mark them anywhere. Close beside 
 them were some East Indian coolies — men with Caucasian 
 features and ebony skin. They wear queer little em- 
 broidered caps; it is all that is left of their native costume. 
 The faces of some of them are remarkably fine and intel- 
 lectual. There was also a fair sprinkling of Chinese. 
 
 Most noticeable in my carriage was a group of Pana- 
 manian women, darker skinned than the women of Spain, 
 but still keeping many characteristics of the mother land. 
 My friend called them "spiggoty" women, and then told 
 me that "spiggoty" is Zone slang for anything native, be- 
 cause in the early days the Panamanians, when addressed 
 used to reply, "No spiggoty Inglis." 
 
 Most of the first-class passengers, however, were Ameri- 
 cans. Some were evidently of the Administration — their 
 
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THE CANAL ZONE IN 1909 47 
 
 soft hands and clean clothes marked them. And I imagine 
 that they are rather looked down upon by the "men on the 
 line," the civil and mechanical engineers, who swagger 
 about, plainly proud of the marks of toil. And there are 
 women too — clean-cut American girls, just such as you 
 would see on a train leading into a co-education college 
 town. 
 
 "Gatun!" the conductor calls. 
 
 Gatun and Culebra are, I suppose, the two Isthmian 
 names most known in the States. My friend pointed out 
 to me the toes of the great dam. But it isn't a dam they 
 are building; it is a mountain range. It is to be half 
 a mile wide and a mile and a half long, high enough to 
 hold the water up to a level of eighty-five feet above the 
 sea. They have barely commenced work on this great 
 wall, but it already presents a suggestion of its future mas- 
 siveness which makes the newspaper sensations about its 
 inadequacy a joke. How could a wall fifteen times as wide 
 as it is high fall over? There are some chronic critics who 
 say that the water will leak through it. But this dam is 
 only a part of the wall of hills which will hold in the great 
 lake. And why this specially prepared hill should be more 
 porous than the others, which nature has thrown together 
 haphazard, is more than I can see. 
 
 From Gatun the train goes through territory which is to 
 be the lake. For twenty-three miles the ships will cross 
 this artificial lake to Culebra Cut. Never before has man 
 dreamed of taking such liberties with nature, of making 
 such sweeping changes in the geographical formation of a 
 country. Here are we Americans dropping down into the 
 heart of a jungle of unequaled denseness, building a young 
 mountain, balancing a lake of 160 odd square miles on the 
 top of the continental divide, gouging out a canon 10 miles 
 long, 300 feet wide, and in some places over 250 feet deep. 
 
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48 PANAMA 
 
 Think about that for a minute and then be proud that 
 you are an American. 
 
 All the technical things my friend told me about millions 
 of yards of subaqueous excavation, and so forth, meant 
 nothing to me. But looking out of the car window mile 
 after mile as we passed through what is soon to, be the bed 
 of this artificial lake, I caught some faint idea of the magni- 
 tude of the project. 
 
 "Look!" my friend cried suddenly. "See that machine 
 — ^it looks like a steam crane — it is a track-shifter. Invented 
 by one of our engineers. You see, on the dumps, where 
 we throw out the spoil from the cuts, we have to keep shifting 
 the tracks to keep the top of the dump level. Well, it took 
 an awful lot of time to do it by hand. So we developed 
 that machine. It just takes hold of a section of track, rails 
 and ties and all, hoists it up out of its ballast, and swings it 
 over to where we want it. Does in an hour what a gang of 
 twenty men could not do in a week. They're not used much 
 anywhere else in the world. You see, there isn't any other 
 place where they have to shift track on so large a scale." 
 
 They seem vastly proud of this track-shifter down here. 
 
 "And this is Gorgona," he said, a minute later. "Those 
 shops over there are the largest of their kind in the world — 
 repairing machinery. We can mend anything in there from 
 a locomotive to a watch-spring." 
 
 One gets tired of this "largest in the world" talk. But 
 it is only as you accustom yourself to the idea that each 
 integral part of the work is of unequaled proportions that 
 you begin to sense the grandeur of the whole undertaking. 
 The largest dam, the highest locks, the greatest artificial 
 lake, the deepest cut, the biggest machine shops, the heaviest 
 consumption of dynamite, the most wonderful sanitary 
 system — all these and others which I forget are unique — the 
 top point of human achievement. After an hour of this 
 
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THE CANAL ZONE IN 1909 49 
 
 talk I gained a new respect for Uncle Sam — a new respect 
 for his children who have conceived and are executing this 
 gigantic thing. 
 
 The whistle blew in the shops at Gorgona as we pulled 
 into the station, and there was a rush for places in the 
 train. Four men just from their work tumbled into the 
 double seat before me. Fine fellows they were, despite the 
 yellow malarial tinge of their skin and the grimy sweat 
 which ran in little rivulets down their sooty faces. The 
 hands with which they brushed off the beads of perspiration 
 were black and greasy from their work. They wore no 
 coats, and their shirts, wringing wet, stuck close to their 
 backs, and the play of their muscles as they relaxed after 
 the day's strain showed as plainly as if they had been nude. 
 I tried to follow their conversation — ^which was very earn- 
 est — but could not, as it was all about some new four- 
 cylinder engine with a mysterious kind of alternate action. 
 
 A few miles farther down the line we came to Empire. 
 The scene on the platform recalled a suburban station on 
 some line out of New York, for, except a few Chinamen 
 and Spaniards, the crowd was just the same as that which 
 comes down to meet the commuters on an evening train 
 after the work-day is over. One group caught my atten- 
 tion. A young mother of thirty, in the crispest, whitest 
 lawn, was holding a baby. Beside her stood a sister, like 
 a Gibson summer girl. The younger woman held by the 
 hand a little lad of four with Jeanne d'Arc hair, bare legs, 
 a white Russian tunic, and a black belt. Fresh from the 
 bath-tub they looked, all four of them. And while I was 
 admiring the picture they made and wondering at the 
 strange chance which had brought such a New Jersey group 
 down here imder the equator the mother's face Ughted up 
 and she waved her hand. Two of those grimy men who had 
 sat before me swung off the steps of the car and came 
 
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50 PANAMA 
 
 towards them. One was the father. Holding his hands 
 stiffly behind him so as not to soil anything, he bent for- 
 ward and kissed his wife. Then, one after the other, the 
 children were held up to him for a kiss. The other man, 
 somewhat younger, took off his battered hat with a gallant 
 sweep to the sister. He greeted her as formally as if it had 
 been Easter Sunday on Fifth Avenue. Neither of them 
 seemed to realize that he looked like a coal miner. They 
 loitered behind as they went up the hill to the quarters. 
 He walked as close to her white skirt as he dared, and had 
 something very serious to say to her, for they laughed just 
 as Americans do when they are talking earnestly. 
 
 It is between Gorgona and Empire that you get your first 
 look into Culebra Cut. It is as busy a place as an anthill. 
 It seems to be alive with machinery; there are, of course, 
 men in the cut too, but they are insignificant, lost among 
 the mechanical monsters which are jerking work-trains 
 about the maze of tracks, which are boring holes for the 
 blasting, which are tearing at the spine of the continent — 
 steam shovels which fill a car in five moves, steam shovels 
 as accurate and delicate as a watch, as mighty — Well, I 
 can think of nothing sufficiently mighty to compare with 
 these steel beasts which eat a thousand cubic yards a day 
 out of the side of the hills. 
 
 But it is not till you get beyond the cut and, looking 
 back, see the profile of the ditch against the sunset that you 
 get the real impression — the memory which is to last. The 
 scars on the side of the cut are red, like the rocks of our great 
 Western deserts. The work has stopped, and the great 
 black shovels are silhouetted against the red of the sky. 
 Then there comes a moment, as your train winds roimd a 
 curve, when the lowering sun falls directly into the notch 
 of the cut and it is all illumined in an utterly unearthly 
 glory. 
 
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TEE CANAL ZONE IN 1909 51 
 
 The night falls rapidly in the tropics, and when, a few 
 minutes later, we reached Panama, it was too dark to see 
 anything of the quaint old city, so we drove at once to 
 Ancon, the American suburb, and put up at the Tivoli, the 
 Government hotel. It was a lucky chance which brought 
 me there on that day, as I saw a phase of life which I might 
 otherwise have missed. A couple of dozen Congressmen 
 had come down on an unofficial visit to the Zone, so that 
 when they got back to Washington and anything was said 
 about the Canal they could jump up and contradict it, and 
 say, "I know, because I've been there." It is safe to say 
 that the men on the Isthmus are more afraid of Congress- 
 men than they are of yellow fever mosquitoes. The Canal 
 Commission has its plans all worked out; if Congress will 
 grant them the money — and leave them alone— the Canal 
 will be built on schedule time. Yet not only their personal 
 reputations, but, what is much more important, the success 
 of the work, is utterly at the mercy of Congress. Several 
 bills are presented in each session which, if passed, would 
 seriously cripple the work. And these bills must be acted 
 upon by men who know little or nothing of engineering. 
 When the men down here have nightmares, it is not of hob- 
 goblins they dream, but of Congressmen. I certainly hope 
 that the average of intelligence in the House is higher than 
 among the Representatives I saw at the Tivoli. At the 
 table next to mine, when the waiter put some ice in his 
 glass, I heard a Congressman ask how much of the ice on 
 the Isthmus was artificial. I could see the face of the man 
 who was doing the honors. He deserves a medal for the 
 serious way in which he explained that in the tropics all 
 ice is artificial. I overheard some others discussing sani- 
 tation. 
 
 "You can never make me believe," said one, "that a 
 mosquito bite can give a man yellow fever." 
 
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52 PANAMA 
 
 "I don't know," another replied. "But even if it is true, 
 four million dollars is an awful lot to spend killing them." 
 
 My friend told me that one of the Congressmen, when he 
 was shown the site of the locks at Gatun, became wildly 
 indignant and said he thought that Congress had decided 
 on a sea-level canal. 
 
 And these men will go home and make speeches, out of 
 their copious ignorance, on the floor of the House, and, 
 what is worse, among their constituents, where there is 
 some chance of their being believed. And after every mis- 
 statement they will say, impressively, "I know, because 
 I've been there." 
 
 After the dinner I found that a ball was to be given in 
 honor of the Congressmen. The day's work was over, and 
 even the presence of the critics from home could not keep 
 the employees from having a good time. The parlor of the 
 Tivoli makes as fine a ball-room as any I know. And a 
 prettier, daintier crowd of women I have never seen. Hot 
 water and grit soap had been busy on the men, and the 
 scene, except that some of the men were in white, looked 
 like a College dance. I was especially pleased to see the 
 young couple I had noticed down the Hne. I never would 
 have recognized the man if I had not seen him dancing with 
 the girl. Cleaned and polished, with an orchid on the lapel 
 of his dinner-coat, he looked about as different from the 
 grimy young engineer of five o'clock as could well be im- 
 agined. 
 
 It was rather a shock, when I went to my room and 
 looked out of the window, to find the moon rising out of 
 the Pacific Ocean. There are not many places on the 
 American continent where this phenomenon is to be seen. 
 Of course, by looking at the map, you can see that the 
 Isthmus is like a letter S, with Colon, the Atlantic terminus 
 of the Canal, west of Panama on the Pacific; but somehow 
 
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THE CANAL ZONE IN 1909 53 
 
 it did not reconcile me to the confusion of directions. It 
 took some time to accustom myself to looking eastward to 
 see the Western Ocean. 
 
 I turned in with an unusual sense of satisfaction. The 
 two big impressions that first day on the Isthmus had given 
 me were: First, the sublime confidence of the men — the 
 absence of any doubt as to eventual achievement. "Of 
 course we'll dig the ditch." And, second, the esprit de corps 
 implied in the "we" of that expression. I did not hear 
 any one talk of what he as an individual was doing. Nor 
 did I hear any one tell of what "they" were doing — it is 
 always "we." An ink-stained clerk from the Department 
 of Civil Administration, who never had any more intimate 
 coimection with a steam shovel than I have, said to me 
 boastfully: "Well, we knocked the top off the record for 
 dry excavation again this month." It is what Maeterlinck 
 calls "the Spirit of the Hive." 
 
 For a people with such undaunted confidence and this 
 trick of pulling together there is no limit to achievement. 
 
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CHAPTER IV 
 
 COLON AND PANAMA CITY 
 
 Having once crossed the Isthmus to Panama City there 
 is very little in Colon to call one back — except the boats 
 home. 
 
 There is nothing distinctive about Colon. There are a 
 dozen towns scattered along the Caribbean Sea which are 
 similarly unattractive. It has much better health now-a- 
 days than its neighboring rivals — but there are no "tourist 
 possibilities" in a Sanitary Record. 
 
 However, if you must go there, you will find a broad, 
 well-paved street with shipping docks on one side — cutting 
 off the sea breeze — and on the other a fairly regular sequence 
 of chances to change your money to native currency, to 
 buy a drink, a picture post-card, a Chinese curio, a lottery 
 ticket — change your money and so on. The saloons are 
 the most ambitious enterprises of Front Street. Two of 
 them boast of "lady orchestras" and one advertises a 
 "Palm Room." 
 
 The shipping business is of course immense. French, 
 German, English and American passenger boats call regu- 
 larly. And I doubt if there is a flag afloat which does not 
 sometimes visit Colon on a freighter. The trans-shipping 
 of cargoes to and from the Pacific makes a great show of 
 busy-ness. 
 
 But in all this the natives of the Isthmus have little part 
 or interest. When I last came down on a Hamburg-Ameri- 
 can boat, we picked up a deck-crew of negroes at one of the 
 West India islands. 
 
 54 
 
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COLON AND PANAMA CITY 55 
 
 The Panamanian — be he gentleman in fine white linen or 
 peon in part of a pair of overalls — sits languorously in the 
 shade of a palm tree or a packing case and drowsily watches 
 the rush of modern commerce — goods manufactured abroad, 
 carried in foreign bottoms, handled by alien crews, put on an 
 American railroad. Of the millions of dollars, pounds ster- 
 ling, francs, marks which pass through his country, what 
 little sticks in transit goes to Chinese merchants and Yankee 
 saloon keepers. 
 
 Doubtless the Lord could have made a less ambitious peo- 
 ple than the natives of Colon — but doubtless He never did. 
 There is a certain amount of historic interest in the very 
 unimposing monument to the founders of the Panama 
 Railroad. There is some charming surprise in the little 
 stone church, built by the railroad for its employees — a bit 
 of Suburban Gothic. The lack of the ivy — ^which will not 
 grow in these parts — ^makes it look forlorn and homesick. 
 And there is much surpassing beauty in the sea view from 
 the Washington Hotel — a broad lawn, a file of cocoa palms 
 and the roaring surf. The cocoanut palm is one of the most 
 strikingly frequent — as it is one of the most lovable — features 
 of the tropics. Their charm, I think, lies in their extreme 
 individualism. Even in what they call a "cocoanut grove," 
 each palm stands out alone. They have no social ties — are 
 absolutely unconventional. Each has its peculiar list and 
 its unique way of swaying. And there is no tree which 
 combines so well with the sea. 
 
 Panama City — across the continent, but only two hours 
 away — is a different proposition from Colon. 
 
 Near the railroad station the main street is distressingly 
 like Colon for its sequence of business opportunities. But 
 beyond the Calle 8, which like the Paris boulevards used to 
 be a mighty fortification, you enter a city which has per- 
 sonality. Just to the left of what used to be the Land 
 
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56 PANAMA 
 
 Gate — there was a moat and drawbridge in the old days — 
 stands the Church of Nuestra Senora de la Merced. It 
 dates from the end of the seventeenth century and is the 
 second oldest church in the city. To a large extent Panama 
 has been Hausmannized by the American sanitary engi- 
 neers. Streets have been graded and straightened and 
 paved, disease infected shacks have been demohshed. Still 
 many crooked streets and picturesque bits remain. 
 
 No matter how short one's stop in the city a visit to the 
 "Sea Wall" should not be omitted. This is the best rem- 
 nant of the old fortifications. And there was nothing the 
 Spanish colonial administrations did on a more imposing 
 scale than fort building. These cost so much that the 
 Spanish king is reported to have said that they ought to 
 be visible from his palace in Madrid. 
 
 When the tide is in — it rises twenty feet — ^the waves wash 
 the foot of the old wall. There is a waist-high parapet on 
 top and within it a broad cement promenade. If you walk 
 heavily the prisoners in the cells below can hear your foot- 
 steps. On the land side you can look down into the prison 
 yard. It is distressing enough — as are prison yards the 
 world over. Further inland you see a strange skyline — 
 ancient church towers decorated with mother-of-pearl, and 
 modern corrugated iron roofs. It is a comfort to know 
 that the ugliest part of the American town of Ancon will 
 soon disappear. 
 
 But seaward the view is by itself worth the long voyage. 
 Up the coast to your right is Balboa — the Pacific entrance 
 to the Canal. It is a busy, smoky place of tugs and dredges, 
 machine-shops and the West Coast steamers. Close in 
 shore are the three little islands of Naos, Flemengo and 
 Culebra. It is this group which Congress has decided to 
 fortify. Farther out you see the larger and more beautiful 
 Taboga. The geologists say that these islands were the 
 
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COLON AND PANAMA CITY 57 
 
 side outlets of the great prehistoric volcano whose principal 
 core made Ancon hill, back of Panama. 
 
 Straight out before you is the blue Pacific — it knows how 
 to be bluer than the Atlantic ever dreamed of. 
 
 To your left the peaks of the Cordilleras — which the Canal 
 pierces at its lowest divide — rise higher and higher to east- 
 ward. It is only a question of the clearness of the atmos- 
 phere how far you can see them. The coast — an alterna- 
 tion of white sand beach and mangrove swamp — swings 
 around Panama Bay towards Cape Brava and the Pearl 
 Islands. It was down there somewhere towards the edge 
 of the horizon where Europeans first saw the Pacific from 
 America. There is a hill within the Canal Zone, which 
 rumor says was the eminence from which Balboa first saw 
 the sea — it is stated as a fact in Nelson's "Five Years in 
 Panama" — but the records show conclusively that Balboa 
 crossed the Isthmus much further to the east. 
 
 If the sun is at just the right angle to bring out the con- 
 trast between gray and green you can see the ruins of Old 
 Panama from the Sea Wall. All that the Buccaneer Mor- 
 gan left on end in the old metropolis was the tower of the 
 church of Saint Anastasius. The weather beaten gray 
 stones are surrounded and overgrown by tropical vegeta- 
 tion. It is more than hard to see from a distance unless 
 one knows exactly where to look. 
 
 There are two times when the Sea Wall is at its best. 
 Just at sun-down — the breathing time in the tropics — it 
 generally offers as good an opportunity to observe the 
 people of Panama as one can get in a short stay. The 
 stroll on the fortifications is as necessary an apertitif for 
 some of the natives as an absinthe is for a Parisian. 
 
 But the superlative time to enjoy the Sea Wall is on a 
 night of the dry season. The full February moon coming 
 up out of the sea is something to hold in the memory along- 
 
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58 PANAMA 
 
 side of Rubens' Venus of the Hermitage or the Taj Mahal 
 — things which one must travel far to see and having seen 
 have not lived wholly in vain. By day the horizon seems 
 very far away, but when the moon slips up over it at night, 
 it seems almost within speaking distance. 
 
 Hardly less glorious are the moonless nights. Canopus 
 and Eldeberon and the Southern Cross — all the stars which 
 Stevenson loved so well — burn so close and so brilliantly, 
 that you hold your breath in wonder that you are not 
 scorched by their heat. 
 
 All the literature of the tropics is full of expressions of 
 wonder at how they — once seen — call you, till like Kip- 
 ling's Tommy Atkins, "yo\x can't heed nothing else." They 
 speak moaningly of the discomforts, the heat, the filth, the 
 smells, the vermin, the innumerable diseases, and are sur- 
 prised that people who have escaped always want to — some- 
 times do — come back. I think the nights — the moon and 
 the stars — explain it. 
 
 The Cathedral Plaza, in the center of the city, is also a 
 place of interest — and some beauty of foliage. It has never 
 seemed to me that the Spaniards knew anything particu- 
 larly worth while about architecture except what they 
 learned from the Moors. Their architects in the American 
 colonies seem to have forgotten most of that. There are 
 no beautiful dweUings nor public buildings. But some of 
 the churches are impressive — and interesting from their 
 stories. 
 
 The Cathedral for instance was built from the private 
 purse of a Bishop of Panama, whose father, a freed negro 
 slave, burned charcoal on the side of Ancon Hill and ped- 
 dled it on his back in the streets of the city — as one may 
 see the peons doing to-day. The Episcopal See of Panama 
 is the oldest on the American continent. The first church 
 was built in a temporary colony on the Atlantic side — 
 
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COLON AND PANAMA CITY 59 
 
 Santa Maria de la Antiqua del Darien. The seat of the 
 Bishopric, however, was soon changed to Old Panama and 
 no trace of the earlier settlement is left. This bishop was 
 the first of negro blood in America and probably the first 
 of native birth to wear the mitre. Although it was started 
 long before, the cathedral was not completed until 1760. 
 
 Its most unique architectural feature is the mother-of- 
 pearl decoration on the crowns of the two towers. Next in 
 value to the Peruvian wealth which flowed across the 
 Isthmus, came the pearl trade from the islands off San 
 Miguel Bay. The roofs of the towers were covered with 
 fine red cement in which were embedded pearl shells from 
 the fisheries. Even after all these years, when the sun 
 breaks out after a shower which has washed the dust from 
 the shells, they sparkle and flash like great jewels. They 
 can be seen far out at sea like some giant heliograph and are 
 mentioned as a landmark in some of the old books on navi- 
 gation. 
 
 In the days when the cathedral was building the See of 
 Panama was one of the richest in the world. Votive offer- 
 ings of priceless pearls — tradition speaks of one as big as an 
 apple — ^ingots of gold and silver were offered by the hardy 
 and devout rapscallion adventurers of the day. Among 
 other treasures the cathedral boasted an authentic Madonna 
 by Murillo. What became of all these riches when the 
 property of the church was sold by the State has never 
 been satisfactorily explained by the officials involved. The 
 lost Murillo has probably rotted away — forgotten in some 
 garret. 
 
 The oldest church in the city is that of San Felipe Neri. 
 The keystone of its entrance arch is dated 1688. It is 
 close to the Plaza Bolivar. Although little of its exterior 
 is visible — Shaving been built about by a girls' school — it is 
 well worth a visit. It shows how, in the buccaneer days, 
 
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60 PANAMA 
 
 the Spaniards trusted in God and built their church walls 
 to resist a siege. San Felipe near the Sea Gate, and La 
 Merced at the Land Gate, were redoubtable fortresses. 
 
 The Church of San Francisco on the Plaza Bolivar has 
 been very little restored and probably stands to-day more 
 nearly as it was built than any of the old churches. It was 
 completed about 1740. Its old cloisters have been revised 
 and turned into the College de la Salle by the Congregation 
 of Christian Brothers. But the ancient convent has been 
 torn down. The Sisters of St. Francis led a life not unlike 
 that of the modern Trappist Monks — severe in the extreme. 
 Once the door had closed on them they never left the Con- 
 vent. After the religious orders were expelled, the halls 
 hallowed by the sanctity of these devoted women were 
 turned into a theatre. And there La divine Sarah cast her 
 spells when she visited the Isthmus in the eighties. It was 
 an experience which she has probably never forgotten. 
 For she entirely upset the heart of one of Panama's leading 
 Chinese merchants. This bizarre Celestial expressed his 
 sentimental crisis by touching off an immense package of 
 fire-crackers. The play was — I believe— "La dame aux 
 camilles," and the scene in which Bernhardt dies so ex- 
 quisitely came to an abrupt — and hysterical — end. 
 
 San Domingo is the best of the ruins. Tradition has it 
 that the Dominican monks planned and built their own 
 church. They had trouble with the arch near the front 
 entrance which supported the organ loft. The first one fell 
 as soon as the supports were removed. Again they built it, 
 and again it fell. The same thing happened a third time. 
 Then they decided that there was something wrong with 
 their plan. Another monk, who was not supposed to be an 
 engineer nor an architect, had a dream and produced a new 
 plan. When the arch for a fourth time was completed and 
 the supports were about to be withdrawn, the designer stood 
 
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THE VIEW FROM THE TIVOLI. 
 
 Copyright by Fishbmtgh, 
 
 CULEBRA CUT IN 1909. 
 
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COLON AND PANAMA CITY 61 
 
 under it, with folded arms — staking not only his reputation 
 as a dreamer but also his life on his inspired arch. It stood. 
 And a most wonderful arch it is. It is almost flat, and is 
 absolutely imique. A somewhat similar arch — copied from 
 it, but not so long — can be seen in the Church of San Fran- 
 cisco. San Domingo — as well as most of the city — was 
 destroyed by fire in 1737. There is nothing left now except 
 the walls and this marvellous arch. If you ask any of the 
 canal engineers whether the earthquakes are likely to dis- 
 turb their work they will show you the ruins of San Domingo 
 where this flat arch has stood — without any lateral support — 
 for nearly three centuries. 
 
 The ruins of the old Jesuit College — ^which was destroyed 
 by the same fire of 1737 — are mostly torn down or built 
 about. The chapel where these devoted missionaries wor- 
 shipped is now used as a cow-shed. But some very inter- 
 esting concrete decorations can still be seen. 
 
 The only other old churches are San Jos6, on the western 
 sea wall, and Santa Ana, Without-the-Walls. The latter 
 was built as a thank offering for some long forgotten piece 
 of good luck which befell El Conte de Santa Ana — a roys- 
 tering grandee of the old days. It has an interesting altar 
 service of hammered silver — at least two hundred years old, 
 and as like as not made from some of Pizarro's Peruvian 
 spoils. 
 
 There is an unpleasant side to Panama City. It is 
 hinted at in the current witticism that "the Republic of 
 Panama is the Redlight District of the Canal Zone." It is 
 of course a gross exaggeration and an undeserved insult to 
 the people of the country. The American authorities have 
 passed laws — and are able to enforce them in the Canal 
 Zone — against gambling and vice. In the territory of Pan- 
 ama there are neither so strict laws nor so rigid enforcement. 
 In the two cities of Colon and Panama there are sections — 
 
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62 PANAMA 
 
 and they are the sections nearest to the American territory 
 — ^which are given over to debauchery. With thirty thou- 
 sand men employed on the Canal, and easy transportation 
 along the line, there is — as might be expected — a Saturday 
 night emigration across the border to the jurisdiction where 
 the Ten Commandments are not so effectively backed up 
 by the police. But on the whole the amount of red paint 
 which is smeared over the Republic of Panama by the 
 Canal employees is surprisingly small. 
 
 As in most Latin-American countries the lottery is an 
 established institution. It runs on a government franchise, 
 a certain percentage goes to public charity. It rents its 
 offices from the Bishop of Panama — they are in the ground 
 floor of the Episcopal Palace. It is strictly "honest" and 
 so heavily mulcted by the authorities that the stockholders 
 do not get the extravagant dividends one would suppose 
 from estimating the chances. 
 
 The roulette wheels of the French days have given place 
 to " poker rooms." They are no longer licensed by the gov- 
 ernment but are still an unmitigated disgrace. The saying 
 goes that " a sucker is born every minute." Having watched 
 one of these games a few minutes, I have decided that 
 most of the "suckers" grow up to what looks like man- 
 hood and come to the Isthmus. In these "poker rooms" 
 the "house rakeoff" is so high that a filled table is said to 
 net the proprietor $15.00 gold an hour. This is sure in- 
 come, "the house" gets it no matter who wins. And it is 
 practically impossible to make up your own table. Some 
 of the "house professionals" — notorious sharpers — are sure 
 to "sit in." 
 
 The psychology of the men who buck such a game is 
 beyond me. I doubt if there is an American on the Isth- 
 mus who is not entirely convinced that they are crooked. 
 Yet the tables are generally full. 
 
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COLON AND PANAMA CITY 63 
 
 A much pleasanter side of Panama life are the Sunday 
 night band concerts in the Cathedral Plaza. The music is 
 sometimes surprisingly good. And the square — always 
 picturesque with its tropical plants — is crowded with the 
 youth and beauty of the Republic. Some of the senoritas 
 in spite of their very dark skins are well worth turning to 
 look at. They stroll around the little park with their rather 
 fat mammas, followed at a respectful distance by their 
 admirers. A Panamanian lover is a faithful swain and 
 easily satisfied. I watched one young fellow follow his lady 
 eight times aroimd the square. At every turn she looked 
 back and smiled at him. Mamma elaborately pretended 
 to ignore this passionate pursuit. The young people did 
 not speak to each other, and if they managed to exchange 
 notes they were mighty clever at it. 
 
 Courtship is a long-distance affair. Most of the houses 
 in the city are two-storied with stores downstairs. After 
 following his lady-love from the Sunday night parade in 
 the Plaza, the young hopeful takes up his position on the 
 sidewalk opposite her home. If he has found favor in her 
 sight she eventually appears on the balcony. The length 
 of time she keeps him waiting depends on her heart beats — 
 if they are rapid she comes quickly. Of course their con- 
 versation is decidedly limited by, (1) the distance, (2) the 
 neighbors, and, (3) mamma who sits in a rocking chair and 
 listens. About all the lovers can do is to smile at each 
 other. If the young man stands under her window on 
 other nights than Sunday, she has a right to consider that 
 he is serious. And if he ever shows up in the afternoons, 
 the neighbors know she has him safely hooked. 
 
 Just before Lent Panama drapes itself in bimting. These 
 Latin-American neighbors of ours dearly love a fiesta. And 
 the Carnival is the greatest of them all. 
 
 Weeks before Mardi Gras, the shops begin to display 
 
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64 PANAMA 
 
 masks and to advertise confetti. But the preliminary 
 interest centers in the election of the Queen. The rivalry- 
 is high. And the election generally goes to a daughter of 
 wealth, for the tickets have to be paid for. The last night 
 of the contest the respective papas go down in their pockets 
 as far as they can afford to — often farther. To have your 
 daughter in the running is said to be almost as great a 
 financial misfortune as to have your bank fail. As usual 
 pontics gets into it, and towards the last the contest generally 
 sifts down to two, one of the Conservative and one of the 
 Liberal party. It strikes an outsider as a rather unro- 
 mantic, sordid way of choosing a carnival queen. But the 
 winner — the year I was there — was pretty enough to satisfy 
 anyone. And she looked so radiantly happy, that I am 
 quite sure she did not realize that the "honor" had cost 
 her father close to five thousand dollars and that she might 
 have had a very nice motor-car instead. 
 
 The gayety lasts four days. The wealthy young men 
 spend their time on horseback, their sisters in carriages. 
 The costumes they get up are always gorgeous, sometimes 
 attractive. 
 
 The women of the poorer classes content themselves with 
 the native costume — the pollera. It is a very full and 
 flouncy skirt, and a waist, cut extremely low. The articles 
 de luxe are the side-combs, which are gorgeous. And many 
 of the women have red or white flowers in their hair. Some 
 of them giant fire-flies. Almost any sort of a gown can 
 look attractive on an attractive woman and that is about 
 all one can say in favor of the pollera. The men of the 
 poorer classes go in for the fantastic and hideous. 
 
 Mr. Bidwell in his "The Isthmus of Panama" quotes an 
 amusing bit from the letter of a French maid whom his wife 
 had brought to Panama. In writing to a friend at home, 
 she said: "II y'a A present tout plein de masques dans les 
 
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COLON AND PANAMA CITY 65 
 
 rues, comme i. Paris, pendant le Carnival, seulement qu' 
 igi ce sont des vilains negres qui n'ont pas besoin de masques 
 pour faire peur" (the streets are full of maskers, just as in 
 Paris during the Carnival, only here they are villainous 
 negroes who have no need of masks to frighten one). 
 
 The dress-parade is in the Cathedral Plaza. The fun — 
 fast and furious — is in the Plaza de Santa Ana. There is a 
 very pretty ball at the Hotel Central, presided over by the 
 Queen and her Maidens-in-waiting, and a much noisier ball 
 at the Metropole. 
 
 The confetti flies for four days and nights and you do not 
 get it out of your hair and clothes till Lent is half over. 
 
 Panama is also far ahead of Colon as a commercial city. 
 It is the central market for all the native products, except 
 bananas, and is the distributing point for the entire 
 Isthmus. But here again the real natives have little in- 
 terest in business. There are several families with German 
 or Jewish names, who have lived here several generations 
 and are citizens of the Republic. They, with the Chinese, 
 control most of the trade and banking. There are several 
 capable business men of the Arosomena and Arrias families, 
 mostly occupied in real estate ventures and trading with the 
 Indians. But on the whole the Panamanian gentlemen go 
 in for politics or diplomacy. After all, there are not so very 
 many of them and there is an endless number of places where 
 a consul could be sent. There is more than one consulate 
 which never collected a fee. The Liberal party is now in 
 power, so of course some of the Conservatives have to 
 work. 
 
 There are two classes of Americans — exclusive of the 
 Canal men — ^to be found in Panama City: Pirates and 
 Pioneers. 
 
 The first are undoubtedly most numerous. Their activi- 
 ties run the gamut from playing stud-poker "for the house" 
 
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66 VANAM.A 
 
 to promoting fake development companies. It is certainly 
 more livable in the States because they are here — but it is 
 hard on the Panamanians. 
 
 There are, however, a few earnest, upright Americans 
 here, who foresee the time when the riches of the country 
 will be needed and utilized. That there are opportunities — 
 especially in agriculture and grazing and lumbering — no one 
 who knows the country will deny. 
 
 No American can visit either Colon or Panama without a 
 large patriotic pride in the work of our sanitary engineers. 
 These cities — ^not so many years ago— were called the worst 
 pest-holes in the Americas. Our men have built water- 
 works, put plumbing into the dwelling houses, dug drains 
 and sewers, paved the streets and established so effective a 
 quarantine at both ports, that although there has never 
 been a time when some of the South American ports were 
 not infected, there have been no cases of yellow-fever, 
 beri-beri, cholera or the plague on the Isthmus for several 
 years. There are few places at home so much like Spotless 
 Town as these two tropical cities. 
 
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CHAPTER V 
 
 THE GEOGKAPHY OF THE ISTHMUS 
 
 The Republic of Panama is 425 miles long and averages 
 70 miles in width. Its most southern point is a little above 
 7 degrees north of the equator, its northern point about 
 9° 50'. It is in the same latitude as Ceylon and Mindanao. 
 It is almost due south of Bufifalo. 
 
 It must be remembered that when Balboa discovered the 
 Pacific, he christened it the Southern Sea, for the Isthmus 
 runs east and west. Every new arrival gets the points of 
 the compass twisted, because of the habit of thinking of 
 the Pacific as a western ocean. Panama City is south and 
 east of Colon, the Atlantic entrance of the Canal. In 
 Panama the sun rises out of the Pacific. 
 
 The land frontiers of the Republic are less than 400 miles 
 in the total and are about equally divided between the 
 Costa Rican and Colombian border. But the total coast 
 line is over 1200 miles, 700 of which is on the Pacific. 
 
 The most important physical feature of the Isthmus is 
 that here the great chain of mountains, which form the 
 backbone of the hemisphere — from Alaska to Patagonia — 
 breaks down into scattered hills and low divides. At 
 Culebra — ^where we are making our deepest cut — the pass 
 was only 290 feet above sea level. The highest peak in the 
 Republic is the Cerro del Picacho near the Costa Rican bor- 
 der. It is a little over 7000 feet. There are four other 
 mountains in the western provinces which are over 5000 
 feet. They gradually decrease in height to the center 
 
 67 
 
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68 PANAMA 
 
 of the Isthmus and then begin to climb again towards 
 the Colombian borders, where they again approach 5000 
 feet. 
 
 The Republic is divided into the following provinces: 
 (1) Bocas del Toro, (2) Chiriqui, (3) Veraguas, (4) Los 
 Santos, (5) Cocl6, (6) Colon, and (7) Panama. The last is 
 by far the largest, more than a third of the total, and Cocl6 
 is the smallest. 
 
 Bocas del Toro (the mouths of the bull) is the extreme 
 northwest. It is notable for the wonderful Almirante Bay 
 and Chiriqui Lagoon. They are really one body of water, 
 as the long, narrow peninsula which divides them is almost 
 an island. It will be remembered by students of President 
 Lincoln's administration that this was one of the locations 
 considered by our Government for a naval station. In fact, 
 it is almost certain that if Lincoln had not been assassinated 
 we would have acquired the Lagoon. He had been deeply 
 impressed by the difficulty of blockading the Gulf ports 
 without some such base and he kept Seward busy trying to 
 acquire one of the West India islands or some post on the 
 mainland. 
 
 The Chiriqui Lagoon is thirty-five miles long from east 
 to west and about twelve miles wide. It is an unbroken 
 sheet of water and navigable for the biggest warships. 
 
 Almirante Bay — ^really the northwestern extension of the 
 Lagoon — is a maze of waterways between its munerous 
 islands. It has, however, a nimiber of fairly large harbors 
 and deep water in most of its channels. In many places the 
 banks are so abrupt that a deep draught steamer can tie up 
 to the shore. The mainland is a tableland about 600 feet 
 high and within a few miles reaches an elevation of 2000 
 feet. It is remarkably salubrious, and on account of its ideal 
 facihties for bathing and small boating and its marvellous 
 scenery seems doomed to develop into a smart winter resort. 
 
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THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE ISTHMUS 69 
 
 At present the province is practically a feudal domain of 
 the United Fruit Company, and banana growing is its prin- 
 cipal industry. The Chanquinolo River is one of the finest 
 spots in the world for this fruit. There is said to be coal of 
 good quality in the province, but it has never been mined. 
 
 Bocas del Toro, a town of about 6000 inhabitants, is the 
 capital of the province. It is built on an island at the 
 mouth of Almirante Bay and i? a very busy port of export. 
 About five steamers and as many sailing vessels clear from 
 Boca every week, loaded down to the scuppers with fruit. 
 
 The Province of Chiriqui lies to the south and east of 
 Bocas del Toro. It has considerable frontage on both 
 oceans. 
 
 David, the capital, has about 8000 inhabitants and is 
 rapidly growing. It is the largest inland city of the Re- 
 public and far and away the most progressive. 
 
 There has long been a large grain and cattle trade in this 
 province and new crops are being planted, new industries 
 started with surprising frequency. It is the favorite loca- 
 tion for foreign settlers. The reports one hears from those 
 who have gone in for agriculture are generally favorable. 
 
 In 1910 the government authorized the building of a rail- 
 road from Panama City to David. A good deal of money 
 was spent on surveys, and the talk of a railroad generated 
 considerable land speculation in Chiriqui and the intervening 
 provinces. Perhaps this was the end which the framers of 
 the bill had in view. It was hardly a practical project. 
 Neither the present population along the proposed route 
 nor the rosiest estimates of the value of the undeveloped 
 resources in the neighborhood warranted so great an outlay. 
 Happily this scheme was vetoed in time. Some of the 
 money is to be spent in harbor improvements and in short 
 lines and better roads inland. 
 
 In the early colonial days the Spaniards worked some 
 
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70 PANAMA 
 
 very rich gold mines in the mountains of Chiriqui, and one 
 of the most popular industries to-day is that of trying to 
 relocate these lost mines. 
 
 It is here also that the signs of the highest pre-Colombian 
 civilization have been found. The high development of art 
 and architecture with which Cortez met in Mexico, seems 
 to have petered out to the southward. In the other states 
 of Central America some imposing ruins have been found. 
 The largest are in Guatemala. In Costa Rica there are 
 few signs of architectural development and the pottery and 
 implements are more crude. In Chiriqui one finds only 
 a few "painted stones" and graves. A popular form of 
 vacation for the American employees on the Canal is to go 
 grave-robbing in the country back of David. A native 
 walks in front of you and pounds the ground with an iron 
 rod. If he gets a hollow sound, he digs. If he strikes a 
 grave you are almost sure to find weird pottery and some- 
 times gold ornaments. M. de Zeltner, a former French 
 Consul at Panama, has written an interesting brochure on 
 the prehistoric graves of this district. And the Smithsonian 
 Institute has published an elaborate description of them. 
 
 Farther east, is the Province of Veraguas — ^wedge-shaped, 
 with only a few miles on the Atlantic coast and a couple of 
 hundred on the Pacific. It is remarkable for its beautiful 
 islands and Montijo Bay, the second of the great harbors of 
 the Isthmus. 
 
 Coiba Island is the largest in the Republic. It is more 
 than twenty miles long, well wooded and fertile, but it is 
 very sparsely settled. Jicaran, further out to sea, is much 
 smaller, but rises 1400 feet above the sea. It is the most 
 beautiful of all — a real distinction along a coast studded 
 with beautiful islands. 
 
 Montijo Bay is fourteen miles long by nine broad. Ce- 
 baco, an island fifteen miles long, stretches across its en- 
 
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TEE GEOGBAPSY OF THE ISTMMUS 71 
 
 trance and makes it one of the most sheltered harbors ever 
 contrived by nature. 
 
 Veraguas, and the small Province of Los Santos, form 
 together a peninsula which reaches to the southern extrem- 
 ity of the Isthmus. The coast then turns back — an acute 
 angle — and runs northwest up to Parita Bay and the Prov- 
 ince of Cocl6. 
 
 These three provinces are the least developed of the 
 Repubhc. They are sparsely settled. The blood of the 
 population varies between the formulae: one tenth Span- 
 iard, one tenth Cholo Indian, eight-tenths negro, and one- 
 tenth Spanish, one-tenth negro, eight-tenths Indian. Near 
 the coast the negro strain predominates, in the hills that of 
 the Indians. 
 
 The roads are the merest trails — impassable, even for 
 Indians on foot, during much of the rainy season. There is 
 very little circulation of commodities beyond navigable 
 water. The population has the ingrown indolence which 
 comes from life in such bountiful countries. It is only 
 necessary to scratch the earth with a stick to make yams 
 and plantains grow. The only tools needed for rice are a 
 pair of hands. And one could not stop the plentiful har- 
 vest of cocoanuts if one tried. 
 
 Colon Province is the extreme north of the Isthmus. 
 What has just been said about the three provinces to the 
 west applies to it, with the exception of Colon City. And 
 this city is entirely the work of foreigners. It was founded, 
 and at first called "Aspinwall," by the Panama Railroad 
 Company in 1850. 
 
 The province, however, is rich in historical interest. 
 Columbus himself visited the coast on his last voyage in 
 1502. He named Puerto Bello, and what is now called 
 Colon Harbor, he christened Navy Bay. Not far from the 
 present City of Colon he attempted to found a colony — it 
 
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72 PANAMA 
 
 would have been the first on the continent. His brother 
 Bartholomew landed with a company of settlers, but the 
 day before the great admiral sailed away they were attacked 
 by the Indians and driven to the ships. It was along this 
 shore that Don Diego de Nicuesa, seven years later, strove 
 so desperately to gain a foothold for his sovereign. He had 
 set out with a brilliant following to establish a Spanish col- 
 ony and met with a series of almost incredible disasters. 
 Beaten back by the savage natives, buffeted by storms, his 
 ships eaten by worms, he and the pitiful remnant of his 
 expedition came to a favorable looking harbor. "In the 
 name of God," he cried, "let us stop here." "Nombre de 
 Dios," they called the place; it is still on the map. 
 
 East along the coast from Colon is the Gulf of San Bias, 
 named after the most unique tribe of Indians left in Amer- 
 ica. The San Bias have never been conquered. And they 
 have preserved their ethnic purity as intact as their terri- 
 tory. Their coast is famous for its cocoanuts — the finest 
 on the market. A number of schooners trade with the 
 villages along the shore and on the islands. But there are 
 no European settlements in their territory. 
 
 The Province of Panama, with long coast lines on both 
 oceans, is the eastern extreme of the Republic. Most of it 
 is undeveloped. But there is considerable cattle-raising. 
 Several companies, with foreign capital, have been estab- 
 lished in the Bayano Valley. They are interested in 
 bananas, cocoanuts, vegetable ivory, rubber and cacao. 
 A lumber company, an English affair, is planning to exploit 
 the mahogany and cabinet woods. And down towards the 
 Colombian border, near the headwaters of the Tuyra River, 
 are the properties of the Darien Gold Mining Company. 
 The mines date from prehistoric times and there have been 
 very few long interruptions in the taking out of bulUon. 
 At present the company is run under an English charter. 
 
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THE GEOGBAPET OF TSE ISTHMUS 73 
 
 but most of the stockholders and the technical managers 
 are French. 
 
 The Province of Panama contains the third of the great 
 natural harbors of the Isthmus. San Miguel Bay, with its 
 inner Darien Harbor, is a natural naval station without 
 rival. The entrance into Darien Harbor, from the immense 
 outer bay, is almost closed by a large island, on either side 
 of which are deep, safe channels, the Boca Chiea and the 
 Boca Grande. Beyond them, is an unbroken expanse of 
 water, thirty miles long by half that width. All the navies 
 of all the nations could anchor here in safety. Half a dozen 
 submarine mines would make the place the surest refuge in 
 the world. 
 
 The big tides form a great advantage over the Chiriqui 
 Lagoon. They rise and fall fifteen feet — and at "spring 
 tide " twenty feet. The shores of the harbor are natural 
 dry-docks. Any ships which visit these coasts can be run 
 up on the beach on the top of the tide and left high and 
 dry when it falls. A further advantage is that the Tuyra 
 River is navigable beyond salt water. A short anchorage in 
 fresh water kills the barnacles, which are the pest of navi- 
 gation in these waters. 
 
 One cannot look at the Chiriqui Lagoon on the Carib- 
 bean, Monti] o Bay and the Darien Harbor on the Pacific, 
 without regretting that the Republic of Panama is not a 
 great maritime nation, that these immensely valuable nat- 
 ural harbors should be imused. 
 
 Off the mouth of San Miguel Bay are the Pearl Islands. 
 The archipelago is over thirty miles long. There are six- 
 teen big islands and innumerable small ones. The Isla del 
 Rey is over ten miles long and as big as all the rest put to- 
 gether. Most of the islands which have fresh water are occu- 
 pied. There is a considerable output of cocoanuts and pine- 
 apples, but of course the pearl fisheries are the big industry. 
 
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74 FANAM.A 
 
 Taking the Isthmus as a whole its most noticeable feature 
 is the maze of innmnerable rivers. As a rule the mountains 
 are nearer the Atlantic than the Pacific; so most of the 
 longer rivers are on the southern slope. However, the Rio 
 Cocld del Norte has its source in the province of CocM, and 
 crosses that of Colon to empty into the Caribbean. The 
 Chagres River, which is to fm-nish the water for the Canal, 
 is also a northern stream. It is about 100 miles long and 
 navigable half that distance by small boats. 
 
 The largest of all the rivers is the Tuyra, or Rio del 
 Santa Maria, as the old maps have it. From its mouth in 
 Darien Harbor it is navigable for small steamers and 
 schooners, fifty miles inland. The cayukas, native dugouts, 
 go up it and its tributary, the Chucunaque, for fifty miles 
 more. 
 
 The climate of the Isthmus has a much worse name than 
 it deserves. It makes a very creditable showing indeed in 
 regard to temperature. There is no record of thermometer 
 ever having reached 100° in Panama City. There are many 
 cities in the States which cannot make such a boast. 
 
 Mr. Johnson, in his "Four Centuries of the Panama 
 Canal," has summarized the mass of Government observa- 
 tions as follows: "At Panama the hottest time of day is 
 from two to four p.m., when the average temperature ranges 
 from 81.6° Fahrenheit, ia November, to 86.1° ia March. 
 The coolest hour is from six to seven o'clock a.m., when the 
 average temperature ranges from 74°, in January, to 76.6° 
 in June. The general average of highest temperature is 
 84°, and the lowest 75.1°." There are very *'ew places 
 within ten degrees of the equator with as mild a record. 
 
 But when it comes to "humidity" there is very little to 
 be said for the Isthmus. Even in what is called the "dry 
 season" the humidity runs up to an average close to 80° 
 The average for the whole year is five degrees higher. 
 
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TSE GMOGBAFHT OF TEE ISTHMUS 75 
 
 Colon has an annual average rainfall of 140 inches and a 
 record of 180 inches. In Panama the annual rainfall is not 
 half as great — 60 inches. In Colon one must expect 196 
 rainy days, and in Panama 141, out of the 365. The dry 
 season runs from the middle of December to the middle of 
 April. The rainy season is the other eight months. 
 
 Outside of the Canal circles, where everyone talks of 
 "The Ditch," the principal subject of conversation is the 
 opportunity for foreigners to make money in Panama. 
 The attitude of the Panamanians is enigmatical. They all 
 speak with enthusiasm of the development of their country 
 by outside capital — in the abstract. But the moment a 
 proposition becomes concrete they freeze up. Any effort to 
 get official papers — such as deeds — registered meets with such 
 disheartening delays as to smack of positive hostility to 
 foreigners. 
 
 In the face of the unquestioned resources of the Isthmus, 
 there is remarkably little development. 
 
 There are three main obstacles in the way of foreign 
 enterprise: 
 
 (1) The uncertainty of land titles. There are a dozen 
 large estates which would be bought up and developed at 
 once if titles were clear, which are tied up in litigation. 
 Always some of the heirs are obstructing a settlement, in 
 the hope that the next turn-over in politics will put some 
 of their friends on the bench. There are almost no accurate 
 surveys and the records of the land office are a mess. In 
 Honduras an American once found a deed which recorded 
 the corner of the property as marked by "a dead mahogany 
 tree, with two ravens on the branch." Perhaps the Panama 
 records do not offer so crude an absurdity. But nine out 
 of ten of the myriad springs in the country are called 
 "Aguadulce." And many deeds give "a spring called 
 Aguadulce" as a boundary mark. Frequently the original 
 
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76 PANAMA 
 
 land grants read "from the sea back to the mountains." 
 When the hinterland had no value this was a satisfactory- 
 description, but it is now a fruitful source of dispute. Very- 
 few landholders know definitely how much they own. 
 During my last visit to Panama, an Englishman paid for 
 several thousand acres of timber land. When he took pos- 
 session, his surveyor could only find a few hundred acres. 
 Mistakes are sure to occur even when both sides are acting 
 in good faith, and the opportimities for fraud are limitless. 
 No one should go into a land transaction -without the cer- 
 tainty of a bona-fide survey. 
 
 (2) The next obstacle to progress is the dearth of good 
 roads — ^the almost total lack of bridges. The country, for 
 instance, is full of valuable cabinet woods. A dozen con- 
 cerns have come to grief after acquiring good title to enough 
 standing mahogany to make a fortune. It is next to im- 
 possible to get the stuff out. The cost of transportation 
 is prohibitive. The same handicap burdens every under- 
 taking but weighs especially on any enterprise the product 
 of which is bulky or perishable. There are immense tracts 
 of valuable banana land lying fallow for want of transpor- 
 tation. It works both ways as it is just as diflBcult to get 
 machinery and provisions in as it is to get your commodity 
 out. 
 
 (3) The third obstacle — and the most serious of all for 
 a large undertaking — is the dearth of labor force. If the 
 enterprise requires steady labor, it must be imported. The 
 native population is small and long tradition has habit- 
 uated them to the simplest of simple lives. Nature is so 
 bountiful that a man can easily raise a family according to 
 accepted standards of living by two days work a week. It 
 is easy almost anywhere on the Isthmus to get fifty men to 
 work for you. But as soon as they have earned enough to 
 buy a year's supply of powder and shot, and half a dozen 
 
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TSE GEOGBAPET OF THS ISTBMUS 77 
 
 needles for the wife, it is all over. Five dollars a day would 
 not keep them on the job. They will have to be educated 
 up to a new and very much more complex system of 
 "wants," before they will become reliable workmen. 
 
 The banana fields of the United Fruit Company in Bocas 
 del Toro are the biggest foreign enterprise in the Repub- 
 lic. They have successfully overcome the last two ob- 
 stacles. Their fruit grows near water and they have built 
 a network of rails into the more remote fields. They con- 
 trol good harbors. So their transportation problem is 
 solved. And they import their labor from the West India 
 islands. But their land titles are in a bad tangle and it is 
 costing them many thousands of dollars to get them straight- 
 ened out. 
 
 The Darien Gold Mining Company is the oldest and the 
 most firmly established in the country. Their titles are 
 clear. They rim a small steamer weekly from Panama to 
 Marriganti on the Tuyra River and they transport upriver 
 in "cayukas" and, during the rainy season, in a flat- 
 bottomed stern-wheeler to the head of navigation, from 
 which place they operate a miniature railroad to the mine 
 site. They also have to import most of their labor. Their 
 profits are seriously decreased by the high cost of transpor- 
 tation. 
 
 Another industry in which there is considerable capital — 
 mostly local — ^is pearl fishing. It does not seem to be well 
 organized. But considering the slipshod methods it is very 
 profitable. The "mother of pearl" from the shells pays a 
 small interest on the capital and all the real pearls are clear 
 profit. There are twenty or thirty ships equipped with 
 diving apparatus, which operate at the islands and up and 
 down the coast. But the majority of the diving is done by 
 the natives of the Pearl Islands. They are enslaved to the 
 companies by debt and are viciously exploited. It seems 
 
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78 PANAMA 
 
 possible that a concern with sufi&cient capital to buy out 
 and consolidate the rival companies and organize the in- 
 dustry might make money. 
 
 Any large enterprise by outsiders demands sufficient 
 capital and patience to secure clear titles, efficient trans- 
 portation and a steady labor force. 
 
 This applies only to "big business." The Isthmus offers 
 opportunity to half a million settlers of the type of our 
 forefathers who pushed across the Appalachians and won 
 the West. One who wants to live close to nature will himt 
 long before he finds a location where the Old Mother is 
 kindlier. The opportunities for small homes are limitless. 
 Much fertile land is unoccupied and can be taken up under 
 the homestead law. Dozens of profitable crops are prac- 
 tical — rice, onions, rubber, bananas, and other fruits. 
 
 In my opinion there is nothing more surely profitable than 
 cacao. The consumption of chocolate, both as a beverage 
 and in confections, is growing steadily. The market price is 
 rising regularly and is not subject to the speculative irregu- 
 larities which make coffee and rubber little better than 
 gambling. Unlike rubber, the cultivation is very simple. 
 It is a neglected crop, as is everything to-day which does 
 not promise speedy returns, because it takes eight or ten 
 years for the bush to reach maturity. But I have seen 
 trees eighty years old which were still bearing full capacity. 
 
 The natural history of the Isthmus has not yet been writ- 
 ten. The Smithsonian Institution is at present conducting 
 a "biological survey" of the Canal Zone. I have had the 
 pleasure of meeting several of the outfit, a specialist on 
 beetles, another on minute moths, a fish expert, a student 
 of mammals, an ornithologist and so forth. When their re- 
 ports are published we will know more about the flora and 
 fauna of the Isthmus than about any other part of the 
 world. But I found it impossible to find any reliable infor- 
 
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THE 6E0GSAPHY OF THE ISTHMUS 79 
 
 mation. The natives of Taboga Island will assure you that 
 every year the land crabs come down to the village in great 
 numbers to join the Good Friday procession. They prob- 
 ably come down from the hills to deposit their eggs near 
 the shore at that time of year. Most of the information 
 about birds and beasts and flowers which can be gained from 
 the natives is equally unreliable. 
 
 The data on flora and fauna given by the old chroniclers 
 is not much better. In " A letter, giving a description of 
 the Isthmus of Darien . . . from a gentleman who lives 
 there at present," which was printed in Edinburgh in 1599, 
 I find the following paragraphs: 
 
 5. "To write further of the trees, it would fill a good many sheets." 
 
 6. "There are also crocodiles. I could tell you a good true story 
 about one of them, but being too tedious I forbear." 
 
 7. "There is a great dale of Doggs, Deer, Rabbets, and Monkeys, 
 and many other sorts of Quadrupeds, which Ye have not the like of 
 in Europe." . . . "There is another small Bird here called Cabre- 
 ro3, or Goat-Keepers; in these Birds are seven distinct Bladders of 
 Gall, and their Flesh is as bitter as Aloes: Of these we have abundance." 
 
 8. "There is a Root called by the Indians Cazove of which they 
 make a liquor called Vey-Cou much like unto Beer. 
 
 "Another fruit called Bananas, is an excellent Liquor, which in 
 strength and Pleasantness of tast, may be compared to the best Wines 
 of Spain. But this Liquor easily causes Drunkenness." 
 
 There are very few dangerous animals. There is a sort of 
 wild cat which the natives call lions, lots of alUgators and 
 some snakes and scorpions, but I have never heard of a 
 trustworthy account, nor have I met anyone who has heard 
 such an account of any man having lost his life from any 
 of these animals. 
 
 There are lots of queer animals, tapirs, ant-eaters, the 
 giant lizard of Central America — the iguana. And there 
 are no end of gorgeous exotic birds, paroquets and humming 
 birds. Most beautiful of all are the snow-white aigrette 
 
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80 PANAMA 
 
 herons, of which one sees hundreds on the rivers of the 
 Darien. 
 
 Judging from my notebooks, I think I saw a new flower 
 every minute I spent in the interior. Very few of them 
 were famihar. Everywhere- the jungle is full of orchids. 
 It is quite probable that a profitable business might be made 
 of shipping the more beautiful varieties to the home market. 
 
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CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE PANAMANIANS 
 
 There is little real friendship between the Americans on 
 the Isthmus and the natives. 
 
 In temperament and tradition we are miles away from 
 the Panamanians. The hostility between Latin and Saxon 
 probably dates back to the old Roman days when the 
 Saxons first began to plunder the Latins. 
 
 When the Spanish Empire sprang up in America, its most 
 relentless enemies were the protestants of England. Even 
 in the odd moments when the two mother countries were 
 not at war, the colonists never buried the hatchet. From 
 the days of Drake till the fall of Carthagena, the Latin 
 people of Central America lived in constant fear of the 
 English buccaneers. 
 
 Since our revolution they have transferred this dread to 
 us. Gradually, but apparently relentlessly, the United 
 States have expanded — always at the cost of Spanish Amer- 
 ica. Florida, Texas and California, the Philippines, Porto 
 Rico, one after the other, have disappeared down the maw 
 of what out southern neighbors are wont to call "The 
 Northern Vulture." 
 
 Very many of our representatives in the Canal Zone 
 have made sincere efforts to establish friendly relations 
 with the native population. A few still continue such 
 efforts, but most have given it up as hopeless. The two 
 people live side by side, meet occasionally at the theatre 
 or public receptions, but very rarely become intimate. 
 
 81 
 
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82 FASAUA 
 
 Perhaps half a dozen American men have married Pana- 
 manian wives. I have not heard of a single American 
 woman marrying a native. 
 
 The age-old hostility to the "Gringo" is deep-rooted. 
 Differences in language, customs and religious practices 
 keep the breach wide. 
 
 So any description of the people is necessarily that of an 
 outsider. Very likely many of the things which seem 
 ludicrous or unlovely to us might be understood and over- 
 looked if they would admit us to greater intimacy. 
 
 Panamanian society is sharply divided in classes. The 
 people on top are either old Spanish families, whose income 
 is dependent on land, or well-established families of foreign 
 extraction who have been naturalized for many years and 
 whose source of income is industrial. The descendants of 
 the Conquistadores look down on these parvenu families in 
 private, but are so generally in debt to them that they dare 
 not do so in public. They form a pretty solid social block. 
 
 The division in regard to politics is sharper than that of 
 heredity. At present the Liberal party is in power and the 
 Conservatives are getting social as well as political snubs. 
 One of the most noticeable things about these people is their 
 inability to bury political differences. Theirs is a politic 
 of personalities, first, last and all the time. The Conserv- 
 ative members of "The Union Club" are resigning — 
 although the club was formed as a place where the two 
 sides could meet socially — because they feel that they have 
 not been fairly treated in committee appointments. As a 
 general proposition. Conservatives and Liberals will not 
 break any manner of bread together. During the elections 
 for the Queen of the Carnivals, all good Liberals vote for 
 the daughter of a Liberal. 
 
 This political bitterness, which shows itself so unpleas- 
 antly in social fife, goes to even worse extremes in the 
 
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TEE PANAMANIANS 83 
 
 business of politics. Every political turn-over means an 
 entire house cleaning. Every government official, from 
 judge to street cleaner, loses his job — to make way for a 
 member of the triumphant party. The Liberal party, now 
 in power, has developed the "machine patronage system" 
 to ludicrous lengths. They seem bent on creating a job 
 for every one of a safe majority of voters. Panama City 
 has enough policemen for a city ten times its size. Consu- 
 lates have been sprinkled all over the map — often in places 
 that never saw a Panamanian till the consul arrived. 
 
 There is absolute unanimity on the question that what 
 the Republic needs before and above everything else are 
 roads. With its long coast lines and many navigable rivers, 
 it is unusually adapted to the cheapest of all forms of trans- 
 portation — by water. Small amounts of money spent in 
 harbor works in half a dozen places, a few good roads lead- 
 ing inland from the harbors, would open up large districts. 
 Yet the 1910 National Assembly voted to tie up all the re- 
 serve capital of the nation in a railroad of doubtful utility. 
 Railroading is always expensive transportation; in tropical 
 countries it is especially so. 
 
 The little Republic of Panama made its bow to the world 
 in the enviable position of having several dollars per capita 
 in the bank, when most of its older sisters were heavily in 
 debt. Much of this reserve has been squandered in riotous 
 building of national theatres and national universities or in 
 more riotous pay rolls. Very little of it has gone in real 
 development of the country. 
 
 What is not plain graft is grandiose. They are building 
 elaborate buildings for a National Institute to which they 
 tell you quite seriously all the youth of Central America, if 
 not Europe and Asia, will flock. It is admittedly too big 
 for the needs of the Republic. That it takes generations 
 for a university to acquire sufficient fame to attract foreign- 
 
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84 PANAMA 
 
 ers seems not to have suggested itself to them. That they 
 may have trouble in collecting a really erudite faculty has 
 also been ignored. The project is on a par with their 
 National Theatre. It is an imposing building which would 
 do credit to a metropolis. It is not lighted fifty nights in 
 a year. During my second visit to Panama (a three months 
 stay) it was only opened once — ^for an amateur performance 
 arranged by American ladies for the benefit of the Red 
 Cross. But it is possible that Bernhardt may visit the 
 Isthmus again. It is necessary to have a suitable theatre 
 for her. It is possible that one of the youngsters who is 
 getting a very poor sort of an education in the present 
 schools may develop into an Abelard, and forsooth it is 
 necessary to build his Sorbonne in advance — especially 
 when the contract for construction is profitable. 
 
 A further consideration is undoubtedly in the minds of 
 the "liberal" statesmen. They cannot hope to keep in 
 power forever, so what is the use of leaving anything for the 
 hated Conservatives to get away with? 
 
 My view of Isthmanian politics may be flippant, but if 
 so, the blame is due to several of her prominent citizens 
 who, when I went to them with hope of getting at the real 
 matter of principle involved in their politics, gave me noth- 
 ing but cheap invective. If there is really any difference 
 in principle between the parties, it is not to be found in the 
 "press" of the country. 
 
 Below this class, composed of landed gentry politicians 
 and financial industrial politicians, lies the great mass of 
 the people, who take no more part in government affairs 
 than they do in government receptions. One sees them at 
 their worst in the cities, as is true in every country. The 
 Sanitary Department has cleaned up the slums, and the 
 housing conditions are better than in many more prosperous 
 communities. 
 
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THE PANAMANIANS 85 
 
 In the country they lead a sort of Arcadian life. There 
 is much free land, and those who have not acquired any 
 property "squat" wherever the fancy strikes them. 
 
 Of course, the base of the population is Indian — a squat, 
 square-faced type, completely unlike the illustrations in the 
 de luxe editions of Hiawatha. There are two main ethnic 
 groups of Indians. The Cholos, a fairly pure type is found 
 in the mountains of Cocl6 province, are scattered all up 
 and down the west coast, from the borders of Mexico to 
 the edge of Peru. The early Spanish adventurers found 
 that friendly Indians from the Isthmus could act as inter- 
 preters within these limits. 
 
 In the northeastern part of the country, beginning at 
 the- Gulf of San Bias and extending almost to the Colom- 
 bian border, and inland to the Chucunaque River, are the 
 San Bias. Probably of the same race as the Cholos, they 
 have become differentiated in the four centuries since the 
 visit of Columbus, in that they have never been conquered 
 and have not allowed intermarriage. They boast that "no 
 San Bias woman has borne a half-breed, that no San Bias 
 man has fathered a mongrel." They are estimated at 
 about 20,000, and are reputed to be well armed. As the 
 Republic has no army, they have every prospect of main- 
 taining their independence for a long time to come. 
 
 They are not unfriendly to white men, and treasure an 
 especial respect for the English, who, tradition tells them, 
 are irreconcilable enemies of their enemies, the Spaniards. 
 The San Bias men frequently come up to Colon and Pan- 
 ama with cayukas laden with cocoanuts and scrap rubber 
 which they trade for powder and salt and needles and 
 cloth. They allow traders along their coast, but never 
 permit them to stay on shore during the night. They 
 guard their women to such an extent that a white man 
 rarely sees one of them except through glasses. The mo- 
 
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86 PANAMA 
 
 ment a stranger approaches a village, the women disappear 
 into the bush. 
 
 The San Bias men who come up to town — like the Cho- 
 los— speak Spanish, but whether or not they have forgotten 
 their own language I could not make sure. A trader from 
 Yavisa on the Chucunaque told me that Spanish was their 
 only language. Some Altantic coast traders maintained 
 the opposite, that only a few of the men learned Spanish, 
 and that their native language was still used. 
 
 The Cholo Indians have not preserved their ethnic purity 
 and seem to have no sentiment in the matter. Most of the 
 crossing has been with negroes, the slaves of colonial days, 
 their descendants, and the recent immigrants from the 
 West Indies. But the crossing of the races has been varied 
 in the extreme. At El Real on the Tuyra River, a pure type 
 of Cholo girl was married to the leading Chinese merchant, 
 and had two almond-eyed and yellow-skinned youngsters. 
 It is generally affirmed that aside from the San Bias people, 
 no native of Panama is of pure blood. The color line is not 
 drawn very sharply in the official and soeial circles of the 
 cities, so of course it is not on the country side. 
 
 Family life is simple in the extreme. John and Jennie, 
 or more probably Jos6 and Dolores, walk off some fine day. 
 If they happen to pass a priest, they may stop and get 
 married. When they find a satisfactory place, it does not 
 take them many days to get settled. They have probably 
 started out with a couple of machetes, an earthen pot and 
 a hammock. They build a roof and hoist it up on four 
 poles. They begin cutting out a clearing, and at the end 
 of the dry season, burn off the fallen timber. Until their 
 first crop comes to harvest, they borrow rice and yams and 
 plantains from their relatives if there does not happen to 
 be a stranger more near at hand. In the course of a few 
 years they have as many children, their original shelter has 
 
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TEE PANAMANIANS 87 
 
 been turned into a kitchen, and a new rancho with woven 
 walls has become their residence. They have several acres 
 under mild cultivation. The bananas and oranges have 
 begun to bear. Dolores has woven several new hammocks, 
 has moulded several new pots and pans, and has made a 
 dozen different household utensils out of the fruit of their 
 thriving calabash tree. They have become people of con- 
 sideration, and are now in a position to lend yams and rice 
 to more recently established homes. 
 
 Once a year or so, Jos6 sets out for the nearest town. 
 He loads up with various medicinal gums they have gath- 
 ered, a few pounds of rubber scrap, and, if Dolores is a 
 clever artisan at hat weaving or gourd carving, with her 
 handiwork. On the way he stops at every hacienda he 
 passes and asks for work. In due course he reaches town 
 with a handful of silver, buys what supplies he needs and 
 returns to Dolores for another long sleep. As soon as the 
 oldest boy grows up, he sends him to town instead, and 
 sleeps all the year round. 
 
 In all my trips into the interior, I never found a native 
 white man who was truly hospitable, and never found an 
 Indian who was not. However, I would not care to gener- 
 alize from my experience. 
 
 The formal tribal relations have broken down among the 
 Cholo Indians. They appear to be, according to Herbert 
 Spencer's ideal, the happiest of people, for they are cer- 
 tainly the least governed. Half a dozen whom I questioned 
 did not know who was president of the Republic. There 
 seems to be in each commvmity some old man who is gen- 
 erally considered wise. Disputes are informally submitted 
 to him, but he has no authority to back up his deci- 
 sions. 
 
 The jungle stretches on all sides invitingly. Very few 
 of the Indians have acquired sufficient property to bind 
 
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88 PANAMA 
 
 them to a locality or community; and if a man felt he was 
 unjustly treated by his neighbors, he would move. 
 
 The landed gentry generally live in the cities. Their 
 haciendas are unattractive places, the cultivation of their 
 estates is almost nil. In general, their income comes from 
 cattle raising or those forms of agriculture which require the 
 least hmnan labor. There is none of the slavery of which 
 one hears so much in Mexico, partly because the Pana- 
 manian gentry are too indolent to make effective slave driv- 
 ers, but more because the jungle offers such ready escape. 
 
 Almost every time you find an even moderately well- 
 cultivated estate, you will find a foreigner as foreman. 
 
 The homes of the rich are strangely unattractive to 
 Northerners, and this is especially remarkable, as most of 
 the upper class have been educated abroad. 
 
 I spent nearly a week in a household not far from Pan- 
 ama City. They were the most important people of. the 
 village, and reputed to be rich. They were so nearly white 
 that the daughters had been received in a smart finishing 
 school in the States. Several members of the family had 
 been in Europe. One would naturally expect certain traces 
 of advanced culture. 
 
 It was a large one-storied house, with unglazed windows. 
 One room, which served as a dining and living room, was 
 papered with a cheap, gaudy, green and gilt paper, stained 
 and moldy from humidity. The walls of the other rooms 
 were bare. In this living room there was a grand piano 
 which had been out of tune at least a generation, and had 
 been superseded by a graphophone. Sousa marches were 
 the family's preference in music. On the wall there was a 
 chromo portrait of Alphonso XIII, advertising a brand of 
 sherry, and a hideous crayon enlargement from a photograph 
 of the father. In a book-shelf there was a fine old set of 
 Cervantes, a couple of French and English dictionaries and 
 
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THE PANAMANIANS 89 
 
 text books, and a file of La Hacienda, an illustrated maga- 
 zine published by and in the interests of an American manu- 
 facturer of farm machinery. I did not see any member of 
 the family reading anything but the daily paper from 
 Panama, although they could all read and speak French 
 and English. 
 
 The ladies of the household spent the morning in dingy 
 mother hubbards and slippers. After a heavy midday meal 
 they retired to their hammocks. About four o'clock they 
 took a dip in the ocean, sat around the rest of the evening 
 with a towel over their shoulders and their hair drying. 
 
 About a month later I encountered one of these young 
 ladies at a ball in Panama. She was dressed in an exqui- 
 site Paris gown, and was strikingly beautiful. She would 
 have passed muster in the most exclusive set in any Euro- 
 pean capital. It was hard to believe that 360 days out of 
 the year she led the slipshod, slovenly life I had seen in her 
 home. 
 
 The married life of the better class natives does not seem 
 attractive to Americans. The women have no social inter- 
 course with men, except at infrequent balls and formal 
 dinners. They are expected to keep their feet on the rocker 
 of the cradle all the time. The men lead their social life in 
 caf^s and clubs. "Calling" is imknown. Many amusing 
 stories are told of the excitement and astonishment caused 
 by Americans breaking over this custom. There were a 
 great many love feasts in the early days. Everyone talked 
 of friendship between the two nations, and the Americans 
 believed in it. And our young men, having duly met the 
 ladies of Panama at these formal functions, proceeded to 
 "call" in form. Invariably they found the ladies in "des- 
 habille" and tongue-tied with astonishment at the invasion. 
 The husbands were outraged at this attack on the sanctity 
 of their homes, and while the affair fell short of a diplomatic 
 
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90 PANAMA 
 
 incident, a lot of explaining had to be done to avoid the duels 
 which threatened. 
 
 Considering that several thousands of American bachelors 
 have worked in the Canal Zone, it is remarkable that so few 
 have married Panamanian women. 
 
 The reUgion of the country is Roman Catholic. Most of 
 the men, however, seem to be free thinkers. Even more 
 than in Protestant countries, the congregations at the 
 churches are made up of women. But especially at fiestas 
 the churches are packed. The ceremonial in these Latin- 
 American countries is not as attractive as it is in Europe 
 nor as impressive as it is in Russia. The religious fervor 
 which marked the clergy in the early days of colonization — 
 the missionary spirit — seems to have very largely given place 
 to formalism, and rather shoddy formalism at that. Even 
 the linen on the high altar of the Cathedral is not spotless. 
 The silken finery of Nuestra Senora del la Merced is moth- 
 eaten. The worshippers seem iminspired, the celebrants of 
 the mass half asleep. There seems to be no singing to speak 
 of. Only once I heard some sisters — and it was a sadly im- 
 trained chorus — chanting a mass in San Felipe Neri. 
 
 The old journal of an Englishman who was held some 
 months captive by the Indians, before their conversion, tells 
 of how they used to put bunches of flowers and piles of 
 bones at the dark places along the trails — places where evil 
 spirits were supposed to congregate. If you ride back into 
 the interior to-day, in all such fearsome places you will see 
 bunches of flowers — and rude crosses. In every "rancho" 
 you will find a sacred corner presided over by a wooden 
 cross, and sometimes a holy picture. The Indian women 
 like to put broken pieces of looking glass about these shrines. 
 But beyond this it is hard to find any signs of Christianity 
 among the natives. 
 
 "Sport," in the Anglo-Saxon sense, is hardly known in 
 
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THE PANAMANIANS 91 
 
 Panama. The nearest approach to baseball, for instance, 
 is cock-fighting. It holds a place in the hearts of the peo- 
 ple on a par with, if not above, political intrigue. There are 
 cock fights every Sunday, and elections only once a year. 
 
 The birds are raised with great care, and are trained 
 and fed with as much solicitude as a prize fighter. Sunday 
 morning, while the women are at church, the men crowd 
 into the cock-pit. The excitement is intense, the tobacco 
 smoke dense — and the sport pitiful. Two cocks, most of 
 their feathers shaved off, are brought into the ring by their 
 keepers. There is a long wrangle over odds, and then bets 
 are tossed in from the circle of seats. When the debate 
 between the keepers is ended, they knock the roosters' 
 heads together and then turn them loose. I sat through a 
 couple of hours of it once, and only one bout of a dozen or 
 more had any action to it — or any suspense. In the other 
 cases, after a little sparring, one cock ran and the other 
 chased it, round and round the pit. Every few minutes 
 the backer of the fleeing cock would persuade it to turn 
 round and face the foe, but in a second the chase would 
 begin again. The bout was ended when one cock was 
 smitten with heart failure. Perhaps the worst thing which 
 can be said of the Panamanians is that cock fighting is their 
 national sport. 
 
 The hostility to the Gringos is industriously fostered by 
 the merchants of the Republic, few of whom are native- 
 born Panamanians. 
 
 The situation furnishes a very interesting study of how 
 far political passion can blind people to their economic 
 interests. 
 
 The Isthmian Canal Commission has developed a com- 
 missary department for the benefit of the employees. It 
 is an immense cooperative store where great economies are 
 effective, and the prices for almost any article are appre- 
 
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92 PANAMA 
 
 ciably lower in the commissaries than in the private stores 
 of Panama and Colon. The merchants of the Republic 
 have organized a bitter opposition to this system, and by 
 their influence on the government have effected, through 
 diplomatic channels, an agreement by which the privilege 
 of trading at the commissaries is strictly limited. No one 
 who is not a canal employee or a member of the diplomatic 
 corps can enjoy the benefit of cheap buying without a special 
 permit from the President of the Repubhc. 
 
 Ice is almost a necessity of life in the tropics. A private 
 monopoly in Panama City manufactures it and sells it at 
 exorbitant prices. The Commissary has a fine modem 
 plant and furnishes ice to canal employees at cost. A few 
 families reap immense profit from the ice monopoly. All 
 the natives pay exorbitant prices for it. If the National 
 Assembly should pass a resolution instructing the President 
 to request the Commission to extend its commissary privi- 
 leges to the people of Panama, nine-tenths of the population 
 would benefit immensely, and only half a dozen already rich 
 families would suffer. It pays these families to stir up 
 patriotism to the extent that the natives prefer to go without 
 ice rather than touch that of the Gringos. 
 
 An even more striking case is furnished by the situation 
 in regard to electric power and light. The same clique who 
 own the ice monopoly have an antiquated electric plant, 
 operated by coal brought all the way from the States. 
 The imit cost is ludicrously high, and the monopolistic profit 
 is extortionate. A few miles out of Panama, the Commission 
 is installing a large electrical power plant to operate the 
 Locks. They must make it large enough to handle the 
 maximum of traffic, and there is no possibility of the maxi- 
 miun being reached for years to come. It would certainly 
 pay our Government to furnish light and power to Panama 
 at less than cost. 
 
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TEE PANAMANIANS 93 
 
 A small clique, probably not one hundred people, includ- 
 ing relatives, is succeeding in blinding the entire city to 
 these easy economies, by its ardent anti-Gringo patriotism. 
 
 I am sorry to have a so unfavorable impression of these 
 people. Their virtues they carefully hide from the for- 
 eigner. Their statesmen may have real interest in the 
 welfare of their country, but they will talk to you only 
 about their political animosities. Their women, on close 
 acquaintance, may be lovable in the extreme. The Amer- 
 ican rarely sees them, except in frowsy attire on the bal- 
 conies of their unattractive homes. 
 
 It is hard to like people who have evidently made up 
 their mind to dislike you. 
 
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CHAPTER VII 
 "the dakien" 
 
 "The Dakien" is a vague term for the eastern end of the 
 Isthmus. There is a Gulf of Darien on the Atlantic side, 
 and a Darien Harbor on the Pacific. The old maps give 
 the same name interchangeably for the two rivers now 
 called the Atrato and the Tuyra. It is a territory about 
 which very little is known. Part of it — ^nobody knows ex- 
 actly how much — ^is occupied by the San Bias Indians 
 
 Once a month, on the spring tide, the National Naviga- 
 tion Company of Panama send one of their boats to "The 
 Darien." It is a five-day cruise, and the most interesting 
 side trip which a visitor to the Isthmus can make. 
 
 I went down towards the end of the dry season, on the 
 steamer Veraguas. It was late afternoon when we left the 
 busy harbor of Panama. The lowering sun set the mother- 
 of-pearl on the Cathedral towers afire, shone a blazing red 
 on the many windows of the Tivoli Hotel and the American 
 town on Ancon Hill. We passed close inshore by the site 
 of Old Panama, the ruined tower of St. Anastasius outlined 
 above the jungle against the sunset, and then out across the 
 bay, towards Brava Point. The water, as smooth as a 
 ballroom floor, was blue past description, except where it 
 caught some of the red of the western sky. 
 
 After an amazingly good supper for so small a craft, the 
 captain spim yarns for us up on the bridge. He had good 
 ones to spin. He had started out on the service of the 
 Royal Mail, after long years of waiting had received a ship, 
 and on the second run had gone ashore on an uncharted 
 
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" TEM DABIEN" 95 
 
 bar off the coast of Africa. He had been completely exon- 
 erated by the board of inquiry. But little good that does a 
 captain. The iron law of the sea says that once a skipper 
 has put his ship ashore, he is a broken man. A dozen 
 investigating committees may report him blameless, may 
 praise his bravery and cool-headed ability — he is black- 
 listed at Lloyds. No company which insures its ships can 
 afford to employ him. So our captain had been forced out 
 of the beaten paths, into the by-ways of the sea. During 
 the Russo-Japanese War, he had enlisted in the Mikado's 
 service. After peace had been re-established, he had drifted 
 about from one tramp steamer to another, at last to get 
 command of the minute Veraguas. 
 
 So slipping along through the motionless sea, our mast 
 barely missing the immense Sjud imminent disk of the 
 moon, we sat half the night, listening to bizarre tales of the 
 China Sea, the Blockade of Vladivostok, pearl smuggling, 
 Boxer pirates and Dyak head-hunters. Even Robert, the 
 Well-Beloved, failed to get from his magic pen an adequate 
 picture of the glamor and romance of night on the Southern 
 Sea — so what's the use? 
 
 I woke up to find that we were rounding Brava Point in 
 the Gulf of San Miguel. The expanse of water about us 
 was the first of the Pacific Ocean seen by European eyes 
 from America. On one of those mountains — in the long chain 
 which formed the horizon on the left — Balboa, near four 
 centuries ago, accomplished fame, when 
 
 .... with eagle eyes 
 He stared at the Pacific — ^and all his men 
 Look'd at each other with a wild surmise — 
 Silent, upon a peak in Darien." 
 
 Somewhere along that white sandy beach on St. Michael's 
 Day (September 29), 1513, he strode into the water to his 
 waist and flaunted abroad the banner of Castile and Leon. 
 
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96 PANAMA 
 
 Time has rotted away the wooden cross they erected, to 
 the wonder of the Indians. The tooth of Time has bitten 
 deep into the sovereignty of the royal house of Spain — 
 which was growing so mightily in those days. Only the 
 name — "Golfo de San Miguel" — ^which he gave the place 
 has remained. Also in memory of his great discovery, the 
 name of Balboa has been given to the busy port thirty miles 
 up the coast, the terminus of the great canal which is to be — 
 a place where they built ships which would as much have 
 amazed Balboa as his musquettes did the Indians. 
 
 Somewhere across this placid bay, Balboa ventured forth 
 in a native canoe — ^most probably the Indian cayukas of 
 to-day are no bigger than those the first Spaniards found. 
 Galvano, an old chronicler, writes : " He embarked himself 
 against the will of Chiapes, who was lord of the coast, who 
 wished him not to do so, because it was dangerous for him. 
 But he, desirous to have it known that he had been upon 
 these seas, went forward, and came back again in safety 
 and with great content, bringing with him good store of 
 gold, silver, and pearls." 
 
 The view is beautiful and I also returned " with great 
 content," although not with so rich spoils. 
 
 Within the Gulf of San Miguel, the water loses its glori- 
 ous blueness. Three mighty rivers, running through allu- 
 vial valleys, have turned it into a Missouri brown. 
 
 From Brava Point it is fifteen miles across the mouth of 
 the Gulf. Inside it broadens out to twice that width. The 
 shores are irregular and there are several islands. The 
 channel up the Gulf is twenty miles long. The banks are 
 generally precipitous, getting higher as one gets inland. 
 There are few signs of human habitation. Here and there 
 a break in the dense foliage of the hillsides showed where 
 some natives had made a clearing. We passed close to one 
 island, but we saw no Indians. 
 
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" IBE DABIEN " 97 
 
 Beyond the Gulf is the great Darien Harbor. A large 
 island, blocking the entrance, separates the two channels, 
 the Boca Chica from the Boca Grande. When our battle- 
 ships visited the harbor, on their trip around the world, 
 they used the Boco Grande. This channel is not only the 
 deeper, but also the longer. The native boats all use the 
 Boco Chico. The banks at the head of the Gulf are hidden 
 by mangrove swamps. The entrance to this narrow pas- 
 sage is invisible to uninitiated eyes. When our captain 
 threw the head of the boat around, I thought he had a 
 brain-storm and was running us aground. A few yards 
 from the shore, the opening suddenly appears. The channel 
 is about three hxmdred feet wide and not a quarter of a mile 
 long. Once headed into it, we shot through on the tide at 
 incredible speed. 
 
 Before I realized that we had entered the passage, we 
 were slowing down in the placid water of the harbor. 
 
 The spring tide rises nearly twenty feet. Darien Harbor 
 is thirty miles long, and averages ten in width. A tremen- 
 dous amount of water — considerably more than a cubic mile 
 of it — has to rush through those two narrow mouths every 
 six hours. I doubt if the famous tides of the Bay of Fundy 
 run any stronger. 
 
 William Dampier, who, besides being a pirate of parts, 
 was a keen observer of geography, has left this account of the 
 place as he found it two centuries ago: 
 
 "The Gulf of St. Michael ... is a place, where 
 many great rivers having finished their course, are swal- 
 lowed up in the sea. . . . On either side the Gulf 
 runs in towards the land somewhat narrower, and makes 
 five or six small islands, and good channels between the 
 islands; beyond which, further in still, the shore on each 
 side closes so near with two points of low mangrove land as 
 to make a narrow or strait, scarce half a mile wide. This 
 
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98 PANAMA 
 
 serves as a mouth or entrance to the inner part of the 
 Gulf, which is a deep bay, two or three leagues on every way; 
 and about the east end thereof are the mouths of several 
 rivers, the chief of which is that of Santa Maria; this is 
 the way that the privateers have generally taken as the 
 nearest between the North and South Seas. The river of 
 Santa Maria is the largest of all the rivers of this gulf; it is 
 navigable eight or nine leagues up, for so high the tide 
 flows. Beyond that place the river is divided into many 
 branches, and is only fit for canoes; the tide rises and falls 
 in this river about eighteen feet." 
 
 Around a corner of headland, just after entering the 
 harbor, our boat stopped at the picturesque little town of 
 La Palma. It is built on a very steep hillside. The houses 
 on the water front are perched on twenty-foot piles — almost 
 awash when the tide is in and high, and dry when it falls. 
 
 I counted about two hundred roofs, of which ten or fif- 
 teen were of corrugated iron — a sign and criterion of prog- 
 ress. El Real de Santa Maria, a town which we visited later, 
 has less than half of its roofs of the old-fashioned thatch. 
 The Alcalde boasted to me about it. I suppose corrugated 
 iron roofs are a sign of progress in Panama, just as tunnels 
 are in New York, but I prefer thatch and ferries. 
 
 In La Palma happened to me an amazing adventure. 
 I cheated a native! In any place of Spanish civilization, 
 this is something to boast of. It works the other way 
 around with such sickening regularity. 
 
 My friend and I went ashore in one of the native cayukas 
 — a ride of not more than two minutes. When we stepped 
 ashore the boatman calmly demanded one peso apiece. As 
 a general rule, I think that in a strange country, where you 
 do not know the language very well, it is wise to allow yorn:- 
 self to be robbed without making an uproar. Otherwise 
 you lose your breath as well as your money. But there are 
 
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" TEE DABIEN " 99 
 
 limits, and this seemed to be one of them. So individually 
 and collectively, we yelled all the mean things we knew in 
 Spanish at that cayuka man. He disappeared on a run. 
 
 "Gone for the Alcalde and the police," my friend re- 
 marked. 
 
 "Well, let's get a look at the town before they lock us 
 up," I said. 
 
 We strolled around for half an hour, expecting trouble 
 every minute. When there was no more to be seen, we 
 went down to the shore, and another cayuka man offered 
 to take us both out for four reals. So back we went to the 
 boat, without having paid any fare for the ride ashore. 
 
 I think the first boatman must have had a stroke. We 
 expected to see him waiting for us with a warrant when we 
 put in at La Palma on the return trip. For a month after- 
 wards I expected to have him turn up in Panama. But I 
 never saw him again. He is the only Panamanian who ever 
 let me get by him without paying. 
 
 The cruise up the harbor was delightful. The hills come 
 down sheer to the water's edge, their sides thick with heavy 
 timber. Three different species of lignum vitce — each with 
 its own color — were in bloom. Blossoming hybiscus, like 
 Fourth of July red-fire, was everywhere. And most gor- 
 geous of all were the Royal Poincianas or Peacock flowers. 
 A few islands, also bright with blossoms, broke the expanse 
 of water in just those places which would have been chosen 
 by a Japanese landscape gardener. 
 
 Perched on one promontory is the large country place of 
 a Panama merchant. It looks desolately alone. The shores 
 of such a body of water in a less torrid clime would be 
 crowded with simamer houses. 
 
 A few hours beyond La Palma, we passed the mouth of 
 the Rio Las Savanahs. It looks as broad as the Mississippi 
 and very much more sluggish. The entrance to the river is 
 
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100 PANAMA 
 
 almost choked with water lilies, only a narrow channel is 
 left free. For a mile on either side of it, the green pads of 
 the leaves — which are not very large, but innumerable — 
 entirely hide the water. There were thousands and thou- 
 sands of small white and golden blossoms. The air was 
 heavy with their fragrance. 
 
 Beyond this river the harbor begins to narrow rapidly. 
 About four in the afternoon, we anchored for half an hour 
 off the little village of Chepigana. Of its fifty houses only 
 the barn-like trading station had a corrugated iron roof. 
 This little place and La Palma are the only towns on all the 
 coast of this great bay. 
 
 Twilight was just beginning when we reached the head of 
 the harbor and the mouth of the Tuyra River — ^in Dampier's 
 day the Spaniards called it the Rio del Santa Maria del 
 Darien. We steamed up it' as far as we could before night- 
 fall. 
 
 Here we began to meet cayukas loaded with Cholo In- 
 dians. They are of the same squat, square-faced breed as 
 those to be seen in the western provinces. But they seem 
 much less touched by civilization. The men seldom wore 
 more than a breech-cloth. The prevailing mode among the 
 women was a short skirt, hardly more than a fringe. In 
 fact, the children, who wore nothing at all, wore very little 
 less than their elders. 
 
 Our boat followed a tortuous course, now close to one 
 shore, now to the other. And ever as we proceeded, we 
 were disturbing the innumerable birds who were set- 
 tling down for the night. The aigrette herons were a sight 
 worth all the long journey. There were hundreds of them, 
 and they are the whitest things which live. None of the 
 other animals which we call "white" — polar bears, white 
 elephants, silver foxes — are really white. But these herons 
 are as dazzlingly white as the crest of Mont Blanc at noon. 
 
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 ^m^'mm^^'''^.y 
 
 photo by Fishbaiigh. 
 
 THE FLAT ARCH OF THE CHURCH OF ST. DOMINIC. 
 
 
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 Photo by Fishbaiegh, 
 
 THE CATHEDRAL OF PANAMA. 
 
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" THE DASIEN " 101 
 
 In zoological gardens, herons and flamingoes and all that 
 genera of birds seem awkward and unlovely. They need 
 their native setting. These tropical rivers are their real 
 home. As our steamer fumed up the river, it disturbed them 
 mightily. As far as I could see ahead of us, was a string of 
 them on either side, flying sleepily up stream to escape us. 
 There is an unspeakable beauty in the moth-like way they 
 flap their ghostly wings, outlined so strikingly against the 
 dead green of the river banks. When it became too dark 
 for navigation, we dropped anchor and let them sleep. 
 
 It was too hot to sleep in the cabin, so we swung our 
 hammocks on deck. I find going to sleep in a hammock 
 an easy habit to acquire. But how to wake up with any 
 degree of grace or dignity is an art which requires long 
 practice. 
 
 I have a vague recollection of opening one eye and realiz- 
 ing with profound satisfaction that there was yet at least 
 an hour before dawn. The next thing I knew was a fusillade 
 from the after deck. It was not just one shot — it soimded 
 like platoon firing. I woke, with a start and tried to jump 
 out of bed, but I was in a hammock, and could not. There 
 was nothing to set foot on. I kicked out wildly, expecting 
 to strike the floor. I only barked my shins on a stanchion. 
 At this stage of the affair, a field gun came to the support 
 of the rifle brigade, and the string which held up the mos- 
 quito netting broke and I timibled four feet onto the deck. 
 It was probably fifteen minutes before I got myself untan- 
 gled and reached the after deck. 
 
 Every man on board with a firearm was pumping lead 
 into the mud flats left bare by the receding tide. Rifles, 
 revolvers, automatic pistols! The captain had an English 
 elephant gun, which I had mistaken for a field-piece. I 
 followed the line of his aim, and could see nothing until 
 he fired — ^then a great red chasm opened in the mud. It 
 
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102 PANAMA 
 
 was the mouth of an alligator. I have never seen any 
 thing in nature which has carried "protective imitation" 
 as far as these saurians. Half a dozen men were standing 
 about me, shooting right and left, and I could see nothing 
 but mud. It was several minutes before my eyes caught the 
 trick of seeing them. Then I ran for my gun and joined in 
 the slaughter. 
 
 From the ordinary point of view there is no sport in shoot- 
 ing alligators. They lie quiet — a too easy mark — and unless 
 the bullet penetrates the brain, it is impossible to get them. 
 They waddle down to the water and slip in. A day or two 
 later their dead bodies come up somewhere down stream. 
 
 There is, however, a great temptation to find out whether 
 it really is an alligator or just a hunk of mud on the bank 
 or a dead log floating down stream. The only way to make 
 sure is to shoot. It is a good betting game, for even the 
 Indians will sometimes be fooled. 
 
 As soon as the tide began to come in, we lifted anchor 
 and continued up stream. There is a never flagging fas- 
 cination to river navigation. At sea, if it is rough, it is 
 imcomfortable, and if it is smooth, it is monotonous. Here 
 every turn brought a new vista. Sometimes the jungle 
 trees scraped the upper works of the boat. There was al- 
 ways the chance of seeing a monkey or a paroquet or a 
 cayuka full of Indians. 
 
 About noon we dropped anchor in the channel off EI 
 Real del Santa Maria. It was in this progressive little 
 town that the Alcalde proudly pointed out the two score 
 corrugated iron roofs. There was also a two-story munici- 
 pal building to boast of and a new billiard table. 
 
 Here we imloaded three Chinamen who were going on a 
 trading expedition up the Chucunaque River, which joins 
 the Tuyra just below El Real. They caused great excite- 
 ment, for, in trying to keep down their expenses, they put 
 
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" TKE VABIEN" 103 
 
 all their worldly goods into one cayuka. I think another 
 half pound would have sent it to the bottom. Once they 
 had cast off from the Veraguas and saw how precarious was 
 their position, the three of them began to chant their funeral 
 dirge. All the good people of El Real, attracted by the un- 
 earthly noise, rushed out to the river bank. One of the 
 passengers bet me a peso that they would sink. It did 
 not look like a good bet to me, but I had stuck him every 
 time on the aUigator game, so took him on. By the very 
 narrowest margin, the Celestials reached the shore in 
 safety. When the passenger paid me the peso, he wanted 
 to bet me that he would die inside of a year. 
 
 "You've got such a luck, you can't lose," he said. "I'd 
 feel better than if my Hfe was insured." 
 
 Two twists of the river above El Real, we ran into a mud 
 bank. There was nothing to do but twirl our thumbs for 
 six hours till a new tide Ufted us off. 
 
 The geological formation of this district is very inter- 
 esting. In some prehistoric time, it was a country of high 
 mountains and deep, precipitous valleys. Then in some 
 great convulsion, it all sank so that the original bed of the 
 valleys was several hundred feet below sea level. The 
 rivers have washed down an alluvial deposit and filled up 
 the old valleys. 
 
 Fifty miles up, the Tuyra is still at sea level. Marri- 
 ganti, the head of navigation, has a tide of eight or ten feet. 
 On either side of the river are broad mud flats, heavily 
 overgrown with jimgle. The siu-face is not five feet above 
 high tide in the dry season, and it is continually drowned 
 in the wet. If some system of Holland dykes could be in- 
 stalled and these bottomlands kept dry, they would be 
 immensely fertile. 
 
 While we were stuck on that mud bank, fighting mosqui- 
 toes, an incident illustrative of the all-pervasiveness of 
 
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104 PANAMA 
 
 progress occurred. One of the deck-hands, who looked like 
 an Italian, was enlivening his job of stitching a patch on a 
 pair of overalls, by singing the Duke's song from "Rigo- 
 letto." And he sang it well. He had a rich baritone. His 
 voice had evidently not been trained, but he sang true. 
 Sitting there on a dry-goods case, beating time against it 
 with his bare heels, he threw into his singing a large measure 
 of the nonchalance, the very spirit of the song, which so 
 often is lacking in the performance of professionals. 
 
 "Now, listen to that," the captain said. "That's the 
 real Latin for you. Music born in him. I don't suppose 
 he can read or write. But once when he was a little shaver, 
 back in Italy, his father took him to the opera in Naples, 
 and he heard some great artist sing that. And he remem- 
 bers it still. Sings it do-wn here in the jungle, without any 
 accompaniment but his heels, a lot better than an English 
 or American vmiversity man could sing it with an orches- 
 tra." 
 
 "Let's get him to tell us about it," I suggested. 
 
 The captain called him up and asked him where he was 
 born. 
 
 "New York," he said. 
 
 "Mulberry Street?" I asked. 
 
 "Sure." 
 
 "Where did you learn that song?" 
 
 "Oh! That? That's a Caruso song. I learned it out of 
 a phonograph." 
 
 "If I hear you singing that again, I'll kick you over- 
 board!" the captain said, in disgust. But I was so delighted 
 at the skipper's discomfort that I gave the boy the peso I 
 had won on the Chinamen. 
 
 Marriganti, where we arrived a couple of hours after the 
 tide lifted us over the bar, is the station of the Darien Gold 
 Mining Company. Our cargo was principally machinery 
 
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" TEM DABIEN " 105 
 
 for their new plant. It was to be taken up stream in small 
 boats and then, by miniature railroad, to the mine site. 
 
 We also had a large consignment of goods for up-river 
 traders, cases of nails, boxes of starch and sugar, bags of 
 coffee and salt, bolts of cloth. Every civilized country in 
 the world was represented in that merchandise. Some of the 
 people up river are Germans, for we unloaded several cases 
 of Augustiner Brau from Munich. 
 
 Here at Marriganti we met the first white man since leav- 
 ing Panama. He was an Italian, in charge of the mining 
 company's station. We had letters of introduction to him, 
 and he started in to perform the rites of hospitality by mix- 
 ing what he called a "Nitroglycerine cocktail." He said it 
 was so strong that if you dropped a cigarette ash into it, it 
 would blow the roof off. When he found out that we did 
 not care to get drunk with him, he lost all interest in us, 
 and went surlily about the business of unloading his consign- 
 ment of machinery. I once met a Belgian judge from the 
 Congo Free State, who said the only objection he had to his 
 post was that there was no opportunity to get drvmk with a 
 white man. This Italian of Marriganti is in the same fix. 
 For the population of El Real and La Palma seems to be 
 pure Nubian. They are descendants of the colonial slaves. 
 A few West Indian negroes have drifted into the district. 
 They are mostly men who were stranded on the Isthmus 
 when the French canal company failed. They are indis- 
 tinguishable from the natives — except when they startle 
 you by speaking Enghsh. 
 
 The trip down stream was uneventful. At La Palma 
 we picked up a cargo of lumber and the Bishop of Panama 
 and his retinue. He was a picturesque tj^pe in his frayed 
 and faded purple. His face was round and wrinkled and 
 amiable. In his youth he had been a scholar and had trav- 
 elled widely. He seemed pleased to talk to a foreigner. 
 
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106 PANAMA 
 
 He was curious to know if the "modernism" heresy was 
 making headway in America. I asked him if it was troub- 
 hng Panama, and he said: "Alas, no! My clergy are too 
 ignorant. They have not heard of it." But his English 
 was decidedly rusty, and I think he got his "Alas" in the 
 wrong place. 
 
 We slipped through the Boca Chica with the last of the 
 tide and the last of the sun. All the way down the Gulf 
 of San Miguel, we had to fight for every inch against the 
 rush of the flow. 
 
 As soon as night fell, we were treated to a gorgeous dis- 
 play of phosphorescence. It is a different species of ani- 
 malcule which sets the sea ablaze in these waters from 
 what one sees at Nassau and Bermuda. Instead of sparkles 
 in the water, there is an undifferentiated glow. Their light 
 is a soft electric blue, like what one sees when the sun shines 
 through a mass of ice. 
 
 The minute little creatures only turn on their light when 
 disturbed. Probably only a very small proportion of them 
 ever do light up. Ships pass through these waters rarely, 
 and their only other cause of fear are the rapacious fish. 
 Often far out from the ship, the black water would blaze 
 out with a streak of fight where the fin of some marauder 
 cut the surface. 
 
 Their glow is a symptom of distress. But I think that 
 if I were one of them, I would pray to be frightened at least 
 once in my life. With such potentiafity of glory, it would 
 be dismal indeed to die without having ever blazed forth. 
 
 The friend who was with me is a rich man. I am never 
 quite at ease when I think of next month's rent. The glow 
 of these marine fireflies lit up his face as he leaned over the 
 rail beside me. When he spoke, I understood why his bank 
 account was more substantial than mine. While I had been 
 foofishly trying to humanize these brilUant infusoria, wast- 
 
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" TSE DABIEN " 107 
 
 ing time in imagining for them a soul tragedy, his mind had 
 been bent to practical things. 
 
 "If I knew how to do what those bugs are doing," he said, 
 "I'd make a fortune. They are generating hght without 
 heat. A real phosphorescent lamp — a good light without 
 heat — is worth a miUion — easy." 
 
 It was still deep night when we anchored off San Miguel, 
 the principal village of the largest of the Pearl Islands. 
 A pinace went ashore with the monthly bag of mail, but there 
 was no chance to land. The dawn — when the sun came up 
 out of the sea — among the islands was glorious beyond for- 
 getting. It was noon before we passed the last of the 
 islands. Browning speaks of "the sprinkled isles, lily on 
 lily, that o'erlace the sea and laugh their pride when the 
 light waves lisp 'Greece'." If lilies are the flowers which 
 picture the Greek isles, one would have to work cocoanut 
 palms into the figure to conjure up these Pearl Islands. 
 They stick in the mind as the symbol of the tropics, all the 
 world around. They are at their most unforgettable best 
 when mingled with a sea scene. There are himdreds of 
 big and little islands in this group — each with its own dis- 
 tinctive bunch of cocoa-palms, waving against the horizon. 
 
 The beauty of the Royal Palm is architectural; they are 
 attractive only when arranged in geometrical design — ^living 
 Doric columns of a formal peristyle. The charm of the 
 cocoanut palm is unconventional, personal. But, as I said 
 before, even Stevenson could not get the grace of the south- 
 em seas down on paper. 
 
 As the islands dropped astern, Panama called our atten- 
 tion over the bow. It is a beautiful city from the sea — • 
 beautiful still in spite of the scar made by the American 
 quarry on Ancon Hill and the smudge of smoke from the 
 machine shops and shipping of Balboa. 
 
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CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE THIBST FOB GOLD 
 
 It was the quest for gold which brought the first white 
 man to the Isthmus of Panama. The same "execrable sed 
 d'oro" — as the brave old missionary, Fray Bartholom6 Las 
 Casas, called it^-was the motor power of Balboa and Piz- 
 arro. Gold built old Panama City. Gold was the bait 
 which drew the buccaneers. And again it was the thirst 
 for gold — CaUfomian gold — ^which woke the Isthmus from its 
 forgotten sleep in '49 and made it once more the World's 
 great Short Cut. 
 
 In 1911 there is but one gold mine in profitable operation 
 in the Republic — the Darien Gold Mining Company at 
 Cana, close to the Colombian border. 
 
 But the " sed d'oro " is still a motor power on the Isthmus. 
 Any day you can find some more or less sane looking indi- 
 vidual — ^in the barroom of the "Metropole" or the "Pana- 
 zone" — who has a gold project to share with you. 
 
 There is a man who in some indefinite way discovered 
 in the moldy archives of Madrid a letter from a monk of 
 Old Panama which tells where the rich treasures of the 
 Monastery of San Francisco were buried at the time of 
 Morgan's raid. The list of jewels and plate reads hke an 
 inventory of the Cave of the Forty Thieves. Only a few 
 thousand dollars is needed to discover the hiding place. 
 
 A large outfit is now at work in the Province of Chiriqui 
 trying to relocate the old "Tisangel" mine. The bullion 
 records of the Spanish archives show that this was one of 
 the richest mines they discovered in the Americas. The 
 
 108 
 
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TSE THIRST FOB GOLD 109 
 
 methods of the Conquistadores were very crude and a modern 
 engineer could make large profits working over their waste. 
 This outfit has plenty of money and intend to find the old 
 vein if it takes a decade. They are running five-foot con- 
 tour fines over a large area — which means in surveyor's 
 jargon that they are using a fine-tooth comb. 
 
 Then there is an endless stream of prospectors, men of 
 every nationality and color, men who have followed the 
 scent from Australia to Alaska. They come out of the 
 jungle sallow with fever, gaunt from hunger, with a sack 
 of "dust" or a sample of quartz. All they need is a little 
 capital to open an El Dorado. They are more than anxious 
 to share their enterprise with you. 
 
 That gold is widely distributed on the Isthmus is beyond 
 dispute. Columbus found the natives wearing gold orna- 
 ments. The early Spaniards stole immense quantities of it. 
 And when this bonanza gave out they began digging them- 
 selves. The archives are explicit on this subject. Even 
 more conclusive are the xeports of many reliable experts. 
 Placer gold has been located in hundreds of places; veins of 
 quartz have been charted which assay as high as twenty dol- 
 lars a ton. 
 
 But only the Darien Company pay regular dividends. 
 
 The labor costs are prohibitive. The natives will not 
 work steadily. The Spaniards got around this difiiculty by 
 the simple expedient of slavery. But this method has gone 
 out of fashion. Imported labor crimiples up before the 
 manifold fevers of the jungle. It is impossible, in the 
 absence of roads and bridges, to install machinery or pro- 
 vision a large camp ten miles from navigable water. The 
 Darien Company is in an unusually salubrious region and 
 within striking distance of the great Tuyra River. It is the 
 proverbial exception. Yet the thirst for gold is unslackable. 
 And a new company is launched every few weeks. 
 
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llO PANAMA 
 
 The present status of mining on the Isthmus was care- 
 fully explained to me by a Mr. Moody, a man heavily inter- 
 ested in fruit-growing. Long residence in Central America 
 has given him an intimate knowledge of conditions. 
 
 "Not for mine," he said. "I suppose I've turned down 
 a couple of million mining propositions." 
 
 "Have none of them panned out?" I asked. 
 
 "One. I might have got into a Honduras mine which is 
 paying. But I'm a business man — not a gambler. If I was 
 a gambler I'd hit the roulette wheel, where thiB chances are 
 only 32 to 1 against you." 
 
 About a week later I met Moody in the Cathedral Plaza. 
 
 "Well," he said with a sheepish grin, "I've just bought a 
 gold mine." 
 
 A negro, named Pedro, who had once worked for him, 
 had come that morning to his office with a bag full of sam- 
 ples — black sand and quartz. He had staked out a claim 
 on the head waters of the Rio Obr^ on the Atlantic slope. 
 He had made a preliminary denouncement and had come 
 to Moody to borrow money to pay the fee necessary to gain 
 permanent possession. The samples, when submitted to a 
 mining engineer named Duncan, had assayed very high. 
 The two white men had advanced the necessary money for a 
 controlling interest in the enterprise. Duncan was going up 
 in a few days to look over the claim. 
 
 It was part of the coxmtry very rarely visited by foreigners 
 so I went along. 
 
 "Roughing it" would be an insultingly inadequate term 
 for that expedition. 
 
 As it was just before Easter our little boat was vastly 
 overcrowded. There were twenty bimks aboard and thirty 
 women and as many men. The berths were allotted to the 
 women in the order of their social standing, an easy matter 
 to determine in Panama, for the ladies use perfimae instead 
 
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Copyrisht by Underwood &• Ufiderivood. 
 
 BANANA MARKET AT GATUN, ON THE CHAGRES. 
 
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TSE THIBST POB GOLD 111 
 
 of soap. The Upper Ten use attar of roses. The Four 
 Hundred take to heliotrope from the world famous atelier 
 of M. Rouget. It costs in Panama five pesos for a very 
 small bottle. And so on down the social ladder to the hoi 
 polloi who use a greenish-yellow smell at one peso the gallon. 
 The extra ten women and all the men were stowed away in 
 hammocks. 
 
 To add to the discomfort we had no sooner passed beyond 
 the shelter of the Taboga Islands when we ran into one of 
 the very rare storms which visit those parts. 
 
 I have crossed the Black Sea in a Russian boat over- 
 loaded with Moslem pilgrims for Mecca. I have crossed 
 from Tangier to Gibraltar in the dinky little Djibel Dersa 
 with a gale blowing out of the west. The waves rising higher 
 and higher all the way across the Atlantic get frightfully 
 mussed up when they enter the funnel of Trafalgar Bay and 
 the Straits. And I have seen the bottom nearly blown out 
 of the barometer ofif Cape Hatteras. I thought I knew what 
 it was to be tossed about. But I did not. 
 
 Our little coastwise steamer was built to cross the bars 
 which form at the mouths of tropical river^, and if she was 
 loaded with lead to her funnel she would not draw eight 
 feet. In the morning my knees and elbows were black and 
 blue where the rolling of the ship had swung my hammock 
 into the ceiling. 
 
 A little after sun-up we swung into the placid, sluggish 
 Rio Grande and an hour and a half up stream we came to a 
 pier and a corrugated iron storehouse called Puerto Passado. 
 The steamer can only get up on the crest of the tide, and for 
 six hours it rests its flat bottom on the mud, waiting the 
 next tide to go out. 
 
 We found Pedro on the dock waiting for us with three 
 of the sorriest looking horses it has ever been my misfor- 
 tune to encounter. But even these sick, mangy, ulcerated 
 
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 brutes were welcome. For the water was falling rapidly 
 and a tropical river with the tide out is the most desolate 
 spectacle on earth. There is a revolting lewdness in the 
 naked slimy roots of the mangrove swamp on either side. 
 The bottomless mud of the river bed is like a nightmare 
 from Dora's "Inferno." Here and there a hump of muddier 
 looking mud moves sluggishly — it takes a decided effort of 
 the will to believe that it really is an alligator. It would 
 be much easier not to believe that such things live — in such 
 a place. 
 
 Penonom6, the capital of the Province of Code, is only 
 thirteen miles inland from Puerto Passado, but with Pedro's 
 horses it took us three hours. 
 
 It is a typical Central America town — a plaza and church 
 and bam-like government building in the center, a circle 
 of whitewashed, red-tiled adob6 houses, and on the edge 
 an irregular cluster of native "ranchos," built of cane and 
 thatch. It is impossible to say where the town ends and the 
 jungle begins. 
 
 We had intended to lay in our provisions here, but Pedro 
 told us it would be unnecessary. While prospecting on his 
 claim he had taken to his bosom a widow and her farm. 
 We would stop the first night with a family of his friends, 
 and the next be at his place, where the fatted calf would be 
 waiting us already dressed in pepper-sauce. So all we did was 
 to secure some real horses and buy some salt — a present much 
 prized by the Cholo Indians — some cans of butter and jam. 
 
 A friend of Pedro brought us some news which promised 
 excitement. While he had been in Panama his claim had 
 been "jumped." Three Americans, with a Mexican woman 
 who passed as their cook, had drifted into Penonom6 a few 
 days after Pedro's departure. They heard of his strike, 
 bribed the Alcalde and denounced the same claim. Then 
 they went out to look it over. 
 
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TME TSIBST FOB GOLD 113 
 
 The Alcalde was much disturbed by our appearance. 
 He had thought that he had no one to deal with except 
 the negro, Pedro, who was evidently too poor a person to 
 make trouble. But Duncan is a man of some prominence 
 in Panama, on friendly terms with the Administration. 
 The speed with which the Alcalde got down on his knees 
 was amazing. 
 
 As we started out the next morning, Pedro's friend told 
 us that the Alcalde had despatched a messenger during the 
 night to warn the claim-jumpers. 
 
 But we had hardly gone a mile from Penonom^ when all 
 speculation about the disposition of the intruders was 
 driven from mind by the immediate difficulty of the trail. 
 It was at the height of the dry season and the best time of 
 year for inland travel. During the eight months of rain 
 the way would have been utterly impassable. Duncan had 
 prospected all over the Rockies, he had run an asbestos 
 mine at the bottom of the Grand Canon and had lived for 
 years in Nicaragua. He said he had never seen a worse trail. 
 It would be nearer the truth to say it was no trail at all. It 
 is, however, marked on the Government map — "comino 
 real." 
 
 I found out afterwards that it was a beautiful and inter- 
 esting country through which we passed. But on that 
 trip I saw nothing but the tail of my horse. Once in every 
 few hours we would come to a bit of "Savannah" where 
 we could get on and ride — and breathe. But most of it 
 was foot work, pushing the beasts up a fifty per cent, mud 
 grade or shoving them down one that was worse. Wading 
 neck deep in a river to find a ford was a pleasant relief. 
 I could not make up my mind which was worse, prying the 
 horses out of quagmires or the machete work when we 
 had to slash a passage through the jungle to get past some 
 impossible barrier. 
 
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114 PANAMA 
 
 I remember once — we had just dragged the horses up a 
 long hill which was about as good going as climbing the wall 
 of the hot room in a Turkish bath — and a mile long. I leaned 
 up against a giant lignum vitce tree, its wide spreading 
 branches gorgeous with wistaria-colored blossoms. Wiping 
 the perspiration out of my eyes, I could look out over a wide 
 valley, half the tree tops in bloom. Ten feet away from me 
 hung a giant "Annunciation" orchid, white as the wings of 
 the Archangel. I was about to remark, "By Jove! this is 
 glorious," when there was a snap and a clatter. The cinch 
 had broken! My companions were already a good ways 
 down the trail. And by the time I had the pack rearranged 
 on the horse they were out of sight, and I had no time to 
 enjoy the view. 
 
 The sun had already gone down when we reached the 
 "rancho" where we were to pass the night. I have a vague 
 memory of hanging my hammock, of eating a sort of stew 
 which Pedro called a "Sancochi" and said was good — and of 
 a dog who bayed intermittently the night through. 
 
 We made an early start the next morning. Eleven hours 
 more of the trail which was ever just one shade this side of 
 impossibility. 
 
 In the middle of the afternoon we topped the Continental 
 Divide and started down the Atlantic Slope. Our barom- 
 eter registered only a little more than one thousand feet. 
 But it must have been broken — I would have sworn to five 
 thousand. 
 
 The Rio Obr6 was the boundary to Pedro's claim and just 
 beyond it we came to the camp of the claim-jumpers. As 
 we rode towards their tent they made a demonstration in 
 force. 
 
 The Mexican girl stood in the background with a Win- 
 chester. The three men, looking as bold and bad as they 
 knew how, strode out to meet us, making a great show of 
 
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THM THISST FOS GOLD lib 
 
 jerking their pistol belts into position. I never saw a more 
 melodramatically rigged out bunch of "bad men" off the 
 Bowery stage — ^leather "chaps," sombreros, red handker- 
 chiefs, mighty spurs. They certainly had made up for the 
 part. 
 
 The outcome was ludicrous anti-climax. I had never 
 realized how utterly dead the Wild West "bad man" is. 
 He has crossed the Great Divide .into ancient history. 
 
 Dimcan tipped me the wink and we threw up our hands 
 and cantered towards them. 
 
 "My sons," he said, "I've got a twenty-two single-shot 
 target-pistol somewhere in my saddle bags. My friend here 
 is unarmed. ' The coon has a gun but he couldn't hit a 
 barn. We're not much on armament, but — we've — got — 
 the — cash. You bought the Alcalde for twenty pesos. I 
 could buy him back for twice as much, but it's cheaper to 
 have him fired. Your claim's no good, you can't afford 
 to fight in court. Your guns are out-of-date. Money 
 talks. You'd better lope. There's lots of trails leading out 
 of this place. You might get run in if you hang around. 
 Adios!" 
 
 Their bold, bad manner wilted. When we passed that 
 way again they were gone. 
 
 Although we had so easily brushed aside these desperados 
 our troubles had only begun. It was nightfall when we 
 reached the end of our journey — the farm which Pedro had 
 taken to his bosom along with its fair owner. It was 
 deserted. 
 
 Pedro said he could not imderstand it. But it looked 
 plain to an outsider. Some handsomer man had come 
 along in his absence and waltzed off with the lady. 
 
 The matrimonial arrangement of these people is simple 
 or complex, according to your point of view. As nobody 
 ever gets married you hear no scandal about bigamy or 
 
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116 PANAMA 
 
 divorce. Pedro himself was not in a position to wail over 
 this desertion. I gathered from his camp-fire reminiscences 
 that he had been born in British Honduras where he had 
 had a "church-wife" and child. He had lived for a while 
 in Carthagena where he had left a woman and child, a 
 performance which he had repeated in Boca del Toro and 
 again here. 
 
 However, we had little time to wonder over Pedro's 
 domestic status. We were two days hard riding from the 
 nearest store, without adequate provisions and no cooking 
 utensils. We burglariously entered the deserted rancho — 
 I had never realized how sturdily they are built, till I tried 
 to break into this one. A careful search revealed two 
 broken bowls and some gourd cups. We went over the place 
 with a fine tooth comb and our one candle and could find 
 no more. We made a shift to boil rice in one of the cracked 
 pots. It was a sorry meal! But we were too tired to worry 
 much. In the morning we hoped to find, if not the fatted 
 calf, at least some growing vegetables. 
 
 We found nothing. The lady in departing had taken 
 everything — even digging up the yams. The more we looked 
 about, the less tenable our position appeared. As I had not 
 been stung by the gold microbe, I was all for a quick retreat 
 to our base of supplies. But not so with these prospectors, 
 white and black; they had the thirst. They were on the 
 scent and a little matter like nothing to eat was a mere 
 bagatelle. The prospector's fever is like first love in its 
 wild insistency. It is imlike it in that it is just as wild the 
 seventy times seventh time as it is the first. 
 
 They scraped together a scant breakfast and off we went. 
 It was machete work all the day, except when we waded 
 knee-deep in a stream. When we reached the place where 
 Pedro had found his samples it was shovel out and intense 
 excitement, Duncan held the pan and Pedro filled it with 
 
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THE THIBST FOS GOLV 117 
 
 gravel and yellow mud. Side by side, on their knees, by 
 the edge of the stream they nursed and rocked the pan. 
 Gradually the coarse refuse washed away and only the 
 coal black sand was left. The tension grew steadily as the 
 process continued. The supreme moment comes when you 
 drain off the water and look for the "streak." Their two 
 pairs of eyes peered over the edge. Yes. There was 
 "color!" At the very edge of the handful of black sand 
 there were half a dozen specks of dull gold. Even my 
 inexperienced eyes could see it. But I — ^hungry and tired 
 and ill-tempered — pretended not to. How they waved 
 their hands and shouted at me! 
 
 All day long the scent held them. Slashing through the 
 jungle, clambering over the rocks, wading up the river — 
 again and again washing out a panful of gravel — and always 
 vain efforts to make me admit that I saw "color." 
 
 Near the place where the quartz vein cropped out they 
 washed one pan of dirt which was really rich. I could see 
 twenty or thirty minute specks of gold. Duncan said there 
 were fifty "colors." 
 
 "Why," he said, "it's like a star-chart! Can't you see 
 them sparkling in the black sand background?" 
 
 They may have sparkled for him, but I was no-end hun- 
 gry, having had a poor sort of breakfast and no lunch at all. 
 
 About four o'clock we struck our first and only piece of 
 good fortune. In the midst of the jimgle we stumbled onto 
 a deserted farm. There were some cocoanut palms and some 
 yams. With much shooting we knocked down half a dozen 
 nuts. We were well supplied with best of sauces, and those 
 cocoanuts certainly were welcome. Pedro dug up some 
 yams, and we made camp again just at dusk. 
 
 One day of prospecting did not satisfy them, but it was 
 enough for me and I spent the next days exploring the 
 neighborhood. 
 
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118 PANAMA 
 
 Close to the deserted "rancho" there was a httle river 
 with the queer name of the "Rio Brasses de U." Taking 
 an early morning bath in it, I suddenly set eyes on a most 
 appetizing looking fish. It was a foot and a half long with 
 silver scales, splashed with black and red. We were short 
 on cooking utensils, but a fish can be planked. A water- 
 fall cut off his escape up-stream, I built a makeshift dam 
 and weir a hundred feet below where he was so peacefully 
 digesting his morning haul of sand flies. A very gorgeous 
 paroquet, in a motley of green and scarlet, jeered at me 
 from a coco bolo tree. Every time I made a jump at that 
 fish he croaked out a phrase in his jungle lingo which sounded 
 like, and certainly meant, "Foiled again!" After half an 
 hour's splashing about I gave up hope of catching him in 
 my hands or spearing him. But I kept at it, hoping to scare 
 him to death. But he had nerves of iron. At last I lost 
 interest in the fish and began throwing stones at the paro- 
 quet. Even a Paris cab-driver could have learned some- 
 thing new in profanity by listening to that bird's conversa- 
 tion. 
 
 In the afternoon help came. I was dozing in my ham- 
 mock and suddenly awoke with the startled feeling that 
 someone was looking at me. In the doorway of the rancho 
 was a sour looking old "brave." It gave little comfort to 
 remember that the Cholo Indians are a peaceful tribe. 
 I had an uncomfortable conviction that he was probably 
 the man who had superseded Pedro in the affections of the 
 owner of the "rancho." Our right to make free with the 
 place was decidedly vague. 
 
 However he was more surprised to see me than I was to 
 see him. With my six words of Spanish I soon made peace 
 with him. He and his family appeared to be moving. 
 There were two women in the party — each one had a baby 
 astraddle of her hip and the younger one also had a papoose 
 
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TEE TBJBST FOB GOLD 119 
 
 strapped to her back. A boy of twelve and a girl of ten 
 were superintending the manoeuvers of a donkey piled high 
 with household goods. By means of slight of hand tricks 
 and pantomime and the six Spanish words, I succeeded in 
 trading our salt for all the food they had and two usable 
 kettles. 
 
 So although I had no planked fish nor paroquet stew for 
 the prospectors I managed quite an elaborate supper. 
 
 The Indian family camped with us for the night and by 
 despatching the youngster off to a settlement some miles 
 away we found fresh eggs and vegetables waiting for our 
 breakfast and also three husky young Cholos — eager for 
 work and a chance to go to town. 
 
 So we took our time on the home trail. And leaving the 
 care of the horses and luggage to the Indians were able to 
 walk at our ease and enjoy the manifold wonders of the 
 jungle. 
 
 Whether or not the samples we brought back to civiliza- 
 tion will assay high enough to make the claim valuable, I 
 have, of course, no way of knowing. That is a matter for 
 experts. But of one thing I am sure. Before machinery 
 could be taken up that trail or any sort of a labor camp 
 installed, a great many thousands of dollars would have to 
 be sunk in road building. 
 
 The memory of those hungry days and that bitter hard 
 trail make it easy for me to understand that even in this 
 country, where gold is found on every hand, only one mine 
 is paying dividends. 
 
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CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE JUNGLE 
 
 To the lover of our northern woods, the jungle is a never- 
 ending surprise. 
 
 There is the old story of the Irishman who went to a 
 circus. When he saw the kangaroo he threw up his hands 
 and said, "You can't fool me. There ain't no such crea- 
 ture." To the person who has never been nearer the tropics 
 than the orchid room of some great botanical garden, a trip 
 into the jungle is a constant strain on his credulity. 
 
 A hundred times in the interior of Panama my soul has 
 longed for Old John Petrie, who knows the north shore of 
 Lake Superior with uncanny precision. How utterly he 
 would be at sea in a mangrove swamp ! It would have been 
 joy unspeakable to watch his woodlore crumple up in a for- 
 est where no bark was familiar to this touch, to see him 
 helpless in the bottom of a cayuka watching the amazing 
 feats of the Cholo Indians poling their heavy dug-out 
 against a current — just as I have sat in humble admiration 
 of his skill in driving a paper-weight birch-bark up the 
 rapids of the Sand River. And then I would have had no 
 end of evil glee watching the tears of helpless rage in his 
 eyes as he turned the edge of that marvellous . axe of his 
 against an iron-reed or lignum vitce. Anyone who knows 
 him or his kind can picture his disgust at having to give it 
 up, while the natives brought in the firewood with their 
 machetes. How a North Woods guide would despise a 
 machete! And how his eyes would pop out when he saw 
 what a Spanish-Indian can do with one. 
 
 120 
 
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TSE JUNGLE 121 
 
 In one respect the jungle is like the great Sahara or the 
 sea. It is a thing of fear — and death — to the people who 
 must live in it. A thing of beauty — a rich experience — only 
 to the traveller who passes through for pleasure. 
 
 There are two old sisters down Cape Cod way who keep 
 a summer boarding house. Their guests come to play with 
 the ocean, to splash in the surf, to build castles in the sand 
 and sail in toy boats. The two old women are fisher folk, 
 their father and brothers, the husband and son of one, the 
 lover of the other, have been swallowed up in the sea. And 
 when their guests, tired of romping with the monster, troop 
 up from the beach, laughing, there is a look of concentrated 
 horror in the eyes of the sisters. 
 
 It is the same with the jungle. There is a man whom 
 you may meet in Panama, yellow with fever, bent and 
 twisted with rheumatism, the wreck of a strong man, old 
 before his time. He has been defeated in a five-year strug- 
 gle with the jungle. He has sunk not only his health and 
 his own money, but all he could borrow from friends — and 
 strangers. He has gone broke in an effort to cash in some 
 of the luxuriant wealth of the jungle. He hates the word. 
 His scheme soimds perfectly good. As he tells it to you in 
 some caf6, despite the gaunt ruin of his face, it sounds good. 
 There was no fraud to his failure, no carelessness. He was 
 a man used to success, he appreciated all the importance of 
 the minute details which go to make it. His scheme was 
 well thought out and his face and bent figure show you 
 how utterly he spent himself in the enterprise. The jungle 
 had made sport of him. Freshets had swept away his 
 camp. The thousands he had put into his road had been 
 washed out in a night. Three separate times the river had 
 upset his canoes, swallowing each time a season's provisions. 
 A rare disease, of which only a few cases have been observed 
 in Ancon Hospital, killed two of his foremen, one after the 
 
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122 PANAMA 
 
 other. Lightning had smashed a derrick and a donkey- 
 engine which he had brought into the jungle with incredible 
 exertion. The jungle had said, "No." 
 
 And so at Biskra, on the edge of the desert, one can see 
 gaunt-faced, spare-limbed Bedouins looking in uncompre- 
 hending wonder at the ecstasy of tourists raving over the 
 beauties of their barren, hungry home. The natives of the 
 Isthmus do not share my enthusiasm for the jungle. To 
 them it means fields which will not stay cleared. Just as 
 the Hollander cannot stop work on his dykes, so the Pana- 
 manian can never lay down his machete. In three weeks 
 his farm would be engulfed. 
 
 The jungle, with all its wondrous beauty, is the enemy 
 of the man who works in it. But for the traveller, who has 
 a week or so to spare, it offers endless variety, endless in- 
 terest and "newness." 
 
 Thousands of tourists visit the Isthmus every year. It 
 is remarkable how few of them seize the opportunity for a 
 jungle excursion — an experience which does not offer itself 
 often to the busy American. 
 
 Of course with the wrong equipment one can be just as 
 bitterly uncomfortable in the tropics as one would be in 
 Greenland in a bathing suit. But with ordinary common- 
 sense one can cross the Isthmus anywhere west of the 
 Canal Zone with as few hardships as one would expect in 
 Canada. 
 
 One wants khaki clothes, as light as is consistent with 
 toughness, leggings, a poncho, and a hammock. Above all, 
 one must be prepared for the wet. Many of the trails lead 
 up the bed of a stream, and in the moimtains one must 
 expect some rain. 
 
 If you go into the jungle for pleasure, go afoot. What 
 look like automobile roads on the map turn out to be steps 
 in the hillside — and slippery ones. I do not know anything 
 
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TEE JUNGLE 123 
 
 more vexatious than a horse without a trail. Two Indians 
 can carry more freight than a horse, and will do it cheaper. 
 Best of all, they will put on their own packs. The natives 
 are not initiated into the mystery of the "diamond hitch," 
 or any other hitch for that matter. 
 
 Two tenderfoots ought to be able to make a two weeks 
 trip on less than five dollars a day. Unless they can speak 
 Spanish fluently, they should hire a "boss" in Panama. 
 It is expedient to make your contract explicit and to register 
 it at the consulate. The Panamanians have considerable 
 skill in charging for extras. It is also well to pay a call of 
 respect on the Alcalde of every village you enter. It flatters 
 him and puts him on your side in case of a dispute. 
 
 In making out a list of provisions, it is worth while to 
 include salt, powder and shot, or knives. They are presents 
 much appreciated by the Indians. Needles will win the 
 hearts of the older ladies, cheap mirrors those of the belles. 
 
 Once out of sight of the American-built houses of the 
 Canal Zone, you enter a wonderland. If you encounter 
 any living thing which even remotely resembles any tree 
 or beast or bird you ever saw in the States, it is something 
 to talk about all day. 
 
 On my first trip into the interior, it was necessary for 
 me after a few days to leave the outfit and make my way 
 back to civilization alone. It was one of the pleasantest 
 days in my memory. There was a bit of excitement to it, 
 as I was green to the jungle, did not know the trail and had 
 only a few words of Spanish. However, the Indians said 
 they could make the distance in five hours, with an early 
 start, I had twice as many. And to enjoy nature, or any- 
 thing worth while, one must have leisure. 
 
 My horse would have spoiled it all, if it had not been for 
 him a home trail. Very little of the way was practicable 
 for riding. But as his nose was aimed toward his manger he 
 
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124 PANAMA 
 
 followed readily. At times it was necessary to cut a way for 
 him through the jungle, around a fallen tree, a bottomless 
 quagmire or other obstacle impossible for a horse, but beyond 
 these delays, he bothered me very little. On the out trip, 
 going away from his stable, he had been a constant nuisance. 
 Most of the time I scouted far enough ahead to find the 
 jungle undisturbed by his noise. 
 
 The most striking thing about the jungle, the thing which 
 hits you in the face, is the color. There is none of the 
 modulation, the melting of one shade into another, of the 
 North. 
 
 Back of everything is the all-pervading green. So slight 
 are the differences in values of the various greens that it is 
 almost impossible to get a photograph of tropical foliage. 
 No matter how small a diaphragm I used, nor how long the 
 exposure, my negatives came out a blank. The ever- 
 present background is an almost undifferentiated green. 
 And spattered all over it, like a post-impressionist painting, 
 are masses of color in most vivid contrasts. And this is 
 one of the hard-to-beheve things about the jungle — ^these 
 slap-dash daubs of lurid yellow, crimson, green and dazzling 
 white are beautiful. Somehow the intense southern light 
 reduces this unspeakable gaudiness to a rich, but real, har- 
 mony. Somehow the jungle, to use theatrical slang, "puts 
 over" bizarre color schemes which at home would justify 
 homicide. Look through any book on color for a list of 
 shades which will not harmonize. You will find them side 
 by side in the jungle. I cannot ask you to believe that 
 such indecent combinations are beautiful. I could not be- 
 lieve it when I saw them, but it is true. 
 
 A few details of that gorgeous tapestry stick in my mem- 
 ory. There is a tree — its bare stalk, six inches round, rises 
 ten or fifteen feet — ^with a crest of giant buttercups, half a 
 foot across. There are lignum vitm — immense trees, the 
 
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THE JUNGLE 125 
 
 hardest kind of wood that grows — whose myriad tiny blos- 
 soms are the color of wistaria. There are a dozen flowering 
 trees — the Royal Poinciana, it is known to people who have 
 wintered in Florida. Another — its name I could not dis- 
 cover — which breaks out into great clouds of honey yellow 
 — ^you can see them blazing out on the mountain sides miles 
 and miles away. 
 
 Side by side these giant flowers of the Eocene, the ten- 
 foot festoons of maiden-hairish ferns and Cyclopian tufts 
 of grass, there is an innmnerable variety of minute flowers. 
 There is a tiny hair-like stalk which balances a little bluebell 
 no bigger than one blossom of a mignonette. 
 
 And then there are the orchids. A little wax-white blos- 
 som of tube rose texture is common, but no orchid can be 
 commonplace. Even the simplest of them have an ele- 
 ment of mystery, of the unbelievable, about them. The 
 natives express this by the names they give them. This 
 common white orchid they call "The Tears of the Virgin." 
 A red variety they have christened "The Seventh Deadly 
 Sin." "The Annunciation," "The Bride of Christ," all the 
 names suggest the unearthliness of these air-plants. The 
 daffodil-yellow variety, the kind one looks at longingly in 
 the florist's shop and, remembering next month's rent, turns 
 from to buy her roses, can be found here by the score. 
 
 I encountered one orchid which was new to me, which I 
 have never found listed in any catalogue. A thin twisted 
 stem, which looked Uke a telephone wire, hung down ten 
 feet or more from a great branch which stretched across the 
 trail. Just above my reach, standing in the saddle, was a 
 battery of a score of buds, like those of a gladiola. Half of 
 them had broken open. The blossoms were unutterably 
 red — intenser scarlet than the hybiscus. I spent an hour 
 trying to encompass its downfall, but old Dame Nature 
 had been especially proud of this bit of handiwork and had 
 
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126 PANAMA 
 
 hung it safely out of reach. It was so perfect it would be 
 hard to believe in its counterpart. 
 
 Of vines and creepers there is an equally dizzying variety. 
 One of them is, I am sure, the original inspiration of the 
 "clinging vine" tradition. It kills the tree it grows upon 
 not by strangulation, but by smothering. Its leaves grow 
 with a precision which seems intelligent. They lay flat on 
 the bark of the tree, overlapping each other about a quarter 
 of an inch, until they have enveloped the doomed trunk in 
 an air tight sheath. And a tree must breathe. 
 
 "Luxuriant" is not a strong enough word to describe the 
 vegetation of the jungle. I know no word which is. There 
 is a prolificness about it which makes shad roe look like a 
 symbol of race suicide. One is oppressed by a feeling that 
 the jungle is continually giving birth — that it is guilty of 
 mad, ungoverned spawning. Death comes to the things 
 of the jungle, not so much from extraneous accident as from 
 the sheer pressure of birth. The new is pushing into life 
 with such indecent haste, such irresistible insistence, that 
 nothing has a chance to reach a ripe maturity. The rot- 
 ting leaves underfoot seem to have been only half developed. 
 
 So strenuous is the vegetable life, that animals are crowded 
 out. The largest quadruped is a stunted deer. Most of the 
 fauna are pre-glacial types which have persisted in degen- 
 erate form. Walking along the trail that day I encountered 
 a tapir. It seemed a dwarf strayed out of the Age of Mam- 
 moths. It is the same with the iguana. They are often 
 referred to as the "giant lizard." I have seen several in 
 the jungle, two and three — one close to five — feet long. 
 But they are "giants" only because the day of lizards is 
 gone. They are degenerate offspring of monsters which 
 have long since passed away. Even the representatives of 
 the cats — which the natives call a "tiger" — is a puny thing. 
 
 But if the plants have preempted the ground space, to 
 
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THE JUNGLE 127 
 
 the exclusion of the prouder animal forms, the air is free 
 for abundant insect life. You cannot walk ten feet without 
 crossing the trail — a well-beaten path — of some variety of 
 ants. The tropics are the happy hunting grounds of the 
 entomologists. Mr. Busck, a unit in the Biological Survey, 
 which the Smithsonian Institution is making on the Canal 
 Zone, has collected several thousand varieties of moths — 
 from the ghostly venus moth to the minute, almost micro- 
 scopic species, which are his special interest. I have been 
 afield with Professor Schwartz, the beetle-man of the 
 Survey. I recall one time when he spread a sheet under a 
 low-hanging palm blossom. He struck the great pod with 
 the flat of his machete and the sheet was covered with 
 hurrying, scurrying life. Over forty varieties of bugs had 
 fallen out of that one flower. 
 
 Details — all these things I have recounted! They are 
 the proverbial trees which distract the view from the 
 forest. Back of them all stands the jungle, an entity, one 
 and indescribable. I think everyone who has ever entered 
 the jungle has felt it as a personality — hardly lovable, but 
 infinitely fascinating. No one can escape the spell of its 
 beauty, a beauty rich and luxuriant and threatening, a 
 beauty underlaid with dread — it is something like a tiger's 
 paw, rich in color, caressingly soft and dangerous. If you 
 could make a woman out of the ideals of Rubens, da Vinci 
 and Manet she — a compoimd of the exuberant vulgarity of 
 the Dutchman's nymphs, of Mona Lisa's exotic, ineffable 
 smile, and of the cold cruelty of "Olympia" — she would 
 have the charm I spoke of. But no painter ever put such 
 a woman on canvas. No writer has, or ever will, give an 
 adequate description of the jungle. 
 
 One experience stands out, from all my memories of the 
 jungle, like a vignette. 
 
 Working my way along the imknown trail that day I 
 
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 questioned the few people I met about the directions. At 
 one time I passed a field where an Indian and his wife and 
 several children were at work, but too far from the path 
 to be hailed. A little beyond them I came to more open 
 country and a chance to ride — and then the trail forked. 
 Whether to turn to the right or left I had no way of know- 
 ing. Should I go back the half mile and ask or take a 
 chance? I pitched a penny and took the right-hand road. 
 But a pitched penny has its limitations as an oracle and I 
 was not at all sure that I had been wise in blindly accepting 
 its advice. But hardly a hundred yards beyond the fork 
 I came to a clearing and a rancho. In a little lean-to kitchen 
 a girl of about sixteen was pounding rice. Like all the 
 Indian women outside of towns she wore only a meagre 
 skirt. At sight of a stranger, she gave a dismayed squeal 
 and darted into the house. I did not want to frighten her, 
 but I did want to know if I was on the right trail. I rode 
 up to the house and without dismounting, I hailed her. 
 
 "Buenos dios, Senorita." 
 
 No reply. Through some crevice in the wattle wall of 
 the rancho, I knew she was watching me. I endeavored to 
 assume a harmless expression. "Senorita," I called again. 
 
 No reply. Well, if she was going to be obstinate, I could 
 be as stubborn as any Cholo Indian. So I sat tight and 
 waited. I could feel her eyes spying at me. After awhile 
 she seemed reassured and peeked around the door post and 
 asked what I wanted. 
 
 "Is this the main trail?" I asked. 
 
 If all I wanted was to inquire my way, she decided that 
 she had nothing to fear and came out on the threshold. 
 
 "Si, Senor. . . ." And then a string of rapid Span- 
 ish which I guessed to be detailed directions but which I 
 could not understand. 
 
 I asked her to speak slowly — told her that I knew very 
 
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THE JUNGLE 129 
 
 little Spanish. Her big eyes opened wider. I suppose she 
 had never known of anyone, except new-born babies, who 
 could not talk fluently. I tried to explain the situation to 
 her, telling her that I was a Gringo and came from another 
 country very far away. But this was entirely beyond her 
 comprehension. The pitying look came to her face which 
 we use on the hopelessly insane. I doubt if she had seen 
 six white men in her life — and they had all been able to 
 talk. But she had seen Indians who had been touched by 
 God — loko — and I was more Hke them than the Spaniards. 
 
 No one likes to be thought crazy, and besides she was a 
 very pretty youngster. The face of the Cholos is broader 
 than we like, the bodies of the older folk are heavy and 
 squat. But this slip of a girl might well have served as 
 model to some dainty eighteenth-century painter. 
 
 I tried desperately to appear intelligent. I succeeded in 
 asking her if she had any oranges or bananas. Yes. She 
 had a tree full of oranges back of the rancho. The way she 
 went up that tree was a wonder to see. She had all the 
 agility, but none of the ungracefulness, of a monkey. I 
 could not think of the Spanish word for "enough" or 
 "stop," and she threw down almost two dozen. I tied up 
 my horse and sat down at the foot of a cocoanut palm and 
 began to eat. I tried to get her to join me. But I sup- 
 pose an Indian woman does not eat in the presence of the 
 Lord of Creation. She squatted down a little way apart 
 and watched me closely. I think she was wondering if I 
 was crazy enough to try to eat with my ear. 
 
 Whenever I could think of two Spanish words which hang 
 together I would say them. At first she took it very sol- 
 emnly, but after awhile some of my incongruous output 
 twitched her sense of humor, and she laughed. And that 
 is a notable thing about primitive peoples, they have not 
 learned to cut themselves up into fractions. A civilized 
 
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130 PANAMA 
 
 woman can laugh with her eyes, or her lips, while her shoul- 
 ders droop mournfully. But this little Minnehaha laughed 
 all over — ^her knees, her toes, her whole body wriggled with 
 mirth. And somehow it relieved the depression of my 
 spirit. Even if she did think I was an imbecile, she evi- 
 dently considered me an amusing one. That was some 
 comfort. 
 
 She brought me a calabash of spring water for a finger 
 bowl. I pleased her mightily with the gift of a little roimd 
 looking-glass — and so rode away. 
 
 I know she will treasure the mirror, and when she admires 
 herself in it, she will remember me. There is something 
 warming in the thought that I will be often in her mind. 
 I wonder if she tells everybody about the crazy Gringo who 
 made her laugh. I have a feeling that she has kept the 
 adventure rather secret. I wonder if the husband who will 
 sometime claim her will be subtle enough to be jealous of 
 me. 
 
 A banal experience, when written down. Just a usually 
 imsentimental Yankee globe-trotter, who is a poor linguist, 
 and a half-naked, woefully ignorant Indian girl who met in 
 the jimgle and laughed together. And yet it is not banal. 
 
 Once upon a time I was in Venice — and bitterly blue. 
 Two friends who were very happy took me out in their 
 gondola to hear the evening singing on the Lagoon, by 
 Santa Maria della Salute. They sat in front of me and were 
 so happy they forgot eversrthing but each other — which 
 helped to intensify my "blues." The gondolas crowd 
 about the singing barges so close that the man who passes 
 the hat can step from one to another. My thoughts were 
 very far away, when a gondola aimed in the opposite direc- 
 tion grated alongside of ours. I looked up — into a pair of 
 very wise brown eyes. I do not know whether there were 
 others in that boat, nor how the woman was dressed. I 
 
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THE JUNGLE 131 
 
 saw only those quiet, gentle eyes — and something very 
 vague and unwriteable behind them. Very slowly the boats 
 slipped apart — gradually those glowing eyes disappeared 
 in the dusk. What manner of woman she was I have no 
 idea. But the something I saw back of her eyes straight- 
 ened out and smoothed many things which were awry. 
 The moonlight on the stained and faded palaces was sheer 
 glory. The music found a perfect harmony. Even the 
 succulent happiness of my friends took on a mystic beauty. 
 I think that in that one night under the influence of those 
 wonderful eyes, I saw Vencie as Whistler and the great 
 artists have seen it. 
 
 This Lady of Venice has passed utterly out of my life — • 
 and yet she remains, a more vivid reality than Venice itself. 
 It is the same with this Cholo girl in the jungle. I will 
 never see her again. And yet she stands out in my memory 
 as a definite, indestructible addition to my treasure store 
 of real experiences. 
 
 Almost all of us, I think, have some such memories 
 horded away. Life would be barren indeed if there was 
 nothing to it except the things which can be written down 
 explicitly — catalogued. 
 
 The charm of the jvmgle is just such a floating, haunting 
 thing. In the reports of the Smithsonian Institution you will 
 find its details catalogued but you will not find it. Henri 
 Bergeson would say that it makes its appeal to that "in- 
 tuitional friage of consciousness" which cannot find expres- 
 sion in words — the language of reason. 
 
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CHAPTER X 
 
 THE COMING OF THE WHITE MAN 
 
 The first Europeans to visit the Isthmus of Panama were 
 those who, under the leadership of Rodrigo de Bastides, sailed 
 from Cadiz in October, 1500. Vasco Nunez de Balboa was 
 among them. The records of this expedition are meagre, 
 but we know that they picked up the main land of South 
 America near Trinidad and coasted westward, past the Gulf 
 of Darien and along the Isthmus as far as Nombre de Dios. 
 
 The "Lettera Rarissima di Cristoforo Colombo," an 
 Italian version of a despatch from the great discoverer to 
 Ferdinand and Isabella, contains the earliest account of the 
 Isthmus in existence. He wrote this letter while ship- 
 wrecked on the coast of Jamaica at the end of his fourth and 
 last voyage to the Indies. 
 
 It is interesting to note in passing one of the great ironies 
 of history. Above all others the English-speaking peoples 
 have profited from the discoveries of Columbus. During 
 his lifetime they did not know of his existence. The Old 
 World took little interest in the finding of a new one. 
 
 The earliest allusion to Columbus in English literature is 
 in "The Shyppe of Fooles," a satirical poem which Henry 
 Watson translated from the German. It is written in the 
 spirit of Juvenal's satire "On the Vanity of Human Wishs." 
 One chapter is headed "Of hym that wyll wryte and enquere 
 of all regyons," and the following lines refer to Columbus: 
 
 "There was one that knewe that in ye ysles of Spayne was 
 enhabitantes. Wherefore he asked of Kynge Ferdynandus 
 & wente & founde them, the whiche lyved as beestes." 
 
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TBE COMING OF TEE WHITE MAN 133 
 
 This book was printed in London in 1509, three years after 
 the death of the admiral — more than fifteen years after his 
 discoveries were known in Spain and Italy. 
 
 "Until the middle of the sixteenth century," writes John 
 Fiske, "no English chronicler mentions either Columbus or 
 the Cabots, nor is there anywhere an indication that the 
 significance of the discoveries in the western ocean was at all 
 understood." 
 
 As a matter of fact, the westward cruises had not been 
 "good business." The Portuguese, sailing around the Cape 
 of Good Hope, were finding real treasure houses in the Orient. 
 Compared with this trade, Columbus had little to show. At 
 best he had found a shorter course, to a very poor section of 
 the Indies. It was the failure of any of the western expedi- 
 tions to reach the Court of the Great Khan which was the 
 motive of Columbus's last voyage. He had made himself in- 
 tensely unpopular at court by insisting that the king should 
 keep his promise. He had discredited himself during his 
 governorship of Santo Domingo. And now, an old man of 
 over sixty, he set out again to retrieve his reputation. He 
 would bring back from this voyage not some naked savages, 
 a few handf uls of gold dust and pearls, but presents from the 
 Great Khan. 
 
 On the 9th or 11th of May, 1502 (the date is uncertain), he 
 sailed from Cadiz with four caravels, the largest of which was 
 under fifty tons. He was accompanied by his brother 
 Bartholomew, the Adelantado and his younger son, Fer- 
 dinando, the child of the mysterious noble woman of Cordova, 
 Donna Beatriz Enriquez de Arana. The boy was less than 
 fourteen years of age. 
 
 It was a little over a month when they sighted the first 
 of the Caribbee Isles, and on the 29th of Jime they cast 
 anchor before the port of Santo Domingo. But the Governor 
 Ovando reftised to admit them, so they put to sea again and 
 
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 were forced by a hurricane to put into Puerto Hermoso ai 
 the western end of the island. The admiral remained here 
 several days to repair his ships and refresh the men. Another 
 storm forced him to seek shelter again and he was weather- 
 bound in Jacquemel until the 14th of July. 
 
 On the 30th they reached a new island, called by the 
 natives "Guanaja." It was close to the coast of Honduras. 
 Here they met a large cayuka which had come from the 
 west. It was cut from a single trunk and was eight feet 
 wide. Near the centre of this immense canoe was a thatched 
 cabin which reminded Columbus of the gondolas of Venice. 
 There were twenty-five oarsmen, besides the chieftain and 
 his family. The natives had implements of copper, the 
 first metal tools seen by the Spaniards in America. Among 
 other novelties mentioned in the "lettera rarissima" were two 
 new beverages which the Indians offered to the voyagers — 
 cocoa and a fermented drink made from maize. The visitors 
 were also surprised to find that the wives of the chief covered 
 their bodies with great care. The account says that they 
 were as modest as Moorish women. 
 
 These natives tried to impress the Spaniards with the 
 might and magnificence of their country. Such stories 
 were what Columbus was hungry for and he probably 
 exaggerated them in his report. If he had accepted their 
 invitation to visit their homes he would undoubtedly have 
 come to Yucatan and the Aztec peoples and his career would 
 have ended in a new glory instead of disappointment. But 
 he was keen for the greater accomplishment of finding the 
 "Strait," the short cut to Cathay. Besides he thought that 
 Cuba was part of the mainland and that to have gone toward 
 the west was to return to lands he had already visited. 
 
 So he sailed on in his hopeless quest. On the 14th of 
 August he struck the mainland at Cape Honduras. Three 
 days later the Adelantado landed and took possession of the 
 
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THE COMING OF TBE WHITE MAN 135 
 
 coast in the name of the Spanish Crown. This occasion is 
 said to have been the first time that a Christian service was 
 held on the continent of America. 
 
 They sailed eastward along the coast of Honduras, tacking 
 continually against a head wind and opposing current, never 
 making more than five leagues, sometimes less than two. 
 The sailors became so exhausted with the constant struggle 
 that they confessed to each other and prepared themselves 
 for death. 
 
 Even in the days when the Almirante was going back to 
 Spain in chains, his condition does not seem to have been as 
 pitiable as at this time. He himself was wracked with 
 "gout" — ^more probably what we would call rheumatism. 
 His crazy little ships were in a sore plight from the continual 
 buffeting of the storms. 
 
 In the "lettera rarissima" he writes, "I have seen many 
 tempests but none so violent nor of so long duration." " The 
 distress of my son," he writes in another paragraph, "grieved 
 me to the soul, and the more when I consider his tender age; 
 for he was but thirteen years old, and he enduring so much 
 toil for so long a time." And again, "My brother was in 
 the ship that was in the worst condition and the most exposed 
 to danger; and my grief on his account was the greater that 
 I had brought him with me against his will." 
 
 For a full month after reaching Cape Honduras they fought 
 their way against the gale. On the 14th of September they 
 came to a sharp turn in the coast. Able now to head due 
 south, with favorable wind and current, they were so relieved 
 that they named the place "Cape Gracios d. Dios." 
 
 On the 25th they came to a beautiful island off the mouth 
 of a river which they named "La Huesta," The Garden. 
 The natives were friendly and Columbus wishing to give the 
 impression of magnanimity refused to accept their presents 
 although he gave them many trinkets. This breach of 
 
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 barbarian hospitality insulted the Indians and they returned 
 all his gifts. But peace was soon restored and two young 
 girls were sent out to the ships as hostages. There is some 
 obscurity in the narrative as to just what happened to these 
 girls while on board. But Columbus seems to have con- 
 sidered them a bad lot. 
 
 On the following day the Adelantado went ashore. He 
 began to dictate to his clerk the information he could gather 
 about the coast. But at the sight of pen and paper the 
 Indians took fright, thinking it was magic. They would not 
 return imtil their medicine-men had made some coimter- 
 magic and had burned a lot of protective incense. Now, 
 in reverence for the black art, the Europeans of that day 
 were not a bit behind the naked inhabitants of America. 
 
 Marco Polo in describing a vague country which he calls 
 Soccotera, had written: "The inhabitants deal more in 
 sorcery and witchcraft than any other people, although for- 
 bidden by their archbishop, who excommunicates and 
 anathematizes them for this sin. ... If any vessel 
 belonging to a pirate should injure one of theirs, they do not 
 fail to lay him under a spell, so that he cannot proceed on 
 his cruise until he has made satisfaction for the damage. 
 . . . They can in like manner cause the sea to become calm, 
 and at their will can raise tempests, occasion shipwrecks and 
 produce many other extraordinary effects that need not be 
 particularized." 
 
 Certainly some of Columbus's crew had read this narrative. 
 And of course this made the cause of all their mishaps very 
 clear. They were in the neighborhood of Soccotera. No 
 matter what form the hospitahty of the rough sailors took 
 toward the two hostages, the young ladies were undoubtedly 
 lucky to escape from the ships without having been burned as 
 witches. 
 
 On the 5th of October, the squadron sailed from La 
 
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TBE COMING OF TEE WHITE MAN 137 
 
 Huestra and its magic, along the shore of Costa Rica, to 
 Almirante Bay and Chiriqui Lagoon, the limit of the present 
 Republic of Panama. 
 
 Here the Spaniards found the natives wearing ornaments 
 of pure gold and also masonry walls. The first they had seen 
 which even distantly resembled civilized architecture. 
 
 In one place they secured seventeen plates of gold, worth 
 one hundred and fifty ducats, for three hawks' bells. At 
 another village they got nineteen gold ornaments. And 
 always the natives told them of richer countries down the 
 coast. All these vague stories — ^they must have been much 
 distorted by the lack of knowledge of the native language — 
 confirmed Columbus in the delusion that he was nearing 
 Cathay. His report is full of a country which the natives 
 called "Ciguare," where gold was as common as mud, where 
 even the beggar women wore strings of priceless pearls, and 
 where there were great ships like his own and a widespread 
 commerce. "I should be content," he wrote, "if a tithe of 
 this which I hear is true. . . . They also say that the sea 
 surrounds Ciguare and that ten days journey from thence is 
 the river Ganges." They told him that by proceeding on 
 his course he would soon come to " a narrow place between 
 two seas." Of course they were speaking of the Isthmus. 
 But Columbus, with a fixed idea, interpreted this to mean the 
 long sought "straits of Malacca." His writings show that 
 he thought he was coasting down one side of a long penin- 
 sular, like his native Italy, and that he would soon round 
 the end of it and sail into the fabulous water of the Indies. 
 
 Despite the desire of his crew to stop and explore this 
 country so rich in gold, Columbus persistently held his course 
 along the coast. 
 
 Washington Irving, whose extravagant admiration for 
 Columbus makes him grasp every opportunity to eulogize 
 him, makes this comment: 
 
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138 PANAMA 
 
 " Nothing could evince more clearly his generous ambition, 
 than hurrying in this brief manner along a coast where wealth 
 was to be gathered at every step, for the purpose of seeking a 
 strait which, however it might produce vast benefit for man- 
 kind, could yield little else to himself than the glory of the 
 discovery." 
 
 But the insistence with which the great navigator de- 
 manded the recognition of his titles, the payment of all his 
 perquisites — in striking contrast to the modesty of such men 
 as di Gama — forces one to doubt if Columbus was so dis- 
 interested as Irving would have us believe. His arrogance 
 and cruelty had made him impossible as a governor of Santo 
 Domingo, his pride and greed had destroyed his original 
 popularity at the Spanish court. The discovery of the 
 straits — the quick route to the Spice Islands and Cathay — 
 meant not only personal rehabilitation, reinvestment in his 
 high dignities, but also restoration of his right to lay tribute 
 on the lands he had discovered. And Columbus, more than 
 the stay-at-home official of Spain, foresaw what a gigantic 
 income this would grow to be. He had come on this cruise 
 to load his caravels not with gold — with vindication. He 
 needed the Straits. 
 
 On November 2d, he came to the magnificent harbor which 
 he named Puerto Bello. They were stormbound here for a 
 week, then continued eastward, past Nombre de Dios. 
 Rough weather forced them again to seek shelter in a harbor, 
 which they called Puerto de Bastimentos. 
 
 The ships were in a pitiful state. Besides the strain from 
 the continued storms, they had been eaten by ship worm, the 
 pest of tropical waters, imtil they leaked like sieves. The 
 "teredo" is a jelly-like animal, about the size of a man's 
 finger. It is all soft except its formidable mandibles with 
 which it penetrates the hardest wood as easily as cheese. 
 They swarm in these waters and no wooden vessel unpro- 
 
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TBE COMING OF THE WHITE MAN 139 
 
 tected by copper can resist them. The Spaniards described 
 them as "worms," but they are a subdivision of the mol- 
 lusks. 
 
 Having somewhat repaired his ships, the Admiral again 
 set sail, again to be driven to shelter by a storm. This 
 harbor was so small they called it El Retrete, or The Closet. 
 The natives at first were friendly. Irving says they "received 
 them into their dwellings with their accustomed hospitality, 
 but the rough adventurers, instigated by avarice and lust, 
 soon committed excesses which aroused their generous hosts 
 to revenge." The ships were anchored so close to shore that 
 Columbus could not keep his men on board. There were a 
 number of brawls and at last it was necessary to disperse the 
 natives with the ship's cannon. 
 
 Columbus had now overlapped the voyage of Bastides. 
 Spaniards had followed the coast westward from Trinidad 
 and southeastward from Cape Honduras past Nombre de 
 Dios. If Columbus knew the details of the earlier voyage he 
 knew that his dream of the Strait had been an illusion. But 
 there is nothing in his writings to show that he did know it. 
 
 However his caravels were scarcely seaworthy, his sailors 
 were mutinous, and he was sick. They were all — ships and 
 men — worn to the breaking point by the long and bitter 
 struggle with adverse winds. 
 
 On the 5th of December, Columbus sailed out of Puerto 
 El Retrete and turned back. If he could not win the fame 
 he had sought the gold was not to be despised. He had 
 hardly set out on the return voyage when the seasons changed 
 and the wind completely shifted. For three months they had 
 longed for such a wind. Now, as though truly bewitched, it 
 turned just as they did. Off Puerto Bello they ran into the 
 worst hurricane they had yet encountered. To add to the 
 terror of the phosphorescent waters, the blinding lightning, 
 they were nearly swamped by a waterspout. The sailors 
 
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 almost gave up hope. As a last chance they recited portions 
 of the Gospel of St. John. It proved a more powerful charm 
 than that of the girl hostages from La Huesta, and the water- 
 spout turned aside and left them unharmed. 
 
 All during Christmas week they were buffeted by this 
 storm. They were further disspirited by a school of sharks 
 which persistently followed them. So troublesome and 
 changeable were the winds and tides that Columbus named 
 the isthmus, "La Costa de los Contrastes." 
 
 But on Epiphany Sunday they came to a sheltered harbor 
 which they called Santa Maria de Belen — St. Mary of 
 Bethlehem. 
 
 While the sailors were busy repairing the ships the Adelan- 
 tado with a handful of soldiers began the quest for gold. On 
 the 9th of January they visited the Cacique whom they called 
 Quiban. They traded some European trumpery for some 
 valuable gold ornaments and persuaded him to visit the ships. 
 There they courteously traded a handful of hawks' bells for 
 his remaining ornaments. 
 
 On the 24th of January a typical Panamanian freshet 
 nearly ended the expedition. The Rio Belen rose so rapidly 
 that it tore the ships from their anchors, drove them against 
 each other and carried away the foremast of the flagship. 
 In the hope of changing his luck, Columbus named the 
 highest mountain he could see after his own saint — San 
 Christoval. He says in his letter that the peak rose far above 
 the clouds. The clouds must have himg very low in those 
 days. 
 
 Early in February the Adelantado with sixty-five men went 
 up the coast to the Rio Veraguas, the seat of the Cacique 
 Quiban, who gave him some guides to the gold fields. They 
 went six leagues into the interior and found rich placer gold. 
 Columbus wrote, on the basis of their report, that he had 
 seen more signs of gold here in a few days, than in the four 
 
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TBE COMING OF TEE WSITE MAN 141 
 
 years he had spent in Santo Domingo/ He was convinced 
 that he had reached the Aurea Chersoneus of the Ancients. 
 
 " Josephus thinks," he wrote, "that this gold of the Chron- 
 icles and the Book of Kings was found in the Aurea. If it 
 were so, I contend that these mines of the Aurea are identical 
 with those of Veragua. David in his will left 3,000 quintals 
 of Indian gold to Solomon, to assist in building the temple, 
 and according to Josephus it came from these lands." 
 
 He decided therefore to leave the Adelantado with eighty 
 men to found a colony; he would return to Spain for rein- 
 forcements. Santo Domingo which he had discovered and 
 settled had been given to his enemies. The king refused to 
 recognize his title to the pearl coast. Cheated of his other 
 possession, he would begin again and create a new vice- 
 royalty. 
 
 Work was begun at once. A few thatch cottages were 
 built on a little eminence near the mouth of the Rio Belen. 
 One of the four caravels, stocked with provisions, was to 
 be left to the colonists. Bananas, cocoanuts, plantains and 
 other fruit grew in abundance. The river and sea were full 
 of fish. There appeared to be no danger of famine. The 
 Indians were friendly. 
 
 When these arrangements haa been completed, a new 
 obstacle arose. The dry season had set in and the river had 
 fallen to such an extent that he could not get the three 
 caravels out across the bar at the mouth of the river. He was 
 forced to wait until a rain would cause a new freshet. 
 
 Meanwhile Diego Mendez, one of the most daring and 
 venturesome of these adventurers, began to suspect that 
 Quiban, the Indian chief, was plotting their destruction. 
 Whether or not there was any foundation for this suspicion 
 it is now impossible to determine. Mendez seems to have 
 persuaded the Adelantado without much trouble; it was 
 harder to convince Columbus of such treachery. But at last 
 
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 it was decided to strike before the Indians had matured their 
 plot, and on the 30th of March, Bartholomew Columbus took 
 the warpath with seventy-five men. They approached 
 Quiban village without being discovered. The main body 
 remained hidden in the woods, with instructions to rush out 
 as soon as they heard an arquebuse. They were to try to 
 capture as many prisoners as possible. 
 
 The Adelantado, having stationed his men thus, entered 
 the village with Mendez and four others. Quiban came out 
 of his house and greeted them courteously. After a mo- 
 ment's conversation the Adelantado gave the signal, Mendez 
 fired his arquebuse and they all fell on the Cacique. While 
 they were tying him up the main force hurried up and cap- 
 tured about fifty people, old and young, women and children 
 and half a dozen of the elders of the tribe. The Indians were 
 completely taken by siu-prise and were overpowered without 
 bloodshed. 
 
 The prisoners were bundled into the boats to be taken to 
 the ships as hostages and eventually sold as slaves. Quiban 
 was especially entrusted to the care of one Juan Sanchez, 
 who swore that if the Cacique escaped they might pluck out 
 his beard, hair by hair. However, the Cacique did escape. 
 He worked some of his bonds loose and dove overboard, 
 preferring the society of the sharks to that of the Spaniards. 
 Whether or not Sanchez lost his beard is not recorded. The 
 Adelantado's loot was considerably over $1,000 worth of 
 gold. 
 
 The Spaniards hoped that this "lesson" would strike 
 terror into the hearts of the natives. They believed that 
 Quiban was dead, but even if, tied hand and foot, he had 
 managed to swim safe to shore, they thought that knowing 
 that all his family were held as hostages would discourage 
 any plan of revenge. 
 
 A fortunate freshet lifted the three caravels over the bar 
 
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TEE COMING OF TBE WHITE MAN 143 
 
 and Columbus, taking leave of his brother and the little 
 colony, started on the long voyage home. But adverse winds, 
 soon growing to a gale, forced him to anchor just outside the 
 river's mouth. On the 6th of April he sent in a small boat, 
 under the command of Diego Tristan, to get some fresh water. 
 Tristan never returned. 
 
 Quiban had not drowned. And once on shore he set about 
 for revenge in earnest. He gathered all his tribesmen and 
 allies, and within a few days after Columbus had left the 
 harbor, made an attack on the colony. The Indians crept 
 up under cover of the jungle which grew close to the settle- 
 ment. They rushed out, catching the colonists completely off 
 their guard. The Adelantado had his arms at hand and with 
 seven or eight men held the savages at bay until the rest of his 
 men could rally. With the aid of their bloodhounds, of which 
 the Indians were even more afraid than of firearms, they 
 repulsed this first attack. One Spaniard and a number of 
 Indians were killed. 
 
 Tristan arrived in his boat during the m^l^e, but seems to 
 have taken no part in it. As soon as the Indians disappeared 
 in the woods, he proceeded up stream, against the orders 
 of the Adelantado, to fill his water casks. The river was 
 deep and narrow, overhung with trees. About a league above 
 the village, war whoops rang out from both shores, the woods 
 seemed to rain javelins. Canoes full of naked Indians darted 
 out at them from all sides. One man, Juan de Noya, a 
 cooper from Seville, dove for it and, being able to swim a 
 long distance under water, escaped to tell the tale. 
 
 The colony was completely disorganized. This sort of 
 warfare, eighty of them against myriads, was not the sort of 
 gold hunting they had bargained for. Above all they feared 
 that the Almirante would sail for Spain and leave them to 
 their fate. Defying the Adelantado they mutinously tried 
 to put to sea in their caravel. But the water had fallen 
 
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 again and they could not get it across the bar. They tried 
 the small boats, but a gale was blowing in from the sea and 
 piling up an impassable surf on the bar. 
 
 The Indians, exulting over their massacre of Tristan's crew, 
 were blowing their conch shells in the forest preparing for a 
 new attack. The bodies of Tristan and his men came float- 
 ing down the river. About them circled and screamed and 
 fought a great cloud of vultures. 
 
 The fear which had at first driven them to mutiny now 
 drove the colonists back to discipline. The Adelantado was 
 about the only one with a cool head on his shoulders. Be- 
 lieving it impossible to hold the scattered houses of the 
 village, he changed his base to an open place on the beach. 
 There they erected a small fort of casks and boxes. They 
 took two falconets from the caravel. These little cannon 
 had a very wholesome effect on the Indians. And in this 
 new position the Spaniards had nothing to fear as long as 
 their ammunition and provisions held out. 
 
 Affairs had not been going any better aboard the caravels 
 in the offing. The hostages who had been captured in the 
 raid on Quiban's village had managed to break out of the 
 hold of the flagship and most of them jumped overboard 
 and had swam ashore. The few who were recaptured had 
 promptly strangled themselves. This not only knocked a 
 big hole in the expected profit of these slave dealers, but 
 Columbus rightly felt that the arrival of the hostages on 
 shore would make the Indians more determined on war than 
 ever. He became immensely worried as day after day 
 Tristan failed to return. He had only one small boat left 
 in the fleet and he did not dare to risk losing it in the pounding 
 surf on the bar. 
 
 At last a pilot named Pedro Ledesma, inspired by example 
 of the escaping Indians, volunteered to swim the surf. 
 "Surely," he said, "if they dare to venture so much to pro- 
 
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TRE COMING OF THE WHITE MAN 145 
 
 cure their individual liberties, I ought to brave at least a part 
 of this danger to save the lives of so many comrades." 
 
 The small boat took him as near the surf as it dared. 
 Ledesma stripped and went overboard into the turmoil of 
 the surf, and won safe to shore. He found the little garrison 
 in sore straits and they were overjoyed to find that the 
 caravels had not yet sailed. Ledesma risked his life again 
 in the surf to take the sad news back to the Almirante. 
 
 It was indeed disspiriting news for Columbus. He could 
 spare no men to reenforce the garrison. There was no 
 alternative to giving up the colony. His own position was 
 by no means devoid of danger. Any moment his crazy little 
 ships might fall apart, so serious had been the attack of the 
 teredo. He was riding at anchor in a gale off a lee shore. 
 Any moment his frayed cables might part. His own sickness 
 wore heavily upon him. His mind seems to have weakened 
 under the strain. At least it was at this period that he had 
 the vision he so solemnly recoimts in the " Lettera rarissima." 
 
 "Wearied and sighing," he wrote, "I fell into a slumber, 
 when I heard a piteous voice saying to me. 'Oh fool and 
 slow to believe and serve thy God, who is the God of all! 
 What did he more for Moses, or for his servant David, than 
 he has done for thee? . . . When he saw thee of fitting 
 age he made thy name to resound marvellously throughout 
 the earth. ... Of the gates of the ocean sea, shut up 
 with such mighty chains, he delivered to thee the keys; the 
 Indies, those wealthy regions of the world, he gave thee 
 for thine own, and empowered thee to dispose of them to 
 others, according to thy pleasure. What did he more for 
 the great people of Israel when he led them forth from 
 Egypt? ... He has many and vast inheritances yet in 
 reserve. Fear not to seek them. Thine age shall be no 
 impediment for any great undertaking. Abraham was above 
 a hundred years when he begot Isaac. And was Sarah 
 
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146 PANAMA 
 
 youthful? . . . Who has afflicted thee so much and so 
 many times? God — or the world? The privileges and 
 promises which God hath made thee, he hath never broken; 
 neither hath he said, after having received thy services, that 
 his meaning was different and to be understood in another 
 sense. He performs to the very letter.' " 
 
 "I heard all this," Colimibus adds, "as one almost dead, 
 and had no power to reply to words so true." 
 
 Irving writes in regard to this vision: "He is not to be 
 measured by the same standards with ordinary men. . . . 
 The artless manner in which, in his letter to his sovereigns, 
 he mingles up the rhapsodies and dreams of his imagination 
 with simple facts and sound practical observations, pouring 
 them forth with a kind of scriptural solemnity and poetry of 
 language, is one of the most striking illustrations of a char- 
 acter richly compoimded of extraordinary and apparently 
 contradictory elements." 
 
 Justin Winsor, in his biography of Columbus, is not so kind. 
 He gives a rather ironical rendering of this portion of the 
 Admiral's letter and dismisses it summarily as either an 
 elaborate hoax intended to remind his sovereigns of their 
 broken promises and to frighten them into restoring his 
 honors or a plain case of paranoiac meglomania. It is prob- 
 able that King Ferdinand put the first of these interpreta- 
 tions on it. 
 
 Von Humboldt with probably a juster insight speaks of 
 this vision as showing the wreck of a proud mind broken 
 down by the weight of dead hopes. 
 
 Fair weather followed this vision. The Adelantado was 
 able to bring off all his men and most of his provisions in 
 small boats. They had to abandon the caravel. The 
 Admiral coasted eastward to the Gulf of San Bias, hoping to 
 get free of the currents. Here another ship went to pieces 
 and with the remnant of his men crowded on two flimsy 
 
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THE COMING OF TEE WHITE MAN 147 
 
 boats he steered north toward Santo Domingo and out of the 
 story of the Isthmus. 
 
 Desperate as had been his misfortunes along the coast of 
 Panama he had to face worse ones. Unable to reach Santo 
 Domingo, he had to run his sinking ships ashore on Jamaica. 
 There were months of waiting for rescue, and at last a neg- 
 lected death in Valladolid, Spain, on the 20th of May, 1506. 
 
 The historians of to-day are engaged in a bitter contro- 
 versy over the character of Columbus. Irving set the fashion 
 among modern writers of indiscriminate praise. Roselly de 
 Lorgues and a few ecstatic French writers are trying to 
 persuade the Roman Church to canonize him. Their praise 
 is even more fulsome than Irving's statement that "the 
 finger of the historian will find it difficult to point to a single 
 blemish in his moral character." They have gone to the 
 length of developing an elaborate argument, which lacks 
 nothing but substantiating facts, to prove that Columbus 
 married the mother of his son Fernando. 
 
 Henry Harrisse has given us much light on the subject by 
 his tireless collecting of original documents. The facts are 
 not at all as pleasing as the "canonizers" would desire. Dr. 
 Shea, an eminent Catholic historian, writes, "He seems to 
 have succeeded in attracting but few men to him, who ad- 
 hered loyally to his cause. Those under him were con- 
 stantly rebellious and mutinous; those over him foimd him 
 impracticable. To array all these as enemies, inspired by a 
 Satanic hostility to a great servant of God, is to ask too 
 much for our belief." 
 
 Justin Winsor, one of the foremost of our historians, has 
 applied the modern critical method, the studying of original 
 documents, to Columbus. He brings forward strong evi- 
 dence of many unlovely characteristics. Winsor accuses him 
 of inordinate greed, shows that he had a penchant for slave 
 stealing that even Queen Isabella could not control, convicts 
 
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148 PANAMA 
 
 him of having at one time tried to force his crew to swear 
 to false statements about the land they had discovered. 
 Winsor certainly brings in overwhelming evidence of the 
 Admiral's appalling conceit. In his treatise on the prophets 
 Columbus wrote, "Human reason, mathematics and maps 
 have served me in no wise. What I have accomplished is 
 simply the fulfillment of the prophecy of David." This 
 overweaning vanity, this pretence of being the special envoy 
 from on High is, according to Winsor, the reason he was un- 
 able to keep any friends. 
 
 Winsor's long attack on the character of Columbus ends 
 with this paragraph: 
 
 " We have seen a pitiful man meet a pitiful death. Hardly 
 a name in profane history is more august than his. Hardly 
 another character in the world's record has made so little 
 of its opportunities. His discovery was a blimder, his 
 blunder a new world; the New World is his monument! Its 
 discoverer might have been its father; he proved its despoiler. 
 He might have given its yoimg days such a benignity as the 
 world likes to associate with a maker; he left it a legacy of 
 devastation and crime. He might have been an unselfish 
 promoter of geographical science; he proved a rabid seeker 
 for gold and a vice-royalty. He might have won converts to 
 the cause of Christ by the kindness of his spirit; he gained 
 the execrations of the good angels. He might, lik^ Las 
 Casas, have rebuked the fiendishness of his contemporaries; 
 he set them an example of perverted belief . The triumph of 
 Barcelona led down to the ignominy of Valladolid, with every 
 step in the degradation palpable and resultant." 
 
 Fortunately it is no more necessary to accept without 
 qualification this dark picture which Mr. Winsor draws than 
 to beUeve that the great voyager was a model of all the do- 
 mestic and ecclesiastical virtues as Irving and the "canon- 
 izers " would have us. 
 
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TBE COMING OF THE WBITE MAN 149 
 
 Columbus lived in an age when the vices, Mr. Winsor so 
 energetically denounces, were as common as freckles. And 
 the virtues, for the absence of which he denounces Columbus, 
 were just as rare as they are to-day. The cruelties charged 
 against Columbus were no worse than those of their most 
 Catholic majesties, Ferdinand and Isabella, against the Moors. 
 He drove a sharp bargain with the throne and made himself 
 very unpleasant when deprived of what he thought was due 
 him. His famous lawsuits were just the kind we have to-day : 
 efforts to get what his friends called justice and his enemies 
 called graft. If he had been a more courteous loser he would 
 probably have lost less. The worst thing proved against him 
 is his lack of friends. There can, I think, be little doubt that 
 his character was unpleasant. But we of this latter day, 
 who do not have to serve in one of his caravel, nor Usten to 
 the flow of his petulant temper, are free to give him in ad- 
 miration what he so sadly lacked in affection. 
 
 The wisest word I have foimd in this controversy is in 
 the preface of John Fiske's "The Discovery of America." 
 
 "No one can deny," he writes, "that Las Casas was a 
 keen judge of men, or that his standard of right and wrong 
 was quite as lofty as anyone has reached ia our own time. 
 He had a much more intimate knowledge of Columbus than 
 any modern historian can hope to acquire, and he always 
 speaks of him with warm admiration and respect. But how 
 could Las Casas ever have respected the feeble, mean- 
 spirited driveller whose portrait Mr. Winsor asks us to accept 
 as that of the discoverer of America? " 
 
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CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE FIKST COLONISTS 
 
 The reports which Columbus brought home from his last 
 voyage, his stories of rich goldfields, won for the Isthmus 
 the glittering name of Castilla del Oro. Expeditions to 
 Nueva Andaluda, as the north coast of South America was 
 called, came home with even richer cargoes. Cristoval 
 Guerra and Pedro Alonzo Nino returned in 1500, "so laden 
 with pearls," according to an old chronicler, "that they 
 were in a maner with every mariner as common as chaff e." 
 
 Yet many years passed before any serious effort was 
 made to colonize the Mainland. The Spanish king had his 
 hands more than full with domestic wars. Not imtil 1508 
 did the matter force itself on the attention of the Council 
 of the Indies. 
 
 Herrera, the official historian of the Court, writes (trans- 
 lation of Capt. John Stevens, 1725): "The king was very 
 intent upon having Colonies settled there, and none was so 
 ready to perform it as Alonso de Ojeda, but he not being 
 rich, could not contract with the King, unless supported by 
 some other. John de la Cosa offer'd to be assisting with his 
 Estate, and accordingly went to Court, reljring on the Favour 
 of John Rodriquez de Fonseca, Bishop of Palencia, who had 
 Management of the Affairs of the Indies and was a F'-iend 
 to Alonso de Ojeda." 
 
 It would have been difficult for His Catholic Majesty to 
 put finger on a man more fitted for New World adventure 
 than this same Alonso de Ojeda. He had been bom in 
 Cuenca, of the inevitably poor but honest parents. He had 
 
 150 
 
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CHEPIGANA. 
 
 EL REAL DE STA. MARIA. 
 
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TSE FIBST COLONISTS 151 
 
 served as a page, then as an esquire in the retinue of the 
 Duke of Medina Celi. Under the tutelage of this flower of 
 Spanish nobiUty he had been through the bitterest cam- 
 paigns of the Moorish wars. He was short and stocky, but 
 graceful; he excelled in the arts of chivalric wars. He was 
 said not to be good to look at, but men adored him. When 
 twenty-one he had sailed with Columbus on his second voy- 
 age. He had been a member of a later expedition along the 
 coast of Nueva Andalucla. and had lived some years in the 
 Indies. 
 
 Besides his own experience, and as a counterbalance to 
 his always empty purse, he had a wealth of friends. It was 
 his good fortune, as Herrera says, to have for friend the great 
 Bishop of Palencia, who was supreme in the Council of the 
 Indies. 
 
 But undoubtedly his greatest asset was the loyalty of the 
 old pilot Juan de la Cosa. Peter Martyr, one of the most 
 trustworthy of the contemporaneous chroniclers of the Dis- 
 covery, says that the navigators of the day valued above all 
 other maps those made by de la Cosa — "to whom these 
 tracks were as well known as the chambers of his own 
 house." He had sailed more miles in the Caribbean Sea 
 than even the great Almirante. He had a sagacious head 
 and the quiet sort of bravery which was badly needed to 
 balance the dashing impetuosity of Ojeda. And he loved 
 the younger man with a fidelity such as is seldom recounted 
 in the stories of those days. If the king had been making 
 a selection solely on merit, he could not have done better 
 than to choose this team. 
 
 But there was another applicant for the honor of colonizing 
 the Mainland — Don Diego de Nicuesa. He had the ad- 
 vantage over Ojeda of being not only much richer but also 
 the more polished. He held the high courtly office of Royal 
 Carver. He wore some of the smartest clothes ever seen in 
 
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152 PANAMA 
 
 Madrid. But in spite of his dandified manners and his 
 popularity with the ladies-in-waiting, he was a gentleman of 
 unquestioned integrity and valor. But he had had no spe- 
 cial schooling for the bitter hard work in hand. There is 
 not much of good which can be said of Nicuesa. Above all, 
 he was a stubborn fool, but he was not white-livered or he 
 would never have sought to lay aside the Royal Carving 
 Knife for the sword of the conqueror. 
 
 For a long time Merit and Favoritism balanced each other 
 in the mind of the king. Being able to make no choice, he 
 appointed them both. Nicuesa was to govern the Castilla 
 del Oro from Cape Gracios d Dios to the border of Nueva 
 Andaluda. Ojeda was given Nueva Andalucfa from Cape 
 de la Vela to the domains of Nicuesa. The dividing line 
 between their jurisdictions the wise king left for them to 
 fight out. 
 
 In the fall of 1509, the two governors met in Santo Dom- 
 ingo and began the quarrel. The king had further compli- 
 cated matters for them, by giving them as a joint source of 
 provisions the Island of Jamaica. This embroiled them at 
 once with Diego Columbus, the son of the Admiral, who was 
 governor of Santo Domingo and laid claim to all lands dis- 
 covered by his father. There could be no question that 
 Jamaica was legally his. To have it given away to others 
 made him so hostile to the interlopers that instead of help- 
 ing them with ships and men, as the king had ordered, he 
 did all he could to embarrass them. Of course the obvious 
 thing was to fan the fire of jealousy between the two gov- 
 ernors. 
 
 Alonso de Ojeda soon lost his head and challenged his 
 rival to a duel. However, Juan de la Cosa was able to avert 
 bloodshed and under his mediation they agreed to accept 
 the Darien River, now called the Atrato, as the boimdary 
 between their provinces. 
 
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TRE FIBST COLONISTS 153 
 
 But the peace between them was precarious. Nicuesa, 
 having the more ready money, was able to outbid his rival 
 for ships and equipment. Two things counterbalanced this 
 advantage. First of all Ojeda's experience in those parts, 
 his reputation and personal charm attracted to his standard 
 the pick of the volunteers. Among them were two who 
 were later to paint their names in great letters of blood and 
 fire on the chronicle of fame, Hernado Cortes and Francisco 
 Pizarro. At the last moment he won a new ally in the per- 
 son of the Bachelor of Law, Martin Fernandez de Enciso. 
 This clever attorney had amassed a fortune of over ten thou- 
 sand dollars in a few years of colonial practice. But he had 
 not realized the fact that it is easier to get money from 
 adventurers than by adventures. In an evil day he began 
 to listen to the alluring tales of Ojeda. Like so many an- 
 other he fell under the man's charm. Under the promise of 
 being made "Alcalde Mayor" — chief justice — ^of the to-be- 
 conquered vice-royalty of Nueva Andalucla, he turned his 
 bankbook over to Ojeda. 
 
 On the 12th of November, 1509, Ojeda sailed from Santo 
 Domingo, with two ships, two brigantines, three hundred 
 men and twelve brood-mares. At the last moment Hernando 
 Cortes was disabled by a wounded knee and was unable to 
 accompany them. A few days later Nicuesa set out with 
 two large ships, two brigantines, a caravel, seven hundred 
 men and six horses. His was by far the more brilliant 
 company, but they were mostly fresh from Spain, less 
 hardened for the work before them than his rival's com- 
 panions. 
 
 It was a remarkable group of men, these discoverers and 
 conquistadores. They were a strong breed, whom Irving 
 calls the "chivalry of the sea." The old feudal manner of 
 life was breaking down in Europe — ^the expulsion of the 
 Moors from Spain had been the last great crusade. These 
 
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154 PANAMA 
 
 men who came over to the New World were the remnant of 
 the feudal nobility. We are wont to think of them as pio- 
 neers — ^progressives. They were apostles of an old and dying 
 regime. To a romancer like Washington Irving the word 
 "chivalry" conjured up a gorgeous tapestry, woven of brave 
 deeds, and many heroic virtues. To the modem student of 
 history the word means an epoch when famine and plague 
 stalked unchecked over Europe, when brute passion, un- 
 refined by any shade of culture, ruled those in high places, 
 when shameless cruelty was the daily commonplace. It was 
 an age of Inquisitions and of trial by tortures. When the 
 finest ladies of Madrid enjoyed the "divertissement" of an 
 auto de fe. An era, the passing of which no sane man could 
 regret. These empire-founders, compared to the great men 
 of the dawning Renaissance, were black reactionaries. Their 
 day had passed at home; to the west they brought all the old 
 barbaric morality of medievalism, all the religious intoler- 
 ance of the Dark Ages. The one man who stands out in the 
 early history of America as touched with the new Hiunanism 
 which was illuminating Europe — Las Casas — was stoned by 
 the conquistador es. 
 
 These men who sailed from Santo Domingo four centuries 
 ago were of a type hard to sympathize with to-day. Bloody 
 from their infernal massacres they gave fanatical thanks to 
 the Holy Virgin. With stolen gold, the prize of rapine and 
 slaughter, they adorned the Crucifix. From silver, dug by 
 the defenceless women and children whom they scourged 
 down into their deadly mines, they hammered out magnifi- 
 cent vessels for the service of the Mass. They wore some 
 fair lady's gage on their helmets, and committed the vilest 
 outrages on women. They were insanely courageous, and 
 afraid of the dark. They were never daunted by real diffi- 
 culties, they trembled before the croaking of a fortune-teller. 
 They were more often defeated by their own petty jealousies, 
 
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TEE FIBST COLONISTS 155 
 
 or the treachery of trusted comrades, than by the innumer- 
 able enemy. 
 
 All these contradictory elements seem to have focused in 
 Alonso de Ojeda. The Bishop of Palencia had given him a 
 miraculous portrait of the Virgin. He carried it in the behef 
 that it made him invulnerable. It is only the united voices 
 of many witnesses which make it possible to believe that he 
 actually lived through the innumerable adventures which 
 make up his biography. But we have here to do only with 
 that chapter of his life which affected the Isthmus. 
 
 In due time his little fleet touched the mainland — his as 
 yet unconquered vice-royalty — ^near the present city of 
 Carthagena, in Colombia. He went ashore with part of 
 his force and at once set about establishing his authority. 
 There was the ordinary formality of waving the Spanish 
 flag, erecting a cross and so forth. The few white men 
 who had previously visited this coast had come to trade. 
 The Indians crowded down on the shore with hospitable 
 intention. Having satisfied his own idea of taking posses- 
 sion, Ojeda turned his attention to the natives. He ordered 
 some of his friars, who had come to look after the spiritual 
 welfare of the new domains, to read aloud the follo"wing 
 proclamation. This curious treatise had been drawn up by 
 learned divines at home and with slight alterations was 
 employed by the other conquistadores under similar circimi- 
 stances : 
 
 "I, Alonso de Ojeda, servant of the high and mighty 
 kings of Castile and Leon, civilizers of barbarous nations, 
 their messenger and captain, notify and make known to 
 you, in the best way I can, that God our Lord, one and 
 eternal, created the heavens and earth, and one man and 
 one woman, from whom you, and we, and all the people of 
 the earth, were and are descendants, procreated, and all 
 those who shall come after us; but the vast number of gen- 
 
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 erations which have proceeded from them in the course of 
 more than five thousand years that have elapsed since the 
 creation of the world, made it necessary that some of the 
 human race should disperse in one direction, and some in 
 another, and that they should divide themselves into many 
 kingdoms and provinces, as they could not sustain and 
 preserve themselves in one alone. All these people were 
 given in charge, by God our Lord, to one person, named 
 Saint Peter, who was thus made lord and superior of all the 
 people of the earth, and head of the whole human lineage; 
 whom all should obey, wherever they might live, and what- 
 ever might be their law, sect, or belief; he gave him also the 
 whole world for his service and jurisdiction; and though he 
 desired that he should establish his chair in Rome, yet he per- 
 mitted that he might establish his chair in any other part of 
 the world, and judge and govern all the nations. Christians, 
 Moors, Jews, Gentiles, and whatever other sect or belief 
 might be. This person was denominated Pope, that is to 
 say, Admirable, Supreme, Father and Guardian, because he 
 is father and governor of all mankind. This holy father was 
 obeyed and honored as lord, king, and superior of the uni- 
 verse by those who lived in his time, and, in like manner, 
 have been obeyed and honored all those who have been 
 elected to the pontificate; and thus it has continued unto 
 the present day, and will continue until the end of the world. 
 "One of these pontiffs, of whom I have spoken, as lord 
 of the world, made a donation of these islands and conti- 
 nents of the ocean sea, and all that they contain, to the 
 Catholic kings of Castile, who, at that time, were Ferdinand 
 and Isabella, of glorious memory, and to their successors, 
 our sovereigns, according to the tenor of certain papers, 
 drawn up for the purpose (which you may see if you desire). 
 Thus his majesty is king and sovereign of these islands and 
 continents by virtue of the said donation, and, as king and 
 
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THE FIRST COLONISTS 157 
 
 sovereign, certain islands, and almost all, to whom this has 
 been notified, have received his majesty, and have obeyed 
 and served, and do actually serve him. And, moreover, like 
 good subjects, and with good will, and without any resistance 
 or delay, the moment they were informed of the foregoing, 
 they obeyed all the religious men sent among them to preach 
 and teach our holy faith; and these of their free and cheer- 
 ful will, without any condition or reward, became Chris- 
 tians, and continue so to be. And his majesty received 
 them kindly and benignantly, and ordered that they should 
 be treated Uke his other subjects and vassals. You also 
 are required and obliged to do the same. Therefore, in the 
 best manner I can, I pray and entreat you, that you consider 
 well what I have said, and that you take whatever time is 
 reasonable to vmderstand and deliberate upon it, and that 
 you recognize the church for sovereign and superior of the 
 universal world, and the supreme pontiff, called Pope, in 
 her name, and his majesty, in his place, as superior and 
 sovereign king of the islands and terra firma by virtue of 
 said donation; and that you consent that these religious 
 fathers declare and preach to you the foregoing: and if 
 you shall so do, you will do well, and will do that to which 
 your are bounden and obliged; and his majesty, and I, in 
 his name, will receive you with all due love and charity; 
 and will leave you your wives and children free from servi- 
 tude, that you may freely do with them and with yourselves 
 whatever you please and think proper, as have done the 
 inhabitants of the other islands. And, besides this, his 
 majesty will give you many privileges and exemptions, and 
 grant you many favors. If you do not do this, or wickedly 
 and intentionally delay to do so, I certify to you that, by 
 the aid of God, I will forcibly invade and make war upon 
 you in all parts and modes that I can, and will subdue you 
 to the yoke and obedience of the church and of his majesty; 
 
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158 PANAMA 
 
 and I will take your wives and children and make slaves oi 
 them, and sell them as such, and dispose of them as his 
 majesty may command; and I will take your effects, and 
 will do you all the harm and injury in my power, as vassals 
 who will not obey or receive their sovereign and who resist 
 and oppose him. And I protest that the deaths and disas- 
 ters, which may in this manner be occasioned, will be the 
 fault of yourselves, and not of his majesty, nor of me, nor 
 of the cavaUers who accompany me. And of what I tell 
 you and require of you, I call upon the notary here present 
 to give me his signed testimonial." 
 
 How much the natives understood of these ponderously 
 intoned Spanish sentences, we do not know. But the gist of 
 it seems to have been made plain to them, for the accounts 
 say that they replied with great dignity that they were satis- 
 fied with their own chiefs and were entirely ready to protect 
 their wives and children. 
 
 The Spaniards made short work of them on the open 
 beach — ^but they had not yet learned the danger of follow- 
 ing the natives into the jungle. Nor had they learned the 
 horror of poisoned arrow. Juan de la Cosa urged Ojeda 
 to be content with his victory and to postpone further 
 fighting until they had found a suitable place for their 
 settlement and had established themselves. But it was 
 not Ojeda's nature to be cautious. He gave the order for 
 pursuit. They came in an hour or so to a large Indian 
 village. In a moment they had scattered in quest of booty. 
 And then the natives fell upon them. They were off their 
 guard and most of them fell during the first surprise. Juan 
 de la Cosa rallied a few of them and made a desperate re- 
 sistance. Only one of this group escaped. Ojeda also with 
 his marvellous luck got away into the jungle. But sepa- 
 rated from his men he went astray. Without food and in 
 constant danger of discovery he struggled through the dense 
 
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TBE FIBST COLONISTS 159 
 
 underbrush. With his last strength he reached the seaside. 
 And there his men found him in an almost dying condition. 
 The sailors left on shipboard had become desperate at the 
 long absence of the landing party. Just when things were 
 at their darkest some sails came up over the horizon — it 
 was the fleet of Nicuesa. 
 
 The two governors had parted in anger, and Ojeda feared 
 that his rival would take advantage of his distress. But 
 Nicuesa — it is the one really noble incident related about 
 him — sent word that "A Spanish hidalgo does not harbor 
 malice against a prostrate foe." He turned aside from his 
 own errand to land a party and help Ojeda wreak a bloody 
 vengeance for the death of Juan de la Cosa. They surprised 
 the Indians, who were feasting in their village, in celebration 
 of their victory, and massacred them to the last child. The 
 blood lust of the Spaniards was whetted by the sight of the 
 corpse of de la Cosa, horribly bloated and discolored as a result 
 of the poisoned arrows. Incidentally the share of Nicuesa's 
 men in the booty was over thirty-five thousand dollars. 
 
 Ojeda sailed on to the Gulf of Darien, the western boun- 
 dary of his province, and disembarked on the eastern shore. 
 In memory of Juan de la Cosa and as a protective charm 
 he named the place San Sebastien, after the saint who died 
 from arrow wounds. It was the first European settlement 
 on the American continent. He despatched his fastest 
 ship back to Santo Domingo, with booty already won and 
 glowing letters to the bachelor Enciso, urging him to hurry 
 along with his law book, and the needed reinforcements and 
 provisions. 
 
 After separating from Ojeda, Nicuesa sailed on westward 
 in search of the Aurea Chersoneus he had come to govern. 
 The booty had already been rich; from Columbus's account 
 of the gold of the Rio Veragua, he had every reason to ex- 
 pect even fatter pluckings. 
 
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 When he picked up the coast of the Isthmus, he ordered 
 his two large ships to stand well out to sea. Lope de Olano, 
 his second in command, was to keep in sight of him in the 
 brigantine, while he in the little caravel would scout in 
 close to shore. They passed the Veragua by mistake. 
 Some of the sailors who had skirted the coast with Colum- 
 bus seven years before discovered the error. They urged him 
 to turn back. But with the cock-sure pigheadedness which 
 was his salient characteristic he pushed on. 
 
 A sudden storm, for which the coast is 'famous, caused 
 the ships to tack out, away from the lea shore. Nicuesa, in 
 his little cockle-shell boat, had to seek shelter in the cove 
 made by a river's mouth. A sudden freshet wrecked the 
 caravel. With great difficulty the company won safe to 
 shore, in the long boat, but without provisions. In the 
 morning Lope de Olano and his brigantine were nowhere to 
 be seen. For awhile the little company waited on the beach 
 for rescue. But Lope de Olano did not come for them. As 
 the same gentleman had been one of the mutineers against 
 Columbus, in the Rebellion of Santo Domingo, he has gen- 
 erally been accused of deliberately deserting Nicuesa, in the 
 hope of inheriting his governorship. Whatever his motives 
 were, he rejoined the ships after the storm, told the company 
 that the caravel had been lost with all on board. 
 
 Nicuesa and the crew of the caravel found themselves in 
 an exceedingly precarious position. They had no resources 
 beyond those which the jungle and the sea offered them. 
 They had no means of communication but the long boat. 
 With a persistence worthy of a better cause Nicuesa in- 
 sisted on pushing westward. The sailors, who knew they 
 had passed the Rio Veragua — which had been agreed upon 
 as a rendezvous in case of separation — urged him to turn 
 back. But whatever his shortcomings, Nicuesa was a com- 
 mander who commanded. And he marched his company 
 
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TBE FISST COLONISTS 161 
 
 westward along the beach. Four men in the long boat 
 rowed along close inshore and ferried them across the in- 
 numerable streams which empty into the sea. 
 
 It was desperately slow progress, desperately scant fare, 
 nothing but sea food and occasional cocoanuts. The silk 
 raiment of the noble cavaliers was not built for such work. 
 Nor were many of the men prepared for it. 
 
 One day as they were passing along under a high clifif a 
 javelin hummed down from the overhanging trees. It 
 pierced the heart of Nicuesa's little page. The lad's white 
 satin jacket, frayed as it was by the thorns, soiled by the 
 mud of the rivers, had proved a good mark for the Indian. 
 But beyond this they were not attacked — they met no other 
 sign of man. 
 
 One evening they came to a large river, just before sun- 
 down. There was hardly time to ferry them across before 
 the darkness. In the morning the long boat had disap- 
 peared. Their situation was made more desperate by the 
 fact that they were not on the mainland, but on a delta of 
 the river. Marooned on this island, without provisions, 
 entirely dependent on shell-fish for food and on uncertain 
 pools of rain-water for drink, most of them gave up hope. 
 Nicuesa seems to have proved himself a brave man. 
 He did what could be done to keep up their spirits. Three 
 different times he persuaded them to build a raft, but they 
 had no tools, no nails. Each time the surf smashed their 
 flimsy floats to pieces. 
 
 "There they continued a long time," Herrera writes, 
 "some say above three months. Some of them dying daily 
 through drinking brackish water; those that remain'd alive 
 crawling about on all four, as not having Strength to walk." 
 
 But the long boat had not foundered at sea, nor were 
 Ribero, the boatswain, and his three companions guilty of 
 malicious desertion. They knew the coast, knew that Nicu- 
 
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 esa was leading his followers every day farther from help 
 and hope. So, taking things in their own hands, they 
 slipped away during the night to see if they could bring a 
 rescue. 
 
 Lope de Olano, when he had assumed command of the 
 main force of the expedition, had led them to the Rio 
 Belen. They started a new settlement on the spot where 
 Columbus and his brother Bartholomew had tried to found 
 one seven years before. After incredible hardships, Ribero 
 and his comrades found the encampment. Lope de Olano 
 may not have welcomed the news that his governor was still 
 alive, but he at once despatched the brigantine to the 
 rescue. 
 
 It arrived just in time. Nicuesa and the remnant of his 
 company were too weakened to signal from the shore. 
 They had watched so long for a sail in vain that they could 
 hardly believe it, when they were carried on board and 
 fed. 
 
 Nicuesa's first act on rejoining his colony was to order 
 the imprisonment of Lope de Olano. Only the intercession 
 of all the company saved his head. Once more in the sad- 
 dle, Nicuesa rode hard. His arrogance returned, his un- 
 popularity grew rapidly. In this unformed colony he tried 
 to rule like a great monarch of an established kingdom. 
 
 Quiban, the native chieftain, who had discomforted Bar- 
 tholomew Columbus, was still lord of the coast. But he 
 had discovered that famine was a surer weapon that his 
 arrows. He had gathered his people together; they had 
 rooted up all their plantations and had moved inland. The 
 Spaniards very soon had to give up looking for gold. They 
 needed food. 
 
 "All those People being in such Distress, to add to it 
 Nicuessa grew daily worse condition'd, and treated those 
 few who remain'd very harshly." 
 
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TSE FIBST COLONISTS 163 
 
 At last sickness and hunger forced them to give up the 
 colony. They set sail in the hope of finding a kinder spot 
 for their enterprise. As they coasted along eastward, one 
 of the old sailors of Columbus's crew told them of the 
 beautiful Puerto Bello and generous supply of cool springs. 
 He guided the fleet thither — half buried in the sand they saw 
 an anchor which had been left by the Great Admiral. But 
 when a party went ashore to fill their water casks they were 
 attacked by Indians. The Spaniards were so weak from 
 exposure and hunger that they could not wield their heavy 
 weapons and were driven back to their boats. Not six 
 months had passed since they had sailed so blithely from 
 Santo Domingo to win and rule a kingdom. Now these 
 old veterans of the Moorish wars had to retreat before a 
 handful of naked savages. 
 
 A little farther down the coast they came to a fair haven. 
 They had hardly enough strength left to navigate. 
 
 "Paremos aqul en el nombre de Dios!" (Let us stop here 
 in the name of God), Nicuesa exclaimed. 
 
 The superstitious sailors accepted his words as an omen; 
 they disembarked, calling the place "Name of God." 
 
 But even the magic of so great a name did not improve 
 their condition. With their last energy they built a little 
 fort. Then once more disease and hunger sat down among 
 them. 
 
 Nicuesa had left a few men at the Rio Belen to await the 
 ripening of some corn. The party he sent to bring them to 
 Nombre de Dios found them so reduced by starvation, that 
 they were eating leather. His united forces mustered but 
 one hundred. Six hundred had already perished. 
 
 "Nicuessa and those few who remain'd with him were 
 reduc'd to such Distress by Sickness and Famine, that not 
 one of them was able to watch or stand Sentinel at Night, 
 and thus they wasted away." 
 
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 Meanwhile the rival colony in Nueva Andalucfa, was 
 faring little better. The little town of San Sebastien did 
 not at first suffer so much from hunger. Their scourge was 
 the poison, with which the natives tipped their arrows. 
 So deadly was the venom that the slightest scratch meant 
 a horrible death. Herrera gives interesting details as to 
 the method of its manufacture: 
 
 "This Poison was made with certain stinking grey Roots 
 found along the Sea Coast, and being Burnt in Earthen 
 Pipkins, they made a Paste with a sort of very black Pis- 
 mires, as big as Beetles, so poisonous, that if they happened 
 to bite a Man, it put him beside himself. They add to this 
 Composition large Spiders, and hairy Worms, as long as half 
 a Man's Finger, the Bite of which is as bad as that of the 
 Pismires above mentioned, as also the Wings of a Bat 
 and the Head and Tail of a Sea Fish called Tavorino, very 
 venomous: besides Toads, the Tails of Snakes, and Man- 
 ganillas, which are like beautiful Apples, but a deadly 
 Poison. All these ingredients being set over a great Fire, 
 in an open Field, remote from their towns, were boil'd in 
 Pots, by a Slave, till they came to the proper Consistence 
 and the Person that look'd to it dy'd of the Steam." 
 
 This receipt was probably the work of someone's imagina- 
 tion, but it shows vividly how fearfully the Spaniards re- 
 garded these poisoned arrows. 
 
 If the Bachelor Enciso had hurried with his reinforce- 
 ments, San Sebastien might have won the distinction of 
 enduring. But for some reason he delayed. Provisions 
 began to run low. No more booty was to be found close 
 by. And in the depths of the jungle the poisoned arrows 
 reaped too deadly a harvest to make forays popular with 
 the men. So efficacious had been Ojeda's picture of the 
 Virgin, that as yet he had never lost blood in battle. So 
 extraordinary had been his luck — for he never spared him- 
 
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THE FIRST COLONISTS 165 
 
 self, was always in the front of the fight — that the Indians 
 began also to believe that his life was charmed. 
 
 In order to test his vulnerability they set a trap for him. 
 Four of their best marksmen hid in the trees, while their 
 comrades made an attack on the colony. As was always his 
 custom, Ojeda led the sortie. The wily savages retreated 
 and the governor followed them into the ambush. Three of 
 the arrows missed him, but one drove clear through his 
 thigh. 
 
 The colony was thrown into despair by this wound. It 
 seemed that the Virgin had withdrawn her protection. In 
 all their stay in the New World they had never seen one of 
 their company recover from an arrow wound. But Ojeda 
 was not the kind to despair, even when the Fates seemed 
 to have decreed his death. One of the symptoms of the 
 poisoning was a feeling of icy numbness about the wound. 
 This suggested a heroic remedy to the governor. He or- 
 dered his sm-geon to heat two iron plates to the point of 
 redness and clap them on the two orifices of the wound. 
 Only imder the threat of immediate hanging could the sur- 
 geon be persuaded to apply so stringent a medicine. Ojeda 
 stood the ordeal without fiinching — and recovered! Cer- 
 tain modern historians, with the skepticism of their tribe, 
 suggest that perhaps this particular arrow was not poisoned. 
 But whether or not so painful a remedy was necessary there 
 is no doubt that it was applied. 
 
 After this accident — Ojeda was a long time recovering 
 from the burns — the colony lost heart. The natives pressed 
 so close to the fort that even the excursions for fresh water 
 became dangerous. Famine came to them as it had to 
 Nicuesa and his following. 
 
 At last a ship was seen approaching. The fainting col- 
 onists were cheered by the thought that it was the Bachelor 
 Enciso. But once more they were to be disappointed. 
 
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 The brigantine turned out to be in the hands of a band 
 of pirates, under the command of a dare-devil adventurer 
 named Tolavera. When the brigantine, which Ojeda had 
 despatched from San Sebastien, laden with the first spoils 
 from his new province, reached Santo Domingo, every one 
 who had not accompanied him cursed their luck, cursed the 
 prudence which had kept them from joining him. Tolavera 
 collected a gang of cut-throats from the taverns of the water 
 front, marched them overland to a little cove where a 
 Genoese brigantine was taking on lumber. They murdered 
 the crew and set sail to join Ojeda. 
 
 The small stock of provisions which they had brought 
 relieved the immediate famine at San Sebastien but did 
 not permanently strengthen their position. And when the 
 pirates saw the ill condition of affairs, they decided that they 
 would be better off in Santo Domingo, taking a chance at 
 hanging for their piracy, rather than stay in Nueva Anda- 
 lucla to die of hunger or poisoned arrows. 
 
 Ojeda decided to sail with them and see what he could do 
 to hurry up reinforcements. He left what was left of his 
 forces under the command of Francisco Pizarro, with in- 
 structions to hold on for fifty days. If in that time no word 
 had been received either from him or Enciso, they could give 
 up the colony and retreat to Santo Domingo in the two 
 brigantines. The two ships had gone to pieces under the 
 attack of the "Teredos." 
 
 Ojeda, taking with him all the gold he had collected, 
 embarked with Tolavera. This debonaire pirate was no 
 sooner out of sight of land than he put the imfortunate 
 governor in chains and appropriated the treasure. Ojeda 
 offered to fight the whole ship's company if they would come 
 at him two at a time. But they had not the courage to 
 accept his challenge. And besides they were poor sailors 
 and had had trouble navigating their ship and thought it 
 
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THE FIRST COLONISTS 167 
 
 well to keep at least one able seaman alive. In fact, they 
 shortly ran into a hurricane and had to release him so that 
 he could save the ship. They were in time wrecked on the 
 shore of Cuba, as yet an unconquered island. Fqr months 
 they lived among the Indians amid great dangers and hard- 
 ships. When they finally reached Santo Domingo, Ojeda 
 was unjustly thrown into prison. 
 
 "He died," Irving writes, "so poor that he did not leave 
 money enough to pay for his interment; and so broken in 
 spirit that, with his last breath, he entreated his body might 
 be buried in the monastery of San Francisco, just at the 
 portal, in humble expiation of his past pride, 'that every 
 one who entered might tread upon his grave.' 
 
 "Such was the fate of Alonso de Ojeda — and who does 
 not forget his errors and his faults at the threshold of his 
 humble and untimely grave! He was one of the most fear- 
 less and aspiring of the band of 'Ocean chivalry' that fol- 
 lowed the footsteps of Columbus. His story presents a 
 lively picture of the daring enterprises, the extravagant 
 exploits, the thousand accidents, by flood and field, which 
 checkered the life of a Spanish cavalier in that roving and 
 romantic age." 
 
 After Ojeda had left them, the colonists of San Sebastian 
 continued their desperate struggle with famine and poisoned 
 arrows. They held on grimly — Francisco Pizarro, their 
 commander, owed his ultimate fame to this bull-dog ability 
 to hang on — until the fifty days were up. No help had 
 come. But an unlocked for obstacle prevented them from 
 sailing at once. Out of the three hundred who had sailed 
 from Santo Domingo, seventy were still alive. The two 
 brigantines would not hold so many. None would consent 
 to stay behind in the death-ridden place, so they had to 
 wait "until famine, sickness, and the poisoned arrows of 
 the Indians should reduce their number to the capacity of 
 
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 the brigantines." And Irving laconically continues: "A 
 brief space of time was sufficient for the purpose." They 
 killed and salted down the four horses which were left to 
 them, and gathering up what meagre provisions they could 
 find, embarked. Pizarro commanded one of the brigantines, 
 Valenzuela the other. 
 
 Outside of the port they at once encountered a storm. 
 Valenzuela's boat suddenly fell apart and all hands were 
 lost. 
 
 To quote again from Irving's picturesque narrative: 
 "The other brigantine was so near, that the mariners wit- 
 nessed the struggles of their drowning companions, and 
 heard their cries. Some of the sailors, with the common 
 disposition to the marvellous, declared that they beheld a 
 great whale, or other monster of the deep, strike the vessel 
 with its tail, and either stave in its sides or shatter the 
 rudder, so as to cause the ship-wreck." 
 
 And so Pizarro with about thirty men, pitching about on 
 the storm-swept sea in a crazy, worm-eaten vessel, and 
 Nicuesa with his hundred starving, despairing men at 
 Nombre de Dios, were all that was left of the two brave 
 companies which set out to colonize the Mainland. 
 
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CHAPTER XII 
 
 SANTA MARIA DE LA ANTIGUA DEL DAHIEN 
 
 Just about the time when the remnant of Ojeda's colony 
 were desertmg San Sebastien, the Bachelor Enciso, having 
 completed his equipment, sailed from Santo Domingo. His 
 ship was well laden with provisions and carried one himdred 
 and fifty men. They took with them a dozen mares, "some 
 horses, sows, with boars to breed." 
 
 He touched first at Carthagena and, despite the massacre 
 committed there by the joint forces of Ojeda and Nicuesa, was 
 able to establish friendly relations with the natives. In the 
 very few instances, like this one, where the Spaniards did 
 not precipitate a fight, the Indians proved ready to receive 
 them as friends. But as a rule the white men found it easier 
 to get the gold ornaments from dead bodies, than by trade. 
 
 As Enciso was getting up anchor to sail westward to San 
 Sebastien, where he expected to find Ojeda and a thriving 
 town, he was surprised to see a brigantine entering the 
 harbor. The sight of a European sail in these waters was 
 indeed unusual. But his surprise turned to anger when he 
 discovered that the newcomers were men of Ojeda's com- 
 pany. With his legal and suspicious mind he jumped at 
 the conclusion that they were deserters and prepared to 
 begin his career as Chief Justice of Nueva Andalucfa by 
 putting them in chains. But the captain of this gaunt and 
 hungry crew, Francisco Pizarro, was not a man to be brow- 
 beaten. He produced his commission signed by Ojeda. 
 
 What the shock to the Bachelor's hopes their story must 
 
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170 PANAMA 
 
 have been is easily imagined. More than fifty days had 
 passed since Ojeda had sailed from San Sebastien. Nothing 
 but some tragic misfortune could explain the fact that he 
 had not reached Santo Domingo before Enciso sailed. 
 Having come out to give laws to a prosperous community, 
 the Bachelor found there was nothing to rule except what 
 he might be able to conquer. 
 
 Pizarro's little band wanted to return at once to Santo 
 Domingo; they had had more than enough of hardship. But 
 the Bachelor exerted his authority; he would at least have a 
 look at the place he had come to govern. 
 
 Of all the localities in the New World which proved un- 
 lucky to the Spaniards, that of San Sebastien proved the 
 worst. As they entered the harbor, Enciso's ship struck 
 a rock and went to pieces. The company escaped ashore, 
 but, in the words of Irving, "the unfortunate Bachelor 
 beheld the proceeds of several years of prosperous litigation 
 swallowed up in an instant. 
 
 "His dream of place and dignity seemed equally on the 
 point of vanishing; for, on landing, he found the fortress and 
 its adjacent houses mere heaps of ruins, having been de- 
 stroyed with fire by the Indians." 
 
 In this moment of general discouragement, a man, for 
 whom the Fates had arranged a great destiny, suddenly 
 came to the front. 
 
 "Once," he said, "when I coasted this gulf with Rodrigo 
 de Bastides, on the western shore we found the country 
 fertile and rich in gold. Provisions were abimdant; and the 
 natives, although warUke, do not use poisoned arrows. It 
 lies just beyond the great river which the Indians called 
 Darien." 
 
 Momentous words these. They guided the Spaniards to 
 their first secure foothold on the Continent of America. They 
 were spoken by one of the least considered men of the crew, 
 
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Copyright by Underwood & U?iderwood. 
 
 INDIAN CAYUKAS ON THE CHUCUNAQUE RIVER. 
 
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SANTA MABIA BE LA ANTIGUA DEL DABIEN 171 
 
 one who was referred to derisively as "el hombre del casco," 
 Vasco Nunez de Balboa. 
 
 At this time he was about thirty-five years old. Like most 
 of the Conquistador es, he had been molded in the school of 
 medieval chivalry. Born in Jerez de los Caballeros, he had 
 seen much service during the Moorish wars in the retinue 
 of Don Pedro Puertocarrero de Moguer. He had sought 
 adventure in the New World, sailing these very waters, with 
 Bastides in the famous voyage of 1500-1502. He had ac- 
 quired very Uttle gold on that expedition, but it had won for 
 him greater wealth, a knowledge of the coast. It had pre- 
 pared him to seize this, his great opportimity. 
 
 After the voyage he had settled down in the colony of 
 Santo Domingo, buying a farm in the hamlet of Salvatierra. 
 But such was not the intention of his destiny; he failed 
 miserably at agriculture. Tired of the insistent din of his 
 creditors, hearing once more the call of the sea, he contrived 
 to get aboard Enciso's ship in a barrel. 
 
 "When, like Aphrodite, from her circling shell," — Ban- 
 croft's "Central America," — "the serio-comic face of the 
 bankrupt farmer appeared emerging from the provision cask, 
 the bachiller was disposed to treat the matter magisterially, 
 and threatened to land the refugee from justice on the first 
 deserted island." 
 
 However Enciso had not been able to recruit as many 
 men as he had hoped. Vasco Nunez was in the prime of 
 life, a hardy, experienced adventurer. So the Bachelor 
 forgot his threat. His unexpected recruit, however, did 
 not. 
 
 During the voyage "el hombre del casco" had conducted 
 himself modestly. Although the nickname had stuck to 
 him, the crew had learned not to use it insultingly. In his 
 quiet, diplomatic way he had earned the friendship of most 
 of them, the respect of the rest. 
 
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 His suggestion to try the western shore of the Gulf of 
 Darien was accepted by acclamation. Enciso, leaving some 
 of his company in the hastily reconstructed stockade, crossed 
 over with all the men who could crowd into the brigantine. 
 The place to which Vasco Nunez guided them was in the 
 territory of the Cacique Cemaco. (The old English chron- 
 iclers write the name Cazique Zemaco. But the Spanish 
 "c" before "i" or "e" is more nearly rendered in English 
 by "th.") 
 
 Cemaco seems to have been a fine old character. He 
 never became reconciled to the conquest. For many years 
 to come he never allowed his desire for revenge to cool. 
 Again and again his name crops up in the old narratives. 
 When he saw the ship approaching he sent his non-combat- 
 ants up into the hills and met the invaders on the beach 
 with five hundred men. 
 
 Enciso had his notary read to the natives the same proc- 
 lamation which Ojeda had used. And having made himself 
 right in the eye of the law, he was equally scrupulously to 
 observe the religious formalities. Bancroft summarizes the 
 detailed accounts of the chroniclers in these words: "He 
 invokes the powers above, vows to the Virgin that this 
 heathen town shall be hers in name, if she will make it his in 
 substance; vows, if she will give it him, that with Cemaco's 
 gold he will build on Cemaco's land a church, and dedicate 
 the sacred edifice to her adored image, Antigua of Seville. 
 Moreover, he will make a pilgrimage to her holy shrine. 
 Vlrgen Santissima!" 
 
 It is easy to poke fun at the religious formulas of these 
 Conquistadores, and it seems to me a rather cheap humor. 
 To them the formulas were not empty. This preposterous 
 proclamation, in which they command the natives to accept 
 the Pope, was not the concoction of the men who used it as 
 a prelude to their butcheries. It was the product of the 
 
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SANTA MARIA DE LA ANTIGUA DEL DARIEN 173 
 
 divinity authorities of the day. The Pope's Bull in which 
 he gave half the unknown world to the Spaniards and half 
 to the Portuguese was taken seriously by the learned men 
 of the day. It is small wonder that these uncultivated 
 soldiers believed it to be binding. 
 
 We live in a day of easy tolerance. The Conquistadores 
 had been trained in the Moorish wars, where prisoners from 
 either side were given the choice between renouncing their 
 religion and dying. We may easily say that the superstitions 
 of those days were childish, but there is no ground for 
 beUeving them hypocritical. Alonso de Ojeda, whatever 
 his private vices, would have gone bhthely to the stake, 
 rather than desecrate his picture of the Virgin. 
 
 The history of the Church is full of ^-ef erences to the heresy 
 of Antinomism. Saint Paul inveighed against it. There has 
 been hardly a decade since when the same heresy has not 
 cropped out in some sect. It is, in short, a belief that if 
 your spiritual relation to God is correct, you will be saved 
 no matter what your physical relations, your personal ethics 
 are. There was no age when this heresy was more generally 
 condemned and, as such things go, more generally practised. 
 Never has there been a greater divorce between Theology 
 and Morals. But just in proportion as the ethic of Christen- 
 dom became debauched, so sincere, fanatical devotion was 
 given to the forms of worship. Enciso and his men were 
 certainly bent on murder and rapine. But just as certainly 
 they would not have fought as valorously if they had not 
 first adored the Virgin. The Ironsides of England, chanting 
 a psalm as they went into action, were no more devout. 
 
 And thus forearmed, the Spaniards attacked with a fervor 
 which soon overthrew the enemy. They found rich booty 
 in Cemaco's village, which in accordance with their vow they 
 rechristened "Santa Maria de la Antigua del Darien." In 
 a few days they had gathered, besides large quantities of food, 
 
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174 PANAMA 
 
 gold which amounted, according to living's estimate, to over 
 $50,000. 
 
 They despatched the brigantine to San Sebastien to bring 
 over the rest of their company to this El Dorado. The 
 Bachelor Enciso lost his head as soon as it was crowned with 
 prosperity. His mind was so befogged with legal lore, that 
 he thought it more important to draw up a code than to plant 
 corn. His enthusiasm for the intricate legal system of Spain 
 blinded his eyes to the patent fact that laws are made for 
 a community, and that the object of founding a colony was 
 not to create a new field for legislation. It would be hard 
 to imagine a body of men less likely to sympathize with his 
 respect for law. The results of putting new wine into old 
 bottles are mild indeed when compared to what happened 
 when this aspiring judge announced his fiscal regulations. 
 The colonists were not sufficiently civilized to allow him to 
 take by law what they had won by sweat and blood. 
 
 Once more Vasco Nunez stepped forward with a popular 
 suggestion. Caution was the most salient characteristic 
 of this man. There was none of the Conquistadores who 
 could more blithely burn his boats behind him in case of 
 need. But Balboa never did it recklessly. And especially 
 in the wily business of political intrigue he was loathe to 
 commit himself. He realized, as Bancroft says, that "law 
 is safer than hemp for hanging, even lawyers!" He could 
 easily have persuaded the colonists to dimap Enciso into the 
 sea. He chose a subtler way. 
 
 When the malcontents grumbled about these bewildering 
 laws, Vasco Nunez would take them aside, and ask why they 
 submitted to Enciso's arrogance. "He was Alcalde Mayor 
 for Ojeda, in Nueva Andalucfa. We've crossed the Darien 
 River. This place is in Castilla del Oro, Nicuesa's territory. 
 Enciso hasn't a legal leg to stand on." 
 
 Vasco Nunez could truthfully say that he had obeyed all 
 
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SANTA MASIA BE LA ANTIGUA DEL DASJEN 175 
 
 of the Bachelor's laws; he had not rebelled. But the colonists 
 accepted his hint with a whoop. They refused to recognize 
 Enciso, and held elections. They chose for Alcaldes Vasco 
 Nunez and Martin Zamudio. 
 
 However, things went no more smoothly for the new gov- 
 ernment of Santa Maria than formerly. Vasco Nunez was 
 following a very definite policy. First of all he ingratiated 
 himself with the common soldiers. He was naturally fear- 
 less, he knew exactly when to be theatrical. He had remark- 
 able tact for smoothing out quarrels between individuals. 
 He was scrupulously just in divisions of the spoil. And 
 above all, he was tireless in providing for the comfort of his 
 men. The historian Oviedo, who always put the worst 
 construction on every act of Balboa, admits: "No chieftain 
 who ever went to the Indies equalled him in these respects." 
 
 He was a master hand at intrigue. It was his policy to 
 stay behind the scenes in the political dissension which, even 
 more than the Indians, kept life in Santa Maria from becom- 
 ing monotonous. He accompUshed his ends by discreetly 
 dropping a word or two where he knew it would be repeated. 
 
 In public his position was always correct. He ssonpathized 
 with the despoiled Enciso and advised him to take the colony 
 back to San Sebastien, knowing very well that the colony 
 would not go. Zamudio, his rival Alcalde, was a common 
 soldier. Vasco Nunez was hail fellow well met with him 
 and his kind. But he took pains to impress his rival's 
 humble birth on the strong men of the colony who were 
 pleased to consider themselves gentlemen. Apparently unin- 
 terested in political brawls — Balboa kept them at white heat. 
 
 In the middle of November, 1510, the people of Santa 
 Maria were surprised one morning to hear the soimd of 
 caimons faintly rumbling across the water from San Sebas- 
 tien. They at once started great smudges of smoke to 
 attract attention. Perhaps it was Ojeda come back with 
 
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176 TASAKA 
 
 reinforcements. How the Bachelor's hopes must have soared 
 again! 
 
 It turned out to be Rodrigo Enriquez de Colmenares with 
 a rehef expedition for Nicuesa. When he arrived off the 
 little settlement he was given a rousing welcome. With an 
 abundant grant of provisions, the old familiar foods they 
 had lacked so long, he established his popularity. Hearing 
 of their political dissensions, he urged them to accept Nicuesa 
 as their governor. Any change seemed good to the volatile 
 company, and they selected two ambassadors — Diego de 
 Albites and the Bachelor Corral — to accompany Colmenares 
 on his hunt for Nicuesa, to tender their allegiance and a 
 request that he should come and rule over them. 
 
 Colmenares cruised along westward and at Nombre de 
 Dios found Nicuesa and the handful of men who were left 
 from his seven hxmdred. 
 
 But to Nicuesa even more grateful than the sight of the 
 rescuing ships was the news that there was a rich and thriv- 
 ing town in his domains which invited him to rule over it. 
 
 The unfortunate man's pride swelled up like a balloon. 
 The choicest of Colmenares's provisions were turned into a 
 banquet. Dressed in new clothes, Nicuesa recovered his 
 old time gayety. Presiding at the feast, he lifted a baked 
 fowl on a fork and carved it skilfully in the air. It was the 
 trick which in happier days had won him the position of 
 Royal Carver. The Spanish wine, after long months of 
 deprivation, went to his head. He talked grandiloquently 
 about what he would do in Santa Maria, how he would 
 enforce all the fiscal laws and make everyone give an exact 
 account of their booty. He would teach this upstart Balboa 
 his place and as for Zamudio, he was a relative of the traitor 
 Lope de Olano. Colmenares, having been in Santa Maria, 
 and knowing the temper of the men, tried to stop his master's 
 indiscreet flow of words. But Nicuesa, after his long mis- 
 
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SANTA MAEIA BE LA ANTIGUA DEL DABIEN 177 
 
 fortunes, would at least enjoy the glory of talking. The 
 two ambassadors listened to it gloomily. What they heard 
 from the survivors of Nicuesa's expedition did not give them 
 any large encouragement. 
 
 The governor had the insanity to let them start back to 
 Santa Maria before him. The gist of their report to the 
 colonists was that Nicuesa promised to be a worse tyrant 
 than either Enciso or the present Alcaldes. 
 
 It had been a serious mistake for Nicuesa to allow these 
 ambassadors to go home ahead of him. But just along 
 the line of such blunders lay his greatest talent. When at 
 last he left Nombre de Dios, he stopped along the way to 
 indulge his passion for making slave raids. After much 
 loitering he sent a man ahead named Juan de Caicedo to 
 prepare the colony for his august arrival. 
 
 Later events proved that seventeen of the sixty men left 
 from his expedition were loyal to him. But Caicedo was not 
 one of these. Arrived at Santa Maria, he told worse stories 
 of Nicuesa's tyranny and ingratitude than Albites and Corral 
 had told. 
 
 "What folly has possessed you," he demanded, "when 
 you were your own masters and free to send for this mean- 
 spirited tyrant to enslave you." 
 
 Distressed by such disquieting news, the colonists, as they 
 always did in a pinch, turned to Vasco Nunez. He promptly 
 replied that Nicuesa was imdoubtedly their lawful governor. 
 He even went to the lengths of having a notary record the 
 fact that he had made public acknowledgment of his fealty. 
 But in secret he pointed out to his friends that if they had 
 been foolish to invite Nicuesa, they would be doubly so to 
 receive him. 
 
 When at last the Governor's ship reached the harbor he 
 found all the people gathered on the beach. But very quickly 
 he discovered that they had not assembled to welcome him. 
 
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178 PANAMA 
 
 The public prosecutor warned him not to land if he valued 
 his life, and advised him to go back where he had come from. 
 Nicuesa tried to argue but the unruly crowd only jeered at 
 him. When night came on he was forced to put out to sea, 
 but in the morning he returned, his pride so humbled that he 
 asked them to receive him as a companion, if they did not 
 want him as a governor. For some time they bickered. At 
 length he thought it safe to land, but he had no sooner put 
 foot on shore when he was attacked. He, besides being a 
 dainty carver of royal meats, was a good runner. As he 
 had owed his early advancement to the first accomplishment, 
 so now he owed his life to his fleetness of foot. 
 
 Exactly what game Vasco Nunez was playing in all this 
 it is impossible to determine at this late day. There is a 
 theory for almost every historian. It seems most probable 
 to me that he had plaimed to let things go until Nicuesa was 
 badly scared and then to appear as his rescuer, so to win 
 his gratitude and preferment over his rivals Enciso and 
 Zamudio. At all events he now offered shelter and protec- 
 tion to the harassed governor. But if this had been his 
 game, he had let things escape from his control. 
 
 Zamudio saw clearly that if at this juncture Balboa was 
 allowed to make friends with Nicuesa, he, Zamudio, who had 
 been most open in the sedition, would fare very shabbily. He 
 had gone too far to stop. So he did what he could to whip 
 up the excitement of the mob. 
 
 Nicuesa, all his arrogance wilted, begged that they would 
 keep him as a prisoner, saying that he would rather stay in 
 chains than return to the death-hole of Nombre de Dios. 
 But Zamudio was committed to Nicuesa's destruction. He 
 forced him and the seventeen followers who were loyal to 
 him into the rottenest brigantine of their little fleet and forced 
 him to sail. It was in March, 1511, that Nicuesa's boat left 
 the harbor of Santa Maria. It was never heard from again. 
 
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SANTA MABIA DE LA ANTIGUA DEL DASIEN 179 
 
 But whether or not Balboa's plans had gone wrong in this 
 matter he set to work at once to get rid of his other two rivals. 
 He persuaded Zamudio to bring a charge against Enciso of 
 "illegal usurpation of authority." There is considerable 
 grim humor in the thought of this Bachelor of Law arraigned 
 before Judge Lynch. The two Alcaldes, who had decided 
 on the sentence before the trial opened, allowed Enciso to 
 talk and argue himself out. If he had been a truly dignified 
 man he would have refused to take so grotesque a charge 
 seriously, but it is probable that he gave his tormentors 
 considerable sport. In common justice we must hope that 
 Balboa made the most of this opportunity to bait a lawyer, 
 for later they had their chance at him. The court found 
 the "usurper" guilty, sentenced him to prison and confis- 
 cated his goods. 
 
 Balboa realized that a prisoner, in a community which is 
 likely any day to storm its Bastile, is a constant source of 
 danger. So he released the Bachelor on his promise to leave 
 for Spain by the first boat. It was now Zamudio's turn. 
 
 Herrera writes: "Basco Nunez considering that the wrongs 
 done to James de Nicuesa and Enciso would some Time rise 
 in Judgment and to engross all the Government in his own 
 Hands, found means to persuade the other Alcalde, Za- 
 mudio, his Partner, to go into Spain, to give an Accoimt of 
 the Colony there settled and the Reason there was to hope 
 that the Country would produce great Wealth." 
 
 Just what means Balboa found to persuade Zamudio to 
 get out of the way, we do not know. 
 
 But he at once fitted up the best of his brigantines, put 
 Enciso and Zamudio aboard it, and gave the command to a 
 friend named Valdivia. To this friend Valdivia he also 
 intrusted the King's fifth of all their booty, and letters and 
 rich presents to Diego Columbus, the Governor of Santo 
 Domingo, and to Passamonte, the Royal Treasurer at Santo 
 
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180 PANAMA 
 
 Domingo. It was thus ever his custom to play both the 
 black and the red. 
 
 Diego Columbus had been reinstated in the governorship of 
 Santo Domingo and in most of his father's titles and honors. 
 He was laying claim, under the Great Admiral's first con- 
 tract with the Spanish throne, to all lands which his father 
 had discovered. If the lawsuit was decided in his favor 
 Castilla del Oro would be under his jurisdiction. If the 
 King won the suit, as was the ordinary outcome of chivalric 
 justice, it would be well to have "fixed" Passamonte, who 
 had great influence. 
 
 Valdivia was instructed to do all in his power, with the 
 aid of these bribes and the promise of more, to get some sort 
 of legalization for Balboa's government. 
 
 The departure of this ship left Vasco Nunez in imdis- 
 puted control of the colony. It was begirming to take on 
 the appearance of a town. The Indian huts had been re- 
 placed by substantial houses, laid out in rectangular streets. 
 In the center was a church, the first on the American con- 
 tinent. A Franciscan monastery was in process of construc- 
 tion. The plaza before the church, as was the case in most 
 early Spanish towns, was adorned with a bull-pen prison 
 and a gallows. 
 
 Lack of provisions had wrecked every other colony on the 
 Mainland. Vasco Nunez started his men in on agriculture. 
 He was almost the only one of the Conquistadores who had 
 an eye for such details. He was as himgry for gold, as keen 
 for adventure as the next one, but he always looked out for 
 the comfort of his men. 
 
 But he had no intention to embellish a colony for some one 
 else to govern. And he knew that the best way to establish 
 his position, the way to justify his past and make sure his 
 future, was by action — action which would make gold floff 
 into the coffers of the King. 
 
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Copyright by Fiskbaiigh. 
 
 VILLAGE OF SAN MIGUEL, PEARL ISLANDS. 
 
 VILLAGE OF SAN MIGUEL, PEARL ISLANDS. 
 
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SANTA MABIA DE LA ANTIGUA DEL DASJEN 181 
 
 Herrera gives this account of his first move: 
 
 "Basco Nunez sent Francis Pizarro with six Men to dis- 
 cover the Country, who, having travelled three Leagues up 
 the River, was attacked by four hundred Indians, under 
 Command of the Cazique Zemaco, and hard press'd with their 
 Arrows and Stones, but they closing, ripp'd up the bellies of 
 one hundred and fifty of them, with their Swords, and 
 wounded many more, the Rest fled." You are asked to accept 
 these details on the honor of the official historian of the 
 Spanish court! 
 
 Pizarro returned to town with the news of his victory and 
 also with the admission that a wounded Spaniard named 
 Heman had been left behind. This gave Vasco Nunez a 
 chance for one of those theatrical plays which endeared him 
 to the rough soldiers, and iacidentally threw some discredit 
 on a rival. 
 
 "Go instantly," he shouted, "and bring me Francisco 
 Hernan, and, as you value your life, never again leave one 
 of my soldiers alive on the field of battle." 
 
 The wounded soldier was brought back. Pizarro had to 
 accept this stinging rebuke in silence. But he was the kind 
 who remembered such things. 
 
 Meanwhile Colmenares, who had transferred his allegiance 
 to Vasco Nunez after the fiasco of Nicuesa, had been sent 
 up the coast to Nombre de Dios to bring the remnant of that 
 colony to Santa Maria. As they were returning, they were 
 surprised to see two painted, naked savages come down on 
 the beach and hail them in purest Castilian. They turned 
 out to be two Spaniards, who many months before had 
 incurred the anger of Nicuesa and had fled to the jungle. 
 They had been adopted into the tribe of a powerful Cacique 
 named Careta. They gave a glowing account of the riches 
 of the chief's village. And it was arranged that one should 
 return to Careta and prepare him to receive the Spaniards 
 
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182 PANAMA 
 
 hospitably. The other came on to Santa Maria and told the 
 story to Balboa. 
 
 The arrival of this man was a great aid to the Spaniards. 
 His knowledge of Indian languages was invaluable. 
 
 The united colony now numbered over two himdred and 
 fifty. By leaving the half-starved men of Nicuesa's com- 
 pany to guard the town, Vasco Nunez could put about one 
 hundred and fifty able, seasoned warriors in the field. This 
 was enough for him to set out on his career of conquest. 
 
 The fame of Cortez's and Pizarro's conquests have so 
 echoed in history that one hears little of Balboa's conquest 
 of the Isthmus. The enemy he had to meet was not so 
 highly organized as either the Aztecs or Peruvians. But this 
 very fact made them harder to hold in subjection. Both 
 Pizarro and Cortez, after the dashing raids, which put the 
 sovereigns in their hands, were very largely assisted in 
 maintaining their power by the extreme centralization of 
 nations they had conquered. But the scattered Isthmian 
 tribes had no centre, which once subdued, held the rest in line. 
 
 Further, Balboa's conquest was not marred by the indis- 
 criminate, unnecessary bloodshed of the later campaigns. 
 He never massacred the natives when he could accomplish 
 his aims without doing so, a really distinctive honor among 
 the Conquistadores. 
 
 From the outset he followed a definite pohcy. On his 
 first encounter with a tribe he killed enough to make them 
 sue for peace. And then when they were expecting him 
 to slaughter the rest of them, he suddenly offered them peace 
 and gave them assistance against their pet enemies. As his 
 empire expanded there was always war on the frontier and 
 peace within. Very seldom did any of the conquered tribes 
 revolt, and during his days of power he never pushed the na- 
 tives to the desperation which forced a war of extermination. 
 
 His campaign against Careta was typical. Having been 
 
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SANTA MABIA DE LA ANTIGUA DEL DABIEN 183 
 
 hospitably received and feasted, he left at twilight, to return 
 in the dead of night. He put most of the village to the sword 
 and returned to Santa Maria with Careta and his family 
 and a number of prisoners, also a large booty. But instead 
 of making a slave of the old chief or chopping off his ears as 
 seems to have been the ordinary Spanish practice, Vasco 
 Nunez made an alliance with him and started out with his 
 men to reduce the Cacique Ponca, Careta's special enemy. 
 Careta was so much touched by this unexpected leniency 
 that he gave his daughter to Balboa and was his steadfast 
 friend in the future. Although Vasco Nunez never married 
 the girl according to the Christian rites, Herrera testifies 
 that "he always lov'd and cherish'd her very much." 
 
 After overthrowing Ponca, Balboa made a friendly visit 
 to the village of Comagre, the greatest cacique of the coast. 
 His tribe mmibered over ten thousand and he had at least 
 three thousand warriors. Herrera tells us that: "His palace 
 was more remarkable and better built that any that had yet 
 been seen either on the Islands or the little that was known of 
 the Continent, being one hundred and fifty Paces in Length 
 and eighty in Breadth ... so beautifully wrought, 
 that the Spaniards were amaz 'd at the Sight of it, and could 
 not express the Manner and Curiosity of it. There were in 
 it several Chambers and Apartments, and one that was like 
 a Buttery was full of such Provisions as the Country afforded, 
 as Bread, Venison, Swine's Flesh, etc. There was another 
 large Room like a Cellar, full of earthen Vessels, containing 
 Several sorts of white and red Liquors, made of Indian 
 Wheat, Roots, a kind of Palm-Tree and other Ingredients, 
 the which Liquors the Spaniards commended, when they 
 drank them." 
 
 Here by peaceful means the Spaniards secured much gold, 
 and more important information. Panciaco, one of the 
 seven sons of the Cacique, seeing them quarrelling over the 
 
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184 PANAMA 
 
 division of the gold, told them of rich countries to the south 
 on the border of a great sea only a few days' journey away. 
 He offered to guide them to it, but said that the way was 
 blocked by several warhke tribes and that they could not 
 hope to pass with less than a thousand warriors. 
 
 This was the first authentic information which had reached 
 European ears of the Pacific Ocean. Vasco Nunez had found 
 the thing he was to do. 
 
 Returned to Santa Maria they foimd that Valdivia had 
 returned from Santo Domingo with a small stock of pro- 
 visions. He also brought a letter from Diego Columbus 
 authorizing Balboa to act as his Ueutenant. The real value 
 of the document himg in the scales of justice in Madrid, 
 and on the other side of the scales rested the heavy fist of 
 the King. However, with no title at all Vasco Nunez could 
 not afford to scoff at an uncertain one. 
 
 Valdivia was again sent to Santo Domingo with letters and 
 presents to the governor and to the royal treasurer, with 
 urgent requests for a thousand men that the exploration of 
 the country might be pushed forward. Besides these official 
 bribes and the King's fifth, most of the colonists sent their 
 private shares of the booty. 
 
 One of the earliest books on America, printed in English, 
 "The Decades of the newe worlde of west India. . . . 
 Wrytten in the Latine tounge by Peter Martyr of Angleria, 
 and translated into Englysshe by Richarde Eden, Londoni 
 . . . 1555," contains a glowing description of the treasure 
 sent on this ship. It is a good example of queer diction, and 
 erratic spelling, from which our Anglo-Saxon forbears re- 
 ceived their first ideas of the New World. 
 
 "The same Valdiuia was also sent on this message, caryinge 
 with hym to the Kinges treasourers (hauinge theyr office of 
 recepte in Hispaniola) three hundreth poundes weyght of 
 golde after eyght ounces to the pounde, for the fyfte portion 
 
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SANTA MASIA DE LA ANTIGUA DEL DABIEN 185 
 
 dewe to the Kynges escheker. This poiinde of VIII vnces, 
 the Spanyardes caule Marcha, whiche in weyght amounteth 
 to fyftie pieces of golde cauled Castellani. . . . We 
 conclude, therefore, that the sume hereof, was XV thousande 
 of those peeces of golde cauled Castellani. And thus is it 
 apparente by this accompte, that they receaued of the bar- 
 barous kynges, a thousande and fyue hundreth poundes of 
 eyght ounces to the pounde redy wrought in sundry kyndes 
 of ouches, as cheynes, braselets, tablets, and plates, both to 
 hange before theyr brestes. and also at theyr eares and nose- 
 thryls." 
 
 Immediately after the departure of Valdivia, Vasco Nunez 
 set out on a new campaign, with 160 men. This time he 
 took the opposite direction, going up the river Darien. On 
 the whole it was a successful raid, although two canoes over- 
 loaded with booty were upset by the swift current. 
 
 But a branch colony which he tried to establish up the 
 river came to grief. Bartholom^ Hurtado was left in com- 
 mand of thirty men. Within a few days half were sick. 
 Hurtado sent his invalids, with twenty-four captives and 
 all but ten of his well men down stream in canoes. They 
 were attacked and overpowered by their old enemy Cemaco. 
 Two of them managed to swim under water to the bank and 
 so escaped alive. They rejoined Hurtado, who, having 
 heard from other sources of a confederation of five tribes 
 who were planning to throw off the Spanish yoke, hurried 
 down to Santa Maria to warn the colony. Balboa seems to 
 have scorned this warning, thinking it inspired by cowardice. 
 But the rumor was verified from another quarter. 
 
 Peter Martyr referring to the threatened massacre says it 
 "had surely come to passe, if it had not byn otherwyse 
 hjTidered by gods providence. It is therefore ascrybed to a 
 myracle. . . . Vaschus Nunnez therefore, who rather 
 by poure than by election vsurped the gouemaunce in 
 
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186 PANAMA 
 
 Dariena, beinge a master of fence, and rather a rasshe 
 royster then politike capitayne (althowgh fortune sumtyme 
 fauoureth fooles) amonge many women which in dyuers of 
 these regions he had taken captyue, had one whiche in fauore 
 and bewtie excelled all other. To this woman her owne 
 brother often tymes resorted, who was also dryuen oute of 
 his comitrey with kynge Cemacchus, with whom he was 
 very famiher and one of his chiefe gentelmen. Amonge other 
 communications whiche he had with his syster whom he 
 loued entierly, he vttered these woordes. My deare and 
 welbeloued syster, gyue eare to my sayLoges, and keepe moste 
 secreatelye that whiche I wyll declare vnto yowe, yf youe 
 desyre yom-e oime welth and myne, and the prosperitie of oure 
 contrey and kynsefolkes. . . . And therefore admon- 
 yshed her, at the daye appoynted by sume occasion to con- 
 ueigh herselfe oute of the way, leste shee shuld bee slayne 
 in the confusion of bataile. . . . And thus shewinge his 
 syster the daye assigned to the slowghter, he departed. But 
 the yoimge woman . . . forgettinge her parentes, her 
 kynsfolkes, her countrey and all her frindes, ye and all the 
 kinges into whose throtes Vaschus had thruste his sworde, 
 she opened all the matter unto hym, and conceled none of 
 those things whiche her vndiscrete broother had declared to 
 her." 
 
 Not all the contemporaneous writers have claimed that this 
 girl — she had been baptized with name Fulvia — was one of 
 Balboa's household. In fact, with the exception of this 
 passage from Peter Martyr, who got all of his information 
 from Enciso, there is little evidence that Vasco Nunez was 
 the girl's lover. 
 
 Many later historians have seized this opportunity to 
 relieve their dry record of facts by a bit of romancing. They 
 have consecrated many pages to the tender struggle in the 
 breast of this fair savage between her love and her duty to 
 
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SANTA MAEIA DE LA ANTIGUA DEL DABIEN 187 
 
 her country. But in spite of all embroidery it is a sad 
 and sordid story. 
 
 That these simple-minded Indian girls should have become 
 mistresses to the conquerors — they were more than half 
 slaves — is small wonder. But that the Spaniards should 
 have elaborately received them into the church by baptism 
 before debauching them is perhaps the most striking example 
 of their bizarre attitude toward religion. 
 
 This Fulvia betrayed the conspiracy and at the instigation 
 of the Spaniards, enticed her brother back into the settlement 
 and turned him over to them to be tortured into confession. 
 Working on the information wracked out of this young man, 
 who had loved his sister too well, Vasco Nunez was able to 
 surprise the confederated chiefs. Only his implacable old 
 enemy Cemaco escaped. 
 
 So thorough was Balboa's vengeance for this revolt, that 
 the "Peace of Warsaw" reigned about Santa Maria. 
 
 Returned from this foray, the colonists began to worry 
 about Valdivia. His boat was overdue. It was at the 
 bottom of the ocean, with all their treasure. It had been 
 driven by storms onto the coast of Yucatan. So worried 
 did the colony become at the lack of news from Santo 
 Domingo that they resolved to send out their last ship. 
 Colmenares and Caicedo were chosen as commissioners. 
 They sailed in October, 1512, about two years after Col- 
 menares had first arrived with reinforcements for Nicuesa. 
 
 For some time the colony had been kept busy by fighting. 
 Now peace had been established, and Vasco Nunez did not 
 have a large enough force to launch on his more ambitious 
 plan of crossing to the Southern sea. So now in their 
 idleness the colonists fell to bickering again. The cause 
 of the trouble was the great pile of gold which they had 
 brought in from the Darien raids and which had not yet 
 been distributed. Vasco Nunez held things together as 
 
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188 PANAMA 
 
 long as he could. In their present excited condition it was 
 evident that even the Archangel Gabriel could not have 
 divided the spoil to every one's satisfaction. When he could 
 keep them from it no longer, preferring to have them cut 
 each other's throats to making himself umpppular, he left 
 the town one night and went on a himting expedition with 
 his father-in-law, Careta. 
 
 The factions exploded at once. There was consideraole 
 rioting and some bloodshed. After the mob had vented 
 most of its spleen, the reliable friends of Vasco Nufiez began 
 pointing out the folly of civil war over a few hundred pounds 
 of gold when there was so much more to be won. Of course 
 this riotous distribution had been unfair. It took a cool- 
 headed man like Vasco Nunez to be just. And think of the 
 rich plunder to be gained under his leadership as soon as 
 reinforcements came. With such words as these his friends 
 were busy. When the time was ripe Balboa returned as if 
 nothing had happened. It was a typical piece of his diplom- 
 acy. He was tighter in the saddle than ever before. 
 
 The reconciliation had hardly taken place when two ships 
 entered the harbor. They came from Diego Columbus and 
 were laden down with provisions and bore a himdred and 
 fifty new recruits. Not the thousand, Vasco Nunez had 
 asked for, but that letter had not reached its destination. 
 
 On the ships came two letters for Balboa. One was from 
 Passamonte, the King's treasurer. It contained the long- 
 desired Royal Commission, appointing him Governor of 
 Castilla del Oro. At last he had firm ground under his feet. 
 But the vision of power which this letter opened for him 
 received a severe blow from the other letter. It was from 
 Zamudio. Things had not gone well with him at court. 
 Enciso's legal training stood him in better stead in Madrid 
 than it had in Darien. He had easily won the race to royal 
 favor. Zamudio was having a hard time to keep out of jail. 
 
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SANTA MABIA VE LA ANTIGUA DEL VASIEN 189 
 
 And he warned Vasco Nunez that warrants summoning him 
 to Madrid to answer Enciso's charges were on the way. 
 
 The first letter Balboa pubhshed broadcast; the other he 
 folded away carefully. In the midst of the general rejoicing 
 that evening, he was busy figuring out how many days he 
 could count on between the arrival of this letter from Zamudi 
 and the royal warrants which were following it. 
 
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CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE SOUTHERN SEA 
 
 These two letters — the one making Balboa unquestioned 
 master of the colony, the other warning him of the king's 
 anger — hastened the discovery of the Pacific. 
 
 The Indian chief Panciaco had told Vasco Nunez that he 
 would need a thousand men to force his way through the 
 hostile tribes of the interior, and he had been waiting until 
 he could muster that number. With the warrant for his 
 arrest due on the next boat there was no longer time for 
 waiting. The one avenue of escape from royal displeasure 
 was the trail of discovery. Some resounding achievement 
 might, in spite of his enemies, win for him the favor of his 
 sovereign. That the means at his disposal were limited 
 would only add to his glory. 
 
 On September 1st, 1513, Vasco Nunez set out on his 
 great adventure. 
 
 He had with him one hundred and ninety men. But 
 they were picked men — as hard as the struggle through 
 which they had survived. Most of them had seen four 
 years service on this coast. No one unfit could have 
 stood out so long against the famiae and the fever. 
 
 Peter Martyr, in the history of the Indies which he wrote 
 for the Pope, gave Balboa's followers this character: 
 
 "The owlde souldiers of Dariena, were hardened to abyde 
 all sorowes, and exceadynge tollerable of labour, heate, 
 hunger, and watchynge: In so muche that merilye they 
 make their booste that they have obserued a longer and 
 sharper lent than euer youre holinesse inioyned." 
 
 190 
 
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TSE SOUTHEBN SEA 191 
 
 Vasco Nunez explained to them the object of the expedi- 
 tion, giving them all a chance to withdraw. They knew 
 from bitter experience the nature of the work before them — 
 not one of them turned back. It was in crises like these 
 that the spirit of these adventurers, this remnant of the 
 old chivalry, shone brightest. Heathen nations were to be 
 won for the Church. Glory was calling them. And booty. 
 It is useless to try to separate these motives. The cause of 
 Christ influenced some of them. The "execrable sed d'oro" 
 inspired others. Probably there were none of all the com- 
 pany who did not, in varying degree, feel the pull of all 
 three motives. 
 
 The principal ally of this little band was a pack of blood- 
 hounds, and they were no mean assistance. The horses of 
 the Spaniards terrified the natives of Mexico. But horses 
 could not penetrate into the trackless jungle. But it is 
 doubtful if horses could have inspired more terror than 
 these wonderfully trained dogs. How highly they were 
 esteemed by the Spaniards is witnessed by the fact that all 
 the early chroniclers give much space to describing them. 
 
 Bancroft gives the following account of one of them: 
 "Among the dogs which accompanied the expedition was 
 one, the property of the commander, whose pedigree and 
 metaphysical traits and mighty deeds are minutely recorded 
 by contemporary historians. His name was Leoncico, little 
 lion, descendant of Becerrico, of the Island of San Juan. 
 He was in color red with black snout, of medium size and 
 extraordinary strength. In their foragings Leoncico counted 
 as one man, and drew captain's pay and share of spoils. 
 Upon these conditions his master frequently loaned him; 
 and during the wars of Darien he gained for Vasco Nunez 
 more than one thousand pesos de oro. He was considered 
 more efficient than the best soldier, and the savages stood 
 in the greatest terror of him. He readily discriminated be- 
 
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 tween wild and tame Indians. . . . The hero of many 
 a conflict, he was covered with wounds, ... he escaped 
 the wars to meet his death by treacherous hands. He was 
 poisoned." 
 
 The company sailed along the coast four days to the vil- 
 lage of Careta — Balboa's father-in-law. There they rested 
 two days, recruiting a large force of Indians — Irving esti- 
 mates it at one thousand — as carriers. 
 
 No one who has not at first hand struggled with the jimgle 
 can begin to appreciate the difficulties before Balboa. 
 
 In December of 1853, Captain Prevost of the British 
 Navy, with a detachment from H. M. S. Virago, landed 
 near the Gulf of San Miguel with fourteen days' provisions. 
 His intention was to cross the Isthmus to Caledonia Bay on 
 the Caribbean. He had to give it up. He recounts the 
 hardships they encountered in the "Journal of the London 
 Geographical Society," volume XXIV. "So toilsome was 
 our journey that we spent fifteen days in performing a dis- 
 tance of little more than twenty-six miles, having to force 
 our slow and laborious path through forests that seemed to 
 stretch from the Pacific to the Atlantic shores. The trees, 
 of stupendous size, were matted with creepers and parasiti- 
 cal vines, which hung in festoons from tree to tree, forming 
 an almost impenetrable net-work, and obliging us to hew 
 open a passage with our axes every step we advanced" 
 (quoted by Bancroft). 
 
 There are some parts of the Isthmus which have not yet 
 been surveyed by white men. Even in the western part, 
 where the Indians are completely pacified and hospitable, it 
 would be difficult to move a large body of men. After leav- 
 ing the village of Careta, Vasco Nunez was in hostile terri- 
 tory. 
 
 Another serious handicap was that he started toward the 
 end, the very worst, of the wet season. The rains begin in 
 
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 April and do not stop until the middle of December. It is 
 inconceivable that the Indians should not have urged Bal- 
 boa to postpone his expedition until the beginning of the 
 dry season. But he could not wait. 
 
 The chronology of his march is greatly confused in the 
 original documents. I have accepted the dates given by 
 Bancroft. While many of them are disputable, they are at 
 least consistent and as good as any given by other histo- 
 rians. 
 
 On the 8th of September the Spaniards entered the terri- 
 tory of the Cacique Ponca. At first the Indians fled before 
 the invaders, but Vasco Nunez, not wishing to leave any 
 enemy in his rear, made a friendly alliance with them. He 
 stayed in Ponca village, fating the treaty, until the 20th. 
 
 For four days they struggled in the jungle, part of the 
 time without food. As they entered the territory of Qua- 
 requd on the 24th, they were met by the Cacique Porque 
 and one thousand warriors. 
 
 It was the first time that this tribe had come into contact 
 with the white man. Despite the wonder of firearms and 
 the bloodhounds, the Indians held their ground stubbornly. 
 Several times the half-starved Spaniards charged to their 
 war-cry — "Santiago y i ellos!" It was not until Porque 
 and six hundred of his men had fallen that the day was 
 won. In the village of the dead chieftain the adventurers 
 foimd abundant provisions. 
 
 On the next day, the 25th of September, Vasco Nunez 
 climbed that "peak of Darien" from which he first saw the 
 Pacific. 
 
 The old chroniclers call it "Sierra Quarequa" — "The 
 Mountain of Quarequa." It has never been definitely 
 located. We are by no means sure of the course of this 
 march. Hubert Bancroft has tried to give the precise 
 route and has probably come as near to it as any modern 
 
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 historian can, but much of it is mere guesswork. Careta's 
 territory, from which Vasco Nunez and his company started, 
 was probably within fifty miles of the Caledonia Bay now 
 on the map. They came finally to the Gulf of San Miguel, 
 but the course of their wanderings between these points is 
 unknown. 
 
 So hard had the trail proven already that only sixty-seven 
 of the original one hundred and ninety were strong enough 
 to make the ascent that morning with their leader. The 
 crest of the mountain was almost bare of trees. About ten 
 in the morning, a few hundred feet from the summit, Vasco 
 Nunez halted his men, sweating and panting from the steep, 
 hot climb. Without waiting for breath, he went on up 
 alone. 
 
 If ever the crisis in a man's life faced him in the concrete, 
 it was the case of Vasco Nunez. If the Indians had deceived 
 him, if from the summit he could see no ocean but the 
 waving tree tops, there would be no alternative but an 
 ignominious return to Santa Maria, to await the messengers 
 of the King's anger. Disappointment certainly meant 
 chains, and probably death. But if there was a sea — his 
 only reason to hope for it was the word of an Indian against 
 all the science of his day — ^if there was a sea it meant glory 
 and honor and position. It meant the immortal fame which 
 would put him side by side with Columbus. 
 
 One of the most eloquent and suggestive passages in the 
 works of Washington Irving is where he describes this first 
 vision of the new sea. 
 
 "With palpitating heart, he ascended alone the bare 
 mountain-top. On reaching the summit, the long-desired 
 prospect burst upon his view. It was as if a new world 
 were unfolded to him, separated from all hitherto known 
 by this mighty barrier of mountains. Below him extended 
 a vast chaos of rock and forest, and green savannas and 
 
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 wandering streams, while at a distance the waters of the 
 promised ocean glittered in the morning sun. 
 
 "At this glorious prospect Vasco Nunez sank upon his 
 knees, and poured out thanks to God, for being the first 
 European to whom it was given to make that great dis- 
 covery. He then called his people to ascend: 'Behold, my 
 friends,' said he, 'that glorious sight which we have so 
 much desired. Let us give thanks to God that He has 
 granted us this great honor and advantage. Let us pray to 
 Him to guide 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 your- 
 selves, be as you have hitherto been, faithful and true to 
 me, and by the favor 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.' 
 
 "The Spaniards answered this speech by embracing Vasco 
 Nunez, and promising to follow him to death. Among them 
 was a priest, named Andreas de Veram, who lifted up his 
 voice and chanted Te Deum laudamus, the usual anthem of 
 Spanish discoverers. The rest, kneeling down, joined in the 
 strain with pious enthusiasm and tears of joy; and never 
 did a more sincere oblation rise to the Deity from a sancti- 
 fied altar, than from that mountain summit. It was indeed 
 one of the most sublime discoveries that had yet been made 
 in the New World, and must have opened a boundless field 
 of conjecture to the wondering Spaniards. The imagination 
 delights to picture forth the splendid confusion of their 
 thoughts. Was this the great Indian Ocean, studded with 
 precious islands, abounding in gold, in gems, in spices, and 
 bordered by the gorgeous cities and wealthy marts of the 
 
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 East? Or was it some lonely sea, locked up in the embraces 
 of savage imcultivated continents, and never traversed by a 
 bark, excepting the light pirogue of the savage? The 
 latter could hardly be the case, for the natives had told the 
 Spaniards of golden realms, and populous and powerful and 
 luxurious nations upon its shores. Perhaps it might be bor- 
 dered by various people, civilized in fact, though differing 
 from Europe in their civilization; who might have peculiar 
 laws and customs, and arts and sciences; who might form, 
 as it were, a world of their own, rntercommuning by this 
 mighty sea, and carrying on commerce between their own 
 islands and continents; but who might exist in total igno- 
 rance and independence of the other hemisphere. 
 
 "Such may naturally have been the ideas suggested by 
 the sight of this imknown ocean. It was the prevalent be- 
 lief of the Spaniards, however, that they were the first 
 Christians who had made the discovery. Vasco Nunez, 
 therefore, called upon all present to witness that he took 
 possession of that sea, its islands, and surrounding lands, in 
 the name of the sovereigns of Castile. And the notary of 
 the expedition made a testimonial of the same, to which all 
 present, to the number of sixty-seven men, signed their 
 names. He then caused a fair and tall tree to be cut down 
 and wrought into a cross, which was elevated on the spot 
 whence he had first beheld the sea. A moimd of stones was 
 likewise piled up to serve as a monument, and the names of 
 the Castilian sovereigns were carved on the neighboring 
 trees. The Indians beheld all these ceremonials and re- 
 joicings in silent wonder, and while they aided to erect the 
 cross, and piled up the mound of stones, marvelled exceed- 
 ingly at the meaning of these monuments, little thinking 
 that they marked the subjugation of their land." 
 
 Indeed almost every historian of this great event has been 
 filled with eloquent enthusiasm. Even old Peter Martyr, a 
 
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THE SOUTHERN SEA 197 
 
 most cordial enemy of Vasco Nunez, forgets his spite when 
 he tells of this expedition, 
 
 The Era of Discovery is past. There is nothing left now 
 that the South Pole has been reached. But these men 
 who looked at each other " with a wild surmise," did not 
 even know that they stood upon a new continent. Many 
 years were yet to pass before the Old World scholars real- 
 ized that America was not Asia. The cosmographie of the 
 day held no room for a new world. The globes in use 
 represented too small a world to contain a new continent — • 
 much less a new ocean, greater than the one Columbus 
 crossed. 
 
 To-day we discover a new star because our reason tells us 
 it should be there. Balboa had discovered a sea where 
 reason said there should be none. 
 
 The next day he started down towards the coast. "And 
 going thither" — ^the quotation is from John Ogilby, Esq., 
 His Britannic Majesty's Cosmographer, Geographick Printer 
 and Master of the Revels in the Kingdom of Ireland, from his 
 book "America," printed in 1671 — "he was met by King 
 Chiapes, leading an Army of thirty thousand Men, which 
 great Body stood not long to make Resistance, being terri- 
 fi'd with the Volleys of Shots, whose Report the ecchoing 
 Valleys presented to their Ears, double and trebble : And that 
 which most amaz'd and disanimated them in the rout, were 
 the Dogs, who fiercely pursu'd and seiz'd the flyres, tearing 
 away great morsels of Flesh. After the Battel, the Con- 
 queror proffer'd Peace, which was agreed on, upon the 
 delivery of several great Presents of Gold." Oviedo 
 says that the price of peace was five hundred pounds of 
 gold. 
 
 Vasco Nunez sent back the guides who had come from 
 Quarequd with orders for his stragglers to join him at the 
 village of Chiapes. He sent out three scouting parties, 
 
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 under Pizarro, Alonso de Ben Benito and Juan de Escary, 
 to discover the shortest route to the sea. 
 
 After two days struggling with the jungle Ben Benito's 
 party reached the beach. He found a native dug-out tied 
 upon the bank. Jumping into it, he shouted to his compan- 
 ions, "I call you all to witness that I am the first Spaniard 
 to sail upon these waters." There was not one of the com- 
 pany who did not realize that glory was near at hand. 
 
 On St. Michael's Day, September 29th, Balboa with 
 twenty-six of his men came to the place discovered by Ben 
 Benito. It had taken them twenty-three days to cross from 
 ocean to ocean. The tide was out when they arrived. 
 Once more I will hand the narrative over to Irving: 
 
 "After a while, the water came rushing in with great 
 impetuosity, and soon reached nearly to the place where the 
 Spaniards were reposing. Upon this Vasco Nunez rose and 
 took a banner on which were painted the Virgin and Child^ 
 and under them the arms of Castile and Leon; then drawing 
 his sword and throwing his buckler on his shoulder, he 
 marched into the sea until the water reached above his 
 knees, and waving his banner, exclaimed with a loud voice, 
 'Long live the high and mighty monarchs, Don Ferdinand 
 and Donna Juana, sovereigns of Castile, of Leon, and of 
 Arragon, in whose name, and for the royal crown of Castile, 
 I take real, and corporal, and actual possession of these seas, 
 and lands, and coasts, and ports, and islands of the south, 
 and all thereunto annexed; and of the kingdoms and prov- 
 inces which do or may appertain to them, in whatever man- 
 ner, or by whatever right or title, ancient or modem, in 
 times past, present, or to come, without any contradiction; 
 and if other prince or captain. Christian or infidel, or of any 
 law, sect or condition whatsoever, shall pretend any right 
 to these lands and seas, I am ready and prepared to main- 
 tain and defend them, in the name of the Castilian sover- 
 
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 eigns present and future, whose is the empire and dominion 
 over these Indian islands, and Terra Firma, northern and 
 southern, with all therr seas, both at the arctic and antarctic 
 poles, on either side of the equinoctial line, whether within 
 or without the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, both now 
 and in all times, as long as the world endures, and unto the 
 final day of judgment of all mankind.' 
 
 "This swelling declaration and defiance being uttered 
 with a loud voice, and no one appearing to dispute his pre- 
 tensions, Vasco Nunez called upon his companions to bear 
 witness of the fact of his having duly taken possession. 
 They all declared themselves ready to defend his claim to 
 the uttermost, as became true and loyal vassals to the Cas- 
 tilian sovereigns; and the notary having drawn up a docu- 
 ment for the occasion, they subscribed it with their names. 
 
 "This done, they advanced to the margin of the sea, and 
 stooping down, tasted its waters. When they found that, 
 though severed by intervening mountains and continents, 
 they were salt like the seas of the north, they felt assured 
 that they had indeed discovered an ocean, and again re- 
 turned thanks to God. 
 
 "Having concluded all these ceremonies, Vasco Nunez 
 drew a dagger from his girdle, and cut a cross on a tree which 
 grew within the water, and made two other crosses on two 
 adjacent trees, in honor of the Three Persons of the Trinity, 
 and in token of possession. His followers likewise cut 
 crosses on many of the tress of the adjacent forest, and lopped 
 off branches with their swords to bear away as trophies. 
 
 "Such was the singular medley of chivalrous and religious 
 ceremonial, with which these Spanish adventurers took pos- 
 session of the vast Pacific Ocean, and all its lands — a scene 
 strongly characteristic of the nation and the age." 
 
 The Spaniards then returned to the village of Chiapes, 
 "richer," according to Bancroft, "by one Pacific Ocean, ten 
 
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 thousand islands, and twenty-five hundred leagues of conti- 
 nental seaboard." 
 
 And now, having accomplished fame, they turned their 
 attention to more sordid things. Chiapes proved to be a 
 valuable friend. His particular enemy, the Cacique Cocura, 
 was a rich man. By a quick raid the Spaniards secured 
 650 pesos of gold. 
 
 Chiapes was unweary in well doing and pointed out 
 another enemy, the Cacique Tumaco. His domain lay on 
 the other side of the Gulf. On the 17th of October, with 
 eighty men, Balboa and Chiapes started out in cayukas to 
 visit him. A sudden storm nearly ended the career of the 
 great discoverer. They were wrecked on a tidal bar and 
 had to spend the night waist deep in water. But at low-tide 
 in the morning they were able to patch up their canoes and 
 get ashore near Timiaco's village. Once more there was a 
 fight by way of introduction. It so impressed Tumaco with 
 the power of the white man that he paid Vasco Nunez 614 
 pesos of gold and a basin of pearls, 240 of which were of 
 extraordinary size. 
 
 Balboa was the only one of the Conquistadores who had 
 the knack of making friends with the conquered. Of an- 
 other chief who had just suffered a severe defeat, Peter 
 Martyr wrote: 
 
 "Vaschus enterteyned hsma very frendely, and persuaded 
 him neuer therafter to stande in feare. Thus they ioyned 
 handes, embrased, and gaue greate gyftes the one to the 
 other to knytte up the knotte of continuall amitie." 
 
 He had crossed the Isthmus, entering each new Adllage at 
 the point of the sword and always making so friendly an 
 alliance with the defeated caciques that he was able to leave 
 his sick and wounded in their care as he pushed on. It 
 was a truly remarkable performance. 
 
 They stayed nearly two weeks with Tumaco. He took 
 
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 THE DESERTED RANCHO. 
 
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 them over his pearl fisheries. In four days his divers brought 
 up ninety-six ounces of pearls. And he told them tales of 
 the greater riches of Peru to the south. Francisco Pizarro 
 was one of the men who sat by the campfire and listened 
 to these stories. 
 
 On the 29th Tumaco loaned them his great war-canoe — 
 the largest native boat they had yet seen. Balboa writes 
 the king that the paddles were inlaid with pearls — probably 
 mother-of-pearl. And in this immense dug-out, rowed by 
 the Cacique's slaves, they went out of the Gulf into the 
 ocean. For Balboa was not quite content with the cere- 
 monies he had performed on the Gulf. To make doubly 
 sure, he repeated them on the sea-coast. Herrera writes: 
 "Herein he used all the formalities that could be imagined, 
 for he was brave, subtle, diligent and of a generous temper, 
 a commander fit for mighty enterprises." 
 
 Coming back from these ceremonies, the Indians pointed 
 out the group of islands which broke the southern horizon. 
 There they said lived a cruel chief who sometimes descended 
 on the mainland and harried their villages. The Spaniards 
 were probably more interested to hear that the islands were 
 rich in pearls. 
 
 Balboa would have liked to visit this Cacique. But the 
 dangers of navigation in native boats during the season of 
 storms was too great. He gave the archipelago the name 
 it still retains, Islas des Perles. He promised his friend 
 Chiapes to return in a few months and make an end of this 
 terror of the coast. 
 
 On November 3rd, again leaving his sick and wounded 
 with the friendly Indians, he started back. Chiapes accom- 
 panied him part of the way. In canoes they went up one 
 of the large rivers which enter into the Gulf of San Miguel — 
 either the Savanahs or the Chucunaque. 
 
 Up this river, they entered the territory of Teoca. This 
 
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 Cacique was easily subdued and the booty of the Spaniards 
 was increased by one hundred and sixty ounces of gold and 
 two hundred large pearls. Once more Balboa consum- 
 mated his victory by an alliance of real friendship. This 
 characteristic of Vasco Nunez cannot be emphasized too 
 strongly. More than any other thing it differentiates him 
 from the other Conquistadores. The old chronicles give 
 touching accounts of how Chiapes, when the time came for 
 turning back to his own people, broke into tears at parting 
 from his white friend. 
 
 After leaving the river the Spaniards met the hardest 
 climbing of all the trail. It was a triumph for the tactics 
 of their leader that they crossed the mountain without loss 
 of life. They could not have done so without the friendship 
 and aid of their Indian allies. 
 
 On the top of the mountain lived and ruled a desolate old 
 tyrant named Poncra. If half of what the chroniclers say 
 of him was true, he had considerably more crimes to his, 
 record than the entire Borgia family. So generally was he 
 hated that no sooner had Balboa conquered him than all his 
 neighbors, his own subjects as well as his enemies, clamored 
 for his death 
 
 "The guides which Teaocha had provided for the Span- 
 iards," Ogilby writes, "desir'd that he (Poncra) might be 
 put to Death, for the cruelties which he had long committed, 
 whose Request being granted, he with the other three Princes, 
 were given as a breakfast to the Spanish doggs." 
 
 Bancroft is greatly shocked by this incident and says 
 that it is the blackest stain on the record of Balboa. It 
 was bad indeed, but the times were bad. Vasco Nunez 
 never committed such acts with the wanton cynicism of 
 his successors. So great was the impression made on the 
 natives by this execution that within a week three caciques 
 volimtarily submitted and the Spaniards were able to col- 
 
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 lect a tribute of sixteen thousand golden pesos without 
 further bloodshed. Four Indians for 16,000 pesos! In 
 after years it was not uncommon for the Spaniards to kill 
 sixteen Indians for four pesos. So far was Vasco Nunez 
 from thinking that he had committed a heinous crime that 
 he named the place "Todos los Santos" (All Saints). 
 
 On the 15th of December, loaded down with booty, the 
 explorers reached the village of the Pocorosa. This Cacique, 
 who was later to make his name dreaded by the Spaniards, 
 submitted voluntarily. For about a month Vasco Nunez 
 stayed in this place to recoup his followers and to allow the 
 stragglers to catch up with him. 
 
 Next to the territory of Pocorosa were the domains of the 
 great Cacique Tubanamd,. Panciaco, the chief who had 
 first told Balboa of the Southern Sea, had spoken of Tuba- 
 namd as his worst enemy. Vasco Nunez had given his word 
 to reduce him. But it was because of the strength and prow- 
 ess of this very chief, that Panciaco had said the Spaniards 
 would need one thousand men. If ever a man would have 
 been justified in repudiating a promise, Balboa would have 
 been in this instance. Tubanamd, was the most dreaded 
 warrior of the Isthmus. The jungle-worn Spaniards had 
 already met and overcome difficulties aplenty. They were 
 now near home. To attack meant the risk of all their hard- 
 earned booty. For a defeat would have discredited them 
 with their allies. But the alternative was a cowardly de- 
 tour. Vasco Nunez consulted his men. Seventy of them 
 volunteered! Seventy of these "owlde souldiers of Dari- 
 ena" volunteered to achieve the work of a thousand. By a 
 forced night march and a sudden raid, Vasco Nunez sur- 
 prised and captured the mighty chieftain. For several days 
 Balboa kept him in suspense, threatening him with the fate 
 of Poncra. But at last he relented, accepted a rich ransom 
 and made an alliance. 
 
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 This brilliant coup, perhaps the most daring of all the 
 expedition, was no sooner achieved than Vasco Nunez 
 came down with the fever. "And," writes Bancroft, "no 
 wonder when we consider the strain on mind and body 
 during the past four months. First in every action, bearing 
 exposure and privation in common with the poorest soldier, 
 with the responsibility of the adventure resting wholly on 
 him, he was a fit subject for the fever. But his indomitable 
 spirit never forsook him, and, causing himself to be carried 
 on a litter, he still directed their movements as they re- 
 sumed the march. 
 
 "Weary, ragged, but exultant, the party at length reached 
 the village of Comagre." 
 
 In a few days they were met by messengers from Santa 
 Maria with the news that two ships had arrived from Santo 
 Domingo with reinforcements and provisions. Leaving the 
 greater part of his force to rest and follow at their leisure, 
 Vasco Nunez hurried on. He reached the colony on Jan- 
 uary 19th, 1514, just four months and nineteen days after 
 he had started out. 
 
 The ships from Santo Domingo had not brought the Royal 
 warrant for his arrest. The King's fifth, together with an 
 extra present of two hundred of the largest pearls, were set 
 aside. And Balboa composed for his sovereign a glowing 
 accoimt of the discovery. 
 
 "And in all his long letter," says Peter Martyr, "there 
 is not a single leaf written, which does not contain thanks 
 to Almighty God for delivery from perils and preservation 
 from many imminent dangers." 
 
 This letter bears the date of March 4th, 1514. It was 
 sent a few days later in the care of Pedro de Arbolancha. 
 The reason for this long delay is unknown. For Vasco 
 Nunez it was a fatal delay. 
 
 Some of the caciques in the Darien valley had revolted, 
 
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 but Hurtado with a few men, and the news that Vasco 
 Nuflez had returned, was able to quiet them. 
 
 Andres Garabitio was also sent out with a few men to 
 survey the shortest route between the two oceans. 
 
 These two items speak powerfully of the character of 
 Vasco Nunez. At this period, when he was the undisputed 
 head of the colony, a Spaniard was safe anywhere in the 
 districts which had been visited. The town of Santa Maria 
 was thriving. The fields planted by the governor's orders 
 were bearing richly. There was no longer danger of famine. 
 Over a large territory peace reigned among the natives. A 
 peace which they considered cheaply bought with the gold 
 the Spaniards desired. 
 
 Whatever were the faults of Vasco Nunez, no Spanish 
 king ever had La the New World a more able governor. 
 One cannot but regret that his letter to the king had not 
 been earUer despatched. If it had arrived in Spain a few 
 weeks earUer, he would probably have been confirmed in his 
 governorship. The entire Isthmus might have been con- 
 quered — perhaps also Peru — ^by this man who knew how to 
 make himself beloved by the Indians. 
 
 Irving ends his account of the discovery of the South Sea 
 with these paragraphs: 
 
 "Thus ended one of the most remarkable expeditions of 
 the early discoverers. The intrepidity of Vasco Nunez in 
 penetrating, with a handful of men, far into the interior of 
 a wild and moimtainous country peopled by warlike tribes; 
 his skill in managing his band of rough adventurers, stimu- 
 lating their valor, enforcing their obedience, and attaching 
 their affections, show him to have possessed great qualities 
 as a general. We are told that he was always foremost in 
 peril, and the last to quit the field. He shared the toils and 
 dangers of the meanest of his followers, treating them with 
 frank affability; watching, fighting, fasting and laboring 
 
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 with them; visiting and consoling such as were sick or in- 
 firm, and dividing all his gains with fairness and liberality. 
 He was chargeable at times with acts of bloodshed and 
 injustice, but it is probable that these were often called for 
 as measures of safety and precaution; he certainly offended 
 less against humanity than most of the early discoverers; 
 and the unbounded amity and confidence reposed in him by 
 the natives, when they became intimately acquainted with 
 his character, speak strongly in favor of his kind treatment 
 of them 
 
 "The character of Vasco Nunez had, in fact, risen with 
 his circumstances, and now assumed a nobleness and gran- 
 deur from the discovery he had made, and the important 
 charge it had devolved upon him. He no longer felt him- 
 self a mere soldier of fortime, at the head of a band of 
 adventurers, but a great commander conducting an im- 
 mortal enterprise. 'Behold,' says Peter Martyr, 'Vasco 
 Nunez de Balboa, at once transformed from a rash royster 
 to a politic and discreet captain'; and thus it is that men 
 are often made by their fortunes; that is to say, their latent 
 qualities are brought out, and shaped and strengthened by 
 events, and by the necessity of every exertion to cope with 
 the greatness of their destiny." 
 
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CHAPTER XIV 
 
 PKDBABIAS 
 
 While Vasco Nunez was accomplishing fame in America, 
 things were going very badly for him at the Spanish Court. 
 
 The Bachelor Enciso was making a great din with his 
 accusations. But his very energy in reciting his misfor- 
 tunes defeated his purpose. While convincing the Court 
 that Vasco Nunez was an immitigated scoundrel, he also 
 created the general impression that Castilla del Oro was a 
 province as valueless as it was deadly. After the tragic 
 fates of Nicuesa and Ojeda, no one petitioned the Throne 
 for the post of governor. 
 
 The arrival of Colmenares and Caicedo, the delegates 
 from the colony, changed all this. They brought an im- 
 pressive "King's Fifth" of wrought gold and news of a 
 Southern Sea. A dozen applicants sprang up, eager to deal 
 justice to Balboa and rule the rich province in his stead. 
 
 The Bishop Fonseca, who had befriended Ojeda, was still 
 supreme in the Council of the Indies. He secured the post 
 for his friend, Don Pedro Arias de Avila. No one connected 
 with the administration of Spanish colonial affairs has a 
 blacker record than this Bishop Fonseca, and no appoint- 
 ment of his was ever worse than Pedrarias, "The Scoiu-ge of 
 the Indies." 
 
 So great was the interest excited by the stories of Colme- 
 nares and Caicedo, that fifty thousand ducats, an immense 
 sum for those days, was spent on equipping the expedition. 
 
 A large army had been recruited for the Italian wars, 
 
 207 
 
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 and, just at the time when Pedrarias was appointed gov- 
 ernor and captain-general of Castilla del Ore, peace was 
 estabhshed. The soldiers, mustered out, flocked to his 
 standard. There were many of the nobility among these 
 volunteers — men who had heavily mortgaged their estates 
 to equip their vassals for the war, and now that the hope 
 of Italian booty was withdrawn, turned to the New World. 
 
 Pedrarias collected a fleet of nineteen ships. They were 
 authorized to carry twelve himdred men, but so great was 
 the pressure of applicants that three hundred more were 
 crowded on board. Two thousand volunteers were turned 
 away. Among this company — mostly gay but bankrupt 
 cavaliers — were two hardy men who were to win fame — 
 Hernando de Soto, the discoverer of the Mississippi, and 
 Diego de Almagro, who became partner with Pizarro in the 
 conquest of Peru. The Bachelor Enciso also joined the 
 expedition. 
 
 By royal decree Santa Maria de la Antigua del Darien 
 was given a city charter and elevated to metropolitan rank. 
 A Franciscan friar, Juan de Quevedo, was appointed Bishop 
 of this first episcopal see on the continent. Gaspar de 
 Espinosa was sent out as Alcalde Mayor, with especial 
 instructions to bring Vasco Nunez to book. 
 
 The armada sailed in the beginning of 1514, but shortly 
 ran into a storm which foundered two of the ships and forced 
 it to put back to Spain to refit. It was not until the 11th 
 of April that they got up anchor again 
 
 Only a few days later, Pedro Arbolancha, who had left 
 Santa Maria early in March, arrived with the letter from 
 Vasco Nunez with its description of finding the Southern 
 Sea. This news created as much excitement as the return 
 of Columbus, twenty-two years before, from his first voy- 
 age. But it came too late. 
 
 "The tidings of this discovery," Irving writes, "made all 
 
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PBDSABIAS 209 
 
 Spain resound with the praises of Vasco Nunez; and from 
 being considered a lawless and desperate adventurer, he was 
 lauded to the skies as a worthy successor to Columbus. 
 The king repented of the harshness of his late measures 
 toward him, and ordered the Bishop Fonseca to devise 
 some mode of rewarding his transcendent services." 
 
 But Pedrarias had sailed — and there was no wireless to 
 call him back. 
 
 Before they reached their destination the new governor 
 had already committed himself to the course he was to 
 follow imtil his death. He stopped his fleet at some of the 
 Caribbean Islands to make slave raids and he hvmg a sailor 
 at the yardarm for not properly saluting an officer. 
 
 Irving gives the following account of the arrival of Pedra- 
 rias in his new domains: 
 
 "The town (Sta. Maria de la Antigua) was situated on 
 the banks of a river, and contained upward of two himdred 
 houses and cabins. Its population amounted to five hun- 
 dred and fifteen Europeans, all men, and fifteen hundred 
 Indians, male and female. Orchards and gardens had been 
 laid out, where European as well as native fruits and vege- 
 tables were cultivated, and already gave promise of future 
 abundance. Vasco Nunez devised all kinds of means to 
 keep up the spirits of the people. On holidays they had their 
 favorite national sports and games, and particularly tilting 
 matches, of which chivalrous amusement the Spaniards in 
 those days were extravagantly fond. Sometimes he grati- 
 fied their restless and roving habits by sending them on 
 expeditions to various parts of the covmtry, to acquire a 
 knowledge of its resom-ces, and to strengthen his sway over 
 the natives. He was so successful in securing the amity, or 
 exciting the awe of the Indian tribes, that a Spaniard might 
 go singly about the land in perfect safety; while his followers 
 were zealous in their devotion to him, both from admiration 
 
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 of his past exploits and from hopes of soon being led by 
 him to new discoveries and conquests. . , . 
 
 "Such were the hearty and well-seasoned veterans that 
 were under the sway of Vasco Nunez; and the colony gave 
 signs of rising in prosperity under his active and fostering 
 management, when, in the month of June, the fleet of Don 
 Pedrarias Davila arrived in the Gulf of Uraba. 
 
 "The Spanish cavaliers who accompanied the new gov- 
 ernor were eager to get on shore, and to behold the antici- 
 pated wonders of the land; but Pedrarias, knowing the 
 resolute character of Vasco Nunez, and the devotion of his 
 followers, apprehended some difficulty in getting possession 
 of the colony. Anchoring, therefore, about a league and a 
 half from the settlement, he sent a messenger on shore to 
 announce his arrival. The envoy, having heard so much in 
 Spain of the prowess and exploits of Vasco Nunez, and the 
 riches of Golden Castile, expected, no doubt, to find a 
 blustering warrior, maintaining barbaric state in the gov- 
 ernment which he had usurped. Great was his astonish- 
 ment, therefore, to find this redoubtable hero a plain, unas- 
 suming man, clad in a cotton frock and drawers, and hempen 
 sandals, directing and aiding the labor of several Indians 
 who were thatching a cottage in which he resided. 
 
 "The messenger approached him respectfully, and an- 
 nounced the arrival of Don Pedrarias Davila as governor 
 of the country. 
 
 "Whatever Vasco Nunez may have felt at this intelli- 
 gence, he suppressed his emotions, and answered the mes- 
 senger with great discretion: 'Tell Don Pedrarias Davila,' 
 said he, 'that he is welcome, and I congratulate him on his 
 safe arrival, and am ready, with all who are here, to obey 
 his orders.' 
 
 "The little community of rough and daring adventurers 
 was in an uproar when they found a new governor had 
 
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PEDBABIAS 211 
 
 arrived. Some of the most zealous adherents of Vasco 
 Nunez were disposed to sally forth, sword in hand, and repel 
 the intruder; but they were restrained by their more con- 
 siderate chieftain, who prepared to receive the new governor 
 with all due submission. 
 
 "Pedrarias disembarked on the thirtieth of June, accom- 
 panied by his heroic wife, Doima Isabella, who, according 
 to Old Peter Martyr, had sustained the roarings and rages 
 of the ocean with no less stout courage than either her hus- 
 band or the mariners who had been brought up among the 
 surges of the sea. 
 
 "Pedrarias set out for the embryo city at the head of 
 two thousand men, all well armed. He led his wife by the 
 hand, and on the other side of him was the Bishop of Darien 
 in his robes; while a brilliant train of youthful cavaliers, in 
 glittering armor and brocade, formed a kind of body-guard. 
 
 "All this pomp and splendor formed a striking contrast 
 with the humble state of Vasco Nunez, who came forth 
 unarmed, in simple attire, accompanied by his counsellors 
 and a handful of the 'old soldiers of Darien,' scarred and 
 battered, and grown half wild in Indian warfare, but without 
 weapons, and in garments much the worse for wear. 
 
 "Vasco Nunez saluted Don Pedrarias Davila, with pro- 
 fotmd reverence, and promised him implicit obedience, both 
 in his own name and in the name of the community. Hav- 
 ing entered the town, he conducted his distinguished guests 
 to his straw-thatched habitation, where he had caused a 
 repast to be prepared of such cheer as his means afforded, 
 consisting of roots and fruits, maize and cassava bread, with 
 no other beverage than water from the river; — a sorry palace 
 and a meagre banquet in the eyes of the gay cavaliers, who 
 had anticipated far other things from the usurper of Golden 
 Castile. Vasco Nunez, however, acquitted himself in his 
 humble wigwam with the courtesy and hospitality of a 
 
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 prince, and showed that the dignity of an entertainment 
 depends more upon the giver than the feast. In the mean- 
 time a plentiful supply of European provisions was landed 
 from the fleet, and a temporary abimdance was diffused 
 through the colony." 
 
 But this love feast was of short duration. As soon as 
 Pedrarias had won all the information he could from Vasco 
 Nunez by fair means, he published his orders, which stripped 
 the discoverer of all his honors, and ordered his trial. 
 
 Espinosa, the judge, had fallen entirely under the influ- 
 ence of the Bishop Quevedo. And Vasco Nunez, who was 
 a shrewd judge of men, had taken the churchman's measure 
 at a glance. He had taken so quick and keen an interest 
 in the prelate's temporal affairs that the good bishop felt 
 that the welfare of the diocese was wrapt up in the pros- 
 perity of Balboa. To the great disgust of the governor, 
 Vasco Nunez was triumphantly acquitted of all criminal 
 charges. 
 
 Pedrarias was in a perplexing dilemma. To allow so 
 popular a leader freedom of action in the colony was to 
 invite the fate of Enciso and Nicuesa. To send him home 
 to Spain would be to send him to a triumph from which he 
 would doubtless return with a superseding commission. 
 The Bachelor Enciso came to his rescue with a string of 
 civil suits; by carefully nursing them — the "law's delays" 
 were as infamous then as now — the governor could keep his 
 rival hopelessly involved in litigation. 
 
 Undoubtedly the Bachelor enjoyed the situation. And 
 undoubtedly Vasco Nunez — ^in the long days which followed, 
 days and weeks and months of inaction, when he had to sit 
 quiet and watch the fabric of his accomplishments torn to 
 shreds, his plans wrecked, his friends despoiled, his treaties 
 violated — repented grievously of his former mistreatment of 
 Enciso. 
 
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PEVBABIAS 213 
 
 There were other men who enjoyed his eclipse. Every 
 one who had a private grudge against him, hastened to make 
 friends with Pedrarias. Not the least of these was Fran- 
 sico Pizarro. Vasco Nunez had once rebuked him for cow- 
 ardice in leaving a wounded comrade on the field of battle. 
 Pizarro became a trusted heutenant of the new governor. 
 
 But although the great work of Balboa could be wrecked 
 by mean-spirited, less able men, it could not be done with- 
 out cost. Vasco Nunez had made the colony self-supporting. 
 The "owlde souldiers of Dariena," who could merrily make 
 their boast that they had observed a longer and sharper 
 lenten fast than the Pope enjoined, "since for the space of 
 four years, their food had been herbs and fruits, with now 
 and then fish and very seldom flesh," could live comfortably 
 on the produce of their farms. The sudden influx of fifteen 
 hundred raw recruits from Spain was a strain the little 
 colony could have borne only with great foresight and self- 
 restraint. These qualities the enemies of Balboa lacked. 
 Irving explains the disaster which followed in these para- 
 graphs : 
 
 "It is not a matter of surprise that a situation of this 
 kind, in a tropical chmate, should be fatal to the health of 
 Europeans. Many who had recently arrived were swept off 
 speedily; Pedrarias himself fell sick, and was removed, with 
 most of his people, to a healthier spot on the river Corobari; 
 the malady, however, continued to increase. The provisions 
 brought out in the ships had been partly damaged by the sea 
 and the residue grew scanty, and the people were put upon 
 short allowance; the debility thus produced increased the 
 ravages of disease; at length the provisions were exhausted, 
 and the horrors of absolute famine ensued. 
 
 "Every one was more or less affected by these calamities; 
 even the veterans of the colony quailed beneath them; but 
 to none were they more fatal than to the crowd of youthful 
 
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 cavaliers who had once glittered so gayly about the streets 
 of Seville, and had come out to the New World elated with 
 the most sanguine expectations. From the very moment 
 of their landing, they had been disheartened at the savage 
 scenes around them, and disgusted with the squalid life 
 they were doomed to lead. They shrimk with disdain from 
 the labors with which alone wealth was to be procured in 
 this land of gold and pearls, and were impatient of the hum- 
 ble exertions necessary for the maintenance of existence. 
 As the famine increased, their case became desperate; for 
 they were unable to help themselves, and their rank and dig- 
 nity commanded neither deference nor aid at a time when 
 common misery made every one selfish. Many of them, 
 who had mortgaged estates in Spain to fit themselves out 
 sumptuously for their Italian campaign, now perished for 
 lack of food. Some would be seen bartering a robe of crim- 
 son silk, or some garment of rich brocade, for a pound of 
 Indian bread or European biscuit; others sought to satisfy 
 the cravings of himger with the herbs and roots of the field, 
 and one of the principal cavaliers absolutely expired of hun- 
 ger in the public streets. 
 
 "In this wretched way, and in the short space of one 
 month, perished seven hundred of the little army of youth- 
 ful and buoyant spirits who had embarked with Pedrarias. 
 The bodies of some remained for a day or two without 
 sepulchre, their friends not having sufficient strength to 
 bury them. Unable to remedy the evil, Pedrarias gave 
 permission to his men to flee from it. A ship-load of starv- 
 ing adventurers departed for Cuba, where some of them 
 joined the standard of Diego Velasquez, who was colonizing 
 that island; others made their way back to Spain, where 
 they arrived broken in health, in spirits, and in fortime." 
 
 While this blight was depopulating the once prosperous 
 town of Santa Maria, affairs were going a thousand times 
 
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PEDBASIAS 215 
 
 worse in the young empire which Vasco Nunez, now a help- 
 less prisoner, had built up with so much labor and skill. 
 
 The king had ordered that a road should be built across 
 the Isthmus, garrisons established at important places and 
 a town created on the new ocean. 
 
 An expedition of four himdred men under Juan de Ayora 
 was sent out on this mission. He began by sacking the 
 villages of the friendly Indians. The historian Oviedo, who 
 had come out in the retinue of Pedrarias, writes: 
 
 "The caciques were tortured to make them disclose their 
 gold. Some they roasted, others they threw to the dogs, 
 others were hanged. . . . This infernal hunt lasted 
 several months." 
 
 Hurtado, a former friend of Balboa's, was sent out to 
 support Ayora. Anxious to win the favor of Pedrarias, 
 he tried to excel in brutality. Returning from his raid he 
 stopped at the village of Careta and asked for men to carry 
 in his spoil. When he arrived at Santa Maria, he made 
 slaves of them, giving six to the governor, six to the bishop, 
 four to the judge Espinosa, and selling the rest for his pri- 
 vate profit. In this manner the Spaniards under Pedrarias 
 violated the alliances of Balboa and sowed the whirlwind. 
 
 Ayora, having built and garrisoned a fort, called Santa 
 Crux, up the coast in the territory of the Cacique Pocorosa, 
 started across the Isthmus on an orgy of rapine. Every- 
 where the natives met him hospitably as a friend of Vasco 
 Nunez and everywhere they were massacred. He founded 
 a second garrison in the domain of Tubanamd, and, without 
 having reached the ocean, returned to Santa Maria, loaded 
 down with slaves and booty. But he was not content with 
 robbing the natives; he was not willing to divide his spoils 
 with the colony or with the king. His men seized a ship 
 in the harbor and made off with their loot. Ayora had 
 powerful friends in Spain and was never punished. 
 
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216 PANAMA 
 
 Peter Martyr writes of him: "In all the turmoyls and 
 tragicall affayres of the Ocean, nothing has no muche dis- 
 pleased me, as the couetousnesse of this man, who hath so 
 disturbed the pacified mindes of the kinges." 
 
 "If Juan de Ayora had been punished for his many 
 injuries to the peaceable caciques," Balboa wrote to the 
 king, "the other captains would not have dared to commit 
 like excesses." 
 
 But Pedrarias, instead of trying to punish Ayora, is said 
 to have profited not only from his cruelties, but also from 
 his embezzlement of the King's fifth. 
 
 All the raids were not so successful. Francisco Becerra, 
 after bringing in 7,000 pesos of gold and one himdred slaves, 
 was sent with 180 men to reduce the Genu tribes on the 
 other side of the Gulf. Many Spaniards had died from their 
 poisoned arrows and Becerra vowed that he would extermi- 
 nate them. But he fell stupidly into an ambush and only 
 a native slave boy escaped to bring the news to Santa Maria. 
 
 The garrison which Ayora had established at Santa Gruz 
 by their deviltry drove the Indians of their neighborhood 
 into a revolt of desperation. The Cacique Pocorosa led the 
 attack. Only five of the Spaniards escaped by boat. The 
 Indians melted gold and poured it down the throats of their 
 captives. 
 
 "Eat gold, you Ghristians," they cried. "Eat it. Have 
 your fill of gold." 
 
 In March, 1515, Gonzalo de Badajoz started out with 
 130 men. They went up the coast as far as Nombre de 
 Dios; they could find no marks of Nicuesa's colony, so thor- 
 oughly had the jungle swallowed up the ruins. He sent 
 back booty, estimated by Bancroft at $500,000 of our cur- 
 rency. He adds: "In addition to gold there were always 
 women for baptism, lust, and slavery, and so the Ghristians 
 were happy." 
 
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PEDBASIAS 217 
 
 Badajoz then crossed the Isthmus and by treachery and 
 murder collected 100,000 castellanos more. But again the 
 Indians, driven to desperation — this time in the territory 
 of the Cacique Parita, to the west of Panama — combined 
 against the invaders. In a series of severe fights seventy of 
 the Spaniards were killed. The remainder, forced to aban- 
 don their booty, escaped to the island of Toboga. After 
 some weeks of rest in this place they returned to the main- 
 land and fought their way back to Santa Maria. 
 
 In June, Vasco Nunez temporarily escaped from the law- 
 yers and accompanied an expedition of two himdred men 
 up the Darien River in search of the mythical Golden Tem- 
 ple of Dabaiba. The Indians attacked them in canoes and 
 diving overboard upset the boats of the Spaniards. Half 
 of them were drowned in the swift current. Balboa brought 
 back the remnant and was again entangled by litiga- 
 tion. 
 
 What Vasco Nunez thought of lawyers is vigorously ex- 
 pressed in one of his letters to the king. 
 
 "Most powerful sire, there is one great favor that I pray 
 your royal highness to do me, since it is of greatest import- 
 ance to your service. It is for your royal highness to issue 
 an order that no bachiller of laws or anything vmless it be of 
 medicine, shall come to these parts of Tierra Firme . . . 
 because no bachiller ever comes hither who is not. a devil, 
 and they all live like devils, and not only are they them- 
 selves bad, but they make others bad." 
 
 In November, 1515, Antonio Tello de Gutzman was sent 
 out to complete the work of Ayora. He found the garrison 
 of Tubanamd closely besieged and almost overcome by 
 famine. This expedition pushed westward into new terri- 
 tory. Crossing the Rio Chepo, they came to the place 
 which the Indians called Panamd — "Abounding in fish." 
 Albrites led a detachment through territory which is now 
 
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218 PANAMA 
 
 the Canal Zone to the Chagres River. He boasted that he 
 had gathered 1,200 golden pesos without bloodshed. Return- 
 ing to the Caribbean Sea, the expedition had to fight for 
 every step. Pocorosa, the chief who had overthrown the 
 garrison of Santa Crux, was on the warpath. He used as 
 his banner a Spanish shirt, soaked in Spanish blood. The 
 days when the natives had thought Balboa was invincible 
 had passed. As they discovered the villainy of the white 
 men they had discovered their vulnerability. Gutzman 
 lost many men on the route, but managed to keep a tight 
 hold on his booty and slaves. 
 
 Although the Bishop Fonseca had been able all this time 
 to block any official preferment for Balboa, news of the 
 enthusiasm with which he was regarded in Spain began to 
 reach Darien. And Pedrarias, fearing that his rival might 
 be made governor of the Southern Seas, decided to stake 
 out the claim ahead of him. He dispatched his cousin, 
 Gaspar de Morales, and Pizarro to take possession in his 
 name. They found the Caciques Chiapes and Tumaco as 
 yet undespoiled and friendly. Leaving a garrison on the 
 mainland under Penalosa, they embarked in canoes furn- 
 ished by the friendly natives for the Pearl Islands. After a 
 fierce fight they subdued the cacique, and, following Bal- 
 boa's policy, made friends with him. From him Pizarro 
 heard new and more precise stories of the great empire of 
 the Incas. They extracted a heavy tribute from their host 
 as a price of peace. It contained a pearl which Vasco 
 Nunes described in a letter to the king as "very perfect, 
 without a scratch or stain, and of a very pretty color, and 
 lustre and make; which in truth is a jewel well worthy of 
 presentation to your Majesty, more particularly as coming 
 from these parts." It weighed 31 carats and Vasco Nunez, 
 after this broad hint as to what would have happened to it 
 if he had been in power, adds, "It was put up at auction 
 
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FEDBABIAS 219 
 
 and sold for 1,200 pesos del oro to a merchant and finally 
 fell into the hands of the Governor." 
 
 Returning to the mainland, Morales and Pizarro found 
 the Indians in war-paint. Penalosa and his men had been 
 spending their time outraging the native women. The two 
 generals summoned a council of their allies. Eighteen 
 caciques, remembering the justice of Vasco Nunez and 
 expecting to have their wrongs righted, came in. Morales 
 and Pizarro threw them to the dogs. They then spread 
 fire and sword through the countryside. The last of the 
 twenty-five tribes which Balboa had boimd to him by 
 friendly alliances were turned into bitter enemies. In one 
 village the Spaniards slaughtered seven hundred, mostly 
 women and children, within an hour. But once more the 
 white men were to learn that the Indians when driven to 
 desperation become formidable. The Cacique of Bird, whose 
 territory lay to the east of the Gulf, administered a stinging 
 defeat. Morales and Pizarro were forced into a retreat, 
 which soon became a rout. They even had to murder most 
 of the captives they had taken for slaves. At last, the wreck 
 of their expedition, clinging to their pearls, straggled into 
 Santa Maria. 
 
 "Be it known to your Majesty," Balboa wrote, "that dur- 
 ing this excursion was perpetrated the greatest cruelty ever 
 heard of in Arabian or Christian coimtry, in any genera- 
 tion. And this it is. This captain and the surviving 
 Christians while on this journey took nearly one hundred 
 Indians of both sexes, mostly women and children, fastened 
 with chains and afterwards ordered them to be decapitated 
 and scalped." 
 
 "Being cousin and servant of the Governor," Oviedo re- 
 marks. Morales suffered "neither punishment nor pain." 
 
 Towards the end of 1515, Pedrarias personally led an 
 expedition against the Genu. A few women and children 
 
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220 PANAMA 
 
 were massacred and then the soldiers, afraid of the poisoned 
 arrows, insisted on abandoning the campaign. Pedrarias 
 returned to the Isthmus and started a town at Ada, near the 
 present Caledonia Bay. He then fell sick of a fever and re- 
 turned to Santa Maria, leaving Espinosa, the Alcalde Mayor, 
 in charge of the new town. 
 
 The judge, having foimd that litigation was not as profit- 
 able as he had hoped, decided to lay aside his law books and 
 take up the sword. He recounts his exploits in one of the 
 most curious documents which have come down to us from 
 those times. 
 
 "Relacion hecha por Gaspar de Espinosa, alcalde mayor 
 de Castilla del Oro, dada & Pedrarias de Avila, lugar terri- 
 ente general de aquellos provincias, de todo loque le se cedo 
 en la entrada que hizo en ellos, de orden de Pedrd"rias." 
 
 In verbose legal phraseology he tells of his adventures; 
 he gives great space to the proceedings of his drum-head 
 court martial. He did everything with due deference to 
 the law. He never threw any Indian to the dogs without 
 having first enacted a statute which justified the execution. 
 With astounding naivet6 he tells of his own villainy, boasts 
 of treachery and plumes himself over the refinements of tor- 
 ture which he devised. With unconscious humor he notes 
 down the important part played in the expedition by his 
 ass. 
 
 Espinosa was the first man to ride across the Isthmus. 
 His home-sick jackass impressed the natives immensely. 
 When he brayed they fell on their faces in awe. Espinosa — 
 who had as keen an eye for business as any pirate who ever 
 visited those parts — ^told the Indians that this four-foot 
 demon was asking for gold. The frightened people gave 
 up their last ornaments — dug up the graves of their ances- 
 tors — to appease him. 
 
 Espinosa, also, boasts of having built the first Christian 
 
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Copyrij^ht by Under-wood & Underwood, 
 
 A CHOLO INDIAN VILLAGE. 
 Native Girls Pounding Rice. 
 
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PEDBASIA8 221 
 
 church on the Pacific, near Cham6 Point. In the midst of 
 their worst deviltry they paused now and then to worship 
 God. 
 
 From this place Barthom6 Hurtado, with a hundred men, 
 coasted westward in native canoes as far as the Gulf of 
 Nicaya, within the present borders of Costa Rica. As his 
 force was small and he was far from assistance, he treated 
 the natives with respect and was everywhere hospitably 
 received. 
 
 On his return, early in 1517, he found Espinosa building 
 a fort at Panama. The historian Herrera estimates that the 
 spoil collected on this trip — in which of course is included 
 the tribute the Indians paid to quiet the braying of the 
 jackass — amounted to 80,000 pesos del oro and 2,000 slaves. 
 
 "During Espinosa's absence in the south," Bancroft 
 writes, "affairs at Antigua were exceptionally dull. The 
 illness of the governor, unfortunately, was not fatal." 
 
 Every boat sailing for Spain carried a letter from Vasco 
 Nunez to the king, telling of all the governor's misdeeds — 
 it was a long list — and how surely the colony was going to 
 the dogs. As long as possible the Bishop of Fonseca pre- 
 vented the king from rewarding Balboa, and when at last 
 he could delay action no longer, he still managed to protect 
 his creature, Pedrarias. 
 
 Early in 1515 royal despatches arrived in Santa Maria 
 which created Vasco Nunez "Captain General of the Prov- 
 inces of Coiba (Careta) and Panamd, and Adelantado of 
 the Southern Sea" — an empty honor, as the Governor of 
 Castilla del Oro would still be his superior. These honors 
 only made Pedrarias more venomous. He had the audacity 
 to suppress them. How long he held up the royal order it 
 is now impossible to determine. But at last the Bishop of 
 Darien, Quevedo, heard of them and forced their publica- 
 tipu. 
 
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 Angrier than ever, Pedrarias found one excuse after an- 
 other to keep Vasco Nunez inactive. He would not even 
 give the new Captain-general permission to visit his prov- 
 inces. The Bishop Quevedo came once more to the rescue. 
 He impressed on the old man the impossibility of forever 
 preserving this deadlock. Vasco Nunez was too popular to 
 be forever kept in the shade. Sooner or later the king would 
 interfere and it could only be to the governor's disadvantage, 
 very probably to his disgrace. How much better to have 
 this powerful and active man for a friend! Why not make 
 a son-in-law of him? Pedrarias had several daughters. 
 After much urging from the bishop, the old governor, with 
 very ill grace we may be sure, assented to this alliance. 
 What Balboa thought of it, we can only guess. It offered 
 him a chance at action. At worst the daughter of Pedrarias 
 was a long way off. It would be months before she could 
 arrive. 
 
 Towards the middle of 1516, this peace patched up with 
 Pedrarias, we find Vasco Nunez at Ada, preparing an expe- 
 dition to seek further into the mystery of the Southern Sea. 
 The town founded by Pedrarias had been destroyed by the 
 Indians. Balboa had to rebuild it, for it was his plan to 
 build ships there and transport them across the Isthmus in 
 sections. It was an imdertaking worthy of his great genius. 
 If it had been a daring enterprise to cross to the Pacific the 
 first time, it was indeed desperate, now that all the tribes 
 were implacably hostile, to try to transport so large a 
 caravan. 
 
 "No living man in all the Indies," Herrera wrote, "dared 
 attempt such an enterprise, or would have succeeded at it, 
 save Vasco Nune. de Balboa." 
 
 Early in 1517 he was ready to start. Within six months 
 he had rebuilt the town, established ship-yards and put 
 together four brigantines. But if we can admire the cour- 
 
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PEDBABIAS 223 
 
 age of the man in conceiving and executing so great a plan, 
 we cannot this time follow Vasco Nunez across the Isthmus 
 with the same hearty sympathy. It is interesting to specu- 
 late on how different a manner the enterprise would have 
 been carried through, if the satelites of Pedrarias had not 
 made all peaceful intercourse with the natives impossible. 
 It is possible to excuse Balboa much under the circum- 
 stances — but this expedition left a long trail of skeletons. 
 The heavy carrying was done by natives, no longer allies, 
 but slaves. "More than 500 Indians perished in the trans- 
 portation of these ships," the Bishop of Darien reported. 
 Las Casas, probably much nearer the truth, puts the number 
 at 2,000. 
 
 Saddest of all, this hecatomb was useless. When the 
 Spaniards tried to put their ships together on the Pacific 
 side, they found that the timbers were honeycombed with 
 borings of the ship worm. 
 
 It was necessary to begin all over again. New ship-yards 
 had to be built on an estuary of the Gulf of San Miguel. 
 Instead of being the honored guests of the natives, as Bal- 
 boa's men had been on the first expedition, they had to 
 protect themselves with stockades and were smitten with 
 famine in this war-swept land. 
 
 "In all labors," wrote Las Casas, "Vasco Nunez took the 
 foremost part, working with his own hands and giving aid 
 and encouragement to all." Later, with his ever-ready 
 sj^mpathy for the oppressed, the good monk adds: "When 
 Vasco Nunez himself was forced to feed on roots, it may well 
 be imagined to what extremity the six hxmdred Indian cap- 
 tives were reduced." 
 
 But at last, conquering all hardships an Ij difficulties, his 
 hands red with the blood of the natives, Balboa was able to 
 launch two brigantines and sail out on the unknown sea he 
 had discovered. He made his headquarters on the Isla 
 
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 Rica, as he had christened the largest of the Pearl group. 
 There he built two more brigantines and with his little fleet 
 of four he started out to find and conquer the rich land to 
 the south. Once more it must have seemed that the Fates 
 were smiling. He had a royal commission to govern all the 
 nations he might discover on this ocean. There was yet 
 a chance to win and justly rule a great vice-royalty, free 
 from the murderous interference of men like his prospective 
 father-in-law. 
 
 But these first navigators of this unknown sea had not 
 learned its currents, its seasons and prevaihng winds. Vasco 
 Nunez started on this expedition at the worst time of year. 
 After beating about for many days and making not more 
 than twenty leagues beyond the Gulf of San Miguel, he was 
 forced by adverse winds to put back to the Isla Rica. At 
 his headquarters he foimd messengers with a rumor that a 
 new governor had been appointed for Castillo del Oro in 
 place of Pedrarias. 
 
 It is impossible to say what Vasco Nunez thought of the 
 new situation. It seems hardly credible that the idea of 
 refusing obedience to anyone who should try to stop him 
 would not have come to one who had waited so long for an 
 opportunity. How far he harbored the idea, how far he 
 may have discussed the possibility with trusted friends, we 
 do not know. But he does not seem to have distrusted 
 Pedrarias nor to have feared his interference. 
 
 He needed provisions, and he sent some of his men over 
 to Santa Maria with instructions to approach the village 
 stealthily; if they found Pedrarias still in power they were 
 to enter boldly and ask for what was needed. If, however, 
 they found a new governor had arrived, they were to find 
 out as much as they could about his intentions without let- 
 ting him know of their presence and return to Isla Rica 
 without having entered the town. This would give Vasco 
 
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PEDSASIAS 225 
 
 Nunez the chance, if the new governor was hostile, to shp 
 anchor and make a bold dash for fame before an order for 
 his recall could reach him. 
 
 It is of course impossible to measure the intentions of a 
 man so long dead, but there has been preserved no evidence 
 to show that Vasco Nunez had meditated treason against 
 Pedrarias. 
 
 But he had made many enemies. It is probable that 
 Pizarro and many of his old comrades who had deserted 
 him to join the faction of Pedrarias were mightily disturbed 
 at the reconciliation which the Bishop of Darien had ef- 
 fected. And besides these political enemies there were 
 those who harbored a personal grudge. One of the men 
 whom Vasco Nunez sent over on this mission to Santa 
 Maria was one of these. He had desired the beautiful 
 daughter of Careta, who was Balboa's mistress. She had 
 complained of his advances and the man had been warned 
 to desist. This jealous wretch concocted a story of a deep 
 and dark conspiracy to throw off allegiance from king and 
 governor and establish an independent empire in the South- 
 em Sea. He based his accusation on some scraps of conver- 
 sation which a sentry before Balboa's door had overheard 
 one night, when a shower had given him excuse to crowd 
 close to the wattel wall and eavesdrop. 
 
 Arrived in Santa Maria, finding Pedrarias still in power, 
 this man retailed his suspicions to the enemies of Vasco 
 Nunez. The informer was afraid to make an open accusa- 
 tion, so the gang arranged to have him arrested and forced 
 to "confess." The story was infected with just those drops 
 of venom most likely to enrage Pedrarias — to wound his 
 pride. It was said that Balboa openly made sport of him 
 and his daughter. His love for his Indian bride was said 
 to be his motive for cutting loose from his allegiance. Noth- 
 ing which they could think of to stir the old man's anger 
 
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226 PANAMA 
 
 did they neglect. Suspicious, as are all tyrants, he was not 
 hard to convince. Age seemed to increase the viciousness 
 of Pedrarias. So brutal and miserly had he become that 
 the Bishop of Darien, he of the itching palm, had reached 
 the end of his large tolerance and had gone to Spain to lay 
 complaints before the throne. 
 
 Pedrarias sent a loving letter to his dear son-in-law, 
 saying that he needed his counsel in some grave matters 
 and begging him to come to Santa Maria, before sailing. 
 That Vasco Nunez fell into the trap and came, is strong 
 evidence that his conscience was clear of any meditated 
 treachery to the old man. As he came within sight of 
 Ada, he was met by a body of soldiers imder Francisco 
 Pizarro and put under arrest. For a few days the comedy 
 of a trial was performed in Ada and then a decree of death 
 against Balboa and three of his friends cleared the stage for 
 tragedy. 
 
 " It was a day of gloom and horror at Ada," Irving wrote, 
 "when Vasco Nunez and his companions were led forth to 
 execution. The populace were moved to tears at the un- 
 happy fate of a man, whose gallant deeds had excited their 
 admiration, and whose generous qualities had won their 
 hearts. Most of them regarded him as the victim of a 
 jealous tyrant; and even those who thought him guilty, 
 saw something brave and brilliant in the very crime im- 
 puted to him. Such, however, was the general dread in- 
 spired by the severe measures of Pedrarias, that no one 
 dared to lift up his voice, either in murmur or remonstrance. 
 
 "The public crier walked before Vasco Nunez, proclaim- 
 ing: 'This is the punishment inflicted by command of the 
 king and his lieutenant, Don Pedrarias Davila, on this man 
 as a traitor and an usurper of the territories of the crown.' 
 
 "When Vasco Nunez heard these words, he exclaimed 
 indignantly, 'It is false! Never did such a crime enter my 
 
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PEDSABIAS 227 
 
 mind. I have ever served my king with truth and loyalty, 
 and sought to augment his dominions.' 
 
 "These words were of no avail in his extremity, but they 
 were fully believed by the populace. 
 
 "The execution took place in the public square of Ada; 
 and we are assured by the historian Oviedo, who was in the 
 colony at the time, that the cruel Pedrarias was a secret 
 witness of the bloody spectacle; which he contemplated 
 from between the reeds of the wall of a house about twelve 
 paces from the scaffold! 
 
 "Vasco Nunez was the first to suffer death. Having con- 
 fessed himself and partaken of the sacrament, he ascended 
 the scaffold with a firm step and a calm and manly de- 
 meanor; and, laying his head upon the block, it was severed 
 in an instant from his body. Three of his officers, Valderra- 
 bona, Botello, and Hernan Munos, were in like manner 
 brought one by one to the block, and the day had nearly 
 expired before the last of them was executed." 
 
 Peter Martyr philosophically remarks: "And this is the 
 rewarde wherewith the blynde goddesse oftentymes recom- 
 penseth such as haue suteyned great trauayls and daungiours 
 to bee hyghly in her fauoure." 
 
 The rest of the story of Don Pedro Arias de Avila is, like 
 what has gone before, a record of treacherous villainy and 
 inhuman cruelties. No sooner was Vasco Nunez out of the 
 way than he committed the identical crime for which his 
 victim had been unjustly executed. Knowing that in the 
 face of the accusation being brought against him by Oviedo, 
 Las Casas and Quevedo, his friend the bishop, Fonseca, 
 could not protect him much longer, he abandoned the north 
 coast of the Isthmus and tried to establish himself on the 
 South Sea. He made his headquarters at Panama, which 
 was rapidly becoming a centre of population. 
 
 In May, 1520, Lope de Sosa, the man sent out to replace 
 
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 him, arrived in the harbor of Santa Maria, but died before 
 landing. This gave Pedrarias a new lease of power. 
 
 On September 15, 1521, Panama was given a royal charter 
 and the bishopric was transferred from Santa Maria. The 
 Fray Vincente de Peraza, the second Bishop of Panama, was 
 poisoned by Pedrarias very shortly after his arrival. But as 
 things began to get too hot for him in the "muy Noble y 
 muy Leal Ciudad de Panama," Pedrarias changed his base 
 to Nicaragua. When Pedro de los Rios, the next governor, 
 arrived in Panama on July 30th, 1526, the bird had flown. 
 
 Fortunately we do not have to follow his bloody career 
 after he left the Isthmus. He came back once in 1527 and 
 again we hear of him in a characteristic manner. The 
 Council of Panama gave him permission to open a slave- 
 market in that city to dispose of the captives he was making 
 in Nicaragua. 
 
 He died in July, 1530 — unhung. 
 
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CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE CONQUEST OF PERU 
 
 It has been said that the Isthmus is more renowned for 
 those who have crossed it than for those who have Hved 
 there. Certainly its greatest claim for fame is that it was 
 the outfitting station for the discovery and conquest of Peru. 
 No other event so deeply affected its history. 
 
 Vasco Nunez had dreamed of this achievement. His 
 ambition had been cheated by the axe of Pedrarias. But 
 his death only postponed the exploration of the Southern Sea 
 — only transferred to less worthy hands the great task of 
 conquest. 
 
 Very shortly after establishing himself on the Pacific, 
 Pedrarias sent out an expedition under the command of a 
 cavalier named Pascual de Andagoya. But this officer fell 
 sick and was forced to return before he had passed the twenty 
 league mark of exploration fixed by Balboa. 
 
 Peru existed in the minds of men only as a rumor. The 
 Spaniards had received just as glowing accounts from the 
 natives of the Golden Temple of Dabaiba. It was as unreal 
 an El Dorado as was Ponc6 de Leon's "Fountain of Perpetual 
 Youth." The Spaniards were decidedly sick of such ven- 
 tures. The Aurea Chersoneus which Columbus had de- 
 scribed so alluringly had led them to the death trap of 
 Nombre de Dios. This "Castilla del Oro" had proven to 
 be built as much of hardships, famines and fevers, as of gold. 
 There was doubtless many a colonist of Panama, eking out 
 a meagre living from their Indian slaves — ^they died with 
 
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230 PANAMA 
 
 such discouraging rapidity — ^who felt that they would have 
 been much better off at home. Mexico had not yet been dis- 
 covered. Prescott expresses surprise that the southern 
 explorations were so long delayed. It seems more wonder- 
 ful to me that they were attempted. Nothing but the un- 
 conquerable romance of the age could have kept alive faith 
 in cities of gold. 
 
 However, Francisco Pizarro kept in mind the stories he 
 had heard from the Cacique of the Pearl Islands, and when 
 in 1524 the news of the rich kingdom subdued by Cortez 
 reached Panama, he was able to draw two of the colonists 
 into his scheme. Prescott gives the following characteriza- 
 tion of the three men: 
 
 "On the removal of the seat of government across the 
 Isthmus to Panama, Pizarro accompanied Pedrarias, and 
 his name became conspicuous among the cavaliers who 
 extended the line of conquest to the north, over the martial 
 tribes of Veragua. But all these expeditions, whatever glory 
 they may have brought him, were productive of very Uttle 
 gold; and at the age of fifty, the captain Pizarro foimd him- 
 self in possession only of a tract of xmhealthy land in the 
 neighborhood of the capital, and of such repartimientcs of the 
 natives as were deemed suited to his military services. The 
 New World was a lottery, where the great prizes were so 
 few that the odds were much against the player; yet in the 
 game he was content to stake health, fortime, and too often, 
 his fair fame. 
 
 "There is no evidence that Pizarro showed any particular 
 alacrity in the cause. Nor were his own funds such as to 
 warrant any expectation of success without great assistance 
 from others. He found this in two individuals of the colony, 
 who took too important a part in the subsequent transactions 
 not to be particularly noticed. 
 
 " One of them, Diego de Almagro, was a soldier of fortune, 
 
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THE CONQUEST OF FEMV 231 
 
 somewhat older, it seems probable, than Pizarro; though 
 little is known of his birth, and even the place of it is dis- 
 puted. . . . Few particulars are known of him till the 
 present period of our history; for he was one of those whom 
 the working of turbulent times first throws upon the surface, 
 less fortunate, perhaps, than if left in their original obscurity. 
 In his military career, Almagro had earned the reputation 
 of a gallant soldier. He was frank and liberal in his disposi- 
 tion, somewhat hasty and ungovernable in his passions, but 
 like men of a sanguine temperament, after the first sallies 
 had passed away, not difficult to be appeased. . . . 
 
 "The other member of the confederacy was Hernando de 
 Luque, a Spanish ecclesiastic, who exercised the functions 
 of vicar at Panama, and had formerly filled the office of 
 schoolmaster in the Cathedral of Darien. He seems to have 
 been a man of singular prudence and knowledge of the world; 
 and by his respectable qualities had acquired considerable 
 influence in the little community to which he belonged, as 
 well as the control of funds, which made his cooperation 
 essential to the success of the present enterprise. . . . 
 
 "The associates found no difficulty in obtaining the con- 
 sent of the governor to their undertaking. ... He was 
 probably not displeased that the burden of the enterprise 
 should be borne by others, so long as a good share of. the 
 profits went into his own coffers. This he did not overlook 
 in his stipulations." 
 
 There is some dispute as to what bargain Pedrarias drove 
 with the three adventurers, but the weight of evidence is 
 that he held them up for one fourth of the profits in con- 
 sideration of his passive consent. It is also generally agreed 
 that Father Luque was acting in the matter as agent for 
 Gaspar de Espinosa, the Alcade Mayor, who had won fame 
 by riding an ass and by his barbaric cruelties. 
 
 No sooner had these preliminary arrangements been com- 
 
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 pleted than the three confederates began operations. With 
 the money furnished by Luque they bought and equipped 
 two small ships. One of them was the brigantine which 
 Vasco Nunez had built for the same undertaking. They had 
 much difficulty in enlisting men for the expedition. So 
 little sympathy had the people of Panama for the Peruvian 
 venture that they made the vicar the butt of a rather weak 
 pun, calling him "Padre Luque o loco." "Loco" being 
 the Spanish word for madman. But at length they mustered 
 a hundred men — the refuse of the colony — to go with 
 Pizarro on the first ship. 
 
 It was not necessary to follow the well-known adventures 
 of Pizarro in detail, but rather to recount the part which 
 Panama played in the great adventure. It was a decidedly 
 sorry part. What little help the colony gave to the enter- 
 prise was given grudgingly. Almagro could only find seventy 
 men willing to sail on the supporting expedition. 
 
 Pizarro and Almagro soon reached the end of their re- 
 sources and turned back. To return to Panama meant the 
 disbanding of the little force they had already collected. 
 So Almagro went back alone to see if he could make some 
 satisfactory arrangements with the governor. But he found 
 Pedrarias suddenly turned hostile to the scheme. He was 
 himself fitting out an expedition for a venture in Nicaragua 
 and at first he would not countenance any further recruiting 
 for the south. In fact so little did he think of the Peruvian 
 enterprise that, needing ready money for his own plans, 
 he sold out his original interest in the combine for one 
 thousand pesos in gold. The old miser was so pleased with 
 this sharp bargain that he relented and removed his pro- 
 hibition on recruiting. Pizarro now came to Panama and 
 the three partners drew up the famous contract of which 
 Prescott gives this description: 
 
 "The instrument, after invoking in the most solemn 
 
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TEE CONQUEST OF PESU 233 
 
 manner the names of the Holy Trinity and our Lady the 
 Blessed Virgin, sets forth, that whereas the parties have full 
 authority to discover and subdue the countries and provinces 
 lying south of the Gulf, belonging to the empire of Peru, and 
 as Fernando de Luque had advanced the funds for the en- 
 terprise in bars of gold of the value of twenty thousand 
 pesos, they mutually bind themselves to divide equally among 
 them the whole of the conquered territory. . . . 
 
 "The two captains solemnly engage to devote themselves 
 exclusively to the present undertaking vmtil it is accom- 
 plished; . . . 
 
 "The commanders, Pizarro and Almagro, made oath, in 
 the name of God and the Holy Evangelists, sacredly to keep 
 this covenant, swearing it on the missal, on which they 
 traced with their own hands the sacred emblem of the cross. 
 To give still greater efficacy to the compact. Father Luque 
 administered the sacrament to the parties, dividing the 
 consecrated wafer into three portions, of which each one of 
 them partook; while the bystanders, says an historian, were 
 affected to tears by this spectacle of the solemn ceremonial 
 with which these men voluntarily devoted themselves to a 
 sacrifice that seemed little short of insanity. 
 
 "The instrument, which was dated March 10, 1526, was 
 subscribed by Luque, and attested by three respectable 
 citizens of Panama, one of whom signed on behalf of Pizarro, 
 and the other for Ahnagro; since neither of these parties, 
 according to the avowal of the instrument, was able to sub- 
 scribe his own name. 
 
 "Such was the singular compact by which three obscure 
 individuals coolly carved out and partitioned among them- 
 selves an empire, of whose extent, power, and resources, of 
 whose situation, of whose existence, even, they had no sure 
 or precise knowledge. The positive and unhesitating man- 
 ner in which they speak of the grandeur of this empire, of 
 
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234 PANAMA 
 
 its stores of wealth, . . . forms a striking contrast with 
 the general scepticism and indifference manifested by nearly 
 every other person, high and low, in the community of 
 Panama." 
 
 Two larger vessels were now procured and a poster put up 
 which asked for volunteers for the expedition. But the idea 
 was no more popular among the sceptical citizens of Panama 
 than it had been at first. With the most lurid promises they 
 were only able to raise their force to one himdred and sixty 
 men. This time they sailed directly south to the Rio de 
 San Juan, the limit of Almagro's first voyage. Here they 
 landed, and although yet far from the domains of the Inca, 
 they foimd the natives wearing gold ornaments and secured 
 a large booty. Pizarro, with most of the men, started to 
 explore the interior, Bartholom^ Ruiz, their pilot, cruised 
 south in the larger boat and Almagro returned to Panama 
 with the booty, to secure if possible more recruits. 
 
 At Panama he found a new governor, Don Pedro de los 
 Rios. Pedrarias, taking with him everything which was 
 not nailed down, had emigrated to Nicaragua, where he 
 would be a little further removed from royal justice. De los 
 Rios had been especially instructed to push forward the 
 exploration of the Southern Sea, so he gave Almagro every 
 encouragement. Eighty men who had come out in the 
 retinue of the new governor volunteered to accompany him. 
 The older and more experienced colonists laughed up their 
 sleeves at the way in which these "greenhorns," fresh from 
 Spain, allowed themselves to be lured into so barren an 
 adventure. 
 
 Meanwhile Ruiz had sailed south half a degree beyond the 
 equator, being the first European to cross it in those waters. 
 But of much greater importance was his encounter with a 
 native boat, "balsa" or raft the Spaniards called it. It 
 was the first boat equipped with sails which they had seen. 
 
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TSE CONQUEST OF PEBU 235 
 
 Aboard it were some merchants from the Peruvian town of 
 Tumbez. The Spaniards were immensely impressed by the 
 signs of civilization; cloth woven from the wool of llamas, 
 and wonder of wonders, a balance for weighing gold! Ruiz 
 kidnapped the Peruvians, with the intention of training them 
 as interpreters, and sailed back to join Pizarro. He found 
 his commander reduced to the last extremity from the in- 
 hospitality of the country and the fierce hostility of the 
 Indians. 
 
 Shortly after his return, Almagro arrived with the new 
 recruits. The. united forces now started down the coast 
 explored by Ruiz. Everywhere they encountered increasing 
 evidences of a high civilization and of a formidable enemy. 
 It became evident that they would need a much larger army 
 to hope for success in this country. 
 
 Again it was decided to send Almagro back to Panama for 
 reenforcements. Pizarro was to winter his little army on 
 the Island of Gallo. This plan met with serious opposition 
 from the men. Those who had experienced the hardships of 
 waiting with Pizarro were if anything less indignant than 
 the raw recruits from Spain. They were more than sick 
 of the continual buffeting of the waves. They had come 
 out to the New World in quest of romantic adventure and 
 easily-acquired gold. This island offered little prospect of 
 booty, very little of food. They all clamored for a return. 
 But the leaders foresaw that such a course would mean the 
 collapse of the whole undertaking. So Almagro sailed away. 
 But not before one of the discontented soldiers, named 
 Sarobia, had smuggled a letter aboard done up in a ball of 
 cotton — a curiosity in the New World — which, as a speci- 
 men of the riches of the country, was to be given to the wife 
 of the governor. Prescott gives this description of the inci- 
 dent: 
 
 "The letter, which was signed by several of the disaffected 
 
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 soldiery besides the writer, painted in gloomy colors the 
 miseries of their condition, accused the two commanders of 
 being the authors of this, and called on the authorities of 
 Panama to interfere by sending a vessel to take them from 
 the desolate spot. . . . The epistle concluded with a 
 stanza, in which the two leaders were stigmatized as partners 
 in a slaughter-house; one being employed to drive in the 
 cattle for the other to butcher. The verses, which had a 
 currency in their day among the colonies to which they were 
 certainly not entitled by their poetical merits, may be thus 
 rendered into corresponding doggerel: 
 
 Look out, sefior Governor, 
 For the drover while he'a near ; 
 Since he goes home to get the sheep 
 Tor the butcher, who stays here. 
 
 "Great was the dismay occasioned by the return of 
 Almagro and his followers in the little community of Panama; 
 for the letter, surreptitiously conveyed in the ball of cotton, 
 fell into the hands for which it was intended, and the con- 
 tents soon got abroad with the usual quantity of exaggeration. 
 The haggard and dejected mien of the adventurers, of itself, 
 told a tale sufficiently disheartening, and it was soon generally 
 believed that the few ill-fated survivors of the expedition 
 were detained against their will by Pizarro, to end their days 
 with their disappointed leader on his desolate island. 
 
 "Pedro de los Rios, the governor, was so much incensed at 
 the result of the expedition, and the waste of life it had 
 occasioned to the colony, that he turned a deaf ear to all 
 the applications of Luque and Almagro for further coun- 
 tenance in the affair; he derided their sanguine anticipations 
 of the future, and finally resolved to send an officer to the 
 isle of Gallo, with orders to bring back every Spaniard whom 
 he should find still living in that dreary abode. Two vessels 
 
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TSE CONQUEST OF PESV 237 
 
 were immediately dispatched for the purpose, and placed un- 
 der charge of a cavalier named Tafur, a native of Cordova." 
 
 The arrival of Tafur at the Island of Gallo was the turning 
 point in the career of Pizarro. If he had faltered some one 
 else's name would have come down to us as that of the 
 conqueror of Peru. But of all Pizarro's characteristics the 
 ability to hang on was the most salient. It was never more 
 surely demonstrated than during this crisis. It was just 
 such incidents as this which especially appealed to the school 
 of romantic historians of which Prescott was so notable an 
 example. It furnishes him with a text for one of his most 
 eloquent passages : 
 
 "Drawing his sword, he traced a line with it on the sand 
 from east to west. Then turning toward the south, 'Friends 
 and comrades!' he said, 'on that side are toil, hunger, naked- 
 ness, the drenching storm, desertion, and death; on this side, 
 ease and pleasure. There lies Peru with its riches; here, 
 Panama and its poverty. Choose, each man, what best be- 
 comes a brave Castilian. For my part, I go to the south.' 
 So saying, he stepped across the line. He was followed by 
 the brave pilot Ruiz; next by Pedro de Candia, a cavalier, 
 born, as his name imparts, in one of the isles of Greece. 
 Eleven others successively crossed the line, thus intimating 
 their willingness to abide the fortunes of their leader, for 
 good or for evil. Fame, to quote the enthusiastic language 
 of an ancient chronicler, has commemorated the names of 
 this little band, 'who thus, in the face of difficulties un- 
 exampled in history, with death rather than riches for their 
 reward, preferred it all to abandoning their honor, and stood 
 firm by their leader as an example of loyalty to future ages.' " 
 
 Pizarro and his devoted band of thirteen had a desperate 
 period of waiting. "Meanwhile," Prescott continues, "the 
 vessel of Tafur had reached the port of Panama. The 
 tidings which she brought of the inflexible obstinacy of 
 
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 Pizarro and his followers filled the governor with indignation. 
 He could look on it in no other light than as an act of suicide, 
 and steadily refused to send further assistance to men who 
 were obstinately bent on their own destruction. Yet Luque 
 and Almagro were true to their engagements. They repre- 
 sented to the governor, that if the conduct of their comrade 
 was rash, it was at least in the service of the Crown, and in 
 prosecuting the great work of discovery. Rios had been 
 instructed on his taking the government, to aid Pizarro in 
 the enterprise; and to desert him now would be to throw 
 away the remaining chance of success, and to incur the 
 responsibility of his death and that of the brave men who 
 adhered to him. These remonstrances at length so far 
 operated on the mind of that functionary, that he reluctantly 
 consented that a vessel should be sent to the island of Gor- 
 gona, but with no more hands than were necessary to work 
 her, and with positive instructions to Pizarro to return in 
 six months and report himself at Panama, whatever might 
 be the future results of his expedition. 
 
 "Having thus secured the sanction of the executive, the 
 two associates lost no time in fitting out a small vessel with 
 stores and a supply of arms and ammimition, and dispatched 
 it to the island. And although, when the vessel anchored 
 off the shore, Pizarro was disappointed to find that it brought 
 no additional recruits for the enterprise, yet he greeted it 
 with joy, as affording the means of solving the great problem 
 of the existence of the rich southern empire, and of thus 
 opening the way for its future conquest." 
 
 In due course of time they arrived at Tumbez and, being 
 so few, were polite, and so were hospitably received. Once 
 more I will turn the narrative over to Prescott : 
 
 "As they drew near, they beheld a town of considerable 
 size, with many of the buildings apparently of stone and 
 plaster, situated in the bosom of a fruitful meadow, which 
 
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TSE CONQUEST OF PEBU 239 
 
 seemed to have been redeemed from the sterility of the 
 surrounding country by careful and minute irrigation. When 
 at some distance from shore, Pizarro saw standing toward 
 him several large balsas. Running alongside of the Indian 
 flotilla, he invited some of the chiefs to come on board of his 
 vessel. The Peruvians gazed with wonder on every object 
 which met their eyes, and especially on their own coimtry- 
 men, whom they had little expected to meet there. The 
 latter informed them in what manner they had fallen into 
 the hands of the strangers, whom they described as a won- 
 derful race of beings, that had come thither for no harm, 
 but solely to be made acquainted with the country and its 
 inhabitants. This account was confirmed by the Spanish 
 commander, who persuaded the Indians to return in their 
 balsas and report what they had learned to their towns- 
 men, requesting them at the same time to provide his vessel 
 with refreshments, as it was his desire to enter into a friendly 
 intercourse with the natives. 
 
 "The people of Tumbez were gathered along the shore, and 
 were gazing with unutterable amazement on the floating 
 castle, which, now having dropped anchor, rode lazily at its 
 moorings in their bay. They eagerly listened to the accounts 
 of their countrymen, and instantly reported the affair to the 
 curaca or ruler of the district, who, conceiving that the 
 strangers must be beings of a superior order, prepared at 
 once to comply with their request. It was not long before 
 several balsas were seen steering for the vessel laden with 
 bananas, plantains, yuca, Indian corn, sweet potatoes, pine- 
 apples, cocoanuts, and other rich products of the bountiful 
 vale of Tumbez. . . . 
 
 "On the day following, the Spanish captain sent one of 
 his own men, named Alonso de Molina, on shore. . . . 
 Toward evening his emissary returned with a fresh supply of 
 fruit and vegetables, that the friendly people sent to the 
 
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 vessel. Molina had a wondrous tale to tell. On landing, 
 he was surrounded by the natives, who expressed the greatest 
 astonishment at his dress, his fair complexion and his long 
 beard. 
 
 "Mohna was then escorted to the residence of the curaca, 
 whom he found living in much state, with porters stationed 
 at his doors, and with a quantity of gold and silver vessels 
 from which he was served. He was then taken to different 
 parts of the Indian city, saw a fortress built of rough stone, 
 and though low, spreading over a large extent of ground. 
 Near this was a temple; and the Spaniard's description of its 
 decorations, blazing with gold and silver, seemed so extrava- 
 gant, that Pizarro, distrusting his whole account, resolved 
 to send a more discreet and trustworthy emissary on the fol- 
 lowing day." 
 
 After spending several days at Tumbez, they continued 
 their cruise to nine degrees south and then having "spied 
 out the land" they turned north. 
 
 "On leaving Tumbez on their return voyages," writes 
 Prescott, "the adventurers steered directly for Panama 
 . . . and, after an absence of at least eighteen months, 
 found themselves once more safely riding at anchor in the 
 harbor of Panama. 
 
 "The sensation caused by their arrival was great, as might 
 have been expected. For there were few even among the 
 most sanguine of their friends, who did not imagine that 
 they had long since paid for their temerity, and fallen victims 
 to the climate or the natives, or miserably perished in a 
 watery grave. Their joy was proportionably great, there- 
 fore, as they saw the wanderers now returned, not only in 
 health and safety, but with certain tidings of the fair countries 
 which had so long eluded their grasp. It was a moment of 
 proud satisfaction to the three associates, who, in spite of 
 obloquy, derision, and every impediment which the distrust 
 
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TEE CONQUEST OF PERU 241 
 
 of friends or the coldness of government could throw in their 
 way, had persevered in their great enterprise until they had 
 established the truth of what had been so generally de- 
 nounced as a chimera. . . . 
 
 " Yet the governor, Pedro de los Rios, did not seem, even 
 at this moment, to be possessed with a conviction of the 
 magnitude of the discovery, or, perhaps, he was discom-aged 
 by its very magnitude. When the associates, now with more 
 confidence, applied to him for patronage in an undertaking 
 too vast for their individual resources, he coldly replied, 
 'He had no desire to build up other estates at the expense 
 of his own: nor would he be led to throw away more lives than 
 had already been sacrificed by the cheap display of gold and 
 silver toys and a few Indian sheep ! ' " 
 
 They had no recourse from this rebuff except an appeal to 
 Caesar. So Pizarro set out for Spain. It is typical of the 
 times that no one of the three confederates trusted the others. 
 They made Pizarro bind himself with endless oaths not to 
 play them false. It was a useless precaution. 
 
 He arrived in Spain in 1528 and one of the first familiar 
 faces he encoimtered was that of the Bachelor Enciso. He 
 promptly clapped Pizarro in prison for a debt dating back 
 to the early days of Santa Maria de la Antigua. However; 
 Charles V, hearing of his arrival, ordered his liberation and 
 directed him to come at once to court. Here he foimd his 
 kinsman, Hernand Cortes, freshly returned from the con-* 
 quest of Mexico. 
 
 Pizarro's reception at court was enthusiastic. He was 
 granted ample authority to pursue his adventure and was 
 created Governor, Captain-General, Adelantado and Alguacil 
 Mayor of the new realm, with a salary of 725,000 maravedis^ 
 An elaborate contract called "The Capitulation" was drawn 
 up between him and the crown. It is dated July 29, 1529. i 
 
 Pizarro visited his native town of Truxillo and gathered 
 
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242 PANAMA 
 
 up his brothers, three of whom, like himself, were illegitimate. 
 Oviedo says of them, "They were all poor, and as proud as 
 poor, and their greed for gain was in proportion to their 
 penury." They proved to be a very fruitful source of 
 trouble in the New World. 
 
 In January, 1530, with less than one hundred and fifty 
 men, Pizarro sailed from Spain. He arrived safely at Nombre 
 de Dios where he foimd his two associates waiting for him. 
 Their indignation was immense when they heard the terms of 
 the capitulation. In spite of his solemn promises to deal 
 justly with them, Pizarro had monopolized all the fat offices. 
 To be sure, Luque got what he wanted, the bishopric of 
 Tumbez, and the title of " Protector of the Indians of Peru." 
 An illiterate soldier like Pizarro could scarcely ask for 
 ecclesiastical offices. But there was nothing left for Almagro 
 except command of the fortress of Tumbez with a salary of 
 300,000 maravedis and the rank of "hidalgo." However, 
 the quarrel was at last patched up, at least outwardly, and 
 they passed over to Panama. 
 
 "No time was now lost in preparing for the voyage," writes 
 Prescott. "It found little encouragement, however, among 
 the colonists of Panama, who were too familiar with the 
 sufferings on the former expeditions to care to imdertake 
 another, even with the rich bribe that was held out to allure 
 them. A few of the old company were content to follow out 
 the adventure to its close; and some additional stragglers 
 collected from the province of Nicaragua. . . . But 
 Pizarro made slender additions to the force brought over 
 with him from Spain, though this body was in better con- 
 dition, and in respect to arms, ammunition, and equipment 
 generally, was on a much better footing than his former levies. 
 The whole number did not exceed one hundred and eighty 
 men, with twenty-seven horses for the cavalry. . . . 
 
 "On St. John the Evangelist's day, the banners of the 
 
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TEE CONQUEST OF FESU 243 
 
 company and the royal standard were consecrated in the 
 cathedral church of Panama; a sermon was preached before 
 the little army by Fray Juan de Vargas, one of the Domini- 
 cans selected by the government for the Peruvian mission; 
 and mass was performed, and the sacrament administered 
 to every soldier previous to his engaging in the crusade 
 against the infidel." 
 
 The little fleet sailed from the roadstead of Panama early 
 in January, 1531. Very few of the hundred and eighty men 
 ever came back to Panama, but hundreds and thousands of 
 men left Panama to follow their sea trail. 
 
 Shortly afterward, Hernando de Soto, who was later to 
 discover the Mississippi, set out with a hundred men and 
 some horses to support Pizarro. A year later Almagro sailed 
 with a hundred and fifty men. And then for many months 
 the people of Panama heard no more of Peru. They went 
 about their petty round of slave driving and as the weeks 
 slipped by with no news, they began again to poke fun at 
 the crazy Padre Luque. 
 
 A little more than a year after Almagro had sailed, in 1533, 
 the lookouts descried some ships beating up from the south. 
 Altogether, in the three installments, eight ships had gone 
 down the coast. There were only two coming back. One 
 can imagine how the populace crowded down to the beach, 
 how the professional skeptics must have said, "I told you so." 
 How worried the Father Luque must have been. 
 
 Hernando Pizarro was on board. He was bringing the 
 King's fifth of the Inca's ransom. Senor Clemencin, of the 
 Royal Academy of History at Madrid, made a deep study 
 of the relative value of Spanish currency at the time of the 
 discovery and our own money. According to his estimate, 
 the 1,326,539 pesos of gold to which the Inca's ransom 
 amounted would weigh almost as much as $4,000,000 in 
 modem gold, and have a purchasing value in those days 
 
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244 PANAMA 
 
 equal to four times as much. Besides the King's fifth, Her- 
 nando Pizarro had with him about $6,000,000 belonging to 
 individuals. 
 
 The effect of all this wealth on Panama was tremendous. 
 No one called Luque "loco" any more. Everyone cursed 
 themselves that they had remained scoffing at home. Ex- 
 cept for the strenuous efforts of the governor the colony 
 would have been depopulated. The tide had definitely turn- 
 ed southward. Ship after ship carried hungry adventurers 
 down the coast. 
 
 Hernando Pizarro proceeded to Spain. He arrived in 
 Seville in January, 1534. His appearance created an im- 
 mense sensation. 
 
 "In a short time," Prescott writes, "that cavaUer saw 
 himself at the head of one of the most mmierous and well- 
 appointed armaments, probably, that had left the shores 
 of Spain since the great fleet of Ovando, in the time of 
 Ferdinand and Isabella. It was scarcely more fortunate 
 than this. Hardly had Hernando put to sea, when a violent 
 tempest fell on the squadron, and compelled him to return 
 to port and refit. At length he crossed the ocean, and 
 reached the little harbor of Nombre de Dios in safety. But 
 no preparations had been made for his coming, and, as he was 
 detained here some time before he could pass the mountains, 
 his company suffered greatly from scarcity of food. In their 
 extremity the most unwholesome articles were greedily 
 devoured, and many a cavalier spent his little savings to 
 procure himself a miserable subsistence. Disease, as usual, 
 trod closely in the track of famine, and numbers of the \m- 
 fortunate adventurers, sinking under the unaccustomed heats 
 of the climate, perished on thevery threshold of discovery." 
 
 But the passage of Hernando Pizarro, on his way to Spain 
 with this immense wealth, had an even greater effect on the 
 towns of Nombre de Dios and Panama. The Isthmus had 
 
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TSB CONQUEST OF PEBV 245 
 
 become a thoroughfare. Not only were the riches of the Incas 
 greater than those of Mexico, but also more enduring. Even 
 after the country had been glutted of its ready wrought 
 gold and silver, the slave-worked mines continued to produce 
 rich returns. Of all this wealth crossing the Isthmus some 
 of course stuck by the way. The rapid rush of immigrants, 
 the growing trade, forced the development of industry. 
 Ships had to be built, armor made and repaired, expeditions 
 outfitted. Panama had a boom! 
 
 Civil war soon broke out in Peru. The long-standing feud 
 between Francisco Pizarro and Almagro came to an issue. 
 Almagro was executed on a rather slender case of treason. 
 His followers rallied about his half-breed son Diego and they 
 in time assassinated Francisco Pizarro. A new, and on 
 the whole, able governor, Vasco de Castro, arrived in 1541, 
 but he was soon succeeded by a blunderer named Vasco 
 Nunez Vela, who was sent out to enforce the "new laws" 
 in defence of the natives which had been proclaimed by the 
 throne on the instance of Las Casas. 
 
 Vasco Nunez Vela, the governor who was sent out to 
 administer them, was a stupid man, a martinet of violent 
 temper. Almost as soon as he arrived in Peru, he developed a 
 suspicious temper, throwing his predecessor de Castro into 
 prison and very shortly murdering with his own hand a very 
 popular and apparently upright man named Suarez de Car- 
 bajal. This and other acts of senseless tyranny soon made 
 him insupportable and he was thrown into prison by the 
 Audiencia, or judicial body, after an informal impeachment. 
 The judges then pronounced Gonzalo Pizarro, a brother of 
 Francisco, viceroy. Vasco Nunez Vela, escaped from his 
 captors, rallied a small army and took the field. On January 
 18, 1546, he was utterly defeated by Pizarro, and being taken 
 prisoner was beheaded by a negro slave belonging to a brother 
 of the Carbajal whom he had himself murdered. 
 
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246 PANAMA 
 
 This victory left Gonzalo Pizarro in control of the vast 
 empire of Peru. He had a large and seasoned army, the 
 silver mines of Potosi were bringing him in a revenue which 
 rivaled that of any European ruler. His large navy gave 
 him command of the sea, and his admiral, Hinojosa, occupied 
 the Isthmus. He was indeed in a position which might well 
 have turned the head of a man less proud and ambitious. 
 It would have been a bold prophet who would have said that 
 the King of Spain could send out a strong enough force to 
 reduce him. First of all such an armament would have 
 had to cross the Atlantic, then fight its way across the moun- 
 tain breastworks of the Isthmus. Then it would have had to 
 build a navy capable of overthrowing Hinojosa, and then at 
 last meet the flower of Spanish knighthood and desperado- 
 dom in the almost inaccessible Andes. Any army which 
 could have fought its way so far in the face of the fevers 
 would indeed have been remarkable. 
 
 However, within two years Gonzalo Pizarro was beheaded 
 by a legitimate Spanish viceroy. The man who did it was 
 a priest, Pedro de la Gasca. He was undoubtedly the most 
 remarkable man who ever crossed the Isthmus. 
 
 De la Gasca was born near the end of the fifteenth cen- 
 tury; he had been educated in the famous university of 
 Salamanca and had become a member of the Council of the 
 Inquisition. He was a man of humble exterior, but richly 
 endowed with quiet, diplomatic tact, of invincible strength 
 of will and above all, a keen judge of men. He had already 
 distinguished himself in many delicate situations, in which 
 he had always managed to secure exactly the outcome desired 
 by his royal master. He was one of the ablest and most 
 loyal agents that ever was found by an autocrat. 
 
 When, in 1545, Charles V heard of the overthrow of his 
 governor, Vasco Nunez Vela — the news of his defeat and 
 death did not come to court until several months later — he 
 
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tb:e conquest of pesu 247 
 
 realized the impossibility of reducing Peru to obedience by 
 an armed force and he turned to de la Gasca. Although 
 past the prime of life, the priest accepted the commission. 
 He, however, stipulated that he should have absolute 
 authority to arrange things as he felt best. "For myself," 
 he said, "I ask neither salary nor compensation of any 
 kind. I want no pomp of state nor military force. I 
 hope to do the work intrusted to me with my breviary and 
 stole." 
 
 Accompanied by Alonso de Alvarado, an officer who had 
 served under Pizarro and who knew personally most of the 
 soldiers of Peru, de la Gasca set out from Spain on the 26th 
 of May, 1546. About the middle of July he arrived off the 
 coast of the Isthmus. 
 
 Hernan Mexia had been put in command of Nombre de 
 Dios by Gonzalo Pizarro and he had expHcit instructions 
 not to allow any hostile forces from Spain to land. But he 
 had no orders to exclude a simple priest. The politic course 
 of this master diplomat, while on the Isthmus, is very ably 
 described by Prescott: 
 
 "The candid and conciliatory language of the president 
 (de la Gasca) . . . made a sensible impression on Mexia. 
 He admitted the force of Gasca's reasoning, and flattered 
 himself that Gonzalo Pizarro would not be insensible to it. 
 Though attached to the fortunes of that leader, he was loyal 
 in heart, and, hke most of the party, had been led by accident, 
 rather than by design, into rebelUon; and now that so good 
 an opportunity occurred to do it with safety, he was not 
 unwilling to retrace his steps, and secure the royal favor by 
 thus early returning to his allegiance. This he signified to 
 the president, assuring him of his hearty cooperation in the 
 good work of reform. 
 
 "This was an important step for Gasca. It was yet more 
 important for him to secure the obedience of Hinojosa, the 
 
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248 PANAMA 
 
 governor of Panama, in the harbor of which city lay Pizarro's 
 navy, consisting of two-and-twenty vessels. . . . 
 
 "The president first sent Mexia and Alonso de Alvarado to 
 prepare the way for his own coming by advising Hinojosa 
 of the purport of his mission. He soon after followed, and 
 was received by that commander with every show of outward 
 respect. But while the latter listened with deference to 
 the representations of Gasca, they failed to work the change 
 in him which they had wrought in Mexia. . . . 
 
 "Hinojosa was not satisfied; and he immediately wrote to 
 Pizarro, acquainting him with Gasca's arrival, and with the 
 object of his mission, . . . But before the departure 
 of the ship, Gasca secured the services of a Dominican friar, 
 who had taken his passage on board for one of the towns on 
 the coast. This man he intrusted with manifestos, setting 
 forth the purport of his visit, and proclaiming the aboUtion 
 of the ordinances, with a free pardon to all who returned 
 to their obedience. . . . These papers the Dominican en- 
 gaged to distribute himself, among the principal cities of the 
 colony; and he faithfully kept his word, though as it proved 
 at no little hazard of his life. The seeds thus scattered 
 might, many of them, fall on barren groimd. But the greater 
 part, the president trusted, would take root in the hearts of 
 the people; and he patiently waited for the harvest. 
 
 "Meanwhile, though he failed to remove the scruples of 
 Hinojosa, the courteous manners of Gasca, and his mild, 
 persuasive discourse, had a visible effect on other individuals 
 with whom he had daily intercourse. Several of these, and 
 among them some of the principal cavaliers in Panama, as 
 well as in the squadron, expressed their willingness to join 
 the royal cause, and aid the president in maintaining it. 
 . . . He, at length, also prevailed on the governor of 
 Panama to furnish him with the means of entering into 
 communication with Gonzalo Pizarro himself; and a ship 
 
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TEE CONQUEST OF PESU 249 
 
 was dispatched to Lima, bearing a letter from Charles the 
 Fifth addressed to that chief, with an epistle also from Gasca. 
 
 "The emperor's communication was couched in the most 
 condescending and even conciliatory terms. 
 
 "Gasca's own letter was pitched in the same polite key. 
 He remarked, however, that the exigencies which had 
 hitherto determined Gonzalo's line of conduct existed no 
 longer. All that had been asked was conceded. There was 
 nothing now to contend for; and it only remained for Pizarro 
 and his followers to show their loyalty and the sincerity of 
 their principles by obedience to the crown. Hitherto, the 
 president said, Pizarro had been in arms against the viceroy; 
 and the people had supported him as against a common 
 enemy. If he prolonged the contest, that enemy must be 
 his sovereign. In such a struggle, the people would be sure 
 to desert him; and Gasca conjured him, by his honor as a 
 cavalier, and his duty as a loyal vassal, to respect the royal 
 authority, and not rashly provoke a contest which must 
 prove to the world that his conduct hitherto had been dic- 
 tated less by patriotic motives than by selfish ambition. . . 
 
 "Weeks and months rolled away, while the president still 
 remained at Panama, where, indeed, as his communica- 
 tions were jealously cut off with Peru, he might be said to 
 be detained as a sort of prisoner of state. Meanwhile, both 
 he and Hinojosa were looking with anxiety for the arrival 
 of some messenger from Pizarro, who should indicate the 
 manner in which the president's mission was to be received 
 by that chief. The governor of Panama was not blind to the 
 perilous position in which he was himself placed, nor to the 
 madness of provoking a contest with the Court of Castile. 
 But he had a reluctance, not too often shared by the cavaliers 
 of Peru, to abandon the fortunes of the commander who had 
 reposed in him so great confidence. Yet he trusted that this 
 commander would embrace the opportunity now offered, of 
 
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 placing himself and the country in a state of permanent 
 security. 
 
 "He (Pizarro) learned, with no little uneasiness, from 
 Hinojosa, of the landing of President Gasca, and the purport 
 of his mission. But his discontent was mitigated, when he 
 understood that the new envoy had come without military 
 array, without any of the ostentatious trappings of office to 
 impose on the minds of the vulgar, but alone, as it were, in 
 the plain garb of an humble missionary. Pizarro could not 
 discern, that under this modest exterior lay a moral power, 
 stronger than his own steel-clad battalions, which, operating 
 silently on public opinion, the more sure that it was silent, 
 was even now undermining his strength, like a subterraneous 
 channel eating away the foundations of some stately edifice, 
 that stands secure in its pride of place! 
 
 "But, although Gonzalo Pizarro could not foresee this re- 
 sult, he saw enough to satisfy him that it would be safest to 
 exclude the president from Peru. The tidings of his arrival, 
 moreover, quickened his former purpose of sending an em- 
 bassy to Spain to vindicate his late proceedings, and request 
 the royal confirmation of his authority. The person placed at 
 the head of this mission was Lorenzo de Aldana. . . . 
 
 "Aldana, fortified with his dispatches, sped swiftly on his 
 voyage to Panama. Through him the governor learned the 
 actual state of feeling in the councils of Pizarro; and he 
 listened with regret to the envoy's conviction, that no terms 
 would be admitted by that chief or his companions, that 
 did not confirm him in the possession of Peru. 
 
 "Aldana was soon admitted to an audience by the presi- 
 dent. It was attended with very different results from what 
 had followed from the conferences with Hinojosa; forPizarro's 
 envoy was not armed by nature with that stubborn panoply 
 which had hitherto made the other proof against all argu- 
 ment. He now learned with surprise the nature of Gasca's 
 
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THM CONQUEST OF PERU 251 
 
 powers, and the extent of the royal concessions to the in- 
 surgents. He had embarked with Gonzalo Pizarro on a 
 desperate venture, and he found that it had proved successful. 
 The colony had nothing more, in reason, to demand; and, 
 though devoted in heart to his leader, he did not feel bound 
 by any principle of honor to take part with him, solely to 
 gratify his ambition, in a wild contest with the Crown that 
 must end in inevitable ruin. He consequently abandoned 
 his mission to Castile, , . . and announced his purpose to 
 accept the pardon proffered by the government, and support 
 the president in settling the affairs of Peru. He subsequently 
 wrote, it should be added, to his former commander in Lima, 
 stating the course he had taken, and earnestly recommending 
 the latter to follow his example. 
 
 " The influence of this precedent in so important a person 
 as Aldana, aided, doubtless, by the conviction that no change 
 was now to be expected in Pizarro, while delay would be 
 fatal to himself, at length prevailed over Hinojosa's scruples, 
 and he intimated to Gasca his willingness to place the fleet 
 under his command. The act was performed with great 
 pomp and ceremony. ... On the 19th of November, 
 1546, Hinojosa and his captains resigned their commissions 
 into the hands of the president. They next took the oaths 
 of allegiance to Castile; a free pardon for all past offences was 
 proclaimed by the herald from the scaffold erected in the 
 great square of the city; and the president, greeting them as 
 true and loyal vassals of the Crown, restored their several 
 commissions to the cavaliers. The royal standard of Spain 
 was then unfurled on board the squadron, and proclaimed 
 that the stronghold of Pizarro's power had passed away from 
 him forever." 
 
 The rest was easy. The fleet sailed down to Peru. De 
 la Gasca, by the same arguments, the same appeal to the 
 inherent loyalty of the Spanish cavaliers, won over one of 
 
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252 PANAMA 
 
 Pizarro's allies after another. When the time was ripe and 
 his forces strong enough he laid aside his conciUatory manner 
 and took the field. 
 
 On the 8th of April, 1548, the Royalist and Rebel armies 
 met at Xaquixaguana. Half of Pizarro's men threw down 
 their arms at the last moment and went over to de la Gasca. 
 The rest were utterly defeated. Within a few days Gonzalo 
 Pizarro and his principal general, Carbajal, were beheaded. 
 
 Prescott sums up the character of de la Gasca in this 
 paragraph: 
 
 "In the long procession which has passed in review before 
 us, we have seen only the mail-clad cavalier, brandishing 
 his bloody lance, and mounted on his war-horse, riding over 
 the helpless natives, or battling with his own friends and 
 brothers; fierce, arrogant, and cruel, urged on by the lust of 
 gold, or the scarce more honorable love of a bastard glory. 
 Mingled with these qualities, indeed, we have seen sparkles 
 of the chivalrous and romantic temper which belongs to the 
 heroic age of Spain. But, with some honorable exceptions, it 
 was the scum of her chivalry that resorted to Peru, and took 
 service under the banner of the Pizarros. At the close of 
 this long array of iron warriors, we behold the poor and 
 humble missionary coming into the land on an errand of 
 mercy, and everjnvhere proclaiming the glad tidings of peace. 
 The means he employs are in perfect harmony with this end. 
 His weapons are argument and mild persuasion. It is the 
 reason he would conquer, not the body. He wins his way by 
 conviction, not by violence." 
 
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CHAPTER XVI 
 
 LAS CASAS 
 
 The Conquistadores, despite their romantic renown, were 
 villainous desperadoes. Bad as was Pedrarias, and it would 
 be hard to exaggerate his crimes, his brutalities were ex- 
 ceeded by his successors. The daring of these men, which 
 was immense, was surpassed by their cruelty. Their relig- 
 ious devotion in no way interfered with their vices. The 
 nardships they endured without flinching were tremendous, 
 but their treachery was as incredible. They were engaged 
 in a race for the Palms of Infamy and the finish was close. 
 
 The history of those days would be too depressing to 
 study if it were not illumined by the noble life of Don Fray 
 Bartholom^ de Las Casas. 
 
 "His career affords perhaps a solitary instance of a man, 
 who, being neither a conqueror, a discoverer nor an inventor, 
 has, by the pure force of benevolence, become so notable a 
 figure, that large portions of history cannot be written, or 
 at least cannot be understood, without the narrative of his 
 deeds. ... In early American history Las Casas is, 
 undoubtedly, the principal figure. ... He was an im- 
 portant person in reference to all that concerned the Indies, 
 during the reigns of Ferdinand the Cathohc, of Philip the 
 Handsome, of his son Charles the Fifth, and of Philip the 
 Second. . . . Take away all he said, and did, and 
 wrote, and preserved (for the early historians of the New 
 World owe the records of many of their most notable facts to 
 him), and the history of the conquest would lose a consider- 
 able portion of its most precious materials. 
 
 253 
 
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254 PANAMA 
 
 "It may be fearlessly asserted, that Las Casas had a 
 greater number of bitter enemies than any man who lived 
 in his time. . . . During his lifetime there was always 
 one person to maintain that strict justice should be done to 
 the Indians. . . . 
 
 "In the cause of the Indians, whether he upheld it in 
 speech, in writing, or in action, he appears never for one 
 moment to have swerved from the exact path of equity. 
 He has been justly called 'The Great Apostle of the Indies.' " 
 
 Las Casas was in the City of Panama in February, 1532, 
 and probably again two years later. But even if he had 
 never set foot on the Isthmus, he would, as Sir Arthur Helps 
 states in the above quotation, be a necessary part of its 
 history. 
 
 Born in Seville in 1474, he studied theology in the Uni- 
 versity of Salamanca and became a licentiate at eighteen. 
 When he was twenty-four he accompanied Columbus on his 
 third voyage. Two years after his return, in 1502, just 
 before the Great Admiral set sail on his last cruise, Las 
 Casas went out to Santo Domingo in the train of Nicolas 
 de Ovando, who had been appointed governor to replace 
 Bobadilla. 
 
 He was the first priest ordained in the Indies, and seems 
 to have led a quiet and unobserved life imtil he was thirty- 
 six, at which time he accompanied the expedition of Diego 
 Velasquez which went out to conquer Cuba. 
 
 The Clerigo, as Las Casas always calls himself, developed 
 a marked talent for conciliating the natives. One tribe 
 after another submitted through his mediation, without 
 recourse to arms. The common soldiers, however, viewed 
 these humane measures with open disgust. Conquest 
 without plunder was not to the liking of these freebooters. 
 In the village of Caonao, where many natives had gathered 
 to treat with Las Casas, one of the Spaniards suddenly 
 
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LAS CASAS 255 
 
 drew his sword and a massacre was started before the 
 Clerigo could interfere. The sight of the dead bodies, 
 piled "hke sheaves of corn," was, Las Casas tells us, the 
 thing which set him thinking. 
 
 The work of pacification had to be begun over again. 
 With infinite patience the Clerigo was able to regain the 
 confidence of the Indians. But it was of course impossible 
 for him to protect them against the brutality of his coim- 
 trymen. His work came to naught so far as the benefit of 
 the natives was concerned. However, as it is much easier 
 to massacre natives who have been pacified than to fight 
 tribes who are hostile, the officials appreciated the Clerigo's 
 activity and rewarded him with a "repartimiento" near 
 Havana. 
 
 This institution became so large an issue in the hfe of 
 Las Casas, that a few words of explanation are necessary. 
 After the conquest of a territory the land and natives were 
 divided by the governor among his friends by deeds of gift 
 called "repartimientos," which said that so many Indians, 
 under such a cacique, had been given to such a person to 
 command (encomienda) and which always ended with the 
 phrase, " and you are to teach them the things of our Holy 
 Cathohc Faith." Of course the hardened soldiers of the 
 Conquest very rarely allowed this final clause to interfere 
 . with the work of gold mining. They baptized their Indians 
 and made slaves of them. Las Casas accepted his reparti- 
 miento without question. Indeed, in the third book of his 
 "Historia de las Indias," he confesses that he "took no more 
 heed than the other Spaniards to bethink himself that his 
 Indians were imbelievers, and of the duty that there was 
 on his part to give them instruction, and to bring them to 
 the bosom of the Church of Christ." 
 
 He was forty years old when the light came to him. In 
 the year 1514, while preparing a sermon for the feast of 
 
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 Pentecost, he came across the thirty-fourth chapter of 
 Ecclesiasticus. He especially speaks of these verses as 
 having opened his eyes. 
 
 "He that sacrificeth of a thing wrongfully gotten, his 
 offering is ridiculous; and the gifts of unjust men are not 
 accepted. 
 
 "The Most High is not pleased with the offering of the 
 wicked: neither is he pacified for sin by the multitude of 
 sacrifices. 
 
 "Whoso bringeth an offering of the goods of the poor 
 doeth as one that killeth the son before his father's eyes. 
 
 "The bread of the needy is their life; he that defrauded 
 him thereof is a man of blood. 
 
 "He that taketh away his neighbor's living slayeth him; 
 and he that defraudeth the laborer of his hire is a blood- 
 shedder." 
 
 A truer "conversion" has never been recorded in history. 
 Something in those words, which he had probably read many 
 times before, changed the worldly-minded priest into an 
 ardent apostle. Inevitably one compares this to the con- 
 version of Coimt Tolstoi. Any social organization by which 
 some live idly from the forced work of others is in conflict 
 with the fundamental ethics of the Bible. It was as true 
 four centuries ago as it is to-day. Las Casas felt the system 
 of repartimientos to be un-Christian, and, like Tolstoi, he 
 decided to be a Christian. 
 
 First of all, it was necessary for him to surrender- his own 
 Indians. Although he knew that they would be given to 
 someone else who would work them to death, the answer to 
 any sermon of his would be his own repartimiento. So he 
 gave them up. 
 
 Las Casas was not one to allow rust to accumulate on his 
 resolution. Helps describes the beginning of his ministry 
 as follows: 
 
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LAS CASAS 257 
 
 "When preaching on the day of 'The Assumption of Our 
 Lady,' he took occasion to mention publicly the conclusion 
 he had come to as regards his own affairs, and also to urge 
 upon his congregation in the strongest manner his convic- 
 tion of the danger to their souls if they retained their reparti- 
 mientos of Indians. All were amazed; some were struck 
 with compimction; others were as much surprised to hear 
 it called a sin to make use of the Indians as if they had been 
 told it was sinful to make use of the beasts of the field. 
 
 "After Las Casas had uttered many exhortations both in 
 public and in private, and had found that they were of little 
 avail, he meditated how to go to the fountain-head of au- 
 thority, the King of Spain. The Clerigo's resources were ex- 
 hausted: he had not a maravedi, or the means of getting one, 
 except by selling a mare which was worth a hundred pesos." 
 
 The Clerigo was assisted by Pedro de Renteria, the one 
 friend who remained true to him — in the face of his sub- 
 versive attacks on private property. At Santo Domingo, 
 Las Casas was hospitably received by Pedro de Cordova, 
 the prelate of the Dominicans in America. This order, 
 which we most often think of as the fanatical advocates of 
 the Inquisition, became notable in the New World for their 
 humane interest in the natives. Father de C6rdova, know- 
 ing the ways of the world better than the Clerigo, could give 
 him little encouragement of reUef from the king, but he gave 
 him his blessing. In September, 1515, accompanied by two 
 Dominican brothers. Las Casas sailed for Spain. 
 
 About Christmas time the Clerigo arrived at Court and 
 was received by the old king. His fervid earnestness made 
 so strong an impression that he had been granted another 
 interview. It was prevented by the death of the king. 
 It is surprising how often Las Casas won over some power- 
 ful ally and then, just when things looked most hopeful, was 
 defeated by death and forced to begin all over again. 
 
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 He was not so successful in his effort to secure the favor 
 of the powerful Bishop of Burgos. Of this prelate, Helps 
 writes: 
 
 "The Bishop of Burgos was one of those ready, bold, 
 and dexterous men, with a great reputation for fidehty, 
 who are such favourites with princes. He went through so 
 many stages of preferment, that it is sometimes difficult to 
 trace him; and the student of early American history will 
 have a bad opinion of many Spanish bishops, if he does not 
 discover that it is Bishop Fonseca who reappears under vari- 
 ous designations. He held successively the Archdeaconate 
 of Seville, the Bishoprics of Badajoz, C6rdova, Palencia, 
 and Conde, the Archbishopric of Rosano (in Italy), with the 
 Bishopric of Burgos, besides the office of CapeUan mayor to 
 Isabella, and afterwards to Ferdinand." 
 
 His interview with the bishop was stormy. Unable to 
 move the smug courtier by his eloquence, he, as a last effort, 
 told him how seven thousand Indian children had perished 
 in three months. 
 
 "How does all this concern me or His Majesty, the 
 King?" the cynical Fonseca asked. 
 
 Las Casas told him that aU these infant souls would rise 
 up against him on the Day of Judgment, and left in a 
 rage. 
 
 The king died in January, 1516, and Las Casas imme- 
 diately went to Madrid to lay his case before the Cardinal 
 Ximenes and the Ambassador Adrian, who had been ap- 
 pointed regents until Charles should reach his majority. 
 Luckily for the Indians, the death of the old king excluded 
 the ubiquitous Fonseca from the councils for a time, and 
 the Clerigo was able to obtain an imprejudiced hearing from 
 the regents. Ximenes seems to have desired to rule the 
 colonies wisely. Shocked by the stories of the outrages 
 committed on the Indians, which the Clerigo told, he called 
 
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LAS CASAS 259 
 
 a Junta, or special council, to consider the affairs of the 
 Indies. 
 
 An incident occurred in one of these meetings which is 
 typical of Las Casas. The cardinal, wanting to know the 
 existing conditions, ordered a secretary to read the laws 
 which had been drawn up by the preceding council. The clerk 
 happened to be a retainer of Fonseca, and when he came to 
 a section which was patently imjust, he wilfully misread it to 
 shield his patron. Las Casas knew the law by heart and 
 protested that the clerk was wrong. Ximenes ordered the 
 man to reread it. He repeated his distortion. Las Casas 
 jumped up and exclaimed, "The law says no such thing." 
 The cardinal was vexed by the incident and told Las Casas 
 not to interrupt. But the man was not born who could still 
 the voice of the Clerigo when he thought he was right. 
 
 "Your Lordship, you can hang me, if the law says that!" 
 
 One of the councillors took the law and read it. Las 
 Casas was right. 
 
 "You can imagine," he writes, "that the clerk (whose 
 name, for his honor's sake, I will not give) wished that he 
 had never been bom." And he adds, "the Clerigo lost 
 nothing of the regard in which the Cardinal held him nor 
 in the credit which he put in his word." 
 
 The Junta drew up a code of laws for the Indies, prac- 
 tically at the dictation of Las Casas. This in itself was a 
 remarkable result to be accomplished by an unknown col- 
 onial priest, who had no aristocratic prestige, little learning 
 and no friends but those he could win by his own fervor. 
 But while the framing of good laws is easy under an auto- 
 cratic government, where the reformer has to convince only 
 a small group, the enforcement of good laws is very difficult 
 to achieve. In this case the administration was intrusted 
 to four fathers of the Jeronimite Order, who were sent 
 out to Santo Domingo with full powers. 
 
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 This code was long and complicated; the gist of it was the 
 abolition of slavery. It did not go as far in that direction 
 as the Clerigo wished, but it was a long step forward. Natu- 
 rally it encountered opposition. It attacked the pocket- 
 books of many of "the best people" of the day. When the 
 "colonial lobby" at Madrid found that they could not reach 
 the Cardinal Ximenes, they turned their attention to the 
 Jeronimite fathers. Las Casas boldly asserts that the 
 "interests" succeeded in fixing them. 
 
 Certain it is that the good fathers proceeded very cau- 
 tiously in the enforcement of the laws. They arrived in 
 Santo Domingo in December, 1516. Whether or not they 
 were actually bribed it is impossible to determine. They 
 were men of peace. If they had been of one of the sterner 
 and more militant orders they might have done their duty. 
 As yet the conquests had not been broad enough to firmly 
 establish the system of repartimientos. It might have been 
 stamped out on the islands before it gained a foothold on 
 the continent. But brought up in the seclusion of their 
 cloisters, disciplined in humility, accustomed to bow down 
 before the mighty, these fathers proved imequal to their 
 great task. They made friends with the mammon of un- 
 righteousness. 
 
 Las Casas, who had been given the title of "Protector of 
 the Indians," but no powers, arrived in Santo Domingo 
 shortly after them. He, of course, was outraged at their 
 ineffectiveness. In order to force them to action, he 
 brought an impeachment against the judges of the colony, 
 who were among the worst offenders. He called it "vma 
 terrible acusacion." What the outcome of this proceeding 
 was we do not know. But it forever branded Las Casas as 
 a "disturber of the peace." The Jeronomite fathers said 
 he was a torch which threatened to set everything afire.. 
 He had definitely placed himself with the "muck-rakers" 
 
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LAS CASAS 261 
 
 and "undesirable citizens." Hopeless of accomplishing any- 
 thing in Santo Domingo, he returned to Spain in May, 1517 
 — only to find his good friend the Cardinal Ximenes at the 
 point of death. 
 
 The government, for Charles V was still a minor, now fell 
 into the hands of two Flemish nobles, Wilham, Lord of 
 Chi^ves and Jean Salvage, whom the Spaniards called 
 Selvagius. These ministers, although accused of taking 
 small interest in Spanish affairs, the poorest province of all 
 the vast domains of the Spanish crown, gave considerable 
 attention to colonial matters. Las Casas received a hear- 
 ing. As usual, his ardent eloquence won their respect. The 
 Chancellor, Selvagius, took up the matter with the young 
 king and received authority to draw up more laws. 
 
 The Clerigo was a man who was always learning. He had 
 come to realize that there was an imperative need for laborers 
 in the colony. No laws could alter that. Either the colo- 
 nies must be abandoned or laborers foimd for the mines, the 
 fields and for transportation. The only way to get work out 
 of the nomadic Indians was to enslave them. If he wished 
 to rescue them it was necessary to find other labor. 
 
 With this idea in mind he drew up an elaborate scheme 
 for the chancellor. The main feature was the stimulation 
 of peasant immigration from Spain. So far the colonists were 
 of three classes, gentlemen adventurers, mercenary soldiers 
 and common sailors. None of them furnished a reliable 
 labor force. Every year famine killed himdreds of peasants 
 in Spain. It was an ambitious emigration scheme — they 
 were to be transported free, given fields and tools; but the 
 wealth flowing into the royal treasury from the colonies 
 certainly warranted the expense. 
 
 But Las Casas was always unexpectedly running up against 
 "vested interests." He looked directly to his goal of justice 
 and was always surprised to find that "property rights" stood 
 
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 above "human rights." That the whole feudal aristocracy of 
 Spain would rise as a body in indignation against a scheme 
 which offered their starving serfs a chance to escape from vil- 
 lainage never occurred to him. The peasants were eager to go. 
 In one village of two hundred souls, Berlanga, seventy appUed 
 for permission. Many of them gave as their reason their 
 desire to escape from the seignors and bring up their children 
 "in a free land under royal jurisdiction." The outcry of the 
 nobility against this incendiary priest was so great that the 
 scheme fell through. 
 
 The Bishop Fonseca had again come into power after the 
 death of Ximenes. He was only too glad to grasp this oppor- 
 timity to thwart his old enemy, Las Casas. 
 
 Among other recommendations in the Clerigo's project to 
 relieve the Indians was one which has been often cited 
 against him by his enemies. He advocated the importation 
 of negro slaves. This was certainly borrowing from Peter 
 on behalf of Paul. It is well to remember, as mitigating 
 circumstances, that negro slavery existed in these United 
 States up to fifty years ago. Four centuries ago no voice 
 had been raised against it. While Las Casas had with his 
 own eyes seen the horrors of the enforced mine labors of the 
 Indians, the brutality of their conquerors, their speedy 
 death, most of the negro slaves he had seen were body or 
 house servants. The suggestion did not originate with him. 
 His recommendation was rather to regulate the slave-trade, 
 than, as is often asserted, to create it. 
 
 The surprising thing is not that he proposed this measure, 
 which does not seem to have shocked any of his contempo- 
 aries, but that he repented of it. Years afterwards he 
 wrote: "This advice, that license should be given to bring 
 negro slaves to these lands, the Clerigo Casas first gave, not 
 considering the injustice with which the Portuguese take 
 them, and make them slaves; which advice, after he had 
 
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LAS CASAS 263 
 
 apprehended the nature of the thing, he would not have 
 given for all he had in the world. For he always held that 
 they had been made slaves unjustly and tyrannically; for 
 the same reason holds good of them as of the Indians." 
 
 Of all the proposals of his elaborate programme of reform, 
 most of which was farsighted and wise, only the one which 
 was utterly bad was accepted. 
 
 Absolutely defeated in all his efforts by the influence of 
 greed, Las Casas tried to think out some remedy which, 
 while benefiting the Indians, would at the same time be 
 attractive to the mercenary people who possessed the powers 
 of government. His scheme took the form of a plan of 
 colonization. He wanted to create a lay order of Christian 
 Knights who would be willing to settle some portion of the 
 mainland and while primarily interested in bringing the 
 natives to Christianity would also be able to guarantee an 
 attractive income to the Crown. He thought it would be 
 possible to make a missionary crusade produce dividends. 
 
 His project, noble in its conception and compoimded with 
 considerable common-sense, seems bizarre and unpractical as 
 we read of it to-day. But it was a bizarre age. It excited 
 a great deal of violent discussion. Among others who ap- 
 proved of it were the new Premier, Gattinara, an intensely 
 practical and worldly man, and Pedro de C6rdova, the 
 Dominican prelate of Santo Domingo, than whom no more 
 spiritually minded churchman ever came to America. How- 
 ever, anything suggested by Las Casas was sure to be at- 
 tacked. The Clerigo seems to have ignored the ribald 
 jokes with dignity. But in his history he tells of one 
 criticism which seems to have woimded him deeply. The 
 licentiate Aguirre, a man renowned for his godliness, who 
 had always been an able supporter of Las Casas, was shocked 
 when he heard of all these business negotiations, and said, 
 Las Casas tells us, "that such a manner of preaching the 
 
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 Gospels grieved him deeply, for it showed an interest in 
 temporal affairs, which he had not before suspected in the 
 Clerigo." Helps gives an almost literal translation of the 
 incident as recorded by Las Casas: 
 
 "Las Casas, having heard what Aguirre had said, took 
 occasion to speak to him one day in the following terms: 
 'Senor, if you were to see our Lord Jesus Christ maltreated, 
 vituperated, and afSicted, would you not implore with all 
 your might that those who had him in their power would 
 give him to you, that you might serve and worship him?' 
 'Yes,' said Aguirre. 'Then,' replied Las Casas, 'if they 
 would not give him to you, but would sell him, would you 
 redeem him?' 'Without a doubt.' 'Well, then, Senor,' 
 rejoined Las Casas, 'that is what I have done, for I have 
 left in the Indies Jesus Christ, our Lord, suffering stripes, 
 and affictions, and crucifixion, not once but thousands of 
 times, at the hands of the Spaniards, who destroy and deso- 
 late those Indian nations, taking from them the opportunity 
 of conversion and penitence, so that they die without faith 
 and without sacraments." 
 
 "Then Las Casas went on to explain how he had sought to 
 remedy these things in the way that Aguirre would most have 
 approved. To this the answer had been, that the King 
 would have no rents, wherefore, when he. Las Casas, saw 
 that his opponents would sell him the gospel, he had offered 
 those temporal inducements which Aguirre had heard of 
 and disapproved. 
 
 "The licentiate considered this a sufficient answer, and 
 so, I think, would any reasonable man." 
 
 In this, as in every project of the Clerigo's, the Bishop 
 Fonseca was an active opponent. The plan might never 
 have been approved of were it not that the news of many 
 recent scandals came to court at this time. A letter came 
 from Fray Francisco de Sant Roman, a monk in Panama, 
 
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LAS CASAS 265 
 
 telling of the infamous raid of Pedrarias's Alcalde, Espinosa, 
 in which 40,000 Indians had been killed. 
 
 Oviedo, the historian who had gone out to Castilla del 
 Oro with Pedrarias, had returned to court and was pro- 
 testing against the crimes of that governor. Not long after- 
 wards, Quevedo, the Bishop of Darien, arrived with fresh 
 charges. 
 
 Las Casas, who like his Master had an especial talent for 
 baiting the Pharisees, soon came to an argument with this 
 oily prelate. "Words ran high, and the Clerigo, who was by- 
 no means afraid of a bishop, brought the quarrel to a close 
 by saying that unless Quevedo returned all the money he 
 had wrimg from his flock he had less chance of salvation 
 than Judas Iscariot. 
 
 The king, hearing of this tilt, and dearly loving the scho- 
 lastic disputations of the day, wherein the subtlest argu- 
 ments joined hands with the crudest invectives, summoned 
 them both before him to have it out. The bishop spoke 
 first, and among other things said that five years in the 
 colonies had convinced him that the Indians were by nature 
 slaves. 
 
 The Clerigo's speech is too long to reproduce, and the 
 style of oratory then in vogue is no longer fashionable. 
 But Las Casas had that rare gift of eloquence, shared by 
 such men as Savonarola, which can for a time lift the most 
 worldly man to an appreciation of spiritual values. He 
 completely won his hearers. 
 
 When he finished, a Franciscan father, who had just re- 
 turned from the Indies, spoke. 
 
 "My lord," he said, "I have been certain years in the 
 island of Hispaniola, and I was commanded with others to 
 go and visit and take the number of Indians in the island, 
 and we found that they were so many thousand. After- 
 wards, at the end of two years, a similar charge was again 
 
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 given to me, and we found that there had perished so many 
 thousands. And thus the infinity of people who were in 
 that island has been destroyed. Now, if the blood of one 
 person unjustly put to death was of such effect that it was 
 not removed out of the sight of God until he had taken ven- 
 geance for it, and the blood of the others never ceases to 
 exclaim Vindica sanguinem nostrum, Deus noster, what will 
 the blood do of such innumerable people as have perished in 
 those lands under such great tyranny and injustice? Then, 
 by the blood of Jesus Christ and by the wounds of St. 
 Francis, I pray and entreat Your Majesty that you would 
 find a remedy for such wickedness and such destruction of 
 people, as perish daily there, so that the divine justice may 
 not pour out its severe indignation upon all of us." 
 
 It was a short speech, but so fervent and impressive that 
 Las Casas says that it seemed to all present as if they were 
 listening to words from the Day of Judgment. 
 
 The king was deeply touched and ordered the Council of 
 the Indies to do all in their power to further the project of 
 Las Casas. The necessary decrees received the royal signa- 
 ture on the 19th of May, 1520. Very shortly Las Casas 
 sailed to Santo Domingo, where he hoped to recruit the 
 knights for his crusade. But when he touched at Porto 
 Rico, en route, he found that once more his hopes were 
 shattered. War had broken out on the coast of Venezuela, 
 the very territory which had been assigned to him. Arrived 
 in Santo Domingo, his old enemies again attacked him. This 
 time they declared that his ship was imseaworthy and kept 
 him a practical prisoner until the slaves, which the expedition 
 into his territory were capturing, began to appear in the 
 market of Santo Domingo. Then, when it was too late for 
 any chance of success for his scheme of friendly coloniza- 
 tion, they let him go. He arrived at Cumand at last to 
 find the country round about devastated. 
 
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LAS CASAS 267 
 
 Broken in spirit, he returned to Santo Domingo and 
 entered the Dominican Monastery in 1522. He was forty- 
 eight years old when he became a monlc. His retirement 
 from the world seemed a surrender and there was joy in the 
 camp of his enemies. 
 
 We know very httle of his life during these years of seclu- 
 sion. It is probable that he began work on his great "His- 
 toria de las Indias." Certainly he spent much time in 
 study, for when after eight years he emerged from his retreat 
 he was a learned man. Too learned, anyone is apt to say, 
 who reads his writings, for they are cluttered up with endless 
 quotations from the Classics and from the Church Fathers. 
 But barren as this scholastic philosophy seems to us to-day, 
 it was the dominant mode of thought in his age. In the 
 famous controversies of his old age his intimate knowl- 
 edge of the works of St. Thomas Aquinas was an im- 
 mensely powerful weapon. 
 
 Sir Arthur Helps calls attention to one significant fact. 
 It is the only thing we know with certainty about his years 
 in the monastery. He was not allowed to preach. Even 
 the Dominicans, the most fearless and the most friendly to 
 the Indians of all the orders in America, did not dare to let 
 this firebrand occupy their pulpit. 
 
 During these eight years great things happened outside 
 the cloister walls. Cortes completed his conquest of Mex- 
 ico. Pedrarias and his captains overran Nicaragua. Alva- 
 rado subdued Guatemala. Pizarro had embarked on his 
 Peruvian enterprise. 
 
 After eight years of seclusion, Father Las Casas suddenly 
 reappeared in Court. Once more on behalf of the Indians, 
 — this time in an effort to save the Indians of Peru. But 
 he reached Spain in 1530, just after Pizarro had sailed back 
 to the Isthmus. He secured the passage of some protective 
 laws and returned to Santo Domingo, where two friars 
 
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 joined him in his effort to overtake Pizarro and restrain his 
 cruelty. They went by way of Mexico to settle some dis- 
 putes in the Dominican Chapter there, and then overland 
 to Puerto Realejo on the Pacific, where they foimd a ship 
 sailing for Peru. 
 
 The Clerigo gives very little information about this jour- 
 ney. I have been unable to find any record of the dates. 
 But it seems to have been fruitless. Probably the Con- 
 quistadores were in the interior beyond their reach. The 
 monks returned and stopped a few days in Panama City in 
 February, 1532. 
 
 Las Casas and his two companions then went to Leon in 
 Nicaragua and founded a monastery. Here he spent two 
 years in peaceful missionary work among the natives. He 
 again set out for Peru, but his ship was driven back by 
 storms and he changed his plan, going again to Spain to 
 plead his cause in Court. 
 
 Returning to his monastery in Nicaragua, he found 
 troubles nearer at hand which needed his righting. The 
 new governor, Rodrigo de Contreras, was beginning his mur- 
 derous career. By his vehement opposition Las Casas was 
 able to prevent a slave-stealing raid. That he had good 
 reason to oppose the governor no one who reads his treatise, 
 "Brevlssima Relacion de la Destruycion de las Indias," 
 can doubt. He cites one instance when, of a body of 4,000 
 Indians impressed as carriers in a Nicaraguan expedition, 
 only six of them returned aUve. The slaves were chained 
 together by means of collars about their necks. When one 
 of them gave out and could march no farther, the slave- 
 drivers would cut off his head and so, releasing the chain, 
 allow the gang to go on without loss of time. "Imagine," 
 he writes, "what the others must have felt." 
 
 The hostility of the bandit Contreras at last drove him 
 out of Nicaragua and he went to Guatemala, where together 
 
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LAS CASAS 269 
 
 with three brothers, Luis Cancer, Pedro de Angulo and 
 Rodrigo de Ladrada, their names deserve mention for they 
 were as noble a group of missionaries as the Church has ever 
 produced, he founded a monastery. They were fortunate 
 in finding in the Bishop of Guatemala a man worthy to be 
 their comrade. A man of great scholarship in the classics, 
 he had humbled himself to master the Utiatecan language 
 of the natives. Las Casas and his monks sat at his feet and 
 also learned the language. "It was a delight," an old 
 chronicler comments, "to see the bishop, as a master of 
 declensions and conjugations in the Indian tongue, teaching 
 the good fathers of St. Dominic." In a preface to a tract 
 which the bishop wrote in the native tongue, he says that 
 perhaps some people may think that it is below the dignity 
 of a prelate to occupy himself with such matters "solely 
 fitted for the teaching of children," but he adds, "if the 
 matter be well considered, it will be seen that it is baser 
 not to occupy oneself with such seeming trifles, for such 
 teaching is the very marrow of our Holy Faith." 
 
 Some time previous to this, Las Casas had written a 
 paper called "De unico vocationis modo." Although it was 
 not printed, it was translated from the Latin into Spanish 
 and had a wide circulation among the colonists. In it the 
 Clerigo developed two propositions. The first was that 
 men must be brought to Christ by persuasion and not by 
 force. The second was that war against the infidel was not 
 justified imless some specific injury had been sustained. 
 These do not seem very radical conclusions to-day, but they 
 made a sensation when written. It is in fact remarkable 
 that the first proposition did not involve Las Casas with the 
 Inquisition. The second more nearly concerned the mass 
 of the colonists. The Indian slaves died with discour- 
 aging rapidity. The only way to keep up the labor sup- 
 ply was by incessant conflicts with the native tribes. 
 
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 which were generally justified as wars against the unbe- 
 lievers. 
 
 The Conquistadores were not only angry at these doc- 
 trines of Las Casas, they made sport of them. "Try it," 
 they taunted. "Try with words only and without force to 
 bring the Indians into the Church." Las Casas was only 
 too glad to accept the challenge of these practical men who 
 said he was a dreamer. 
 
 The nearby province of Tuzulutan was called by the 
 Spaniards "Tierra Guerra" — ^The Land of War. Three 
 different expeditions which had set out to subdue this terri- 
 tory had returned defeated — as the historian Remesal says, 
 "Las manos en la cabega" — holding their heads in their 
 hands. 
 
 The Clerigo entered into a formal contract with the acting 
 governor, Alonzo Maldonado — it was signed the 2nd of 
 May, 1537 — ^by which he undertook to proselyte this Tierra 
 Guerra. If he succeeded in pacifying these tribes, who, as 
 they had resisted conquest, were said by the Spaniards to 
 be in revolt, and in persuading them to recognize the sover- 
 eignty of the King of Spain, the government pledged itself 
 to make the territory a direct appendage of the Crown, not 
 to give any repartimientos to private persons, and not to 
 allow any layman to enter the district for five years. 
 
 One can "easily imagine" — to use a favorite phrase of the 
 Clerigo — ^the guffaws of derisive laughter with which the 
 soldiers heard of this compact. The foiu- Dominican monks 
 were to attempt the work which had defeated three armies. 
 Well — at last they would be rid of this trouble-maker, Las 
 
 For several days the Dominicans retired to their cells for 
 severe fasting, mortifications and prayers. And then, hav- 
 ing consecrated themselves, they set to work. Their project 
 seemed even more fantastic than those of the Clerigo which 
 
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HITTING THE TRAIL. 
 
 COCOANUT PALMS. 
 
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LAS CASAS 271 
 
 had already failed. They composed a long ballad in the 
 Utlatecan language, which, beginning with the Hebrew story 
 of the Creation and Fall, contained all the Bible narratives 
 and the principal dogmas of the Church. Unfortunately 
 this remarkable literary work has been lost. While some of 
 the monks labored at versifying the Scheme of Salvation in 
 this imfamiliar tongue, others set it to music so that it 
 might be accompanied on the crude instruments with which 
 the natives were familiar. Undoubtedly they worked in 
 many of the accepted melodies of Spain, but they strove to 
 follow as nearly as possible the form of chant which the In- 
 dians had developed. To realize the proportions of the task 
 we must think of some such unfamiUar language and theory 
 of music as that of China or Egypt. The missionaries had 
 been only a few years in Guatemala; they were old men 
 when they came, yet so diligent had been their application 
 that they were able to compose poetry and music acceptable 
 to the natives! 
 
 Having finished this part of their undertaking, they 
 secured the services of four native peddlers who were in the 
 habit of making annual trips into the Tierra Guerra. With 
 infinite care the monks taught them the words and music. 
 They were rehearsed and rehearsed — it must be remembered 
 that all this was done by word of mouth, for the merchants 
 were illiterate — until they were letter perfect. 
 
 The most amazing thing about it all is that the work, 
 both the composition and teaching, was completed in three 
 months! By the middle of August the peddlers were ready 
 to start. Las Casas, who combined a knowledge of worldly 
 motives with his intense spirituality, had seen to it that 
 besides their missionary poem, they were loaded down with 
 more attractive packs of goods than any native merchant 
 had ever carried before. 
 
 After their emissaries had departed, the four monks, by 
 
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 means of relays, kept up almost continual prayer for the 
 success of the venture. As far as the limited means of 
 communication permitted they had notified all their brothers 
 of their momentous undertaking. All throughout the Indias 
 the Dominican Order was uniting in fervent prayer for its 
 success. 
 
 And it did succeed. 
 
 The peddlers arrived safely at the village of the cacique and 
 during the first day drove a thriving trade with their Spanish 
 knives and hatchets and beads. At night, before the camp- 
 fire, where, as is always the custom among savage people, 
 the strangers were expected to entertain their hosts with 
 song or story, they asked for instruments and chanted the 
 wonderful story of the Christ. The strange music — on the 
 whole like their own, but sometimes breaking out into an 
 unfamiliar melody — attracted the villagers. They sat in- 
 tent, until the poem was finished. 
 
 For seven days they stayed in the village and every night 
 were invited to repeat their bizarre sermon. The cacique 
 was deeply interested and asked many questions about the 
 strange poem. The peddlers, being ignorant men, said they 
 knew nothing except what they had heard. The poem 
 had come to them from certain Spaniards, who were different 
 from all others — whose heads were shaven, who wore strange 
 robes of black and white, who ate no meat, had no desire for 
 gold and who lived a life of abstinence. Who, instead of 
 rioting with women and wine, spent their days and nights 
 singing praises to the God of this poem, and whose only in- 
 terest was to teach their faith to all men. 
 
 The upshot of it was that the cacique sent his brother 
 back with the peddlers to see if such strange things could be 
 true. Above all he told his envoy to watch these padres 
 and see if they fought for gold and silver like the other 
 Spaniards and had slave women in their houses. 
 
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LAS CASAS 273 
 
 "It can easily be imagined," Las Casas writes, "with what 
 joy the monks of St. Dominic received this savage ambas- 
 sador." So favorable an impression did their piety make 
 on him that he asked one of them to return with him to 
 preach to his brother the cacique and the people. Father 
 Luis Cancer was chosen for this mission. 
 
 There is no space here to trace all the steps by which these 
 four monks, from this beginning, converted the natives of 
 "The Land of War." Having brought peace and prosperity 
 to Tuzulutlan, they learned other native languages and 
 gradually extended their sway to the neighboring tribes. 
 
 In this little corner of Guatemala, alone in all the vast 
 Spanish colonies, the Indians learned to think of the word 
 "Christian" as meaning something different from "Devil." 
 
 While Las Casas was in "The Land of War," teaching its 
 people of the Prince of Peace and instructing them in the 
 ways of material prosperity, unexpected aid came from the 
 Court of Rome. Pope Paul III (Alexander Famese) issued 
 his Bull "Euntes docete omnes gentes," in which he said that 
 the Indians were to be considered "as veritable men not 
 only capable of receiving the Christian faith, but, as we 
 have learnt, most ready to embrace it." He followed this 
 brief by a letter to the Archbishop of Toledo, the primate of 
 Spain, in which he wrote: 
 
 "It has come to our knowledge that our dearest son in 
 Christ, Charles, the ever august emperor of the Romans, 
 king of Castille and Leon, in order to repress those who, 
 boiling over with cupidity, bear an inhuman mind against 
 the human race, has by pubhc edict forbidden all his sub- 
 jects from making slaves of the Western and Southern 
 Indians, or depriving them of their goods." 
 
 He closed this letter with a sentence of absolute excom- 
 munication against all who should make slaves of the 
 Indians. 
 
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274 PANAMA 
 
 The delight of Las Casas on the receipt of these papal 
 letters can "easily be imagined." He translated them into 
 Spanish and saw that they were widely circulated in the 
 colonies. 
 
 In 1539 Las Casas went to Spain to plead for the send- 
 ing of more missionaries to Guatemala. He was as usual 
 favorably received, and his requests were granted. He was 
 detained at the Court to assist in the deliberations of the 
 Council of the Indies. It was during this time that he 
 wrote two of his most important treatises, "The Destruc- 
 tion of the Indies," and his even more important "Veynte 
 Razones," in which he gives twenty reasons to prove that 
 the system of repartimientos was iniquitous and un-Chris- 
 tian. 
 
 These pamphlets and his verbal arguments before the 
 council resulted in the framing of "The New Laws," which, 
 while the pretext for Gonzalo Pizarro's rebellion in Peru 
 and of insurrections in other places, on the whole were en- 
 forceable and succeeded in preventing the absolute extermi- 
 nation of the Indians. 
 
 "The New Laws," writes Helps, "had been a signal 
 trimnph for Las Casas. Without him, without his imtiring 
 energy and singular influence over those whom he came 
 near, these laws would not have been enacted. The mere 
 bodily fatigue which he endured was such as hardly any 
 man of his time, not a conqueror, had encoimtered. He 
 had crossed the ocean twelve times. Four times he had 
 made his way into Germany, to see the emperor. Had a 
 record been kept of his wanderings, such as that which 
 exists of the journeys of Charles the Fifth, it would have 
 shown that Las Casas had led a much more active life than 
 even that energetic monarch. Moreover, the journeyings 
 of Las Casas were often made with all the inconvenience 
 of poverty." 
 
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LAS CASAS 275 
 
 In recognition of his untiring public service, the emperor 
 offered him the bishopric of Cusco, in Peru. For many 
 reasons, principally a distaste for lofty positions, the Clerigo 
 refused this, the richest see in America. But after much 
 urging he accepted the episcopal oflSce in the newly con- 
 quered province of Chiapa, a district near the scene of his 
 successful labors in the Tierra Guerra of Guatemala. He 
 was consecrated in Seville and on the 4th of July, 1544, he 
 sailed, with forty-five Dominican monks, to proselyte his 
 frontier diocese. 
 
 He was exceedingly ill-received when he stopped in Santo 
 Domingo. Unquestionably he was the best hated man in 
 the New World. Imagine Wendell Phillips in Richmond, 
 just after Appomattox Court House. For Las Casas had 
 won his long fight against greed. The maltreatment of the 
 Indians of course continued, but it was no longer legal. 
 The Bishop of Chiapa was now seventy years old. He had 
 commenced his mission at forty. The thirty years of de- 
 voted agitation had resulted in the pope's bull which pro- 
 nounced slavery un-Christian and the New Laws which 
 made it illegal. All his long journey to Ciudad Real, the 
 capital of Chiapa, was a Via Crucis. In some places he 
 was stoned. 
 
 "The hatred to Las Casas," writes Sir Arthur Helps, 
 "throughout the New World, amounted to a passion. 
 Letters were written to the residents in Chiapa, expressing 
 pity for them as having met the greatest misfortune that 
 could occur to them, in being placed under such a bishop. 
 They did not name him, but spoke of him as 'That Devil 
 who has come to you for a bishop.' The following is an 
 extract from one of these letters. 'We say here, that very 
 great must be the sins of your country, when God chastises 
 it with such a scourge as sending that Antichrist for a 
 bishop.'" 
 
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276 PANAMA 
 
 Arrived at his new post the godly bishop had the audacity 
 to take the pope's bull literally. He refused absolution to 
 all Spaniards who held slaves. The officials not enforcing 
 the laws to suit him, he journeyed to Honduras to lay the 
 case before the Audiencia. Unable to get redress he threat- 
 ened to excommunicate the judges if they refused to do their 
 duty. He tells how one of them whose conscience troubled 
 him mightily lost his temper and heaped abuse on him in 
 court. " You are a scoundrel," he shouted, " an evil man, a 
 bad monk, a worse bishop — a shameless scoundrel — you 
 ought to be flogged." Las Casas replied, " The Lord will 
 punish me for my sins, which are many." 
 
 By his fearless persistence he at last forced the Audiencia 
 to send an officer to Chiapa to enforce the laws. When the 
 inhabitants of Ciudad Real heard of the bishop's triumph 
 they determined to resist his entry into the city. 
 
 Las Casas writes that although he came "unguarded and 
 on foot, with only a stick in his hand, and a breviary in his 
 girdle," they strapped on their armor and loaded their 
 arquebuses. 
 
 On the way he stopped at a Dominican monastery. The 
 monks urged him to turn back, saying that the infuriated 
 populace would surely kill him. But he insisted on going 
 on. 
 
 "For," he said "if I do not go to Ciudad Real, I banish 
 myself from my church; and it will be said of me, with 
 much reason, 'The wicked fleeth; and no man pursueth.' 
 . . . If I do not endeavour to enter my church, of whom 
 shall I have to complain to the king, or to the pope, as having 
 thrust me out of it? Are my adversaries so bitter against 
 me that the first word will be a deadly thrust through my 
 heart, without giving me the chance of soothing them? In 
 conclusion, reverend fathers, I am resolved, trusting in the 
 mercy of God and in your holy prayers, to set out for my 
 
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LAS CASAS 277 
 
 diocese. To tarry here, or to go elsewhere, has all the in- 
 conveniences which have just been stated." 
 
 He indeed had a stormy reception. But his simple man- 
 ner prevailed over the mob. When one of them reviled 
 him, he said, "I will not answer you — ^for your insults are 
 addressed, not to me, but to God." By his fearless non- 
 resistance he won the ascendency over his flock and after a 
 few hours of turbulence they came to him on their knees, 
 asking for pardon. 
 
 The Peruvian Rebellion had forced the emperor to reduce 
 the rigor of the "New Laws." All Spaniards who held 
 repartimientos were to be allowed to keep them during their 
 lives, but no new grants were to be made. This let-up was 
 undoubtedly a severe disappointment to Las Casas. But 
 although he seemed to have been defeated, his work bore, 
 in reality, marvellous fruit. Although temporarily revived, 
 the brutal system had received its death blow. In 1547, 
 he resigned from his bishopric and returned to Spain where 
 he felt that he could have greater influence in Indian affairs. 
 
 About this time a learned doctor of laws, Juan Ginfe 
 Sepulveda, wrote a treatise, "De Justis Belli Causis." It 
 was an elaborate argmnent in favor of Indian slavery. Las 
 Casas at once commenced a polemical discussion with him. 
 In 1550, when he was seventy-six years old, he met Sepulveda 
 in an open debate before the emperor. For five consecutive 
 days he read an argument which was afterwards printed 
 under the title "Historia Apolig^tica." A referee condensed 
 this long treatise into twelve propositions, to which Sepul- 
 veda returned twelve counter-propositions. Las Casas was 
 allowed to present twelve answers. One selection from his 
 argument will do as a sample of the whole disputation. 
 
 To Sepulveda's proposition in favor of the right of con- 
 quest, Las Casas replied: 
 
 "The doctor founds these rights upon our superiority in 
 
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278 PANAMA 
 
 arms, and upon our having more bodily strength than the 
 Indians. This is simply to place our kings in the position 
 of tyrants. The right of those kings rests upon their 
 extension of the Gospel in the New World, and their good 
 government of the Indian nations. These duties they 
 would be bound to fulfil even at their own expense; much 
 more so considering the treasures they have received from 
 the Indies. To deny this doctrine is to flatter and deceive 
 our monarchs, and to put their salvation in peril. The doc- 
 tor perverts the natural order of things, making the means 
 the end, and what is accessory the principal. The acces- 
 sory is temporal advantage: the principal, the preaching of 
 the true faith. He who is ignorant of this, small is his 
 knowledge; and he who denies it, is no more of a Christian 
 than Mahomet was." 
 
 The result of the controversy was a Scotch verdict; the 
 learned jury concurred in the opinions of Sepulveda, but the 
 king and his councillors, convinced by the eloquent logic of 
 Las Casas, prohibited the circulation of the doctor's book in 
 the colonies. In a private letter Sepulveda wrote of his aged 
 opponent as "most subtile, most vigilant, and most fluent, 
 compared with whom Ulysses of Homer was a tongue-tied 
 stutterer." 
 
 The reclining years of the Apostle to the Indians were 
 spent in writing. Besides many controversial treatises, he 
 produced a monumental history of the Discovery and Con- 
 quest. When ninety years old he published a treatise on 
 Peru — one of the most forceful things which ever came from 
 his pen. This was apparently his last literary work. But 
 two years later, hearing from the Dominican Fathers in 
 Guatemala of some abuses in the administration of justice, 
 he left his monastery in Valladolid and travelled to Madrid. 
 So ably did he present the matter to the king that the neces- 
 sary reforms were granted. 
 
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LAS CASAS 279 
 
 Almost inmediately after this last pilgrimage in behalf 
 of his beloved Indians, while still in Madrid, he fell sick and 
 in July, 1566, died at the age of ninety-two. 
 
 Sir Arthur Helps, the eminent historian of the Conquest 
 and a biographer of Las Casas, sums up his character in 
 these paragraphs: 
 
 " The life of Las Casas appears to me one of the most in- 
 teresting, indeed I may say the most interesting, of all those 
 that I have ever studied; and I think it is more than the nat- 
 ural prejudice of a writer for his hero, that inclines me to 
 look upon him as one of the most remarkable personages 
 that has ever appeared in history. It is well known that 
 he has ever been put in the foremost rank of philanthropists; 
 but he had other qualifications which were also extraordinary. 
 He was not a mere philanthropist, possessed only with one 
 idea. He had one of those large minds which take an in- 
 terest in everything. As an historian, a man of letters, a 
 colonist, a missionary, a theologian, an active ruler in the 
 Church, a man of business, and an observer of natural his- 
 tory and science, he holds a very high position amongst the 
 notable men of his own age. The ways, the customs, the 
 religion, the policy, the laws, of the new people whom he 
 saw, the new animals, the new trees, the new herbs, were all 
 observed and chronicled by him. 
 
 "In an age eminently superstitious, he was entirely devoid 
 of superstition. At a period when the most extravagant 
 ideas as to the divine rights of kings prevailed, he took 
 occasion to remind kings themselves to their faces, that they 
 are only permitted to govern. for the good of the people. 
 
 "At a period when brute force was universally appealed 
 to in all matters, but more especially in those that pertained 
 to religion, he contended before juntas and royal councils 
 that missionary enterprise is a thing that should stand inde- 
 pendent of all military support; that a missionary should 
 
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 go forth with his life in his hand, relying only on the pro- 
 tection that God will vouchsafe him, and depending neither 
 upon civil nor military assistance. In fact, his works should, 
 even in the present day, form the best manual extant for 
 missionaries. . . . 
 
 "He lived in most stirring times; he was associated with 
 the greatest personages of his day; and he had the privilege 
 of taking part in the discovery and colonization of a new 
 world. 
 
 "Eloquent, devoted, charitable, fervent, sometimes too 
 fervent, yet very skilful in managing men, he will doubtless 
 remind the reader of his prototype. Saint Paul; and it was 
 very fitting that he should have been called, as he was, the 
 'Apostle of the Indies.' 
 
 "Notwithstanding our experience, largely confirmed by 
 history, of the ingenuity often manifested in neglecting to 
 confer honour upon those who most deserve it, one cannot 
 help wondering that the Romish Church never thought of 
 enrolling Las Casas as a saint, amongst such fellow-labourers 
 as Saint Charles of Borromeo, or Saint Francis of Assisi." 
 
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CHAPTER XVII 
 
 THE DATS OF THE GREAT TRADE 
 
 One of the most interesting phases in the history of the 
 Isthmus is the sudden development of an immense trade. 
 For about a century the rough trail from Panama City across 
 to the Atlantic towns of Nombre de Dios and Puerto Bello 
 was the richest trade route in the world. 
 
 Even after the wrought gold had been stripped from the 
 temples and palaces of the Incas, the rich silver mines of 
 Potosi continued to produce great wealth. Dye woods from 
 the west coast of Central America furnished also a valuable 
 merchandise. There were pearls from the islands and many 
 kinds of precious stones from the Andes. In exchange for 
 this home-going wealth many commodities had to be brought 
 out for the colonists. The commerce of Panama even crossed 
 the Pacific. In the third volume of the "Hakluyt Voyages" 
 is given a letter from a merchant which is dated from Panama, 
 August 28th, 1590: 
 
 " Here I haue remained these 20 dayes, till the shippes goe 
 for the Philipinas. My meaning is to carie my commodities 
 thither: for it is constantly reported, that for every hundred 
 ducats a man shall get 600 ducats cleerely. We must stay 
 here till it be Christmasse. For in August, September, 
 October and November is it winter here and extreme foule 
 weather upon this coast of Peru, and not nauigable to goe to 
 the Philipinas, nor any place else in the South sea. So that 
 at Christmasse the shipes begin to set on their voyage for 
 those places." 
 
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 This letter indicates a considerable traffic with the Spice 
 Islands and the Orient via Panama. In the same year more 
 than ninety ships from Spain called at the Atlantic ports, 
 an average of almost two ships a week. Even to-day that 
 would indicate a large commerce. 
 
 But Spain held her colonial business in the tightest kind 
 of a monopoly. No outsiders were to be allowed to share in 
 it. Mr. Haring, in his " The Buccaneers in the West Indies 
 in the XVII Century," which, in spite of its thrilling title, 
 is a doctor's thesis, gives much interesting information about 
 this commercial development. 
 
 " The firstmeans adopted by the northern maritime nations 
 to appropriate to themselves a share of the riches of the 
 New World was open, semi-piratical attack upon the Span- 
 ish argosies returning from those distant El Dorados. The 
 success of the Norman and Breton corsairs, for it was the 
 French, not the English, who started the game, gradually 
 forced upon the Spaniards, as a means of protection, the 
 establishment of great merchant fleets sailing periodically at 
 long intervals and accompanied by powerful convoys. Dur- 
 ing the first half of the sixteenth century any ship which had 
 fulfilled the conditions required for engaging in American 
 commerce was allowed to depart alone and at any time of 
 the year. From about 1526, however, merchant vessels were 
 ordered to sail together, and by a cedula of July, 1561, the 
 system of fleets was made permanent and obhgatory. This 
 decree prohibited any ship from sailing alone to America 
 from Cadiz or San Lucar on pain of forfeiture of ship and 
 cargo. Two fleets were organized each year, one for Terra 
 Firma going to Cartagena and Porto Bello, the other designed 
 for the port of San Juan d'Uloa (Vera Cruz) in New Spain. 
 The latter, called the Flota, was commanded by an "al- 
 mirante," and sailed for Mexico in the early summer so as 
 to avoid the hurricane season and the "northers" of the 
 
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THE DAYS OF TEE GBEAT TBADE 283 
 
 Mexican Gulf. The former, usually called the galeones 
 (anglice "galleons"), was commanded by a "general," and 
 sailed from Spain earlier in the year, between January and 
 March. If it departed in March, it usually wintered in 
 Havana, and returned with the Flota in the following spring. 
 Sometimes the two fleets sailed together and separated at 
 Guadaloupe, Deseada or another of the Leeward Islands. 
 
 "The galleons generally consisted of from five to eight 
 war-vessels carrying from forty to fifty guns, together with 
 several smaller, faster boats called 'patchers,' and a fleet of 
 merchantmen varying ia number in different years. In the 
 time of Philip II often as many as forty ships supplied Car- 
 tagena and Porto Bello, but in succeeding reigns, although 
 the population of the Indies was rapidly increasing, American 
 commerce fell off so sadly that eight or ten were sufl[icient 
 for the trade of South and Central America. The general 
 of the galleons, on his departure, received from the Coxmcil 
 of the Indies three sealed packets. The first, opened at the 
 Canaries, contained the name of the island in the West Indies 
 at which the fleet was first to call. The second was un- 
 sealed after the galleons arrived at Cartagena, and contained 
 instructions for the fleet to return in the same year or to 
 winter in America. In the third, left imopened until the 
 fleet emerged from the Bahama Channel on the homeward 
 voyage, were orders for the route to the Azores and the 
 islands they should touch in passing, usually Corvo and 
 Flores or Santa Maria. . . . 
 
 " The fleet reached Cartagena ordinarily about two months 
 after its departure from Cadiz. On its arrival, the general 
 forwarded the news to Porto Bello, together with the packets 
 destined for the viceroy at Lima. From Porto Bello a 
 courier hastened across the Isthmus to the President of 
 Panama, who spread the advice amongst the merchants in 
 his jurisdiction, and, at the same time, sent a dispatch boat 
 
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 to Payta, in Peru. The general of the galleons, meanwhile, 
 was also sending a courier overland to Lima, and another to 
 Santa Fe, the capital of the interior province of New Grenada, 
 whence runners carried to Popayan, Antioquia, Margarita, 
 and adjacent provinces, the news of his arrival. The 
 galleons were instructed to remain at Cartagena only a 
 month, but bribes from the merchants generally made it their 
 interest to linger for fifty or sixty days. To Cartagena came 
 the gold and emeralds of New Grenada, the pearls of Mar- 
 garita and Rancherias, and the indigo, tobacco, cocoa and 
 other products of the Venezuelan coast. The merchants of 
 Guatemala, likewise, shipped their commodities to Cartagena 
 by way of Lake Nicaragua and San Juan river, for they feared 
 to send goods across the Gulf of Honduras to Havana, be- 
 cause of the French and English buccaneers hanging about 
 Cape San Antonio. Meanwhile the viceroy at Lima, on 
 receipt of his letters, ordered the Armada of the South Sea 
 to prepare to sail, and sent word south to Chili and through- 
 out the province of Peru from Las Charces to Quito, to 
 forward the King's revenues for shipment to Panama. 
 Within less than a fortnight all was in readiness. The 
 Armada, carrying a considerable treasure, sailed from Callao 
 and, touching at Payta, was joined by the Navio del Oro 
 (golden ship), which carried the gold from the province of 
 Quito and adjacent districts. While the galleons were ap- 
 proaching Porto Bello the South Sea fleet arrived before 
 Panama, and the merchants of Chili and Peru began to 
 transfer their merchandise on mules across the high back 
 of the Isthmus. 
 
 "Then began the famous fair of Porto Bello. The town, 
 whose permanent population was very small and composed 
 mostly of negroes and mulattoes, was suddenly called upon 
 to accommodate an enormous crowd of merchants, soldiers 
 and seamen. Food and shelter were to be had only at 
 
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TEE DAYS OF TEE GBEAT TBADE 285 
 
 extraordinary prices. . . . Merchants gave as much as 
 1,000 crowns for a moderate-sized shop in which to sell their 
 commodities. Owing to overcrowding, bad sanitation, and 
 an extremely unhealthy climate, the place became an 
 open grave, ready to swallow all who resorted there. In 
 1637, during the fifteen days that the galleons remained at 
 Porto Bello, 500 men died of sickness. Meanwhile, day by 
 day, the mule-trains from Panama were winding their way 
 into the town. . . . While the treasure of the King of 
 Spain was being transferred to the galleons in the harbor, 
 the merchants were making their trade. There was little 
 liberty, however, in commercial transactions, for the prices 
 were fixed and published beforehand, and when negotiations 
 began exchange was purely mechanical. The fair, which was 
 supposed to be open for forty days, was in later times 
 generally completed in ten or twelve. At the beginning of 
 the eighteenth century the volume of business transacted 
 was estimated to amoxmt to thirty or forty million pounds 
 sterling." 
 
 Fortunately we have a good description of the Isthmus 
 during the days of its commercial prosperity from the pen 
 of an Englishman. The Spanish government carried its 
 policy of excluding foreigners from the Indies to such an 
 extent that almost no one but Spaniards saw the colonial 
 cities except by stealth or as conquerors. But in the quaint 
 old volume "The English-American, his Travail by Sea and 
 Land, or a new Survey of the West Indies ... As also 
 of his strange and wonderful Conversion and Calling from 
 those remote Parts to his Native Country — By the true and 
 painful Endeavours of Thomas Gage, now Preacher of the 
 Word of God at Acris in the County of Kent " — ^we get a most 
 interesting inside view. Thomas Gage had a rare oppor- 
 tunity to visit the colonies and he had an equally rare gift 
 of description. 
 
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286 PANAMA 
 
 Born in England, he had been taken to the Continent at 
 an early age and was raised in the Catholic faith. He 
 entered the priesthood and in that capacity went to the 
 Indies. Passing through Mexico, he at last settled in 
 Guatemala. 
 
 FranQois Coreal, who visited the colonies as a smuggler 
 and has left a very vivacious account of his adventures, 
 wrote: 
 
 "J' avouie qu'il y a des Missionaires de bonne foi, qui 
 ont a coeur la gloire de Dieu & le salut des ^mes des Idoltoes. 
 Ceux-la sont en petit nombre. Tous les autres cherchent 
 dans les conversions I'augmentation de leurs revenus & leurs 
 profit temporal." 
 
 Thomas Gage was of the "petit nombre" "de bonne foi." 
 With true missionary zeal he had followed in the footsteps 
 of Las Casas and mastered the native dialects. He seems 
 to have known very little about Protestantism, but there 
 alone in the Central American jungle he had a little Reforma- 
 tion all by himself. Full of doubts about some of the dogmas 
 he was expected to teach, he resolved to go to Rome, and, 
 at the fountain head of his religion, find the truth. 
 
 But he had become so valuable to his superiors as an 
 interpreter that they would not grant him permission to 
 leave. For some months — with great travail of soul — he 
 remained at his post. Then he ran away. He made his 
 way on foot to the Pacific coast, after almost incredible 
 adventures; he got on shipboard in the Golfo de Salina, 
 "hoping to have been at Panama within five or six days. 
 But as often before we had been crossed, so likewise in this 
 short passage wee were striving with the Wind, Sea and Cor- 
 rientes, as they are called (which are swift streams as of 
 a River) foure full weeks." 
 
 From Panama he crossed to Puerto Bello, and finally got 
 ship for Europe. He left the Catholic Church and settled 
 
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THE DATS OF TEE GREAT TRADE 287 
 
 in England. He dedicated his book, which was published 
 in 1648, to "His Excellency S'' Thomas Fairfax, Knight, 
 Lord Fairfax of Cameron, Captain-General of the Parlia- 
 ment's Army; and of all their Forces in England and the 
 Dominion of Wales." 
 
 It is a remarkable book, the most interesting description 
 of the Indies I have found. Side by side he records shrewd, 
 almost scientific, observations of nature and the customs of 
 the Indians and gives vivid narrative of his manifold ad- 
 ventures and hair-breadth escapes. Interwoven through it 
 are theological discussions, and fascinating discourses they 
 are, for they are illumined by the soul-tragedy of this honest, 
 simple man, struggling desperately towards what he thought 
 to be salvation. 
 
 But the book interests us especially here, as it contains 
 the one reliable account which was written in our own lan- 
 guage of Panama and Puerto Bello in the Days of the Great 
 Trade. I have taken a few liberties with the arrangement 
 of his text to avoid tedious repetitions : 
 
 "Castella del Oro is situated in the very Isthmus, and is 
 not very populous by reason of the unhealthfulness of the 
 aire, and noisome savour of the standing pooles. The chief 
 places belonging to the Spaniards, are first Theonimay or 
 Nombre de Dios on the East, the second which is six leagues 
 from Nombre de Dios is Portobel, now chiefly inhabited by 
 Spaniards and Mulattoes and Black-mores, and Nombre de 
 Dios almost forsaken by reason of its unhealthfulnesse. . . 
 As I have before observed, the aire being here very un- 
 healthful, the King of Spain in the yeare 1584 commanded 
 that the houses ... be pulled downe and to be rebuild 
 in a more healthy and convenient place : which was performed 
 in . . . Portobel. . . . 
 
 "The ships which were wont to anchor in Nombre de Dios, 
 and there take in the King's treasure which ie yeerly brought 
 
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 from Peru to Panama, and from thence to the North Sea, 
 now harbour themselves in Portobel; which signifyeth 
 ... a faire and goodly Haven, for so indeed it is, and well 
 fortified at the entrance with three Castles which can reach 
 and command one another . . . 
 
 "The third and chief e place belonging to the Spaniards in 
 Castilla del Oro is Panama . . . upon the South Sea." 
 
 After describing his life in the Guatemalan monastery, 
 his escape to the Golfo de Salina, and the "foure full weeks" 
 of desperate storms at sea he tells how at last they cast 
 anchor off the old town of Panama. 
 
 "I, being now well strengthened made no stay in that 
 frigot . . . but went to land, and betook myself to 
 the Cloister of the Dominicans, where I stayed almost fifteen 
 dales, viewing and reviewing the City; which is governed like 
 Guatemala by a President and six Judges, and a Court of 
 Chancery, and is a Bishops sea. It hath more strength 
 towards the South Sea, than any other Port which on that 
 side I hath seen, and some Ordinances planted for defence 
 of it; but the houses are of the least strength of any place that 
 I had entred in; for lime and stone is hard to come by, and 
 therefore for that reason, and for the great heat there, most 
 of the houses are built of timber and bords; the President's 
 house, nay the best Church walls are but bords, which serve 
 for stone and bricke, and for tiles to cover the roof. The heat 
 is so extraordinary that a linnen cut doublet, with some 
 light stuffe or taffetie breeches is the common cloathing of 
 the inhabitants. Fish, fruit and herbage for sallets is more 
 plentifuU there than flesh; the coole water of the Coco is the 
 womens best drinke, though Chocolate also and much wine 
 from Peru be very abounding. The Spaniards are in this 
 city much given to sinne, loosenesse and venery ... It 
 is held to be one of the richest places in all America, having 
 by land and by the river Chiagre (Chagres) commerce with 
 
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 the North Sea, and by the South, trading with all Peru, 
 East Indies, Mexico and Honduras. Thither is brought 
 the chief treasure of Peru in two or three great ships, which 
 he at anchor at Puerto Perico some three leagues from the 
 City ... It consisteth of some five thousand in- 
 habitants, and maintaineth at least eight Cloisters of Nuns 
 and Friars. I feared much the heats, and therefore made 
 as much haste out of it as I could." 
 
 It was in 1637 that Gage made this visit to Panama. An 
 earUer description of the city was translated into English 
 and published by Hakluyt: 
 
 "Relation of the ports, harbors, forts, and cities in the 
 West Indies which have been surveied, edified, finished, 
 made and mended, with those which have been builded, in a 
 certaine survey by the king of Spaine, his direction and com- 
 mandment : Written by Baptista Antonio, surveyor in those 
 parts for the said King. Anno 1587." 
 
 After Sir Francis Drake's raids, this man Baptista Antonio 
 was sent out to advise the King about fortifying his colonial 
 possessions. The following passages are from his report: 
 
 "Panama is the principall citie of this Dioces: it lieth 
 18. leagues from Nombre de Dios on the South sea, and 
 standeth in 9. degrees. There are 3. Monasteries in this 
 said city of fryers, the one is of D^inicks, the other is of 
 Augustines, and the third is of S. Francis fryers: also there 
 is a College of Jesuits, and the royall audience or chancery is 
 kept in this citie. 
 
 "This citie is situated hard by the sea side on a sandy 
 bay: the one side of this citie is environed with the sea, and 
 on the other side it is enclosed with the arme of the sea 
 which rurmeth up into the land 1000. yards. 
 
 "This citie hath three hundred and fiftie houses, all built 
 of timber, and there are sixe hundred dwellers and eight 
 hundred souldiers with the townesmen, and foure hundred 
 
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290 PANAMA 
 
 Negros of Guyney, and some of them are freemen: and there 
 is another towne which is called Santa Cruz la Real of 
 Negros Simerons, and most of them are imployed in your 
 majesties service, and they are 100. in number, and this 
 towne is a league from this citie upon a great rivers side, 
 which is a league from the sea right over against the harbour 
 of Periocos. But there is no trust nor confidence in any of 
 these Negros, and therefore we must take heede and beware 
 of them, for they are our mortal! enemies. . . . 
 
 "Upon the East side of this citie there are your majesties 
 royall houses builded upon a rocke joyning hard to the Sea 
 side, and they doe as weLl leane towards the sea as the land. 
 The royall audience or chancerie is kept here in these houses, 
 and likewise the prison. And in this place all your majesties 
 treasure is kept. There dwelleth in these houses your 
 majesties Treasurer, the Lord President, and 3. Judges, and 
 master Attumey. All these doe dwell in these houses, and 
 the rest of your majesties officers: which are sixe houses 
 beside those of the Lord President, the which are all dwelling 
 houses, and all adjoyning together one by another along upon 
 the rockes. And they are builded all of timber and bourdeS, 
 as the other houses are. So where the prison standeth and 
 the great hall, these two places may bee very well fortified, 
 because they serve so. fitly for the purpose, by reason 
 they are builded towardes the sea. . . . 
 
 "And forasmuch as the most part of these people are 
 marchants, they will not fight, but onely keepe their owne 
 persons in safetie, and save their goods; as it hath bene sene 
 heretofore in other places of these Indies. 
 
 "So if it will please your majesty to cause these houses 
 to bee strongly fortified, considering it standeth in a very 
 good place if any sudden alarms shoulde happen, then the 
 citizens with their goods may get themselves to this place, 
 and so escape the terrour of the enemy: and so this will be a 
 
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 good securitie for all the treasure which doth come from 
 Peru. . . . 
 
 "Here in this harbor are alwayes 10 to 12 barks of 60 or 
 50 tunnes apiece, which do belong to this harbor." 
 
 It will be seen by a comparison of the two quotations how 
 rapidly the city had grown from 1,900, including the "sime- 
 rons, ' ' to 5,000 in fifty years. Apparently Gage is in error 
 in saying that even the best church was built of wood, for 
 the Cathedral of St. Anastasius must have been well under 
 way, if not already completed, when he wrote. 
 
 Esquemehn, in describing the city as it was in 1671, writes: 
 
 "There belonged to this city (which is also the head of a 
 bishopric) eight monasteries, whereof seven were for men 
 and one for women; two stately churches and one hospital. 
 The churches and monasteries were all richly adorned with 
 altar-pieces and paintings, huge quantity of gold and silver, 
 with other precious things; . . . Besides which orna- 
 ments, here were to be seen two thousand houses of mag- 
 nificent and prodigious building, being all of the greatest part 
 inhabited by merchants of that country, who are vastly 
 rich. For the rest of the inhabitants of lesser quality and 
 tradesmen, this city contained five thousand houses more. 
 Here were also great numbers of stables, which served for 
 the horses and miiles, that carry all the plate, belonging as 
 well unto the King of Spain as to private men, towards the 
 coast of the North Sea. The neighbouring fields belonging 
 to this city are all cultivated and fertile plantations, and 
 pleasant gardens, which afford delicious prospects unto the 
 inhabitants the whole year long." 
 
 These are the three best accounts of the old city of Panama 
 by people whom we know to be giving first-hand accounts. 
 
 There is some doubt as to whether Frangois Coreal saw 
 the city before Morgan's Raid. But having first come to the 
 Indies in 1666, five years before the destruction of the place, 
 
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292 PANAMA 
 
 he must at least have received his information from people 
 who had been there. Rewrites: 
 
 "This city had seven or eight thousand houses, most of 
 which were of wood and thatch. The streets were quite 
 beautiful, large and regular. The great merchants occupied 
 the most beautiful houses of the city and nothing was lacking 
 in the magnificence of these gentlemen. There were eight 
 convents, a beautiful Cathedral Church and a Hospital 
 maintained by nims. The Bishop was, as is still the case, 
 suffragant to the Archbishop of Lima and Primate of Tierra 
 Firme. The fields there were well cultivated. The suburbs 
 of the city were decorated by beautiful gardens and farms. 
 . . . As all the commerce of Chili and Peru has its 
 terminal port at Panama, the stores of the city are always 
 filled and the harbor is never without some ships." 
 
 One must make certain allowances for the imagination of 
 these early chroniclers. With equal seriousness they often 
 tell of Griflins and Sea Monsters. But on the whole they 
 were amazingly accurate in their descriptions of what they 
 actually saw. 
 
 Mr. Charles Francis Adams recently read a paper before 
 the Massachusetts Historical Society (Proceedings for May, 
 1911) in which he attempts to demolish the "Myth" of the 
 grandeur of old Panama City. He quotes several rather 
 exuberant descriptions of the place from modern writers and 
 picks them to pieces. For example, gives the following 
 from a recent book by Mr. Forbes-Lindsay: 
 
 " In its palmy days Old Panama was the seat of wealth and 
 splendor such as could be found nowhere else in the world 
 than the capitals of the Orient. At the court of the Governor 
 gathered noblemen and ladies of gentle birth. There were 
 upwards of seven thousand houses in the place, many of them 
 being spacious and splendidly furnished mansions. The 
 monasteries, convents and other ecclesiastical edifices were 
 
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IBM DAYS OF TEE GBEAT TBABE 293 
 
 numerous, and contained vast amounts of treasure in their 
 vaults. There were fine public buildings devoted to various 
 purposes, among them pretentious stables in which were 
 housed the ' King's horses.' " 
 
 And makes this comment on it: 
 
 "But, as a matter of fact, a remark might here not im- 
 properly be interjected to the effect that the horses in ques- 
 tion were in reality mules, and the stables — Latin-American 
 shacks!" 
 
 He gives in extenso the report of Baptista Antonio, from 
 which I have quoted, which, by the way, was written nearly 
 a century before the burning of the city. On the basis of 
 this account and his personal visits to the ruins, he concludes : 
 
 "In the first place, the topography of the site and sur- 
 roundings is as Antonio described it four centuries ago; 
 but the foundations and ruins still remaining of the struc- 
 tures—fortifications, ways, bridges and edifices — are at 
 variance with the statement that that town, as such, was ever 
 of considerable size. Limited to an area of at most two 
 hundred and fifty to three hundred acres, the ruins now re- 
 maining and the scattered fra,gments of tile show conclusively 
 that Panama Viejo never could have contained within its 
 limits either the buildiags and dwellings, or the avenues, 
 streets and ways described. Both the public edifices and the 
 private houses were limited in size — of modest dimensions, as 
 we would phrase it — and, apparently, packed closely to- 
 gether. In place of the fifty thousand sometimes credited 
 to them, they never, on any reasonable estimate, could have 
 sufficed to accommodate a population in excess of seven 
 thousand. Ten thousand would be a maximum. The 
 foundations of 'the royal houses builded upon a rock' are 
 still there; so also those of the 'audience or chancerie,' as 
 likewise the prison; all 'adjoining together one by another 
 along upon the rocks.' But those foimdations afford proof 
 
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294 PANAMA 
 
 positive of the dimensions of the superstructures. By their 
 proximity to each other, also, they show that there never 
 could have been any 'broad streets' or wide thoroughfares 
 in the town or approaching it; and the bridge, of which we 
 are informed that 'two or three piers' only remain, never 
 had but a single span, both short and narrow, thrown across 
 a contemptible mud-creek, almost devoid of water in the dry 
 season or at low tide; and that single span— a very pic- 
 turesque one, by the way — is still there. That a great store of 
 wealth for those days annually passed through Old Panama, 
 there can be no question. The place, was, however, merely a 
 channel; and, after a fairly close inspection, I do not hesitate 
 to repeat that the stories of its art, its population and its 
 treasures — generally of its size and splendor — constitute 
 about as baseless an historic fabric as the legions that fought 
 at Marathon or the myriads that followed Xerxes. Old Pan- 
 ama, as seen through the imagination of modern investiga- 
 tors, bears, I believe, just as much resemblance to the six- 
 teenth century reality as Francis Drake's Golden Hind would 
 bear to a present-day Atlantic liner, say the Lusitania." 
 
 No one can doubt the justice of much of this. But after 
 all Mr. Adams is attacking a straw man of his own creation. 
 No one who has written of "broad streets" in the old 
 metropoUs meant to compare them to the Champs Elys^es. 
 Nor is it contended that the houses were of magnificent 
 proportion in comparison with St. Peter's. 
 
 I am, however, inclined to question his conclusion when 
 he so positively limits the extent of the city. The site to-day 
 is overgrown with a dense tangle of tropical vegetation. It 
 would take amazing activity, and a host of machetemen 
 to reach — in two short visits — definite conclusions on this 
 point. Within less than a century after its abandonment, 
 Frangois Coreal visited the site of Nombre de Dios, and 
 "de son ancienne magnificence" he writes he could find 
 
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TES DAYS OF TBE GBEAT TBADE 295 
 
 nothing but its name. More than twice that time has 
 passed since Panama Viejo was deserted. Only the ruins 
 of some of the stone structures are visible above the ground. 
 Excavations into the sub-soil might possibly — if they were 
 extensive enough — definitely determine the limits of the 
 old town. And until archseologists have seriously in- 
 vestigated the matter we can not put much weight on the 
 opinions of chance travellers as to how far a city of frame 
 houses, which decay so rapidly in the Tropics, extended. 
 
 Judged by the New York or London of to-day old Panama 
 was an insignificant place. But there were very few cities 
 of Europe which in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries 
 had streets so broad and regular. There was certainly none 
 in the New World which could compare with it for com- 
 merce or wealth. It is easier to believe that the court 
 of the Governor was a magnificent medieval pageant of high 
 colors, fine Oriental silks and barbaric jewelry than to con- 
 ceive of the place through which so much wealth passed 
 as a contemptible group of hovels. Although, in our own day, 
 the best houses of the Klondike towns were frame shacks, 
 the courtesans wore gowns from Paris. And the ruined, 
 but stately tower of the Cathedral of St. Anastasius shows 
 beyond dispute that the metropolis of the Americas had 
 reached a stage of civilization far in advance of an Alaskan 
 mining camp. 
 
 After all, grandeur is a relative term, and no one who 
 speaks of the sordid Italian rapscallion as "The Magnificent 
 Borgia' ' can deny the same adjective to the "muy leal y muy 
 noble Ciudad de Panama." 
 
 Gage says, when he had decided to leave Panama: "I 
 had my choice of company by land and water to Portobel. 
 But considering the hardnesse of the mountaines by land, 
 I resolved to goe by the river Chiagre; and so at midnight 
 I set out from Panama to Venta de Cruzes, which is ten or 
 
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 twelve leagues from it. The way is thither very plaine for 
 the most part, and pleasant in the morning and evening. 
 
 "Before ten of the clock, we got to Venta de Cruzes, where 
 lived none but Mulatto's and Black-mores, who belong unto 
 the flat-boates that carry the merchandize to Portobel. 
 There I had very good entertainment by the people, who 
 desired me to preach imto them the nejrt Sabbath day and 
 gave me twenty Crownes for my Sermon, and Procession. 
 After five days of my abode there, the boats set out, which 
 were much stopped in their passage downe the river; for in 
 some places we found the water very low, so that the boats ran 
 upon the gravell;from whence with poles and the strength of 
 the Black-mores they were to be lifted off againe . . . Had 
 not it pleased God to send us after the first week plentifuU 
 raine, which made the water to run downe from the mountains 
 and fill the river (which otherwise of itself is very shallow) we 
 might have had a tedious and long passage; but after twelve 
 days we got to sea, and at the point landed at the Castle 
 to refresh ourselves for halfe a day. . . ." After telling 
 of the dilapidated condition of the Castle San Lorenzo at 
 the mouth of the Chagres, "which in my time wanted great 
 reparations, and was ready to fall downe to the ground," 
 he continues, "The Govenour of the Castle was a notable 
 wine-bibber, who plyed us with that liquor the time that we 
 stayed there, and wanting a Chaplain for himselfe, and 
 Souldiers, would faine have had me stay with him; but greater 
 matters called me further, and so I tooke my leave of him, 
 who gave us some dainties of fresh meat, fish and conserves 
 and so dismissed us. We got out to the open sea, discovering 
 first the Escuedo de Veragua, and keeping somewhat close 
 imto the land, we went on rowing towards Portobel, till the 
 evening which was Saturday night; then we cast anchor 
 behind a little Island, resolving in the morning to enter in 
 Portobel. The Black-mores all that night kept watch for 
 
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TS.E PATS OF TUB GREAT TSADE 297 
 
 fear of Hollenders, whom they said did often lie in wait there 
 abouts for the boats of Chiagre; but we passed the night 
 safely and next morning got to Portobelo, whose haven 
 we observed to be very strong with two Castles at the mouth 
 and constant watch within them, and another called St. 
 Miguel further in the Port . . . 
 
 "When I came into the Haven I was sorry to see that as 
 yet the Galeons were not come from Spaine, knowing that 
 the longer I stayed in that place, greater would be my 
 charges. Yet I comforted myselfe that the time of year 
 was come, and that they could not long delay their coming. 
 My first thoughts were of taking up a lodging, which at that 
 time were plentifuU and cheape, nay some were offered me 
 for nothing with this caveat, that when the Galeons did come, 
 I must either leave them, or pay a dear rate for them. A 
 kind Gentleman, who was the Kings Treasurer, falling in 
 discourse with me promised to help me, that I might be 
 cheaply lodged even when the ships came, and lodgings 
 were at the highest rate. He, interposing his authority, 
 went with me to seeke one, which at the time of the fleets 
 being there, might continue to be mine. It was no bigger 
 than would containe a bed, a table, a stoole or two, with 
 roome enough beside to open and shut the doore, and they 
 demanded of me for it during the aforesaid time of the fleet, 
 sixcore Crownes, which commonly is a fortnight. For the 
 Towne being little, and the Souldiers, that come with the 
 Galeons for their defence at least four or five thousand; 
 besides merchants from Peru, from Spain and many other 
 places to buy and sell, is cause that every roome, though 
 never so small, be dear; and sometimes all the lodgings in 
 the Towne are few enough for so many people, which at that 
 time doe meet at Portobel. I knew a Merchant who gave 
 a thousand Crownes for a shop of reasonable bignesse, to 
 sell his wares and commodities that yeer I was there, for 
 
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298 PANAMA 
 
 fifteen dales only, which the Fleet continued to be in that 
 Haven. I thought It much for me to give the slxcore 
 Crownes which were demanded of me for a room, which was 
 but as a mouse hole, and began to be troubled, and told the 
 Kings Treasurer that I had been lately robbed at sea, and 
 was not able to give so much, and bee besides at charges for 
 my diet, which I feared would prove as much more. But 
 not a farthing would be abated of what was asked; where 
 upon the good Treasurer, pitying me, offered to the man of 
 the house to pay him threescore Crowns of it, if so be that I 
 was able to pay the rest, which I must doe, or else lie without 
 in the street. Yet till the Fleet did come I would not enter 
 into this deare hole, but accepted of another faire lodging 
 which was offered me for nothing. Whilst I thus expected 
 the Fleets coming, some money and offerings I got for 
 Masses, and for two Sermons which I preached at fifteen 
 Crownes a peece. I visited the Castles, which indeed 
 seemed unto me to be very strong; but what most I wondered 
 at was to see the requa's of Mules which came thiether from 
 Panama, laden with wedges of silver; in one day I told two 
 hundred mules laden with nothing else, which were imladen in 
 the publicke Market-place, so that there the heapes of 
 silver wedges lay like heaps of stones in the street, without 
 any feare or suspition of being lost. Within ten dales the 
 fleet came, consisting of eight Galeons and ten Merchant 
 ships, which forced me to run to my hole. It was a wonder 
 then to see the multitude of people in those streets which 
 the weeke before had been empty. 
 
 "Then began the price of all things to rise, a fowl to be 
 worth twelve Rialls, which in the mainland within I had often 
 bought for one; a pound of beefe then was worth two Rialls, 
 whereas I had in other places thirteen pounds for half a 
 Riall, and so of all other food and provisions, which was so 
 excessively dear, that I knew not how to live but by fish and 
 
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 Tortoises, which were very many, and though somewhat 
 deare, yet were the cheapest meat I could eate." 
 
 Once more the testimony of FranQois Coreal concurs with 
 that of the English writer. 
 
 "At the time of the arrival of the Galleons," he writes, 
 "provisions rise to an extraordinary price, and lodgings are 
 so dear during the twenty or twenty-five days when they 
 load and unload the merchandise that the citizens who rent 
 apartments make as much or more profit than those who 
 come to trade." 
 
 "It was worth seeing," Gage continues, "how Merchants 
 sold their commodities, not by the Ell or yard, but by piece 
 and weight, not paying in coined pieces of money, but in 
 wedges, which were weighed and taken for commodities. 
 This lasted but fifteen dayes, whilst the Galeons were lading 
 with wedges of silver and nothing else; so that for those fifteen 
 dales I dare boldly say and avouch that in the world there 
 is no greater Fair than that of Portobel, between the Span- 
 ish Merchants and those of Peru, Panama, and other places 
 there about." 
 
 Here Gage breaks off his narrative for a long theological 
 discourse. One might say that having given a description 
 of the physical aspects of Puerto Bello, he adds a picture of 
 the psychology of the town in his times. 
 
 The point, about which most of his own reUgious doubts 
 centered, was the doctrine of Transubstantiation. This 
 dogma of the church had long troubled him and it was 
 especially on this matter that he hoped to find fight in Rome, 
 in the hope of which he had risked the anger of his superiors 
 and a so dangerous journey. 
 
 During the course of a mass which he celebrated during 
 these fifteen days an incident occurred which he discusses at 
 length and which was the cause of his conversion to Protes- 
 tantism. Just before the climax of the mystery, the priest 
 
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 steps back from the altar and repeats a prayer of self- 
 consecration called the "Memento." At this point in the 
 ritual, Gage heard a slight noise on the altar and opening his 
 eyes he saw a mouse running away with the consecrated wafer. 
 
 Gage tells us that for a moment he was immensely 
 frightened for his own safety. As an Englishman he was 
 tolerated on account of his calling, but there were many 
 Spaniards in those superstitious days who firmly believed that 
 England was an annex of Hell and that all men of that race 
 were lineal descendants of the Father of Lies. To make 
 known what had happened would surely cause a great 
 sensation, and very likely the fanatical mob might hold him 
 responsible for the incident which all would regard as 
 an appalling sacrilege. On the other hand, the one sin 
 which the Inquisition held to be the most heinous was any 
 tampering with the sacraments. In such matters they were 
 frigid formalists and no excuse counterbalanced the slightest 
 violation of the letter of the ritual. If Gage had gone on 
 with the ceremony and anyone had seen the accident, he 
 would run a very good chance of the stake. He decided 
 that the populace was less to be feared than the Inquisition. 
 He stopped the mass and calling for aid gave chase to the 
 mouse. The frightened animal dropped the "hostie" and es- 
 caped. The sacred wafer was found on the floor of the chancel. 
 
 As Gage had foreseen there was a great hue and cry. There 
 were fasts and special services to propitiate the wrath, which 
 every one felt the Most High must feel at this sacrilege. 
 However Gage escaped with his life and had time to think 
 the thing out. He concluded: "Now here I knew that this 
 Mouse had fed upon some substance, or else how could 
 the markes of the teeth so plainely appear? But no Papist 
 will bee willing to answer that it fed upon the substance of 
 Christs Body, ergo, by good consequence it foUowes that it 
 fed upon the substance of bread: and so Transubstantiation 
 
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TEE DAYS OF THE 6SEAT TRADE 301 
 
 here in my judgment was confuted by a Mouse; which mean 
 and base creature God chose to convince mee of my former 
 errours, and made mee now resolve upon what many yeeres 
 before I had doubted, that certainly the point of Transub- 
 stantiation taught by the Church of Rome is most danmable 
 and erroneous." 
 
 While Gage's logic will not be very convincing to the 
 modem mind, it gives us an interesting insight into how the 
 men of his day thought. He changed his religious faith be- 
 cause a miracle did not happen. A skeptic of our day might 
 be converted if he saw lightning come down from Heaven 
 and blast such an impious mouse. Gage's mind worked in a 
 manner exactly opposite. His whole philosophy was changed, 
 and his book shows that he thought earnestly, because the 
 "Natural Order" was not interfered with as he thought 
 he had a right to expect. 
 
 Having described his conversion, he returns to the narra- 
 tive: 
 
 "Don Carlos de Ybarra, who was the Admirall of that 
 Fleet, made great haste to bee gone; which made the Mer- 
 chants buy and sell apace, and lade the ships with silver 
 wedges; whereof I was glad, for the more they laded, the lesse 
 I unladed my purse with buying deare provisions, and 
 sooner I hoped to be out of that unhealthy place, which it- 
 self e is very hot, and subject to breed Feavers, nay death, 
 if the feet bee not preserved from wetting when it raineth; 
 but especially when the Fleet is there, it is an open grave 
 ready to swallow in part of that numerous people, which 
 at that time resort unto it, as was scene the yeare that I was 
 there, when about five hundred of the Soldiers, Merchants, 
 and Mariners, what with Feavers, what with Flux caused 
 by too much eating of fruit and drinking of water, what with 
 other disorders lost their lives, finding it to bee to them 
 not Porto bello, but Porto malo." 
 
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CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 PRIVATEEES AND PIRATES 
 
 The effort of the Spanish government to exclude all for- 
 eigners from any share in this fat traffic was, of course, fore- 
 doomed to failure. In fact, the rigor with which they enforced 
 the prohibitions against interlopers was the immediate cause 
 of great loss. 
 
 Early in the latter half of the sixteenth century an English 
 trading vessel approached the harbor of Vera Cruz in Mexico. 
 They sent a request to the governor for permission to enter 
 and sell their cargo. That worthy gentleman, believing that 
 if he refused to admit them, they would surely smuggle their 
 goods ashore, invited them to drop anchor, and, having them 
 under the guns of his fort, confiscated their ship and mer- 
 chandise and for a while held the crew in- prison. 
 
 One of the English sailors — the son of a Protestant min- 
 ister and the oldest of twelve brothers — ^was Francis Drake. 
 He finally made his way back to Europe and spent consider- 
 able time in trying to get some restitution from the Spanish 
 government. Failing in this, he decided to collect what was 
 due him — and all possible interest — and at the same time 
 revenge himself for his foul treatment, by force. 
 
 He made two piratical trips to the Indies in a small, fast 
 vessel, the Swan. His prizes were insignificant. He made 
 so little noise on these cruises that it is hard to find any 
 record of them. But his main object was to secure informa- 
 tion. 
 
 In 1570 he secured recognition in the English Court and 
 
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FSIVATEEBS AND PIRATES 303 
 
 Queen Elizabeth granted him "Letters of Marque" to cruise 
 against the Spaniards. It is possible that he may have had 
 similar commissions for his earUer cruises — the point is 
 uncertain — ^but from now on he was a reputable "privateer" 
 and not a "pirate." It is a distinction with no difference 
 except of social position. A "privateer" could be a national 
 hero, while a "pirate" could be the hero only of "the lower 
 classes." The former had the entree to Court, the latter 
 had to be contented with the adulation of cheap ale-houses. 
 
 What England thought of Drake is shown by a little 
 volume published in 1653 entitled "Sir Francis Drake 
 Revived, Who is or may be a Pattern to stirre up all Heroicke 
 and active Spirits of these Times, to benefit their Coimtry 
 and eternize their Names by like Noble Attempts. . . . 
 Calling upon this Dull and Effeminate Age to follow his 
 Noble Steps for Gold and Silver." 
 
 Backed by his new commission he fitted out a more 
 formidable expedition. A small one, indeed, for the work in 
 hand, but well planned. In the spring of 1572, he was ready 
 to sail, having his old ship, The Swan, and a new one. The 
 Pascha. 
 
 "Having in both of them," writes the author of the book 
 already referred to, "of men and boyes seventy-three, all 
 voluntarily assembled, of which the eldest was fifty, all the 
 rest under thirty. . . ." The ships were "both richly 
 furnished, with victuals and apparell for a whole yeer; and 
 no lesse heedfuUy provided of all manner of Munition, 
 Artillery, Artificers, stuffe and tooles, that were requisite 
 for such a Man of war in such an attempt, but especially 
 having three dainty Pinnases, made in Plimouth, taken 
 asunder all in peices and stowed aboard, to be set up as 
 occasion served." 
 
 They sailed without mishap to an uninhabited harbor on 
 the coast of the Isthmus about half way between Nombre 
 
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 de Dios and Carthagena, which they reached on the 12th of 
 July. Drake had visited the place on one of his former 
 cruises in the Swan and had chosen it for a base of opera- 
 tions. But on landing they found a sheet of lead nailed to 
 a tree "greater than any four men, joyning hands, could 
 fathom about." On this piece of lead was scratched this 
 message: 
 
 "Captain Drake, if you fortune to come to this Port, 
 make hast away: For the Spanyards, which you had with 
 you here the last year, have bewrayed this place, and 
 taken away all that you left here. I departed from hence 
 this present 7. of luly, 1572. 
 
 "YoTir very loving friend 
 
 "lohn Garret." 
 
 This warning caused Drake to hunt out some other 
 secluded cove — ^the coast abounds in them — and there he 
 took out his "three dainty Pinnases" and had them "set 
 up" by his artificers. 
 
 Very little time was lost before he was under way for his 
 famous attempt on Nombre de Dios. It must be remembered 
 that this was the first enterprise of its kind. The EngUsh 
 had not yet become accustomed to attacking fortified Span- 
 ish towns with a handful of men. These yoxmg men — all 
 "under thirty," however stout their hearts, must have felt 
 it an exceedingly desperate venture. 
 
 During the night the three Pinnases — ^most of the crew 
 hiding in the bottom — slipped into the harbor. One of their 
 number who could speak Spanish answered the hail from the 
 fort saying that they were from Cartagena. And so, getting 
 safely past the cannon, they attacked the town. A small 
 number of them stayed to guard the boats and the main 
 body quickly mastered the place. There was very little 
 fighting. The only resistance was in the Plaza where, our 
 
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FSIVATEEES AND PIBATE8 305 
 
 author writes, "the Souldiers and such as were joyned with 
 them presented us with a jolly hot volley of shot." But the 
 first charge dispersed this force. 
 
 It is hard from the chronicles to determine who were 
 more afraid, the townspeople or the invaders. The English 
 apparently could not believe that they had taken the city 
 so easily. As they met no large portion of the garrison, they 
 supposed that they were Ijang somewhere in ambush. A 
 rumor started that an attack was being made on the boats 
 and that their retreat was cut off. Only with great effort 
 could Drake prevent a stampede. He alone kept his head 
 and, having gone to so much trouble, he was not going to 
 be frightened into dropping his booty. Sending some of his 
 men to support the guard on the water front, and posting 
 sentries in various places, he led the main body of his men 
 to the king's treasure house, which they broke open and there 
 "we saw a huge heape of silver, . . . being a pile of bars of 
 silver, of (as neere as we could guesse) seventy foot in length, 
 of ten foot in breadth, and twelve foot in height, piled up 
 against the wall, each barre was between thirty-five and forty 
 pound in weight." 
 
 But at this jimcture, Drake, who had been wounded in 
 that "jolly hot volley of shot," fainted from loss of blood. 
 Panic at once fell on the privateers and, carrying their uncon- 
 scious leader to the boats, they made off. Their retreat was 
 so hurried, in fact, that they forgot some of the sentries, 
 who had to swim out to their boats. The Spanish garrison, 
 instead of having rallied to attack them, had not yet stopped 
 ruiming. 
 
 What Drake said to his men when he recovered conscious- 
 ness and found that they had let this rich booty slip through 
 his fingers is not recorded. 
 
 They returned to the secret harbor where they had left 
 their ships, and very shortly set out again, this time for 
 
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 Cartagena. But that city, much more strongly fortified and 
 garrisoned than Nombre de Dios, had been warned, and 
 Drake's force was not strong enough to attempt to take it 
 by assault. He contented himself with cutting out some of 
 the shipping from under the guns of the fortress and sailed 
 away. For a while he lay quiet in his secluded headquarters 
 hoping that the Spaniards would think he had left the coast 
 and so relax their vigilance. 
 
 But the fame of his attack on Nombre de Dios had spread 
 through the Isthmus and gained him unexpected allies. The 
 Indians of the eastern end of the Isthmus had never, since 
 the days of Vasco Nunez de Balboa, been at peace with the 
 Spaniards. The English were evidently enemies of their 
 enemies, and therefore their friends. Another element of 
 the population, as bitter against the Spaniards as the In- 
 dians, were the "Cimarrones." The origin of this word has 
 not been satisfactorily explained. It is spelt in a dozen 
 different ways in the old books. It was the name given by 
 the Spaniards to the escaped negro slaves, who lived banded 
 together in the jimgle. The Indians seem to have welcomed 
 these fugitives from the Spanish injustice and to have helped 
 them in establishing villages and in planting bananas and 
 plantains. These groups of freed slaves were even a greater 
 menace to the colonists than the Indians. Their chiefs 
 visited Drake's headquarters and entered into an alliance 
 with him. 
 
 Together with these negroes, Drake planned an adventure 
 even more daring than his assault on Nombre de Dios. The 
 native spies brought word that a ship had come from Peru 
 to Panama loaded down with treasure. Drake, with eighteen 
 Enghshmen and a mixed company of Indians and Cimarrones 
 started inland to intercept the treasure train on its way 
 across the Isthmus. 
 
 It was on this trip that Drake got his first sight of the 
 
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PBIVATEEJIS AND PISATES 307 
 
 Pacific. A Cimarrone brought him to a hilltop, very prob- 
 ably within the limits of our Canal Zone, from which by 
 climbing a tall tree he could see the Ocean to the south. 
 The chronicle says that he fell on his knees and prayed 
 Almighty God to grant him life until he could sail in those 
 waters on an English ship. One of the men who was with 
 him at this time and who also saw the Pacific was John 
 Oxenham, of whom we will hear more. 
 
 Near this place there was a large fortified camp of the 
 Cimarrones. Drake and his men stayed there while one of 
 the negroes, passing himself off as a slave, entered Panama 
 and secured definite information about the time set for the 
 departure of the treasure train. On the appointed night — 
 most of the transportation was done at night to avoid the 
 excessive heat — Drake ambushed his men on both sides of 
 the trail. They had all put their shirts on outside their 
 breast plates so as to be easily distinguishable in the dark. 
 The instructions were to lie quiet imtil the mule train had 
 passed and so cut off any chance of its retreat to Panama. 
 The force was strung out for a considerable distance, each 
 white man accompanied by two or three natives. And so 
 they sat in the obscurity of the jimgle and waited. Doubt- 
 lessly the mosquitoes made things uncomfortable for them. 
 And in their armor they must have found the heat oppressive. 
 
 Presently the tinkle of mule-bells came from the direction 
 of Panama. In a few minutes a man on foot came into the 
 sight of the first Englishman. This cut-throat seems to have 
 drunk too copiously of the insidious liquor which the Indians 
 brew from sugar-cane. Instead of obeying orders, he 
 abruptly stood up. His Cimarrone comrades pulled him 
 down again, but it was too late. The Spaniard, scared by 
 the apparition beyond the power to cry out, ran full speed 
 back toward the city. The tinkling of the mule-bells 
 ceased. The convoy halted to listen to the wild story of a 
 
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 white-robed ghost who had suddenly faced the foot pas- 
 senger. The Spanish captain did not believe in ghosts, but 
 still he could not explain a white-robed figure on the hillside. 
 He probably did not suspect that Drake would have the 
 audacity to come so near Panama, but anyhow discretion 
 was an easy virtue; there was a train of mules loaded with 
 grain behind him. It would be just as well to let them 
 go first. So he ordered them to pass on, and the tinkling of 
 mule-bells was heard again. 
 
 Meanwhile Drake and those of his followers who were 
 sober had no idea of what had happened. This time every- 
 thing took place according to schedule. The mule-train was 
 allowed to proceed until the last one's retreat was cut off. 
 Drake gave the signal. "St. George and Merrie England" 
 rang out through the jungle and almost without a blow these 
 doughty warriors of Good Queen Bess had captured several 
 dozen bushels of fodder. 
 
 One almost hopes that Drake hung the drunken fool who 
 spoiled it all. Such a daring venture — even if it was robbery 
 — ought not to be defeated by such a banal blunder. 
 
 Balked once more of his loot Drake returned to his head- 
 quarters and knowing that now the country would be thor- 
 oughly aroused, he threw off the mask. He went again to 
 Cartagena, cut up some more shipping in that harbor, 
 exchanged insulting pleasantries with the governor, and 
 cruised up and down the coast, doing all the damage he could. 
 
 But he was not willing to leave without striking some big 
 game. In March, 1573, he was joined by a crew of French 
 corsairs and, once more in alliance with the Cimarrones, he 
 planned to intercept some of the treasure coming across the 
 Isthmus. This time, instead of penetrating so far into the 
 interior, he laid his ambush just outside of Nombre de Dios. 
 I quote the narrative from another Drake book, "The 
 English Hero," published in 1756. 
 
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FBIFAIEEBS AND PIRATES 309 
 
 "Coming within a Mile of the Highway they refresh'd 
 themselves all Night, hearing many Carpenters working on 
 the Ships (because of the great Heat by Day) at Nombre de 
 Dios; next Morning, April 1, 1573, they extreamly rejoiced 
 to hear the Mules coming with a great Noise of Bells, hoping, 
 though they were formerly disappointed, they should now 
 have more Gold and Silver than they could carry away, as 
 accordingly happened, for soon after there came three 
 Recoes, one of fifty Mules, and two more of seventy in each 
 Company, every one carrying three hundred Poimd Weight 
 of Silver, amounting in all to about thirty Tun; they soon 
 prepared to go into the Highway hearing the Bells, and seized 
 upon the first and last Mules, to try what Metal they carried. 
 These three Recoes had a Guard of about forty-five Soldiers, 
 fifteen to each, which caused the Exchange of some Shot 
 and Arrows at first, wherein the French captain was sorely 
 wounded with Hail Shot in his Belly, and one Symeron slain; 
 but the Soldiers retiring for more Help, left their Mules, and 
 the English took pains to ease some of them of their Burdens 
 and, being weary, contented themselves with as many Bars 
 and Wedges of Gold as they could well carry away, burying 
 above fifty Tun of Silver in the Sands, and under old Trees: 
 having in two Hours ended their Business, they prepared to 
 return." 
 
 It is considerable of a tax on the imagination to imder- 
 stand how, when the mules only carried thirty tons of silver, 
 the English buried fifty tons of it. The story is further com- 
 plicated by the fact that if they were within sound of the 
 carpenter's hammers in the harbor it is hardly probable that 
 they were allowed two sohd uninterrupted hours for their 
 "business." It would further be an amazing feat to bury 
 two hundred mule loads of anything in so short a time. This 
 is a fairly good sample of some of the gush which the English 
 pass out as history of their naval heroes. 
 
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 However, although most of the details of this story as 
 given in "The English Hero" are incredible, the fact is well 
 established that Drake made this raid successfully and that 
 his company, after many more adventures, regained their 
 ships with all the gold they could carry. 
 
 For three months more he hung about in those waters and 
 early in August, 1573, started back for Plymouth. Besides 
 his raids on the mainland he had captured over a hvmdred 
 Spanish merchant vessels. His reception in England was 
 enthusiastic. 
 
 He at once set about organizing an expedition into the 
 Pacific. But his wish to be the first EngUshman to sail in 
 that Ocean was forestalled by Oxenham, who had been with 
 him when he first saw the new sea. Oxenham collected a 
 crew of adventurers in 1575 and sailed again to the Isthmus. 
 With the aid of the Indians and Cimarrones he crossed the 
 mountains by very nearly the same route as Balboa, and, 
 launching out on the Gulf of San Miguel in native dug-outs, 
 soon captured a small sailing-vessel; getting aboard of their 
 prize they cruised about until they encountered a larger ship. 
 They repeated the process several times, until at last they 
 captured the famous "navio del oro," the "ship of gold," 
 which brought up the bullion from the Peruvian mines. 
 This was the first time an enemy had threatened the Span- 
 iards in the Pacific, and they were entirely unprepared to 
 protect themselves. So at first Oxenham had easy success. 
 But finally, stirred up by the loss of their richest treasure 
 ship, the Spaniards rallied. Oxenham had a series of mis- 
 haps, bad weather and sickness, his overbearing manner had 
 alienated the native allies, and his raid came to a disastrous 
 end. Those of his company who did not die of famine or 
 disease were captured and either executed in Panama or 
 sent in chains to Spain. Most of the treasure was recovered. 
 
 On November 15, 1577, Drake sailed from England again. 
 
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PBIVATEESS AND FISATES 311 
 
 He cleared the Straits of Magellan, ten months later — 
 September, 1578 — sacked half a dozen towns on the west 
 coast of South America — ^why he did not "attempt" Panama 
 is not clear — collected an immense amount of booty, and 
 sailed up the CaUfornian coast to the 43° North. Then 
 turning south again he crossed the Pacific and rounding the 
 •Cape of Good Hope, brought the Golden Hind to anchor in 
 Plymouth in September, 1580. 
 
 Five years later war was declared with Spain, and Drake 
 —now an admiral in the regular navy — sailed from Plymouth 
 with twenty-five warships. He landed at Santo Domingo 
 and spared the city in consideration of 25,000 ducats. He 
 then visited Cartagena and extracted a ransom of 145,000 
 pesos. 
 
 Here news of the outfitting of the great Armada in Spain 
 caused him to be called home. So, after only six months of 
 pillage in the West Indies, he returned reluctantly to Eng- 
 land. It was two years before the Armada really materialized. 
 
 For several years after this Drake was idle, but in" 1595 
 he again went to sea. On August 28th he set sail with six 
 government warships, twenty-one privateers and 2,500 men. 
 He met his first serious repulse in Puerto Rico. A desperate 
 attempt to capture the fortress of San Juan failed disas- 
 trously, and he sailed to the mainland. On the whole it was 
 an unsuccessful voyage. The cities he captured could not 
 or would not pay the ransoms he demanded. One after 
 another he was forced to burn Rancheria, Rio de le Hacha, 
 Santa Marta and Nombre de Dios. They were all scantily 
 fortified and helpless before his strong armament. The 
 captains of his men-of-war may have been satisfied with the 
 glory, but it was very poor picking for his twenty-one priv- 
 ateers. Another setback came to him on the Isthmus. 
 From Nombre de Dios he tried to send a land force across 
 to sack Panama. They became hopelessly entangled in the 
 
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 jungle and were beaten back more by the dense vegetation 
 and swamps than by the Spaniards, who did little beyond 
 butchering the stragglers. 
 
 From Nombre de Dies Drake sailed to Puerto Bello. The 
 fortifications of that harbor were not so formidable as at 
 San Juan de Puerto Rico, but still there was a chance for a 
 real fight. But on the 28th of January, 1596, just as the 
 English were about to attack the city. Sir Francis Drake 
 died in his cabin. He was buried in the mouth of the harbor. 
 The fieet having lost its leader, lost heart as well, and sailed 
 back to England. 
 
 Drake was a great sea-captain. He seems to have suc- 
 ceeded somewhat better in the adventures he undertook 
 with small forces than when acting as admiral of a large fleet. 
 He was entirely free from the wanton cruelty which clouded 
 the brilliant achievements of the buccaneers. He was not 
 at heart a pirate. Although he always harbored a bitter 
 resentment against the Spaniards for their mistreatment of 
 him at Vera Cruz, still he seems to have generally treated 
 his captives as prisoners of war. Some of his raids were com- 
 mitted in times of nominal peace between his sovereign and 
 the Spanish throne, but he seems to have always thought 
 of himself as engaged in honorable warfare. When a man 
 has so many real achievements to his credit, it is rather dis- 
 tressing to read of the fantastic and imreal adventures 
 ascribed to him by his countrymen. 
 
 But it is impossible to exaggerate the fear which his name 
 carried throughout the Spanish colonies. 
 
 Mr. G. Jenner has translated some interesting sections 
 relating to him from the works of a Spanish historian, Fray 
 Pedro Simon. This author is very much more temperate 
 in his language than most of the Spaniards who mention 
 Drake, and the quotations give a good example of what the 
 more intelligent people of Latin-America thought of him. 
 
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PSIVATEEBS AND PIBATES 313 
 
 After the raids on the Isthmus in 1572 and 1573, this 
 writer says: "Drake returned to London, where he arrived 
 with much plunder after a prosperous voyage. He was 
 received there with the applause that commonly gratifies 
 wealth, and even the queen favored him with excessive 
 demonstrations and greater courtesy than became her royal 
 person. After all, however, that was woman-Uke and due 
 somewhat to her covetousness and to the desire of putting 
 her arms up to the elbow into the great plunder brought home 
 by the Protestant." 
 
 After having made his voyage of circumnavigation. Fray 
 Simon says that Drake bought an estate and attempted to 
 settle down, "but all this was like drinking salt water, for, 
 as we shall see, the thirst of his covetousness was in no way 
 quenched. . . . 
 
 "Considering the condition of man degraded by sin and 
 incapable of resisting temptation of greed, we need not 
 wonder that the acquisition of goods should lead to the desire 
 to add to them, especially amongst those who know neither 
 law nor God. . . ." 
 
 Of the 1586 expedition he writes: "For thirty days 
 the heretical pirate held the city (Santo Domingo), his 
 Lutheran ministers preaching their creed, and constant 
 festivities going on. The Protestant would send from time 
 to time for some of the fugitives, with whom he conversed 
 in jovial and conceited tones, jeering at the fear of our people, 
 who had allowed his fatigued and harassed soldiers to take 
 possession of their town without resistance, and attacking 
 our Christian religion to justify his heresies and robberies." 
 During the occupation of Cartagena, on the same expedition, 
 he writes that "the images painted on the walls of these 
 churches were exposed to pitiful insults, and the tenets of 
 Luther were preached on the terraces of the Government 
 House." 
 
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314 PANAMA 
 
 When he gets to the last expedition of Drake, the good 
 father becomes even more indignantly eloquent. After 
 describing the burning of Rio de la Hacha, Santa Marta and 
 Nombre de Dios, he says: 'Of all his wickedness the one 
 he indulged in with especial satisfaction was the use of fire, 
 as if he were preparing himself for the flames that would 
 torture him in hell. . . ." Describing his death before 
 Puerto Bello, which he, apparently without any reason, as- 
 cribes to poison, he writes: "Then his tongue congealed: his 
 mouth became scarlet and distorted, giving issue (if that be 
 the exit) to that lost soul that hastened direct to hell." 
 
 But the death of Drake by no means relieved the Spanish 
 colonies from the terror of the "heretical pirates." In a very 
 rare book published in London in 1740 called "A geograph- 
 ical Description of Coasts, Harbors and Sea Ports of the 
 Spanish West Indies" by D. G. Carranza, there is an appen- 
 dix in which Captain William Parker describes his assault 
 on Puerto Bello. He was one of the first upon whom fell 
 the mantle of the great Sir Francis. 
 
 He sailed from Pljonouth in 1601 with two ships, two 
 shallops, a pinnace and two hundred men. He touched the 
 mainland first in what is now Venezuela, near the spot where 
 Las Casas tried to found his knightly colony; here Parker 
 picked up a load of pearls valued at 2,500 pesos. Then off 
 the Cape de la Vela he overhauled a Portuguese slave-ship 
 for which he accepted a ransom of another 2,500 pesos. 
 
 On the 7th of February, 1602, he reached Puerto Bello. 
 This large harbor was protected by two formidable forts on 
 each side of the entrance which, as Thomas Gage said, could 
 with their cannon "reach and command one another." " The 
 Place where my Shippes roade," says Parker, "beinge the 
 rock where Sir Francis Drake his coffin was throwne over- 
 boarde." 
 
 By the time-worn trick of hailing the sentries in Spanish 
 
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FEIVATEEES AND PIRATES 315 
 
 he got his little fleet past the forts during the night and at 
 once began the attack. The first party ashore met with an 
 even jollier "hot volley of shot" than that which was pre- 
 sented to Drake in Nombre de Dios. It killed or wounded 
 all but nine of the English. 
 
 "But," says the Captain — and he seems to have been a 
 very pious man — " God did prosper our Proceedings mightilie, 
 for the first two shott which went out from us shot Malendus 
 (the Governor of Puerto Bello) through his Targett, and 
 went throughe both his Armes, and the other Shott hurted 
 the Corporall of the Fielde, whereupon they all retired to 
 their House, which they made good untill it was almost 
 dale." 
 
 But when all his men had come up, Parker was able to 
 drive them out of their last stronghold and was free to sack 
 the city. They gathered 10,000 ducats worth of spoil. If 
 they had arrived a week earlier they would have captured a 
 far richer prize, for on the 1st of February a treasure ship had 
 left the port carrying 120,000 ducats in bulUon. To get away 
 with their plimder they had to run the forts, which were 
 much too strong for their small force to assault. 
 
 "But God so wrought for us," he says, "that we safely 
 gott forthe againe contrarie to the expectations of our 
 Enemies." 
 
 Although Parker, like Drake, was more of a privateer than 
 pirate, it soon became impossible to distinguish between the 
 "profession" and the "trade." As early as 1531, French 
 corsairs began to infest the Caribbean Sea. When their own 
 country was at war with Spain they flew the French flag. 
 But once having tasted the wild life of privateering, it was 
 diflacult for thein to settle down to quiet industry when a 
 temporary peace interfered with their lucrative enterprises. 
 They got into the habit of switching their allegiance to what- 
 ever country was embroiled with Spain. Every really enter- 
 
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 prising sea-rover had at least four or five commissions from 
 different countries in his chest. And as the spell of their 
 adventurous Ufe grew upon them they became less and less 
 careful to preserve the forms of honorable war. What was 
 true of the French privateers was equally true of the English. 
 The "heretical pirates" of the sixteenth century were 
 honored war-dogs of the Good Queen Bess, carrying on the 
 desperate war for national existence and religious freedom 
 against the archenemy. Drake and Parker — according to 
 the standards of their day — were gentlemen. The "heretical 
 pirates" of the next century were a decidedly lower order 
 of men. 
 
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CHAPTER XIX 
 
 THE BUCCANEERS 
 
 The etymology of the word "buccaneer" has led many 
 historians astray. 
 
 The Indians called the meat which they preserved by 
 smoking "buccan." Just as the Spanish horse developed 
 into wild herds on our Western plains, so their cattle multi- 
 plied very rapidly on the islands of Santo Domingo and 
 Cuba. "Buccan" was in great demand for victualling the 
 ships. And gradually a trade grew up, of men, almost as 
 wild as the cattle they hunted, who went out into the unin- 
 habited savanahs and jungle to kill and cure meat to supply 
 the towns. The French, who had settled on one end of 
 Santo Domingo — using their regular suffix — coined the word 
 "buccaneer" as a name for these cattle hunters. 
 
 It was not a remunerative trade. The men who followed 
 it were the jetsam of colonial society; criminals, who feared 
 the justice of the towns; misanthropists, who preferred the 
 open solitude beyond the frontiers to the press of their fellow 
 men. From what we know of them they seem to have been 
 vagabonds rather than desperadoes. The name came to be 
 used like our American word "tramp." If anyone missed 
 a silver spoon, or if the washing was blown off the line, it 
 was blamed on these irresponsible cow-hunters. And it 
 was the same when a derelict burnt down to the water's edge 
 was encountered at sea; the respectable people shook their 
 heads and said, "Surely it was the Buccaneers." 
 
 But the chroniclers of the sea-rovers, Exquemelin, Wafer, 
 
 317 
 
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318 PANAMA 
 
 Dampier, Ringrose and the others, do not show that the 
 crews of buccaneer ships were to any large extent recruited 
 from these men who killed the wild cattle and peddled the 
 "buccan" in the towns. These poor devils did nothing 
 much for the pirates but give them a name. 
 
 The men who sailed with Mansfield, Morgan and Sharpe 
 had very few of them done such an innocent thing as kill 
 cattle since they had reached the age of sixteen. 
 
 It would take us too far afield to analyze the character of 
 the population in the colonies. Spain, alone of the Euro- 
 pean nations, made any effort to send a substantial class of 
 people to the Indies. It was a perfunctory effort, no doubt, 
 but the other countries frankly made the New World a 
 dumping-ground for criminals. The French, Dutch and 
 English, all had penal colonies in the Antilles. The inden- 
 tured servants were notoriously a wild lot. And very many 
 of the free citizens had left home in haste — just in time to 
 preserve their freedom. 
 
 It was not difficult to gather half a hundred cut-throats 
 in any American port; more than one pirate ship in later 
 years sailed from Plymouth colony. The priv^ateers, the 
 heroes of the British navy, showed the way. The habit of 
 applauding rapine on the Spanish Main had become so deep- 
 seated in England that no serious effort was made to check 
 the piracy which had its headquarters in Jamaica imtil well 
 along towards the close of the seventeenth century. 
 
 But piracy was by no means confined to one nationality. 
 As a general proposition it was considered legitimate for 
 any Protestant to prey on the subjects of His Most CathoUc 
 Majesty. This gave free license to practically all English- 
 men and Hollanders. And a great many Frenchmen on 
 their arrival in the Indies decided that it would be profitable 
 to become Hugueneaux. 
 
 "These 'corsarios Luteranos' as the Spaniards sometimes 
 
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TME BUCCANEEBS 319 
 
 called them," Haring writes, "scouring the coast of the 
 Main from Venezuela to Cartagena, hovering about the 
 broad channel between Cuba and Yucatan, or prowhng in 
 the Florida Straits, became the nightmare of Spanish sea- 
 men. Like a pack of terriers they hung upon the skirts of 
 the great unwieldly fleets, ready to snap up any unfortunate 
 vessel which a tempest or other accident had separated from 
 its fellows. When Thomas Gage was sailing in the galleons 
 from Porto Bello to Cartagena, in 1637, four buccaneers 
 hovering near them carried away two merchant-ships under 
 cover of darkness. As the same fleet was departing from 
 Havana, just outside the harbor two strange vessels appeared 
 in their midst, and getting to the windward of them singled 
 out a Spanish ship which had strayed a short distance from 
 the rest, suddenly gave her a broadside and made her yield. 
 The vessel was laden with sugar and other goods to the value 
 of 80,000 crowns. The Spanish vice-admiral and two other 
 galleons gave chase, but without success, for the wind was 
 against them. The whole action lasted only half an hour. 
 
 "The Spanish ships of the sixteenth and seventeenth cen- 
 turies were notoriously clumsy and unseaworthy. With 
 short keel and towering poop and forecastle, they were an 
 easy prey for the long, low, close-sailing sloops and barques 
 of the buccaneers. But it was not their only weakness. 
 Although the king expressly prohibited the loading of mer- 
 chandise on the galleons except on the king's account, this 
 rule was often broken for iihe private profit of the captain, 
 the sailors, and even of the general. The men-of-war, in- 
 deed, were sometimes so embarrassed with goods and passen- 
 gers that it was scarcely possible to defend them when at- 
 tacked. The galleon which bore the general's flag had often 
 as many as seven hundred souls, crew, marines and passen- 
 gers, on board, and the same number were crowded upon 
 those carrying the vice-admiral and the pilot. Ship-masters 
 
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320 PANAMA 
 
 frequently hired guns, anchors, cables, and stores to make up 
 the required equipment, and men to fill up the muster-rolls, 
 against the time when the "visitadors" came on board to 
 make their official inspection, getting rid of the stores and 
 men inmediately afterward. Merchant ships were armed 
 with such feeble crews, owing to the excessive crowding, that 
 it was all they could do to withstand the least spell of bad 
 weather, let alone out-manceuvre a swift-sailing buccaneer." 
 
 Henry Morgan, the most famous of the buccaneers, was 
 typical. When a yoxmg boy he was kidnapped in the 
 streets of Bristol — it is claimed that he came of a good 
 English family — and was sold as an indentured servant to 
 some colonist in Barbados. When his time had expired he 
 made his way to Jamaica and soon fell in with the bucca- 
 neers who infested that island. Before very long he became 
 the captain of a ship. At first he seems to have had but 
 moderate fortune. He took part in several raids but did 
 not rise to prominence until he joined forces with Mans- 
 field — the first of the buccaneers who succeeded in rallsang 
 enough pirates under one command to make himself for- 
 midable to fortified coast towns. Morgan became his prin- 
 cipal lieutenant, and when this chief passed over became the 
 acknowledged leader of the buccaneers. 
 
 In June, 1668, when he was thirty-three years old, Mor- 
 gan collected a fleet of nine or ten small ships and perhaps 
 four hundred men. With them he attacked Puerto Bello 
 and wrote his name alongside that of Sir Francis Drake in 
 the record of Englishmen whom the Spaniards feared and 
 hated. 
 
 In his company was a young Dutch apothecary, named 
 Exquemelin, who afterwards wrote one of the most popular 
 books of the century. His history of the Sea-Rovers, first 
 printed in his own language, was soon translated into half a 
 dozen others and edition after edition was printed. Almost 
 
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THE BUCCANEEBS 321 
 
 every book on the buccaneers which has appeared since is 
 based on Exquemelin. 
 
 "Captain Morgan," he says, "who knew very well all the 
 avenues of this city, as also all the neighboring coasts, ar- 
 rived in the dusk of the evening at the place called Puerto 
 de Naos [probably the present Colon Harbor], distant ten 
 leagues towards the west of Porto Bello. Being come unto 
 this place, they mounted the river in their ships, as far as 
 another harbor called Puerto Pontin, where they came to 
 anchor. Here they put themselves immediately into boats 
 and canoes, leaving in the ships only a few men to keep 
 them and conduct them the next day into the port. About 
 midnight they came to a certain place called Estera longa 
 Lemos, where they all went on shore, and marched by land 
 to the first posts of the city. They had in their company a 
 certain Enghshman, who had been formerly a prisoner in 
 those parts, and who now served them for a guide. Unto 
 him, and three or four more, they gave commission to take 
 the sentry, if possible, or to kill him upon the place. But 
 they laid hands on him and apprehended him with such 
 cuiming as he had no time to give warning with his musket, 
 or make any other noise. Thus they brought him, Avith his 
 hands bound, xmto Captain Morgan, who asked him: 'How 
 things went in the city, and what forces they had'; with 
 many other circumstances, which he was desirous to know. 
 After every question they made him a thousand menaces 
 to kill him, in case he declared not the truth. Thus they 
 began to advance towards the city, carrying always the said 
 sentry bound before them. Having marched about one 
 quarter of a league, they came to the castle that is nigh unto 
 the city, which presently they closely surrounded, so that 
 no person could either get in or out of the said fortress. 
 
 "Being thus posted under the walls of the castle, Cap- 
 tain Morgan commanded the sentry, whom they had taken 
 
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 prisoner, to speak to those that were within, charging them 
 to surrender, and deliver themselves up to his discretion; 
 otherwise they should be all cut to pieces, without giving 
 quarter to any one. But they would harken to none of 
 these threats, beginning instantly to fire; which gave notice 
 unto the city, and this was suddenly alarmed. Yet, not- 
 withstanding, although the governor and soldiers of the said 
 castle made as great resistance as could be performed, they 
 were constrained to surrender unto the pirates. These no 
 sooner had taken the castle, than they resolved to be as 
 good as their word, in putting the Spaniards to the sword, 
 thereby to strike a terror into the rest of the city. Here- 
 upon, having shut up all the soldiers and officers as pris- 
 oners, into one room, they instantly set fire to the powder 
 (whereof they found great quantity), and blew up the whole 
 castle into the air, with all the Spaniards that were within. 
 This being done, they pursued the course of their victory, 
 falling upon the city, which as yet was not in order to 
 receive them. Many of the inhabitants cast their precious 
 jewels and money into wells and cisterns or hid them in 
 other places underground, to excuse as much as possible, 
 their being totally robbed. One party of the pirates, being 
 assigned to this purpose, ran immediately to the cloisters 
 and took as many religious men and women as they could 
 find. The governor of the city not being able to rally the 
 citizens, through the huge confusion of the town, retired 
 into one of the castles remaining, and from thence began to 
 fire incessantly at the pirates. But these were not in the 
 least negligent either to assault him or defend themselves 
 with all the courage imaginable. Thus it was observed that, 
 amidst the horror of the assault, they made very few shot in 
 vain. For aiming with great dexterity at the mouths of 
 the guns, the Spaniards were certain to lose one or two men 
 every time they charged each gun anew. 
 
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 "The assault of the castle where the governor was con- 
 tinued very furious on both sides, from break of day until 
 noon. Yea, about this time of the day the case was very 
 dubious which party should conquer or be conquered. . . . 
 Captain Morgan, seeing this generous defense made by the 
 Spaniards, began to despair of the whole success of the en- 
 terprise. Hereupon many faint and calm meditations came 
 into his mind; neither could he determine which way to 
 turn himself in that straitness of affairs. Being involved in 
 these thoughts, he was suddenly animated to continue the 
 assault, by seeing the English colours put forth at one of 
 the lesser castles, then entered by his men, of whom he 
 presently after spied a troop that came to meet him pro- 
 claiming victory with loud shouts of joy. This instantly 
 put him upon new resolutions of making new efforts to take 
 the rest of the castles that stood out against him; especially 
 seeing the chief citizens were fled unto them, and had con- 
 veyed thither great part of their riches, with all the plate 
 belonging to the churches, and other things dedicated to 
 divine service. 
 
 "To this effect, therefore, he ordered ten or twelve lad- 
 ders to be made, in all possible haste, so broad that three or 
 four men at once might ascend by them. These being fin- 
 ished, he commanded all the religious men and women 
 whom he had taken prisoners to fix them against the walls 
 of the castle. Thus much he had before hand threatened 
 the governor to perform, in case he delivered not the castle. 
 But his answer was: 'He would never surrender himself 
 alive.' Captain Morgan was much persuaded that the 
 governor would not employ his utmost forces, seeing relig- 
 ious women and ecclesiastical persons exposed in the front 
 of the soldiers to the greatest dangers. Thus the ladders, 
 as I have said, were put into the hands of religious persons 
 of both sexes; and these were forced, at the head of the 
 
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 companies, to raise and apply them to the walls. But 
 Captain Morgan was deceived in his judgment of this 
 design. For the governor, who acted like a brave and 
 courageous soldier, refused not, in performance of his duty, 
 to use his utmost endeavours to destroy whosoever came 
 near the walls. The religious men and women ceased not 
 to cry unto him and beg of him by all the Saints of Heaven 
 he would deliver the castle, and hereby spare both his and 
 their own lives. But nothing could prevail with the ob- 
 stinacy and fierceness that had possessed the governor's 
 mind. Thus many of the religious men and nuns were 
 killed before they could fix the ladders. Which at last 
 being done, though with great loss of the said religious 
 people, the pirates mounted them in great numbers, and 
 with no less valour; having fireballs in their hands and 
 earthen pots full of powder. All which things, being now 
 at the top of the walls, they kindled and cast in among the 
 Spaniards. 
 
 "This effort of the pirates was very great, insomuch as 
 the Spaniards could no longer resist nor defend the castle, 
 which was now entered. Hereupon they all threw down 
 their arms, and craved quarter for their lives. Only the 
 governor of the city would admit or crave no mercy; but 
 rather killed many of the pirates with his own hands, and 
 not a few of his own soldiers because they did not stand to 
 their arms. And although the pirates asked him if he 
 would have quarter, yet he constantly answered: "By no 
 means; I had rather die as a valiant soldier, than be hanged 
 as a coward.' They endeavoured as much as they could 
 to take him prisoner. But he defended himself so obsti- 
 nately that they were forced to kill him; notwithstanding 
 all the cries and tears of his own wife and daughter, who 
 begged him upon their knees he would demand quarter and 
 save his life. When the pirates had possessed themselves 
 
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TEE BUCCANEEBS 325 
 
 of the castle, which was about night, they enclosed therein 
 all the prisoners they had taken, placing the women and men 
 by themselves, with some guards upon them. All the 
 wounded were put into a certain apartment by itself, to the 
 intent their own complaints might be the cure of their dis- 
 ease; for no other was afforded them. 
 
 "This being done, they fell to eating and drinking after 
 their usual manner; that is to say, committing in both these 
 things all manner of debauchery and excess. . . . After 
 such manner they delivered themselves up unto all sort of 
 debauchery, that if there had been found only fifty courag- 
 ous men, they might easily have retaken the city, and killed 
 all the pirates. The next day, having plundered all they 
 could find, they began to examine some of the prisoners 
 (who had been persuaded by their companions to say they 
 were the richest of the town), charging them severely to 
 discover where they had hidden their riches and goods. But 
 not being able to extort anything out of them, as they were 
 not the right persons that possessed any wealth, they at last 
 resolved to torture them. This they performed with such 
 cruelty that many of them died upon the rack, or presently 
 after. Soon after, the President of Panama had news 
 brought him of the pillage and ruin of Porto Bello. This 
 intelligence caused him to employ all his care and industry 
 to raise forces, with design to pursue and cast out the 
 pirates from thence. But these cared little for what 
 extraordinary means the president used, as having their 
 ships nigh at hand, and being determined to set fire unto the 
 city and retreat. They had now been at Porto Bello fifteen 
 days, in which space of time they had lost many of their 
 men, both by the unhealthiness of the country and the ex- 
 travagant debaucheries they had committed." 
 
 In regard to the diseases which carried off some of the 
 pirates, Mr. Haring gives a note in which he quotes an old 
 
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 book called "The Present State of Jamaica, 1683," which 
 says that Morgan brought the plague back from Puerto 
 Bello, "that killed my Lady Modyford and others." 
 
 "Hereupon they prepared for a departure," Exquemehn 
 continues, "carrying on board their ships all the pillage they 
 had gotten. But, before all, they provided the fleet with 
 sufficient victuals for the voyage. While these things were 
 getting ready. Captain Morgan sent an injunction unto the 
 prisoners, that they should pay him a ransom for the city, 
 or else he would by fire consume it to ashes, and blow up all 
 the castles into the air. Withal, he commanded them to 
 send speedily two persons to seek and procure the sum he 
 demanded, which amounted to one hundred thousand pieces 
 of eight. Unto this effect, two men were sent to the Presi- 
 dent of Panama, who gave him an account of all these 
 tragedies. . . ." 
 
 The President of Panama was unable to relieve the 
 stricken town, and so "the miserable citizens, gathered the 
 contribution wherein they were fined, and brought the 
 entire sum of one hundred thousand pieces of eight unto 
 the pirates, for a ransom of the cruel captivity they were 
 fallen into. But the President of Panama, by these trans- 
 actions, was brought into an extreme admiration, consider- 
 ing that four hundred men had been able to take such a 
 great city, with so many strong castles; especially seeing 
 they had no pieces of cannon, nor other great guns, where- 
 with to raise batteries against them. And what was more, 
 knowing that the citizens of Porto Bello had always great 
 repute of being good soldiers themselves, and who had never 
 wanted courage in their own defence. This astonishment 
 was so great, that it occasioned him, for to be satisfied 
 thereon, to send a messenger imto Captain Morgan, desiring 
 him to send him some small pattern of those arms where- 
 with he had taken with such violence so great a city. 
 
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THE BUCCANEERS 327 
 
 Captain Morgan received this messenger very kindly, and 
 treated him with great civility. Which being done, he gave 
 him a pistol and a few small bullets of lead, to carry back 
 unto the President, his master, telling him withal: 'He de- 
 sired him to accept that slender pattern of arms wherewith 
 he had taken Porto Bello and keep them for a twelvemonth; 
 after which time he promised to come to Panama and fetch 
 them away.' The governor of Panama returned the present 
 very soon unto Captain Morgan, giving him thanks for the 
 favour of lending him such weapons as he needed not, and 
 withal sent him a ring of gold, with this message: 'That he 
 desired him not give himself the labour of coming to Pan- 
 ama, as he had done to Porto Bello; for he did certify unto 
 him that he should not speed so well here as he had done 
 there.' 
 
 "After these transactions. Captain Morgan (having pro- 
 vided his fleet with all necessaries, and taken with him the 
 best guns of the castles, nailing the rest which he could not 
 carry away) set sail from Porto Bello with all his ships. 
 With these he arrived in a few days unto the Island of 
 Cuba, where he sought out a place wherein with all quiet and 
 repose he might make the dividend of the spoil they had 
 gotten. They found in ready money two hundred and fifty 
 thousand pieces of eight, besides all other merchandise, as 
 cloth, linen, silks and other goods. With this rich purchase 
 they sailed again from thence imto their common place of 
 rendezvous, Jamaica. Being arrived, they passed here some 
 time in all sorts of vices and debauchery, according to 
 their common manner of doing, spending with huge prodi- 
 gality what others had gained with no small labour and 
 toil." 
 
 The fame of this ejsploit made it easy for Morgan to 
 muster a larger force for the carrying out of his threat 
 against Panama. In October, 1670, he sailed from Kings- 
 
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 ton to a rendezvous where he gathered between twenty-five 
 and thirty English vessels and five or ten French. 
 
 "The President of Panama, meanwhile, on 15th Decem- 
 ber, had received a messenger from the governor of Carta- 
 gena with news of the coming of the English," writes Haring. 
 "The president immediately dispatched reinforcements to 
 the Castle of Chagre, which arrived fifteen days before the 
 buccaneers and raised its strength to over 350 men. Two 
 hundred men were sent to Porto Bello, and 500 more were 
 stationed at Venta Cruz and in ambuscades along the 
 Chagre River to oppose the advance of the English. The 
 president himself rose from a bed of sickness to head a re- 
 serve of 800, but most of his men were raw recruits without 
 a professional soldier amongst them. This militia in a few 
 days became so panic-stricken that one-third deserted in a 
 night, and the president was compelled to retire to Panama. 
 There the Spaniards managed to load some of the treasure 
 upon two or three ships Ij^ng in the roadstead; and the nuns 
 and most of the citizens of importance also embarked with 
 their wives, children and personal property." 
 
 After severe fighting and considerable loss of life, the 
 buccaneers captured Fort San Lorenzo at the mouth of the 
 Rio Chagres and started up the river in canoes. From the 
 very first they encountered great hardships from the diffi- 
 cult and unfamiliar trail. The Spaniards had been careful 
 not to leave anything edible in their way aiid after the first 
 day they ran out of provisions. On the fourth day they came 
 to a little village where they expected that "they should find 
 some provisions wherewith to satiate their hxmger, which 
 was very great. Being come unto the place, they found 
 nobody in it, the Spaniards who were there not long before 
 being every one fled, and leaving nothing behind unless it 
 were a small number of leather bags, all empty, and a few 
 crumbs of bread scattered upon the ground where they had 
 
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TEB BUCCANEEBS 329 
 
 eaten. Being angry at this misfortune, they pulled down a 
 few little huts which the Spaniards had made, and after- 
 wards fell to eating the leather bags, as being desirous to 
 afford something to the ferment of their stomachs, which 
 now was grown so sharp that it did gnaw their very bowels, 
 having nothing else to prey upon. Thus they made a huge 
 banquet upon those bags of leather, which doubtless had 
 been more grateful unto them, if divers quarrels had not 
 risen concerning who should have the greatest share. By 
 the circumference of the place they conjectured five hundred 
 Spaniards, more or less, had been there. And these, finding 
 no victuals, they were now infinitely desirous to meet, in- 
 tending to devour some of them rather than perish. Whom 
 they would certainly in that occasion have roasted or boiled, 
 to satisfy their famine, had they been able to take them. 
 
 "After they had feasted themselves with those pieces of 
 leather, they quitted the place, and marched farther on, till 
 they came about night to another post called Toma Munni. 
 Here they fovmd another ambuscade, but as barren and 
 desert as the former. They searched the neighbouring woods 
 but could not find the least thing to eat. The Spaniards 
 having been so provident as not to leave behind them any- 
 where the least crumb of sustenance, whereby the pirates 
 were now brought to the extremity aforementioned. Here 
 again he was happy, that had reserved since noon any small 
 piece of leather whereof to make his supper, drinking after 
 it a good draught of water for his greatest comfort. Some 
 persons who never were out of their mother's kitchens may 
 ask how these pirates could eat, swallow and digest those 
 pieces of leather, so hard and dry. Unto whom I only 
 answer: That could they once experiment what himger, or 
 rather famine, is, they would certainly find the manner, by 
 their own necessity, as the pirates did. For these first took 
 the leather and sliced it in pieces. Then did they beat it 
 
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 between two stones and rub it, often dipping it in the water 
 of the river, to render it by these means supple and tender. 
 Lastly they scraped off the hair, and roasted or broiled it 
 upon the fire. And being thus cooked they cut it into small 
 morsels, and eat it, helping it down with frequent gulps of 
 water, which by good fortune they had nigh at hand." 
 
 On the next day "they found two sacks of meal, wheat 
 and like things, with two great jars of wine, and certain 
 fruits called plantanos. Captain Morgan, knowing that 
 some of his men were now, through hunger, reduced almost 
 to the extremity of their lives, and fearing lest the major 
 part should be brought into the same condition, caused all 
 that was found to be distributed amongst them who were in 
 greatest necessity. Having refreshed themselves with these 
 victuals, they began to march anew with greater courage 
 than ever. Such as could not well go for weakness were 
 put into the canoes, and those commanded to land that 
 were in them before. Thus they prosecuted their journey 
 till late at night, at which time they came unto a plantation 
 where they took up their rest. But without eating anything 
 at all; for the Spaniards, as before, had swept away all man- 
 ner of provisions, leaving not behind them the least signs of 
 victuals. 
 
 "On the sixth day they continued their march, part of 
 them by land through the woods, and part by water in the 
 canoes. Howbeit they were constrained to rest themselves 
 very frequently by the way, both for the ruggedness thereof 
 and the extreme weakness they were under. . . . This 
 day, at noon, they arrived at a plantation, where they found 
 a barn full of maize. Immediately they beat down the 
 doors, and fell to eating of it dry, as much as they could 
 devour. Afterwards they distributed great quantity, giving 
 to every man a good allowance thereof. Being thus pro- 
 vided they prosecuted their journey." 
 
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TEE BUCCANEES8 331 
 
 On the eighth day, according to ExquemeUn, they met 
 with some resistance. Although the Spaniards would not 
 stop to give battle, the Indians were bolder, and there were 
 two or three sharp skirmishes. 
 
 On the ninth day, having had nothing to eat but scraps 
 of leather, some dry maize and the two sacks of meal and a 
 few plantains, they came to a high mountain, which, "when 
 they ascended, they discovered from the top thereof the 
 South Sea. This happy sight, as if it were the end of their 
 labours, caused infinite joy among the pirates. From hence 
 they could descry one ship and six boats, which were set 
 forth from Panama, and sailed towards the islands of Tavoga 
 and Tavogilla. Having descended this mountain, they came 
 unto a vale, in which they found great quantity of cattle, 
 whereof they killed good store. Here while some were 
 employed in killing and flaying of cows, horses, bulls and 
 chiefly asses, of which there was the greatest number, others 
 busied themselves in kindling of fires and getting wood 
 wherewith to roast them. Thus cutting the flesh of these 
 animals into convenient pieces, or gobbets, they threw them 
 into the fire and, half carbonadoed or roasted, they devoured 
 them with incredible haste and appetite. For such was their 
 hunger that they more resembled cannibals than Europeans 
 at this banquet, the blood many times running down from 
 their beards to the middle of their bodies. 
 
 "Having satisfied their hunger with these delicious meats, 
 Captain Morgan ordered them to continue the march." 
 
 It is needless to describe the battle before the city. Ex- 
 quemelin goes into great detail, but very little of his account 
 is convincing. Morgan, in his report to Gov. Modyford of 
 Jamaica, says that the Spaniards had more than two thou- 
 sand infantry and six hundred cavalry. The President of 
 Panama, in his report to the Spanish Court, says that he 
 had but twelve hundred in all, mostly negroes, mulattoes 
 
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332 PANAMA 
 
 and Indians. His men were for the most part armed with 
 fowling-pieces, and his artillery he claims was made up of 
 three wooden guns bound with hide. The buccaneers, while 
 greatly outnumbered, were very much better soldiers than 
 the crude militia which protected the town. Morgan claims 
 that he only lost five men killed and ten wounded, and that 
 the Spanish loss was about four hundred. Exquemelin says 
 there were six hundred Spaniards "dead upon the place 
 besides wounded and prisoners." The buccaneers met more 
 formidable resistance when they entered the city. 
 
 "They found much difficulty in their approach unto the 
 city. For within the town the Spaniards had placed many 
 great guns, at several quarters thereof, some of which were 
 charged with small pieces of iron, and others with musket 
 bullets. With all these they saluted the pirates, at their 
 drawing nigh unto the place, and gave them full and fre- 
 quent broadsides, firing at them incessantly. Whence it 
 came to pass that unavoidably they lost, at every step they 
 advanced, great numbers of men. But neither these mani- 
 fest dangers of their lives, nor the sight of so many of their 
 own as dropped down continually at their sides, could deter 
 them from advancing farther, and gaining ground every mo- 
 ment upon the enemy. Thus, although the Spaniards never 
 ceased to fire and act the best they could for their defence, 
 yet notwithstanding they were forced to deliver the city after 
 the space of three hours combat. And the pirates, having now 
 possessed themselves thereof, both killed and destroyed as 
 many as attempted to make the least opposition against them. 
 The inhabitants had caused the best of their goods to be 
 transported to more remote and occult places. Howbeit they 
 found within the city as yet several warehouses, very well 
 stocked with all sorts of merchandise, as well as silks and 
 cloths as linen, and other things of considerable value. As 
 soon as the first fury of their entrance into the city was over, 
 
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TEE BUCCANEEB8 333 
 
 Captain Morgan assembled all his men at a certain place 
 which he assigned, and there commanded them under very- 
 great penalties that none of them should dare to drink or 
 taste any wine. The reason he gave for this injunction was, 
 because he had received private intelligence that it had been 
 all poisoned by the Spaniards. Howbeit it was the opinion 
 of many he gave these prudent orders to prevent the de- 
 bauchery of his people, which he foresaw would be very 
 great at the beginning, after so much hunger sustained by 
 the way. Fearing withal, lest the Spaniards, seeing them in 
 wine, should rally their forces and fall upon the city, and use 
 them as inhumanly as they had used the inhabitants before." 
 "Exquemelin accuses Morgan of setting fire to the city 
 and endeavouring to make the world believe that it was done 
 by the Spaniards," Haring writes. "Wm. Frogge, however, 
 who was also present, says distinctly that the Spaniards 
 fired the town, and Sir William Godolphin, in a letter from 
 Madrid to Secretary Arlington on 2nd June, 1671, giving 
 news of the exploit which must have come from a Spanish 
 source, says that the President of Panama left orders that 
 the city if taken should be burnt. Moreover, the President 
 of Panama himself, in a letter to Spain, describing the 
 event, which was intercepted by the English, admits that 
 not the buccaneers but the slaves and the owners of the 
 houses set fire to the city. The buccaneers tried in vain 
 to extinguish the flames, and the whole town, whicn was 
 built mostly of wood, was consumed by twelve o'clock mid- 
 night. The only edifices which escaped were the govern- 
 ment buildings, a few churches, and about 300 houses in the 
 suburbs. The freebooters remained at Panama twenty- 
 eight days seeking plunder and indulging in every variety 
 of excess. Excursions were made daily into the coimtry for 
 twenty leagues roxmd about to search for booty, and 3,000 
 prisoners were brought in." 
 
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334 PANAMA 
 
 It was a barren raid for the pirates. The ships which 
 they had seen in the harbor as they descended the moun- 
 tains had carried off most of the wealth of the city. Al- 
 though they cruised up and down the coast and captured a 
 few small boats and some booty the treasure ships escaped. 
 
 "Captain Morgan used to send forth daily parties of two 
 hundred men, to make inroads into all the fields and coun- 
 try thereabouts, and when one party came back, another 
 consisting of two hundred more was ready to go forth. By 
 this means they gathered in a short time huge quantities of 
 riches, and no less number of prisoners. These being brought 
 into the city, were presently put imto the most exquisite 
 tortures imaginable, to make them confess both other peo- 
 ple's goods and their own. . . . After this execrable 
 manner did many of these miserable prisoners finish their 
 days, the common sport and recreation of these pirates 
 being these and other tragedies not inferior to these. 
 
 "They spared in their cruelties no sex nor condition what- 
 soever. For as to religious persons and priests, they granted 
 them less quarter than unto others, unless they could pro- 
 duce a considerable sum of money, capable of being a suffi- 
 cient ransom. Women themselves were no better used. 
 . . . Captain Morgan, their leader and commander, gave 
 them no good example in this point. . . . 
 
 "On the 24th of February of the year 1671, Captain 
 Morgan departed from the City of Panama, or rather from 
 the place where the said City of Panama did stand. Of 
 the spoils whereof he carried with him one hundred and 
 seventy-five beasts of carriage, laden with silver, gold and 
 other precious things, besides 600 prisoners, more or less, 
 between men, women, children and slaves." 
 
 All through his narrative, Exquemelin is venomous in his 
 references to Morgan. Of course he wrote his book after 
 his retmn to Europe where piracy, although a good subject 
 
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TMIi BUCCANEESS 335 
 
 for a "best-seller," was not considered a reputable profes- 
 sion, so it was necessary for him every few pages to express 
 his own abhorrance for such deeds. He goes to considerable 
 length to tell how he was captured and forced to join the 
 expedition because the pirate needed an apothecary. But I 
 think the real reason for his rancor against Sir Henry crops 
 out in a passage towards the end of his book. 
 
 After describing the trip back across the Isthmus to Fort 
 San Lorenzo at the mouth of the Chagres, Exquemelin says 
 that "the dividend was made of all the spoil they had pur- 
 chased in that voyage. Thus every company and every 
 particular person therein included received their portion of 
 what was gotten; or rather what part thereof Captain 
 Morgan was pleased to give them. For so it was, that the 
 rest of his companions, even of his own nation, complained 
 of his proceedings in this particular, and feared not to tell 
 him openly to his face, that he had reserved the best jewels 
 to himself. For they judged it impossible that no greater 
 share should belong unto them than two hundred pieces of 
 eight per capita, of so many valuable purchases and rob- 
 beries as they had obtained. Which small sum they thought 
 too little reward for so much labour and such huge and mani- 
 fest dangers as they had so often exposed their lives unto. 
 But Captain Morgan was deaf to all these and many other 
 complaints of this kind, having designed in his mind to cheat 
 them of as much as he could." 
 
 After having risked not only his hfe but also his reputa- 
 tion on this piratical adventure, one can hardly blame 
 Exquemelin for harboring a grudge against the man who 
 cheated him out of the just proceeds of his robbery. 
 
 The scandal caused by the sack of Panama City — Eng- 
 land was then at peace with Spain — ^was so great that the 
 British Government was forced to suppress buccaneering in 
 Jamaica. It was a hard thing to do, for just as the corrupt 
 
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336 PANAMA 
 
 political rings of our cities say that a "wide-open town" 
 makes for prosperity, so in Jamaica almost every colonist 
 was directly or indirectly interested in the success of the 
 buccaneers. At last the English Government decided to 
 set a thief to catch the thieves, and knighted Henry Morgan 
 and gave him the work of wiping out his old trade. On the 
 whole he did a pretty fair job of it. 
 
 Although the old habits persisted for many decades it 
 was no longer anything but open piracy. The Spaniards 
 were no longer the only prey. 
 
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CHAPTER XX 
 
 THE PRESBYTERIAN INVASION 
 
 Some time in the last quarter of the seventeenth century 
 a young Scotch minister came to Jamaica. His name was 
 William Paterson. We have no authentic information of 
 why he visited the colony nor of what he did there. His 
 enemies — of whom he later acquired a great multitude — 
 pretend that he left the Presbyterian Church to go on a 
 pirate cruise. There are no proofs of this accusation, but 
 he is known to have made the acquaintance of several 
 eminent buccaneers, and he certainly had not been destined 
 by the Fates for the ministry. 
 
 In 1686 Paterson — about thirty years of age — returned to 
 Europe with a "Scheme of Foreign Trade." He has left 
 no written records of this period of his life, no detailed 
 account of his "scheme." All we know about his activity 
 is from chance allusions to him in the writings of the mer- 
 chants of his day. A number of them tell casually of having 
 been visited by a young visionary who tried to interest them 
 in a Utopian scheme of colonizing the Isthmus of Panama 
 and turning it into a great free-trade emporium of the 
 Oriental trade. From such scattered allusion we know that 
 he travelled over most of Northern Europe, Amsterdam, 
 Hamburg, the Hanseatic towns of the Baltic. He seems to 
 have dreamed of creating a neutral or international colony 
 on the Isthmus, with immense ports on either ocean, con- 
 nected by a canal, and concentrating there the trade of the 
 Indies. He was also an extreme free trader. And it was 
 
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338 PANAMA 
 
 by freeing these ports of all the monopolistic restrictions, on 
 which the trading companies of his day were built, that he 
 expected to draw the commerce of the world into his scheme. 
 
 No one would listen to him. So he settled in London and, 
 tucking away his dream in a back compartment of his brain, 
 he set about making himself a fortune. He developed an 
 amazing genius, and within five years, when hardly thirty- 
 five years old, he had become a dominant figure in the London 
 financial world. His prestige was so great that when, in 1691, 
 he proposed to organize a corporation to fimd the debts of 
 the British Crown, he received a respectful hearing. For 
 three years he devoted himself to this project and in 1694 
 the English Parliament accepted his proposals and incorpo- 
 rated the Bank of England. Paterson was one of the origi- 
 nal board of directors. 
 
 The founding of the Bank of England has led us some 
 distance from Panama, but we must make one more detour 
 before we can find our way to the Scots Colonie at Darien. 
 
 The Glorious Restoration, after the collapse of the Com- 
 monwealth, had made the same man king of the two hostile 
 countries of England and Scotland. Ever since the Romans 
 had built a wall across the Island to keep out the northern 
 barbarians, Saxons and Celts had been cutting each other's 
 throats at every opportunity. Although King William was 
 wearing both crowns, the imion was personal, not organic. 
 Just as Franz Josef is Emperor of Austria and King of 
 Hungary, and as Nicholas is Tsar of Russia and Grand Duke 
 of Finland, so William was king of two countries which had 
 nothing in common but their sovereign. 
 
 England was one of the most advanced countries indus- 
 trially; Scotland was only half emerged from the chrysalis 
 of feudalism. From their barren, wind-swept hills the pro- 
 gressive Scots were looking with envy and desire on the rich 
 commerce of England and wishing to share in it — it was this 
 
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THE PBESBTTEBIAN INVASION 339 
 
 desire which later motived the organic union of the two 
 countries — but it was a bad time for outsiders to try to 
 seize a share of profits. It was an age of monopolies. 
 
 The Oriental trade of England was the private property 
 of the East India Company. This small group of city mer- 
 chants owned the earth and the fulness thereof — at least 
 all the earth which offered spectacular profits to traders. 
 Already firmly established, this Company had so thoroughly 
 "built its fences," so entirely "fixed" Parliament that for 
 more than a century they were able to rule England almost 
 as autocratically as they governed their rapidly growing 
 empire in India. 
 
 Some day " A History of Graft " will be written and we will 
 most of us be surprised to find how very much less we have 
 of it to-day than in the past. Two great events will be 
 recorded in such a history. The first will be the time in 
 each nation's history when the Privy Purse was definitely 
 separated from the National Treasury. When the National 
 consciousness had grown to the point of differentiating be- 
 tween the people's money and the sovereign's salary, the 
 first milestone in the elimination of graft had been passed. 
 The second epoch-marking event was when the eighteenth 
 century muckrakers of England forced the impeachment of 
 Warren Hastings and broke the domination of the East India 
 Company over the British Parliament. 
 
 But this second milestone had not been reached at this 
 time. England ruled the waves and the East India Company 
 ruled England. But a legal monopoly always engenders 
 smuggling. This close corporation had secured laws which 
 forbade any outsiders to trade in the East. So the outsiders 
 did it illegally. The London financial world was divided 
 between the Company and the Interlopers. The latter got 
 pretty poor pickings, but were always wide awake, always 
 looking for some chance to run the legal blockade. 
 
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340 PANAMA 
 
 The progressive element in Scotland saw that dividends 
 were rapidly taking the place of divisions of booty and that if 
 their country was to have any reputation in the great world 
 besides that of being a good recruiting ground for mercenar- 
 ies, they must have some commerce. In 1693, while Paterson 
 was busy in London founding the Bank of England, the Scots 
 Parliament passed an "Act for Encouraging Foreign Trade." 
 In effect it said that if any one with capital wanted to get a 
 charter for a trading company, Scotland would give him a 
 more liberal franchise than any other country. 
 
 When news of this act drifted into London, some of the 
 Interlopers pricked up their ears and began to consider the 
 possibility of legalizing their Oriental trade under the Scotch 
 flag. 
 
 In May, 1695, James Chiesly, a notorious Interloper, 
 brought a proposition to Paterson. Chiesly had a vision of 
 breaking into the Oriental trade. Paterson saw a chance of 
 bringing to life his old dream of a world centre on the Isth- 
 mus. But his early experience had taught him that financiers 
 will not subscribe to a dream. So he kept his own counsels 
 about Panama, but went into the scheme on the basis which 
 Chiesly suggested. Together they drew up a bill and, at 
 an opportune moment, when the King was on the Continent 
 fighting Louis XIV, slipped it into the Scots Parliament. 
 After two weeks of discussion in committee, the bill — "An 
 act erecting the Company of Scotland, trading in Africa and 
 the Indies" — was introduced and rushed through on June 
 25, 1695. The King's Commissioner touched it with the 
 royal scepter and it became a law. 
 
 The Scots Parliament had certainly kept its promise of 
 liberality. The act created a monopoly of Scotch foreign 
 trade for thirty-one years. For twenty-one years the Com- 
 pany was exempt from all taxation, either on its real property 
 or its imports. In return for this fat franchise the Company 
 
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 OLD FRENCH EQUIPMENT. 
 
 MODERN AMERICAN EQUIPMENT. 
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Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
THE PBESBTTEBIAN INVASION 341 
 
 was to pay the Scotch Crown an annual tribute of — one 
 hogshead of tobacco! Even the powerful English Company 
 had not been able to get as great privileges as these from 
 their parliament. 
 
 The original plan was to capitalize the Company at 
 £600,000. Paterson was to raise half the amount in London. 
 In outlining his plan of campaign to the directors of the new 
 company he wrote: "And for Reasons, we ought to give 
 none, but that it is a Fund for the African and Indian 
 Company. For if we are not able to raise the Fund by our 
 Reputation, we shall hardly do it by our Reason." 
 
 His reputation as founder of the Bank of England was, in 
 fact, good for twice the sum. All the " Interlopers " of Lon- 
 don were keen to get in on any competition to the English 
 Company. All this time, whatever his private plans, Paterson 
 never mentioned Panama. The Scots company was put 
 before the public as an organization for Oriental trade. The 
 London fund was over-subscribed in a few days. £175,000 
 were paid in cash. 
 
 But the moment Paterson exploded this bomb, the English 
 East India Company woke up. First of all they forced King 
 William to denounce the new venture and to say that "he 
 had been ill-served in Scotland." They pushed a bill through 
 the English Parliament which outlawed the Scotch Company 
 in England. Paterson had to cancel the subscription and 
 refund the £175,000. Some of the English citizens who had 
 accepted positions in the directorate were indicted for high 
 treason! 
 
 The same thing happened abroad. In Hamburg and Am- 
 sterdam, Paterson was able to raise large subscriptions 
 from those merchants who were outside the great trade 
 combine. But the "interests" were able to bring effective 
 pressure to bear on the right persons. And the subscrip- 
 tions had to be cancelled. 
 
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 The Company had to raise its capital at home. Scotland 
 was not a rich country — but it was patriotic. The natives 
 had taken little interest in the Company until it had been 
 attacked by perfidious Albion. Now it became a national 
 issue. The Scots subscribed £400,000, an immense simi for 
 that undeveloped coimtry. The first call of twenty-five per 
 cent, brought in £100,000 with promptness. The subscribers 
 ranged from duchesses to charwomen. 
 
 This was a much smaller sum than they had first planned 
 to start with. But with good management they might have 
 made a success at the East India trade. One successful trip 
 around the Cape of Good Hope and back often paid the 
 whole cost of the ship and a hundred odd per cent, profit. 
 However, Paterson had come to Scotland and in secret 
 conclave he had opened to the directors his Panama dream. 
 "This door of the seas," he told them, "this key of the 
 universe, with anything of a sort of good management, will 
 of course enable its proprietors to give laws to both oceans 
 and to become arbitrators of the commercial world, without 
 being liable to the fatigues, expenses and dangers or con- 
 tracting the guilt and blood of Alexander and Caesar." 
 
 But they did not have "anything of a sort of good manage- 
 ment." Paterson's scheme was impractical, but he was the 
 most practical man connected with the Company. His 
 London banker, Smyth, defaulted for £8,500 of the Com- 
 pany's funds and although Paterson was exonerated, the 
 affair discredited him. So the directors tried to carry out 
 his scheme without his assistance. 
 
 They spent a year in gathering equipment. Ships were 
 built in Amsterdam — ^it is said that Tsar Peter the Great 
 served part of his shipbuilding apprenticeship on one of 
 them. They commissioned five "Chirugean-Apothecaries" 
 to collect sufficient medicaments to last fifteen hundred men 
 two years. One agent was to procure as many pistols from 
 
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THE PSESBTTESIAN INVASION 343 
 
 the gunsmiths of Scotland at seventeen shillings a pair "as 
 they'll undertake." They ordered two hundred oxen, "the 
 best they can find to be slaughtered at Leith." They bought 
 twenty tuns of brandy, thirty barrels of tobacco pipes and 
 "£50 worth of Bibles and Catechisms." And they laid in a 
 cargo of merchandise for trade with the Indians. Paterson's 
 advice in selecting this equipment would have been inval- 
 uable. They neglected it. 
 
 In March, 1698, the Company issued a prospectus calling 
 for volimteers to form a colony. 
 
 " Every one who goes on the first Equipage shall Receive 
 and Possess Fifty Acres of Plantation Land and 50 Foot 
 Square of Ground at least in the Chief City or Town and an 
 ordinary House built thereupon by the Company at the 
 End of Three Years." 
 
 Their prospectus gave no information as to where the 
 colony was to be. But it had been a year of severe famine 
 in Scotland. The Peace of Ryswick had deprived many of 
 the natives of their regular occupation — campaigning in 
 Flanders. The enterprise had become a national fad. It 
 was "Hurrah for the Scots Company and down with the 
 English." So many volunteered that the directors were able 
 to withdraw the original favorable offer and recruit twelve 
 hundred men on terms which amotmted to indentured serv- 
 itude. There were also three hundred gentleman volunteers, 
 most of whom were ex-officers from the Dutch Wars. 
 
 When everjrthing was ready the split in the board of 
 directors between the Church and Kirk parties, which had 
 long been brewing, came to a head. In choosing an executive 
 council for the expedition, the Kirk faction won. Whether 
 or not the Church candidates were better men we cannot tell. 
 But the seven men chosen because of their staunch allegi- 
 ance to the Presbyterian form of church government were 
 entirely unfit. In all the output of pamphlets for and against 
 
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 the Company — and it was an age of pamphleteering — I have 
 not found a single author who had any good words for this 
 council. Paterson, the only man who knew anything about 
 trade or the Indies, was not one of them. He went along as 
 a gentleman volunteer with "his Wife, her Maid and his 
 Clerk, Thomas Fenton." 
 
 On July 26, 1698, the fleet, three ships and two tenders, 
 sailed from Leith. The council had received " sealed orders " 
 to be opened at Madeira. Very few of all the expedition 
 knew their destination. A few days out they took an invoice 
 of their cargo and provision and so discovered a new fraud. 
 Someone — it seems to have been with the connivance of 
 some of the directors — had falsified the bills of lading. In- 
 stead of provisions for six months, they had barely enough 
 for two. 
 
 August 29th they reached Madeira. The orders instructed 
 them to proceed to the "Golden Island in the Bay of Ada" 
 and found a colony to be called New Caledonia. One of the 
 coimcillors resigned apparently in disgust when he discov- 
 ered that they were not going to the East Indies, and Pater- 
 son was elected in his place. But the council had already 
 acquired the habit of distrust and mutual suspicion. They 
 spent some time at Madeira replenishing their scanty pro- 
 visions. The gentleman volunteers parted with most of their 
 rich garments in exchange for wine and food. 
 
 On November 1st they reached their destination. The 
 Indians welcomed them. The tribes of the San Bias coast 
 had always been at war with the Spaniards; they had fre- 
 quently been valuable allies to the English buccaneers. And 
 they received the Scots with enthusiasm. Mr. Rose's diary 
 for November 8th says "Wind and Weather as above. There 
 hath been a great number of Indians aboard the ships, 
 whom wee use very kindly and who consume a great deal of 
 Liquor." 
 
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TEE PBESBYTEBIAN INVASION 345 
 
 The new town, to be called New Edinburgh, was at once 
 started, as was also the Fort of St. Andrew at the mouth of 
 the bay. But the quarrels among the council, which had 
 started before they were out of sight of Scotland, now broke 
 out with redoubled venom over the question of who should 
 be chief executive of the colony. At last they adopted the 
 insane expedient of having each councillor in turn serve for 
 one week. 
 
 In a letter which they sent home to the directors in 
 December, 1698, it is evident that the colony is already in 
 a bad way. A Ust is given of the dead. Forty-four had died 
 on the trip out, including the two ministers, and thirty-two 
 more had died between landing and Christmas Day. In one 
 case the cause of death was given as "decay," another "died 
 suddenly after warm walldng," four had been drowned. All 
 the rest had fallen victims to either "Flux" or "Fever." 
 In this list are the names of Paterson's wife and clerk and of 
 a boy who seems to have been his son. 
 
 Another cause of trouble was that while most of the coun- 
 cil were strict members of the Kirk, the rank and file were the 
 rapscallion remnants from the wars in the low coimtries. 
 The moral ideas of the council were even stricter than those 
 of the Plymouth colony. But if they had put all the Sabbath 
 breakers in the stocks — as they thought they ought to do — 
 there would have been no laborers left to build houses nor 
 till the fields. In this December letter to the officials at home 
 the council laments over the godlessness of their flock and 
 begs the Company to send them some powerful preachers on 
 the next boat. 
 
 But in spite of these troubles they issued on December 
 28th a resounding proclamation. The following paragraph 
 with its strange mixture of Paterson's dream of universal 
 free trade and the religious fanaticism of the Kirk party is 
 typical of the entire enterprise. 
 
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 "And we do hereby not only grant and concede and 
 declare a general and equal freedom of government and 
 trade to those of all nations who shall hereafter be of or con- 
 cerned with us; but also a full and free liberty of Conscience 
 in matters of Religion, so as the same be not understood to 
 allow, connive at, or indulge the blasphemy of God's Holy 
 Name or any of His Divine Attributes, or the unhallowing 
 or profaning of the Sabbath Day." 
 
 Trouble was also threatening them from their Spanish 
 neighbors. The San Bias Indians were beginning to get 
 impatient for the expected war. But the colonists wanted 
 peace — which was of course impossible. Even if the Spanish 
 king had approved of their settling in his territory, it would 
 have been impossible for the Kirk and the Inquisition to have 
 existed side by side. 
 
 On February 5th a small boat, the Dolphin Snow, belonging 
 to the Scots was driven by a storm onto the rocks near the 
 Spanish citadel of Cartagena. The crew were imprisoned 
 as pirates and sent to Spain for trial. The same day the 
 Indians reported that some soldiers were approaching over- 
 land from Panama. And on the 6th there was a skirmish. 
 The Spaniards were only a scouting party and were easily 
 driven back. When the news of the Dolphin Snow's fate 
 reached the colony they declared war by granting letters- 
 of-mark to a Captain Pilkington. He cruised up and down 
 the coast, but only succeeded in capturing a deserted schooner 
 which was probably the property of some pirate. 
 
 Meanwhile their enemies in England had not been quiet. 
 The great East India Company had doubtless been relieved 
 to hear that, instead of going in for the sure profits of the 
 Orient, they had launched a very doubtful venture in the 
 New World. But the London merchants were not the kind 
 to brook any competition and they at last succeeded in forcing 
 King William to emphasize his repudiation of the Scots Com- 
 
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TBE PBESBYTEBIAN INVASION 347 
 
 pany by sending out a proclamation to all the colonial 
 governors forbidding them to give any aid or countenance, 
 or to enter into any intercourse with the Darien Colony. 
 On April 5th Governor Beeston published the proclamation 
 in Kingston, Jamaica. About the same time similar action 
 was taken by the governors of Barbadoes and New York. 
 But the vexation which his Scotch subjects had caused the 
 King was by no means over. On May 3d his morning's mail 
 contained an elaborate document which began as follows: 
 
 "The Under-Subscriber, Ambassador Extraordinary from 
 his Catholick Majesty, finds himself obliged by express Or- 
 ders, to represent to your Majesty, that the King, his Master, 
 having receiv'd Information from different Places and last 
 of all from the Governor of Havana, of the Insult and Attempt 
 of some Scots Ships, equipp'd with Men and other Things 
 requisite, who design to settle themselves in his Majesty's 
 Sovereign Domains in America and particularly the Province 
 of Darien, His Majesty receiv'd those Advices with much 
 Discontent and looks upon the same as a Token of small 
 Friendship and as a Rupture of the Alliance betwixt the two 
 Crowns. . . ." These Scotch traders had not only set 
 his own kingdoms by the ears, but were threatening to in- 
 volve him in a foreign war! 
 
 It took some time for the news of these hostile proclama- 
 tions to reach the colonists. Meanwhile sickness increased 
 apace, no reinforcements came from home, dissensions grew 
 in the council. News came from every side that the Spaniards 
 were threatening an attack. A French trading vessel brought 
 the report that Armadas were being fitted out at Cartagena 
 and Puerto Bello. The Indians told of large bodies of troops 
 advancing from Panama. Sir Henry Morgan had crossed the 
 Isthmus with a handful of men and had sacked that metrop- 
 olis of the southern sea. But these nine himdred odd Scotch- 
 men — emaciated by the fever, split into hostile cliques — were 
 
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 not of the same spirit. When the news of the proclamation 
 shutting off all hope of provisions or reinforcements from any 
 place nearer than Scotland fell on them like a thunderbolt, 
 they all clamored for a speedy retreat. A few brave spirits 
 tried to hold the colony together. But on June 5th Paterson 
 was hit by the fever — and then it became a scramble to get 
 on board. The last boat, carrying the dehrious Paterson, 
 left the harbor on June 20th. She carried two hundred and 
 fifty deserters. They had a terrible voyage; one hundred 
 and fifty of them had died before they rounded Sandy Hook 
 on the 13th of August. 
 
 Meanwhile the Company at home, having no news of this 
 disaster, was sending out glowing accounts of the colony. 
 One of them, "A Letter, giving a Description of the Isthmus 
 of Darien (where the Scot's Colonic is settled)" is typical. 
 It describes an earthly Paradise as fanciful as that Garden 
 of Perpetual Youth which had enticed Ponce de Leon. 
 Another, "The History of Caledonia, or The Scot's Colony 
 in Darien in the West Indies. With an Account of the 
 Manners of the Inhabitants and Richs of the Country. By 
 a Gentleman lately Arriv'd" says "The Valleys are watered 
 with Rivers and Perpetual clear Springs, which are most 
 pleasant to drink, being as soft as Milk and very Nourish- 
 ing." Still another prospectus writer says: "We saw Am- 
 brosio's (a native chief) Grandmother there who is 120 years 
 old and yet very active. . . . The People live here to be 150 
 and 160 Years of Age." Not content with prose the enthu- 
 siasm gave birth to verse. A rhymed advertisement entitled 
 "A Poem upon the Undertaking of the Royal Company of 
 Scotland, trading to Africa and The Indies," contains this 
 lyrical outburst: 
 
 "The Company designs a Colony 
 To which all Nations freely may resort 
 And find quick Justice in an Open Port." 
 
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THE FBESBYTEBIAN INVASION 349 
 
 On the basis of this publicity campaign the Company was 
 able to collect another £100,000 of the subscribed capital. 
 Just when the first colony was deserting New Edinburgh, 
 two ships. The Olive Branch and the Hopeful Binning of 
 Bo'ness and three hundred settlers sailed from Scotland. 
 They arrived at the deserted fort of St. Andrew on the same 
 day in August when the wreck of the first expedition was 
 docking in New York. While they were deciding whether 
 or not to land, some roysterers of the crew broke into the 
 hold of the Olive Branch to get some brandy, and in their 
 drunkenness set her on fire. She burned down to the water 
 with the greater part of their provisions. The disheart- 
 ened colonists crowded on board the Hopeful Binning and 
 voted to give it up. However, twelve brave men re- 
 fused to turn back; they landed with a few provisions 
 and watched this second expedition sail away to Jamaica. 
 An epidemic broke out on the crowded ship and most 
 of them died before, or immediately after, reaching Kings- 
 ton. 
 
 The Company, knowing nothing of all this, was busy col- 
 lecting money and fitting out a third and greatest expedition. 
 By the middle of September, four fine ships. The Rising Sun, 
 The Hope, The Duke of Hamilton, and The Hope of Bo'ness, 
 with thirteen hundred men aboard, were riding at anchor in 
 the Clyde. About the 20th rumors came from New York 
 about the abandonment of New Edinburgh. The directors 
 dispatched an express to the fleet telling the councillors not 
 to leave until further orders. These worthy gentlemen, 
 fearing that delay might mean that someone else was to be 
 put in their places, disobeyed orders and set sail. It was 
 the 24th of September, 1699, when they left the Clyde. One 
 hundred and sixty died on the trip out. They arrived in the 
 harbor of New Edinburgh on the 30th of November, and were 
 mightily dismayed to find no one there but the twelve men 
 
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 who had Uved with the Indians since the burning of The 
 Olive Branch. 
 
 James Byres, a pillar of the Kirk, urged a retreat, saying 
 that "they were come not to settle a colony, but to reinforce 
 one." For once he was overruled and the company landed. 
 By some strange chance this arrant coward became the 
 dominant power in the council. After it was all over the 
 board of directors, after an investigation of his conduct, 
 declared that he had "not only violated the trust reposed 
 in him by the Company, . . . but was also guilty of several 
 unwarrantable, arbitrary, illegal and inhuman actings and 
 practices." 
 
 They had hardly landed when Byres started a trial for 
 high treason — over which he had no legal jurisdiction — and 
 on very slim testimony executed a man named Alexander 
 Campbell. 
 
 Once more the colonists discovered that there had been 
 fraud in the outfitting of the expedition. The merchandise 
 which they had been told was worth many thousand pounds 
 in colonial trade, turned out to be valueless. "We cannot 
 conceive," they wrote to the directors, "for what end so 
 much thin gray paper and so many little blue bonnets were 
 sent here, being entirely useless and not worth their room 
 in the ship." Some of the directors who were overstocked 
 in these commodities had unloaded them profitably on the 
 colonists. They also found that there was not nearly so 
 much brandy on board as they had paid for. 
 
 Strong drink played a r61e in this enterprise which is 
 hardly conceivable to people of to-day. That men who were 
 such ardent defenders of the Kirk should have been shame- 
 less drunkards seems strange in this age when most of our 
 clergy are prominent in the temperance movement. 
 
 A letter from the directors to the colony, dated June 13th, 
 1700, contains this surprising recommendation: 
 
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TSE PBESBYTEBIAN INVASION 351 
 
 "We understand that Andrew Livingston, Chirurgeon, late 
 prisoner in Cartagena, has made his escape and returned 
 to the Colony. We, therefore, desire that for the said Andrew 
 Livingston's encouragement at present, you would order him 
 four gallons of brandy for his proper use, over and above the 
 common allowance." 
 
 The General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland had ap- 
 pointed four ministers to accompany this third expedition. 
 They were especially instructed to convert the savages and 
 Spaniards. However, the ministers seem to have considered 
 any missionary work as impossible. They gave most of their 
 attention to the colonists and were a source of constant 
 trouble. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Francis Borland, one of the four, wrote a 
 "History of Darien." It is rather dreary reading, mostly 
 given up to complaints and on the whole tends to substantiate 
 the claim of Sir John Dalrymple that these ministers were 
 the principal cause of the disorganization and disaster which 
 overwhelmed the colony. 
 
 "The people that our Company of Scotland sent over, 
 hither," Borland writes, "were most of them . . . none of 
 the best of men. And therefore the Ministers sent along 
 with them had small comfort in their cojjipany; their in- 
 structions and admonitions were but little regarded by them; 
 many of them seldom, and some of them never, attending the 
 public worship of God." 
 
 These ministers expected to be "comforted" instead of to 
 act as "comforters." 
 
 When they arrived at New Edinburgh and found it 
 deserted they announced that it was the evident Wrath of 
 God because of the impiety of the company. They got up 
 an amazing document — it is quoted at length in Borland 
 and seems to have been written by him — ordering the council 
 to set aside a day for Thanksgiving, Humility and Prayer. 
 
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 Among the sins enumerated were "atheistical swearing and 
 cursing." There is something pathetic in the thought of 
 these ex-soldiers of Flanders, suddenly brought to book for 
 swearing. January 3, 1700, was the day chosen by the 
 council. Three sermons were preached, one on Thanksgiving, 
 one on Humility and one on Prayer. The service lasted until 
 three in the afternoon. And this was only a beginning. 
 Dalrymple writes: "They exhausted the patience of the 
 people by long services. ... In addition to the usual ob- 
 servation of the Sabbath, Wednesday was selected as a day 
 of devotion; and so much was the regular service augmented 
 that it frequently lasted twelve hours without interruption." 
 
 But the greatest cause of their unpopularity was their 
 arrogance. They refused to work. The colony was faced 
 by the necessity of creating a town, tilling fields for its main- 
 tenance, building forts for its protection. In this work the 
 ministers would take no part. Besides demanding that the 
 workers should give up two precious days a week to hearing 
 their sermons, they insisted that first of all four manses 
 should be built for them. Any one who suggested that some- 
 thing else might be more important than their comfort they 
 denounced as godless and impious. Through Byres they 
 managed to rule the council. 
 
 These four men furnish a strange contrast to the other 
 efforts to transplant the religions of Europe to the New 
 World. Catholicism seriously tried to convert the aborigines. 
 Some of the priests sent out by the Council of the Indies 
 were despicable men. But on the whole it was one of the 
 most devoted and spiritual missionary movements in the 
 history of the church— as it was also the most successful. 
 
 The Protestant colonies hardly made any effort to convert 
 the Indians. And on the whole the few devoted men who 
 tried to failed. But of all efforts to establish European 
 denominations in America this attempt of the Kirk of Scot- 
 
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TEE PBESB7TESIAN INVASION 353 
 
 land was the most dismal failure. The Puritans of New 
 England did not differ from them much in theology. The old 
 "Round Head" philosophy, "Trust in God and keep your 
 powder dry" carried the Plymouth Colony over its hard 
 places. These Scotch Presbyterians did not reahze the value 
 of dry powder. 
 
 Things got so bad at last that nine men stole a canoe and 
 deserted, preferring rather to risk the Spanish prisons than 
 to hve longer in this Kirk-ridden colony. 
 
 The Indians began bringing in news of war preparations 
 on the part of the Spaniards. But Byres scoffed at such news. 
 And the Rev. Mr. Francis Borland preached an able sermon 
 on the Scarlet Woman of Rome. However, when the danger 
 became imminent, Byres appointed himself a delegate to 
 go to Jamaica to try to persuade the governor to ignore the 
 royal proclamation and give them some provisions. 
 
 In a letter of the Rev. Alexander Shields dated February 
 21st, just after Byres had decided it was time for him to 
 leave, I find this description of conditions: 
 
 " Our sickness did so increase (above 220 at the same time 
 in fever and fluxes) and our rotten provisions were found 
 to be so far exhausted, that we were upon the very point 
 of leaving." They were prevented from abandoning the 
 colony, he continues, by the direct intervention of Provi- 
 dence. 
 
 This Divine Help consisted in a shipload of provisions 
 and, what was even more important, a real man — Captain 
 Campbell of Finab. He was of the Kirk party, but at the 
 same time had a valuable fund of common sense. He put his 
 foot down on the petty squabbles of the coimcil, put men of 
 action in the posts of importance and mustered a little army. 
 On the 14th of February he made a dash into the jungle, 
 guided by the allied Indians, surprised and completely 
 destroyed a large force of Spanish soldiers from Panama. 
 
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 Neither Drake nor Sir Henry Morgan could boast of a more 
 brilliant feat of arms. 
 
 The ship in which Captain Campbell had come returned 
 to Scotland with an account of this victory. When the news 
 got abroad in Edinburgh the famous "Pate Steil's Pariia- 
 ment" assembled in the "Cross Keys Tavern" and decreed 
 that the city should be illuminated. They broke into St. 
 Giles Church. And soon the chimes, clanging out the ribald 
 tune, "Wilful WiUie, wilst thou be wilful still," sent all the 
 housewives scurrying about for candles. All Edinburgh 
 understood and knew what it meant to disobey the decrees 
 of the people. All night long the mob wandered through the 
 streets, throwing stones through every window which was 
 not lit up. Old Edinburgh had not had such a celebration 
 in many years. Once more the "Company" became the 
 popular enthusiasm of the nation. 
 
 But this good news was the last to come out of New Edin- 
 burgh. On the 23d of February eight Spanish men-of-war 
 arrived off the harbor and began the blockade. Two days 
 later they were reinforced by three more ships-of-the-line. 
 The wrath of the Catholic king over this Presbyterian inva- 
 sion had been slow moving, but it was formidable. They 
 landed forces on both sides of the colony and began a regular 
 investment. 
 
 Captain Campbell led a number of brilliant sorties. But 
 the Spaniards stuck to their trenches — which they were 
 gradually pushing forward — and refused to risk a fight in 
 the open. On the 17th of March the Scots were forced out 
 of their advance works and driven back into their main fort. 
 By the 21st the Spaniards had pushed their trenches to 
 within musket shot and so had cut off the supply of fresh 
 water. In the records which the Scots left I find these 
 phrases: "The bread was mouldy and corrupt with worms, 
 and the flesh most unsavory and ill-scented." . . . "Some- 
 
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TEE PBESBYTESIAN INVASION 355 
 
 times we buried sixteen men in a day." . . . "We could 
 hardly make out 300 able men fit for service." . . . "The 
 water in our casks was sour." 
 
 On the 31st of March they came to the end of their endur- 
 ance and surrendered, on condition that they could leave 
 "with their colours flying, and drums beating, together with 
 their arms and ammunition and with all their goods." 
 
 They were so worn by hunger and disease that the Span- 
 iards helped them get their ships out of the harbor. It was 
 the 11th of April, 1700, when they finally left. The sickness 
 which had decimated them ashore followed them aboard and 
 became epidemic. Out of the thirteen hundred who had 
 sailed from the Clyde only three hundred and sixty lived 
 through the expedition. The survivors "were mostly dis- 
 persed in Jamaica and the English settlements of America, 
 and very few returned to Scotland." 
 
 "The Company of Scotland, trading to Africa and The 
 Indies" was bankrupt. They had squandered two thousand 
 lives and over £200,000 on Paterson's dream. 
 
 But the dreamer, recovering from the fever in New York, 
 returned to Scotland and became again the practical man of 
 affairs. Paterson spent the remainder of his life in a success- 
 ful effort to pay back twenty shillings to the pound on this 
 immense debt. 
 
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CHAPTER XXI 
 
 THE DECLINE OF THE SPANISH EMPIRE 
 
 Great as were the depredations of the "Lutheran Pirates," 
 this was not the main reason for the decline of the Spanish 
 colonies. 
 
 "Panama," writes Bancroft, "had comparatively little 
 indigenous wealth and was largely dependent for prosperity 
 on Spain's colonial policy. Unfortunately this was char- 
 acterized by a short-sightedness which eventually proved 
 disastrous both to the province and empire." 
 
 After the first rush of golden spoils from Peru had crossed 
 the Isthmus, its prosperity began to decline. For a while 
 the silver from the Potosi mines and scattering consignments 
 of booty from the west coast of Central America furnished an 
 appearance of business activity. But gradually these sources 
 of wealth ran dry, and no local industries, either on the 
 Isthmus itself or in the colonies which used it as a trade route, 
 had been developed. And so gradually the life of Panama 
 was smothered. No more expeditions outfitted in its harbor. 
 No returning argosies brought commerce to its market place. 
 The death rate from "fevers and fluxes" continued high and 
 fewer and fewer immigrants arrived from Europe. Even 
 the Creoles bom on the Isthmus left for more healthy cli- 
 mates. Very few whites remained in the city which had 
 been once so proud. 
 
 Mr. Haring in the introductory chapters of his "The 
 Buccaneers in the West Indies" gives a very able analysis 
 of the fundamental causes which led up to this remarkable 
 decline. 
 
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TBE DECLINE OE THE SPANISH EMFISE 357 
 
 "At the time of the discovery of America the Spaniards, 
 as M. Leroy-Beaulieu has remarked, were perhaps less 
 fitted than any other nation in Western Europe for the task 
 of American colonization. Whatever may have been the 
 political r61e thrust upon them in the sixteenth century by the 
 Hapsburg marriages, whatever certain historians may say of 
 the grandeur and nobility of the Spanish national character, 
 Spain was then neither rich nor populous, nor industrious. 
 For centuries she had been called upon to wage a continuous 
 warfare with the Moors, and during this time had not only 
 found little leisure to cultivate the arts of peace, but had 
 acquired a certain disdain for manual work which helped 
 to mould her colonial administration and influenced all her 
 subsequent history. And when the termination of the last 
 of these wars left her mistress of a united Spain, and the 
 exploitation of her own resources seemed to require all the 
 energies she could muster, an entire new hemisphere was 
 suddenly thrown open to her, and given into her hands by a 
 papal decree to possess and populate. Already weakened 
 by the exile of the most sober and industrious of her popula- 
 tion, the Jews; drawn into a foreign policy for which she 
 had neither the means nor the inclination; instituting at 
 home an economic policy which was almost epileptic in its 
 consequences, she found her strength dissipated, and gradu- 
 ally sank into a condition of economic and political im- 
 potence. . . . 
 
 "The colonization of the Spanish Indies, on its social and 
 administrative side, presents a curious contrast. On the one 
 hand, we see the Spanish Crown, with high ideals of order 
 and justice, of religious and political unity, extending to its 
 ultramarine possessions its faith, its language, its laws and 
 its administration; providing for the welfare of the aborigines 
 with paternal solicitude; endeavoring to restrain and temper 
 the passions of the conquerors; building churches and founding 
 
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 schools and monasteries; in a word, trying to make its colonies 
 an integral part of the Spanish monarchy. . . . Some 
 Spanish writers, it is true, have exaggerated the virtues of 
 their old colonial system; yet that system had excellencies 
 which we caimot afford to despise. If the Spanish kings had 
 not choked their government with procrastination and rou- 
 tine; if they had only taken their task a bit less seriously 
 and had not tried to apply too strictly to an empty continent 
 the paternal administration of an older country, we might 
 have been privileged to witness the development and opera- 
 tion of as complete and benign a system of colonial govern- 
 ment as has been devised in modem times. The public 
 initiative of the Spanish government, and the care with 
 which it selected its colonies, compare very favorably with 
 the opportunism of the English and French, who colonized 
 by chance private activity and sent the worst elements of 
 their population, criminals and vagabonds, to people their 
 new settlements across the sea. However much we may 
 deprecate the treatment of the Indians by the conquistadores, 
 we must not forget that the greater part of the population 
 of Spanish America to-day is still Indian, and that no other 
 colonizing people have succeeded hke the Spaniards in 
 assimilating and civilizing the natives. The code of laws 
 which the Spaniards gradually evolved for the rule of their 
 transmarine provinces, was, in spite of defects which are 
 visible only to the larger experience of the present day, one 
 of the wisest, most humane and best coordinated of any to 
 this day published for any colony. Although the Spaniards 
 had to deal with a large population of barbarous natives, 
 the word "conquest" was suppressed in legislation as ill- 
 sounding, 'because the peace is to be sealed,' they said, 
 'not with the sound of arms, but with charity and good- 
 will.' 
 
 "The actual results, however, of the social policy of the 
 
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TSE DECLINE OF TSE SPANISB EMPIBE 359 
 
 Spanish kings fell far below the ideals they had set for them- 
 selves. The monarchic spirit of the crown was so strong 
 that it crushed every healthy expansive tendency in the new 
 countries. It burdened the colonies with numerous privi- 
 leged nobility, who congregated mostly in the larger towns, 
 and set to the rest of the colonists a pernicious example of 
 idleness and luxury. In its zeal for the propagation of the 
 Faith, the Crown constituted a powerfully endowed church, 
 which, while it did splendid service in converting and civiUz- 
 ing the natives, engrossed much of the land in the form of 
 mainmort, and filled the new world with thousands of idle, 
 vmproductive, and often licentious friars. . . . 
 
 " In this fashion was transferred to America the crushing 
 political and ecclesiastical absolutism of the mother coxmtry. 
 Self-reliance and independence of thought or action on the 
 part of the Creoles were discouraged, divisions and factions 
 among them were encouraged and educational opportunities 
 restricted, and the American-born Spaniards gradually sank 
 into idleness and lethargy, indifferent to all but childish 
 honours and distinctions and petty local jealousies. To 
 make matters worse, many of the Spaniards who crossed the 
 seas to the American colonies came not to colonize, not to 
 trade or cultivate the soil, so much as to extract from the 
 natives a tribute of gold and silver. The Indians, instead of 
 being protected and civilized, were only too often reduced to 
 serfdom and confined to a laborious routine for which they 
 had neither aptitude nor the strength; while the government 
 at home was too distant to interfere effectively in their 
 behalf. Driven by cruel taskmasters they died by thousands 
 from exhaustion and despair, and in some places entirely 
 disappeared. . . . 
 
 "In the colonies the most striking feature of Spanish 
 economic policy was its wastefulness. After the conquest 
 of the New World, it was to the interest of the Spaniards to 
 
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 gradually wean the native Indians from barbarism by 
 teaching them the arts and sciences of Europe, to encourage 
 such industries as were favored by the soil, and to furnish 
 the growing colonies with those articles which they could 
 not produce themselves, and of which they stood in need. 
 Only thus could they justify their monopohes of the markets 
 of Spanish America. . . . Queen Isabella wished to 
 carry out this policy, introduced into the newly-discovered 
 islands wheat, the olive and the vine, and acclimatized many 
 of the European domestic animals. Her efforts, unfortunate- 
 ly, were not seconded by her successors, nor by the Spaniards 
 who went to the Indies. In time the government itself, 
 as well as the colonist, came to be concerned, not so much 
 with the agricultural products of the Indies, but with the 
 return of the precious metals. Natives were made to work 
 the mines, while many regions adapted to agricultiu-e, Guiana, 
 Caracas and Buenos Ajrres, were neglected, and the peopling 
 of the colonies by Europeans was slow. The emperor, 
 Charles V, did little to stem this tendency, but drifted along 
 with the tide. Immigration was restricted to keep the col- 
 onies free from contamination of heresy and of foreigners. 
 The Spanish population was concentrated in cities, and the 
 country divided into great estates granted by the crown 
 to the families of the conquistadores or to favorites at court. 
 The immense areas of Peru, Buenos Ayres and Mexico were 
 submitted to the most imjust and arbitrary regulations, 
 with no object but to stifle growing industry and put them 
 in absolute dependence upon the metropolis. It was forbid- 
 den to exercise the trades of dyer, fuller, weaver, shoemaker 
 or hatter, and the natives were compelled to buy of the Span- 
 iards even the stuffs they wore on their backs. Another or- 
 dinance prohibited the cultivation of the vine and the olive 
 except in Peru and Chili, and even these provinces might not 
 send their oil and wine to Panama, Guatemala or any other 
 
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TEE DBCLINS OF THE SPANtSS EMPIBE 361 
 
 place which could be supplied from Spain. To maintain the 
 commercial monopoly, legitimate ports of entry in Spanish 
 America were made few and far apart — for Mexico, Vera 
 Cruz; for Granada, the town of Cartagena. The islands 
 and most of the other provinces were supplied by uncertain 
 "vaisseaux de registre," while Peru and Chili, finding all 
 direct commerce by the Pacific or South Sea interdicted, were 
 obUged to resort to the fever-ridden town of Porto Bello, 
 where the mortality was enormous and the prices increased 
 tenfold. 
 
 " In Spain, likewise, the colonial commerce was restricted 
 to one port, Seville. For in the estimation of the crown 
 it was much more important to avoid being defrauded of its 
 dues on import and export, than to permit the natural 
 development of trade by those towns best fitted to acquire 
 it. . . ." 
 
 Just as Las Casas was always favorably received at court, 
 but almost always found that the most beneficent laws 
 could not or would not be enforced by the colonial officers, 
 so it turned out in regard to all the fair plans which the 
 Spanish kings made for the administration. Undoubtedly 
 the home government took its duty toward the New World 
 with more seriousness than did the other nations. But the 
 agents sent out to enforce the royal will were almost to a man 
 unprincipled malefactors. 
 
 De la Rios, the governor of Panama, who succeeded 
 Pedrarias while on the whole a mild mannered man and not 
 notable for his cruelty had, according to Bancroft, a thirst for 
 riches which surpassed the greed of his miserly predecessor. 
 So corrupt was his administration that he was sent back to 
 Spain in 1529 and convicted of malfeasance in office. An- 
 tonio de la Gama was governor until 1534 when he was dis- 
 placed in disgrace and Francisco de Barrionuevo put in 
 his place. 
 
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362 PANAMA 
 
 Under the administration of this military despot, it became 
 the turn for the white men to suffer. His predecessors had 
 thoroughly despoiled the natives and his only hope of "get- 
 ting his" was to force loans from the merchants. A con- 
 temporary writer says: "Only that an ocean lay between 
 Charles and his down-trodden subjects, nineteen out of 
 twenty would have thrown themselves at his feet to pray 
 for justice." 
 
 Bancroft writes, that "of Pedro Vazquez, who succeeded 
 Barrionuevo as governor of Castilla del Oro, little is known, 
 but of Doctor Robles, the successor of Vazquez, under whose 
 administration the government was continued till 1546, it 
 is alleged, and probably with truth, that he wrought more 
 harm to his fellowmen in a twelvemonth than the mahgn 
 genius of a Pedrarias even could accomplish in a decade." 
 
 Robles was thrown out by the rebellion of Gonzalo Pizarro 
 and when the royal authority was restored the new series of 
 oflELcials finding that both the natives and the colonists had 
 been milked dry by former administrations had to turn their 
 attention to the royal treasury. In 1579 a Corregidor of 
 Panama confessed on his death bed to having embezzled 
 over six thousand pesos de oro. In 1594 half a dozen city 
 officials formed a "ring" and between them cleaned up a 
 sum about equal to $1,500,000 in our money. 
 
 And beside the ravages of the official wolves the Isthmus 
 suffered a great deal from civil war. Between the discovery 
 of Peru and Morgan's raid, the city of Panama was sacked 
 and partially destroyed by Spaniards four several times. 
 
 At the time of Gonzalo Pizarro's rebellion, some of his 
 ships under Hernando Bachicao captured the town, burned 
 down a large part of it, hung every one who would not shout 
 "Viva Pizarro." The rebels indulged in an orgy of lust 
 and bloodshed until Hinojosa, Pizarro's admiral, appeared 
 and restored order. During the next six months Nombre de 
 
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TEE DECLINE OF TEE SPANISE EMPISE 363 
 
 Dios, the other city of the Isthmus, was captured three times. 
 Twice by the rebels and once by a loyahst force from Car- 
 tagena. 
 
 In March, 1550, de la Gasca reached Panama after his 
 successful suppression of the Peruvian rebellion. It re- 
 quired 1,200 mules to carry his store of royal treasure across 
 the Isthmus. The last pack train had only left the city a 
 few hours when a large fleet entered the harbor from the north. 
 It was under the command of some brothers named Contrera, 
 one of whom had been governor of Nicaragua. They had 
 run amuck and gathering a couple of htmdred desperadoes 
 had set out to capture de la Gasca's treasure and then go on 
 to Peru where they planned to establish a separate kingdom. 
 They are said to have damaged Panama to the extent of 
 $5,000,000. But when they tried to follow de la Gasca across 
 the Isthmus they became entangled in the jimgle, their forces 
 were scattered and cut up in piecemeal. 
 
 Added to these civil disturbances, a new danger came from 
 the Cimarrones. 
 
 These escaped negro slaves became so formidable that in 
 1554, a determined effort was begun to exterminate them. 
 
 Pedro de Ursua with two hundred soldiers was sent against 
 "King" Bayano, the most formidable Cimarrone chieftain 
 near Panama. There were six hundred negroes in this 
 band and it took de Ursua two years of uninterrupted cam- 
 paigning before he finally captured Bayano, and was able 
 to send him to Spain as a prisoner. 
 
 However, this was only a beginning. The number of the 
 Cimarrones constantly increased. They fought with des- 
 perate bravery, always preferring death to recapture. The 
 campaign against them waxed and waned. News would come 
 to Panama that the inhabitants of an outlying hacienda 
 had been massacred and the governor would send out some 
 soldiers to discipline the bandits. But the negroes were 
 
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364 PANAMA 
 
 at home in the jungle. The Spaniards would slash about 
 in the heavy underbrush a week or so and come back to town 
 with little accomplished. And every success of the Cimar- 
 rones encouraged more slaves to escape. 
 
 In 1574 the Spaniards were forced' to the humiliation of 
 making a treaty of peace with their former servants. They 
 recognized the freedom of the Cimarrones and in return 
 received a pledge that in the future runaway slaves would 
 be returned. But to the credit of the negroes this pledge 
 was not kept and hostilities broke out afresh. Four years later 
 Pedro de Ortega Valencia was given special orders to exter- 
 minate them. But he fared httle better than those who 
 had tried it before. 
 
 To a certain degree the Cimarrones threatened the lives 
 of the Spaniards, but to a much greater extent they 
 threatened, by constantly depleting the labor-market, to 
 paralyze what little industry there was. 
 
 An official document of the day shows that in 1570 there 
 were two thousand negro slaves — a third of whom were 
 women — employed in fifteen gold mines in the western 
 part of the Isthmus; ten years later all were closed but 
 four. 
 
 The labor problem was very serious. By the end of the 
 sixteenth century almost all of the native Indians had dis- 
 appeared from the Isthmus except in the eastern part, now 
 called "The Darien." The fashion of slave-stealing and 
 murder set by Pedrarias and Espinosa had never been 
 checked. A royal Cedula of 1593 calls attention to the fact 
 "that no one had been brought to justice for any of the 
 extortions or cruelties to which the Indians had been sub- 
 jected." Two centuries after Columbus's voyage to the 
 Isthmus, full-blooded Indians in Panama were about as 
 rare as they are in New York to-day. The white men would 
 not work, and it was negro labor or none at all. And the 
 
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TBE DECLINE OF TEE SPANISE EMFIBE 365 
 
 slaves escaped to the jungle more rapidly than they could 
 be brought to the Isthmus. 
 
 The maladministration on the part of the colonial officials 
 and the constant wars and alarums would have made any 
 healthy development of industry almost impossible. The 
 economic policy of the mother country which Haring refers 
 to as "almost epileptic," was an even more deadly blight 
 on the colony. 
 
 It was frankly monopolistic. Instead of taxing colonial 
 products enough to give the home manufacturer an unfair ad- 
 vantage, as we do, the Spanish government either forbade the 
 industry or the importation of the product. Their method 
 had the advantage over our "protective tariff" of being 
 simpler and more easily understood. Everyone knew, al- 
 though there were political economists even in those days, 
 that certaia merchants of Spain had control of the Council 
 of the Indies and so of the throne. 
 
 A few enterprising colonists began grape culture in Peru. 
 They had grown up in a wine country and soon began 
 turning out a fairly good grade. Some of it was imported 
 to Spain, but that was at once forbidden. The colonial 
 wine, however, soon became popular in Panama and offered 
 a strong competition with home vintages. Thus threatened 
 in their profits, the Spanish wine growers. sent a lobby to 
 Madrid and soon Philip II signed a Cedula, dated September 
 16, 1586, which forbade the sale of any wine on the Isthmus 
 except such as was imported from Spain. Its two logical 
 markets closed, the Peruvian wine growing died out — ^it is 
 just beginning to be revived. 
 
 This incident was typical. No industry was permitted 
 which could supply the colonists with any article manufact- 
 ured in Spain. 
 
 But the merchant princes of Seville were not only jealous 
 of colonial industry; they were equally hostile — and they 
 
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366 PANAMA 
 
 controlled the government — to competition in commerce. 
 In a preceding chapter (XVII) I quoted a letter from a 
 merchant in Panama which indicates that there was con- 
 siderable trade between that port and the Orient. The 
 "business interests" of Spain wanted this fat plum for 
 themselves and this traffic was forbidden. A Cedula of 
 1593 — ^three years later than the letter quoted — says: 
 
 "Toleration and abuse have caused an imdue increase in 
 the trade between the West Indies and China, and a con- 
 sequent decrease in that of the Castilian kingdom. To 
 remedy this it is again ordered that neither from Tierra 
 Firma, Peru, nor elsewhere, except New Spain (Mexico) shall 
 any vessel go to China or the Philippine Islands to trade." 
 
 If this through trade with the Orient had not been so 
 arbitrarily cut off, the Isthmus would never have been for- 
 gotten by the world and the canal might have been built 
 years ago. 
 
 Even the pearl trade — Panama's one indigenous industry 
 — came to grief. At one time as many as thirty ships were 
 engaged in fishing. In 1587 six hundred pounds of high 
 grade pearls were received in Seville. But no withstraint was 
 put on the fishing and the oyster banks gave out. 
 
 In 1589 more than ninety ships came to the Atlantic ports 
 of the Isthmus. In 1601 the number had dropped to thirty- 
 two, in 1605 to seventeen. 
 
 Even the trade down the Pacific coast between Panama 
 and Peru was often interrupted for long periods. Hakluyt 
 gives an account which says that Panama city was short 
 of provisions, " . . . . for there is none to be had for any 
 money, by reasons that from Lima there is no shipping come 
 with maiz . . . But I can certifie . . . that all 
 things are very deeire here, and that we stand in great ex- 
 tremetie for want of victuals." 
 
 This insane economic policy could result only in killing 
 
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THE DECLINE OF THE SPANISH EMPIBE 367 
 
 the colonies — ^it could not enforce a real monopoly. Such 
 "restraints of trade" inevitably produce smuggling. Just as 
 moonshine whiskey is distilled in the United States, and 
 matches are smuggled into France, so in the Spanish colonies 
 illicit trade and contraband manufacture sprang up every- 
 where. In the face of the exceedingly high prices charged 
 by the monopolists of Seville, the English, French and Dutch 
 traders could run all the immense risks of smuggling and 
 still make big profits. 
 
 In "A History of the Voyages and Travels of Captain 
 Nathaniel Uring," I find this frank avowal: 
 
 "In the Beginning of the Year 1711, I went over in a 
 Sloop, well mann'd and arm'd, to trade on the Coast of 
 New Spain, and we carried with us a great Quantity of 
 dry Goods, and about 150 Negroes. We first touched at 
 Portobello, but being War-Time, we used to go to the Grout 
 within Monkey Key . . . about four or five Miles from 
 the Harbovu: and Town of Portobello . . . We lay at 
 this Place Trading for six Weeks in which Time the Spanish 
 Merchants at Panama had notice of our being there and 
 they came across the Isthmus to trade with us. These 
 Merchants frequently travelled in the Habits of Peasants, 
 and had their Mules with them, on which they brought 
 their Money in Jars, which they filled up with Meal; and if 
 any of the King's Officers met them nothing appeared but 
 the Meal, and pretended they were poor People going to Por- 
 tobello to buy some trifles; but they for the most Part went 
 through the Woods ... in order to prevent their being 
 discovered by the Royal Officers." 
 
 Almost all the old chronicles give the same story of illicit 
 trade. Frangois Coreal, whose memoirs are as informal and 
 amusing as Captain Uring's are dry and ponderous, in speak- 
 ing of the monopoly which the Spanish crown tried to main- 
 tain in Peruvian Gold, writes, "mais les Marchands Espagnols 
 
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368 PANAMA 
 
 en font passer beaucoup dans des balles de Marchandise pour 
 frauder les Droits." 
 
 Now smuggling, like any violation of the laws, offers rich 
 chance for graft to the officials. When Captain Uring's 
 sloop with its "great Quantity of dry Goods" lay at anchor 
 in Monkey Key it is hard to believe that the Governor of 
 Puerto Bello did no know it. If he sent a warship to capture 
 it the virtue of having done his duty would be his only 
 reward. The confiscated cargo would have gone to the 
 Royal Treasury. Undoubtedly the " Merchants at Panama" 
 had reasoned with him. Perhaps he himself needed a negro 
 slave, or more likely his good wife wanted some of those 
 "dry Goods." To drive away the smugglers meant humble 
 submission to the monopolist clique in Seville and no reward. 
 To ignore their presence meant prosperity for the local mer- 
 chants — some of which was sure to find its way into the 
 governor's pocket. So the trade throve. 
 
 Of course the merchants in Spain were forever protesting 
 against this contraband traffic. One Cedula was issued 
 after another to stiffen up the enforcement of the laws. It 
 was so easy for a Lutheran trader to hide in some of the 
 coves around Puerto Bello and land his cargo that it was 
 manifestly impossible to maintain the customs regulations 
 in that city. But there was only one road over which mer- 
 chandise could be taken across the Isthmus. So a sort of 
 toll-gate was set up at Venta de Cruces. All traffic between 
 the two oceans passed this place. It was a pretty good 
 scheme but it did not work. Bancroft, who with his assistant 
 writers, did an immense amount of research in regard to the 
 fiscal regulations and commercial decline of the Spanish 
 colonies, gives a report for the year 1624, which shows that 
 goods to the amount of 1,446,346 pesos de oro were registered 
 as passing through the Casa at Cruces, while more than seven 
 and a half millions worth were smuggled across. 
 
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TEE DECLINE OF TEE SPANISE EMPIBE 369 
 
 Early in the seventeenth century the fraudulent traffic was 
 more than six times as great as the legitimate trade. By the 
 end of the century there was little trade of any kind. 
 
 Very little worth noting happened in the eighteenth century. 
 The Isthmus had become of so little importance that in 1718 
 it was deprived of its autonomy, and made an administrative 
 province of the Vice-Royalty of New Granada. 
 
 The Fates did not seem content to let the muy noble y muy 
 leal Ciudad de Panama rot. Three great fires, in 1737, 1756, 
 1777, swept the city and almost obliterated it. 
 
 A few people still recalled its glorious past, and dreamed 
 of glorious days to come, but Panama itself was so lifeless 
 that it could muster no energy to take any active part in 
 the Wars of Independence with which the next century began. 
 
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CHAPTER XXII 
 
 THE WAKS OP INDEPENDENCE MIRANDA 
 
 The Isthmus of Panama played a very small part in the 
 revolt of the colonies against Spain. 
 
 It was an all-important station in the communication 
 between the mother country and the turbulent colonies of 
 the West Coast. The Spanish maintained a strong garrison 
 in the fortresses of San Lorenzo on the Caribbean, and 
 Panama City on the Pacific. The Isthmus was one of the 
 last provinces to throw off allegiance. 
 
 Her fate, however, was bound up with that of her sister 
 colonies, and especially with that of the Vice-Royalty of New 
 Granada. An historical account of Panama must include 
 a consideration of the overthrow of the Spanish Empire on 
 the mainland of America. 
 
 A very good condensed accoimt of the Wars of Libera- 
 tion is to be found in "The Independence of the South 
 American RepubUcs," by Frederic L. Paxson. In describ- 
 ing the general conditions which preceded the revolutionary 
 period, he writes: 
 
 "Exploitation and repression were the essential features 
 of the Spanish colonial system. If Buenos Ayres proved to 
 be a competitor to the Spanish merchants, her olive trees 
 must come down and vines must come up by the roots, for 
 it was clearly understood that Spain was to be protected, 
 and that the colonies existed only for the benefit of the 
 mother country. It is hard to see how such a system could 
 have been carried out honestly, or, if this were possible, 
 how it could have been endured. But the administration 
 
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TEE WAES OF INDEPENDENCE— MISANDA 371 
 
 of Spain made the colonial system a means for recuperating 
 distressed fortunes, while the colonists utilized the cupidity 
 of their rulers to develop an extensive, illicit and profitable 
 foreign trade. . . . 
 
 "South America, strange as it may seem, in spite of cen- 
 turies of misgovernment and blindness on the part of the 
 mother coimtry, was patriotic during those early years of the 
 last century, when patriotism was almost the only asset of 
 the Spanish peoples. The colonial system had been atro- 
 cious, but, keeping those at the bottom of the social scale in 
 dense ignorance, and allowing those on top to enrich them- 
 selves by illicit means, it had been successful." 
 
 The impetus which set the wave of revolt in motion was 
 Napoleon's eflEort to establish his brother on the throne at 
 Madrid. 
 
 On March 19, 1808, Charles the Fourth abdicated in 
 favor of his son, Ferdinand VII. The old king, however, 
 quickly changed his mind, regretted having made way for 
 his son, and called on Napoleon to assist him in regaining 
 his throne. This was just the sort of a pretext that Bona- 
 parte needed to get his finger into the Spanish pie. He 
 crossed the Pyrenees, deposed Ferdinand in the name of 
 Charles, then threw Charles overboard and put his own 
 brother, Joseph, on the throne. 
 
 If ever a great man was bothered by a good-for-nothing 
 family, it was the French emperor. By 1813, Joseph had 
 thoroughly demonstrated his inability to be a real king, and 
 Napoleon quarrelled with him. In December, he wrote to 
 him: 
 
 "You are no longer King of Spain. What will you do 
 now? Will you come to the defence of my throne? . . . 
 Have you sense enough to do this? If not, retire to the 
 obscurity of some country house near Paris. You will be 
 useless, but you will do me no harm." 
 
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 Napoleon then put Ferdinand back on the throne. 
 
 At the news of the French aggression, a wave of patriotism 
 swept over Spanish-America. Almost without exception, the 
 colonies refused to recognize the new sovereignty. Provis- 
 ional governments, to represent the deposed king, were 
 proclaimed in almost every South American city. They 
 formed themselves on the model of, and at first allied them- 
 selves with, the legitimist Junta of Seville. 
 
 The first American Junta was established at Quito, in 
 August, 1809. It was short lived. Six months later, Cara- 
 cas in Venezuela followed suit. Deposing Emparen, the 
 governor, who sympathized with the French, they proclaimed 
 a federal government in the name of Ferdinand. Bogota, 
 the capital of New Granada, formed a Junta in July, 1810. 
 In December, they went a step further, and proclaimed a 
 republic, to administer the vice-royalty on behalf of the true 
 Spanish king. A similar movement, led by Buenos Ayres, 
 was growing in the South. 
 
 Not until 1811 did the movement for separation take 
 form. On July 5th of that year, the Congress of Venezuela 
 passed a resolution of independence. Paxton says: "The 
 wide-spread popular feeling which showed itself in this 
 movement . . . was founded on loyalty to Spain. 
 Many of the leaders of the day were individually in favor of 
 complete independence, but there was as yet no pubUc 
 opinion to support them." 
 
 The two men who were most rigorously preaching seces- 
 sion in the northern provinces were Francesco de Miranda 
 and Simon Bolivar. They were both sons of wealthy Vene- 
 zuelans, and were both bom in Caracas, the former in 1754, 
 the latter in 1783. 
 
 I can find no record that Miranda ever visited the Isth- 
 mus. But the scene which was enacted in Panama, when the 
 Spanish governor, hearing of the defeat of the last royalist 
 
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THE WABS OF INDEPENDENCE— MIBANDA 373 
 
 army, voluntarily and without bloodshed, resigned his au- 
 thority to the patriots, was only the last act of the long drama 
 which began when Miranda was learning at the Siege of 
 Yorktown to dream of American independence. 
 
 In later life, Bolivar said: "The seed of liberty yields its 
 just fruit. If there is anything which is never lost, it is the 
 blood which is shed for a deserving cause." 
 
 It is interesting to apply this saying to Miranda, whom 
 Bolivar believed to be a traitor and sent to his death. The 
 historians of to-day who can study those events without 
 passion are agreed that Bolivar misjudged Miranda, and that 
 his death in a Spanish dungeon is the blackest stain on the 
 record of the great Liberator. 
 
 In 1779, Miranda, a youth of 23, came north and enlisted 
 in the Continental Army. He served his military appren- 
 ticeship under Lafayette, and was present with him at 
 Yorktown. He followed his general to Europe and enlisted 
 again in the cause of freedom in France. He distinguished 
 himself at Valmy and Jemappes, and rose to the rank of 
 major-general. His name is engraved on the Arc de Tri- 
 umphe. But in 1797, he fell under the displeasure of the 
 directaire, as did all who remained true to the early ideals 
 of the Revolution, and had to flee to England. For nine 
 years he wandered about Europe, trying to enlist sympathy 
 for the Spanish colonies among the enemies of the Most 
 Catholic King. His eloquence is said to have brought tears 
 to the eyes of Catherine of Russia. She promised to help, but 
 forgot her promise. In London he won the interest of Pitt 
 and another promise of help,. But the rising power of 
 Napoleon distracted the attention of the English premier. 
 At last he came to the United States and sought the friend- 
 ship of Jefferson. In a letter to him, dated January 22nd, 
 1806, Miranda shows the visionary and poetic side of his 
 character. In this petition for military assistance, he quotes 
 
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374 PANAMA 
 
 from the Fourth Eclogue of Virgil. An English officer, 
 James Briggs, who later served imder him, sums up his char- 
 acter in these words: "After all, this man of renown, I fear, 
 must be considered as having more learning than wisdom, 
 more theoretical knowledge than practical talent. He is 
 too sanguine and opinionated to distinguish between vigor 
 of enterprise and the hardness of intoleration." Later 
 writers have not improved on this contemporaneous char- 
 acterization. 
 
 Miranda organized a filibustering expedition in New York, 
 and sailed from that port on the Leander, in February, 1806. 
 The raid failed dismally. "One thing essential to a revolu- 
 tion," Paxton writes, "was lacking — ^the people of Vene- 
 zuela would not revolt." 
 
 There was, however, another reason for Miranda's failure, 
 which Paxton seems to have ignored. The filibusterers did 
 not share his ideals. He personally furnished the enthu- 
 siasm and money for the venture. Very few of his men 
 shared his dream — even fewer were Venezuelans who were 
 moved by patriotism. Most of his little army were mer- 
 cenaries. Many had been tricked or impressed into the 
 expedition. A curious little volume published in Albany, 
 New York, in 1814, and written by one of these unfortunate 
 men, throws much light on this aspect of the enterprise. 
 It is entitled, "History of the Adventures and Sufferings of 
 Moses Smith during Five Years of his Life, from the Begin- 
 ning of the Year 1806, when he was Betrayed into the 
 Miranda Expedition." 
 
 It was not \mtil they were many days out from New York 
 that some of the men found out the goal of the journey. 
 "Many of these men," Smith wrote, "had been forced into 
 this expedition against their will. They had not yet shed 
 blood nor taken any active part in warfare. The laws of 
 their native country were not intentionally violated by 
 
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TBE WARS OF INDEPENDENCE— MIRANDA 375 
 
 them, and they had not incurred the vengeance of any 
 other. They determined to escape." They were much 
 more interested in escaping than conquering. At last sixty 
 of them fell into the hands of the Spaniards. The officers, 
 ten in number, were executed, the rest rotted for several years 
 in the fetid prisons of Puerto Cabello. 
 
 Miranda escaped from this fiasco, and retired to London, 
 where he foregathered with the large company of political 
 refugees who had found asylum there. 
 
 As we have seen. Napoleon's attempt to turn Spain into 
 a family estate had met with resistance in the colonies. In 
 1810, the loyalist Jimta in Caracas found itself threatened 
 by the French and dispatched commissioners to London to 
 enlist the aid of Great Britain and to secure arms and 
 ammunition for their militia. They chose young Simon 
 Bolivar for this mission. The Junta especially warned him 
 not to become entangled with Miranda, whose extreme 
 republicanism was known to and distrusted by the loyalist 
 Junta. But Bolivar had a very decided tendency towards 
 disobeying orders. He soon fell under the spell of Miranda's 
 eloquence, and, to the chagrin of his employers, brought the 
 old republican leader back with him to Venezuela. 
 
 The populace of Caracas gave them both an ardent ova- 
 tion when they entered the city. Elections were about to 
 take place for delegates to the provincial Congress. Miranda 
 was elected from the district of Barcelona. Three political 
 parties formed themselves in those days : the Loyalists, the 
 Bonapartists and the Repubhcans. Miranda led the third 
 of these parties on the floor of Congress, and Bolivar was the 
 most active spirit in the Society of Patriots. The political 
 association, in its ideas and influence, was not unlike the 
 Jacobin Club of the French Revolution. 
 
 On April 18, 1810, some commissioners arrived on behalf 
 of one of the pohtical factions in Spain. Bolivar inaugu- 
 
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376 PANAMA 
 
 rated the separation movement by a speech before the 
 Society of Patriots, in which he argued that the inability of 
 the Spanish dynasty to maintain a stable government at 
 home was warrant and invitation for the Venezuelans to 
 govern themselves. 
 
 But the loyalist faction was still the strongest, and they 
 forced through a constitution which declared allegiance to 
 Ferdinand VII. 
 
 Nearly fifteen months passed before Miranda and Boli- 
 var could swing public opinion to their view point. On 
 July 5th, 1811, the Congress adopted a resolution, which 
 BoUvar had presented the day before to the Society of 
 Patriots, which declared the complete independence of 
 Venezuela. They adopted a new constitution, forming a 
 federated union of the prefectures of the colony, accepted the 
 tri-color flag of Miranda, and made him commander-in-chief 
 of the army. 
 
 Miranda, although he had proved himself a very capable 
 subordinate officer, lacked the essential qualifications of a 
 general commandant. 
 
 He had lived so long away from Venezuela that he scarcely 
 knew the men under him. He lacked quick decision, and in 
 the crisis which came ultimately, completely lost his head. 
 
 About this time a soldier of fortune named Monteverde 
 landed in Venezuela. He held Ferdinand's commission as 
 field-marshal. And finding no loyalist army to command, 
 he set to work to organize one. He made little progress at 
 first. The early months of the young republic were peaceful 
 and to a surprising degree prosperous. A new and profitable 
 trade had began to flow into its ports. It was rapidly 
 acquiring stability. 
 
 However, the clergy — the world over they have been hos- 
 tile to democracy — ^were busily but silently at work in the 
 loyalist cause. They had sedulously preached that the 
 
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TEE WABS OF INDEPENDENCE— MIBANVA 377 
 
 wrath of God would surely fall on those who despised the 
 divine right of kings. On Holy Thursday, March 26th, 
 1812, less than a year after the declaration of independence, 
 their prophecy seemed to be fulfilled in a terrible earth- 
 quake, the worst Venezuela had ever known. The disaster 
 was most complete in those districts most strongly repub- 
 lican. The patriots seemed to be especially marked out for 
 destruction. Six hundred of their soldiers were buried in 
 the ruins of the barracks at Caracas, as many more were 
 lost in the town of San Felipe, and as many as twelve him- 
 dred were killed at Barquisimento. 
 
 The priests came out in the open and began preaching a 
 Holy War against the patriots. Monteverde was just the 
 man to make the most of such an opportunity. He took the 
 field at once and drove the disorganized republicans out of 
 the town of San Carlos, where he established headquarters 
 and unfurled the Spanish flag. A second earthquake took 
 place on April 4th. It was not so disastrous as the first, 
 but it was enough to defimitely turn the superstitious against 
 the republic. 
 
 Bolivar and other patriot leaders, who lived through the 
 days which followed, always maintained that by energetic 
 action Miranda might still have saved the republic. But 
 he developed a perfect genius for doing the wrong thing. 
 Instead of concentrating what was left of his forces, he dis- 
 persed them. Monteverde's army existed only in name. 
 He could hardly have repulsed a quick attack. Miranda 
 ordered Bolivar, with a small force, to go to Puerto Cabello, 
 to hold its fortress. Other detachments were sent in other 
 directions. Not till May 1st did he march out of Caracas 
 with his 1,200 men and take the field against the army 
 which Monteverde was rapidly recruiting and rapidly whip- 
 ping into shape. 
 
 After a few days' advance, Miranda suddenly changed his 
 
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378 PANAMA 
 
 mind and began a discouraging retreat. Monteverde caught 
 up with him at La Victoria and was defeated. But Miranda 
 failed to follow up this victory. He continued his retreat- 
 ing, losing men by desertion at every step. Bolivar, hear- 
 ing that Monteverde was threatening Puerto Cabello, sent 
 dispatches to Miranda, asking for reinforcements. Miranda 
 felt that he could not spare any. 
 
 On June 30th, the officer of the day in the fortress of 
 Puerto Cabello accepted a bribe from the loyalist prisoners. 
 He liberated them in the night and they surprised and 
 massacred the sleeping garrison. Bolivar with forty men 
 escaped into the city. For five days, with his forty men, he 
 tried to hold the city against the fortress. But on July 5th, 
 loyalist reinforcements from Monteverde arrived, and Bolivar 
 and his men escaped by boat to La Guayra. 
 
 On the 29th of July, Miranda, believing that Bolivar had 
 betrayed him, and utterly discouraged by the ease with 
 which the priests had turned the people away from the 
 republic, surrendered to Monteverde without a fight. By 
 his treaty he agreed that Venezuela would accept the author- 
 ity of the Spanish Cortes, and made terms with Monte- 
 verde, worthless as they afterwards proved, that no one 
 should be prosecuted because of political opinions. 
 
 The next day Miranda arrived at La Guayra to take ship 
 for England. The group of patriots in that city regarded 
 him with suspicion. They did not know the terms of his 
 treaty with Monteverde, and if they had known, would not 
 have trusted them. They clearly foresaw the proscription 
 which awaited them. When they asked Miranda the rea- 
 sons for his surrender, he maintained a haughty reserve. 
 In the crisis the Congress had created him dictator, and no 
 one had a right to question his actions. When they pressed 
 him for further explanations, he became insulting. Shortly 
 after he had retired for the night, fugitives arrived from 
 
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TEE WASS OF INDEPENDENCE— MIMANDA 379 
 
 Caracas, with the news that Monteverde had already begun 
 executing the patriotic leaders. They were amazed to find 
 that Miranda was in the city. He had promised to stay in 
 Caracas and act as a mediator with Monteverde. He had 
 left that city by stealth. After a heated consultation, 
 Bolivar and two other patriots awoke the old man and 
 arrested him and threw him into prison as a traitor. 
 
 The next morning the city was occupied by loyaHst 
 forces. Monteverde, instead of releasing Miranda, as he 
 was bound to do under his treaty, sent him in chains to 
 Puerto Rico, and from there he was sent to Spain. 
 
 A British officer has left this note on a visit to the prison: 
 "I have seen this noble man tied to a wall, with a chain 
 about his neck, neither more nor less than a dog." This 
 old man, who had fought for liberty on three continents, 
 never again was free. He died July 14th, 1816, in the fort- 
 ress of La Caraca, Cadiz. 
 
 There is no shadow of evidence that Miranda was in any 
 sense of the word a traitor; but, beyond question, in the 
 supreme crisis of his life he proved a miserable failure. 
 There is small wonder that the group of patriots mistrusted 
 him. He had sent his best officer, Bolivar, away from the 
 seat of war, had sent him almost single-handed to defend 
 Puerto Cabello. After defeating Monteverde, he had con- 
 tinued his disastrous retreat. He had surrendered with no 
 apparent justification. He refused to explain himself. Such 
 action might well seem treasonable imder the circumstances. 
 They mistook the broken-hearted old man for a traitor. 
 If they had shot him after a drum-head court martial, it 
 would not have been so bad. But to allow him to fall into 
 the clutches of the Spaniards was shameful. 
 
 The First Republic of Venezuela was practically an 
 isolated phenomenon. It alone of all the colonies had for- 
 mally severed its connections with the mother country. 
 
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380 PANAMA 
 
 However, while civil war had been devastating Venezuela, 
 a more subtle and also more permanent force had been at 
 work in the other colonies. 
 
 From the moment when the first patriotic juntas had 
 been formed, a relaxation had taken place in the rigid old 
 colonial laws which forbade commerce with other nations. 
 Foreign-made goods, which before had been introduced 
 into South America by means of smuggling, now had free 
 access. Foreign merchants, especially English, started 
 business in the ports. Buenos Ayres on the Atlantic; Val- 
 paraiso, Callao, Guayaquil on the west coast; Santa Marta, 
 Cartagena, Puerto Cabello and La Guayra on the Carib- 
 bean, became enriched by the flourishing new trade. The 
 colonists had become habituated to commercial freedom 
 and to local taxation during the time that King Ferdinand 
 was in exile. 
 
 When he was restored, he — in whose name they had 
 instituted many liberal reforms — turned out to be an ex- 
 treme reactionary. He treated his partisans in America 
 like traitors. He tried to re-establish all the old restric- 
 tions on colonial commerce. The home land had been 
 devastated by the long war over the Succession; he had 
 no place to turn for taxes, except the colonies. In the 
 olden days the Americas had laid many a golden egg for the 
 Spanish throne. His one idea was to start the process 
 again. But the people of South America did not submit 
 willingly to re-enslavement. 
 
 Secession was no longer the crack-brained dream of a 
 handful of Venezuelan enthusiasts, it had become "good 
 business." The foreign merchants who had established 
 themselves in the colonies, seeing themselves threatened 
 with exclusion and ruin, became a very active force in the 
 second phase of the revolutionary movement. Paxton 
 rather cynically remarks: "Commercial pressure was the 
 
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TBE WASH OF INDEPENDENCE— MISANDA 381 
 
 great influence in keeping the patriots patriotic." This is 
 perhaps an over-statement. But the foreign merchants 
 certainly were a great influence. Without their ready 
 financial assistance San Martin in the south, and Bolivar 
 in the north, could not have armed the patriots. 
 
 The downfall of Miranda marked the end of the idealistic 
 movement. In a few months a new movement sprang up 
 which was largely materialistic — and entirely successful. 
 
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CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 THE WARS OF INDEPENDENCE — BOLIVAB 
 
 When the disastrous campaign of 1812 gave Venezuela 
 back to Spain, Bolivar fled to New Granada, and so more 
 directly enters the history of the Isthmus. 
 
 His early life had been unhappy. His father — a rich and 
 influential colonist — had died when he was an infant, his 
 mother when he was fifteen. He went to Spain with a tutor, 
 at nineteen had married a girl of sixteen. He had hardly 
 brought her home to Caracas when she died of yellow fever. 
 In 1805 he returned again to Europe. He saw Napoleon 
 playing skittles with crowns. And it is said that during this 
 trip he made an especial pilgrimage to Rome, and there on 
 the Sacred Hill made a vow to devote his life to the inde- 
 pendence of his people. He returned to Venezuela by way of 
 the United States, and by 1810 had risen to sufficient prom- 
 inence to be chosen by the Junta for the mission to London. 
 
 While under the influence of Miranda, he seems to have 
 accepted all the ideals of this enthusiast. His speeches at 
 the Society of Patriots are filled with the spirit of the Red 
 Republicans of Paris. At this period his idol seems to have 
 been Thomas Jefferson. But in later life he developed in the 
 opposite direction, becoming as ardent an advocate of 
 aristocracy as Alexander Hamilton. 
 
 When he reached New Granada, after the fall of the First 
 Republic in Venezuela, he found this vice-royalty, of which 
 the Isthmus was a province, in a wild ferment. A Junta 
 
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TBE WABS OF INDEPENDENCE— BOLIVAB 383 
 
 was claiming to govern it in the name of Ferdinand. But the 
 federalist tendency had gone to such extremes that each 
 province considered itself a "sovereign state," and a condition 
 of chaos had resulted. A few troops — hostile to the Junta — 
 occupied the lower valley of the Magdalena. Bolivar en- 
 listed as a private in the patriot army, and soon rose to a 
 small command. He began to manifest a brilhant genius 
 for guerilla warfare and also his marked habit of disregarding 
 orders. His commander-in-chief was a strategist of the old 
 school, the kind of general that Napoleon had so easily 
 overthrown in Europe. Bolivar was continually making 
 raids on his own initiative, which were so successful that the 
 Junta, in spite of his commander's frequent demands that 
 he should be court-martialed for insubordination, always 
 sustained him. In a few months he had cleared the district 
 of the enemy and had collected a little army of six himdred 
 men who were devoted to him and as dare-devil a crew as 
 ever took part in partizan warfare. 
 
 Meanwhile things had been going badly for the patriots in 
 Venezuela. General Monteverde had entirely repudiated 
 the amnesty he had pledged to Miranda. The execution of 
 suspects was a daily occurrence. It is doubtful if such a 
 long continued and devastating reign of terror has ever 
 existed — even in Russia. The nucleus of Monteverde's army 
 were old soldiers of the Napoleonic wars, mercenaries, hard- 
 ened by their profession of bloodshed, feeling themselves 
 alien from the conquered people. They played a r61e in 
 Venezuela similar to that of the Cossacks in present-day 
 Russia. The brutality and rapine of the alUed armies at 
 the relief of the legations in Pekin did not exceed the cruelties 
 of these men. 
 
 Bolivar decided on the invasion of Venezuela. Castillo, 
 his commanding officer, was horrified at the suggestion of so 
 wild an adventure. Bolivar went over his head and appealed 
 
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384 PANAMA 
 
 to the Junta. It is doubtful if he waited for their authoriza- 
 tion. One thing is sure, the civil commissioners who were 
 appointed to accompany him never caught up with him. 
 With almost incredible speed, he had thrown his little com- 
 pany of six hundred across one of the low, northern passes 
 of the Andes and was in the midst of Venezuela, before 
 Monteverde knew he had started. Revolt broke out every- 
 where. Monteverde was able to capture a small force — 
 almost three hundred men — who were marching to join the 
 liberating army. Although prisoners of war, he massacred 
 them all. Bolivar replied by the famous proclamation of 
 "War to the death." 
 
 It is inexplicable how the human mind works, how it 
 decides what acts to condemn and hold in abhorrence. For 
 instance, history teaches us that the French Revolutionists 
 of 1871 were monsters. During the three months of the 
 Commune they executed about thirty-five royaUsts. The 
 victorious army of Thiers massacred almost as many thou- 
 sands of the Communards. Why we should condemn the 
 former act and not the latter is indeed inexplicable. Within 
 our more recent memory, some fanatical Moors at Casa 
 Blanca, stirred to fury by the actions of the Europeans in 
 tearing up a graveyard to make way for a railroad, murdered 
 a half a dozen of them. A week or so later, tl^f French fleet 
 bombarded Casa Blanca in the night, killing hundreds of 
 sleeping women and children. The act of the Moors is con- 
 sidered an outrage; that of the Christians legitimate. 
 
 Almost every biographer of Bolivar condemns him severely 
 for this proclamation of "War to the death." It was simply 
 a declaration that as the enemy refused to carry on war in 
 the manner called civilized, the patriots would do the same. 
 If the Devil persisted in using fire, so would the revolution- 
 ists. As soon as Bolivar came into contact with Spanish 
 generals who were less devilish than Monteverde, he revoked 
 
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TRE WARS OF INDEPENDENCE— BOLIVAB 385 
 
 this decree and carried on his later campaigns in accordance 
 with the ordinary military conventions. 
 
 On the 14th of August, 1814, after a series of brilliant 
 actions, he entered Caracas in triumph. The civil commis- 
 sioners arrived from New Granada, and they ordered him to 
 call elections for a Venezuelan Congress to vote on a imion 
 with New Granada. On the ground of military necessity, he 
 did not obey the letter of their instruction. He assembled 
 what he called a "council of notables." They appointed 
 him Dictator of Venezuela until the union of the two coun- 
 tries could be effected. 
 
 On the 3d of December he met Monteverde in a pitched 
 battle at Araure and defeated him. A new and much more 
 able general, Boves, now assumed command of the Spanish 
 forces. And with the spring of 1814 commenced a successful 
 campaign which ended in the complete defeat of Bolivar 
 at La Puerta. Once more he was compelled to flee. He 
 returned to New Granada. In spite of the disastrous ending 
 of his briUiant Venezuelan campaign, the Junta gave him 
 command of an army and dispatched him to reduce the city 
 of Santa Fe de Bogota, which had revolted from the federa- 
 tion. He performed this mission with a rare mixture of force 
 and diplomacy, and the Junta recognized his services by 
 making him (faptain-general of New Granada. As he was a 
 Venezuelan, this stirred up the jealousy of native officers, 
 and Bolivar became involved in a disheartening mess of 
 cheap political intrigue. At last he threw up his commission 
 in disgust and retired to the English island of Jamaica. Here 
 the first of a long series of unsuccessful attempts to assas- 
 sinate him was made by the secret agents of Spain. 
 
 Meanwhile Ferdinand was reseated on the throne at 
 Madrid. The colonies had refused to submit to the old 
 embargo laws on their commerce. A punitive expedition 
 was sent out imder the command of Morillo, a general of 
 
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386 PANAMA 
 
 much experience and great prestige. In July, 1815, he arrived 
 off Cartagena with two ships-of-the-hne, six frigates, 
 seventy transports and 12,000 veteran troops. For six 
 months the patriots held out in the fortress of Cartagena, 
 but were at last reduced by starvation. By June, 1816, 
 Morillo had fought his way up to Bogota and sent a letter 
 to Ferdiaand in which he boasted that he had not "left alive, 
 in the Kingdom of New Granada, a single individual of 
 sufficient influence or talents to conduct the revolution." 
 
 This was the darkest period for the cause of independence 
 in the northern provinces. Morillo was supreme in New 
 Granada. Boves had suppressed almost all resistance in 
 Venezuela. Only a few bands of "Llaneros," as the Spanish 
 call their cowboys, kept up a desultory guerilla combat, 
 under Marino and Paez, in the interior. But the patriots 
 had no regular army in the field. 
 
 Bolivar, however, did not know that there was such a 
 word as discouragement. At the time when the great earth- 
 quake had overthrown the First Venezuelan Repubhc, he 
 had exclaimed: "If Nature opposes us, we will wrestle with 
 her and compel her to obey!" And now, when for a second 
 time the cause of independence seemed to others hopelessly 
 lost, Bolivar was at work with undimmed faith. He had 
 gone to Hayti and had made friends with that noble old 
 negro, Alexandre Pelion, the president of the Repubhc. 
 He helped the Venezuelan revolutionist to outfit a fihbuster. 
 "When your expedition shall land," he said to Bolivar, "free 
 the slaves. For how can you found a republic where slavery 
 exists? " Bolivar at once freed all his own slaves; it was his 
 continued advocacy of abolition which as much as anything 
 else kept the United States from assisting the Spanish col- 
 onies in their revolt. 
 
 With six ships and a handful of exiles, he made an unsuc- 
 cessful raid on the island of Margarita in May, 1816. In 
 
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TEE WABS OF INDEPENDENCE— BOLIVAR 387 
 
 December of the same year he made another effort and this 
 time with success. Using the island as a base, he descended 
 on the mainland and captured the port of Barcelona, two 
 hundred miles east of La Guayra. Here, for the third time, 
 he proclaimed the republic. He was never again to be driven 
 from Venezuela by the Spaniards. The tide had turned. 
 Although he had yet to meet many reverses, the flag of 
 independence has not since been hauled down in Venezuela. 
 
 Bolivar moved inland to help Marino's guerillas near 
 Santo Tomas de Angostura. Morillo, the Spanish general, 
 had hurried to Venezuela at the first news of Bolivar's opera- 
 tions. By a brilliant dash a Spanish force under General 
 Aldama captured Barcelona behind the Liberator's back. 
 Here Aldama massacred the seven hundred soldiers of the 
 garrison, three htmdred non-combatants, including women 
 and children, and the fifty invalids he found in the hospital. 
 
 Bolivar moved his capital to Angostura, and was rapidly 
 consolidating his government. He sent out summons for a 
 national congress. During this year occurred an incident 
 around which much hostile criticism of Bolivar centered 
 — ^the execution for treason of General Manuel Carlos Piar. 
 
 The enemies of Bolivar claim that he caused Piar's execu- 
 tion in order to rid himself of a dangerous rival in the affec- 
 tions of the army. However, there seems to be good evi- 
 dence that while an officer of Miranda's army, Piar had been 
 guilty of an attempt to sell himself to Monteverde — at least, 
 finding himself imder such suspicion, he deserted. In 1816 
 he had met Bolivar in Hajdii and had won forgiveness. Boli- 
 var made him a major-general in the invading army. He 
 distinguished himself as an officer, winning a brilliant victory 
 at San Felix in April, 1817. Evidence of a second conspiracy 
 sufficient to satisfy the court-martial was brought against 
 him and he was shot at Angostura, October 16, 1817. The 
 justice of court-martial is notoriously uncertain. And Bolivar, 
 
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 as he had shown in his conduct towards Miranda, was of a 
 suspicious nature. But it seems foreign to his character 
 to have used his great personal power to make way with an 
 able lieutenant because of petty jealousy. 
 
 The year 1818 passed in indecisive campaigns. There was 
 continual skirmishing, but no decisive engagements. 
 
 The second congress of Venezuela assembled in February, 
 1819, at Angostura. Bolivar resigned from the dictatorship 
 and was promptly re-elected. During the preceding year 
 he had recruited a foreign legion, formed principally from 
 Irish and English veterans of the continental wars. His 
 native troops were mostly cavalry. The foreign legion gave 
 him his necessary infantry. 
 
 As soon as congress had assembled, Bolivar took the field 
 again. He recaptured Barcelona, which, in giving him a 
 seaport for the free importation of ammunition and supplies, 
 greatly strengthened his position. Morillo, however, had 
 12,000 trained soldiers, and was too strong to be met in an 
 open battle. Morillo was a wily old general. He saw in 
 Bolivar the soul of the revolt, and he was concentrating 
 every effort to annihilate him and end the revolution. He 
 believed that New Granada had been thoroughly cowed, and 
 he practically denuded that province of troops in his desire 
 to overwhelm Bolivar with numbers. 
 
 Bolivar was not the kind of a spirit to accept the apparent 
 necessity of a Fabian campaign. The very odds which 
 Morillo was gathering against him gave him the hint which 
 developed into the most brilliant proof of his military genius. 
 Leaving Paez in command of the native cavalry, with instruc- 
 tions to continually harass Morillo, but avoid a battle, he 
 assembled the pick of his army, five hundred of the foreign 
 legion and two thousand Venezuelans, and dashed up the 
 valley of the Cosnare towards the high Andes — and New 
 Granada. 
 
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TEE WAS8 OF INDEPENDENCE— BOLIV An 389 
 
 As ordinarily happened, Bolivar made this move without 
 asking any one's consent. As soon as he disappeared in the 
 depths of the Cordilleras — Morillo, when he heard of it, called 
 it a "military delirium" — the Venezuelan patriots denounced 
 him as a traitor and made General Marino dictator in his 
 place. But Bolivar had lost communication with Angostura 
 and knew nothing of this. He inspired his men to persist 
 in their advance in the midst of incredible hardships. The 
 marches of Hannibal and Napoleon across the Alps were 
 child's play to this raid. Almost all of their horses and 
 many of the men perished in the Arctic climate of the high 
 mountains. Although the distance was less than a him- 
 dred miles it took the army of liberators almost a month 
 to get across. 
 
 General Barreiro, the Spanish commandant of New Gra- 
 nada, could only muster three thousand men to meet the 
 invaders. The natives gave what assistance they could in 
 the way of provisions to the famished army, and Bolivar 
 was able to remount most of his cavalry before he met the 
 Spaniards. By making a flank movement instead of accept- 
 ing inunediate battle, Bolivar, after a brisk skirmish, on the 
 22d of July occupied the town of Tunja. This put him 
 between Barreiro and his base of supplies at Bogota. The 
 Spaniards were compelled to attack, and on August 7th. were 
 utterly defeated at Boyaca. Barreiro, nearly all his officers 
 and over half his men were captured. This battle put a 
 definite end to Spanish rule in all of New Granada except the 
 Isthmus of Panama. The next day Bolivar entered Bogota. 
 
 He returned at once to Venezuela to report his victory 
 to the congress in session at Angostura. They promptly 
 forgave him for having deserted them to conquer New Gra- 
 nada, and re-elected him dictator. He had brought with him 
 a formal request for the xmion of the two countries. 
 
 Then followed many months of bitter debate over the form 
 
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 of constitution. Bolivar had become separated in thought 
 from his old associates of the Society of Patriots. He was 
 no longer the extreme democrat he had been as a youth, 
 when under the influence of Miranda. His experience with 
 the political turmoil of New Granada — the rivalry of petty 
 "sovereign states" — had sickened him with the federal form 
 of government. As a man of action, he had become disgusted 
 with the intriguing of raw, inexperienced democracy. But 
 he also was a dreamer, and his dream, which extended far 
 beyond the frontiers of his native land, even farther separated 
 him from his old friends. He felt that nothing was accom- 
 plished so long as the Spanish flag remained ansrwhere on 
 the American continent. While their lawyers were becoming 
 eloquent over the rights of constituent states of Venezuela 
 and New Granada, and maintaining that perfect liberty 
 could only exist in a loose federation, Bolivar realized that 
 the war of independence was by no means over, that he had 
 more to fear from political intrigues in his own capital than 
 from Spanish generals, that for the great purpose of freeing 
 the continent — his dream also included Cuba and the Phil- 
 ippines — a strong centralized government, essentially mili- 
 tary, was more needful than the granting of franchises to 
 illiterate peons. All these considerations forced him to advo- 
 cate a policy which the true democrats, the disciples of 
 Rousseau and Jefferson, denounced as reactionary. And 
 certainly a like verdict would fall on any one who advocated 
 the same measures in a settled democracy to-day. 
 
 However, there was nothing underhand in Bolivar's 
 opposition to thorough-going democracy. He spoke of liberty 
 as an island against which beat alternate waves of tyranny 
 and chaos. These excerpts from his speeches before the 
 Angostura Congress plainly show the trend of his thought: 
 
 "It is more difl&cult to maintain the equilibrium of liberty 
 than to sustain the weight of tyranny." 
 
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THE WAES OF INDEPENDENCE— BOLIVAB 391 
 
 "The people more frequently than the government bring 
 in tyranny." 
 
 " Pisistratus, an usurper and a despot, did more good to 
 Athens than her laws. . . . The republic of Thebes ex- 
 isted only during the lives of Pelopidas and Epaminondos, 
 for it is men, not principles, which fo'-m governments." 
 
 "Angels alone, and not men, can exist free, peaceable 
 and happy in the exercise of sovereign power." 
 
 He had indeed swung roxmd entirely from his former posi- 
 tion; he quoted no more from Jefferson; he had become an 
 advocate of the doctrines of Hamilton. 
 
 He asked for a hereditary legislature of very limited 
 power. It was to be chosen by Hmited suffrage and do little 
 but elect a president with dictatorial powers. All the other 
 officers of the state were to be chosen by this chief executive. 
 As there was no possibility of any one else being chosen as 
 president; he was practically asking for supreme power. 
 
 The example of Napoleon was too fresh in the minds of 
 men to allow the patriots to hand themselves over thus boimd 
 to any individual. They were in the embarrassing position 
 of wanting a man on horseback who would not trample on 
 them. The result was a compromise. Bolivar's ideas on 
 centrahzation were adopted, but the advanced democrats 
 won on the other points at issue. This constitution was 
 adopted on the 17th of December, 1819, and Bolivar was 
 elected president of the new Republic of Colombia. 
 
 There was a desultory campaign in 1820. And in the 
 spring of the next year, Bolivar took the field with a splendid 
 army of 15,000. His foreign legion had grown to two thou- 
 sand. General Morillo had returned to Spain, and had been 
 superseded by General Torre. The decisive battle came 
 on June 24th, at Carabobo, where the Venezuelan cavalry, 
 under Paez, completely overthrew the last Spanish army. 
 Torre retreated to Puerto Cabello. This fortress and that 
 
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 of Panama, which dominated the Isthmus, were all that re- 
 mained of the Spanish Empire in northern South America. 
 Within a few months the people of Panama proclaimed 
 their independence and entered the Colombian Union. 
 Puerto Cabello held out until 1823. 
 
 Bolivar, at the height of his popularity, was by no means 
 ready to lay down his arms. In the spring of 1822 he 
 marched out of Bogota with his army of veterans to liberate 
 Ecuador. On the 7th of March he defeated a strong Spanish 
 force at Bompono. His advance was checked by a stubborn 
 resistance and almost impassable moimtain barriers. But 
 on the 24th of May his able general, Sucre, who had landed 
 with another army at Quayaquil, overthrew Spanish author- 
 ity in Ecuador by a brilliant victory at Pinchincha. This 
 opened the road to Bolivar, and he entered Quito on the 
 16th of June, the same day that John Quincy Adams recog- 
 nized the independence of Colombia by ofi&cially receiving 
 her charg6 d'affaires at the White House. The newly-freed 
 state joined the Republic of Colombia. 
 
 While this long war had been going on in the north, a 
 similar struggle had been waged in the south. And as Bolivar 
 had risen to pre-eminence in the Colombian army, so a 
 general named Jose de San Martin had won the title of 
 Liberator of the South. Starting out from Argentina, he 
 had freed Chili and the largest part of Peru. 
 
 In many ways his career had been similar to Bolivar's. 
 He had led an army across a pass of the Andes, which was 
 supposed to be impossible. More than once he had snatched 
 victory from defeat by an act of rank insubordination. But 
 in character he was the opposite of Bolivar. Extremely 
 modest and retiring, he stuck much more closely to his pro- 
 fession of arms. He seems to have had no personal ambition, 
 and to have held politics in abhorrence. 
 
 On the 22d of July, 1822, San Martin came up from 
 
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THE WAS8 OF INDEPENDENCE— BOLIVAR 393 
 
 Callao to meet Bolivar at Guayaquil. What happened in 
 their long private interview no one knows. After it, San 
 Martin returned to Callao and resigned from the dictator- 
 ship. The Peruvians offered him 10,000 ounces of gold for 
 his services. He accepted only three thousand dollars, and 
 sailed with his daughter to England, where he lived and died 
 in obscurity. 
 
 The enemies of Bohvar claim that San Martin proposed 
 a joint campaign against the remaining Spanish forces in 
 Peru, even offered to accept a subordinate position, but that 
 Bolivar, ambitious to monopolize all the glory of the libera- 
 tion, would not accept his co-operation under any terms. 
 But the frequency with which he allowed his own generals, 
 Paez and Sucre, to win fame by commanding in decisive 
 battles seems to militate against this explanation. I have 
 not been able to find any account of this meeting from the 
 pens of any of Bolivar's friends. 
 
 Bolivar waited impatiently in Ecuador for the Peruvians 
 to invite his assistance in finishing the work which San Martin 
 had left. But his enemies had so industriously spread stories 
 of his Napoleonic ambitions that the Peruvians were afraid 
 of him and decided to finish off the remaining Spaniards 
 themselves. But one after the other, their two armies 
 were defeated by General Conterac, who was the most able 
 soldier that Spain had sent out to the colonies. When 
 Conterac recaptured Lima, the capital, the patriots buried 
 their distrust of Bolivar and sent him an urgent appeal. 
 Sucre took the first section of the Colombian army to Peru. 
 Bolivar arrived the first of September with the main guard. 
 All that was left of the Peruvian congress assembled and 
 pronounced him protector and dictator. On August 7, 1824, 
 with a picked army composed of his own and San Martin's 
 veterans, he defeated the Spaniards at Junin. Bolivar re- 
 turned to Lima to straighten out his political affairs, leaving 
 
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 Sucre in command to deliver the coup-de-grace. On Decem- 
 ber 9th the final battle took place at Ayacucho. Sucre's 
 veterans completely overthrew the Spaniards and ended 
 the war in Peru. 
 
 Sucre followed up his victory by leading his army into 
 the province of Upper Peru (now BoUvia), the last strong- 
 hold of the royalists. The fighting had been severe there 
 for many years, and the population rose as a man to greet 
 the delivering army. The province was liberated without a 
 battle, and the great war of independence was over. The 
 newly-freed province named itself Bolivia, in honor of the 
 liberator, and practically offered him the crown. This was 
 only one of many times when Bolivar, if he had been at 
 heart the monarchist his enemies maintained, could have 
 acquired a throne. 
 
 Instead, he drew up the "Codigo Boliviano." It was, I 
 suppose, as good a constitution as one could expect from a 
 soldier. It was not, however, anything like so workable 
 a document as the "Code Napoleon." Bolivar gave free 
 expression to the anti-democratic tendency he had so 
 clearly enunciated years before at the Congress of An- 
 gostura. 
 
 The constitution, written in his ovira hand, and which he 
 repeatedly announced as his profession of political faith, 
 provided for a life president who could nominate his successor. 
 The principal novelty was that each group of ten citizens 
 should elect one of their number as a general elector. The 
 other nine were then to retire to the shade of their fig-tree 
 and forget all about politics for four years — until time to 
 choose a new elector. It was an immensely complex instru- 
 ment. The Bolivians swallowed it without amending a word. 
 And Sucre was chosen president for hfe. 
 
 Bolivar returned to Peru to force his pet constitution 
 on that country, and in a decidedly high-handed manner 
 
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TBE WARS OF INDEPBNDENCE— BOLIVAR 395 
 
 succeeded. The news reached him that a secession move- 
 ment, inspired by the old distaste to a centralized govern- 
 ment, had broken out in Venezuela, under his old companion 
 in arms, Paez. 
 
 How far Bolivar had become personally ambitious, how 
 often he allowed himself to dream of an imperial crown, no 
 one will ever know. It is beyond dispute that with clear- 
 sighted vision he foresaw the political chaos, the revolutions 
 and counter revolutions, which were to disturb the great 
 continent to whose freedom he had dedicated his hfe. That 
 he dreamed of welding all the old colonies into a stable 
 united nation is proven by almost all his speeches and letters. 
 However, it was a hopeless dream. The chief grievance of 
 the Spanish colonies had for a couple of centuries been the 
 lack of home rule. All their ills had come from a distant 
 administration. The one thing on which the Latin Americans 
 were imited was a passionate desire for autonomy. An em- 
 pire cannot be built on such a motive. Under the enthusiasm 
 of the war of independence Bolivar had been able to hush 
 the universal demand for home rule. Now that the last 
 battle had been fought, the old issue came to life with 
 redoubled vigor. 
 
 On the 22d of June, 1826, just twenty years after Miranda's 
 disastrous filibuster on the Leander, Bolivar's Pan-American 
 Congress assembled at Panama. Mexico, Central America 
 and the South American states, dominated by Bolivar, sent 
 delegates. Chile and Argentina, fearing that the Congress 
 was to be a pretext for him to spring his imperial con- 
 spiracy, did not co-operate. Among other resolutions, the 
 Congress adopted the following, dictated by Bolivar: 
 
 "The Republics of Colombia, Central America, Peru, and 
 the Mexican States, do mutually ally and confederate them- 
 selves in peace and war in a perpetual compact, the object 
 of which shall be to maintain the sovereignty and indepen- 
 
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396 PANAMA 
 
 dence of the confederated powers against foreign subjection 
 and to secure the enjoyment of unalterable peace." 
 
 Nothing was accomplished at this congress beyond the 
 proclaiming of this ideal of Latin-American unity. All the 
 contracting parties promptly fell into civil war. But the 
 ideal gains ground year by year. The five republics of 
 Central America now have an arbitration treaty; Chile and 
 Argentina also. Our Bureau of American Republics and the 
 frequent Pan-American congresses are knitting these neigh- 
 bors of ours into closer unity every day. In some not too 
 distant day the ideal of the Great Liberator will be realized. 
 
 Bolivar returned to Bogota and tried to bring order out 
 of the chaos of the Colombian republic. The congress refused 
 to accept his Codigo Boliviano. Peru threw off her allegiance 
 to him. And some of his old veterans — ardent republicans — 
 whom he had left in Peru, believing in the stories of his 
 treason, started north to protect their country against his 
 ambitions. The secessionist movement in Venezuela was 
 continually growing. His own people began to plot his 
 assassination. At last in January, 1830, he again tendered 
 his resignation. The congress refused to accept it. The 
 revolted province of Venezuela voted him a pension on con- 
 dition that he would never set foot in the country again. 
 This seems to have broken his heart. Although not old in 
 years, the two decades of continual campaigning had worn 
 him out. In April he resigned definitely, determined to 
 retire to private life abroad. 
 
 Seven miles before reaching the port of Santa Marta, 
 where a ship was waiting for him, he heard that Bolivia had 
 risen in revolution; they had repudiated his Codigo Boliviano, 
 and his dearest friend, Sucre, had been assassinated. He 
 broke down completely, and died on the 17th of December, 
 in the little village of San Pedro. 
 
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CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 EARLY ISTHMIAN TRANSIT 
 
 The man who discovered gold in California indirectly 
 affected the Isthmus more profoundly than any person since 
 Columbus, who discovered it. 
 
 The misguided colonial policy of Spain had killed the 
 trade of her American possessions. Commerce had not re- 
 vived during the thirty years of independence. It is hard 
 for us to-day to realize how far off the west coast of Amer- 
 ica was in the fifties. The Chinese ports were in more fre- 
 quent communication with Europe and New York, than 
 were Valparaiso and San Francisco. What little trade there 
 was went around the Horn or the Cape of Good Hope. 
 There was no regular transit across the Isthmus. Many a 
 person lived and died in Panama without ever having seen 
 the Atlantic, less than fifty miles away. A few muleteers 
 kept up an intermittent transportation of merchandise and 
 mail along the old road, which had once been the route of 
 half the wealth of the world. 
 
 The discovery of California gold and the rush of '49 woke 
 the Isthmus from its long sleep. The trail across the Great 
 Desert by "prairie schooners" was long and expensive and 
 dangerous. New routes were established across Nicaragua 
 and Panama. The latter proved the more popular. 
 
 The number of people who used this route is almost 
 incredible. They came by boat from New York to Chagres, 
 a small town at the mouth of the famous river, went up- 
 stream in native boats to Gorgona or Cruces, and then by 
 
 397 
 
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398 PANAMA 
 
 mule over the old Spanish road to Panama. Sometimes in 
 the dry season as many as three or four thousand would 
 cross, going or coming, in a week! Of course there were no 
 accommodations for such a horde of immigrants. The hard- 
 ships suffered were appalling. 
 
 In 1851 a little book was published by Dr. E. L. Auten- 
 rieth of Panama, called, "A Topographical Map of the 
 Isthmus of Panama . . . with a few Accompanying 
 Remarks for the use of Travellers." 
 
 "Chagres is," he writes, "an unhealthy place; but it 
 cannot be denied, that a great deal of the sickness prevail- 
 ing here must be ascribed to the terribly bad food every- 
 one is compelled to eat. . . . 
 
 "Crossing the Isthmus in the dry season is certainly a 
 pleasant trip, if reasonable precautions are taken, and pro- 
 visions for a few days are carried along; but any journey 
 during the rainy season, from May until December, will 
 certainly be full of hardship and danger so long as this com- 
 plete want of conveniences and provisions shall exist. We 
 hope the railroad company will succeed in their endeavour 
 to reach Gorgona before the next rainy season, and if, 
 moreover, as is contemplated, a good mule road is opened 
 from Gorgona to the Cruces road, the crossing will be a deal 
 easier, and an express might reach Panamd in twelve hours 
 after leaving Navy Bay. The distance from Chagres to 
 Panamd, in a straight line, is not fully thirty-eight miles, 
 and yet I met a great many who were compelled to spend 
 seven or eight days in crossing, being exposed to the heaviest 
 rains, unable to obtain food or a comfortable place to lie 
 down at night, or a spot where to dry their wet clothes. 
 
 "All who intend to cross the Isthmus, ought to provide 
 themselves with some provisions, such as good hams, smoked 
 tongues or sausages, pickles, good coffee, and their accus- 
 tomed drinks; a good blanket; if in the rainy season, a light 
 
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EASLY ISTEMIAN TBANSIT 399 
 
 india-rubber overcoat and leggings; also an umbrella. These 
 should never be omitted. . . . 
 
 " If you have Indians for boatmen, I would advise you not 
 to be too friendly, but at the same time to be careful not to 
 insult them or act in an overbearing manner. 
 
 "I was told by boatmen of mine, that boats had fre- 
 quently been upset, and passengers' lives endangered, in 
 consequence of their overbearing and inhuman treatment of 
 the Indians. Negroes and Griffs are in far worse repute 
 then the full-blood Indians; they are regarded as lazier, 
 more malicious, and dishonest; therefore deal with Indians 
 in preference. . . . 
 
 "The Cruces road is shorter than the one at Gorgona by 
 about two miles, but far worse to pass over. From Cruces 
 to Cruz de Cardenas, the place where the two paths meet, 
 is certainly the worst and most fatiguing road we ever 
 travelled. There are no high mountains with abysses, which 
 would present great obstacles to making a good road, if 
 hands could be obtained to do the work. It seems that long 
 before the Spaniards came to the country the rain had 
 washed off, at certain places, the grovmd from the rock 
 below, and particularly at such spots where, by the forma- 
 tion of the rock, a fissure was left. These places presented 
 a solid foundation for the feet of oxen and horses during the 
 rainy season, and were therefore selected for crossing, and 
 by connecting the different gullies with each other, the so- 
 called Cruces road was established. 
 
 " In consequence of the continued passing of mules, these 
 gullies have deepened in some places to a depth of about 
 thirty feet, narrowing towards the bottom, which at some 
 places is not over two feet wide. That through such defiles 
 only one mule after the other can pass, is easily understood; 
 and if two parties meet, one is compelled to turn back. 
 When this happens it is not always accomphshed without 
 
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400 PANAMA 
 
 difficulties. To avoid collisions, the arrieros (mule-drivers) 
 will give, before entering, whoops, which are immediately 
 answered by the party inside. It is stated that F. Pizarro, 
 the conqueror of Peru, ordered the paving of this road, 
 which was done with large round stones, sometimes a foot 
 and a half in diameter. Since Panamd sunk into insignifi- 
 cance this pavement has been entirely neglected, and is now 
 completely broken; and the big stones are lying loose and 
 in great disorder, where formerly there was a pavement. 
 
 "This is the principal cause of the abominable state of 
 the road at this time. It is astonishing that the mules are 
 capable of passing at all over these loose heaps of round 
 stones, with a load on their backs. 
 
 "At the places where no pavement was needed the rock is 
 often excavated by the shoes of the mules in such a manner 
 that a series of holes, sometimes more than a foot deep, 
 have been produced, leaving a ridge of the rock between 
 each hole; these are the most dangerous places for passing; 
 the mule has to proceed with great caution, or he will fall. 
 Fortunately such spots do not occur very frequently." 
 
 As fast as sections of the Panama railroad were opened 
 it was used by the prospectors. But until its completion in 
 1855 part of the old route was used. One of the most inter- 
 esting accounts of those days is found in a report of the 
 surgeon attached to the Fourth United States Infantry. 
 They crossed, en route for garrison duty in California, 
 during the rainy season of 1852. The Captain Grant re- 
 ferred to in the report was later to become famous at Appo- 
 mattox Court House and to enter the White House. 
 
 San Francisco, Calif., 
 September 14, 1852. 
 Sib: The occurrence of malignant cholera in the Fourth regiment of 
 infantry, which I accompanied from New York to California, seemed 
 to me to require that I should make a special report to you upon the 
 
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iBPiii 
 
 CopyrigJU by American Press Associntiaii. 
 
 COLONEL GOETHALS'S HOME. 
 
 PART OF THE LABOR PROBLEM. 
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EASLY ISTHMIAN TRANSIT 401 
 
 subject. I have, therefore, made a report of the sick of that regiment 
 up to the 31st August, and beg leave to accompany it with the following 
 remarks: 
 
 The regiment was concentrated at Fort Columbus, New York, in 
 obedience to orders from the War Department, the last company 
 having arrived on the 23d June. On that day 243 recruits were reeeived 
 and examined. On the evening of the 2d July, a telegraphic order 
 was received for the troops to embark on the 5th. On the evening of 
 the 3d July, about 150 more recruits were received and examined. 
 On the 5th July eight companies of the regiment, with the band and 
 headquarters, were embarked on the United States mail steamer Ohio, 
 bound for Aspinwall, New Granada. We had a good deal of diarrhoea 
 among our men during their stay at Governor's Island, but it was quite 
 manageable, and when we embarked I did not consider it necessary to 
 leave but one man in the hospital; he was recovering from a broken 
 leg, and would not have been able to march across the Isthmus. The 
 Ohio was a large ship, as to tonnage, and in that respect, capable of 
 carrying our whole command; but her room is so badly distributed 
 that we should have been crowded had there been no other passengers. 
 Our command, including women and children, was about 800. We 
 had, however, all told, passengers, crew, etc., 1,100 on board. This 
 was altogether too many people for her accommodations at that season 
 of the year, and in a voyage to the tropics. We, however, reached 
 AspinwaU on the 16th July, without losing a man. We had a number 
 of case's of both diarrhcea and constipation, and a few cases of fever 
 on the voyage. Our sick report, nevertheless, was very small upon 
 landing. One man (the bandmaster), sick with chronic diarrhoea, had 
 sunk so much on the voyage I was obliged to leave him on the ship, 
 where he died two days afterwards. 
 
 On the voyage I had endeavored to impress upon the commanding 
 officer the necessity of preventing the men from eating the fruits of the 
 country, and from indulging in any of the hquors they would meet 
 with on the march. A very judicious order, embracing these views, 
 was issued previous to our debarkation. I am sorry to say, however, 
 it was not observed on the march. Had it been strictly obeyed, I think 
 we should have been spared much suffering. It being the height of the 
 rainy season when we reached the Isthmus we were much embarrassed 
 by the state of the roads; by rains every day; by the extreme heat 
 and by the epidemic influences prevailing. 
 
 Cholera existed at Aspinwall when we landed. It had been very 
 fatal a short time previously among the laborers on the railroad, in 
 
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402 PANAMA 
 
 consequence of which they had very generally abandoned the work. 
 Forty laborers out of one hundred, I was told, had died at one station. 
 It was existing at both Cruces and Gorgona on the route — ^points we 
 were obliged to pass — and at both of which we were unfortunately 
 detained. We found it also at Panama upon our arrival there. 
 
 Notwithstanding all this, and the cautions in the order of march, 
 the men had no sooner been permitted to land to procure water, than 
 numbers of them sought the first tavern they could find, to indulge 
 their fatal craving for liquor. Many were brought back on board that 
 night intoxicated and drenched with rain. Fruits were also eaten 
 with avidity whenever they could be procured. 
 
 As we did not reach Aspinwall until after the departure of the daily 
 train of cars we were obliged to remain there until next morning. 
 Our baggage, however, was principally landed, and stowed in the cars 
 that afternoon, and this operation was completed early the next morning. 
 When the hour arrived for starting, it was found that the locomotives 
 were too light to carry more than half our men in one train. They 
 were accordingly despatched in two trains at intervals of an hour, 
 and then the baggage had to be left to be brought by a return engine. 
 Arrived at Barbacoas, the present terminus of the railway. Colonel 
 Bonneville informed me that it was determined to march the main 
 body of the men from Gorgona to Panama; that the sick, the women, 
 the baggage, and one company would proceed to Cruces, where the 
 mule transportation would be provided, and whence they would also 
 proceed to Panama. I was ordered to accompany this last detachment. 
 Colonel Bonneville then proceeded at once in boats to Gorgona. Colonel 
 Wright was to follow when the baggage came up. The baggage did 
 not arrive till after dark; too late to transfer it to the boats. 
 
 In the morning it was discovered that the hospital stores were not 
 contained in those cars. I had a special messenger sent back to bring 
 them up immediately. Colonel Wright went on with the battahon, 
 leaving me, a subaltern, and a small guard, with the sick. My mes- 
 senger did not return till late in the afternoon, and then brought up 
 but four packages out of thirty, declaring there were no more to be 
 found. This made it necessary for me to return to Aspinwall, which 
 I did that night upon a hand car. I found my stores in the first baggage 
 car I met with in the depot, and the next morning carried them to Bar- 
 bacaos in a special train furnished me by Colonel Totten, the engineer 
 of the road. I proceeded at once up the river to Cruces, a distance of 
 twelve miles, against a rapid and dangerous current, in a small boat 
 propelled by setting-poles only; and by dint of great exertion and deter- 
 
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EASLT ISTHMIAN TBANSIT 403 
 
 mination succeeded in reaching that point at about 9^4 at night. My 
 hospital boat did not get up until next morning. At Cruces, very much 
 to my surprise, I found the regimental quartermaster, about seventy 
 men, and all the women and children. This was Monday night. He 
 had been there since Sunday morning, and no transportation for the 
 baggage had yet been furnished by the contractors. The detachment 
 was encamped on the river at the landing-place, and all the baggage 
 piled up in the vicinity. At this time all were well, and my sick had en- 
 tirely recovered. Transportation was promised in the morning, and I 
 determined to push on as rapidly as possible, to overtake the main 
 body, at that time probably at Panama. 
 
 In the morning we were again disappointed in transportation. This 
 was Tuesday, 20th July. While endeavoring to get from the contractor 
 mules for myself and necessary stores, I was called to see a soldier said 
 to be ill of cramps. I found a case of malignant cholera, of the most 
 aggravated character. The man died in six hours. Upon instituting 
 a rigid inquiry, I found that the disease was, and had been for some 
 time, prevailing in the town; that numbers had died, and were still 
 djdng there ;^ and that a physician had been sent there from Panama 
 for the special purpose of treating such cases. It was of course impos- 
 sible for me to leave the detachment under such circumstances. I, 
 therefore, decided to remain vmtil the men were all started, and this 
 more especially, as I was informed from day to day by passengers 
 from Panama that the main body had gone on board the transport in 
 Panama bay, and that there was no disease among them. I thought 
 it but prudent, however, to urge the quartermaster to as speedy a 
 movement from the place as possible; and by my advice he determined 
 if the requisite transportation was not fmnished by the next morning, 
 to procure it himseK of anybody, at any price, and require the con- 
 tracting parties to pay for it. It must be observed that a subcontractor 
 had agreed to furnish mules for 11 cents a pound, and all this time 
 they were in demand for private transportation at 16 to 20 cents. We 
 had the vexation of seeing hundreds of citizens forwarded, with scarcely 
 an hour's detention, while our men were kept at the most unhealthy 
 point of the Isthmus for five days, with no adequate effort on the part 
 of the contractors to forward us to. Panama. The next morning we 
 were no better off. Captain Grant then went into the market, and 
 succeeded in completing a contract before night with a responsible per- 
 son, for the requisite number of mules, to be ready early the next day. 
 In the meanwhile several cases of cholera occurred, and we had four 
 more deaths. One man convalesced from the disease, but too ill to 
 
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404 _ PANAMA 
 
 move, I was obliged to leave him in charge of the alcalde and the town 
 physician. I recommended, under the circumstances, that the whole 
 detachment should be furnished with mules, lest the fatigue of march- 
 ing over so desperate a road should excite the disease in men predis- 
 posed to it, and they should perish, without the possibiUty of my aiding 
 them, on the way. This was done, but notwithstanding every precau- 
 tion on our part, three fatal cases did occur on the road. 
 
 In compliance with Captain Grant's contract, a large number of 
 mules, both saddle and cargo, were brought up in the morning, and 
 despatched as fast as possible with riders and burdens, respectively; 
 by 1 p. m. about one-half our men and nearly one-half our baggage 
 were on the road. The usual rain then coming on operations were 
 necessarily suspended for the day. I must here remark that the pre- 
 servation of anything like order or organization in the forwarding of 
 troops or baggage on mules across the Isthmus is altogether out of the 
 question. The moment a rider or a cargo is placed upon a mule's back 
 that moment he must set out, or the muleteer strips his mule and 
 carries him off. Our movement was, therefore, of necessity, a stragghng 
 one, each man making his way to Panama as he best could, when once 
 mounted. The next morning, before 10 o'clock, the last of our men 
 was on the way, and most of the remaining baggage, and then I set 
 out myself. I reached Panama before dark, but too late to go to the 
 ship that night. I learned that she was lying off Toboga, 12 miles 
 down the bay; that cholera had broken out on board and carried off 
 a number of men. A small steamer communicated with her once a 
 day only, leaving Panama at 5 p. m. I was, therefore, detained at 
 Panama until that hour the following day. Here I learned that six of 
 the cabin passengers by the Ohio (our ship) had died in Panama of 
 cholera contracted on the Isthmus. 
 
 I proceeded to the ship on the first opportunity, and there was in- 
 formed that the main body had passed three nights on the road between 
 Gorgona and Panama without shelter; that they were drenched by 
 the rains every day; that the order relative to fruits and drink had been 
 entirely disregarded, and in consequence several men had been attacked 
 by cholera and died on the way. After their arrival upon the ship, 
 the surgeon of that and of two other ships of the same line had been 
 constant in their attendance upon the sick, and abmidance of hospital 
 stores and medicines had been furnished by the company. That day 
 (Saturday) the sick had been removed to a hulk anchored near, and a 
 detail of men to nurse them, under the charge of an officer, had been 
 sent on board by the commanding officer. I went on board the hulk 
 
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EASLT ISTEMIAN TBAN8IT 405 
 
 and passed the night there. Several new cases were sent on board 
 from the ship during the night. The next day, Dr. Martin, of the 
 Columbia, kindly volunteered to take my place, and I got some sleep. 
 I passed the next night again on board the hulk, besides frequent 
 visits during the day. The next day I was obUged to apply to the 
 commanding officer for assistance. It was impossible for anyone to 
 endure such an amount of physical and mental exertion any longer. 
 We had, fortunately, among our passengers. Dr. Deal, of California, 
 a physician of experience and intelligence, with whom a contract was 
 made to perform the duties of an assistant surgeon on board the Golden 
 Gate, from that time until she reached San Francisco, for the moderate 
 sum of $250. Had we known what was before us we could not have 
 secured his services for ten times the amount. 
 
 Tuesday, 27th July, the disease was evidently subsiding. No new 
 cases had occurred during the night, and the sick were, for the most 
 part, improving. I entertained strong hopes that as soon as our baggage 
 was all received we should be in condition to prosecute our voyage. 
 In this hope, however, we were doomed to be disappointed. In the 
 afternoon of that day we had a heavy rain, against which many of our 
 men were but ill protected. Upon the arrival of the small steamer 
 in the evening about a dozen knapsacks were received, that had been 
 lying and moulding somewhere on the Isthmus for a long time. The 
 men to whom they belonged seized upon them immediately with great 
 eagerness, and opened them to get a change of clothing. I was after- 
 wards informed that some of these men fell sick while in the act. Be this 
 as it may, in about 20 hours afterwards they were all taken ill of cholera 
 in its worst form and within an hour of each other, and most of them 
 died. The disease having thus reappeared, it was determined to land 
 the troops. There being shelter for the sick upon the island of Flaminco, 
 about six miles from Panama, the debarkation was effected upon the 
 29th; the sick were placed in huts, and the well in a few tents and under 
 sails stretched over poles. On the 1st August, Brevet Major Gore was 
 attacked, and died on board the Golden Gate. His was the last case 
 of cholera that occurred, and he the only officer we lost. I recommended 
 to Colonel Bonneville to destroy any other knapsacks that might be 
 received from the Isthmus, and to have the ship fumigated with 
 chlorine, which was done. Several other officers were threatened, but, 
 by timely means, escaped a decided attack. Upon the island a number 
 of those previously ill died, but no new oases appeared. The fever of 
 the country, however, began to show itself, which made all anxious to 
 leave Panama as soon as possible. 
 
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406 PANAMA 
 
 On the 3d August, the Golden Gate detennined to go to sea the next 
 day, but refused to take on board more than 450 of our people, and 
 expressly declared that she would not receive a single sick man. To 
 this extraordinary demand we were forced to submit, and I was accord- 
 ingly ordered to remain on the island with the sick, most of the women 
 and children, and one company of troops to act as nurses, etc., until 
 the next steamer should sail. I approved of the proposal to divide the 
 command between two ships, but could not agree as to the propriety 
 of leaving all the sick for another steamer, as a similar objection would 
 probably be made to their reception on board of her. I was, however, 
 overruled, and on the 4th August, the Golden Gate sailed with 450 well 
 men. Dr. Deal acting assistant surgeon. The three months' supply 
 for the regiment being stowed away in the hold of the ship, I placed it 
 in charge of Dr. Deal, with the packer's list, that he might use such of 
 the medicines and store that he should need on the voyage; the re- 
 mainder to be left with the medical purveyor at Benicia. Dr. Deal 
 was discharged at the termination of the voyage, and I have not seen 
 him since, nor have I had any report from him. I have ascertained, 
 however, that he had ninety cases of fever and diarrhoea on the voyage, 
 and three deaths. These are embodied in my report. I have also 
 learned that, not being able to find the box containing the sulphate 
 of quinine, he had purchased two ounces at Acapulco and borrowed 
 more of the ship, which has since been returned. 
 
 Upon the 7th of August it was announced that the steamer North- 
 erner would take us on board and sail the next day. The surgeon of 
 that ship was sent on shore to inspect our men; and although he 
 thought there were several cases of fever that would die, still, as no 
 infectious disease was prevailing, he made no objection to receiving 
 them on board. Arrangements were accordingly made for embarking. 
 The sick were to be first sent on board and accommodated before the 
 ship should be crowded with the well. By a mistake of the agent a 
 scow was sent to the island this evening to take us on board. In this 
 scow our baggage was first stowed, and the sick placed upon it. In 
 a few minutes the whole was flooded away, owing to the leaky condition 
 of the scow. Our sick and baggage were hastily transferred to boats 
 alongside, and thus sent to the steamer. It was this accident that 
 caused the damage to the instruments that were afterwards con- 
 demned by a board of survey. 
 
 It happened afterwards that it was not intended we should be em- 
 barked that evening, and the consequence of the blunder was a remon- 
 strance on the part of the other passengers against our sick being per- 
 
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EABLY ISTHMIAN TRANSIT 407 
 
 mitted to remain on board. After a great deal of negotiation it was finally 
 agreed that a few of the worst cases might be left in hospital at Taboga, 
 under the special charge of the agent of the company, he guaranteeing 
 that every comfort and suitable medical attendance should be provided 
 for them, and they forwarded as soon as possible. I considered it of 
 the greatest importance that we should leave that climate, as our well 
 men were daily sickening with the fever. Accordingly four men were 
 selected to be left, by the ship's surgeon, which satisfied the passengers, 
 and on the 8th of August we embarked the remainder and put to sea. 
 
 We arrived at Benicia on the 26th of August, having lost but one 
 man on the voyage. He died of the secondary fever of cholera. Upon 
 my arrival at Benicia I found a large sick report from among the men 
 shipped on the Golden Gate. They were ill of diarrhoea, dysentery, and 
 typhoid fever. The men were destitute of clothing, and were in tents, 
 exposed to intense heat by day and to very cold nights. By the advice 
 of Assistant Surgeon Griffin they were ordered from the tents into some 
 new cavalry stables just finished, and with marked good effect. The 
 character of the fever was decidedly typhoid, and the dysenteries 
 generally assumed the same type. 
 
 With regard to the treatment of the cholera as it prevailed among us, 
 I have only to say that all the usual means were tried, and with the 
 usual want of success. The first cases were nearly all fatal. I think the 
 free exhibition of brandy with capsicum and chloride sodium was 
 about as successful as anything. We found the acetas plumbi, in 
 doses of five to ten grains, a valuable means of restraining the diar- 
 rhcsa. I feel sure many cases were relieved by it that would have term- 
 inated in mafignant cholera without speedy reUef. Mustard and 
 bottles of hot water with frictions of the surface externally, camphor, 
 calomel, and quinine internally, were freely used. But, as I have al- 
 ready remarked, and as usually happens in severe epidemics, the chances 
 are that the cases first attacked will die and that the ratio of the 
 mortality will diminish with the duration of the epidemic. In this epi- 
 demic we lost about eighty men. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obd't serv't, 
 
 Chas. S. Twpleb, 
 Bbigadiek-General Lawson, Surgeon, U. S. Army. 
 
 Surgeon-General, Washington, D. C. 
 
 Another account by an English traveller, Charles T. Bid- 
 well, of a crossing a year later, is also interesting: 
 
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408 PANAMA 
 
 "That the traveller may form some idea of the previous 
 difficulties of the transit across the Isthmus, I may give my 
 own experience of it, no later back than the year 1853. 
 I extract this from my journal, written at that time, and I 
 wrote then, as I do now, without exaggeration. The travel- 
 ler who finds himself comfortably carried across the Isthmus 
 in a comparatively cool railway carriage, will hardly be able 
 to form an idea of the fatigue, annoyance, and expense of 
 crossing in 'old times'; and, as I have said, the account of 
 my experiences is no exaggerated account of what had to 
 be undergone by passengers even ten or twelve years ago. 
 Yet even then thousands of men, aye, and delicate women 
 and young children, were exposed to the dangers of the 
 Isthmus transit. 
 
 "We anchored in Navy or Limon Bay, at Colon, alias 
 Aspinwall, and at all events the Atlantic port of the Isthmus 
 of Panamd., and our port of disembarkation. After a very 
 early and hurried breakfast we left the good ship, which had 
 brought us thus far safely, for the miserable town now rising 
 out of a swamp, and struggling for a new name; a place, 
 however, of growing importance, in consequence of the rapidly 
 increasing traffic across the Isthmus of Panamd. It is, and 
 is to be, the Atlantic terminus of the railway now being 
 constructed, and at present it supports three or four so-called 
 hotels, while buildings as ostentatious as painted wood and 
 large sign-boards can make them, are fast appearing in what 
 a few months ago was an almost uninhabitable swampy 
 island. 
 
 "We found here, too, a British vice-counsel, who had 
 removed from the old port of Chagres, and who had his 
 office on the top of one of the several 'medical stores,' 
 which the unhealthy chmate and bad liquors of the 'drink- 
 ing saloons' doubtless lucratively supported. Here, too, 
 we began to learn the value of a dollar, and the free Jamaica 
 
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EABLY ISTHMIAN TEANSIT 409 
 
 negroes' estimate of service equivalent to that coin; indeed 
 everything, as may be supposed, is enormously dear, and a 
 great many shillings have to be expended before one gets 
 one's luggage removed from the landing to the railway car, 
 a distance of a few yards. . . . 
 
 , "We had the privilege to leave this unattractive spot by 
 a train at nine a.m., and after frequent stopping to take in 
 supplies of wood, that being the fuel consumed, we arrived 
 at Barbacoas at about noon. . . . 
 
 "The distance from Colon to Barbacoas is 23J/^ miles, 
 and the railway fare is eight dollars (£1. 12s.), with an extra 
 charge for luggage. 
 
 "At Barbacoas we made up a party of fourteen, including 
 some ladies, and hired a canoe to convey us to Gorgona, on 
 the Chagres River, and our next stage; for this we paid four 
 dollars (16s.) each person, and after an attempt at refresh- 
 ments, which cost another dollar, and paying 'just one 
 more dollar ' to have our luggage put into the boat (although 
 we had previously paid to have it brought from the train to 
 the water's edge), we started on our trip. We were poled 
 along the river by five native boatmen, whose dress was of 
 that hght description which approaches to 'airy nothing.' 
 The men, however, worked well, refreshing themselves now 
 and then by floundering into the bright stream, returning 
 to their work without the preliminary of towels. We were 
 fortunate in having for our journey a lovely day, and a good- 
 sized, tolerably comfortable boat, which was nicely shaded 
 from the sim by awnings and curtains; so the afternoon was 
 spent pleasantly enough; now in concocting and drinking 
 refreshing beverages, imder the direction of an Italian lady, 
 a great hand at that art; now in trying our pistols at the 
 wild turkey and water-fowl that presented itself. The 
 Chagres River, as far as we traversed it, was interesting and 
 pretty. The stream was brisk and clear, and was shaded 
 
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410 PANAMA 
 
 nearly the whole way by the luxuriant trees and pretty 
 orchids of the tropics, and we happily escaped with only 
 one or two smart showers during the trip. 
 
 "We arrived at Gorgona, a small native village, about 
 thirty-five miles from the Atlantic, between five and six in 
 the evening, and as it was then too late to go on to Cruces 
 by boat, we were compelled to make up our minds, and, as 
 it turned out, our beds too, to spend the night at Gorgona. 
 Here four or five wooden houses, bearing large sign-boards, 
 offering hospitality and accommodation to travellers, strug- 
 gled for our patronage, but, as we afterwards found, this 
 accommodation extended little beyond the outside declara- 
 tion; indeed, a more dirty, disagreeable, uncomfortable 
 place to pass a night in would with difficulty be found in 
 the highway of modern travel. 
 
 "We selected, 'faute de mieux,' the Union Hotel, and 
 after paying more dollars to have our luggage conveyed from 
 the boat thither, we sat down with ravenous appetites to 
 doubtful eggs, the hardest of hard Yankee ham, rice, and 
 preserved cranberries; and from all such fare may I be pre- 
 served in future! Hunger, however, knows no laws. We 
 had not made a regular or an eatable meal since our last 
 dinner on board the West India steamer, so this fare, bad as 
 it was, was acceptable. The place contained a few stores 
 and more drinking 'saloons,' which were principally kept by 
 the 'enterprising Yankee.' The Gorgona road to Panamd 
 was just then open, it being passable only in the dry season, 
 and it was estimated that two thousand persons had passed 
 through this place during the last week on their way to or 
 from California. I noticed here one sign-board, the posi- 
 tion of which struck me as peculiarly d propos to the true 
 state of things; it was that of the 'Traveller's Home,' and 
 either by accident or design, the board was hanging upside 
 down! After our meal, we took a stroll over the village to 
 
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EABLT ISTHMIAN TBANSIT 411 
 
 arrange the preliminaries for our departure in the morning, 
 and one of my companions, an officer in the navy, who was 
 proceeding to the Pacific to join his ship, found that a new 
 trunk which he had brought from England was too large to 
 be conveyed by mule to Panamd.. It had cost him £5 in 
 London, and seven dollars (£1. 8s.) to get it thus far on the 
 road; but there was no help for it, he had to sell it here for 
 four dollars (16s.), and pay a dollar more for a packing-needle 
 to sew his traps up in blankets, which blankets cost some 
 dollars more. 
 
 "We decided to take the Gorgona road, and arranged to 
 have saddle mules ready early in the morning, to convey 
 us to Panamd for 20 dollars (£4) each, and to pay IGJ^ cents, 
 or 9d. a pound additional, for the conveyance of our luggage. 
 Having settled these important details, paid down the cash, 
 and given up our luggage, except that which could be strung 
 to our saddles, we went to inspect a 'free ball,' which had 
 been got up with all available splendour in celebration of 
 some feast, and here we had a rare opportunity of seeing 
 assembled many shades of colour in the human face divine; 
 a gorgeous display of native jewellery, and not the most 
 happy mixture of bright colours in the toilettes of those 
 who claimed to be the 'fair sex.' Dancing, however, and 
 drinking, too, seemed to be kept up with no lack of spirit 
 and energy, to the inharmonious combination of a fiddle 
 and a drum; and those of the assembly whose tastes led 
 them to quieter pursuits, had the opportunity of losing at 
 adjoining gambling-tables the dollars they had so easily and 
 quickly extracted from the travellers who had had occasion 
 to avail themselves of their services. These tables, too, were 
 kept by the 'enterprising Yankee.' Having seen all this, 
 and smoked out our cigars, we sought our beds, when we 
 found for each a shelf or 'bunk' in a room which our host 
 boasted had, at a push, contained twenty-five or thirty per- 
 
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412 PANAMA 
 
 sons. We luckily were fewer, and the fatigue of our journey 
 sent 'soft slumbers' to aid us to forget our present cares and 
 wants, and prepare us for the morrow. 
 
 "On awaking at daylight, I found a basin and a pail of 
 water set out in the open air on an old piano-forte, which 
 some rash traveller had probably been tempted to bring 
 thus far on the road, and, as its interior would not con- 
 veniently sew up in blankets, like the contents of my friend 
 R. N.'s trunk, it had become so far reduced in circumstances 
 as to serve as our wash-hand stand. I at once proceeded to 
 make a most refreshing open-air toilette, and after a break- 
 fast of the same nature as our supper, we mounted our mules 
 for our onward journey. 
 
 "It was a strange scene, that starting from Gorgona, and 
 reminded me of the famous start of good John Gilpin. But 
 there was no fear of our steeds bolting with us. They had 
 only arrived from Panamd the night before, and any animal 
 less stupid than a mule would have flatly refused the journey 
 now. For us, 'necessitas non habet legem.' And all honour 
 must be given to the Isthmus mules, notwithstanding their 
 stupidity, for the good service these hard-working, sure- 
 footed animals did, in days gone by, and did then, imder bad 
 food and worse treatment. 
 
 "Our party was now broken up, and with only six oi my 
 old companions, a small despatch-case, a bag, and a soda- 
 water bottle of brandy tied to the saddle, I bade farewell to 
 the shades of Gorgona, at seven a.m. The brandy was the 
 last of the good things of the ship, and the only provision 
 which I was induced to take, although in those days the 
 West India steamers provided pic-nic packages for the 
 Isthmus travellers. 
 
 "We had not proceeded more than a mile on our road 
 before we overtook an Italian of our yesterday's party, with 
 his wife and daughter, all walking; the two latter being 
 
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EARLY ISTSMIAN TEANSIT 413 
 
 afraid to ride the mules they had hired, and which followed 
 them, led by the guides. 
 
 "The road, a narrow bridle-path through the forest, was 
 bad beyond description; in many places the mud was so 
 deep that it covered the legs of both mule and rider, while 
 those who were not thrown off into it, were frequently 
 obliged to unseat themselves to allow the animal to get out 
 of it. The weather was excessively hot, although we had 
 several heavy showers of rain during the day, and we could 
 seldom get our mules out of a slow walk; for even those who 
 were most successful were obliged to stop for some of the 
 party lagging behind, hence the ride was toilsome and tire- 
 some in the extreme. 
 
 "One old Englishman of our party who was very stout, 
 and, consequently, very heavy, was continually either 
 throwing his unfortxmate animal down or falling off himself, 
 so that it was utterly impossible to get on with anything 
 like speed; and not to mend matters, towards the afternoon 
 an irascible gentleman lost a bag from his saddle, containing, 
 among other valuables, his letters of credit; and when, after 
 a long search, the bag was found by a native (who was 
 rewarded by a couple of dollars), the important papers were 
 missing. This very nearly led to a 'row,' for pistols and 
 bowie-knives were produced; but as the missing papers 
 actually turned up afterwards, it was only another cause of 
 delay. But after more or less interruption, we at last 
 arrived at a hut called the 'True-half- way-house,' and it 
 being then six o'clock, we were obhged to halt for the night, 
 giving our mules in charge of two guides who had accom- 
 panied us. 
 
 Again we sat down to supper, tired, hungry and dirty; 
 and again hard ham, bad eggs, and cranberries. The 
 'house,' as it was called, had been newly built, having for 
 walls nothing but fir poles about three inches apart, and for 
 
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414 PANAMA 
 
 & roof out-stretched canvas. The estabUshment comprised 
 an Irishman, a Frenchman, and two Americans. There 
 were several pigs, too, running about, and one fine turkey, 
 but no other hut or habitation near. One of my compan- 
 ions, a German, caused much amusement by asking for a 
 boot-jack, and aspiring to have his muddy boots cleaned. 
 Being tired and stiff from sitting all day in the saddle, I 
 smoked my dear Havana and turned again into a bunk, 
 where I soon fell asleep and became food for mosquitoes. 
 I awoke at day-break, and arousing our landlord, who slept 
 above me, and my German friend, who, after having bathed 
 his body in a pie-dish of brandy, had reposed below me, we 
 soon got ready for breakfast, and got breakfast ready for 
 us. Oh! for the Gorgona pail of water and pianoforte! 
 Alas, I was only allowed to dash a teacupful of water in my 
 poor mosquito-bitten face, for water here was a luxury. As 
 the coffee and tea were kept in saucepans on the fire during 
 the night, we had not long to wait for our meal; again hard 
 ham, hard biscuit, and by way of change, onions and 
 treacle! Having paid for this 'accommodation' two and a 
 half dollars (10s.), we started in search of our mules, which 
 we had been compelled to pay for before hand, and found to 
 our dismay that the guides had made off with them during 
 the night. Nothing then remained for it but to walk the 
 rest of the distance to Panamd in about twelve miles of mud, 
 and what was even less agreeable, carry those of our traps 
 which we had brought with us. 
 
 "It was about half -past six o'clock when we left the 
 'True-half -way-house,' which we afterwards learned was 
 one mile nearer to Panamd than half-way from Gorgona. 
 The road, although very rough and bad, was a vast im- 
 provement upon that we had traversed on the previous day; 
 but the morning sun was extremely hot, and the heat of the 
 whole day excessive. We took off our coats, rolled them 
 
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EABLY ISTHMIAN TRANSIT 415 
 
 into bundles, and strung them with our traps across our 
 shoulders, and so marched on to Panamd, arriving there 
 about one in the afternoon. 
 
 "Never in my life had I been in such a mess! After a 
 glorious wash I at once went to bed, sending the servant to 
 purchase for me a clean ready-made suit from head to foot, 
 for our luggage had not yet arrived. Nor did it arrive 
 until two days after us. This delay in the arrival of one's 
 luggage was, I learned, of frequent occurrence; and the 
 people at the hotel told me, quite a matter of course, that I 
 had better buy what I required for the present. It was 
 more by good luck than anything else that I was enabled to 
 do so, for I had spent in crossing all the loose cash I had set 
 apart for the Isthmus transit, and my letters of credit were 
 on Lima. Those who like myself were out of cash, and not 
 so fortunate as to find friends at Panamd, remained in bed 
 until their clothes were dry. 
 
 "In those days the gold fever had reached even Panam^. 
 Everybody tried to make money, and many indeed made 
 fortimes. I remember finding at the hotel several Ameri- 
 can ladies, who occupied the time they were detained for 
 their ship by making dresses for women and children com- 
 ing from Colon, who were sure to arrive without their lug- 
 gage. These dresses were easily sold for large sums. . . . 
 
 "From the foregoing it will be seen that the distance to 
 be traversed, whether from Chagres to Panamd, or from 
 Colon to Panamd, was, after all, trifling; but there appears 
 to have been an utter want of provision for the requirements 
 of the travellers, who, as I have said before, arrived by hun- 
 dreds. The old road of the time of the Spaniards seems to 
 have been allowed to fall into the most complete disorder, 
 and to render difficulties more difficult. The mules were 
 often insufficient in number to meet the demands of the 
 passengers and their luggage, and when to be obtained they 
 
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416 PANAMA 
 
 had frequently been overworked, and were unfit to make the 
 trip. Provisions, as shown, were difficult to procure, and, 
 when procured, very bad in quality, while the other abso- 
 lute necessities, such as change of clothing and proper 
 sleeping-places, after a day's exposure to a broiling sun and 
 heavy rain, it was impossible to procure at any price. Was 
 it any wonder, then, that people unaccustomed to such hard- 
 ships fell victims to them, and that Panamd became best 
 known in those days as the seat of a malignant fever, often 
 fatal to the European? . . . 
 
 "In these earlier days of Isthmus travel, the now almost 
 abandoned hotels of Panamd, were quite insufficient to 
 accommodate the hordes from the United States, who were 
 attracted to California by the gold discoveries, although 
 four or five beds were placed in each room, and often two 
 persons in each bed. Lodgings were gladly taken in even the 
 most miserable rooms, and with the most wretched accommo- 
 dation, while passengers often encamped in the open streets 
 and squares of the city. The old city was literally astoimded 
 by the influx of noisy Yankees who paraded the town, armed 
 with bowie-knives and revolvers, which were from time to 
 time made use of in the excitement caused by gambling and 
 the liquor of the impromptu drinking-saloons. From these 
 earlier emigrants, and from such men as accompanied Walker 
 in Nicaragua, the South Americans derived their first knowl- 
 edge of the American of the northern States. The impres- 
 sion created was far from favorable. Emigrants who had no 
 thought about the Isthmus but an impatient desire to get 
 away from it appeared to the Panamenos like invaders, who 
 were only waiting for an opportunity to seize the town, or 
 who had already taken possession of it. . . . 
 
 "In April, 1856, a fracas occurred between the natives 
 and passengers, arising out of a dispute about some fruit, 
 which has since been known as the 'PanamA Massacre.' 
 
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EABLY ISTBMIAN TSANSIT 417 
 
 The knives of the natives and the revolvers of the Yankees 
 were alike called into play. The contempt of the Americans 
 for the blacks of Panamd, and the dislike and fear of the 
 natives of the Americans, but too readily kindled the spark 
 into a flame. The bewildered governor ordered his ragged 
 soldiers to fire upon the passengers, and several innocent 
 lives were sacrificed and much property destroyed before 
 this lamentable affair ended. This was but the explosion of 
 antipathies and jealousies long pent up. . . . 
 
 "Among the temporary settlers on the Isthmus, who were 
 attracted by the hope of making a rapid fortune out of the 
 by-passers, were many Americans, who had earned titles 
 in the war in Texas; almost every American was a colonel 
 or captain. Funny stories are told of two brothers who set 
 up an hotel in Panamd,; one was a major, and the other a 
 colonel. A companion of miae went to the hotel upon one 
 
 occasion to engage beds, and asked to see Mr. , the 
 
 proprietor: 'Which one do you want, sar?' inquired the 
 negro servant. 'Well, I don't know,' my companion replied; 
 'I merely meant to engage beds for some passengers who are 
 expected to-morrow.' 'Oh, then it's the major you want,' 
 replied the servant; 'the colonel attends to the bar — the 
 major to the bedrooms.'" 
 
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CHAPTER XXV 
 
 THE PANAMA RAILROAD 
 
 The gold rush of '49 re-established the Isthmus as a place 
 of world-interest. It was no longer the forgotten province 
 of a mis-governed federation. The days had passed when 
 the inhabitants could cut each other's throats without 
 attracting attention. The world had need of Panama, once 
 more, as a traffic route. 
 
 The building of the Panama railroad was a token of the 
 new times. It was one of the most creditable operations 
 which we of the North have xmdertaken in the South. It 
 was a new kind of bravery which these Gringos brought to 
 Latin America when, in the year 1850, they waded into the 
 jungle-swamp with their transits and axes. It was five years 
 later, July 27th, 1855, when the first locomotive crossed from 
 ocean to ocean. About eight miles of track a year. Five 
 years of as bitter hardship as that of any Polar expedition. 
 
 The history of the Panama railroad really begins before 
 the discovery of gold in California. As early as 1848, W. H. 
 Aspinwall, Henry Chauncey and John L. Stevens had peti- 
 tioned the govenmient of New Granada for a concession 
 under which they and their associates might construct a 
 railroad across the Isthmus, from some point on the Carib- 
 bean to the ancient city of Panama on the Pacific. 
 
 But it is extremely doubtful whether they could have 
 raised the necessary capital if the gold rush had not focused 
 public attention on the little strip of land between the 
 oceans, 
 
 418 
 
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TEE PANAMA SAILBOAD 419 
 
 Early in 1850, J. L. Stevens went to Bogota, and in 
 April of that year the concession for the Panama railroad 
 was signed. 
 
 There was some discussion about where to locate the 
 Atlantic terminus. The first intention seems to have been 
 to start from the commodious harbor which Columbus, when 
 he had visited the coast three hundred Mid fifty years before, 
 had named Puerto Bello. Mr. Tracy Robinson, in his 
 memoirs of Isthmian life, says that "if tradition may be 
 trusted," this plan was abandoned because a New York 
 speculator had bought up all the land about the harbor and 
 held it at an exorbitant figure. Whatever the reason for 
 the change, it was decidedly to the advantage of the canal 
 bmlders, who came later, that Navy Bay was chosen instead. 
 
 Work began in May, 1850. "The Illustrated History of 
 the Panama Railroad," by Fessenden Nott Otis, describes 
 the start in rather flowery periods: 
 
 "Messrs. Troutwine and Baldwin struck the first blow 
 upon this great work. No imposing ceremonies inaugu- 
 rated the 'breaking groimd.' Two American citizens, leap- 
 ing, axe in hand, from a native canoe upon a wild and deso- 
 late island, their retinue consisting of half a dozen Indians, 
 who clear the path with rude knives, strike their glittering 
 axes into the nearest tree; the rapid blows reverberate from 
 shore to shore, and the stately cocoa crashes upon the beach. 
 Thus unostentatiously was aimoimced the commencement of 
 a railway, which, from the interests and difficulties involved, 
 might well be looked upon as one of the grandest and boldest 
 enterprises ever attempted." 
 
 A few pages further on, Mr. Otis's style becomes a bit 
 less ornate: 
 
 "The island was still uninhabitable (their base of action 
 was Manzanillo island, the site of the present city of Colon, 
 A.E.), and the whole party were forced to live on board the 
 
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420 PANAMA 
 
 brig, which was crowded to its utmost capacity. Here they 
 were by no means exempt from the causes which deterred 
 them from Uving on shore, for below decks the vessel was 
 alive with mosquitoes and sand flies, which were a source of 
 such annoyance and suffering that almost all preferred to 
 sleep upon the deck, exposed to drenching rains, rather than 
 endure their attacks. In addition to this, most of their 
 number were kept nauseated by the ceaseless motion of the 
 vessel. Labor and malarious influences during the day, 
 exposure and imrest at night, soon told upon their health, 
 and in a short time more than half were attacked with 
 malarious fever. Having neither a physician nor any com- 
 fortable place of rest, their sufferings were severe." 
 
 On the preliminary survey, it was sometimes necessary for 
 the men to carry their lunches tied to their head and to eat 
 them, standing waist-deep in the water of the swamp. 
 
 Mr. Otis's "Illustrated History" was published on behalf 
 of the company and, being in the nature of a prospectus, 
 dismisses the "diseases" these pioneers had to face, as lightly 
 as possible. But there are many contemporaneous records, 
 however, which give more vivid pictures of the Black Death 
 which struck down the men of the railroad. I have chosen 
 the following passages from Tomes' "Panama in 1855," be- 
 cause, as he was a guest of the railroad at the time of the 
 formal opening, he is little likely to have maliciously exag- 
 gerated the dangers of the Isthmus. 
 
 "The unhealthiness of the climate has been one of the 
 most serious obstacles against which the enterprise has 
 struggled. I need not dwell upon the causes which produce 
 those diseases. The alternation of the wet and dry season, 
 a perpetual summer-heat, and • the decomposition of the 
 . profuse tropical vegetation, must of course generate an in- 
 tense miasmatic poison, and I was not surprised when the 
 oldest and most experienced of the physicians employed on 
 
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TME PANAMA BAILBOAD 421 
 
 the railroad, 'declared to me that no one, of whatever race 
 or country, who becomes a resident of the Isthmus, escapes 
 disease. 
 
 " I am indebted to the same gentleman just mentioned for 
 some interesting facts. From him I learned that those who 
 were exposed to the miasmatic poison of the country were 
 generally taken ill in four or five weeks, although sometimes, 
 but rarely, not for four or five months after exposure. That 
 the first attack was generally severe; and took the form of 
 yellow or bilious remittent, or malignant intermittent fever. 
 That although none were exempt, the miasmatic poison 
 affected the various races with different degrees of rapidity. 
 That the African resisted the longest, next the cooly, 
 then the European, and last in order the Chinese, who gave 
 in at once. The rate of mortality, I was informed, was, for 
 the natives of all races, one in fifty; the coolies, one in 
 forty; the negroes (foreign), one in forty; the Europeans, one 
 in thirty; and the Chinese, one in ten. ... I never 
 met with a wholesome looking person among all those 
 engaged upon the railroad. There was not one whose 
 constitution had not been sapped by disease, and all, with- 
 out exception, are in the almost daily habit of taking 
 medicine to drive away the ever-recurring fever and 
 ague. 
 
 " The railroad company are so far conscious of the debil- 
 ity engendered by a residence on the Isthmus, that they 
 refuse to employ those laborers who, having gone to a 
 healthier climate to recruit, return to seek employment. 
 It is found that such are unprofitable servants, and yield 
 at once to the enervating and sickening climate. The en- 
 terprise requires all the vigor of unweakened sinews,^and 
 of pure, wholesome blood. 
 
 "A terrible fatality attended the efforts of the Railroad 
 Company to avail themselves of the assistance of Chinese 
 
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422 PANAMA 
 
 laborers. A ship arrived, and landed on the Isthmus some 
 eight hundred, after a fair voyage from Hong Kong, where 
 these poor devils of the flowery kingdom had unwittingly 
 sold themselves to the service of the railroad, perfectly 
 ignorant of the country whither they were going, and of 
 the trials which awaited them. The voyage was tolerably 
 prosperous, and the Chinese bore its fatigues and suffering 
 with great patience, cheered by the prospects of reaching 
 the foreign land, whither they had been tempted by the 
 glowing descriptions of those traflBckers in human life, who 
 had so liberally promised them wealth and happiness. Six- 
 teen died on the passage, and were thrown into the sea. 
 No sooner had the eight hundred survivors landed, than 
 thirty-two of the number were struck down prostrate by 
 sickness; and in less than a week afterward, eighty more 
 laid by their side. The interpreters who accompanied them 
 attributed this rapid prostration to the want of their habitual 
 opium. The drug was then distributed among them, and with 
 the good effect of so far stimulating their energies that two- 
 thirds of the sick arose again from their beds, and began to 
 labor. A Maine opium law, however, was soon promulgated 
 on the score of the immorality of administering to so perni- 
 cious a habit, and without regard, it is hoped, to the ex- 
 pense; which, however, was no inconsiderable item, since 
 the daily quota of each Chinese amoimted to fifteen grains, 
 at the cost of at least fifteen cents. Whether it was owing to 
 the deprivation of their habitual stimulus, or to the malig- 
 nant effects of the climate, or home-sickness, or disappoint- 
 ment, in a few weeks there was hardly one out of the eight 
 himdred Chinese who was not prostrate and unfit to labor. 
 The poor sufferers let the pick and shovel fall from their 
 hands, and yielded themselves up to the agony of despair. 
 They now gladly welcomed death, and impatiently awaited 
 their turn in the ranks which were falling before the pesti- 
 
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THE PANAMA BAILBOAD 423 
 
 lence. The havoc of disease went on, and would have done 
 its work in time, but as it was sometimes merciful, and spared 
 a life, and was deliberate though deadly, the despairing 
 Chinese could wait no longer; he hastily seized the hand of 
 death, and voluntarily sought destruction in its grasp. 
 Hundreds destroyed themselves, and showed, in their vari- 
 ous methods of suicide, the characteristic Chinese ingenuity. 
 Some deliberately lighted their pipes, and sat themselves 
 down upon the shore of the sea, and awaited the rising of 
 the tide, grimly resolved to die, and sat and sat, silent and 
 unmoved as a storm-beaten rock, as wave arose above wave, 
 until they sank into the depths of eternity. Some bargained 
 with their companions for death, giving their all to the 
 friendly hand, which, with a kindly touch of the trigger, 
 would scatter their brains and hasten their death. Some 
 hung themselves to the tall trees by their hair, and some 
 twisted their queues about their necks, with a deliberate 
 coil after coil, until their faces blackened, their eye-balls 
 started out, their tongues protruded, and death relieved 
 their agony. Some cut ugly, crutch-shaped sticks, shar- 
 pened the ends to a point, and thrust their necks upon 
 them until they were pierced through and through, and 
 thus mangled, yielded up life in a torrent of blood. Some 
 took great stones in their hands, and leaped into the depths 
 of the nearest river, and climg, with resolute hold, to the 
 weight which sunk them, gurgling in the agonies of drown- 
 ing, to the bottom, imtil death loosened their grasp, and 
 floated them to the surface, lifeless bodies. Some starved 
 themselves to death — ^refusing either to eat or drink. Some 
 impaled themselves upon their instruments of labor — and 
 thus, in a few weeks after their arrival, there were but scarce 
 two hundred Chinese left of the whole number. This miser- 
 able remnant of poor, heart-sick exiles, prostrate from the 
 effects of the climate, and bent on death, being useless for 
 
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424 PANAMA 
 
 labor, were sent to Jamaica, where they have, ever since, 
 lingered out a miserable beggar's life. 
 
 "The Railroad Company was hardly more fortmiate with 
 another importation of live freight. A cargo of Irish 
 laborers from Cork reached Aspinwall, and so rapidly did 
 they yield to the malignant effects of the climate, that not a 
 good day's labor was obtained from a single one; and so 
 great was the mortality, that it was found necessary to ship 
 the survivors to New York, where most died from the fever 
 of the Isthmus which was fermenting in their blood." 
 
 In another passage. Tomes gives an admirable summary of 
 the material difficulties of the work: 
 
 "The Isthmus did not supply a single resource necessary 
 for the undertaking. Not only the capital, skill and enter- 
 prise, but the labor, the wood and iron, the daily food, the 
 clothing, the roof to cover and the instruments to work with, 
 came from abroad. The United States supplied the enter- 
 prising capitalists, the men of science, the engineers, the 
 practical business managers, the superior workmen, the 
 masons, carpenters and forgers of iron. Distant parts of the 
 world supplied the laborers. From Ireland came crowds of 
 her laborious peasantry. The negroes, stimulated to un- 
 usual energy by the prospect of reward, thronged in from 
 Jamaica. The surplus populations of India and China con- 
 tributed their share. The mixed races of the province of 
 Cartagena, the Indian, Spaniard and African, completed 
 this representation of all nations, in which the Caucasian, 
 Mongolian and African, the Anglo-American, European, 
 Negro, American, Indian and Asiatic, with all their diverse 
 temperaments, habits and religious faiths, mingled together 
 appropriately to join in a work by which the ends of the 
 earth were to be brought together for the common interests 
 of the whole world. 
 
 "Most of the material used for the construction of the 
 
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TEE PANAMA BAILBOAD 425 
 
 road was brought from vast distances. Although the coun- 
 try abounded in forests, it was foimd necessary, from the 
 expense of labor and the want of routes of communication, 
 to send the timber, for the most part, from the United States, 
 and not only were the rails, to a considerable extent, laid 
 on American pine, but the bridges, and the houses and work- 
 shops of the various settlements, were of the same wood, all 
 fashioned in Maine and Georgia. The metal-work, the rails, 
 the locomotives, and the tools, were brought either from 
 England or the United States. The daily food of the 
 laborers, even, came from a New York market." 
 
 But by October, 1851, they had laid the track as far as 
 Gatun — ^eight miles from the Atlantic terminus. This was 
 the worst of the construction work, for at Gatun they 
 struck solid ground. The first section had been through a 
 mangrove swamp, in which they had been unable to find a 
 bottom. The tracks were practically floated on an immense 
 pontoon. It was not until many years later that the com- 
 pany was able to get in a fairly solid road-bed. 
 
 Although they had now reached solid ground, and the 
 most diflacult problem of construction had been solved, the 
 work came to a standstill for lack of funds. The cost of 
 labor was almost prohibitive. The various fevers of the 
 Isthmus kept half their men on the sick list. The gold 
 rush was still on, and the fortune-himters were willing to 
 pay anything to laborers who would help transport their 
 luggage across the divide. Wages had gone up, in conse- 
 quence. And the investors in the States had become dis- 
 couraged — it had taken twenty months to build eight miles. 
 Just when things were looking blackest, a lucky hurricane 
 turned the tide in favor of the railroad. 
 
 Two steamships, the Georgia and the Philadelphia, arrived 
 off the mouth of the Chagres, filled with passengers en route 
 for California. In the days before the railroad, travellers 
 
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426 PANAMA 
 
 went up the river in native canoes to Cruces, and from there 
 to Panama, by mule back. The storm forced the two ships 
 to seek shelter in Navy Bay. They dropped anchor close 
 to the railroad company's pier on Manzanillo Island. The 
 passengers were rabid with the gold hunger. The company 
 had no passenger coaches, but the eager prospectors were 
 only too anxious to pile onto work cars and be carried to 
 Gatun, where they could get the native boats up-stream 
 without waiting for the hurricane to blow itself out. The 
 news that the railroad had carried over one thousand pas- 
 sengers restored confidence on Wall Street, credit was re- 
 established, and the work continued. 
 
 By January, 1854, the summit ridge had been reached — 
 over thirty miles of track in operation. Work had been 
 begun at the Panama end, and when the Atlantic division 
 reached the summit, some track had already been laid in 
 the eleven miles of the Pacific division. But here again 
 the men encoimtered swamps, and work went slowly. It 
 was not until midnight of January 27, 1855, that the last 
 track was laid. The next day a train passed from sea to 
 sea. 
 
 The short hauls of passengers en route to Cahfomia, 
 which was begun when the Georgia and Philadelphia were 
 blown into Colon Harbor, were lengthened as the track 
 was laid. From the beginning until the opening of the road 
 in 1855, the company had taken in for the transportation of 
 people and freight, $2,125,232.31. 
 
 The road had cost in the neighborhood of seven millions 
 of dollars, almost one hundred and fifty thousand a mile. 
 But before its completion, it had paid nearly one-third of 
 its cost. 
 
 Although through trains were ruiming across the Isth- 
 mus, the road was not completed — ^much of the work 
 had been hiu:ried to meet the insistent demand. Al- 
 
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IKE PANAMA SAILBOAD 427 
 
 most a million more was spent in installing permanent 
 ways. 
 
 The entire length of the line was 47 miles, 3.02 feet. It 
 crossed one hundred and seventy waterways. Thirty-six 
 of these required bridges over ten feet in length. Barbacoas 
 bridge was a six-span affair, 625 feet in length. 
 
 The gross earnings of the road, up to December 31, 1858, 
 when the construction was practically completed, amounted 
 to $8,146,605. 
 
 "The running expenses, together with depreciation in 
 iron, buildings, etc., amounted to $2,174,876, leaving a 
 balance of $5,971,729 as the legitimate returns for the 
 money invested in the road in a period of seven years, dur- 
 ing the first of which but twelve miles were in operation; 
 the second, twenty-three; the third, thirty-one; only for 
 the last four years was the road in use throughout its entire 
 extent. 
 
 "Out of these receipts, the directors of the company, 
 having paid the regular interest on all mortgage and other 
 bonds, a ten per cent, dividend to the stockholders in 1852, 
 one of seven per cent, in each of the years 1853 and 1854, 
 and one of twelve per cent, every succeeding year, showed 
 a balance (December 31st, 1858) of $529,041, besides a 
 sinking fund of $153,395.83, and no floating debt." 
 
 Colonel Center, who was general manager when the road 
 was completed, was embarrassed by the fact that he was 
 under-equipped for the immense traffic he foresaw. 
 
 Mr. Tracy Robinson gives the original tariffs of the rail- 
 road as follows: 
 
 Fob Passengebs 
 
 First class $25.00 gold 
 
 Steerage 10.00 gold 
 
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428 PANAMA 
 
 Fob Freight 
 
 Personal baggage $ .05 per pound 
 
 Express 1.80 per cubic foot 
 
 Ordinary first class 50 per cubic foot 
 
 Second class 1.50 per 100 pounds 
 
 Mails 22 per poimd 
 
 Coal 5.00 per ton 
 
 And he tells the following amusing anecdote about them: 
 
 "These rates," said Colonel Center to me, long after- 
 wards, "were intended to be, to a certain extent, prohibi- 
 tory, until we could get things in shape. As soon as we 
 were on our feet and ready for business, we could, as I 
 wrote the president, gracefully reduce our charges to within 
 reasonable limits. For it is always pleasing to the public 
 to have prices come down, rather than rise." 
 
 However, they were not forced to cut these tariffs for more 
 than twenty years. They soon began to declare dividends 
 of 24% per annum, and the stock went up at one time to 
 350. 
 
 It is very doubtful if many of the men who rushed across 
 the Isthmus to the California gold fields did as well by them- 
 selves as if they had stayed at home and invested their 
 passage money in Panama railroad stock. 
 
 But the company after a time killed the goose which laid 
 the golden egg. In 1860, less than one-fifteenth of their 
 business was Califomian trade. A large commerce had 
 sprung up along the west coast of Central and South Amer- 
 ica. Most of this business was brought to Panama by the 
 Pacific Steam Navigation Company — an English corpora- 
 tion which had a practical monopoly of west coast transpor- 
 tation. The Panama railroad, instead of entering into a 
 percentage agreement with them which would have been 
 profitable to both, tried to absorb all the profit. They be- 
 
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TBE PANAMA EAILBOAB 429 
 
 came so extortionate in 1868 that the P. S. N. C. put on 
 some big boats for a Liverpool service, via Cape Horn. 
 The railroad lost most of its valuable business. 
 
 They also fell among thieves in Bogota; the governmental 
 clique refused to renew their franchise except on disastrous 
 conditions. To cap the climax, the directors received news 
 that the last rail had been laid in the Union Pacific rail- 
 road. The Panama railroad was no longer the only trans- 
 continental line. 
 
 The affairs of the company went from bad to worse. 
 The directorate fell into the hands of Russell Sage and a 
 band of speculators. There came a period of corrupt man- 
 agement. The rolling stock and equipment were allowed 
 to run down until there was little left of the road beyond 
 two streaks of rust. 
 
 In 1880 the owners of the railroad reaped their last har- 
 vest. By excessive freight-rates — practically blackmail — 
 they forced the French to buy them out. De Lesseps paid 
 $20,000,000 for this neglected road, which twenty-five years 
 before had cost barely eight. 
 
 When the United States bought out the French company 
 in 1904, we also acquired the road. And so the old Panama 
 railroad became our first government system. 
 
 To-day it is one of the best equipped and most efficient 
 railroads in the world. 
 
 The annual report of the railroad for the year ending 
 June 30th, 1910, shows gross earnings of $6,100,788.83. 
 The track was being relocated, and the operating expenses 
 amounted to $4,358,426.92, leaving considerably over one 
 million clear. The net earnings of the steamship line from 
 Colon to New York, which is operated by the railroad, was 
 over one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. 
 
 What the future of the road will be, after the opening of 
 the canal, is tmcertain. But those who are in charge of it 
 
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430 PANAMA 
 
 think that its business will be even larger. The terminal 
 facilities are being largely increased. The administration of 
 the railroad under national control has been so successful 
 that it is being more and more often cited as an argument 
 by those who advocate government ownership in the States. 
 
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CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 OUK PHEDECESSORS ON THE JOB 
 
 Balboa had no sooner seen the Pacific from the mountain 
 peak of Darien than he wanted to set sail on it. Within 
 three years he had performed the incredible feat of carrying 
 two ships — in pieces — across the Isthmus and launching 
 them. Washington Irving considers this one of the most 
 remarkable accomplishments of the Spaniards in the New 
 World. 
 
 The distance across the land is not great. It was probably 
 less than twenty miles from navigable water to navigable 
 water where Balboa crossed. The difficulty consisted in the 
 appalling density of the jungle. To-day the most frequented 
 passes — outside of our Canal Zone — ^present the worst trails 
 in the world. With Indian guides and horses it is hard to 
 make ten miles a day on some of the routes marked on the 
 Government maps camino real — ^main roads. To one who 
 has tried them Balboa's expedition is almost unbehev- 
 able. 
 
 Irving says: "The timber was felled on the Atlantic sea- 
 board; and was then, with the anchors and rigging, trans- 
 ported across the lofty ridge of mountains to the opposite 
 shores of the Isthmus. Several Spaniards, thirty negroes, 
 and a great number of Indians were employed for the pur- 
 pose. They had no other roads but Indian paths, straggling 
 through almost impervious forests, across torrents, and up 
 rugged defiles broken by rocks and precipices. In this way 
 they toiled like ants up the mountains, with their ponderous 
 
 431 
 
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432 PANAMA 
 
 burdens, under the scorching rays of a tropical sun. Many 
 of the poor Indians sank by the way and perished under this 
 stupendous task." 
 
 "We can readily imagine," Irving continues after several 
 pages more of description of appalling obstacles and dis- 
 couragements, "the exultation of this intrepid adventurer, 
 and how amply he was repaid for all his sufferings, when he 
 first spread a sail on that untraversed ocean, and felt that 
 the range of an imknown world was open to him." 
 
 Balboa's ships, once afloat, carried him to the Pearl 
 Islands, where he found rich treasure, and richer tales of 
 Peru, to the south. After this news reached Madrid, the 
 mountains and the jungles of the Isthmus proved an in- 
 effectual barrier indeed. Panama City grew to considerable 
 size as the outfitting post for the conquest of Peru, and, in 
 time, a paved road was constructed from sea to sea. Al- 
 most immediately the project of a canal began to be 
 discussed. 
 
 The first canal sm'vey was made by Pascual Andagoya 
 in 1534. He reported that the project was impractical. 
 Philip II, crowned in 1555, was more interested in the wealth 
 of the New World than in that of the Far East, and gave 
 no encouragement to the idea. During his reign the Inquisi- 
 tion is reported to have forbidden discussion of a canal, 
 holding that to put asunder two continents which God had 
 joined together would be impious. Paterson, the Presby- 
 terian, seems to have dreamed of joining the oceans, but his 
 enterprise succumbed to "fevers and fluxes." 
 
 For nearly two centuries the idea was dead. But in 1735 
 some French astronomers who had visited Central America 
 revived the subject. In 1780 the English made an attempt 
 to secure the Nicaragua coast, but, like the Scots Colonic, 
 they were defeated by disease. Lord Nelson — ^who was then 
 only plain Horatio — ^nearly died of the fever. In 1800 regu- 
 
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OUB PBEDECESSOBS ON TEE JOB 433 
 
 lar transit from sea to sea was maintained in only one place 
 — ^the Mexican Isthmus of Tehuantepec. 
 
 In the beginning of the nineteenth century new impetus 
 was given to the discussion by the great naturalist Alexander 
 von Humboldt. He wrote that a canal was practicable, 
 and its construction was "calculated to immortalize a gov- 
 ernment occupied with the true interests of humanity." 
 This account fired the imagination of Goethe. In his con- 
 versation with Eckermann and Soret of February 21, 1827, 
 is recorded this remarkable prophecy: "I therefore repeat 
 that it is absolutely indispensable for the United States 
 to effect a passage from the Mexican Gulf to the Pacific 
 Ocean; and I am certain that they will do it. ... I should 
 like to see another thing — a junction of the Danube and the 
 Rhine; but this undertaking is so gigantic that I have grave 
 doubts of its completion. . . . And, thirdly and lastly, I 
 should wish to see England in possession of a canal through 
 the Isthmus of Suez. Would I could live to see these three 
 great works! It would well be worth the trouble to last 
 some fifty years more for this very purpose!" 
 
 In 1814 the Spanish Government again took up the 
 project, but before anything could be accomplished the 
 series of revolutions had begun in South and Central America 
 which drove Spain from the mainland of this continent. 
 The first diplomatic envoy from the liberated Central 
 American states in 1825 took up the matter with Henry 
 Clay, who was then otu* Secretary of State. In the next 
 year " the Central American and United States Atlantic and 
 Pacific Canal Company " was organized, with DeWitt Clin- 
 ton — of Erie Canal fame — as one of its directors. Their 
 concession lapsed because of lack of funds. 
 
 One scheme followed another, our Government taking 
 Uttle interest in the matter beyond barking like a dog in the 
 manger about the Monroe Doctrine whenever any foreigners 
 
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434 PANAMA 
 
 started anything. However, in 1835 the Senate voted to 
 construct a canal by way of Nicaragua. The expedition sent 
 out as a result of this vote reported that the canal could be 
 opened for twenty-five million dollars! Louis Napoleon, be- 
 fore he became Emperor, was vastly interested in the sub- 
 ject, and wrote a flamboyant pamphlet about how it was the 
 destiny of France to perform this great service to the race. 
 
 With the middle of the last century the "scientific spirit, " 
 which was rejuvenating all himian thought, found its way 
 to the Isthmus. The fantastic stories that the Pacific Ocean 
 was twenty feet higher than the Atlantic, that the lowest 
 pass was 957 feet high (von Humboldt's estimate), that the 
 same pass was only 31 feet high (Moret's statement), and 
 so forth, began to give place to exact information. 
 
 The discovery of gold in California in '49 resulted in a 
 great addition to our knowledge of Isthmian routes. Not 
 since the early Spanish days had such a rush of humanity 
 crossed Panama. This sudden burst of traflSic was the 
 inspiration of the romantic band of American railway men 
 who built the Panama railroad. It was started in 1850 
 and completed in 1855. During the first four years of its 
 operation the railroad sold 121,820 tickets. 
 
 About the same time, Cornelius Vanderbilt organized 
 " The American Atlantic and Pacific Ship Canal Company," 
 and secured concessions for a transportation monopoly across 
 Nicaragua — sole rights for traffic by rail, water or turnpike. 
 They established a line of steamers up the San Juan River 
 and across Lake Nicaragua to Virgin Bay, and from there 
 a line of stage coaches to the Pacific. 
 
 Colonel O. W. Childs, of our army, made for the company 
 the first accurate Isthmian Survey. But before work could 
 be begun on the Canal, a revolution broke out. One of the 
 momentary presidents declared the concession forfeited for 
 " non-accomplishment." This company is still in existence. 
 
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OUS PREDECESSORS ON THE JOB 435 
 
 The advantages which would accrue from an Isthmian 
 Canal which had before appealed to the speculative imagina- 
 tions of such men as Goethe now — because of the grow- 
 ing importance of California — ^began to impress business 
 men and politicians. President Buchanan laid hold of the 
 idea, and in 1857 despatched two heutenants — Craven of 
 the navy and Michler of the army — to make surveys. A 
 dozen names could be cited of our military men who did 
 valiant service in tearing the facts out of the heart of the 
 jungle. Rear-Admiral Davis stands pre-eminent among 
 them. Immediately after the Civil War he began to urge 
 the construction of a canal by our Government. And from 
 then on the history of the Canal is a tangle of diplomatic 
 intrigue, Nicaragua and Colombia plasdng against each other 
 at Washington — ^the whole thing complicated by our en- 
 tanglement with England. As the balance of favor in 
 Washington seemed to be swinging towards the Nicaragua 
 route, the Bogota Government, in a pet, gave a concession 
 to a young French Ueutenant, Lucien Napoleon Bonaparte 
 Wyse. It is hard to determine whether he was a too opti- 
 mistic engineer or a more than usually successful swindler. 
 Many of his maps are now in existence. They are beauti- 
 fully drawn — and inaccurate. In his writings he vastly 
 underestimated the difficulties of the undertaking, and he 
 succeeded in organizing ia France a speculative company, 
 which shortly after sold out to the gang of financiers who 
 surrounded de Lesseps. 
 
 The extent of de Lesseps' responsibility in " The Panama 
 Crime " is uncertain. Possibly the utter condemnation which 
 followed his failure was as undeserved as the fulsome eulogies 
 which greeted his earlier achievement were unmerited. 
 
 Mr. Robinson's amiable estimate of his character — quoted 
 later — ^would be easier to accept, if it was not for the sorry 
 story of Suez. His success there had ruined his friend, the 
 
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436 PANAMA 
 
 Khedive, — drove him from his throne in bankruptcy. It 
 was stained by atrocious cruelty to the fellaheen, who did the 
 work. At Panama he pushed his luck a bit harder, took 
 greater liberties with the Penal Code — and did not get away 
 with it. 
 
 Expert opinion then favored the Nicaragua route — ^for the 
 small ships of those days it was preferable. But American 
 companies held claims there, so de Lesseps turned to Panama. 
 
 A " scientific " congress was called in Paris, May, 1879, to 
 lend authority to the speculators. Only 42 of its 135 mem- 
 bers were engineers. It had been " packed." The Panama 
 sea-level project was adopted. The only engineer who voted 
 for it had never been on the Isthmus. 
 
 " The Universal Interoceanic Canal Company " was at 
 once formed by buying the Wyse concession for $2,000,000. 
 It was worthless without the good will of the Panama Rail- 
 road, and it cost a fantastic price to get control of that 
 company. 
 
 The Company was launched with many banquets, florid 
 speeches by le grand Frangais, and champagne without end. 
 And all the while those who were on the inside were playing 
 the market from both ends, sending the stock tumbling 
 down the steps of the Bourse on a manufactured report that 
 the United States was again waving the Monroe Doctrine, 
 shooting them up again with a misquotation from the Presi- 
 dent's message to the effect that we were enthusiastic in 
 favor of the French enterprise. A sorrier exhibition of con- 
 scienceless finance has seldom been seen. 
 
 Meanwhile the Company was sending out men to the 
 Isthmus, preliminary work was discovering the shortcomings 
 of the Wyse surveys, and the engineers were beginning to 
 get acquainted with yellow fever. Information about all 
 this was skilfully handled by the directors, who denied it 
 in their organ "Le Bulletin," or gave it out in exagger- 
 
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OVS. PBEDECESSOBS ON TEE JOB 437 
 
 ated form to the press, as they desired the stock to rise 
 or fall. 
 
 Late in 1879 de Lesseps, accompanied by his wife and three 
 of his children, sailed from France. They reached Colon 
 on the 30th of December. De Lesseps's arrival is described 
 by Mr. Robinson in his book on Panama: 
 
 "As one of a committee of reception I went on board the 
 steamer to welcome the distinguished gentleman and his 
 associates, through whom the fortunes of the Isthmus were 
 to be established upon a basis of pure gold. ... He was 
 then over seventy years of age, but was still active and 
 vigorous; a small man, French in detail, with winning 
 manners, and what is called a magnetic presence. When he 
 spoke, the hearer would not fail to be convinced that what- 
 ever he said was true, or, at all events, that he believed it 
 to be true. Thus, during the reception and the conversa- 
 tions which followed he would answer every inquiry in regard 
 to the Canal in the readiest and most amiable manner, and 
 would invariably conclude with the assertion 'The canal 
 will be made!' " 
 
 There were receptions and speeches in Colon, and the next 
 day the party crossed the Isthmus to Panama, where, on 
 New Year's Day, a formal opening of the Canal — such as 
 is dear to the heart of the French — was performed by the 
 Count and his little daughter. "Le Bulletin" records his 
 speech : 
 
 "Under the authority of the United States of Colombia, 
 
 "With the blessing of Monseigneur, the Bishop of 
 Panama, . . . 
 
 "In the presence of the members of the Technical Com- 
 mission for the Final Study of the Universal Interoceanic 
 Maritime Canal, 
 
 "Mile. Ferdinande de Lesseps — on this first day of Janu- 
 ary, 1880 — will give the initial blow of a pickax [coup de 
 
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438 PANAMA 
 
 pioche] on the point which will mark the entrance of the 
 Canal on the side of the Pacific Ocean. 
 
 "All present will then successively strike a blow in sign 
 of the alliance of all the peoples who contribute to the union 
 of the two oceans for the good of humanity." 
 
 (Great applause and more champagne.) 
 
 In striking contrast to this grandiloquence is the episode 
 related in Otis's "Handbook of the Panama Railroad." 
 Two Americans inaugurated that undertaking by climbing 
 over the side of a boat — up to their waists in water — and 
 doing a day's work cutting down mangrove trees. 
 
 The same contrast is afforded by Major-General Davis's 
 report of how he assumed control of the Canal Zone as its 
 first Governor. On the 17th of May, 1904, he arrived on the 
 Isthmus. On the 19th he presented his credentials to the 
 President of Panama, and the same day "aimounced to the 
 inhabitants of the land ceded . . . that the territory had 
 been occupied by the United States of America, and that the 
 temporary government over the same and its inhabitants 
 had been assumed by the undersigned, acting for and in 
 the name of the President of the United States. . . . 
 
 "Very soon after the publication in Panama of the an- 
 nouncement that the United States authorities had assumed 
 control of the Canal Zone the Government of the Republic 
 expressed objection to so summary or precipitate assumption 
 of control." 
 
 The Panamanians — accustomed by the French to banquets 
 and eloquence, not to mention champagne — ^made diplomatic 
 representations to Washington, and Governor Davis was 
 ordered to put on his good clothes and "participate in any 
 ceremonies or formalities that might be proposed by the 
 Panama Government." 
 
 De Lesseps stayed only a few days on the Isthmus, and 
 then went to the States to try to smooth out the Monroe 
 
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OVB PSEDECESSOJRS ON THE JOB 439 
 
 Doctrine. "Le Bulletin," which was published in Paris by 
 the directors, contains glowing accounts of his enthusiastic 
 reception. The editors and their friends were "long" on 
 the stock at that moment. 
 
 But, sinister as was the condition in Paris, things boomed 
 on the Isthmus. There were hundreds of young engineers 
 at work in the jungle who cared little and knew less about 
 the Bourse, but who had reputations to make. The explora- 
 tions they made, the minute and exact surveys they carried 
 out, the amount of excavation they accomplished with their 
 pmiy equipment, have been of great use to us. Our men on 
 the job to-day have the highest respect for the men who 
 worked here thirty years ago. 
 
 There is an immense pathos in the idea of these men 
 working so sincerely, in the midst of this fever-ridden jungle, 
 for a gang of wildcat promoters in Paris. 
 
 For, besides the treachery which threatened them from 
 home, they were in their work face to face with overwhelming 
 odds. 
 
 First of all, as it was not a Government undertaking, 
 they had to let out the excavation to contractors. The con- 
 ditions of the work were so unprecedented that for years 
 they could only guess at the costs, and the terms of the 
 contracts were haphazard. The private contractors took 
 out the soft earth at the stipulated price per cubic yard, and 
 then threw up their hands and went through bankruptcy 
 in the face of the more difficult excavation. The Company 
 was paying exorbitant prices for the easiest work, and not 
 making any progress at all in the more formidable sections 
 of the Canal. It lost money, or was probably intentionally 
 cheated, by almost all the contractors. Two glowing excep- 
 tions were the contracts let to an American named Slaven 
 for dredging at the Atlantic entrance, and to the French 
 company organized by M. Bunau-Varilla for dry excavation 
 
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440 PANAMA 
 
 in Culebra Cut. The work accomplished by these two firms 
 was remarkable and has proved of utility to us. 
 
 Not the least of the Company's troubles arose from the 
 unsatisfactory nature of the concession from Colombia. 
 Besides the blackmail to which almost every foreign indus- 
 trial enterprise is subject in Latin- American countries, the 
 French were endlessly worried by the courts. . The leading 
 citizens of Colombia for awhile laid aside the profession of 
 political revolutions and took up the law. The frequent 
 bankruptcy of the contractors, the compensation claims of 
 injured workmen, and so forth, gave endless excuse for 
 litigation, and it was often started without excuse. The 
 native courts always decided that the French could pay. 
 
 But these complications, serious as they were, were mere 
 fly-specks in comparison to the death roll from yellow and 
 malarial fever. 
 
 What the sick rate was among the French, how many of 
 them died, it is to-day impossible to determine. "Le Bull- 
 etin" naturally tried to minimize it. When M. Bionne, one 
 of the most gifted prospectus writers and speakers employed 
 by the Company, visited the Isthmus and died of the yellow 
 fever, "Le Bulletin" claimed that it was apoplexy. Almost 
 all the personal memoirs of those days record the crowded 
 condition of the big hospitals at Ancon and Colon and the 
 death of many a friend. 
 
 Bunau-Varilla writes: "In September the diseases and 
 death continued their work. The Director of Works, 
 gravely ill himself, had to return to France, and so I was 
 forced to assume the functions of the general administration 
 with a working force decimated by disease and desertions. 
 
 "Two talented engineers, MM. Petit and Sordoillet, were 
 sent to me from Paris to take the posts of division chiefs. 
 Their coming had made me hope for a seriously needed rein- 
 forcement; but, unhappily, having arrived together, they 
 
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OUB PSEDECBSSOBS ON THE JOB 441 
 
 were together taken to the cemetery fifteen days later, 
 having fallen victims to the fatal malady which had so 
 terribly torn open the ranks of our forces." 
 
 The following statistics have been compiled by our sani- 
 tary officers from the very incomplete data left by the French. 
 They are believed to be much below the real mortality. 
 The worst scourge was in the end of 1884: 
 
 Employees 
 
 Total 
 1884 Officials Office Force Laborera White and 
 
 Month White Negro White Negro White Negro Negro 
 
 October 531 4 524 284 1,657 16,249 19,243 
 
 November.. 562 4 583 281 1,600 15,906 18,936 
 
 December... 556 3 577 286 1,503 15,802 18,727 
 
 MOETALITT 
 
 Annual death 
 1884 Yellow Total all rate per 1,000 
 
 Month Fever Malaria Diseases for the month 
 
 October 21 51 161 100.40 
 
 November 20 56 162 102.66 
 
 December 33 35 146 93.55 
 
 With the coming of the "dry season" the scourge abated, 
 to break out again the next year. Although there were no 
 other three consecutive months with so terrible a showing 
 as these last months of 1884, September of the next year 
 reached the unprecedented annual death rate per thousand 
 of 176.97. 
 
 The visitor to the Isthmus to-day is sure to be told of 
 " la folie Dingier." Dingier was probably the ablest engineer 
 the French ever had in charge of the work. He came out 
 in 1883. He was not afraid of the fever, and he built a 
 mansion on the side of Ancon Hill, where the quarry is now. 
 It would have been difficult for him to have found as beau- 
 tiful a situation on the C6te d'Azur of his own country. But 
 
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442 PANAMA 
 
 he never occupied the house. His wife and three children 
 had come over from France, and, while the house was 
 building, the fever took them all. 
 
 Bunau-Varilla speaks of the fever as the greatest of all 
 the difficulties the French had to face: 
 
 "Subtle and fugitive, the mysterious disease seems to defy 
 all observation, to laugh at all remedies. The victim whom 
 it has struck is in the hands of hazard. The most erudite 
 and devoted physicians must content themselves with admin- 
 istering, not remedies which will check the progress of the 
 malady, but simple palliatives, the effects of which are more 
 moral than real. . . . 
 
 " Out of each hundred individuals arrived on the Isthmus 
 it is not exaggeration to say that, on an average, not more 
 than twenty were able to keep at their posts in the construc- 
 tion camp. And of this number how few — although pre- 
 serving that minimum of health which was strictly necessary 
 — had not lost some of their courage!" 
 
 Even if all the French money had been honestly and 
 economically expended, it is probable that the de Lesseps 
 Company would have failed. It was not until the beginning 
 of the new century that sanitary science progressed to the 
 point of successfully pulling the teeth of the tropical jungle. 
 
 The crash came in 1888. After eight years of as brave a 
 fight as man had ever made against nature, the bubble burst. 
 It is estimated that stock had been issued to the value of 
 two hundred and fifty miUion dollars. It is doubtful if more 
 than one million and a half ever got near enough to Panama 
 to be expended on actual work. Most of this " paper" was 
 held by French peasants and people of moderate means. 
 They had been led into it by the great name of de Lesseps. 
 You may be sure that none of the original promoters were 
 caught with stock on their hands when the final break came. 
 The scandal was immense. Many Government officials were 
 
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OUR PBEDECESSORS ON THE JOB 443 
 
 involved. The shame of it drove the old man — le grand 
 Frangais — ^insane. He died a few years later in an asylum. 
 
 I have found nothing — and the books on the subject are 
 without end — which seems to me to characterize the man so 
 favorably as this from the pen of Mr. Robinson, who knew 
 de Lesseps personally, and was on the Isthmus during the 
 whole time of the Company's activity : 
 
 "He was committed to the scheme, fully believed in it 
 as a great and good scheme entirely possible of realization, 
 and it is my opinion that from first to last he was perfectly 
 conscientious and honest. 
 
 "I am aware that the world at large does not take the 
 same view. The question need not be discussed, nor need 
 ansiihing be added here to the already voluminous literature 
 of this famous industrial failure. That M. de Lesseps was 
 an enthusiast; that he did not possess the administrative 
 abiUties required for so great and so difficult a work; that 
 he was too old, too eager, too vain of the glory it would add 
 to his already great reputation, too easily imposed upon by 
 men whose first aim was plunder, too ill a judge of character 
 to fill with success a place of so great responsibility; that 
 he lacked practical knowledge, and was wrongly advised — 
 all these things may be admitted; but, when all is said, he 
 was not sordid, not the impostor his enemies declare him to 
 have been." 
 
 Sadder even than the tragedy of this unfortunate old man 
 was the despair of the hundreds of loyal and courageous men 
 engaged in the work. After eight years of struggle, and 
 sometimes of doubt, they had come to feel that the opening 
 of the Canal was assured. Bunau-Varilla writes: "The 
 reasons for this great and fatal failure are numerous, but all 
 of them, with hardly an exception, come from a common 
 cause: the very nature of the problem faced by the art of 
 the engineer made it impossible to state the problem with 
 
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444 PANAMA 
 
 precision." When the French began work, they were daring 
 out upon as unknown a sea as that which Columbus sailed. 
 They had absolutely no precedents for their undertaking. 
 No satisfactory survey existed; no one knew how many 
 cubic yards would have to be moved; no one had any idea 
 of the nature of the earth below the surface. Estimates 
 of cost were crude guesses. No one knew definitely about the 
 sanitary condition and probable frequency of epidemics. 
 There were no reliable data in regard to rainfall — one of the 
 most important elements in making estimates in the tropics. 
 No one had information in regard to where labor could be 
 most cheaply recruited or what class of laborer would bear 
 up best under the climate. After eight years of experimenta- 
 tion all this was changed. There was no more guessing. 
 Mathematical certainties had replaced all the original ig- 
 norance. The men knew just what had to be done and 
 how to do it. 
 
 And now, with the problems solved, with a clear road 
 ahead, the pirates of the Paris Bourse had cheated them out 
 of their victory. Bunau-Varilla voices the outraged senti- 
 ments of these men in the epilogue of his book "Panama, 
 le Pass6, le Present, I'Avenir": 
 
 "After having had the audacity to attempt to reahze the 
 dream of Columbus, after having expended such enormous 
 sums of effort and money, after having, through these efforts, 
 traveled two-thirds of the road, after having assembled and 
 set to work a gigantic equipment, after having withstood 
 all the tests and bought so dearly all the knowledge, broken 
 all the resistances, triumphed over every obstacle, after 
 having excavated nearly fifty million cubic meters under 
 conditions at first difficult and obscure, are we going to 
 abandon all of this, when there only remain forty millions 
 of cubic meters to move under conditions well known and 
 defined? 
 
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OUB FSEDECESSOBS ON TEE JOB 445 
 
 "Are we going to allow the belief to weigh down the 
 coming generation that our country is no longer capable of 
 anything but spasmodic energy, that the proud and power- 
 ful force of continued effort is henceforth a stranger to us?" 
 
 But the scandal had been too great to allow him or any 
 one to revive the faith of the French nation. A receiver was 
 appointed in the hope of rescuing something from the ruin. 
 In order to keep alive the concession from Colombia a sem- 
 blance of work was maintained by the reorganization. But 
 nothing serious was accomplished. 
 
 The devoted band of engineers scattered about the world 
 on other jobs. Bunau-Varilla was one of the few who kept 
 the faith. The dream of "the Straits of Panama" had bit 
 deep into his imagination. When at last he was forced to 
 give up hope in his own people, he turned to us, and this 
 man, who had been a notable engineer, became a politician. 
 He, more than any one else, kept the "Panama idea" alive. 
 And, when the time came, he was active in the Panama 
 Revolution which gave us the Canal Zone, and was the first 
 diplomatic representative from the infant republic to Wash- 
 ington. And in that capacity he signed the treaty which 
 made the Canal a certainty. 
 
 Our engineers have disagreed with him on several import- 
 ant points, his soundness on technical points has been ques- 
 tioned, and his pubhcity methods are often absurd. But no 
 one denies that he was among the most successful of the 
 French engineers and contractors thirty years ago, and that 
 in his tireless devotion to a grand idea he has typified the 
 spirit of his great and generous people. If there had been 
 more men of his stamp and fewer speculators in the de 
 Lesseps company, the French would have built the Canal. 
 
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CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 THE FIFTY-THREE REVOLUTIONS IN FIFTY-SEVEN YEARS 
 
 From the early days of the nineteenth century, when the 
 Spanish yoke was thrown off, very Uttle happened on the 
 Isthmus which is of interest to outsiders until the middle of 
 the century. 
 
 It was a period of varied, and, to the inhabitants, exciting 
 misrule. The Panamanians very quickly regretted the haste 
 with which they had bound themselves to the South Amer- 
 ican Federation of New Granada. The mountains which 
 bound the Isthmus at the east cut them off from all land 
 communication with Bogota, where as dizzy a kaleidoscope 
 of constitutions, revolutions, dictators and presidents was 
 going on as this hemisphere has ever seen. "The free and 
 sovereign state of Panama" was popularly spoken of as 
 "the milch cow of Bogota." All the adventurers who came 
 out on top ia the revolutions of the federation sent their 
 particular friends to govern this free and sovereign state — 
 and recoup their fortunes. 
 
 It is hardly possible to conceive of a history being written 
 of such an epoch. It could only be fittingly treated by a 
 great epic bard, hke Homer. The more one digs into the 
 early history of Latin-America, the stronger the analogy 
 grows between it and ancient Greece. 
 
 First of all, there is no great poUtical principle at stake. 
 The only issue which is fimdamentally dear to the hearts of 
 all Spanish-Americans is home rule. Our neighbors to the 
 south have fought as gallantly, as desperately, as persis- 
 
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TEE S3 SEVOLUTIONS IN 57 TEARS 447 
 
 tently and as devotedly for this ideal as have any people 
 for any ideal; but that was won in their wars of indepen- 
 dence. They claim also to be Republicans, but to one with 
 the Anglo-Saxon tradition of democracy, that must seem 
 lip-service. North of the equator — I have not been south 
 of it — I have never found any trace of a vital democratic 
 movement of the masses. They mean no more by "the 
 Republic " than did the slave-owners of Athens or the mer- 
 chant princes of Venice. It is only a small minority of the 
 people who take any interest in politics. 
 
 One cannot read Homer without feeling that the Rape of 
 Helen was only a pretext for the Trojan war. The Grecian 
 army undoubtedly marched in the hope of glory and booty. 
 If the author of the lUad had been a modern journalist in- 
 stead of a blind poet, he would probably have seen more of 
 the latter. And it looks to me as if these Latin-American 
 wars had been inspired by the same spirit, a desire for pesos 
 rather than patriotism. 
 
 But one who is fond of stories of personal bravery can 
 find no better reading than the records of the early days of 
 Spanish-American independence. The comic opera side of 
 these turmoils has been too often played up to us of the 
 North, for these bare-footed, dark-skinned soldiers really 
 know how to fight. It is a common occurrence for these revo- 
 lutions to cost more lives than did our Spanish war. 
 
 The dare-devil strain of bravery, which led Pizarro's little 
 band to capture the Inca in the midst of the Peruvian army, 
 has persisted in the race. There have been battles of 
 Thermopylae a plenty, and men have passed down to the 
 "shadowy kingdom" as gallantly as did Leonides of old. 
 
 The record, it is true, has been blotted and smirched by 
 cowardly treachery and dishonesty — perhaps this strain also 
 has peristed from the old days when Pizarro violated the 
 laws of hospitality to win an empire. 
 
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448 PANAMA 
 
 It is well, in reading such sorry pages, to remember that 
 there are renegades among all people. Within the memory 
 of many still living, a victorious revolutionist in one of 
 these Latin-American countries celebrated his triumph by 
 executing the former president. The dead man's wife sought 
 refuge at the American consulate, with her children and 
 jewels. The representative of our government charged her 
 four hundred dollars a week board, and when it was time for 
 her to leave, he could not remember where he had put her 
 diamonds. 
 
 A close reading of Homer will convince one that all this 
 is in accordance with the best Greek traditions. 
 
 Such was the life of the Isthmus after the expulsion of the 
 Spaniards. The great cause, home rule, had been won. 
 The two-century-old traditions of wars and intrigues, of 
 adventurous warriors who were gamblers with fate, per- 
 sisted. There was only one way of acquiring wealth which 
 was looked down upon — that of humdrum industry. 
 
 Things took a change on the Isthmus with the CaUfornian 
 gold rush of '49. The narrow neck of land was overrun with 
 a new breed of men, as Homeric as the great ancestors of the 
 natives. 
 
 The trip across the American desert was an immensely 
 expensive and hazardous undertaking. Many gold hunters 
 crossed Central America by the way of Nicaragua, but the 
 Darien route, as it was called, was the most popular. 
 
 From '49 on, the history of the Isthmus has been prin- 
 cipally made by foreigners. It is true that the natives did 
 not at once, in fact, have not yet entirely broken themselves 
 of the old habits of revolutionary turmoil, but when the 
 Isthmus came again into world prominence as a great traffic 
 route, it was no longer possible for these disturbances to be 
 allowed to run their course unchecked. The gold rush was 
 the impetus which started the building of the Panama rail- 
 
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THE 53 REVOLUTIONS IN 57 YEAB8 449 
 
 road. A treaty between the United States and the Federa- 
 tion of New Granada, by which we guaranteed to keep the 
 Isthmus open for transit, was signed in 1846. It made us 
 a directly interested party in every Panamanian uprising. 
 
 However, our best efforts to keep the lid safely in place 
 were not entirely successful. The following quotation from 
 President Roosevelt's message of December 7, 1903, gives 
 a summary of the political hf e of the Isthmus since the sign- 
 ing of that treaty. Writing about the Panama Revolution 
 of 1903 and our part in it, he said: 
 
 "When these events happened, fifty-seven years had elapsed since 
 the United States had entered into this treaty with New Granada. 
 During that time the governments of New Granada and of its suc- 
 cessor, Colombia, had been in a constant state of flux. The following 
 is a partial list of the disturbances on the Isthmus of Panama during 
 the period in question as reported to us by our consuls. It is not pos- 
 sible to give a complete Ust, and some of the reports that speak of 
 'revolutions' must mean unsuccessful revolutions: 
 
 "May 22, 1850. — Outbreak — Two Americans MUed; war vessel 
 demanded to queU outbreak. 
 
 "October, 1850. — Revolutionary plot to bring about independence 
 of the Isthmus. 
 
 "July 22, 1851. — Revolution in four southern provinces. 
 
 "November 14, 1851. — Outbreak at Chagres. Manrof-war requested 
 for Chagres. 
 
 "June 27, 1853. — Insurrection at Bogota, and consequent disturb- 
 ance on Isthmus. War vessel demanded. 
 
 "May 23, 1854. — PoUtical disturbances; war vessel requested. 
 
 "June 28, 1854. — Attempted revolution. 
 
 "October 24, 1854. — Independence of the Isthmus declared by pro- 
 vincial legislature. 
 
 "April, 1856. — Riot, and massacre of Americans. 
 
 "May 4, 1856.— Riot. 
 
 "May 18, 1856.— Riot. 
 
 "October 2, 1856. — Conflict between two native parties. United 
 States forces landed. 
 
 "December 18, 1858. — Attempted secession of Panama. 
 
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 "April, 1859.— Riots. 
 
 "September, I860.— Outbreak. 
 
 "October 4, 1860. — Landing of United States forces in consequence. 
 
 "May 23, 1861. — Intervention of the United States forces required 
 by Intendente. 
 
 "October 2, 1861. — Insurrection and civil war. 
 
 "April 4, 1862. — Measures to prevent rebels crossing Isthmus. 
 
 "June 13, 1862. — Mosquera's troops refused admittance to Panama. 
 
 "March, 1865. — Revolution and United States troops landed. 
 
 "August, 1865. — Riots; unsuccessful attempt to invade Panama. 
 
 " March, 1866. — Unsuccessful revolution. 
 
 "April, 1867. — ^Attempt to overthrow the government. 
 
 "August, 1867. — Attempt at revolution. 
 
 "July 5, 1868. — Revolution; provisional government inaugurated. 
 
 "August 29, 1868. — Revolution; provisional government over- 
 thrown. 
 
 "April, 1871. — Revolution; followed apparently by counter-revolu- 
 tion. 
 
 "April, 1873. — ^Revolution and civil war which lasted to October, 
 1875. 
 
 "August, 1876. — Civil war which lasted until April, 1877. 
 
 "July, 1878.— RebeUion. 
 
 "December, 1878.— Revolt. 
 
 "April, 1879.— Revolution. 
 
 "June, 1879. — Revolution. 
 
 "March, 1883.— Riot. 
 
 "May, 1883.— Riot. 
 
 "June, 1884. — Revolutionary attempt. 
 
 "December, 1884. — Revolutionary attempt. 
 
 "January, 1885. — Revolutionary disturbances. 
 
 "March, 1885.— Revolution. 
 
 "April, 1887. — Disturbances on Panama Railroad. 
 
 "November, 1887. — Disturbance on line of canal. 
 
 "January, 1889.— Riot. 
 
 "January, 1895. — Revolution which lasted until April. 
 
 "March, 1895. — Incendiary attempt. 
 
 "October, 1899.— Revolution. 
 
 "February, 1900, to July, 1900.— Revolution. 
 
 "January, 1901. — Revolution. 
 
 "July, 1901. — ^Revolutionary disturbances. 
 
 "September, 1901. — City of Colon taken by rebels. 
 
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TB.E SS REVOLUTIONS IN 57 TEAMS 451 
 
 "March, 1902. — Revolutionary disturbances. 
 "July, 1902.— Revolution. 
 
 "The above is only a partial list of the revolutions, rebellions, in- 
 surrections, riots, and other outbreaks that have occurred during the 
 period in question; yet they number fifty-three for the last fifty-seven 
 years. It will be noted that one of them lasted nearly three years 
 before it was quelled; another for nearly a year. In short, the expe- 
 rience of over half a century has shown Colombia to be utterly incapa- 
 ble of keeping order on the Isthmus. Only the active interference of 
 the United States has enabled her to preserve so much as a semblance 
 of sovereignty. Had it not been for the exercise by the United States 
 of the poUce power in her interest, her connection with the Isthmus 
 would have been sundered long ago. In 1856, in 1860, in 1873, in 1885, 
 in 1901, and again in 1902, sailors and marines from United States war- 
 ships were forced to land in order to patrol the Isthmus, to protect hfe 
 and property and to see that the transit across the Isthmus was kept 
 open. In 1861, in 1862, in 1885, and in 1900, the Colombian govern- 
 ment asked that the United States Goverrmient would land troops to 
 protect its interests and maintain order on the Isthmus." 
 
 Most of these revolutionary outbreaks were conducted 
 under the name of either the Liberal or Conservative party. 
 
 These parties had had their rise before the death of 
 Bolivar. The Liberal party was descended from the ex- 
 treme democrats who had from the first opposed the aristo- 
 cratic tendency of the Liberator. Their program called for 
 universal suffrage, the separation of the church and state, 
 secular education, full autonomy of the provinces, and such 
 an arrangement of finances that the largest proportion of the 
 revenues would go to the provinces. 
 
 In general, the Conservative party stood for the central- 
 ized theory of government for which Bolivar had always 
 fought, and in other details took the opposite position from 
 the Liberals. They were, above all things, the party of the 
 Church. 
 
 But these differences in principle were more often used 
 as tools of some personal ambition, than as real motives of 
 
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 revolt. General Mosquera, who made a number of rapid 
 entrances and exits from the executive mansion, was first a 
 Conservative and later an extreme Liberal. When he be- 
 came "supreme dictator" in 1861, he pushed the federalist 
 principles of the Liberals beyond the extremest experiment 
 in decentralization ever tried before. 
 
 Mr. William L. Scruggs, in his "The Colombian and Vene- 
 zuelan Republics," after describing the political turmoil of 
 Ecuador, writes: 
 
 "A similar condition of affairs existed in New Granada. 
 Local and general revolutions chased each other in rapid 
 succession, and constitutional changes were so frequent that 
 it is difficult to even enumerate them in chronological order. 
 Each of the nine provinces, or prefectures, was clothed with 
 the name and dignity of a 'sovereign state,' and the mystery 
 of the Trinity was outdone in ingenious devices to reconcile 
 plural sovereignties with national unity. . . . Primary 
 allegiance was due, not to the nation, but to the constituent 
 state in which the citizen resided. Even allegiance to the 
 particular state was hardly in the nature of an obligation; 
 for back of the theory of state allegiance was the doctrine of 
 individual or personal sovereignty. Every man eighteen 
 years of age and upward was a sort of nondescript sovereign, 
 floating about at random, governed by a higher law inherent 
 in himself. . . . 
 
 "During the thirty years intervening from 1830 to 1861, 
 there were five successive constitutions, not one of which 
 had ever been respected when it became an obstacle to the 
 ambition of some military chieftain. 
 
 "There were no two whole years of perpetual peace. 
 . . . There was a revolution, local or general, on an 
 average, about every eighteen months. In short, to adopt 
 the incisive language of a distinguished Colombian scholar 
 and statesman (Dr. Rafael Nunez, President of Colombia, in 
 
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 1883-4), 'The maintenance of public order was the excep- 
 tion, and civil war the rule.' " 
 
 The pendulum of revolution and counter-revolution swung 
 back and forth from extreme centralization to extreme fed- 
 eralism. And in almost all of these turmoils the Isthmus 
 had to bear a share. 
 
 The overthrow of Bolivar left the Liberals in control, and 
 a constitution after their Uking was adopted in 1832. In 
 1840 the Isthmus revolted and maintained its independence 
 for two years. In 1841, Pedro Alcantara Herran became 
 president as a Conservative, and revised the constitution to 
 his tastes. In '49, Lopez, a Liberal general, was elected, 
 and a Conservative-Clerical revolution broke out. The next 
 president, Jose Mana Obando, also a Liberal, found time 
 to put a new crimp in the fundamental law. In 1854, the 
 Clericalists insurged again. General Mosquera, who had left 
 the Liberals to become the Conservative president after 
 Herran, changed his label again and led the army which 
 suppressed the Conservatives. In order to emphasize the 
 federalist doctrines of the administration, the name of the 
 coimtry was changed to the " Granadine Confederation." 
 
 The next president was named Marino Ospina (1857-61). 
 He had been supposed to be a Clericalist, but he was no 
 sooner inaugurated than he was pronounced a traitor by 
 both parties, and foimd two revolutions on his hands, one 
 half of the country up in arms for the Liberal cause, and the 
 other half threatening Bogota under Conservative leaders. 
 Mosquera fought on the Liberal side during most of this 
 mix-up, and emerged, in 1861, as "Supreme Dictator." He 
 called a constituent assembly, the members of which were 
 not called "deputies" nor "representatives," but "pleni- 
 potentiaries." They adopted the sixth constitution since 
 1830. It arranged for the complete separation of the 
 church and state, expelled the religious orders, confiscated 
 
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454 PANAMA 
 
 church property, secularized the schools, made suffrage 
 universal and abolished the death penalty. Again the name 
 was changed to "The United States of Colombia." It was 
 organized into a loose league of nine states. Only fifty per 
 cent, of the revenues was to go to the central government. 
 The spirit of the document is summed up in this clause : 
 
 "When one sovereign state of the union shall be at war 
 with another, or the citizens of any state shall be at war 
 among themselves, the national government is obligated to 
 preserve the strictest neutrality." 
 
 This remarkable constitution was in force for nearly a 
 quarter of a century. In 1886, the Conservatives again got 
 into the saddle, changed the name to the Republic of Co- 
 lombia, and in a new constitution expressly denied the sov- 
 ereignty of the individual states. 
 
 This political ferment has been costly beyond computa- 
 tion. The wars of independence left the country $35,000,000 
 in debt. Colombia is one of the richest countries, both in 
 mineral and agricultural resources, of the New World. But 
 far from paying off this debt, they have very rarely at- 
 tempted to pay the interest. Industry has of course been 
 ruined. 
 
 It is practically impossible for a foreigner to get any 
 definite and rehable information about these numerous out- 
 breaks. The spirit of partisanism is so sharp that no native 
 can give an objective and disinterested account of even his 
 own activities. There is an immense amount of literatiu'e, 
 especially in Spanish, dealing with one or another of these 
 revolutions. The most comprehensive history is in French, 
 by a student named Peirera. Out of the mass, I have 
 selected this account from Bidwell's "The Isthmus of Pan- 
 ama." He was an English gentleman who resided for many 
 years in Panama, and personally witnessed the insurrection 
 of 1862: 
 
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TBE 53 BEVOLUTIONS IN S7 TEABS 455 
 
 "But to keep to Panama. The last political change took 
 place in this wise. The legitimate governor, who had been 
 duly elected in the manner before described, and who had 
 held his office almost peaceably for nearly two years, found 
 himself one fine day visited by about 150 soldiers from 
 Cartagena, the capital of a friendly state in the hands of 
 the Liberal party; for it must be remembered that New 
 Granada's last revolution, which in its little way was as 
 devastating as that of Mexico, was a struggle between two 
 factions calling themselves 'Liberals' and 'Conservatives.' 
 The governor then had been the Conservative candidate, 
 when the Conservatives were in power throughout the coun- 
 try. The Liberals had, however, been latterly gaining 
 ground, and had gained some of the states, and the soldiers 
 were apparently sent by the 'Liberal' party to assist the 
 governor in carrying out certain decrees of that faction 
 which he had resisted, and which, as the supreme authority 
 in his own state, he had unquestionably the right to resist. 
 On the arrival of the soldiers at Colon, the governor pro- 
 tested both against the obnoxious decrees, and against the 
 coming of the soldiers, as contrary to a treaty which he 
 had made with an agent of the 'Liberal' party, and by 
 which treaty he had hoped to keep Panama out of the revo- 
 lution; but it was all in vain. The soldiers declared they 
 would come whether or not; and as the governor had no 
 force to resist them, he here judged prudence to be the better 
 part of valor, and so gave his sanction for their crossing 
 from Colon by railway; and on they came, pretending then, 
 as they had at first pretended, to be entirely under the gov- 
 ernor's authority! Matters went on thus quietly for a few 
 weeks. The poor governor, however, soon found that he 
 had become simply a tool in the hands of Captain Sword, 
 so, in accordance with the law which had been previously 
 made for an emergency, he removed the capital, himself, 
 
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 and his secretary to Santiago de Veraguas, a town some 
 three days distant in the interior of the state, leaving his 
 unwelcome troops behind him to do battle with the prefect. 
 Then about eighty individuals, all of whom with but one 
 exception were of the black population, assembled in the 
 town hall, deposed the absent governor, and elected in his 
 stead one of their own party, imder the title of provisional 
 governor. The two for a short time then reigned together, 
 and shied decrees at each other, the one at Santiago, the 
 other at Panama; but the provisional governor, having the 
 soldiers to back him, soon found himself strong enough to 
 arm and send a force into the interior to annihilate the 
 legitimists, and here their chief, the first poor governor, paid 
 the penalty of oflBce and was cruelly shot in a mock field of 
 battle, in which battle it appeared that he and one or two 
 other persons were the only victims. The whole affair 
 would have been a farce but for this tragical ending. But 
 he whose life was so unnecessarily sacrificed was an intelli- 
 gent, well-meaning, though perhaps weak young man, who 
 had unfortimately had politics forced upon him. He was of 
 one of the best and most respected families on the Isthmus, 
 and he left a young widow and three small children to de- 
 plore his loss. He had during his reign steadily endeavoured 
 to develop the resources, agricultural and commercial, of his 
 country. With his death died his political party in the 
 State; the blacks reigned supreme; the obnoxious decrees 
 were put in force; the poor old nuns were turned out of their 
 convent, and afterwards their bishop left, or was banished. 
 Forced loans were exacted from the 'Conservatives,' and 
 poor Panama, in consequence of it all, goes down the polit- 
 ical ladder some steps lower. This short relation of the 
 facts, undisguised by the grandiloquent language of the 
 despatches of the time, may give some idea of how 'con- 
 servative' Panama became 'liberal' in the year 1862." 
 
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TKM 53 BEVOLUTIONS IN 57 TEAB8 457 
 
 W. F. Johnson, in his "Four Centuries of the Panama 
 Canal," gives the following brief account of the last out- 
 break of importance: 
 
 "The year 1902 marked, moreover, the culmination of the 
 latest of Colombia's many revolutionary movements. This 
 widespread insurrection of the Liberal party against the 
 oppressive Conservative and Clerical government had been 
 maintained with varying success for several years, and early 
 in 1902 it began to gather chiefly on and about the Isthmus. 
 A new Governor of Panama, F. Mutis Duran, was ap- 
 pointed by the Bogota Government in February. A few 
 weeks later the danger of obstruction of commerce and 
 travel over the Isthmus became so marked that the Ameri- 
 can Government deemed it essential to send a naval force 
 thither to protect the rights and interests of this country, 
 according to the provisions of the Treaty of 1846. On 
 March 8, an American vessel reached Colon and thereafter 
 commanded the city with its guns, thus exercising a most 
 salutary influence over the belligerents. Six months later 
 the situation grew more serious at the southern side of the 
 Isthmus, and accordingly on September 12 another Amer- 
 ican vessel entered the harbour of Panama, and on Septem- 
 ber 19, American marines were landed. This action was 
 taken under an order of the Secretary of the Navy, Mr. 
 Moody, which ran in part as follows: 
 
 ' The United States guarantees perfect neutrality of the Isthmus, 
 and that a free transit from sea to sea be not interrupted or embar- 
 rassed. . . . Any transportation of troops which might contravene 
 provisions of treaty should not be sanctioned by you; nor should use 
 of road be permitted which might convert the Une of transit into a 
 theatre of hostility.' 
 
 " This order, sent on September 12, was reasonable and 
 logical, and intended simply to maintain our fixed poHcy 
 
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458 PANAMA 
 
 and to fulfil our treaty rights and obligations. Against it 
 the Governor of Panama protested, but without effect. 
 The American authorities persisted in their intervention, in 
 which they were clearly within their rights under the treaty. 
 Indeed they were doing no more than they had done several 
 times before with Colombian approval. 
 
 "Nor was the American intervention confined to a mere 
 show of force. Actual force was exercised to prevent either 
 of the belligerents from interfering with traffic over the rail- 
 way, or from using the railway as an engine of war. Co- 
 lombian troops were disarmed on September 22, and three 
 days later insurgent troops were prevented from using the 
 railroad and were actually compelled to leave a train which 
 they had seized and entered. There was, of course, no inter- 
 ference by Americans excepting to keep the railroad neutral 
 and in peaceful operation. The principle was enunciated 
 and maintained that no combatants imder arms should be 
 transported on the railroad, no matter to which party they 
 belonged. That was because to permit such transportation 
 would be to make the railroad an adjunct to that side in 
 the war, and to subject it to attack by the other party. If 
 the Colombian troops used the road, the insurgents would 
 attack it, and the United States would either have to per- 
 mit such attack, which might suspend the traffic on the 
 road which this country was bound under the treaty to keep 
 free and open, or to prevent it with force, which would make 
 this country the ally of Colombia against the insurgents. 
 If the insurgents were permitted to use it, the case would 
 be, mutatis mutandis, precisely the same. The only logical 
 and safe course was, then, that which was taken, to forbid 
 the military use of the road by either party. This vigorous 
 American policy had the desired effect. The road was kept 
 open and undisturbed, and the belligerents, disappointed 
 and discouraged in their efforts to involve the road, finally 
 
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TBE 53 BEVOLUTIONS IN 57 7EAB8 459 
 
 retired from that region, so that by November 19 it was 
 deemed prudent to withdraw the United States forces." 
 
 This revolution, of which Mr. Johnson describes a part, 
 was the most disastrous of the civil wars which have kept 
 Colombia an open sore. In 1899, the Liberals took up arms 
 against the Conservative administration of Sanclemente, 
 who had been elected in 1898. The fighting continued with 
 a rigor imprecedented in modem times. Over two hundred 
 battles were fought, and thirty thousand Colombians were 
 killed. Four times between October, 1899, and September, 
 1901, the Isthmus rose in revolt. Each one was mercilessly 
 stamped out. But in 1902, the Liberals were able to muster 
 again. At first they were successful. In the battle of 
 Agua Dulce, west of Panama City, the insurgents won a 
 decisive victory, capturing in the neighborhood of two 
 thousand government troops. The Isthmus would prob- 
 ably have conquered its independence at this time if it had 
 not been for our intervention, as described in the quotation 
 from Mr. Johnson. 
 
 I have foimd it very hard to realize the devastation of these 
 wars. We have been so accustomed to thinking of them as 
 mere opera bouffe. It is a tradition among us that these 
 South American armies consist of ten major-generals to one 
 private; that they are armed with blunderbusses handed 
 down from their conquistador ancestors, and that all they 
 do is talk. In the province of Code, I have ridden into 
 deserted villages, seen the charred ruins of many a hacienda, 
 and more neglected farms than cultivated ones. When you 
 ask about them, the people shrug their shoulders and say: 
 "The revolution." It is a country of widows and orphans. 
 No one can be neutral in a civil war. There have been 
 seven years of uninterrupted peace since the secession, but 
 the country is still understocked with farm animals. The 
 people have not yet gotten free from the habit of thought 
 
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460 PANAMA 
 
 which told them that their live stock would be stolen every 
 few years by one army or the other. 
 
 In one little inland town, a German trader told me how 
 in 1901 the civil war had broken out there suddenly. There 
 were few guns in the place, so the men took their machetes 
 and went to Plaza and fought it out, brother against brother, 
 hand to hand. By morning there were no more Conserva- 
 tives in the town. The Liberals, crazed by the long fight 
 and the blood, crucified the priest in front of the smoulder- 
 ing ruins of the church. Almost every woman in the town 
 had to wear mourning for a near relative. 
 
 At home, I am an anti-imperialist. I had not approved 
 of the high-handed way in which we had acquired practical 
 sovereignty over the Isthmus. But the sight of so many 
 ruined buildings, so many broken homes, the heritage of a 
 century of civil war, makes one feel that peace at any price 
 is not a bad bargain. Strong men may resent a Pax Romce, 
 but it must be welcomed by the women folk and children. 
 
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CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 THE SECESSION FROM COLOMBIA 
 
 The difficulty which one finds in imravelling the history 
 of the earher revolutions is even greater when it comes to the 
 study of that of 1903, which resulted in the independence of 
 the Isthmus. 
 
 During the Spanish-American War a newspaper man went 
 to the War Department in Washington and asked for in- 
 formation about our plans of campaign. Of course such 
 matters were secret, and it was explained to him that nothing 
 could be given out for publication. 
 
 "Well, I've got to have something," he said, "or I'll lose 
 my job. I don't care whether it is true or not." 
 
 "Son," the Secretary said, "you're in the wrong place. 
 Go over to the State Department and consult a diplomat. 
 We are paid to fight, not to lie." 
 
 Most of the documents in regard to the Panama revolu- 
 tion are of a diplomatic character. 
 
 One of the most detailed accounts of this matter is con- 
 tained in "Four Centuries of the Panama Canal," by Willis 
 Fletcher Johnson. The volume is dedicated to the then 
 Secretary of War, William H. Taft, and is marked through- 
 out with the stamp of official sanction. If one reads Mr. 
 Johnson's book, understanding that everjrthing he wrote 
 was pleasing to the Administration, and discounting it from 
 this point of view, one gets a fair idea of the facts. 
 
 It is necessary to go back a considerable distance into the 
 history of our diplomatic relations with Colombia, or as it 
 
 461 
 
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462 PANAMA 
 
 was formerly called, New Granada, to understand this 
 crisis. 
 
 The Mexican War had given us a long Pacific seaboard, 
 the value of which very few realized before the discovery of 
 gold. England was following a very aggressive policy in 
 Honduras and the feeling that we could enforce the Monroe 
 Doctrine was by no means universal. Almost everyone 
 expected more efforts on the part of European Powers to 
 gain a foothold on the continent. The more far-sighted of 
 our statesmen foresaw something of the future development 
 of our West and realized the necessity of having an assured 
 means of communication. 
 
 In 1846 we entered into a treaty with the Federation of 
 New Granada, by which "the govermnent of New Granada 
 guarantees to the government of the United States that the 
 right of way or transit across the Isthmus of Panama, 
 upon any modes of communication that now exist or that 
 may be hereafter constructed, shall be open and free to the 
 government and citizens of the United States. . . And in 
 order to secure to themselves the tranquil and constant 
 enjoyment of these advantages, and as an especial compensa- 
 tion for the said advantages, and for the favors they have 
 acquired by the fourth, fifth, and sixth articles of this treaty, 
 the United States guarantee positively and efficaciously to 
 New Granada, by the present stipulation, the perfect neutral- 
 ity of the before-mentioned Isthmus, with the view that the 
 free transit from the one to the other sea may not be inter- 
 rupted or embarrassed in any future time while this treaty 
 exists; and, in consequence, the United States also guar- 
 antee, in the same manner, the rights of sovereignty and 
 property which New Granada has and possesses over the 
 said territory." 
 
 Our government interpreted this treaty as imposing upon 
 it a duty to keep transportation uninterrupted across the 
 
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THE SECESSION FSOM COLOMBIA 463 
 
 Isthmus, even if it was necessary to intervene with force. 
 As Mr. Roosevelt points out in his message quoted in the 
 preceding chapter, the United States of Colombia interpreted 
 the treaty in the same sense, and on several occasions re- 
 quested our government to land forces on the Isthmus to 
 preserve order. 
 
 Our government had for a great many years considered the 
 advisability of building a canal between the two oceans. 
 At first, the route via Nicaragua was the more popular. 
 Several companies had been formed, with the encouragement 
 of the government, and extensive diplomatic intercourse had 
 been carried on on this subject. For one reason or another, 
 the various private companies came to grief, and when the 
 French company received a concession from ifie United 
 States of Colombia to attempt the Panama route, our gov- 
 ernment ceased its activities in the matter. 
 
 However, after the failure of the French company, many 
 Americans took up the subject and tried to enlist the activity 
 of the government. A fresh impetus was given to the canal 
 scheme by the Spanish-American War, and especially by 
 the long cruise of the Oregon from the Califomian coast to 
 the Atlantic; and Congress finally authorized the building 
 of a canal, giving discretionary power to the president to 
 decide whether it should be the Nicaraguan or the Panama 
 route. There was, at first, a sincere difference of opinion 
 among engineers as to which route was the more feasible, 
 but gradually the consensus of opinion favored Panama. 
 The existence of the Panama railroad along the route of 
 the proposed canal was a great advantage; also the work 
 which had been accomplished by the French company could 
 be utilized effectively. The Walker Commission made a 
 careful study of both routes, and reported that if our govern- 
 ment was able to acquire the rights and property of the new 
 French company for not more than forty million dollars. 
 
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464 PANAMA 
 
 the Panama route would be the more desirable, but as the 
 new French company valued their property at a very much 
 higher figure, this Commission recommended the Nicaraguan 
 route. 
 
 A great deal of discussion has been stirred up by this 
 valuation made by the Walker Commission. The work done 
 by the French had cost them infinitely more than forty 
 millions of dollars, and they claimed that this sum was dis- 
 honestly low. On the other hand, it has often been asserted 
 by enemies of Mr. Roosevelt's administration that forty 
 millions was an excessively high figure. During the month 
 of June, 1911, a committee which has been investigating 
 the matter on the spot has reported that we could not have 
 duplicated the part of the French work which we have used, 
 including surveys and buildings as well as actual excavation, 
 for less than forty-two millions. 
 
 After the failure of de Lesseps, the French Government 
 appointed a receiver, who organized the "New French Canal 
 Company." They had done enough work to keep the con- 
 cession alive. Their only hope of realizing anything on their 
 stock was that some other corporation or some country, 
 financially stronger, might undertake the completion of their 
 work and buy them out. If, in this crisis, the United States 
 should decide to build a canal by the Nicaraguan route, 
 there would be no possibility of saving the interests of those 
 who held the paper of the French Panama Company. 
 
 The stock of the company fluctuated wildly during those 
 days as the intention of our government turned now to 
 Nicaragua, now to Panama. As soon as the Walker Report 
 was published, the directors of "The New French Company" 
 saw that their only chance of realizing anything was to accept 
 the forty million dollar valuation of their property, although 
 they felt that it was an unjustly low estimate. If they 
 refused to accept it, the American canal would be built 
 
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THE SECESSION FBOM COLOMBIA 465 
 
 via Nicaragua and their stock would not be worth forty 
 cents. 
 
 Their offer to sell out at this figure forced the Admin- 
 istration, on the basis of the Walker r.eport, to consider the 
 Panama route the more advantageous. Negotiations were 
 at once started with the Colombian government to acquire 
 Panama rights. 
 
 In December, 1902, the Colombian govenmient sent Dr. 
 Thomas Herran to Washington as charge d'affaires. Dr. 
 Herran was known to be favorable to the project of an 
 American canal at Panama, and he at once began work 
 with Secretary Hay towards drafting the necessary treaty. 
 
 On January 22, 1903, the convention known as the Hay- 
 Herran treaty was signed. It was agreed that Colombia 
 was to allow the new Panama Canal Company to sell all its 
 rights and privileges and properties, including the Panama 
 railroad, to the United States Government. We were to 
 have perpetual administrative control of a strip of land 
 thirty miles wide extending across the Isthmus. However, 
 the sovereignty of the Zone was to remain with Colombia. 
 There was to be a complicated system of justice, one set of 
 Colombian courts with jurisdiction over disputes between 
 Colombians, an American court, with jurisdiction in cases 
 involving two Americans, and a third court, composed of 
 American and Colombian jurists, to settle litigation between 
 Americans and Colombians. In return for these privileges, 
 we were to pay Colombia ten milUons of cash, and a hundred 
 thousand a year rental, to begin nine years after the ratifica- 
 tion of the treaty. 
 
 On March 17, 1903, the treaty was ratified by the United 
 States Senate. But it came to grief at Bogota. The political 
 pirates of that capital, headed by the de facto president, 
 Dr. Marroquin, seemed to feel that we were committed to 
 the Panama route, and would be wilUng to stand for any 
 
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466 PANAMA 
 
 amount of blackmail rather than to change back to Nica- 
 ragua. The diplomatic negotiations that followed are cloudy 
 in the extreme. Those papers which have been pubUshed by 
 the government of Bogota are a rather weak effort to show 
 that that government was only trying to protect the inter- 
 ests of its people. The papers pubhshed by our government 
 furnished decidedly strong evidence of a deliberate hold-up 
 game. 
 
 Things drifted along several months, with repeated 
 requests from Colombia that we should increase our offer. 
 Eventually, Secretary Hay communicated to the Colombian 
 foreign minister the following dispatch: 
 
 "The Colombian government apparently does not appre- 
 ciate the gravity of the situation. The canal negotiations 
 were initiated by Colombia, and were energetically pressed 
 upon this government for several years. The propositions 
 presented by Colombia, with slight modifications, were finally 
 accepted by us. In virtue of this agreement, oin: Congress 
 reversed its previous judgment and decided upon the Panama 
 route. If Colombia should now reject the treaty or unduly 
 delay its ratification, the friendly understanding between 
 the two countries would be so seriously compromised that 
 action might be taken by Congress next winter which every 
 friend of Colombia would regret." 
 
 This little hint, however, fell upon deaf ears in Bogota. 
 The Congress which should have ratified the treaty met on 
 June 20, 1903. On August 12th, the Colombian Senate 
 rejected the treaty. Mr. Johnson says that: 
 
 " On September 8, 1903, the Colombian government ' con- 
 fidentially' informed the Washington State Department that 
 despite its rejection of the proposal for further negotiations, 
 it intended to propose a reopening of negotiations, upon 
 bases which it judged would be acceptable 'to the Congress 
 of next July.' That is to say, the Hay-Herran treaty was 
 
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TBM SECESSION FROM COLOMBIA 467 
 
 to be killed, and then Colombia would ask for the negotia- 
 tion of a new treaty which would be acceptable to a new 
 Congress the next year! This characteristic bit of jugglery 
 did not meet with favor at Washington." 
 
 During these diplomatic delays, there was wild anxiety 
 among the shareholders of the French Canal Company in 
 Paris. If our government could not negotiate a satisfactory 
 treaty with Colombia, it would be forced to dig the canal 
 by way of Nicaragua, and the shares of the French company 
 would not be worth the paper they were written on. 
 
 Another important element in the situation was the atti- 
 tude of the merchants and business men of the Isthmus. 
 During the years of the French company's activity, they had 
 reaped a rich harvest. The large force of imported labor 
 necessary to build the canal had meant a. great revival of 
 business activity. They also were immensely worried at 
 the prospect of the Bogota government driving us in despera- 
 tion to the Nicaraguan route. 
 
 Our own government was also in an embarrassing situation. 
 As long as there was competition between the two govern- 
 ments, Nicaragua and Colombia, as to which route we would 
 choose, the government of Nicaragua was offering us very 
 favorable privileges. If, however, the Bogota government 
 rejected the treaty, and we were forced to turn to Nicaragua, 
 there was no guarantee that Zelaya, the dictator of Nica- 
 ragua, might not hold us up as blithely as the Colombian 
 crowd. 
 
 At this stage of the game, the Panama revolution "hap- 
 pened." Just howit happenedwill probably never be known. 
 
 It must be borne in mind that, as Mr. Roosevelt pointed 
 out, there had been fifty-three revolutions in fifty-seven years. 
 The history of Latin-America also shows that a great num- 
 ber of such insurrectional movements had been financed and 
 inspired by foreign capitalists. The merchants of Panama, 
 
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468 PANAMA 
 
 the holders of the stock in the French company, had a 
 direct financial interest in bringing about a revolution which 
 would insure the digging of the Panama Canal. The people 
 of Panama had no love for the Colombian government, and 
 would have revolted many times before if our government 
 had not stepped in to suppress their rebellions. 
 
 All this time the talk of a revolution was widespread. As 
 far as the Panamanians were concerned there was little 
 secret conspiring. When the treaty first came up in the 
 Colombian Senate, threats were received at Bogota that if 
 the treaty was thrown out the Isthmus would revolt. 
 M. Bunau-Varilla, for a long time associated with the 
 French company, and Mr. WilUam Nelson Cromwell, its 
 legal advisor, were pulling the necessary wires. And it 
 is certain that 'ii the French company was trying to fo- 
 ment an insurrection — ^it was now their only hope — ^they 
 found the natives of the Isthmus more than ready to 
 listen to sedition. 
 
 First of all there were the native merchants; the coming 
 of Americans and American money to the Isthmus meant 
 wealth for them. If the canal was dug in Nicaragua even 
 the Panama railroad would stagnate. Panama would no 
 longer be printed in commercial guides. Another revolution- 
 ary element was the group of local politicians. Any one 
 familiar with the politics of Latin-America will at once see 
 their point of view. Ten million dollars! If the United 
 States was willing to pay that sum for a Canal Zone, why 
 should not they have the spending of it, instead of the gang 
 at Bogota, or Zelaya. 
 
 Only one thing stood in the way of a revolution — ^the same 
 thing which a dozen times before had prevented it. There 
 was the clause in the treaty between the United States and 
 Colombia in which for certain specified "values received," 
 "the United States also guarantee, in the same manner, the 
 
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TBE SECESSION FBOM COLOMBIA 469 
 
 rights of sovereignty and property which New Granada has 
 and possesses over the said territory." 
 
 In 1846 our State Department had guaranteed to defend 
 Colombia's property rights in the Isthmus; several times 
 we had actually intervened by force to do so. Would we do 
 so again? Or had the recent developments changed the 
 heart of our government in the matter? This was the crux 
 of the whole affair. 
 
 Those who have claimed that Mr. Roosevelt's administra- 
 tion provoked and instigated a revolution in Panama are 
 aside from the point. At least for our administration to 
 have done so would have been foolish in the extreme. There 
 was no provoking nor instigating necessary. Our government 
 has officially denied this charge, and I find no reason to 
 doubt their truth in doing so. 
 
 The real question is in regard to the violation of the treaty 
 with Colombia. Had Colombia's blackmailing effort jus- 
 tified our sudden change in front in the matter, our sudden 
 neglect of a treaty obligation we had previously acknowl- 
 edged? The answer is a matter of opinion. I am inclined 
 to think we were justified. But most of us would feel better 
 about it, I think, if our government would accept the invita- 
 tion of Colombia to submit the matter to The Hague Tribunal. 
 
 The Panamanians were uncertain about how we would 
 act in the matter, and the revolutionary Junta — which was 
 composed of the most prominent citizens of Panama and 
 Colon — sent Dr. Amador to New York to find out. On 
 arrival he went first to the office of Mr. Cromwell, the 
 counsel for the French company. On leaving, he cabled to 
 his friends the word " Desanimado," which, if it was not a 
 code-word, would mean "discouraged." Later he visited 
 other friends and eventually met Bunau-Varilla, who had 
 "providentially" arrived from France that very day. He 
 then cabled the word " Esperanzas," "hopes." 
 
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470 PANAMA 
 
 Shortly afterwards he went to Washington and was 
 closeted with the then Secretary of State, Hay. Again I 
 will quote from Johnson, whose sources of information seem 
 to have been august: 
 
 "The replies given by Mr. Hay were diplomatically dis- 
 creet and guarded. He told Dr. Amador that, however much 
 the United States might sympathize with Panaman aspira- 
 tions for liberty and independence, and however much it 
 might regret or even resent Colombia's rejection of the canal 
 treaty, it would be manifestly impossible for this Government 
 to give any aid to a revolutionary enterprise, or to commit 
 itself with any promises in advance. It would scrupulously 
 fulfil its duties as a neutral, and would inflexibly maintain 
 its rights and privileges under the Treaty of 1846 with New 
 Granada. Those rights and privileges included the pro- 
 tection of free neutral transit across the Isthmus, and the 
 guarantee of the sovereignty of land against alien aggression, 
 though, of course, it did not guarantee Colombian possession 
 of the Isthmus against local and domestic revolution. But the 
 United States could give no promises to, and make no treaties 
 with, a government which was not yet in existence." 
 
 I have imderlined the portion of this account of Mr. 
 Johnson which has the most significance. If Secretary Hay 
 is correctly quoted, he here laid down an entirely new inter- 
 pretation of the treaty. That the United States, a nation 
 founded by a revolution, should have entered into a treaty 
 with Colombia which bound it to suppress revolutions on 
 the Isthmus, was a disgrace. But it had done so back in 
 1846, and for more than half a century had recognized this 
 treaty obligation and had from time to time actually landed 
 troops and suppressed revolutions. 
 
 Dr. Amador left the State Department with a light heart. 
 And the revolution "happened." 
 
 It was accomplished without bloodshed. American war- 
 
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THE SECESSION FSOM COLOMBIA 471 
 
 ships appeared to see that the first part of the treaty was 
 enforced — the maintenance of free transit. The Dixie, 
 Nashville, Atlanta, Maine, and Mayflower were at Colon. 
 The Boston, Marblehead, Concord, and Wyoming were at 
 Panama. 
 
 On November 2d the following dispatch was sent from the 
 Navy Department to the Nashville and Dixie: 
 
 "Maintain free and uninterrupted transit. If interruption 
 is threatened by armed force, occupy line of railroad. Pre- 
 vent landing of any armed force with hostile intent, either 
 government or insurgent, either at Colon, Porto Bello, or 
 other points." 
 
 As the insurgents had no navy by means of which it was 
 possible for them to land an armed force anywhere it was 
 hardly necessary to mention them in the dispatch. 
 
 An army of four hundred odd Colombian soldiers had been 
 sent out at the last moment and arrived at Colon on the 
 3d of November. As the revolution had not yet broken out, 
 the commander of the Nashville could not intervene, and 
 they were allowed to land. The generals very foolishly went 
 over to Panama ahead of their army. The officials of the 
 Panama railroad refused to transport the troops. So the 
 Colombian generals were easily disarmed, the republic pro- 
 claimed on November 4th. Three days later our government 
 recognized the new republic. 
 
 Of course the "statesmen" of Bogota had expected us to 
 live up to our treaty and were vastly dismayed when they 
 found we had recognized Panama. They had surely killed 
 the goose which they had counted on for many a golden egg. 
 
 A dispatch was received at Washington which practically 
 promised that if we would put down the Isthmian revolution, 
 the next Colombian Congress would ratify the Hay-Herran 
 Treaty. Mr. Roosevelt refers to this in his message of 
 December 7, 1903. The "eminent Colombian" whose name 
 
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472 PANAMA 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt discreetly conceals is generally supposed to 
 have been very close to the acting president, Dr. Marro- 
 quin. 
 
 "Knowing that revolution has already commenced in 
 Panama (an eminent Colombian) says that if the government 
 of the United States will land troops to preserve Colombian 
 sovereignty, and the transit, if requested by Colombian 
 charg^ d'affaires, this government will declare martial law; 
 and, by virtue of vested constitutional authority, when public 
 order is disturbed, will approve by decree the ratification of 
 the canal treaty as signed; or, if the government of the 
 United States prefers, will call extra session of the Congress 
 — with new and friendly members — next May to approve 
 the treaty. (An eminent Colombian) has the perfect con- 
 fidence of Vice-President, he says, and if it become necessary 
 will go to the Isthmus or send representative there to adjust 
 matters along above lines to the satisfaction of the people 
 there." 
 
 "This despatch is noteworthy from two standpoints. Its 
 offer of immediately guaranteeing the treaty to us is in sharp 
 contrast with the positive and contemptuous refusal of the 
 Congress which had just closed its sessions to consider favor- 
 ably such a treaty; it shows that the government which 
 made the treaty really had absolute control over the situa- 
 tion, but did not choose to exercise this control. The des- 
 patch further calls on us to restore order and secure Colom- 
 bian supremacy in the Isthmus, from which the Colombian 
 government has just by its action decided to bar us by 
 preventing the construction of the canal." 
 
 The question at issue in this whole matter is not of having 
 fomented a revolution, but of having permitted it. That we 
 suddenly changed our interpretation of a long-standing 
 treaty seems evident. 
 
 Once more I will quote from President Roosevelt's message 
 
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TEE SECESSION FROM COLOMBIA 473 
 
 of December 7, 1903. It sums up concisely and eloquently 
 the reasons which impelled his administration to do as it did. 
 
 "First: That the United States has for over half a century 
 patiently and in good faith carried out its obligations under 
 the Treaty of 1846. 
 
 "Second: That when for the first time it became possible 
 for Colombia to do anything in requital of the services thus 
 repeatedly rendered to it for fifty-seven years by the United 
 States, the Colombian Government peremptorily and offens- 
 ively refused to do its part, even though to do so would have 
 been to its advantage and immeasurably to the advantage 
 of the State of Panama, at that time under its jurisdiction. 
 
 "Third: That throughout this period revolutions, riots, 
 and factional disturbances of every kind have occurred one 
 after the other in almost uninterrupted succession, some of 
 them lasting for months and even for years, while the central 
 government was imable to put them down or to make peace 
 with the rebels. 
 
 "Fourth: That these disturbances, instead of showing 
 any sign of abating, have tended to grow more nmnerous 
 and more serious in the immediate past. 
 
 "Fifth: That the control of Colombia over the Isthmus 
 of Panama could not be maintained without the armed 
 intervention and assistance of the United States. 
 
 "In other words, the government of Colombia, though 
 wholly unable to maintain order on the Isthmus, has never- 
 theless declined to ratify a treaty the conclusion of which 
 opened the only chance to secure its own stability and to 
 guarantee permanent peace on and the construction of a 
 canal across the Isthmus. 
 
 "Under such circumstances the Government of the United 
 States would have been guilty of folly and weakness amount- 
 ing in their sum to a crime against the nation had it acted 
 otherwise than it did when the revolution of November 3 
 
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474 PANAMA 
 
 last took place in. Panama. This great enterprise of building 
 the interoceanic canal cannot be held up to gratify the whims, 
 or out of respect to the government impotence, or to the 
 even more sinister and evil political peculiarities, of people 
 who, though they dwell afar off, yet, against the wish of 
 the actual dwellers on the Isthmus, assert an unreal supremacy 
 over the territory. The possession of a territory fraught 
 with such peculiar capacities as the Isthmus in question 
 carries with it obligations to mankind. The course of events 
 has shown that this canal cannot be built by private enter- 
 prise, or by any other nation than our own, therefore it 
 must be built by the United States. 
 
 "Every effort has been made by the Government of the 
 United States to persuade Colombia to follow a course which 
 was essentially not only to our interests and to the interests 
 of the world, but to the interests of Colombia itself. These 
 efforts have failed, and Colombia, by her persistence in 
 repulsing the advances that have been made, has forced us, 
 for the sake of our own honor, and of the interest and well- 
 being, not merely of our own people, but of the people of the 
 Isthmus of Panama and the people of the civilized countries 
 of the world, to take decisive steps to bring to an end a 
 condition of affairs which had become intolerable. The new 
 republic of Panama immediately offered to negotiate a 
 treaty with us. By it our interests are better safeguarded 
 than in the treaty with Colombia, which was ratified by the 
 Senate at its last session. It is better in its terms than the 
 treaties offered to us by the republics of Nicaragua and Costa 
 Rica. At last the right to begin this great undertaking is 
 made available. Panama has done her part. All that re- 
 mains is for the American Congress to do its part, and forth- 
 with this republic will enter upon the execution of a project 
 colossal in its size and of well-nigh incalculable possibilities 
 for the good of this country and the nations of mankind." 
 
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CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 BEGINNING WORK 
 
 M. Bunatj-Varilla was appointed the first Minister to 
 the United States by the new Republic of Panama. Novem- 
 ber 18, 1903, fifteen days after the revolution, he signed with 
 Secretary Hay the "Panama Canal Convention." Three 
 months later it was ratified by our Senate — the Panama 
 Provisional Government had accepted it immediately — and 
 on February 26th, 1904, it was officially proclaimed. 
 
 By this Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty we guaranteed to 
 "maintain the independence of the Republic of Panama " 
 and to pay in.to its treasury $10,000,000, and, beginning nine 
 years after that date, to pay an annual rental of $250,000. 
 In return for this we got all we wanted — a Zone ten miles 
 wide over which we have "the rights, power and authority 
 . . . which the United States would possess and exercise 
 if it were the sovereign of the territory ... to the 
 entire exclusion of the exercise by the Republic of Panama of 
 any such sovereign rights, power or authority." 
 
 Article II, after defining the Canal Zone, gives us this 
 blanket provision: "The Republic of Panama further grants 
 to the United States in perpetuity the use, occupation and 
 control of any other lands and waters outside of the Zone 
 above described which may be necessary and convenient 
 for the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation and 
 protection of said Canal." Whenever it becomes convenient 
 we may absorb the whole Isthmus. 
 
 A great deal of criticism has been directed against this 
 treaty. As a matter of fact the provisional government of 
 
 475 
 
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476 PANAMA 
 
 the "Republic" was the same group of men who had earlier 
 called themselves the Revolutionary Junta. Their position 
 was too precarious to allow them to oppose any request our 
 government made. Much of this criticism, which is of course 
 regrettable, would have been avoided if we had shown a 
 little more deliberation and had allowed the regularly insti- 
 tuted National Constitutional Convention which convened in 
 Panama in January, 1904, to discuss the treaty, instead of 
 having accepted the ratification of the provisional govern- 
 ment. 
 
 The National Assembly, when it came together for the 
 first time, found that the republic it was elected to govern 
 had already been handed over as a protectorate to another 
 nation much too strong to be resisted — and this without any 
 sort of a democratic sanction. 
 
 There is no doubt that the National Assembly would have 
 ratified the Hay-Bimau-Varilla treaty. It is decidedly to 
 the advantage of the toy republic to be a protectorate. But 
 there would be less of the almost imiversal hatred towards 
 the Gringos if \he people of Panama had been allowed to 
 sell their own country rather than waking up suddenly to 
 find themselves already sold. 
 
 Six days after the Treaty had been proclaimed. President 
 Roosevelt, under the authority of the Spooner Bill, ap- 
 pointed an Isthmian Canal Commission of seven men, who 
 were confirmed by the Senate on March 3d. This first 
 Commission consisted of George W. Davis, a retired Major- 
 General; William B. Parsons, who had just completed the 
 New York subway; William H. Burr, a professor of civil 
 engineering in Colombia; Benjamin M. Harrod, a well-known 
 civil engineer of New Orleans; Carl E. Grunsky, and Frank 
 T. Hecker, also civil engineers, from San Francisco and 
 Detroit, respectively. Rear-Admiral John G. Walker, re- 
 tired, who had been a member of previous commissions to 
 
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BEGINNING WOBK 477 
 
 investigate the canal project, was appointed chairman of 
 the Commission. 
 
 General Davis was appointed Civil Governor of the Canal 
 Zone; he reached the Isthmus on the 17th of May. Two days 
 later he posted a proclamation that the United States had 
 assumed control of the Canal Zone. His manners, which 
 had the proverbial military brusqueness, proved offensive 
 to the Panamanians. They had arranged quite an elaborate 
 ceremonial for the occasion. The simple pasting up of a 
 formal poster did not seem to them sufficiently grandiose. 
 They protested to Washington through diplomatic channels, 
 and Governor Davis was instructed to attend the banquets 
 they had planned. With the exception of Colonel Gorgas, 
 almost all of our official representatives on the Isthmus 
 have shown a positive genius for offending the dehcate sen- 
 sibilities of the natives. 
 
 Four engineering parties were at once organized, one to 
 survey the Colon terminus, and the other three to investigate 
 the various dam-sites. It must be remembered that an 
 immense amount of work had already been done by the 
 French. The new company, which had been organized after 
 the de Lesseps failure, had kept up enough activity to 
 preserve their franchise and somewhat more than five 
 himdred men were actually engaged in excavation at Culebra 
 — they had already cut down to within 150 feet of sea-level 
 when we took possession. Major Black, of the Army Engi- 
 neers, was put in charge of this work, as it was desirable to 
 keep together this nucleus of a labor force. 
 
 On June 1st, Mr. John Findley Wallace was appointed 
 chief engineer. He was fifty-two years old and undoubtedly 
 one of the most eminent civil engineers in the country. 
 Although a New Englander by birth, he had grown up in 
 the West. For several years he had been general manager 
 of the Illinois Central Railroad. 
 
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478 PANAMA 
 
 As soon as he arrived on the Isthmus he commenced the 
 great work of organization. It is generally admitted that 
 the first steps are the most difficult; this was doubly true 
 of such an enterprise. To one who visits the Isthmus now, 
 it is hard to realize what it was when these pioneers arrived. 
 A narrow canon not fifteen feet wide stretched through the 
 Jungle from Colon to Panama — the right of way of the rail- 
 road. On either side the dense vegetation crowded forward 
 and was kept back only by constant machete work. Invis- 
 ible — ^back in the jimgle — our men knew that there were 
 houses built by the French, great stores of machinery, rails 
 and locomotives. But how far the houses were rotted, the 
 iron and steel had rusted, nobody knew. There was a stag- 
 nant, narrow ditch — the old French Canal — running in from 
 Colon to the Gatun Hills. How deep it had been at first, 
 how much it had filled up, nobody knew. Panama and Colon 
 were pest holes. To be sure we had cleaned up Havana 
 and Manila, but how long it would take to eradicate yellow 
 fever from the Zone nobody knew. Here was a great mass 
 of French maps, soimdings, records of rainfall, etc. But the 
 French had failed; nobody knew how far their documents 
 could be trusted. 
 
 Into this mass of uncertainties Mr. Wallace was sent. 
 Within six months he had begun to bring some order out of 
 the chaos. As yet we had not decided upon the type or exact 
 route of the canal. But in any event much work would have 
 to be done at Culebra. Wallace brought the force by Janu- 
 ary 1, 1905, up to twelve hundred. He had two of the old 
 French excavators and two American steam shovels at work 
 in the Cut, and was getting valuable information about the 
 unit costs of excavation in the tropics. He had also placed 
 orders for a dozen more steam shovels. 
 
 From the very first Mr. Wallace tried to satisfy the "im- 
 patient and imdue artxiety of the American people to see 
 
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BEGINNING WOBK 479 
 
 'dirt fly' " — this expression I have quoted from an article 
 by him in the Engineering Magazine. But while concentrating 
 the labor force in Culebra Cut — by July 1, 1905, he had 
 10,000 men at work there — he did as much as he could to 
 accomplish the more necessary preliminary work. 
 
 A careful investigation was made as to the amount and 
 condition of equipment and supplies left by the French: 
 Elaborate — and very necessary — surveys were made, to check 
 up the French plans and much original work was done in 
 gathering information on which to base a decision on the 
 much discussed question of sea-level or locks. 
 
 Of even more importance, as Mr. Wallace clearly recog- 
 nized, was the work of sanitation. Colonel Gorgas, who had 
 been health officer of Havana, came to the Isthmus at the 
 same time as did Wallace. They gave careful study to the 
 problem and began at once the work of cleaning up Colon 
 and Panama. 
 
 In all his imdertakings Mr. Wallace was immensely 
 hampered by red-tape and official delay. The first Com- 
 mission seems to have been principally actuated by a deter- 
 mination that no money should be wasted. They seemed 
 more anxious to avoid the financial scandal which had ruined 
 the de Lesseps company than to build a canal. Almost 
 every requisition was held up. 
 
 A typical, but by no means extreme, example is furnished 
 by the delay of the water supply for Panama. Yellow fever 
 mosquitoes find an ideal breeding place in the great earthen 
 jars in which the Latin- Americans are wont to store drinking 
 water. These "artificial containers" have to be eliminated 
 if yellow fever is to be extirpated. Colonel Gorgas had made 
 plans for furnishing running water to Panama. The plans 
 for the Rio Grande reservoir were submitted by Mr. Wallace 
 to the Commission on August 9, 1904, and approved. The 
 chief engineer, realizing the immense importance of this. 
 
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480 PANAMA 
 
 pushed the work of construction with great energy, only to 
 be held up nine months because the iron water mains did 
 not arrive. It was not until July, 1905, that water was 
 turned on in Panama. The actual construction work could 
 have been accomplished in three months; it had taken 
 almost a year! And of course this also delayed the laying 
 of sewers and the paving of the streets. And when, exas- 
 perated by this delay, Wallace telegraphed to the Commis- 
 sion, he was warned not to waste money cabling! 
 
 The following quotation from Johnson's "Four Centuries 
 of the Panama Canal" is a fair picture of the thing our first 
 canal diggers had to face: 
 
 "The members of the Commission spent little time at 
 Panama. Their office was at Washington, and there they 
 transacted their business. Requisitions for supplies, even 
 for things urgently needed in the hospitals and by the 
 sanitary squad, in cases where every hour was precious, had 
 to be sent to Washington, deliberated upon by the Com- 
 missioners, approved or rejected with little or no knowledge 
 of the circumstances, and then, if approved, advertised, 
 awarded, and finally filled weeks or months after date. In 
 such fashion it took several months to get an X-ray appar- 
 atus for the Ancon hospital. It took many weeks to get 
 mosquito-netting for the windows of the canal office building, 
 and then not enough was supplied; and in the meantime 
 some of the most valuable men of the staff were prostrated 
 by the bites of malarial mosquitoes. The chief sanitary 
 officer wanted netting for all the official buildings in the Canal 
 Zone. This request was refused as extravagant and unnec- 
 essary. Then he asked for at least enough to inclose the 
 verandas of the hospitals. This, too, was refused, and he 
 was told that there was no need of inclosing more than half 
 the verandas, and that even then a part of the space should 
 be solidly boarded up instead of screened!" 
 
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BEGINNING WOBK 481 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt was not slow to recognize how unsatisfac- 
 torily the Commission was working. In his message of Jan- 
 uary 13, 1905, he asked Congress for authority to form a 
 Commission of three members. The House passed a bill 
 such as the President desired, but the Senate refused to act. 
 Mr. Roosevelt, as was ever his wont, decided that if he could 
 not get what he wanted in one way, to try another. He 
 forced the Commission to resign, and on April 1st appointed 
 a new one. This second Commission consisted of Theodore 
 P. Shonts, chairman; John F. Wallace, chief engineer; and 
 Charles E. Magoon, civil governor of the Zone, and four 
 others. The others were Rear-Admiral Endicott, Brigadier- 
 General Hains, Colonel Ernst, and Harrold, who had been 
 a member of the first Commission. These four were all 
 able engineers, but under the rules drawn up for the Com- 
 mission by the President, everything had been put in the 
 hands of the executive committee, composed of Shonts, 
 Wallace, and Magoon. The same set of rules required two 
 of the executive committee to reside in the Isthmus — a great 
 improvement — and also authorized it to make purchases of 
 less than a thousand dollars without advertising for bids. 
 It was as satisfactory an arrangement as could be made 
 without the new legislation which the Senate had refused to 
 grant. Various bills, legalizing this distortion of the existing 
 law, have been continually before Congress and none of 
 them have been passed. The canal is being built by admin- 
 istrative evasion. It could not be done otherwise. Which 
 is a rather distressing commentary on the brains of our 
 law-makers. 
 
 In much the same way the President solved the diflScult 
 question of whether or not the Commission should be com- 
 pelled to buy its equipment in the home markets. Congress 
 refused to legislate, and an executive order authorized the 
 purchase of material without any such restriction. This 
 
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482 PANAMA 
 
 seems to be a violation in principle of our tariff laws, and 
 has proved so eminently wise in the canal work that we can 
 not but wish that Mr. Roosevelt had made his order broad 
 enough to include the home land as well. In the same vein 
 the Administration decreed that our immigration laws did 
 not cover the Zone, and foreign contract labor was admitted. 
 
 At about the same time Mr. Roosevelt called a council of 
 eminent engineers to discuss and if possible settle the ques- 
 tion of whether the canal should be dug to sea-level or the 
 lock system adopted. 
 
 At this juncture everything was thrown into confusion by 
 the unexpected resignation of Mr. Wallace. 
 
 Very few recent events have caused such passionate dis- 
 cussion as this action, and hardly any are more shrouded in 
 mystery. Certainly Mr. Wallace had had no end of trouble 
 with the first Commission. But the reorganization had been 
 made practically on his dictation and he had expressed his 
 satisfaction not only with the other members of the new 
 Conmiission, but also of his position on it. His salary was 
 $25,000 a year, and the administration at Washington 
 thought that he was entirely contented. Certainly his 
 resignation came at a most unfortimate time, before the 
 second Commission had become organized and just on the 
 eve of the meeting of the Board of Consulting Engineers. 
 
 What caused Mr. Wallace to ask for his release is uncer- 
 tain. Some say the offer of a better salary. Some say he 
 — or his family on his behalf — was afraid of the yellow fever. 
 There is also a story of a personal quarrel with Shonts. The 
 attitude of the administration is shown in these excerpts 
 from a letter written by the Secretary of War, Mr. Taft: 
 
 "I am inexpressibly disappointed, not only because you 
 have taken this step, but because you seem so utterly insen- 
 sible of the significance of your conduct. You come with 
 the bald announcement that you quit your task at a critical 
 
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BEGINNING WOBK 483 
 
 moment, on the eve of important work and in the midst of 
 reorganization plans under which you accepted your position, 
 with your department unperfected in organization. . . . 
 You were consulted in the frankest manner about every 
 feature of the reorganization and were encouraged freely to 
 express your opinions. Indeed, your voluntary suggestions 
 from the Isthmus embraced the proposal that you yourself 
 be made a member of the Commission and chief engineer on 
 the Isthmus. The substance of the plan of reorganization, 
 as afterward embodied in the President's executive order of 
 April 1, was cabled to you by me, and you cabled me your 
 fullest approval of it and your thanks; for it included the 
 appointment of yourself as a Commissioner, as you had 
 solicited, and a member of the executive committee. . . . 
 "Now, within twelve days after your arrival upon the 
 Isthmus, you send me a cable which, read in the light of 
 what you say to-day, signifies your practical acceptance of 
 an offer of another position inconsistent with the perform- 
 ance of your duties on the Isthmus. I am astonished that 
 you should be so disregardful of the splendid opportimities 
 of the position which would have made you famous the world 
 over by the honorable performance of your duties of chief 
 engineer. For mere lucre you change your position over 
 night, without thought of the embarrassing position in which 
 you place your Government by this action, when the engi- 
 neering forces on the Isthmus are left without a real head 
 and your department is not perfected in organization, when 
 the advisory board of engineers is to assemble under call of the 
 President within two months, and when I am departing for 
 the Philippines on public duty. I consider that by every 
 principle of honor and duty you were bound to treat the 
 subject differently. You have permitted the President and 
 all of us to proceed in full confidence that you would perform 
 the functions of chief engineer, and now in an hour you drop 
 
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484 PANAMA 
 
 your great duties and throw them back upon us as if it were 
 a matter of no consequence, and all this for yoiu- personal 
 advantage solely. . . . 
 
 "Under the circumstances, Mr. Wallace, and with great 
 personal pain and disappointment, I am bound to say that 
 I consider the public interests require that you tender your 
 resignation at this moment and turn over the records of 
 your office to the chairman of the Commission." 
 
 A few days later, Mr. Wallace gave a statement to the 
 press which, while not satisfactorily explaining his attitude, 
 denied that "mere lucre" had been the sole cause of his 
 resignation. 
 
 "The primary causes,' he said, "which led me to tender 
 my resignation as chief engineer of the Isthmian Canal 
 Commission were underlying and fimdamental, and I must 
 emphatically resent the charge that my motive in leaving 
 the work was a financial one. A careful consideration of the 
 entire subject had brought me to the decision that I should 
 disconnect myself with the work at the earliest possible date 
 that it could be done without embarrassment to the admin- 
 istration or injury to the work. . . . My final decision 
 was arrived at as the result of the six days' iminterrupted 
 thought which I was able to give the subject in all its bear- 
 ings during my voyage from New York to Colon, in May. 
 Furthermore, I had pledged myself to my family to give the 
 matter of my resignation as chief engineer, or of any position 
 which would require my continuous residence on the Isthmus, 
 serious consideration. 
 
 "It was at this psychological moment that I received a 
 cable message from New York offering me a business oppor- 
 tunity which I was bound to consider. I, therefore, imme- 
 diately cabled the Secretary of War requesting a conference, 
 and arrived in New York for that purpose on Thursday, 
 June 22. . . . 
 
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BEGINNING WOSK 485 
 
 " On arriving at the Manhattan on Sunday, I was met by 
 Mr. Cromwell, who ushered me into the Secretary's private 
 apartment, accompanied by my son. Assumiag that arrange- 
 ments had been made for a strictly private interview, my 
 son withdrew, expecting Mr. Cromwell to do the same. 
 However, the Secretary, in a rather peremptory manner, 
 directed Mr. Cromwell to remain. This action, of course, 
 caused irritation and apprehension on my part that the 
 interview would be unpleasant and unsatisfactory, and the 
 irritation under which the Secretary was evidently laboring 
 had a tendency to prevent that calm and dignified considera- 
 tion of the question in all its bearings which should have 
 been given it. 
 
 " If the Secretary understood me to say that I had accepted 
 a position in New York, he labored under a misapprehension. 
 I did state to him that I desired to accept one, but under 
 such circumstances and conditions and at such time as would 
 cause the least embarrassment to the administration and 
 the least injury to the work, and that I was even willing to 
 go to the ejctent of remaining for an indefinite time on the 
 Commission, should he desire my counsel and advice in 
 arranging for the change, assisting in preparing plans for 
 submission to the advisory board of engineers in September, 
 or in the further consideration of the question by the admin- 
 istration or Congress during its next session. 
 
 "Much to my surprise he indignantly spumed my sugges- 
 tion and took the position that I was compelled under what 
 he called my contract to remain in charge of the Isthmian 
 canal, regardless of circmnstances or conditions, until the 
 completion of the work, and spoke in such a manner as to 
 outrage my feeling to such an extent that further discussion 
 of the reasons for my action was out of the question. 
 
 "I did not seek the position of chief engineer of the Isth- 
 mian Canal Commission, and, considering my salary as 
 
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486 PANAMA 
 
 general manager of the Illinois Central Railroad Company 
 and my other sources of earnings, my financial condition was 
 not improved by my acceptance of the position, and it was 
 with the greatest reluctance that I did so. 
 
 "While it was my own expectation that I should continue 
 my coimection with the work, it did not occur to me that I 
 was not free to withdraw if justice to myself and my family 
 and to my reputation as an engineer required me to do so. 
 It was not only my right, but my duty, to give the matter 
 most careful consideration in all its bearings, considering 
 not only the general situation as it affected the work, but 
 my family, personal and business relations, and all the 
 various factors entering into the problem, and I could not 
 concede the right to the Secretary of War or any one to 
 dictate my decision. The only debatable questions were 
 the details as to putting my decision into effect, and, while 
 I stated to the Secretary what my desires were, I told him 
 that I was perfectly willing to conform to his wishes as far 
 as possible as to the time and manner of my withdrawal. 
 
 "I have made no criticism of personnel or individuals, 
 but do believe that the obstacles due to the government 
 methods required by existing laws are so serious that they 
 will have to be eliminated if the American people are to 
 see the Panama Canal constructed in a reasonable time and 
 at a moderate cost." 
 
 In the course of the next year Mr. Wallace was called as 
 a witness before a congressional investigation committee and, 
 in reply to a question as to the cause of his resignation, said: 
 
 "My reason was, that I was made jointly responsible with 
 Mr. Shonts and Mr. Magoon for work on the canal, while 
 Mr. Shonts had a verbal agreement with the President that 
 he should have a free rein in the management of all matters. 
 I felt Mr. Shonts was not as well qualified as I was either as 
 a business man or an administrator, and he was not an 
 
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BEGINNING WOBK 487 
 
 engineer. ... I thought it better to sacrifice my am- 
 bitions regarding this work, which was to be the crowning 
 event of my life, than remain to be humiliated, forced to 
 disobey orders, or create friction." 
 
 That there was something more back of this incident than 
 either Mr. Wallace or the administration ever explained is 
 generally believed. 
 
 John F. Stevens was appointed chief engineer in his place. 
 
 But before leaving Mr. Wallace's administration it is worth 
 while to notice that he had never had a free rein. First of 
 all he had been seriously hampered by the red-tape of the 
 first Commission, and secondly he had been forced by public 
 opinion to "make the dirt fly." Both of these limitations 
 had interfered with the organization of the labor force, 
 the securing of equipment and the development of sanitary 
 work. Stevens began under much more favorable circum- 
 stances. The preliminary work of exploring the job had been 
 finished; the engineering problems had also been cleared of 
 the jungle of vmcertainty. The data was all in. Also the 
 new Commission, with all power in the hands of the executive 
 committee, was a very much more workable proposition 
 than the old one. 
 
 Stevens was one of the best "construction" men this 
 country has ever produced. He knew railroading intimately 
 and above all he had a genius for organizing an esprit de corps. 
 Wallace seems to have been more lacking in this than in 
 anything else. The force, especially the higher salaried 
 white men, were in a very unsatisfactory psychological con- 
 dition. Men had been changed from one job to another, 
 elevated or degraded without any visible reason. 
 
 Stevens had that peculiar ability to create confidence. 
 He was the sort of boss the men on the job adore. In overalls 
 and high boots he was somewhere on "the line" all the time. 
 He could get work out of his men. One story they tell is 
 
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 typical of his dealings with his subordinates. He had sent 
 an order to a carpenter to build some shops near Gorgona. 
 The man sent back a letter to headquarters saying that 
 there was a pile of old French equipment on the proposed 
 site and asking how he should dispose of it. Stevens wrote 
 on the bottom of the letter: 
 
 "Wait till I have a free Simday and I'll come down and 
 move it for you." 
 
 He was patient with the man who made a blunder, but 
 exceedingly caustic to the man who did nothing. The men 
 began to stop wondering if the canal could be built. 
 
 In Jackson Smith, who was afterwards made a member of 
 the Commission, Stevens found a very able assistant in the 
 work of recruiting a labor force and organizing the Subsist- 
 ence Department. 
 
 Stevens gave his especial attention — and this was his 
 greatest contribution — to the problem of transportation. 
 He stopped the experimental excavation and concentrated 
 all efforts in laying the foundations for the work. Under 
 his administration shops and docks were built, housing 
 arranged and sanitation put on a basis of high efficiency. 
 But above all he took hold of the railroad. The old P. R. R. 
 was practically scrapped, heavy rails and new rolling stock 
 which Mr. Wallace had ordered were installed, and the 
 organization made a model of " efficiency." 
 
 While Stevens was chief engineer, the board of consulting 
 engineers met. Five of the members were appointed by 
 European governments at the request of President Roose- 
 velt; Eugen Tincauzer, chief engineer of Kiel Canal, German; 
 Eduoard Quellennec, of the Suez Canal, French; J. W. 
 Welcker, director of the State Waterways of Holland; 
 Adolph Gu^rard, of the French "Ponts et Chauss6es" and 
 Henry W. Hunter, chief engineer of the Manchester Ship 
 Canal, English. To this board, Mr. Roosevelt also ap- 
 
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BEGINNINQ WOBK 489 
 
 pointed eight eminent American engineers, making in ail 
 thirteen. 
 
 The question they were to study and report upon was the 
 relative advantages of a sea-level or lock canal. The result 
 of their deliberations was to prove conclusively that a great 
 deal could be said on each side. They brought in two reports; 
 a majority of eight, including all the foreigners, believed a 
 sea-level canal to be preferable, while five American engi- 
 neers reported in favor of a lock canal with a summit level 
 of eighty-five feet above the sea. The two groups agreed 
 that to dig to sea-level would take about twice as long and 
 cost almost twice as much as the construction of a lock canal. 
 But the majority felt that the advantages of the former plan 
 were great enough to offset the outlay in time and money. 
 To these reports were added one by the chief engineer, Mr. 
 Stevens, which was strongly in favor of locks. 
 
 "The sum of my conclusions is," he wrote, "that, all 
 things considered, the lock or high-level canal is pre- 
 ferable to the sea-level type, so called, for the following 
 reasons: 
 
 "It will provide as safe and a quicker passage for ships, 
 and, therefore, will be of greater capacity. 
 
 "It will provide, beyond question, the best solution of the 
 vital problem of how safely to care for the flood waters of 
 the Chagres and other streams. 
 
 "Provision is made for enlarging its capacity to almost 
 any extent at very much less expense of time and money 
 than can be provided for by any sea-level plan. 
 
 "Its cost of operation, maintenance, and fixed charges 
 will be very much less than any sea-level canal. 
 
 "The time and cost of its construction will be not one-half 
 that of a canal of the sea-level type. 
 
 " The element of time might become, in case of war, actual 
 or threatened, one of such importance that, measured, not 
 
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490 PANAMA 
 
 by years, but by months, or even days, the entire cost of the 
 canal would seem trivial in comparison. 
 
 "Finally, even at the same cost in time and money for 
 each type, I would favor the adoption of the high-level 
 lock-canal plan in preference to that of the proposed sea- 
 level canal." 
 
 These three documents were submitted to the regular 
 Isthmian Canal Commission. And all but one of that body 
 endorsed the lock project; Rear-Admiral Endicott alone 
 stood out for the sea-level canal advocated by the majority 
 of the consulting engineers. 
 
 All these reports then went to the administration; Mr. 
 Taft, the Secretary of War, and Mr. Roosevelt both took 
 sides with those in favor of the lock proposition, and the 
 matter was referred to Congress with the following message 
 by the President on February 19, 1906 : 
 
 "It must be borne in mind that there is no question of 
 building what has been picturesquely termed 'the Straits of 
 Panama'; that is, a waterway through which the largest 
 vessels could go with safety at uninterrupted high speed. 
 Both the sea-level canal and the proposed lock-canal would 
 be too narrow and shallow to be called with any truthful- 
 ness a strait, or to have any of the properties of a wide, 
 deep water strip. Both of them would be canals, pure and 
 simple. Each type has certain disadvantages and certain 
 advantages. But, in my judgment, the disadvantages are 
 fewer and the advantages very much greater in the case of 
 a lock canal substantially as proposed in the papers forwarded 
 herewith; and a careful study of the reports seems to establish 
 a strong probability that the following are the facts: The 
 sea-level canal would be slightly less exposed to damage in 
 the event of war; the rmming expenses, apart from the heavy 
 cost of interest on the amount employed to build it, would 
 be less; and for small ships the time of transit would prob- 
 
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BEGINNING WOBK 491 
 
 ably be less. On the other hand, the lock canal, at a level 
 of eighty feet or thereabouts, would not cost much more 
 than half as much to build, and could be built in about half 
 the time, while there would be very much less risk connected 
 with building it, and for large ships the transit would be 
 quicker; while, taking into account the interest on the 
 amount saved in building, the actual cost of maintenance 
 would be less. After being built, it would be easier to 
 enlarge the lock canal than the sea-level canal. 
 
 "The law now on our statute books seems to contemplate 
 a lock canal. In my judgment a lock canal, as herein recom- 
 mended, is advisable. If the Congress directs that a sea- 
 level canal be constructed, its direction will, of course, be 
 carried out. Otherwise, the canal will be built on sub- 
 stantially the plan for a lock canal outlined in the accom- 
 panying papers, such changes being made, of course, as may 
 be found actually necessary." 
 
 In Jime Congress voted for locks and the much-discussed 
 question was settled. 
 
 As very often happens in this haphazard world of ours, 
 our vision is greatly cleared after the heat of controversy 
 has died down; after the time when clear vision is needed 
 our eyes are opened. So many new considerations have 
 come up since this matter was imder discussion that it is 
 probable that if the same board were to meet again they 
 would be almost unanimously in favor of the plans actually 
 adopted. 
 
 It was decided later to increase the size of the canal, to 
 accommodate larger ships. To make excavations for these 
 new dimensions down to sea-level would increase the cost 
 and time, not twice, but four or five times. Actual experience 
 has shown that the estimates of "costs" by the board of 
 consulting engineers were inaccurate. Some of the work 
 we are doing cheaper than they thought possible. Some is 
 
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492 PANAMA 
 
 costing more. It is not worth while for a layman to express 
 an opinion on so technical a problem. But the fact is striking 
 that, while in 1906 expert opinion seemed to be pretty 
 evenly divided on the subject, to-day one hears very few 
 reputable engineers talking of a sea-level canal. In a time 
 when the disagreement of the doctors made it impossible 
 to reach a rational assurance of which solution was the 
 better, we seem to have stumbled into the wiser course. 
 
 In giving his original instructions to the first Commission 
 in 1904, Mr. Roosevelt called especial attention to the need 
 of effective sanitation. "You will," he said, "take measures 
 to secure the best medical experts for this purpose whom you 
 can obtain." In choosing Colonel Gorgas as chief sanitary 
 officer, the Commission observed the letter of these instruc- 
 tions. But unfortunately they did not give him either the 
 authority or the means to carry out his work. 
 
 On January 1, 1904, there were no cases of yellow fever, 
 smallpox or the plague on the Isthmus. Two cases of yellow 
 fever developed on the 15th, and other scattering cases 
 followed. On July 1, 1904, the American sanitary officers 
 arrived on the Zone. From that date until December 20th 
 ten persons were stricken with yellow fever, of whom only 
 two died. In other words, there was no serious epidemic 
 for six months after assuming control. Our doctors knew 
 just what ought to be done. They had had a successful — 
 a marvellously successful — experience in cleaning up Havana. 
 I have already noticed how their requisitions were held up 
 by the Commission. They were not given the chance to do 
 their work. And week by week the number of yellow fever 
 cases increased — and with it demoralization. 
 
 No one who has not been through an epidemic can realize 
 the difficulty of keeping up courage. It is so illogical, so 
 insidious and uncertain. And the veil of mystery which 
 surrounds the reasons for which it picks its victims is so 
 
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BEGINNING WOBK 493 
 
 deep. In the first week of an epidemic everyone has a 
 theory of who is marked out. Once in a plague-ridden town 
 I met a confident, smiling man, who laughed at the danger. 
 It was only heavy drinkers, he said, who had any reason to 
 be afraid. The next day I found him white-faced and hag- 
 gard trying to bribe an official to let him leave the place. 
 A friend whom he knew to be a total abstainer had died. 
 It is the uncertainty of it that is fearful. 
 
 Many of the Americans resigned and went home. Others 
 tried to laugh it off. Some fools made a point of sneering 
 at the mosquito theory, and even tore holes in the few wire 
 screens the Commission had allowed the sanitary corps to 
 put up. 
 
 It was at this juncture that Mr. Roosevelt forced the first 
 Commission to resign and appointed their successors. 
 Magoon, the new Governor of the Canal Zone, arrived in 
 May, 1905. He realized at once how desperate the situation 
 threatened to become. He saw that the sanitary work was 
 more important than anything else. And he gave Colonel 
 Gorgas the much needed, much delayed support which was 
 imperative. He cabled at once to Washington for the 
 necessary supplies. And, so much had the organization of 
 the Commission been improved, within forty-eight hours 
 after he had sent his dispatches, the materials were on their 
 way. The sanitary department was allowed to organize 
 adequate inspection squads. Work was pushed on the sewer- 
 age work and water supply. A wholesale fumigation was 
 made of Panama and Colon. 
 
 When Magoon arrived in May, 1905, there were thirty- 
 eight yellow fever cases in the hospital, "and more were 
 expected in June." The evil effects of the earlier neglect 
 of sanitation could not be avoided. In June there were 
 sixty-two cases. But Magoon and Gorgas had by their 
 activity restored confidence and the number of desertions 
 
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 fell off. In July, the yellow fever dropped to forty-two. 
 In August there were only twenty-seven sick. In September 
 the epidemic ended with only six cases, the last of which 
 occurred on the 29th. This was the end of yellow fever in 
 the Canal Zone. I believe one case has developed in the six 
 years which have passed since that date. Possibly there 
 have been two or three more. But one is probably in less 
 danger from this old scourge in Panama and Colon than in 
 any tropical city which has not been subjected to as rigorous 
 sanitation. 
 
 The annual death rate from all diseases had been reduced 
 to less than 25 per 1,000. Cairo and Madras have a death 
 rate as high as 38 per 1,000. Bombay is the highest, some 
 years reaching 55. Of the northern cities, Moscow in 1904 
 had 27.6 deaths per 1,000, Trieste 25.8, St. Petersburg 23.7, 
 Breslau 23.5, Dublin 23.3, Liverpool and New York 22.6, 
 Venice 22.2, New Orleans 21.5. As these are all industrial 
 cities, it is evident that the sanitary officers had made of 
 the Canal Zone a place where work could go on uninter- 
 rupted by disease. 
 
 The point had now been reached where the completion of 
 the canal was assured. The engineers under the leadership 
 of Mr. Stevens had not been behind the doctors in success- 
 fully solAdng their problems. However, there was to be 
 one more change in the administration. 
 
 The reasons which led to Mr. Stevens's resignation are 
 as obscure as was the case when Mr. Wallace withdrew. 
 
 The story which is generally believed on the Isthmus is 
 to this effect. While the worst of the evils of red-tapism 
 had been done away with, still Mr. Stevens, who had been 
 trained in private railroading, found himself considerably 
 constrained by the constant necessity of considering the 
 political exigencies of the situation. A great many people 
 considered that they had a right to investigate his actions. 
 
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BEGINNING WORK 495 
 
 Of course they did have such a right as it was a pubhc under- 
 taking; but Mr. Stevens was not used to the ordeal. In 
 order to get the necessary appropriations from Congress a 
 certain amount of political tact was necessary. Mr. Stevens 
 lacked it. A hundred and one petty limitations and restric- 
 tions irritated him. Every time he saw Mr. Roosevelt he 
 let off steam, fussing and fuming till he felt better — and then 
 went back to the job with redoubled vigor. 
 
 At one time he did not have such an opportunity for several 
 months, and the steam pressure grew pretty tense. Some 
 particularly annoying piece of officialism made him suddenly 
 mad, and he called his stenographer and dictated a five- or 
 six-page letter to Mr. Roosevelt in which he expressed his 
 strong feelings in a much more informal style than is gener- 
 ally used in official correspondence. 
 
 Jackson Smith, one of the Commissioners, who was on 
 very friendly terms with Stevens, came into his office shortly 
 afterwards and found him in the best of spirits. When the 
 business in hand was completed he said jovially : 
 
 "Read this. I've just been easing my mind to T. R. It's 
 a hot one — isn't it? " And he handed over the carbon copy 
 of his letter. His visitor read it with great seriousness. 
 
 "Mr. Stevens," he said, "that is the same as a resigna- 
 tion." 
 
 And Stevens laughed. 
 
 "Why, I've said that kind of thing to the Colonel a dozen 
 times. He knows I don't mean to quit this job." 
 
 But about three hours after the letter reached Washington 
 Mr. Stevens received a cablegram: "Your resignation ac- 
 cepted." 
 
 Mr. Stevens has stated in a personal letter that this story 
 is incorrect. He did not, however, give an alternate ex- 
 planation, beyond saying that he resigned voluntarily. 
 
 Jackson Smith, who started the story I have given, is now 
 
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 dead. But there are many men still on the Isthmus who 
 claim to have heard it direct from him. It has doubtless 
 been somewhat distorted in the telhng and retelling before 
 it reached me. I give it with all reservations. It is of in- 
 terest because the men on the job who knew Stevens believe 
 that he never meant to resign, and that this story is sub- 
 stantially correct. 
 
 The administration version is that Mr. Stevens could not 
 work with it harmoniously, that he made demands, impos- 
 sible to be granted, under threat of resignation, and that 
 he forced them to seek elsewhere for a man to complete the 
 work. 
 
 There are a great many people on the canal work to-day 
 who regret that Stevens left. He certainly was a great en- 
 gineer and a genius in inspiring his men to full effort. How- 
 ever, the work which he accomplished stands there as his 
 monument. Colonel Goethals, his successor, is the first to 
 give him credit. 
 
 The work was on a "going basis." What was needed at 
 this time was above all things stability in its executive head. 
 Mr. Roosevelt was able to get this, combined with a very 
 high ability, in the engineering corps of the army. And 
 — ^this was the greatest consideration — ^the army oflBcers 
 would not resign. 
 
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CHAPTER XXX 
 
 THE BOSS OF THE JOB 
 
 "Tell me something about Colonel Goethals." 
 
 My friend was a keen observer who had already given me 
 much information about the life and work on the Canal Zone. 
 
 " You want a line on the old man ? " he said after a mo- 
 ment's consideration. " Well, the most distinctive picture of 
 him I have is this. I used to live at Culebra. One night I 
 was sitting out on the porch of my quarters, smoking. There 
 were only a few lights here aad there in the Administration 
 Building. One by one they went out, all except that in the 
 old man's office. It was getting on toward ten when his 
 window went dark. It was the dry season. A full moon, 
 as big as a dining-room table, was hanging down about a foot 
 and a half above the flagstaff — a gorgeous night. The old 
 man came out and walked across the grass to his house. 
 He didn't stop to look up at the moon; he just pegged along, 
 his head a httle forward, still thinking. And he hadn't been 
 in his own house ten minutes before all the lights were out 
 there. He'd turned in, getting ready to catch that early 
 train. The only time the Colonel isn't working is from 10 
 P.M. to 6 A.M., when he's asleep." 
 
 That seems to be the thing which impresses our men down 
 here most of all about the Boss. He is always on the Job. 
 
 Just what is the Job? 
 
 Strictly speaking, it is administrative, rather than con- 
 structive, engineering. The type of the Canal was decided 
 upon before the present Commission was installed. They 
 
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498 PANAMA 
 
 have had but few changes of importance to make: widening 
 the channel in the Cut, increasing the size of the locks, and 
 the moving of the Pacific locks inland, beyond the range 
 of a hostile fleet. Their work had been the perfecting of 
 details and the execution of what had been already deter- 
 mined. 
 
 Wallace was our first " Boss of the Job." His contribution 
 was the creative imagination to foresee the stupendous pro- 
 portions of the undertaking. Sent down to a fever-ridden 
 tropical jungle, so dense that one could not penetrate it 
 without constant use of a machete, he saw the thing in the 
 large. He signed requisitions for ninety-ton steam-shovels 
 by wholesale; ordered a modern railway; asked for an 
 equipment on such a scale as had never been dreamed of. 
 The first Commission was lacking in similar foresight. One 
 of the causes for Wallace's sudden resignation was the fact 
 that his requisitions were ignored. He could not get the 
 tools he needed — tools the necessity of which has since 
 been realized, and which are now in operation. 
 
 Stevens was our next Boss. His is the honor of having 
 recruited and organized the labor force. He established the 
 whole enterprise on a going basis. The engineers now on the 
 Job speak with especial respect of the masterly way in which 
 he solved the transportation problem, for digging the Cut 
 requires not only the breaking up of the mountain barrier, 
 but also the removing of it. And it was during his adminis- 
 tration that, after much arguing and infinite study, the type 
 of the Canal was finally decided upon. 
 
 But Stevens, hke Wallace, was too little of a politician to 
 swing the Washington end of the Job. Different people give 
 different reasons as to why he at last threw it up. Probably, 
 as in Wallace's case, friction with his superiors at Washington 
 was one of the reasons. At all events, he made way for 
 the present Commission. Most of them are army engineers, 
 
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TEE BOSS OF TSB JOS 499 
 
 who through long government service understand how to take 
 orders and at the same time to get what they need for their 
 work. 
 
 Although the Job is to-day one which is primarily ad- 
 ministrative, the carrying out of the work already planned, 
 the maintaining of an organization already installed, it is 
 none the less an affair which calls for a man of more than 
 ordinary stature. 
 
 Colonel George Washington Goethals, the Chief Engineer 
 and Chairman of the Commission, is now at the head of this 
 great National Job of ours. A visitor to the Isthmus who 
 has not included "the Colonel" among the sights has missed 
 more than half that there is to see down here. 
 
 The Administration Building is a bamlike, corrugated-iron- 
 roofed structure on the top of Culebra Hill. Before en- 
 tering it you get the impression of a noteworthy lack of fuss 
 and feathers. Through a broad corridor, hung with maps 
 and blue prints of the work, you reach the office, where the 
 Chairman's private secretary and chief clerk reign over a 
 vast filing system. You will travel far before you see a more 
 smoothly running office. Does the Colonel want a copy of 
 the letter to the Spanish Government about contract laborers? 
 Does he want to look over the specifications in the contract 
 for the new unloading cranes for the Balboa dock, or By-law 
 37 of the International Brotherhood of Railroad Engineers, 
 or the excavation record of steam-shovel 333? Or is it 
 the personal file of employee No. 33,333 — the date of his 
 birth, the color of his hair, how many times he has been 
 docked for sleeping overtime, or the cause of his last quarrel 
 with his wife? A push-button starts an electric buzz, and 
 inside of two minutes the desired document is on his desk. 
 
 There are few men at the head of as large an undertaking 
 who are so easy of access. If you have to wait a few minutes, 
 you can find plenty to hold your interest. The walls are 
 
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500 PANAMA 
 
 covered with maps and blue prints. This is true of every 
 wall in the Canal Zone. There may be private homes along 
 the line where the rooms are decorated with familiar photo- 
 graphs of the Venus de Milo and the Coliseum; but every 
 official wall is plastered with blue prints. 
 
 But you will not have to wait long before you are ushered 
 into the Throne Room — more maps and blue prints — and 
 you are face to face with the most absolute autocrat in the 
 world. 
 
 Many people have described Colonel Goethals as having 
 a boyish face; but they must have seen him with his hat 
 on, for his hair is white. If, as they say, his face looks 
 twenty and his hair sixty, I could not see it, for his eyes — 
 which dominate — look forty. He is broad-shouldered and 
 erect. He carries his head the way they did at West Point 
 before it became fashionable for the cadets to wear stays. 
 Above everything, he looks alert and "fit." Although he 
 does not spare himself, he has not lost a day from malaria. 
 
 Of course the first thing you do will be to hand him your 
 perfectly useless "letter from my Congressman." Useless, 
 because even if you have no letter he will show you every 
 courtesy he can without interfering with the Job; and he 
 will not interfere with the Job even if you bring letters from 
 all the Congressmen. 
 
 Like every man who accomplishes an immense amount of 
 work, he is a great believer in routine. 
 
 Six mornings a week he is "out on the line," and he takes 
 the early train. He took me along on one of these inspection 
 trips. It was before seven when we reached Pedro Miguel, 
 and we walked back through the Cut to Empire. It was 
 four hours of bitter hard tramping, for the Colonel kept, to 
 no beaten track. Whatever interested him he wished to see 
 at close range. So it was something of a luxury to have a 
 few minutes of "good walking" on railway ties. And 
 
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THE BOSS OF TBE JOB 501 
 
 dodging the incessant rush of dirt-trains and running for 
 shelter when the whistle warns that the dynamite squad is 
 on the point of shooting a "dobe" charge require no small 
 expenditure of energy. I have often walked through the 
 Cut, but never before nor since at the clip the Colonel sets. 
 They say that a feeling of fatigue is one of the first symptoms 
 of the Chagres fever. As we climbed out of the Cut at 
 Empire — it is an interminably long flight of stairs, and the 
 sun gets hot in the tropics by eleven — I was sure I was in for a 
 severe attack. The Colonel said blithely, "The only way 
 to keep your health in this climate is to take a little exercise 
 every morning." Doubtless it is true, but I had rather die 
 quickly than keep alive at that rate. 
 
 His afternoons go in routine desk work, signing papers, 
 approving reports, and so forth. It is part of his system 
 that he discourages oral reports. Everything comes to him 
 on paper. If he wants to talk with any of his subordinates, 
 he generally does it during his morning trips — on the spot. 
 Perhaps the phrase he uses most frequently is, "Write it 
 down." 
 
 The afternoon office work is much interrupted by callers. 
 The stream of tourists grows steadily, and the Colonel real- 
 izes that it is we, the people of the United States, who are 
 doing this Canal Job. Any one of us who is sufficiently 
 interested to come down and look it over is welcome. 
 
 "Whenever I have anj^thing to study out, work which 
 requires uninterrupted attention," he said, "I go back to the 
 office at night." This happens generally three or four, and 
 often seven, nights a week. 
 
 The most remarkable part of Colonel Goethals's routine is 
 his Sunday Court of Low, Middle, and High Justice. Even 
 as the Caliphs of Bagdad sat in the city gate to hear the 
 plaints of their people, so, in his very modern setting — prin- 
 cipally maps and blue prints — the Colonel holds session every 
 
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 Sunday morning One of the Isthmian bards has reduced the 
 matter to verse, which, if somewhat weak in prosody, is 
 strong in local color: 
 
 Tell the Colonel 
 
 If you have any cause to kick, or feel disposed to howl, 
 
 If things ain't running just to suit, and there's a chance to growl, 
 
 If you have any ax to grind or graft to shuffle through. 
 
 Just put it up to Colonel G. like all the others do. 
 
 See Colonel Goethals, tell Colonel Goethals, 
 It's the only right and proper thing to do. 
 Just write a letter, or, even better. 
 Arrange a little Sunday interview. 
 
 Casey is an engineer and treated awful bad. 
 Eight minutes overtime they worked the poor defenseless lad. 
 So Casey sees the Colonel, with tears in his eyes, and says: 
 "I cannot stand for this no more without lay-over days." 
 
 "Dear sir, the commissary here," writes Mrs. Percy Jones, 
 "Is charging me for porterhouse which ain't no more than bones. 
 And, I assure you, Colonel, that the pork chops what they sell 
 Is rotten. I enclose herewith a sample, just to smell." 
 
 Mrs. Hobbs and Mrs. Dobbs are neighbors in a flat. 
 And Mrs. Hobbs calls Mrs. Dobbs a dirty this and that. 
 Then Mrs. Dobbs reciprocates, and maybe both are right. 
 But in the end the Colonel has to arbitrate the fight. 
 
 Don't hesitate to state your case, the boss will hear you through; 
 It's true he's sometimes busy, and has other things to do, 
 But come on Sunday morning, and line up with the rest, — 
 You'll maybe feel some better with that grievance off your chest. 
 
 See Colonel Goethals, tell Colonel Goethals, 
 It's the only right and proper thing to do. 
 Just write a letter, or, even better, 
 Arrange a Uttle Sunday interview. 
 
 I had the good fortune to be admitted one Sunday morning 
 to the audience chamber. 
 
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TE'E BOSS OF TEE JOB 503 
 
 The first callers were a negro couple from Jamaica. They 
 had a difference of opinion as to the ownership of thirty-five 
 dollars which the wife had earned by washing. Colonel 
 Goethals hstened gravely until the fact was established that 
 she had earned it, then ordered the man to return it. He 
 started to protest something about a husband's property 
 rights imder the English law. "All right," the Colonel 
 said, decisively. " Say the word, and I'll deport you. You 
 can get all the Enghsh law you want in Jamaica." The 
 husband decided to pay and stay. 
 
 Then came a Spanish laborer who had been maimed in an 
 accident. The Colonel called in his chief clerk and told him 
 to help the unfortunate man prepare his claim. "See that the 
 papers are drawn correctly and have them pushed through." 
 
 A man came in who had just been thrown out of the 
 service for brutality to the men under him. This action 
 was the result of an investigation before a special committee. 
 The man sought reinstatement. The Colonel read over the 
 papers in the case, and when he spoke his language was 
 vigorous: "If you have any new evidence, I will instruct the 
 committee to reopen your case. But as long as this report 
 stands against you, you will get no mercy from this office. 
 If the men had broken your head with a crowbar, I would 
 have stood for them. We don't need slave-drivers on this 
 job." 
 
 Then a committee from the Machinists' Union wanted an 
 interpretation on some new shop rules. A nurse wanted a 
 longer vacation than the regulations allow. A man and his 
 wife were dissatisfied with their quarters. A supervisor 
 of steam-shovels who had two or three "high records for 
 monthly excavations" to his credit came in to ask advice 
 about applying for another job imder the Panama Govern- 
 ment. The end of the Canal work is approaching, and the 
 far-sighted men are beginning to look into the future. "Of 
 
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 course I can't advise you," the Colonel said. "You know 
 I would hate to see you go. But, if you decide that it is wise, 
 come in and see me. I may be able to give you some intro- 
 ductions which will help you." (And, as every one knows 
 that a letter of introduction from the Chairman of the Com- 
 mission would look like an order to the Panama Government, 
 there is another man who will want to vote for Goethals for 
 President in 1916!) Then a man came in to see if he could 
 get some informal inside information on a contract which 
 is soon to be let. His exit was hurried. 
 
 An American negro introduced some humor. He was 
 convinced that his services were of more value than his 
 foreman felt they were. The Colonel preferred to accept the 
 foreman's judgment in the matter. The dissatisfied one 
 pompously announced that he was the best blacksmith's 
 helper on the Isthmus and the he intended to appeal from 
 this decision. The Colonel's eyes twinkled. "To whom are 
 you going to appeal?" he asked. For the fact is that the 
 verdicts rendered in these summary Sunday sessions will not 
 be revised before the Day of Judgment. 
 
 The procession kept up till noon — ^pathos, patience-trying 
 foolishness, occasional humor. "Once in a while," the 
 Colonel said, "something turns up which is really important 
 for me to know. And, anyway, they feel better after they 
 have seen me, even if I cannot help them. They feel that 
 they got a fair chance to state their troubles. They are less 
 likely to be breeding discontent in the quarters. But it is 
 a strain." 
 
 One sees the Colonel at his best in these Sunday morning 
 hours. You see the immensely varied nature of the things 
 and issues which are his concern. Engineering in the tech- 
 nical sense seems almost the least of them. There is the great 
 human problem of keeping this working force in good order, 
 of caring for the welfare and contentment of this community 
 
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TBE BOSS OF TEE JOB 505 
 
 of exiles — exiled to what was once the most unhealthy jungle 
 in the world. And he sits there, week after week, the paternal 
 authority to which all may come with their unofficial troubles. 
 English, French, American negroes, Spanish and Italian 
 peasants, coolies from India, with all the complications which 
 come from their varied languages and customs — Mrs. Blank, 
 whose husband drinks too much; diamond-drill operator 
 No. 10, who has an abscess of the liver and wants a word of 
 encouragement before he goes to Ancon Hospital for the 
 operation. It is as remarkable a sight as I have ever seen 
 to watch him at it. He is a good listener until he is quite 
 sure he has got to the nubbin of the matter, and then, like a 
 flash, the decision is made and given. And I think there are 
 very few indeed who go away thinking that they have been 
 denied justice. But, as he said, it must be a strain. 
 
 This routine of Colonel Goethals is followed week by week, 
 year after year. It is broken only by occasional trips to 
 Washington. And every one knows that the political end of 
 the Job is more wearing than the regular grind. He has not 
 had a real vacation since he took up this Job of ours. 
 
 For a journalist Colonel Goethals has one formidable fault: 
 it is impossible to get him to talk about himself or his achieve- 
 ments. He will discuss the Job willingly with any one. He 
 even had the optimism to try to make me understand the 
 geological formation of Contractor's Hill. But the skill 
 with which he turns the conversation away from himself 
 excites admiration which is only equaled by vexation. 
 
 "Who's Who" makes the following statements about him. 
 Whether or not they are true I do not know — although I 
 tried to find out: 
 
 Goethals, George Washington, army officer; bom Brooklyn, June 
 29, 1858; grad. U. S. Military Academy, 1880; 2nd lieut. engineers, 
 Jvme 12, 1880; 1st lieut. engineers, June 15, 1882; capt. Dec. 14, 1891, 
 lieut. col. and chief of engineers, volunteer army. May 9, 1898; hon. 
 
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 discharged from vol. service, Dec. 31, 1898; major engineer corps, Feb. 
 7, 1900; grad. Army War College, 1905; lieut. col. engineers, 1907; 
 instructor in civil and military engineering U. S. Military Academy 
 several yeais until 1888; in charge of Mussel Shoals Canal construction, 
 on Tennessee River; chief engineer during Spanish- American War; 
 member of the board of fortifications (coast and harbor defense); chief 
 engineer Panama Canal since Feb. 26, 1907. Address: Ancon, Canal 
 Zone, Panama. 
 
 The only record I can find of his ever having talked of 
 himself is in the report of the Congressional Committee which 
 investigated the affairs of the Commission in 1909. Mr. 
 Stevens asked: "What has been your professional and official 
 experience in this line of work?" Under this compulsion, 
 Colonel Goethals summed up the thirty years of Government 
 service since his graduation in exactly 167 words! 
 
 The fact of his life which has the greatest interpretative 
 value is that he is an army engineer. In other words, he is a 
 National product. He graduated from one of our schools; he 
 stood at the head of his class; and since his graduation he 
 has always been employed in Government service. 
 
 His military training has accustomed him to act under or- 
 ders — a valuable asset in such a work. Mr. Roosevelt, while 
 President, came to the conclusion that the Canal could not 
 be built by civilian engineers — ^men trained in private enter- 
 prise. There was no way to make them stick to the Job. 
 Successful construction men can always command high 
 salaries. And men like Wallace and Stevens, who are used 
 to being their own masters, find the Government service, 
 with its inevitable red tape, irksome. It is impossible to 
 establish a permanent working force if the Boss is likely to 
 throw up the Job any minute. Under such circumstances 
 no man feels sure of his position. For the spoils system, 
 so much decried in politics, is the ordinary practice in rail- 
 roading and construction work. What was needed was 
 not only engineering genius, but executive stability. Mr. 
 
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TEE BOSS OF TSE JOB 507 
 
 Roosevelt appointed a Commission of army officers, men who 
 would stay on the Job till they were ordered home. 
 
 This new Commission, installed April 1, 1907, did not 
 run very smoothly at first. It requires some time for a seven- 
 headed executive to shake down to an equilibrium of power. 
 Several of the Commissioners seemed to think that most, if 
 not all, of the responsibility rested on their own shoulders. 
 They felt much as the other two members of the French 
 First Consulate did before they became entirely acquainted 
 with the character of Napoleon. The struggle was tense 
 while it lasted. But now that the dust has settled, almost 
 every one on the Zone agrees that the best man won. 
 
 In January, 1908, Colonel Goethals persuaded the ad- 
 ministration at Washington to issue an executive order 
 which, whatever it may seem to say, gave him absolute 
 control. The other six Commissioners are subordinates, 
 most of them cordial, all of them docile. Certainly modern 
 times have never seen one-man rule pushed to such an ex- 
 treme. The Colonel, with his immense capacity for work 
 and the restricted area of his domain — about four hundred 
 square miles — succeeds in the r61e of autocrat after a fashion 
 which must cause no little envy to Nicholas II. 
 
 How free-bom American citizens accept this condition of 
 things is at first a matter of wonder. One is used to thinking 
 that if we were deprived of jury trials and the right to vote, 
 we would begin to shoot. But down here the only right 
 which has not been alienated is the right to get out. There 
 are two or three steamers home a week. Then of course 
 every one looks on this condition as temporary and necessi- 
 tated by the unusual circumstances of the Job. 
 
 But with all these things which make for submission, such 
 an absolutism would not be endured except for the almost uni- 
 versal feeling that Colonel Goethals is just. He has made 
 enemies, of course, and here and there I have heard men 
 
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508 PANAMA 
 
 declaiming that they had not been treated fairly, and that 
 they were "going back to the States to live under the Con- 
 stitution." But the men down here who take an intense 
 interest in the work, whose imaginations have been caught 
 by the immensity of the Job — the real men — would protest 
 in a body at any talk of removing Goethals. 
 
 The criticism about him which I hear oftenest is that he 
 works too hard. It is pretty generally believed that he 
 could spare himself much of the strain if he would delegate 
 more of his authority. 
 
 There is another phase of Colonel Goethals's adminis- 
 tration which to me is the most impressive of all. It is the 
 elimination of graft. I doubt if this old world has ever seen 
 so clean a job as this Canal of ours. 
 
 I do not mean that the Colonel has been able to eliminate 
 human nature. A foreman here and there will extort a 
 bribe from a laborer who wants a job. No doubt some 
 minor officials sometimes send messengers employed by the 
 Commission on private errands. There is a man breaking 
 stone in the chain-gang now who tried to get the best of the 
 system of bookkeeping in the commissary stores. A gentle- 
 man of the old school — a Colonel of the G. A. R. — ^was found 
 to be shaking down some West Indian negro laborers for 
 petty graft; he was retired to private life. But there is no 
 big graft. 
 
 When I was down here two years ago, I looked into this 
 pretty carefully. I had had some experience in tracing the 
 hidden threads which lead into the political muck-heap at 
 home. I could find none here on the Canal Zone. But back 
 in the States I found almost every one incredulous when I 
 said that this vast Government job was being done on the 
 square. Some railway men explained to me at length how 
 it was impossible to run a big construction job — ^private as 
 well as public — without the purchasing agents getting sud- 
 
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tb::b boss of tee job 509 
 
 denly rich. They initiated me into a whole new technique 
 of the gentle art of grafting — explained industrial as dis- 
 tinct from political "easy money." 
 
 During this visit to the Zone I have given especial at- 
 tention to this department. A few weeks ago four men dug 
 a very elaborate tunnel under the vault of a large bank here 
 in Panama City. It was a remarkable piece of engineering. 
 They ventilated it with electric fans and had imported an 
 expensive up-to-date oxygen-acetylene plant to cut through 
 the steel. They were on the job about six months, and got 
 away with less than $20,000. The general verdict is that it 
 was not worth the trouble. By the time they have definitely 
 escaped arrest — if they ever do — ^they will not have more 
 than a couple of thousand dollars apiece to "blow in." But 
 my advice to any one who wants to acquire gold which is not 
 his is that he will get better returns from bank-robbing than 
 from trying to — in the slang of the profession — "put any- 
 thing over" on the purchasing department of the Com- 
 mission. 
 
 This, I am glad to say, is not only my opinion. There have 
 been many graft charges against the Commission, most of 
 them as wild as the story that the Gatun Dam had iallen 
 over. The more serious ones have resulted in Congressional 
 investigations — not the whitewashing kind, but conducted 
 by men hostile to the Canal. Even more conclusive is the 
 fact that the endless stream of newspaper men who have 
 come down here — some especially sent to find fault — have 
 failed to substantiate any serious charge. No department 
 of our Government has been so continually under fire as the 
 Isthmian Canal Commission — and none has come through 
 with fewer scars. 
 
 Any one who has dug deeply into the corruption of some 
 of our municipalities is impressed with the fact that much — 
 perhaps most — of the graft is a matter of habit, of venerable 
 
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510 PANAMA 
 
 tradition. A young man gets some post and hears on every 
 side how much his predecessor got out of it. He knows that 
 his colleagues are "getting theirs." It would be an imcon- 
 ventionality — comparable to eating green peas with one's 
 knife — not to "take his" also. It is the same in much of 
 our industry. The man who accepts a position where it has 
 long been part of the day's work to juggle with the Custom- 
 House scales finds it hard not to follow the beaten path. 
 The custom, once formed, becomes a "vested interest." 
 It is hard to break such a habit. 
 
 And so it seems very wonderful to me to think of all the 
 yoimg men down here who, under the tutelage of Colonel 
 Goethals, are learning the other habit. The men who are 
 being "formed" under this custom of rectitude will never be 
 able to believe it when their friends tell them that "every- 
 body grafts." Quite a large army of yoimg men have been 
 on the Job down here; have had their first experience imder 
 Goethals. They are going to boast of it all the rest of their 
 lives. Many of them are back in the States now. All of 
 them will be within a few years. They will surely be a 
 noticeable leaven in our national Ufe. 
 
 It is doubtful if Mr. Roosevelt, in all his administration, 
 made a happier appointment than this of Colonel Goethals 
 as Boss of our Big Job. 
 
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CHAPTER XXXI 
 
 PXniLING THE TEETH OP THE TEOPICS 
 
 Of all the sights on the Canal Zone there is none more 
 worthy of note than a dilapidated galvanized iron ash-can 
 in the hills back of Paraiso. 
 
 Half an hour's stiff climb from the village will bring you to 
 where it stands in a little hollow in the side of the moimtain. 
 If you look up hill, you see a dense wall of tropical jungle. 
 It is a tangle of unbelievable vegetation — a felt-like fabric 
 of green; palms, mahogany, cocobolo, and lignum-vitae for 
 the woof, and countless varieties of vines and creepers, great 
 ferns, and many-branched grasses for the web. It is em- 
 broidered with bizarre patterns in scarlet and yellow blossoms 
 and ghostly orchids. It takes a sharp machete and a strong 
 arm to penetrate it. It stands there untouched by civiliza- 
 tion — ^primeval — ^just as it stood when Balboa tore his way 
 through it to fame four centuries ago. The life which spawns 
 within its dense shade is not only vegetable. Strange beasts 
 are there — tapirs, sloths, iguana, the giant lizard, and snakes. 
 It is the home of the boa, and many lesser but more venomous 
 breeds. More innumerable even than the varieties of plants 
 are the species of insects. With acute ears you will hear the 
 faint murmur of their life, the never-ceasing rustle of myriad 
 microscopic feet on the rotting leaves; of myriad minute and 
 filmy wings beating the dead, sodden air. The tropical 
 jungle has a sinister aspect, an evident menace, which is 
 unknown in the North. 
 
 Turn about, and you will look down into and across the 
 
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512 PANAMA 
 
 valley of the Rio Grande. In the bottom is a haze of 
 murky smoke, shot through with flashes of white steam. 
 Through rifts in those man-made clouds you get glimpses 
 of rushing dirt trains, of straining monsters of steam and 
 steel, of an army of active, hurrying men. The clang of 
 iron on iron, the shriek of steam-whistles, perhaps the roar 
 of a dynamite blast, beat up against your ears. On the 
 sides of the hills you see villages — clusters of homes, well- 
 kept lawns where all that is beautiful in the jungle has been 
 separated from what is noxious and brought imder cultiva- 
 tion: noble groups of palms, red and yellow and green 
 shrubbery, flaming bushes of hibiscus; you see mothers in 
 crisp white dresses playing with their babies; and if it chances 
 to be the right hour, you will see a rout of children, as husky 
 youngsters as you could find in East Orange, tumble out of 
 the school-house. 
 
 Now look down at your feet. Two or three little threads 
 of water trickle down the sides of the hollow in the hill where 
 you are standing and join forces in a little brook. The 
 hand of man is as evident here as in the bottom of the valley. 
 All the vegetation is close cropped on either side the rivulet — 
 the jungle has been pushed back several yards. The banks 
 of the little stream are no longer covered with dense moss and 
 fern, as they were when the Spaniards came — as they were 
 thirty years ago when the French started a colony in Paraiso. 
 They are black and barren — smeared with unsightly grime. 
 Just at the spot where the three threads of water join there 
 is a rough plank across, and on it the ash-can. Just such an 
 unattractive affair as the men of the Street Cleaning De- 
 partment empty into their carts every morning in New York 
 City. Only this one is uglier still, as it, like the banks of 
 the stream, is smeared with the black oil. A piece of lamp- 
 wick hangs out near the bottom, and from it there falls every 
 few seconds a drop of the blackness. Splashing into the 
 
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FULLING THE TEETH OF THE TROPICS 513 
 
 water, it spreads out — ^wider and wider, till it touches each 
 bank — into an iridescent film. It looks like the stuff they 
 use for oiling automobile roads. It is a compound of crude 
 carbolic acid, resin, and caustic soda, called larvacide. 
 These disreputable-looking ash-cans — there are many of 
 them all through the hills at the head-waters of each stream 
 — have a very intimate connection with the mighty work 
 down in the valley and with the healthy bloom on the cheeks 
 of those village children. They are outposts — frontier 
 stations — ^in the war against the mosquito. 
 
 As is the case in most great discoveries, there are several 
 claimants to the honor of having propounded the mosquito 
 theory. Our doctors give the credit to Dr. Ronald Ross, a 
 Scotchman in the Indian Civil Service. Thirteen or four- 
 teen years ago he carried on his very valuable experiments. 
 However, some Italians were close on his heels. And once 
 the theory was published, investigators sprang up on all 
 sides who claimed to have been working on the idea these 
 many years. 
 
 Reduced to its simplest terms, this theory is that certain 
 diseases are transmitted by, and only by, the bite of mos- 
 quitoes. Ross worked this out for malaria, demonstrating 
 it first on birds, then on man. This fever is caused by the 
 presence of bacteria in the blood. These minute organisms 
 go through the ordinary cycle of birth, mating, and death. 
 If a female of certain species of mosquitoes (Anopheline) 
 bites a human being at the period when the malarial germs 
 are mating in his blood, she sucks in some of them along 
 with the blood. After they have developed within her for 
 nine days, she becomes infectious and, if she bites another 
 human being, inoculates him with malaria. 
 
 The demonstration of these facts gave a new impetus to 
 the study of entomology. It was soon discovered that other 
 diseases are spread in much the same way. The story of 
 
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 how our army commission in Cuba worked out the coimec- 
 tion of another brand of mosquitoes (the Stegomyia) with 
 yellow fever, and how some of them volimtarily had them- 
 selves infected and died to prove the theory, has been so 
 often told that it needs no repeating here. It soon developed 
 that mosquitoes were not the only offenders: the sleeping 
 sickness of Africa was traced to a biting fly, and the bubonic 
 plague is now known to be spread by fleas who have 
 gathered the virus from infected rats. 
 
 It would be invidious to try to determine what nation 
 has contributed most to this new knowledge — a so vital 
 part of modern sanitation. All over the world observers 
 have gathered data, until to-day the credit of it, as well as 
 its value, is truly international. But certainly we in the 
 Canal Zone have gone the furthest in the practical applica- 
 tion of that knowledge. Our men have been especially 
 prepared for this job by their own experience and that of 
 their colleagues in Cuba and the Philippines. 
 
 At first relatively little was known about the varieties and 
 habits of mosquitoes; an immense amount of information 
 is now at hand. Our men have collected and studied over 
 fifty varieties on the Canal Zone. And Mr. A. H. Jenning, 
 the Entomologist of the Commission, can give you interest- 
 ing gossip about all of them — how they court and how they 
 are born, and what they eat at three days old, and what 
 dessert they prefer after two weeks, how and where the 
 mother lays her eggs, and so forth. Of these fifty-odd 
 varieties eleven species are Anopheline — all of which are 
 under suspicion as malaria-bearers. The three commonest 
 species are the Anopheles albimanus, A. pseudopunctipennis, 
 and A. malefactor. The white-handed variety is known to 
 be the most active in spreading disease. There is no direct 
 evidence against the A. malefactor, despite his iU-sounding 
 name. 
 
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FULLING TEE TEETH OF TEE TBOFICS 515 
 
 Of the albimanus, the most dangerous, as is true of other 
 species, the female alone bites. She does it because a meal 
 of blood facilities the development of her eggs. It is doubt- 
 ful if she can lay without having gorged herself. She seems 
 to prefer red blood. But she has been caught in the act of 
 biting reptiles, and even fish. This duty attended to, she 
 begins a search for a suitable place to deposit her eggs. 
 More study has been given to this phase of her life than any 
 other, and Mr. Jennings can tell you just what she will do 
 and just what she won't in this matter. She prefers station- 
 ary or slow-moving water, well screened from the sim, where 
 there is plenty of green scum for the youngsters to feed on. 
 The swampy pools, such as the jungle abounds in, seem to be 
 her ideal. The eggs in due course of time hatch out into tiny 
 tadpolish larvae. They spend their time feeding and breath- 
 ing. Every two minutes they have to come up to the sur- 
 face to get fresh air. This, as we shall see later, is the fatal 
 weakness — ^the Achilles heel — in their scheme of life. Hav- 
 ing passed safely through their larval stage, they hatch out 
 into full-fledged mosquitoes. They mate, the female starts 
 out after blood, and the cycle has recommenced. 
 
 An adult mosquito is a lively proposition to deal with — 
 almost as elusive as a flea. So our sanitary men try to get 
 them before they mature. 
 
 The fight against malaria falls into three divisions. First 
 of all, our men try to reduce the number of places where the 
 female can lay her eggs. In a dry Northern climate it might 
 be possible to eliminate such places. But nine months out of 
 the twelve it rains down here nearly every day. And if a 
 cow leaves a deep foot-print in the soggy ground, a couple of 
 inches of water will ooze into it, and behold! a very fine 
 place for Anopheline to breed. The main work of this 
 division is in draining and filling swampy ground. Also they 
 cut the underbrush and grass in the neighborhood of settle- 
 
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PULLING TEE TEETE OF TEE TROPICS 517 
 
 A certain number of mosquitoes will lay eggs in spite of 
 all this first division can do. Our second attack is on the 
 larvae. Every stagnant pool, every backwater in a brook, 
 is swarming with them. The larvacide in that ash-can — 
 as its name implies — is aimed in their direction. And there 
 is a whole troop of Jamaican Negroes — allies of the ash-can 
 — ^who carry the same prescription in tanks on their backs 
 and shoot it with a hand spray into every puddle and body 
 of standing water they can find. As I said before, the larvaB 
 have to breathe. Every two minutes they must wriggle up 
 to the surface for fresh air. This makes thirty times an hour, 
 or 8,640 times in the twelve days of their larval life. If 
 at any one of those times they get a lung full of larvacide, 
 they never come up again. 
 
 Even without our interference a large number of the larvae 
 perish. Some are eaten by fish, some die from lack of prop- 
 er food. Sometimes a freshet washes them down into the 
 sea, or an extra high tide floods them with salt water. And 
 sometimes the sun dries them out. But our larvacide corps im- 
 mensely increases "infant mortality" among the mosquitoes. 
 
 But some of the Anopheline break through these two lines 
 of attack and reach maturity — a very small niunber compared 
 to the old days, but enough to make trouble. The Mos- 
 quito Brigade is held in reserve to deal with them. This 
 division of the sanitary army might be compared to the coast 
 artillery, for they fight behind fortifications — very elaborate 
 fortifications of fine meshed copper screens. 
 
 "Mosquito netting" sounds simple. But just as in every 
 other detail of this campaign, so here an immense amount 
 of careful experimenting and expert knowledge have been 
 utilized. Various brands of mosquitoes were captured and 
 put into cages made of netting of different material and dif- 
 ferent sized meshes until the very best kind for this climate 
 and work was discovered. A skillful architect worked out 
 
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 the problem of house planning so as to combine the most 
 effective protection with the greatest economy of netting. 
 Only copper wire will stand this climate. Even a few feet of 
 waste on each house would mount up rapidly in cost. Such 
 little details as the best springs and latches for the door and 
 how to guard the screens from the toes and elbows of romp- 
 ing children have been given searching study. 
 
 Nine days must elapse after an Anopheline female has 
 bitten a malarious person before she becomes infectious. 
 Every morning the Mosquito Brigade sallies out from 
 headquarters on its murderous duty. If the enemy has been 
 reported in any building, the brigade makes a careful recon- 
 naisance, discovers how they made an entry, blocks it up, and 
 then commences the slaughter with the skill and implements 
 perfected by long experience. Nine mosquitoes out of ten 
 go to sleep after a meal of blood somewhere on the wall be- 
 tween nine and five feet above the floor. They seek out a 
 dark place. Sometimes they hide in a closet or in the folds 
 of hanging garments. But our men have nine days to get 
 the mosquito in before she becomes dangerous — and they 
 generally do. 
 
 There is one feat of which the mosquito-killers boast. It 
 was necessary at one time for some construction men to 
 occupy one of the old French houses. The work in that 
 vicinity would not last long enough to warrant the expense 
 of screening, so the mosquitoes had free access by doors and 
 windows. So deadly was the work of the Mosquito Brigade 
 that the malaria rate in this temporary camp did not rise 
 above the normal. 
 
 In the permanent quarters the screening is so thorough 
 that the buzz of a mosquito is a rarity. If a person's 
 sleep is disturbed, he notifies the Sanitary Department, just 
 as you would call up police headquarters if you heard a 
 burglar in your house. 
 
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PULLING TBE TEETH OF TSE TBOFICS 519 
 
 There is one more important point in the plan of this 
 campaign against malaria. No mosquito is dangerous who 
 has not previously fed on a malarious person. And the 
 minute a man is infected he is rushed to the hospital, where 
 extraordinary care is taken to prevent any mosquitoes get- 
 ting access to him. 
 
 First of all, they try to prevent the mosquitoes from laying 
 their eggs, then they try to prevent the larvs from hatching, 
 then they screen all living-places and attack the adults, 
 and, finally, they isolate all infected persons. 
 
 This elaborate campaign, from draining swamps to trained 
 nursing in the hospitals, has resulted, not only in greatly 
 reducing the number afHicted with malaria, but, what is 
 more marvelous, it has also greatly reduced its virulence. 
 The explanation of this change in the type of the disease goes 
 too deep into the theory of bacteriology for me. But the 
 unexplained fact is striking enough. Probably more of the 
 Frenchmen died from malaria than from yellow fever. At 
 first our men died of it. To-day a fatal case is a rarity. 
 What they used to call "black water fever," a form of malaria 
 which attacks the kidneys, and which is still common in the 
 other lowlands of Central America, is almost unknown on 
 the Canal Zone. Nowadays malaria means a couple of 
 weeks of discomfort in the hospital and a week more of lazy 
 convalescence. 
 
 And this anti-malaria campaign, of which I have spoken 
 at length, is only part of the many-sided work of the Sanitary 
 Department. 
 
 The war on the Stegomyia mosquito, the yellow-fever 
 bearer, has been even more successful. This mosquito differs 
 from the Anopheline, and is more easily exterminated, in 
 that it is a domesticated animal. It lives and breeds only 
 in or near human habitations. The water systems and 
 sewers which we have built in Panama City and Colon did 
 
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520 PANAMA 
 
 away with most of the rain-barrels and small artificial water 
 containers in which their eggs are laid, and wholesale fumi- 
 gation of dwelling-houses destroyed most of the adults. 
 No cases of yellow fever have originated in either city or 
 among our employees since May, 1906. Vaccination has 
 wiped out smallpox, and the Rat and Flea Brigade has prac- 
 tically exterminated the carriers of the bubonic plague. 
 
 The Isthmus used to have the name — and deserved it — 
 of being the worst pesthole in the Americas. Here is an 
 excerpt from the report of the Chief Sanitary Officer, issued 
 in November, 1906. It deals with the preceding month: 
 "Of our six thousand Americans, including women and chil- 
 dren, none died from disease. It is rather a remarkable fact 
 that among these six thousand Americans a death from 
 disease has not occurred in the past three months. Take six 
 thousand people in New York City, selected at random, and 
 estimating their death rate on what occurred in New York 
 City last year, they would have had about thirty deaths from 
 disease. ... I do not argue that in the Rio Grande 
 reservoir we have found Ponce de Leon's spring of perpetual 
 life, but merely that Panama is not so bad a place from the 
 health point of view as is generally believed." 
 
 In the annual report dated August 23, 1907, he says: 
 "During the year the working ability of the force was kept 
 at its maximum. We averaged only twenty-nine per 
 thousand absent from duty on accoimt of sickness. This 
 shows a very high state of efficiency as compared with any 
 body of men of which I am able to get any record." And 
 there has been no slump in the health conditions on the Zone 
 since these reports were written. 
 
 The diseases which our doctors are fighting down here are 
 the same that the profession faces in New York or London. 
 The ailments which we think of as distinctively tropical 
 have been practically eliminated. Indeed, this process has 
 
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FULLING TBE TEETH OF TEE TBOPICS 521 
 
 gone so far that the doctors who are specializing in this field 
 begin to find this a poor place to study. Samuel T. Darling, 
 M.D., the Chief of the Board of Health Laboratory, has 
 probably done as much as any other American in tropical 
 diseases. I have here on my desk a handful of brochures 
 he has written on the outlandish afflictions of man and beast 
 which he has found on the Isthmus. "Sarcosporidiosis," 
 "Equine Trypanosomiasis in the Canal Zone," "Auto- 
 chthonous Oriental Sore in Panama," are a few of the titles 
 — works which have caused his election to half the important 
 medical societies of the world. But in his "Histoplasmosis: 
 A Fatal Infectious Disease, Resembling Kola-Azar, Found 
 among Natives of Tropical America," I find this paragraph. 
 There is a note of pathos in it which will be appreciated by 
 all those who collect rare objects and fear to have their 
 hobby disturbed: 
 
 "In conclusion, it should be said that this disease, al- 
 though no longer seen in Panama, is probably to be found in 
 imhygienic and less salubrious regions of tropical America, 
 not yet disturbed by the sanitarian." 
 
 And if you talk with these men who are fighting disease — 
 the engineer, who with transit and chain is laying out drain- 
 age ditches; the man who has the responsibility of guarding 
 the purity of the drinking-water; the rat-catcher, who strolls 
 about with a Flobert rifle and a pocket full of poison; the 
 red-headed young doctor who vaccinates you at Colon; or 
 even the bacteriologist who finds his interesting researches 
 "disturbed" — ^they will speak of themselves as "ditch- 
 diggers." And no djmamite operator nor steam-shovel 
 man will deny their right to say, "We've got sixty per cent, 
 of the dirt out of Culebra Cut," or "We beat the record 
 laying concrete at Gatun this week." 
 
 One of the Larvacide Brigade pointed out to me a rusty 
 mass of French machinery going to pieces in the jungle. 
 
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522 PANAMA 
 
 "They didn't know the difference between a mosquito and a 
 bumblebee," he said by way of explanation. And he had hit 
 the nail on the head. Like as not, our mighty modern en- 
 gines would be going to scrap alongside of the old French 
 ones except for the devoted, intelligent work of these sanitary 
 men. 
 
 The responsible head of the men who have done this 
 marvelous work — and no words at my command can ex- 
 press the wonder of it — is W. C. Gorgas, Chief Sanitary 
 Officer. As Colonel Goethals is, in a way, paterfamilias 
 of the community, so Colonel Gorgas is the family physician. 
 Goethals is rather aloof and authoritative. Gorgas is genial 
 and sympathetic. They say "he can give you liquid 
 quinine and jolly you into thinking you like it." That is 
 just what he did to the people of Panama City and Colon 
 during the early yellow-fever epidemic. Nobody likes to 
 have his home fumigated. The Panamanians are immune 
 to the fever. Most of them are too ignorant to understand 
 the reason why they must be turned out of their homes for 
 twenty-four hours. The more intelligent are easy-going, 
 used to avoiding such inconveniences by bribing petty offi- 
 cials. All of them are, from a sanitary point of view, 
 slipshod and careless. Gorgas succeeded in fumigating 
 every house in Panama City within two weeks. He did it 
 by jollying them — slapping the men on the shoulders, smil- 
 ing at the women, and playing "one little pig went to mar- 
 ket, one little pig stayed at home," on the toes of the babies. 
 Even the Panamanians who are most unfriendly to Americans 
 admit that Gorgas is a good fellow, and every child that 
 knows him wants to sit in his lap. 
 
 Before coming here he had had charge of cleaning up 
 Havana, and he knew how it should be done. Doubtless 
 there were other American army doctors who had had 
 similar experience and imderstood the work as well. But 
 
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PULLING THE TEBTB OF TBE TBOPICS 523 
 
 beyond the technique of his profession Gorgas knew the Latin 
 American people, their manner of life and their prejudices. 
 He knew how to make them swallow quinine and at least 
 half believe they liked it. It was necessary to fumigate 
 those houses, and we would have done it even if it had been 
 necessary to call in the marines and proclaim martial law. 
 But Gorgas, with his wonderful tact, did it without using 
 force or in any way increasing the enmity to the Gringo. 
 It was not only a remarkably effective sanitary accomplish- 
 ment, but an exceedingly clever bit of diplomacy. 
 
 They tell a story about Gorgas in Cuba, and people who 
 know him say that it sounds true. 
 
 In the early days there were many who made light of the 
 mosquito work. Gorgas went to one of his superiors for 
 some money to carry on his campaign. 
 
 "Is it worth while to spend all this money just to save 
 the lives of a few niggers?" the Commandant protested. 
 
 "That's not the point, General," Gorgas shot back at 
 him. "We're spending it to save your life. And that's 
 worth while." 
 
 He got the money. 
 
 Before a visitor has been long on the Zone he is sure to 
 discover that there is war on between Gorgas and Goethals. 
 Without exception, the men of the Sanitary Department 
 side with their chief. The personal loyalty which he in- 
 spires in his subordinates is remarkable. But the Goethals 
 faction is much larger. An onlooker cannot but regret the 
 ill feeling between these two men, each so admirable and 
 valuable in his own department. But, regret it as one may, 
 it is clearly inevitable. The two men are as different in 
 character as men well could be. The whole controversy is, 
 I think, one of temperament. Goethals, the practical, 
 scrupulous administrator, makes a fetish of economy. 
 "Low costs" are his hobby. Gorgas is imaginative and 
 
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524 PANAMA 
 
 enthusiastic. He would like to kill every mosquito on the 
 Isthmus and then begin on the rest of the world. He does 
 not know, unless some one tells him, and even then does not 
 care, whether each mosquito cost five cents or five dollars. 
 Delendum est. Goethals does not want to grant a single 
 cent to the Sanitary Department which cannot be traced to 
 added labor efficiency. One of the Goethals faction sum- 
 med it up: "Why, if you let Gorgas have his way, he'd 
 spend the whole appropriation in six months!" Very likely 
 he would. In a moment of enthusiasm he might offer a ten- 
 dollar reward for every mosquito scalp brought to his oflBce; 
 but no one suggests that he would put any of it in his 
 pocket. 
 
 On the other hand, the Gorgas faction accuses Goethals 
 of endangering the life of our men by withholding necessary 
 appropriations. Their own statistics, showing that the Zone 
 is at least as healthy a place as New York City, disproves 
 this accusation. 
 
 This conflict, distressing as it at first seems, is very prob- 
 ably a good thing for our Canal. The Sanitary Department 
 was run with less strict economy than any other. If there 
 had not been a strong and rather hostile hand in check, 
 there might have been gross extravagance. And as long as 
 the sanitary crowd is looking for a chance to yell "Murder!" 
 there is little probability that Colonel Goethals will risk 
 any dangerous economy in the department of health. 
 
 The whole affair would not be worth mentioning — it 
 has had no result down here beyond generating some per- 
 sonal ill feeling — if it were not for the fact that some steam 
 has been blown off in the papers at home. And those who 
 have rushed into print, as is generally the case in such affairs, 
 are not responsible heads of departments, but underling 
 partisans, plus royalist que le roi, very much more bitter and 
 extreme in their statements than their chiefs would dream 
 
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PULLING THE TEETS OF TEE TS0PIC8 525 
 
 of being. Neither the efl&ciency of the Sanitary Department 
 nor the health of the men on the jobs has been disturbed. 
 
 A man with all Colonel Gorgas's remarkable fitnesses — 
 his knowledge of sanitation, his familiarity with Latin 
 people, his consmnmate diplomacy, his personal charm and 
 magnetism, which inspire the men under him to their best 
 efforts — who had also a cool, calculating, bookkeeping head 
 might have accomplished the same results somewhat more 
 economically. Very likely cheaper tile drains would have 
 served in some places where concrete drains were laid. But, 
 in spite of our recent ardor for economy and "business ef- 
 ficiency," if there is any one thing for which we, as a nation, 
 are willing to stand a little extravagance, it is health. In 
 this department we are more interested in results than 
 methods. And of all the marvels of this immense Canal job 
 of ours — ^the great engineering triumphs, the high ideal of 
 financial honesty, the spirit of united, collective action — 
 there is nothing which stands out more wonderful than the 
 results accomplished by the men and ash-cans imder Colonel 
 Gorgas. 
 
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CHAPTER XXXII 
 
 TRANSPLANTED AMERICANS 
 
 Of the 35,000 Canal employees, about 5,000 are white 
 Americans. I was as much interested in how this com- 
 munity lived and moved and had its being in the heart of 
 what was once a tropical jungle, as in the number of cubic 
 yards they had excavated. 
 
 I happened to reach Colon on Saturday in time to catch 
 the afternoon train across to Panama. 
 
 "I'm glad you weren't late," said my friend, who met me 
 on the dock. "I've invited an extra girl for the Tivoli 
 dance to-night for you." 
 
 Visions of a miners' dance I once attended in Butte rose 
 before me. I was to be disappointed; nothing so piquant 
 happens on the Canal Zone. 
 
 Arrived at Panama, my friend rushed me up to the Tivoli 
 Hotel and into white clothes at top speed, and then to dinner 
 at the home of one of the American doctors. The house was 
 not very attractive on the outside — a big square affair, cased 
 in mosquito netting and roofed with corrugated iron — ^but 
 inside it had all the familiar appearance of a summer bunga- 
 low. The doctor's wife and her two nieces wore just such 
 gowns one would see at home at a college "prom." And the 
 dinner from the soup to the coffee was just such a one as 
 very good housekeepers create at home. Only the salad of 
 aUigator pears, which cost a dollar a bite in New York, was 
 plentiful. 
 
 And then my friend and I took the young ladies, very 
 
 526 
 
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TSANSPLANTED AMESICANS 527 
 
 properly chaperoned by their aunt, to the ball. An immense 
 assembly room on the main floor of the Tivoli, a fine floor, 
 an apparently inexhaustible supply of charming, daintily 
 gowned girls and pretty fair music. All my partners spoke 
 with a delightful Southern accent. At first I thought I 
 must have been introduced to a Southern clique. But the 
 longer one stays the deeper grows the conviction that the 
 Canal is being dug by Alabamians and Georgians. 
 
 During the evening I was told that I was to be one of a party 
 on a picnic to Naos Island on Sunday. And at nine o'clock 
 in the morning my friend guided me down to the docks at 
 Balboa and there we found the crowd getting onto a tug 
 named "La Petite Louise." A strange name for a boat 
 belonging to our government — ^but it is part of the equip- 
 ment we bought from the French and the name has not been 
 changed. There is a wonderful beach on Naos Island, and 
 it is warm enough to stay in a long time. And just as always 
 happens on a picnic at home everybody over-ate and felt 
 stupid through the afternoon. "La Petite Louise" brought 
 us back to the mainland at twilight and we had supper at the 
 University Club in Panama. 
 
 It was during this day that I found the adjective to 
 describe the American social life in the Zone — "suburban." 
 This is not meant in any derogatory sense. Suburban so- 
 ciety is charming, more gracious in many ways than that of 
 the cities. It has the intimacy, the everybody-knowing- 
 everybody-ness of a country village and the tastes, the cul- 
 ture, the books and the gowns of the city — after they have 
 had a few weeks to ripen. But surely one does not expect 
 to find such a community in the biggest construction camp 
 on earth, and only 9° north of the equator! 
 
 Of course I had chanced to strike the Zone on a holiday. 
 But still I found myself rather troubled over this light- 
 mindedness. Was anyone taking the job seriously? I did 
 
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528 PANAMA 
 
 not get in touch with this side of the Canal life, and of course 
 the most important side, imtil the next afternoon. I had 
 gone down to Culebra to present a letter of introduction to 
 the wife of one of the high officials. I arrived at tea-time, 
 two or three ladies dropped in and I got something of an im- 
 pression — again a sign of the suburban — that they were 
 rather surprised to see a man at that hour of the day. I 
 was busily telling them about how I had enjoyed the dance, 
 and how I did not mind the climate, and how I like tropical 
 fruit except mangoes, and how hobble skirts and peach- 
 basket hats were disfiguring Fifth Avenue — ^when suddenly 
 there was a grumble of thunder, a quiver of the earth, and 
 my chair jumped half an inch. Incidentally some scalding 
 hot tea spilled on my knee. Now, if there is any one thing 
 about which I am particularly nervous, it is an earthquake. 
 
 "What was that?" I cried out. 
 
 "Oh," said my hostess, "that's nothing. They always 
 shoot about five o'clock." 
 
 And then, apparently realizing that it had not been a 
 very comprehensive explanation, she went on to tell me that 
 down in the Cut, a quarter of a mile away, they were blasting 
 on an imparalleled scale, using more dynamite in a week than 
 the rest of the world uses in a month. 
 
 The ladies were placidly nibbling their jelly sandwiches, 
 not one of them had spilled any tea, and the conversation 
 went back to hobble skirts. But somehow, I had caught 
 some sense of a vast undertaking of which balls and picnics 
 and afternoon teas were only the frosting. 
 
 And then a yoimg son of the house came dashing across 
 the lawn with the hews that the Culebra base ball team had 
 won from Empire, 8 to 3, and was at the head of the league. 
 I have never met a more ardent "fan" old or yoimg at 
 home. A file of men now began passing along the board 
 walk in front of the house. Big, strapping men most of 
 
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TRANSPLANTED AMERICANS 529 
 
 them, in high muddy boots, khaki riding breeches and blue 
 shirts, stuck tight to their backs with perspiration. One 
 of them, as sweaty as any of them, turned in and came up 
 to the porch. He was the husband of my hostess, as I have 
 said, one of the most highly paid men on the job, and from 
 his appearance it was evident that he had been working as 
 hard as any doUar-a-day negro. The striking thing was 
 that his unkempt condition was accepted without comment 
 by these carefully groomed women. He mopped the per- 
 spiration off his forehead with his shirt-sleeve and chatted 
 with us for a few minutes. Then he went whistling into the 
 house and in about two minutes I could hear the swish of the 
 shower bath. Just as I was leaving, he appeared again in 
 crisp white linen and fitted very cosily into the suburban 
 setting. 
 
 The problem of keeping a stable labor force on the Zone 
 is one of the most difficult the Commission has to face. 
 The breaking in of new men is time consuming and expen- 
 sive. It is hard enough to get capable men to leave good 
 positions at home and migrate to an unknown country. 
 It is harder still to keep them. The Commission has prob- 
 ably lost more good men from homesickness than from 
 yellow fever. Mr. Frederic J. Haskin in a newspaper letter 
 on this subject says: "The climate does not interfere with 
 the health of the people, but at the same time anyone who 
 stays here through a year of it becomes depressed, and 
 visions of the home country, with its bracing weather, its 
 familiar scenes and its fond ties, begin to float out on the 
 curling wreaths of smoke from pipe or cigarette." 
 
 The Commission tried in two ways to combat nostalgia. 
 First it encouraged matrimony. And second it organized 
 a corps of what might be called mental hygienists, experts 
 who tried to keep the spirits of the men healthy as the 
 sanitary officers worked for their bodily welfare. 
 
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530 PANAMA 
 
 Evidently a man who was married and had his family 
 established in the Zone was not going to desert on accoimt 
 of homesickness. The Commission did not actually furnish 
 wives for the men, but in a very thoroughgoing way they 
 arranged to make it cheaper for two to live together than for 
 one to live alone. Being a bachelor on the Zone is an ex- 
 pensive matter. It is also an inconvenient one. Find a 
 wife and you get a three or four room furnished house ; 
 electric light and kitchen coal are furnished you free. 
 Instead of having your buttons smashed and your linen 
 clothes scorched at a ruinous price, your wife finds a soft- 
 voiced Jamaican negress who does the entire household 
 wash for less than your bachelor laundry bill. Doctors do 
 not cost you anything. It is surprising how much less you lose 
 at cards. And how easy it is to put something in the bank. 
 
 But in spite of all inducements some hardened reprobates 
 refuse to marry. How are they to pass their off hours? 
 This is a serious question always for young men away from 
 home. It is doubly so in the tropics where even the mildest 
 forms of dissipation are deadly. 
 
 There is an old chant which was quite fashionable in the 
 old days of the Panama railroad and during the French 
 time. Everyone who spoke English knew it: 
 
 "Close the door. Across the river 
 He is goae. 
 With an abscess on his Uver 
 
 He is gone. 
 Many years of rainy seasons 
 And malaria's countless treasons 
 Are among the several reasons 
 Why he's gone. 
 
 'Close the sunken eyelids lightly 
 
 He is gone. 
 Bind the shrunken mouth up tightly 
 He is gone. 
 
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TRANSPLANTED AMEBICANS 531 
 
 Chinese gin from Bottle Alley 
 Could not give him strength to rally, 
 Lone, to wander in Death's Valley 
 He is gone. 
 
 "In his best clothes they've array'd him 
 
 He is gone. 
 In a wooden box they've laid him. 
 
 He is gone. 
 Bogus Hennisey and sherry 
 With his system both made merry. 
 Very hard he fought them — very! 
 
 But he's gone!" 
 
 Once in a while nowadays some old-timer will stand up 
 in the barroom of the "Panazone" and recite it with deep 
 feeling. But the verses are little known to the present canal 
 men, except to those who are fond of hunting up old things. 
 But they are worth quoting, for, showing as they do the 
 spirit of the English-speaking men on the Isthmus twenty 
 and thirty years ago, they present a striking contrast to 
 things as they are. 
 
 The change has been brought about by the "Commission 
 Club Houses," and the traiaed amusement experts of the 
 Y. M. C. A. In the more important villages along the line 
 of the Canal, commodious club houses have been built by 
 the Commission. Mr. Haskin writes: 
 
 "The result was that the consumption of bad whiskey 
 and worse beer fell off at least 60 per cent, in the towns 
 where the clubs were established. The men were social 
 beings, and they had to meet somewhere, and until these 
 clubs were established the bar was the only place open to 
 them. Now they have bowling alleys, billiard rooms, gym- 
 nasiums, libraries, dark rooms for camera clubs, soda foun- 
 tains, lounging rooms, and so on under the direction of the 
 Y. M. C. A. 
 
 "The secretaries in charge of the club houses form bowl- 
 
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532 PANAMA 
 
 ing teams, organize billiard tournaments, plan camera clubs 
 and do everything possible to bring in the people and get 
 them interested. Last year there were more than fifty 
 thousand games on the bowling alleys and nearly two hun- 
 dred thousand games of pool and billiards were played, with 
 seventy-four different tournaments in progress. The chess 
 and checker clubs, glee clubs, minstrel clubs, camera clubs, 
 Bible clubs, and the hke, catered to the varying tastes of 
 the men. 
 
 "In the reading and writing rooms one finds more comfort 
 than in the public libraries of the United States. There are 
 easy Morris chairs where the tired worker may rest while 
 perusing his favorite magazine, studying his technical jour- 
 nals, or looking over the newspapers from the principal 
 cities of the United States." 
 
 The following clipping from The Canal Record of June 
 28th, 1911, gives a concise picture of the work of these 
 clubs: 
 
 'COMMISSION CLUBHOUSES 
 
 "AcmnTiBS op the Yottng Men's Christian Associa^on 
 
 "The Culebra indoor baseball team defeated the Gorgona team 
 on the local floor on Saturday night, 21 to 2. The batteries for Culebra 
 were Tupper and Cuahing; for Gorgona, Weiser and Christiansen, 
 pitchers, and Ridge, catcher. Tupper struck out 18 men and allowed 
 only five hits. This was the last game of the season, and the first 
 Gorgona has lost. The standing of the teams at the close of the season 
 follows: 
 
 Won Lost Percentage 
 
 Gorgona 9 1 .900 
 
 Culebra 8 2 .800 
 
 Empire 6 4 .600 
 
 Gatun 3 7 .300 
 
 Cristobal 2 8 .200 
 
 Corozal 2 8 .200 
 
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TBANSPLANTED AMERICANS 533 
 
 "CULBBRA 
 
 "The high duokpin scores last week were as follows: Huttelmeier, 
 104, 108, 104, 100, 101, 108; Mengel, 118; Silver, 110; Kennedy, 101; 
 Helper, 106. 
 
 "The afternoon gymnasium class which meets Mondays and Thurs- 
 days at 5.15 is well attended. More members are invited to join. An 
 evening gymnasium class will be started for the purpose of carrying on 
 apparatus work, tumbling, basketball, and exercise of a heavier nature. 
 
 "empire 
 
 "The Cristobal duckpin bowling team took two out of three games 
 from the Empire team on Saturday evening, June 24. 
 
 "At a meeting of the Empire Literary and Debating Society held 
 on Friday, June 23, officers were elected to serve six months. 
 
 "Forty new books have been added to the library, including some 
 late fiction. 
 
 "All those wishing to enter the handicap pool tournament for July 
 wiU hand their names to manager of the pool room, or to the office. 
 The tournament will begin on July 5. 
 
 "gorgona 
 
 "The bowling match scheduled with Gatun on Gorgona alleys for 
 last Saturday was postponed imtil July 1, when Gorgona will send a 
 team to Gatun. 
 
 "The wrestling class has been temporarily disbanded, as a number 
 of the wrestlers are training for the Fourth of July meet. The class 
 will be reorganized after that date. 
 
 "qaton 
 
 "At a meeting of the literary club on Wednesday, June 21, M. S. 
 Fox upheld the affirmative and R. M. Gamble the negative, in a debate 
 on the subject, 'Resolved, that the right of suffrage should be granted 
 the women of the United States.' A selection from Eugene Field was 
 given by F. G. Smith. The club has accepted the challenge of the 
 Cristobal literary club to debate the subject, 'Resolved, that the rail- 
 roads of the United States should be owned and operated by the Federal 
 Government.' Each club will be represented by six men, three of whom 
 will debate at home and three away from home, taking opposite sides 
 of the question. A general discussion on the subject will take place 
 at the meeting of the Gatun Club on Wednesday evening, June 28. 
 
 "Members interested in basketball met on Tuesday night, June 27, 
 and organized a local league. 
 
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534 PANAMA 
 
 "CKISTOBAL 
 
 "The basketball games on Tuesday and Thursday night resulted as 
 follows: 
 
 "Tuesday — Sterner vs. Kavan, score 23 to 16 in favor of Stemer's 
 team. 
 
 "Thursday — Sterner vs. Luce, score, 24 to 12 in favor of Luce's 
 team. 
 
 "The Wednesday night literary and debating club met, and the 
 topic discussed was 'Socialism.' This week, the debate will be, 'Re- 
 solved, that the Government should own and operate the railroads.' 
 
 "Thursday night, the anniversary banquet will be held at Cristobal 
 hotel at 8 p. m. The occasion celebrates the fourth year this clubhouse 
 has been open." 
 
 The same issue contains the following: 
 "FOURTH OF JULY 
 
 "Outline op Program for Celebration at Cristobal 
 
 "The program for the observance of Independence Day at Cristobal 
 on July 4 is as follows: 
 
 "morning 
 "Athletic events on Roosevelt avenue, 9 a. m. to 1 p. m. Twenty- 
 two events are scheduled, eight of which will be laughable contests, 
 and the remainder standard events. Cash prizes, except in contested 
 events, will be paid on July 4. The I. C. C. Band will play at the 
 athletic games. 
 
 "Baseball game at Colon park at 10 a. m. The Marine Band will 
 play. 
 
 "afternoon 
 "Patriotic exercises in the Court of Honor on Roosevelt avenue, 
 1.15 to 2 o'clock. Program is as follows: 
 Flag raising by Boy Scouts. 
 
 Introduction by presiding officer, Maj. Henry A. Brown. 
 Reading Declaration of Independence, Chief Justice Gudger, 
 
 Canal Zone Supreme Court. 
 Address, Chairman and Chief Engineer, Col. Geo. W. Goethals. 
 National airs sung by school children, accompanied by I. C. C. 
 Band. 
 
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TRANSPLANTED AMERICANS 535 
 
 'Flag of the free,' Canal Zone high school. 
 
 Fire department drill, 2 to 3.30 o'clock. 
 
 Aquatic sports, 2 to 5 o'clock. The Marine Band will play. 
 
 Fire department ladder exhibition, 6 o'clock. 
 
 Band concert by the I. C. C. Band, 6 to 7 o'clock. 
 
 "night 
 "Fireworks, Marine Band concert, 8 to 9 o'clock. 
 Dance at the Lincoln House, 9 o'clock." 
 
 The "Fourth" is the great day on the Zone. Besides the 
 6,000 American employees, their wives and children, the 
 30,000 foreigners join in the celebration. It is the most 
 cosmopolitan spreading our old Eagle ever enjoyed. 
 
 Two more clippings from The Canal Record complete the 
 picture of Uncle Sam's efforts to amuse the men: 
 
 Steam Shovel Men's Ball 
 
 A benefit ball will be given by the Associated Union of Steam Shovel 
 
 Men on July 1, 1911, at the Tivoli Hotel. A special train will leave 
 
 Colon at 6.15, making regular stops. The return trip will be made 
 
 on the passenger train scheduled to leave Panama at 12.01 a. m., July 2. 
 
 Public Installation and Dance op K. of P. 
 On Monday evening, July 3, Balboa Lodge, No. 4, Knights of 
 Pythias of Las Cascadaa, will hold a public installation of oflScers in 
 the Commission lodge hall. Following the installation ceremonies, 
 there will be an entertainment and dance. All Pythians, their families 
 and friends are invited to attend. 
 
 Although the Commission has gone to great lengths to 
 keep its employees contented, this has been a relatively 
 easy matter compared to keeping homesickness from the 
 women. 
 
 In fact there are some misogynists who claim that the 
 Commission made a mistake in encouraging the employees 
 to bring down their wives. As in more northern climates 
 many unmarried men maintain that a lot more than half 
 
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536 PANAMA 
 
 the trouble is caused by women. It has happened more 
 than once that a good man, who was interested in his work 
 and wanted to stay, went back to the States because his 
 wife could not adapt herself, became nervous tinder the 
 climate or was snubbed by somebody else's wife. Certainly 
 the women have the harder time of it. There is very little 
 to interest them. For eight hours a day the men are too 
 busy to become discontented. The Father of Gossip is just 
 as active in finding work for the tongues of idle people in 
 the tropics as in Greenland. And as a rule the women are 
 idler on the Canal Zone than in a suburban town. 
 
 The Commissary stores, for instance, although they 
 greatly reduce the cost of living and are model places for buy- 
 ing, are very poor places for "shopping." 
 
 The Commission has bravely taken up the task of amus- 
 ing and occupying the women folk. It employs an organizer 
 of "women's clubs." Every village has its club. Every 
 week The Caned Record pubhshes a column called "Social 
 Life on the Zone." These clippings give an idea of the 
 varied activities of women's organizations: 
 
 "At the regular meeting of the Cristobal Woman's Club on January 
 22, a paper was read on 'Club Ethics,' written by Dr. Jeanne de la 
 Lozier, of the New York State Federation of Woman's Clubs, which 
 has also been read before several other Zone organizations. It is filled 
 with suggestions and hints for the development of the ideal club life 
 which are most helpful and greatly appreciated in the Zone where the 
 club movement is of so recent date. 
 
 "The Gatun club will hold a special meeting February 1, with Miss 
 Anna Gohrman as guest. Miss Gohrman will address the club on school 
 work and the desirability of co-operation of parents with the work of 
 the teachers. The regular meeting will take place as usual. 
 
 "The regular meeting of the Pedro Miguel club, January 22, was in 
 charge of the literary committee. An amusing program was presented 
 consisting of a short play which represented the closing day of an old- 
 fashioned country school. The club spares no pains to make these 
 entertainments interesting. 
 
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TEANSPLANTED AMERICANS 537 
 
 "The president of the Ancon club has called a special business meet- 
 ing for January 29, at 8.30 a. m. Arrangements for the flower dance 
 to be given by the club on February 29 are going rapidly forward. 
 
 "The Paraiso Woman's Club held a social meeting January 23, at 
 the club rooms in the Commission hotel. Several musical numbers 
 were given and an advertisement guessing contest was a feature of 
 the entertainment. Prizes were awarded to the correct guessers. Tea 
 was served by the committee on entertainment. The attendance was 
 the largest since the organization of the club. 
 
 "The art section of the Ancon Woman's Club, organized under the 
 title of the Ancon Art Society, will hold its first monthly meeting on 
 the evening of January 29, at the residence of Mrs. Herbert G. Squiers, 
 the American Legation, Panama, from eight to ten o'clock. In accord- 
 ance with the regular plan of the society, the evening will consist of 
 music given during the hour's sketching; an exhibit and judgment of 
 work by the critic appointed by the society, and a social half hour 
 during which refreshments will be served. The program of work during 
 the month of January has been figure, landscape, still life, geiu:e and 
 appUed design. 
 
 "The Altar Guild of St. Luke's, which has now over twenty members, 
 met at the residence of Mrs. John L. Philhps January 20. The work 
 of the guild is progressing, the first altar set for the chapel being com- 
 pleted. The next meeting will be held February 3 at the residence of 
 Mrs. W. C. Gorgas. 
 
 ' ' The Paraiso club gave a ' Limerick ' tea February 19, when a musical 
 program was rendered by Mrs. Downs, Mrs. Richards, Mrs. Lane, and 
 Mrs. and Miss Macombs. The committee in charge of the afternoon 
 was Mrs. G. H. Kerslake, Mrs. Lane and Mrs. Robert Smith. 
 
 "The Bowling Club of Culebra gave a farewell reception to Mrs. 
 A. W. Stevenson at the Commission Club House, February 27. Ten 
 members were present, and the afternoon was spent in social amuse- 
 ment. 
 
 "The Paraiso Woman's Club is engaged in sewing for specific chari- 
 table purposes. The sewing circle meets at the residence of the presi- 
 dent, Mrs. J. C. Bamett. The club wiU entertain the Pedro Miguel 
 Club at its regular social meeting, March 5. 
 
 "A movement among club women to study the national songs was 
 responded to with enthusiasm, and the meeting closed with the singing 
 of 'America.' This suggestion has also been taken up by the other 
 clubs along the line, and it is probable that the movement will become 
 general." 
 
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538 PANAMA 
 
 But the women are not solely engaged in amusing them- 
 selves. They have a very active "Play Ground Associa- 
 tion." In Colon you can see little Panamanians from 
 Bottle Alley and Bolivar Street having a glorious time on 
 swinging rings, see-saws and sand piles. The httle park is 
 fitted up by the association just as such play centres are 
 equipped at home. There is a thriving branch of the Red 
 Cross and also an Anti-Cigarette League. 
 
 On the whole it has been a very successful attempt to 
 transplant Americans. The men are working hard to dig 
 the ditch and the women are working just as hard to make 
 the place seem homehke. 
 
 The unmarried man is better off in most ways than he is 
 at home. His wages are probably more, his health is cer- 
 tainly better guarded, his food more wholesome than they 
 would be at home. He is certainly offered more rational 
 and healthy, although much less varied, amusements than 
 on any other job. The bachelor who does not live in Pan- 
 ama City is either saving money or does not want to. Most 
 of them are. 
 
 For a married man the place is a paradise — if the wife 
 likes it. Doing the same kind of work, there is no place 
 in the world where he can have as comfortable a home and 
 as good meals and save as much. 
 
 But after all it is a man's job and a man's commimity. 
 The man who works for two years gets a medal — ^his wife 
 does not. This seems to me a deep and regrettable injus- 
 tice. It costs the women more to stay. One finds lots of 
 men who really like it, who would rather be on the Canal 
 work than any job with equal pay in the States. It would 
 be hard to find a woman from one end of the Zone to the other 
 who after six months does not wish that her husband could 
 find something as good at home. That most of them do not 
 
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TBANSPLANTED AMEBICAN8 539 
 
 fret about it, is all the more reason that they should have the 
 medals. 
 
 But whatever moping and homesickness there is among 
 the women, it is generally laid aside when the roar of the 
 blast in the Cut shows that the day's work is over. The 
 smile is taken out of the top bureau drawer and carefully 
 polished. The veranda of every "family house" blossoms 
 out with a cheery, plucky, prettily gowned American 
 woman. The married men come down from the draught- 
 ing tables, the steam shovels and the concrete-mixers, to a 
 greeting which makes the bachelors feel lonely, to a cold 
 shower and clean clothes, to a well laden dinner table — and 
 a quiet evening at home or game of cards with the neighbor 
 and his wife. 
 
 It is especially after the whistle blows on Saturday that 
 one sees the Zone at its j oiliest. Nobody's homesick Satur- 
 day night or Sunday. There is sure to be a dance or a 
 lecture or some amateur theatricals somewhere within reach. 
 The ejctra Sunday trains of the Panama railroad are crowded 
 with as merry and light-hearted a lot of Americans as one 
 could find anywhere in the States. 
 
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CHAPTER XXXIII 
 
 THE BIG JOBS IN 1911 
 
 Of course the biggest job of all, the original planning of 
 the canal, was finished long ago. 
 
 There remains, however, work to be done of a magnitude 
 which might well stagger the faith of men who had not 
 already made much progress at removing mountains. 
 
 In the two years between my visits to the Isthmus great 
 strides have been made in all directions. But the progress 
 is especially noticeable in that to-day the canal is beginning 
 to take definite shape and the uninitiated can see what it 
 is our men are doing. 
 
 In 1909 they showed me the lock sites at Gatun. It was 
 a great hole in the ground which they had scraped out with 
 their steam-shovels — ^but not nearly so impressive as the 
 excavations they had made in other places. It took more 
 imagination than I could muster to visualize the locks as 
 they will look when in operation. 
 
 To-day — 1911 — sixty per cent, of the concrete is in place. 
 Of the three steps in the flight of locks, the upper one is so 
 near completion that one has only to imagine it full of water 
 to see it as it will look from the rail of a passing steamer. 
 
 A glance at the accompanying map will give you the lay 
 of the land. 
 
 Sailing almost due south from the Caribbean Sea, the ships 
 will come into the Atlantic entrance between the two break- 
 waters we are building from Toro Point and Colon. In 
 1502, when Columbus sailed into this harbor, he named it 
 
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THE BIG JOBS IN 1911 541 
 
 Navy Bay. It was his fourth voyage, his last attempt to 
 find the short cut to the Indies. Now, four centuries later, 
 we are building the passage he sought in vain. 
 
 From the harbor entrance there is a straightaway channel 
 — eight miles — ^to the locks. The first half of it is through the 
 bay, the last four miles between low banks, covered with 
 swampy jungle. 
 
 At Gatun, a massive flight of concrete masonry, eighty- 
 five feet in height, will rise before the steamer. As she enters 
 the approach her power will be shut off and ropes run ashore 
 to the electric mules which will tow her through. By a very 
 clever mechanical device, which doubtless seems simple to 
 Colonel Hodges and the other engineers of the locks, but 
 which is beyond my comprehension, this towing system is 
 so arranged that, while the ship will progress at a rate of 
 five miles an hour, there will be no momentum, or at least 
 so little that she can be stopped in a few inches. I have a 
 very distinct recollection of something in sophomore physics 
 about there being no movement without momentiun. But, 
 be that as it may, several lock gates in various canals in 
 other parts of the world have been smashed by ships which, 
 once started, refused to stop. It was blamed on momentum. 
 So some of our engineers sat up late several nights and con- 
 trived this device, which makes momentum one with Caesar 
 and the snows of yester year. 
 
 As soon as the ship has entered the lock and the gates 
 are closed behind her the water alongside will begin to bubble. 
 It is the inflow from the great lake above. There are con- 
 duits running down through the soHd concrete centre and 
 side walls — conduits as big as the California redwood trees 
 which make a horse and wagon look so small in comparison. 
 The water is distributed by a lot of smaller conduits running 
 out under the lock chamber at right angles to the big ones 
 and emptying upwards through the floor. When the flrst 
 
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542 PANAMA 
 
 lock is full, the ship will be more than twenty-five feet above 
 sea-level. The gates ahead will be opened, those intelligent 
 electric mules will tow her into the middle lock, the process 
 will be repeated, and again in the upper lock. And when the 
 last gate is opened, she will steam out into Gatim Lake, 
 eighty-five feet up in the air. 
 
 And while one ship is going up another in the opposite 
 direction may be going down, for all the locks are in duplicate. 
 
 It is impossible to give an adequate impression of the 
 immense size of these locks to one who has not seen them. 
 When I was here before, and only the excavations had been 
 made, I tried to get some idea of what 1,000 feet long, 110 
 feet wide, by 41 feet deep meant. One of our engineers tried 
 to help me out by saying that the Olympic, the largest liner 
 yet laid down, could grow 120 feet longer and still go through. 
 But, not having seen this monster, I had no clear idea of 
 how big she will look. Another told me to imagine a wide 
 city street lined with six-story buildings for three blocks. 
 But there on the edge of the jungle, with no building in sight 
 more than two stories high, and no city street within hun- 
 dreds of miles, this did not help much either. I got only a 
 vague feeling that it was to be immense. 
 
 Now you can stand on the edge of the almost completed 
 upper lock, look down into the bottom at the busy midgets 
 who are full-sized men, across the hundred odd feet to the 
 centre wall, a Titanic monolith of concrete which separates 
 the lock chamber you see from its twin — ^just as big — beyond, 
 and then you can look northward towards the sea along 
 three-quarters of a mile of the biggest concrete job on earth 
 — and — ^well — even now, with it almost completed under 
 your eyes, you cannot find any adequate comparison. Only 
 there is no longer anjrthing vague about the impression of 
 immensity. This lock job of ours — ^by itself — is stupendous. 
 
 Having climbed up these eighty-five feet above the sea, 
 
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THE BIG JOBS IN 1911 543 
 
 the ship will, under its own steam, traverse over twenty 
 miles to Gatun Lake. 
 
 This lake is imdoubtedly the greatest liberty we have 
 taken with the landscape. There is to be something like 
 one hundred and sixty square miles of it balanced on the 
 side of the hills. This great body of water is to be held in 
 place by Gatun Dam. In 1879, at the International Scientific 
 Congress for the consideration of an Atlantic-Pacific Canal, 
 which was called at Paris under the presidency of Count 
 de Lesseps, this plan — ^then first suggested — was laughed at 
 as preposterous. Within three years it will be an accom- 
 lished fact. It is already more than two-thirds completed. 
 
 In 1909 there was nothing to see of this incipient mountain 
 range except two parallel trestle-ways stretching out a mile 
 and a half from Gatun village to the other side of the Chagres 
 Valley. The trestles were about a quarter of a mile apart, 
 and along them ran a continuous procession of dirt trains 
 filled with spoil from Culebra Cut. They would dump their 
 loads at the foot of the trestle and rush back to the Cut 
 for more. 
 
 These parallel stone heaps were, I was told, the "toes" 
 of the dam. But — as was the case with the lock sites — 
 enough had not been accomphshed to give me any hint 
 of the thing as it is to be. The two years which have passed 
 since then have been busy ones of progress. Now the dam, 
 as it is nearing completion, is easily recognizable as a dam. 
 
 The "toes" on which they were piling stone in 1909 are 
 only retaining walls for the real dam. Loose rock — just 
 as it came from the steam-shovels in the Cut — was dumped 
 in these parallel heaps, a quarter of a mile apart, until they 
 reached a height of sixty-five feet above the sea. The 
 immense weight of these "toes" squeezed out the soft soil 
 below them until they rested on firm foundations. The 
 great ditch between them is being filled by suction dredges 
 
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544 PANAMA 
 
 with an impervious mixture of sand and clay. This "core" 
 is what our engineers rely on to stop the water, and the 
 "toes" are only there to hold it in place. Outside of the 
 "toes," both up stream and down, so much more material 
 is being placed that the sides of the dam will rise only one 
 foot in twenty-five up to the eighty-five-foot level of the 
 lake. For the superstructure the slope is more rapid — one 
 to three. The dam when completed will be a mile and a half 
 long, 105 feet high, 100 feet wide at the top, and the total 
 width at the bottom will be close to half a mile. 
 
 Of course the massiveness of the dam is its most impressive 
 feature to the layman. But our engineers are more interested 
 in, and proud of, the "spillway." As its name suggests, 
 this is where the excess water from the lake will spill out. 
 
 The dam is divided near its centre by an isolated hill of 
 solid stone. This not only gives added anchorage for the dam 
 itself, but forms an excellent foundation for the spillway. 
 And when you are dealing with a tropical lake you need 
 a spillway which will stay where you put it. The waterways 
 which run into the Chagres Valley — ^the bed of the future 
 lake — are things of sudden and mighty passion. A freshet 
 is recorded which rose forty feet in twelve hours at Alhajuela. 
 The problem of handling these sudden excesses of water — 
 the taming of the Chagres — is perhaps one of the most 
 intricate, as it certainly is one of the most important, which 
 our engineers have had to solve. 
 
 Ever since we took possession of the Canal Zone we have 
 been at work surveying the watersheds which empty into 
 the Chagres Valley. It has been the toughest and roughest 
 job to which we have put our men. It has been impossible 
 to carry our sanitary work into the extremes of the jungle 
 to which their job had taken them. Every line on the con- 
 tour maps you can see at the administration building means 
 bitter hardship. Machete men had to cut out the jungle 
 
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THE BIG JOBS IN 1911 545 
 
 foot by foot in front of the instruments. Sulphite of quinine 
 was the principal article of diet. And even forty grains a 
 day was not enough. Every two months or so the men had 
 to come down river — ^in the bottom of native dugouts — to 
 civilization and the hospital. 
 
 Besides the maps of all the watersheds, we have exact 
 records of the rainfall during our occupation, and also the 
 observations of the French for many years before. Our 
 hydraulic engineers have figured things out to meet the 
 contingency of three successive years which should each be 
 as wet as the wettest on record or as dry as the dryest. 
 The Canal will be able to handle traffic in either of these 
 extreme cases — although they are so improbable as to be 
 practically impossible. 
 
 The proper conservation of the water in the lake — ^the 
 keeping of it down to the proper level during the nine months 
 of rain, and up to level through the remaining dry season, 
 when it is constantly going out through the locks and by 
 evaporation, and very little coming in — depends on the 
 proper working of the elaborate system of gates in the spill- 
 way. 
 
 When the Canal is in operation, the man in charge of this 
 station will be in telephonic communication with the "fluvi- 
 graphs," the river-observation stations, back in the hills. 
 If a cloud-burst at Alhajuela has produced a twenty-foot 
 rise in the upper Chagres, he will know it at least five hours 
 before the freshet reaches the lake, and he will have ample 
 time to figure out just how much this flood will raise the 
 surface of the lake, and how much he must open the gates 
 to preserve the desired level. 
 
 And it is not the intention to waste these excesses which 
 will flow over the spillway. They will be harnessed and 
 turned by a turbine plant into electric power to run the gates 
 and valves and towing apparatus of the locks. 
 
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546 PANAMA 
 
 Much of Gatun Lake will not be navigable for large boats, 
 but we are dredging and cutting a channel forty-five feet 
 deep, and from five hundred to one thousand feet wide, all 
 the twenty-three miles from the locks to the beginning of 
 the Cut at Bas Obispo. For the last five miles the hills 
 crowd down closer and closer to the channel, then there is a 
 rather sharp turn, and the steamer will enter Culebra Cut — 
 the canon we are cutting through the backbone of the Isth- 
 mus. This notch in the continental divide is nine miles 
 long, from Bas Obispo to the lock at Pedro Miguel, where 
 the ship will take the fiirst step down towards the Pacific 
 Ocean. 
 
 The French had dug down at Culebra to within one hun- 
 dred and sixty feet of sea-level. But they were only digging 
 an irrigation ditch in comparison to the immense ship canal 
 we are at work on. The accompanying cross-section shows 
 graphically how much more geography we are displacing 
 then they planned to do. 
 
 In reading over the annual reports of the Commission one 
 cannot escape the impression that we made a mistake at 
 the very beginning in the way we began work in Culebra 
 Cut — at least a mistake from the engineering point of view. 
 Mr. Wallace, our first chief engineer, in response to popular 
 demand, began at once " to make the dirt fly." Very probably 
 he had explicit orders from Washington to this effect. So 
 he scraped the rust off the old French machinery which 
 he found in the jimgle, and began in the Cut, where they 
 had left off, using their little "excavators," some of them 
 twenty years old, and their puny Belgian locomotives, 
 which, beside the ones we are now using, look a comfortable 
 size for a watch-charm. We at home who wanted the Canal 
 built were cheered with the news that dirt was actually 
 "flying." 
 
 Of much greater importance, Wallace, with his marvelous 
 
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THE BIG JOBS IN 1911 547 
 
 ability to sense the magnitude of the undertaking, was fright- 
 ening the first Commission with orders for a new railway, 
 seagoing dredges, and modern steam-shovels. His requisitions 
 were considered preposterous. The supplies which reached 
 him were always overdue, often far from his specifications. 
 But all this was a matter of dreary official correspondence, 
 and the public knew little of it. The important thing for 
 us was that work was under way. The annual report for 
 the year ending December 1, 1905, states that 1,000,000 cubic 
 yards had been removed from the Culebra Cut. If I remem- 
 ber rightly, we did some cheering when it was annotmced 
 that the million mark had been reached. 
 
 But this hasty beginning is the thing for which Wallace 
 is most severely criticised by engineers. The slogan of their 
 clan is "low unit cost." The resuscitated French machinery 
 was certainly uneconomical. Some of Wallace's excavation 
 in the Cut cost $1.35 a cubic yard. And they say that if we 
 had spent two solid years in preparation — in attending to 
 sanitation, gathering and organizing the labor force, buying 
 and installing the equipment — we could have removed all 
 the dirt at the amazingly high speed and low cost we later 
 attained. 
 
 Stevens, who succeeded Wallace as chief engineer, stopped 
 work in the Cut. He began laying ninety-ton rails, building 
 machine-shops which would keep the steam-shovels and big 
 locomotives up to their highest pitch of efficiency, and 
 installing compressed-air plants to supersede the costly hand- 
 work on the drills. He left the dirt alone until he could 
 attack it in the most economical way. There has been little 
 change in the method of work he organized. 
 
 But the men whose outlook is broad enough to see more 
 than the engineering phase of the work — the politicians — 
 do not criticise Wallace on this score. They are quick to 
 insist that the policy of "making the dirt fly" was the only 
 
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548 PANAMA 
 
 possible one. They recall that the Canal was not so popular 
 in the early days as it is now, that they had to fight for every 
 appropriation, that certain "lobbies" at Washington were 
 ever on the qui vive to find flaws and start trouble, that the 
 newspapers were flooded with wild stories of death and 
 destruction — ^in short, that the problem of building the 
 Canal was at first not one of engineering but of politics. 
 "If we had not made 'the dirt fly' the fiirst year," they say, 
 "there would not have been any second year." And in this, 
 I guess, the politicians are right. 
 
 But whether the first policy was right or wrong, the work 
 is certainly booming to-day. 
 
 There are two ways of "seeing the Cut." You can hang 
 your feet over the edge somewhere and look down on it 
 as a whole, or you can go through it and see the details — 
 gigantic details — one by one. If you are a Congressman, 
 or something equally important, they will offer to send you 
 through in a motor car with wheels fitted to the railway 
 track. Don't let them. You are sure to get dust in your 
 eyes, and you will whiz dizzily past the things you would 
 like to watch and be held up in uninteresting sidings while 
 endless dirt-trains go by. For, no matter how important 
 you are, they will not give you the right of way over a dirt- 
 train. If they held one of them up, it might throw a whole 
 battery of steam-shovels out of stride, the dislocation would 
 be felt twenty-five miles away on Gatim Dam; it might 
 keep them from breaking the month's excavation record — 
 and that is not to be thought of. 
 
 There is a grassy spot back of the Commission Club-house 
 at Culebra where the red-bugs are not too numerous — an 
 important condition. It is the best place I have found for a 
 leisurely general view of the Cut. To the right are Gold 
 and Contractor's Hills; the cut between them is the deepest 
 of all. To the left you can see four or five miles through the 
 
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THE BIG JOBS IN 1911 549 
 
 Cut towards Empire. And in front of you, away down, is 
 the busiest part of the whole job. In the bottom and swarm- 
 ing on the sides is an army of gnomes hurrying hither and 
 thither, doing a dozen different things, the nature of which 
 you find it hard to determine unless you are a construction 
 engineer, or have one at hand to interpret the scene. 
 
 One glance down into the Dantesque abyss and you will 
 realize that those midgets of men are not doing the work. 
 They are only arranging it for the monsters of steel whose 
 food is fire and whose breath is alternate steam and black 
 smoke. There are times when the wind dies down and 
 the pall of their breath hangs so heavy that you can scarce 
 see them. But through all the long day you can hear them 
 roaring and shrieking over their prey. 
 
 I suppose it would be possible to estimate the number 
 of "horse-power" which is busy down there in the steam- 
 shovels and locomotives and compressed-air drills and com- 
 pare it with the number of men at work. The ratio of one 
 hundred horse-power in these machines to each man is 
 probably under the truth. But I doubt if it would be possible 
 to calculate the horse-power represented by the terrific 
 forces of the dynamite which tears loose the ribs of the moun- 
 tain — crushing the hillside to bits the steam-shovels can 
 handle. 
 
 Fully half the men down there are serving the dynamite 
 — drilling holes, placing the charges, stringing the wires. 
 They shoot twice a day — during the noon-hour and at twi- 
 light. No one loiters in the Cut after the whistle blows. 
 Labor trains pick up most of the men and hurry them 
 beyond danger, some few clamber up the sides. An inspec- 
 tion squad takes a last look at the wires, and then runs for it. 
 Some one away off somewhere outside the Cut presses a 
 button. It does not matter much where you are on the Zone, 
 you are pretty sure to hear the rumble, to feel the surprised 
 
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550 PANAMA 
 
 quiver of the earth, as the dynamite breaks up a new section. 
 
 A walk through the Cut is the most interesting thing one 
 can do on the Isthmus. At close quarters the job becomes 
 human. The men who run the machines carry imion cards 
 just like ordinary mechanics at home. And the machines 
 themselves no longer look like mythological monsters bom 
 of fire and a great wind. A sign on their sides tells you 
 that they were made up in the States by a man named 
 Bucyrus or Lidgerwood. 
 
 A steam-shovel, on intimate acquaintance, develops a re- 
 markable personal charm. You use the feminine pronoim 
 in referring to them even more instinctively than to a ship. 
 I think that custom comes from the old sailing days. Except 
 for the inherited convention we would probably refer to a 
 steamer as "it." But no one could question the gender of a 
 steam-shovel. "Why," one of the men said, "she'll do 
 anything for a man who treats her decent." She is not 
 exactly good-looking, but mighty amiable. She grumbles 
 considerably, and sometimes grunts and snorts in an unlady- 
 like way. But the stekm-shovel man, knowing her whims, 
 pets her a bit and says "Please," and up she comes with 
 a load that fills a quarter of a flat car! 
 
 A betting man would lose endless money on a steam-shovel. 
 At least, as I watch one, I find myself continually saying 
 "I bet she can't handle that load!" But she always does. 
 
 We have to dig the Cut down to a grade forty feet above 
 the sea, so that there will be forty-five feet of water at the 
 eighty-five foot level. And, barring imexpected slides, we 
 are seventy per cent, through with the excavation. At the 
 two ends the Cut is down to grade, and at Empire, the present 
 summit, near the middle, the steam-shovels are working at 
 sixty feet above grade. The job is now so nearly completed 
 that we are gradually reducing the size of the labor force 
 and the number of shovels. 
 
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TME BIO JOBS IN 1911 551 
 
 The work of the drills does not offer much of interest. 
 These machines are a relatively stupid lot. All they have 
 to do is to bore a hole in the ground. Off somewhere outside 
 the Cut engines are at work forcing air into the compressors. 
 It is brought down, ninety pounds pressure to the inch, in 
 iron pipes, and the drills rise and fall monotonously until the 
 desired depth is reached; then they are pushed on a few feet 
 and begin over again. There is no temptation to gambling 
 in these machines; they are too evidently sure to win. 
 
 There are more thrills in watching the dynamite squad. 
 Whoever is taking you through, after boasting that there is 
 no job on earth where the consumption of dynamite is so 
 high as on this Canal of ours, will also boast that there have 
 been surprisingly few premature explosions, the Govern- 
 ment, of course, taking much more pains to prevent accident 
 than would be profitable for a private contractor. But, in 
 spite of this reassurance, you will probably view the clean 
 boxes — they look as iimocuous as soap-boxes — ^with con- 
 siderable awe. Each stick of dynamite is done up in brown 
 wrapping paper. Undoubtedly, long experience has proved 
 this to be the best way. But it certainly looks like an inse- 
 cure, not to say undignified, way to treat dynamite. The men, 
 with the lack of respect bred of familiarity, chuck the sticks 
 about nonchalantly, poke them down into the hole, and ram 
 the earth down on top of them with a cynicism which knocks 
 the bottom out of one's stomach. 
 
 The wiring is done with great care. For one time a charge 
 failed to explode, and the next day an unsuspecting steam- 
 shovel ran into it. By an inexplicable coincidence, the tooth 
 of the dipper hit the little fulminate cap. It was one of the 
 worst accidents we have had. Once more some of our men 
 sat up late at night and worked out a new system of wiring 
 which makes a repetition of such an accident impossible. 
 
 But, in spite of all care, the bottom of the Cut is not the 
 
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552 PANAMA 
 
 safest place in the world. You are not likely to be run down 
 by a speeding automobile, but that is about all that can be 
 said for the place. The greatest excitement is caused by the 
 "dobey" shots — the name is, I believe, an abbreviation of 
 "adobe." Often the big blasts break off fragments of rock 
 too big for the shovels and flat cars to handle. These are 
 broken up by small charges of dynamite, pasted against 
 them with sticky clay. One day you will hear very little of 
 it. The next they will keep you side-stepping all the time. 
 When the charge is in place, there is a warning toot-i-toot- 
 too-o-o-o-oot from the steam-shovel whistle and everybody 
 scampers. Behind the nearest shelter you hold your breath 
 till the explosion comes and the whistle blows again and the 
 danger is over. Sometimes there is little commotion from 
 these "dobey" shots, and again they will throw a couple of 
 hundredweight of stones .away up into the air and make 
 dodging lively half a mile away. 
 
 And when you are walking through the Cut you must 
 keep one eye always on the lookout for trains — otherwise 
 they will surely carry you out on a stretcher. There are 
 dirt-trains moving everywhere; they charge you from in 
 front, they make sudden and bewildering flank attacks, 
 but the worst is when they creep up on you from behind 
 imder cover of the noise of a battery of tripod drills. 
 
 Somewhere, of course, there are responsible white men 
 dispatching these trains, but you can only see careless-looking 
 Jamaican negro flagmen. They are a type you see every- 
 where on the job. At every switch — and there is one every 
 hundred yards — there is a shelter, made of four upright 
 sticks and a sheet of corrugated iron. Under it there is a 
 lolling subject of his Britannic Majesty from Jamaica. He is 
 sure to be doing one of two things: either rolling a cigarette 
 ■or admiring himself in a bit of looking-glass. They are not 
 an especially beautiful race, but they seem to find endless 
 
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THE BIG JOBS IN 1911 553 
 
 pleasure in looking themselves over and trying to part their 
 hair. It would be hard to imagine persons who appeared less 
 worried over their responsibilities. But suddenly someliiing 
 will galvanize them. They jump up, grab a red or white flag, 
 wave it violently for a moment, and stick it up in a bracket. 
 Then they return to their cigarette or their self-contempla- 
 tion. In a few minutes they will have another burst of 
 activity, taking down one flag and waving another. How 
 their minds work is beyond all finding out. What it is that 
 so suddenly interrupts their hair-combing or smoking I could 
 not discover. They have no telephones, and do not seem 
 to be watching any set of signals. But somehow there is 
 a brain back of them. For they always wave the right flag 
 at the right moment. These ineffectual-looking, dandified 
 Jamaicans are very important cogs in the vast machine. 
 
 For the digging of Culebra Cut is, above all things, a 
 problem of transportation. Big as they are by themselves, 
 there is nothing very complex in the job of putting sufficient 
 dynamite in place and shooting it, nor in the job of handling 
 the dirt with steam-shovels. The problem which called for 
 extraordinary brains — the nubbin of the whole matter — 
 was how to get this vast quantity of spoil out of so narrow a 
 cut. In order that it may be done at the lowest possible 
 cost per cubic yard, it is necessary that each steam-shovel 
 shall be working up to its maximum all the time. And for 
 this, in turn, it is necessary that no loaded train shall ever be 
 stationary. The instant the last car is filled the train must 
 start, and not stop until it reaches the dump. And also the 
 moment a loaded train has left, a line of "empties" must be 
 ready, so that the steam-shovel will not stand idle. How this 
 could be worked out in a ditch nine miles long and only 300 
 feet wide at the bottom was indeed a problem! 
 
 For a layman the details of the system are hopelessly com- 
 plicated, but once the problem has been stated, there is new 
 
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554 PANAMA 
 
 interest in the view from above the Cut. Instead of a chaos 
 of aimlessly moving trains one begins to see the outlines of a 
 mighty plan. 
 
 There are about one hundred miles of track in the Culebra 
 division — either in the Cut itself or ways to the dumps. 
 For every mile of track there is one locomotive and about 
 twenty cars. There is seldom as much as a three-minute 
 interval between trains. Nothing short of chronometer- 
 hke precision can keep such a system from congestion. 
 
 The whole thing is further complicated by the variety of 
 spoil the shovels must handle. Some of it is waste which goes 
 to the dump, some of it is hard stone and can be utilized 
 on the Gatun Dam or the Naos Breakwater. Always the 
 right kind of a train — Lidgerwood flats or steel dumps — 
 aimed in the right direction must be ready to serve each 
 steam-shovel, according to the kind of dirt it is working on. 
 There can be nothing haphazard about it. Each one of 
 those moving car imits must be in the firm grip of the 
 dispatcher. 
 
 The prettiest feature of the whole system is that every 
 loaded train is going down hill. Each steam-shovel is at 
 work at the top of a grade which runs down either to the 
 Pacific or Atlantic dumps. All the climbing is done by 
 " empties." The saving in costs — the price of coal, on account 
 of the long haul from the States, is high — gained by letting 
 the loaded trains slip down hill is, in the total, immense. 
 
 The working out of this transportation problem in Culebra 
 Cut was done by Mr. Stevens. And it is the proudest 
 achievement of our engineers. 
 
 Between the Cut and the Pacific the problems of the Canal 
 are only repetitions in simplified form of those which have 
 been solved on the Atlantic slope. The three " Big Jobs " — ^the 
 crucial points — are the Locks, the Gatun Dam, and Culebra 
 Cut. But along the strip of land — forty miles long by ten 
 
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THE BIG JOBS IN 1911 555 
 
 broad — ^there are other problems, small only in relation to 
 the stupendous ones I have tried to describe. 
 
 Perhaps the strongest impression which one carries away 
 from a prolonged visit to the Canal Zone is the immense 
 variety of the work, the wonderful flexibility of our force. 
 At home we think of it as an engineering job. Few of us 
 realize that here our Government is making its first experi- 
 ment in a nationally owned railway. But the Panama 
 Railroad and Steamship Company, besides giving immensely 
 valuable assistance to the Canal work, is carrying on a large 
 and profitable commercial business with a degree of efficiency 
 which is not surpassed by any system at home. The Com- 
 mission is running a modem department store down here 
 in the tropics which does a business of several million dol- 
 lars a year, and "the cost of living" has not soared as 
 far skyward for our people on the Canal Zone as it has in 
 New York. 
 
 The recruiting and organizing of the labor force — over 
 thirty-five thousand to-day, with their women and children 
 — ^has been a sociological problem of many brain-racking 
 complexities. It is necessary not only to make life in the 
 jungle possible for our men — the sanitary department has 
 attended to that — ^but also to make it attractive. The 
 Commission has had to go into the amusement business. 
 An employee can bowl on an alley built by the Government 
 or play pool on a nationally owned table. He can have his 
 saddle horse cared for in the Commission corral. He can 
 take his sweetheart to a picnic at San Lorenzo on one of 
 our Government laimches, or he can dance with her in a 
 Government ballroom to national airs played by the Com- 
 mission band. 
 
 These are only samples of the numerous "side issues," 
 the solutions of which were integral parts of the Canal build- 
 ing. 
 
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556 PANAMA 
 
 Before very long the ships of the world will be passing 
 through our Canal. And we will have to our credit a national 
 achievement over which the old eagle may well spread and 
 flap his wings. We Yankees are reputed to be boasters — 
 and we all think we have a right to boast. We own half 
 of an unusually big waterfall at Niagara. We have some 
 moxmtains out West which rival the Alps and a bit of fine 
 grain Iknd in between. But we have never had an accom- 
 plishment hke this Canal to boast of before. Something 
 we, as a nation, have done ourselves — ^and not entirely for 
 ourselves. 
 
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CHAPTER XXXIV 
 
 EXPERIMENTS IN COLLECTIVE ACTIVITY 
 
 A VISIT to the Isthmus of Panama will make any Ameri- 
 can proud of his nation. The Canal is the greatest under- 
 taking of the age. Its success is assured. Even jealous 
 foreigners agree that — in grandeur of conception, intricacy 
 of detail, and efficiency of execution — ^it is a national 
 achievement without parallel. Yet to admit pride in this 
 enterprise is a grave heresy to what we have been taught 
 to revere as the very spirit of Americanism. No great 
 work of modern times has been carried on with as little of 
 that "individual initiative" which we are wont to consider 
 the basic principle of our industrial progress. 
 
 The "political economy" which most of us studied in our 
 youth, the editorials we are accustomed to read, are explicit 
 on this point. Every warship added to our Navy is the 
 text for countless sermons on how much quicker and cheaper 
 and better work can be don§ by private corporations than 
 by the Government. We are in the habit of applying Spen- 
 cer's dictum, "that government is best which governs 
 least" most emphatically to industry. Ninety-nine out of a 
 hundred of us believe that in business, at least, "individual 
 initiative" is superior to "collective enterprise." We go a 
 step further and believe that in some definite way this 
 "individual initiative" is connected with the expectation of 
 money gain. If we want to get the best out of a man we 
 expect to offer him a share in the profits of the concern. 
 
 The Panama Canal is a government job. It is being dug 
 
 557 
 
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558 PANAMA 
 
 by government employees — ^bossed by government engineers. 
 Not one of the 30,000 odd workers is getting or hoping to get 
 a "profit." From Col. Goethals down to the Barbadian 
 negro boys who carry water none of them are spurred on by 
 the incentive of "profit-sharing." They are wage-earners. 
 
 This is surely contrary to the industrial dogma we have 
 always been taught. But whether we like it or not, it is a 
 matter of facts. 
 
 The first heterodox fact which is likely to surprise the 
 visitor from home is the sight of a high-power locomotive, 
 with "U. S." stenciled on the cab. There are two railroads 
 on the Canal Zone owned and operated by the government. 
 The Isthmian Canal Commission system, used exclusively 
 for construction purposes, and the Panama railroad, which 
 besides helping in the Canal work, does a large and profit- 
 able commercial business. 
 
 Compared with other tropical railroads, the P. R. R. is 
 a model of efficiency and economy in every department. 
 There is no system at home so thoroughly equipped with 
 safety appliances. The accident rate both for employees 
 and passengers sets a standard which none of our privately 
 owned lines have ever approached. The two systems to- 
 gether operate about 300 miles of track in the Zone, and 
 carry more traffic per mile than any railroad in the States, 
 except a few terminal systems like that of the Chicago stock 
 yards. 
 
 The annual report to the stockholders of the Panama 
 Railroad Company — it is technically a private corpora- 
 tion so that it can conduct a commercial business — for 
 the year ending June 30, 1910, showed a " gross earning" of 
 $6,100,788.83. Extensive relocation work was in progress, but 
 the operating expenses were only $4,358,426.92. The com- 
 pany also operates a direct line of steamers between Colon 
 and New York. They make the run between these ports 
 
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EXPHSIMENTS IN COLLECTIVE ACTIVITY 559 
 
 in a day less than the competing lines and in the year ending 
 Jvine 30, 1910, they earned over $150,000 net. 
 
 Many people in authority have told us that a publicly 
 owned railroad would surely fail. It would be eaten up by 
 corruption, administered on the "spoils system," and be- 
 come the headquarters for general inefficiency. The thing 
 cannot be done — we have been taught — ^without the incen- 
 tive of "private profits." Most of us have beheved this. 
 It is done on the Isthmus of Panama. And it is hard to 
 understand how conditions can be more favorable in the 
 midst of a tropical jungle than they are at home. 
 
 Long before the visitor from home gets accustomed to 
 riding on a government railroad, he is disturbed by a host 
 of new and even more heretical facts. 
 
 We are more or less used to people who demand govern- 
 ment ownership of railroads. Once in a while some one 
 aggressively suggests that our mimicipalities wipe out the 
 shame of their sliuns by building model homes for the 
 workers. We have heard that Munich and other foreign 
 cities have done so successfully. But as yet no one has 
 suggested that the government should feed the people. 
 
 If you visit the Isthmus you will eat at a govenunent 
 table. 
 
 Not content with managing the transportation, not satis- 
 fied with being a landlord, the Isthmian Canal Commission 
 has become a restaurant keeper, waiter and cook. 
 
 Here is a statement of the length to which this heretical 
 tendency has been carried. 
 
 "The cost of running the messes for 'gold,' European and 
 negro employees during the six months ending December 31, 
 1909, was over $700,000, and the receipts and expenditures 
 practically balanced. A statement giving the receipts and 
 expenditures by months for the European messes. West 
 Indian kitchens and hotels, including the Tivoli, follows: 
 
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560 TANAUA 
 
 Months Receipts Expenses 
 
 July $124,542.19 $122,206.33 
 
 August 177,018.83 119,195.60 
 
 September 119,481.72 116,993.77 
 
 October 119,115.78 120,894.42 
 
 November 115,445.75 117,588.77 
 
 December 120,517.48 122,190.99 
 
 Total $716,121.75 $719,069.88 
 
 "The rations at the messes for European laborers have 
 been increased, among the additions being wine three times 
 a week, instead of twice a week. There was an increase in 
 the number of men eating at these messes in December of 
 over three hundred, the total at the close of the month being 
 3,375 men, out of a possible 4,800, which is the number of 
 European laborers in Commission bachelor quarters." 
 
 The annual report of the Isthmian Canal Commission 
 for 1907 gives this account of the Subsistence Department: 
 
 "Fifteen hotels were operated for white Americans, where 
 good wholesome meals were furnished for 30 cents each. 
 
 "Eighteen mess-halls are operated for the Europeans, 
 where a day's board is furnished for 40 cents. The stew- 
 ards and cooks at these messes are usually Europeans, and 
 a meal peculiar to the tastes of the men boarding there is 
 served. 
 
 "There are in operation 23 kitchens for West Indian 
 laborers, where a day's board is furnished for 30 cents. 
 
 "The number of meals served during the month of June, 
 1907, is as follows: Hotels, 197,419; messes, 286,155; kit- 
 chens, 456,765, or nearly a million meals for the month. 
 
 "The subsistence operations are merely self-supporting; 
 it is not the purpose to make a profit." 
 
 Since this was written the labor force was increased about 
 fifty per cent. — ^to 35,000 — and is now decreasing as the bulk 
 of the work is finished. 
 
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EXFEEIMENTS IN COLLECTIVE ACTIVITY 561 
 
 It is an eloquent tribute to the Government's cuisine that 
 3,375 of the 4,800 European laborers — ^who are free to eat 
 where they will — prefer the mess-halls to anything which 
 "individual initiative" has to offer. There are three "club" 
 messes run by unmarried white men in opposition to the 
 commission hotels. Perhaps a hundred Canal employees 
 use them. But in spite of the large income from the "bar" 
 these private messes are more expensive and very little bet- 
 ter than the government's meals. 
 
 No private contractor in the world feeds his employees as 
 well as the Isthmian Canal Commission. There are very 
 few of the employees who ever ate better meals, slept in 
 cleaner, more comfortable beds, or amused themselves in 
 more wholesome clubs than those furnished by the govern- 
 ment. 
 
 This is true of the American mechanics and clerks, whose 
 standard of living is high in the States. It is more strik- 
 ingly true of the laborers — both European and West Indian. 
 A Barbadian negro at home earns a shilling a day during 
 the few weeks when the sugar is planted and harvested and 
 not much of anything the rest of the year. He lives in a 
 shack of corrugated iron, dry goods boxes and thatch, and 
 eats plantains. In the Canal Zone he earns a dollar a day 
 — seventy cents clear above the cost of three square meals. 
 His lodgings are free. There is no comparison at all be- 
 tween the lot of a West India negro boy on the Canal and 
 one who works in the neighboring banana fields or mines. 
 
 Along the same line of paternalism — but of more fimda- 
 mental significance — is the governmental attitude in its 
 industrial relation to the labor force. 
 
 Of greatest importance to the working man is the frank 
 recognition and encouragement of labor unions. A Socialist 
 administration could not be more cordial to organized 
 labor. 
 
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562 PANAMA 
 
 Of greatest importance to the wives and children of the 
 men is the full recognition of employer's liability for acci- 
 dents. Dynamite is used in greater quantity than any- 
 where else in the world. The Government goes much far- 
 ther in its effort to prevent accidents than any private 
 employer ever dreamed of doing. 
 
 The representative of the Du Pont Powder Company, 
 which furnishes most of the explosives, told me that the 
 greatest marvel to him of all this wonderful job was the 
 low accident rate — especially remarkable, as most of the 
 work is done by slip-shod and exceedingly careless Jamaica 
 negro laborers. Despite the utmost care premature explo- 
 sions sometimes occur. But when the inevitable happens 
 the heirs need no lawyer to collect for them. The men 
 themselves could not devise a simpler or surer method of 
 compensation. 
 
 It is a safe generalization that in every phase of the com- 
 plicated relationships of employer and employees, the Gov- 
 ernment is more liberal than any private concern could 
 afford to be. And in regard to wages, hours of employ- 
 ment, safety appliances and sanitation there is no man on 
 the job who ever worked under better conditions elsewhere. 
 This is true even of such highly organized men as the rail- 
 road engineers and the typographers. It is a hundred times 
 more true of the unskilled laborers — ^both white and black. 
 
 The more one stays here, the more one realizes that the 
 Isthmian Canal Commission has gone further towards 
 Socialism than any other branch of our Government — fur- 
 ther probably than any government has ever gone. 
 
 Besides the unorthodox things the visitor sees and eats 
 and hears in the Canal Zone, the things he reads in the 
 annual reports of the Commission are just as surprising. 
 
 When our Government imdertook this immense job, there 
 was nothing heretical in its intentions. It proposed to dig 
 
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EXPEBIMENTS IN COLLECTIVE ACTIVITY 563 
 
 the canal by private enterprise. In accord with the "true 
 spirit of Americanism" it was planned to give "individual 
 initiative" the fullest possible scope. 
 
 First of all the Administration picked out an eminent 
 private contractor — a civilian construction man of high 
 repute — as Chief Engineer. There are many explanations 
 as to why Mr. Wallace resigned. But all the explanations 
 do not alter the fact that he found the job too big for him 
 or too discouraging and did resign. The Administration was 
 somewhat inconvenienced, but it had another orthodox 
 string to its bow and appointed Mr. Stevens. Great engi- 
 neers, both of these men! Their records both before and 
 since their failure to dig the Canal put them at the very 
 top of their profession. When Stevens threw up his hands, 
 we had every reason to believe that all hope was lost. In 
 desperation the Administration called in some Army engi- 
 neers. Very few of us had ever heard of Goethals — ^not one 
 in a thousand knew the names of Hodges, Gaillard, Sibert 
 and Rdusseau. Our two most famous "civil" engineers had 
 failed. The great undertaking was now to be trusted to 
 unknown West Pointers. Another "government job"! 
 From afar we began to smell the pork-barrel — and even if 
 these men were honest they were sure to be inefficient. 
 
 However, we were somewhat reassured by the official 
 statements that this new commission was to have only a 
 mild supervisory function — the real work of digging the 
 ditch was to be left to the "individual initiative" of private 
 contractors. The military commission had not been in 
 service a year, when even this last hope of fidelity to Ameri- 
 can tradition was taken from us. 
 
 Colonel Goethals's first annual report (1907) is largely given 
 up to a description of how pitifully "individual initiative" 
 had fallen down. Contracts had been advertised according 
 to tradition. The few bids which had come in were insanely 
 
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564 PANAMA 
 
 exorbitant or utterly irresponsible. The dilemma was plain 
 — either give up the Canal or try to dig it without "individual 
 initiative." 
 
 The Canal was a political necessity. So we were laimched 
 on the hare-brain experiment of doing the biggest construc- 
 tion job in history without the incentive of profits. And lo! 
 It is succeeding. 
 
 The idea, that the only way to get the best work out of a 
 man is to give him a money interest in the profits of the 
 concern, is certainly the very nubbin of our theory of busi- 
 ness. It is disproved every day on the Canal Zone. 
 
 General Sir Ian Hamilton visited the Isthmus recently. 
 Before becoming Inspector-General of the Over-sea Forces, 
 he had seen long service as head of the British Army in 
 India. He was enthusiastic over all details of the work, 
 but the thing which impressed him most was the way the 
 Americans worked. "Why," he said, "in India we think 
 that a white man is working hard if he puts in five hours a 
 day." Of all the Indian Empire, only the island of Ceylon 
 is as near the equator as our Canal Zone. That we have 
 about 5,000 white Americans down there who are on the 
 job eight hours all the six days of a week seemed to Gen- 
 eral Hamilton more wonderful than Culebra Cut. Of course 
 "time" is not the only criterion of work. Quality of labor 
 is equally important. "Crude energy," we are told, "can 
 be bought, but brains can only be attracted by profits." 
 
 A high official of the Steel Trust who was recently in the 
 Zone repeatedly expressed his admiration of a yoimg me- 
 chanical engineer. It was common talk that he was trying 
 to buy him for Pittsburg. This young engineer's particular 
 genius lies along the line of shop-economy. 
 
 "What?" I cried when I heard it, "economy on a govern- 
 ment job?" 
 
 Yes, economy. He had done marvels in reducing shop- 
 
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EXPERIMENTS IN COLLECTIVE ACTIVITY 565 
 
 costs. And he did it without the incentive of sharing in the 
 profits of his economies. 
 
 If you stay long enough on the Isthmus to get really ac- 
 quainted with the men, you will find that no other word is 
 more frequently used than this word "economy." 
 
 There is a great fight on between the division which is 
 building the Gatun locks and the men of the Pacific Division, 
 who are building similar locks on their side. About the same 
 amount of concrete is to be laid and the conditions of getting 
 stone and sand and cement are equal, so it is a fair race. 
 Only their methods of laying the concrete differ. Each 
 side is violently sure that their way is the better. If you 
 want to start an argument all you have to say is, " I hear they 
 got their concrete in place this week at Gatun for one-eighth 
 of a cent less per cubic yard than at Miraflores." 
 
 The Miraflores men will tell you that it is only a matter of 
 bookkeeping. The Gatun crowd will assure you that it is 
 a real difference and that if the Miraflores outfit did not 
 juggle their bookkeeping the difference would be at least 
 half a cent. There is no keener rivalry between competing 
 concrete firms in the States. I have seen several bridge 
 games at the University Club broken up over this argument. 
 Once a picnic at Naos Island would have ended in a fight — if 
 the women had not intervened. 
 
 Such rivalry — when not inspired by the incentive of pri- 
 vate profit — is of course at variance with conservative 
 tradition. And the ultimately disturbing thing is that it is 
 a heresy — ^not of opinions — but of facts. A man can be 
 pimished for subversive opinions. But facts can not be 
 burned at the stake. 
 
 All this may seem even farther removed from us in interest 
 than in distance. After all, even if the government can lay 
 concrete or maintain foundries and repair shops on the 
 Isthmus cheaper than could be done by private con- 
 
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566 PANAMA 
 
 tractors, what does it mean to you and me and the good 
 wife? 
 
 There is one aspect of this hare-brained experiment in 
 Paternalism, which comes very much nearer our own 
 problems. 
 
 The Commissary price-hst published in The Zone on 
 February 2, 1910, gave quotations on 73 kinds and grades 
 of meat, poultry, and game. In 32 instances there had been 
 a reduction of price. The Canal Record — a government 
 newspaper, by the way — referred to this as follows: 
 
 "In the United States, at present, the average price of 
 live cattle is higher than at any time since 1882, and the 
 average price of hogs is higher than at any time since the 
 Civil War. The reduction in the price of meat in the face 
 of the high prices in the States is possible, because of econo- 
 mies that have been effected Lq the running of the commissary 
 system. . . . 
 
 "The reduction in the price of meat has been gradual, but 
 consistent, during the past year. On January 17, 1909, 
 porterhouse steak cost 29 cents a pound at the commis- 
 saries; on February 1, the price was reduced to 27 cents; 
 on May 30, it was selling at 25 cents a povmd, but as soon as 
 the new meat contract went into effect, the price was re- 
 duced to 22 cents, and it remained at 22 cents until February 
 1, 1910, when it was reduced to 21 cents." 
 
 While we at home were talking about the meat-boycott — 
 and some of us practising it — ^two thousand miles from New 
 York City the price of meat was steadily going down. The 
 official newspaper explains it on the grounds of economies of 
 the " commissary system." It soimds like something which 
 we at home might like to share with these far away exiles. 
 
 "A commissary system was established on the Isthmus in 
 1894 by the Panama Railroad Company to supply groceries 
 to the heads of its departments only. In 1896 the stock of 
 
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EXPEBIMENTS IN COLLECTIVE ACTIVITY 567 
 
 goods was increased and commissary privileges were extended 
 to all employees of the railroad, all steamship lines, warships 
 of any nationality, diplomatic and consular officers living 
 on the Isthmus and the officials of the French Canal 
 Company." 
 
 This in a nutshell is the early history of the enterprise. 
 The significant point is that at the very outset the right to 
 trade at the commissary store was regarded as a "privilege." 
 
 Back in 1894 the high officials of the railroad planned a 
 simple cooperative undertaking. The native merchants of 
 Panama charged exorbitant prices and had very limited 
 stoclcs. By pooling the buying power of these twenty odd 
 families it was possible to save money and get the kind of 
 groceries desired. It worked so well that everybody wanted 
 to get in. On the other side the local store-keepers organized 
 an opposition — ^their profits were threatened. But the idea 
 — despite its heretical trend — was too good to be killed. 
 It was evident to the little clique which had started it and 
 which foimd it very advantageous, that the more people who 
 came into the combine, the greater the economies would be. 
 As fast as the organization could overcome the opposition 
 of the merchants, it let in new classes of buyers. When we 
 took control of the Zone — ^ten years later — ^the little scheme 
 of buying groceries for a few families had grown into a 
 thriving general store. 
 
 In bujdng the Panama railroad, our government also ac- 
 quired this healthy yoimg heretic of a cooperative move- 
 ment. 
 
 Under the United States flag the merchants of the Isthmus 
 hoped for better things. They immediately petitioned 
 Washington to abolish this iniquitous assault on private 
 profits. They said they reUed on the long established 
 principles of our Government and its known abhorrence to 
 stifling individual initiative. 
 
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568 PANAMA 
 
 Despite all the logical arguments against it — despite the 
 hoary traditions of our political economy — our Government 
 denied the petition. The Commissary is still doing business. 
 Hardly a month passes when the Canal Record does not note 
 some new economy which has been developed — some new 
 nail driven in the coflBn of "middleman's profit." 
 
 The matter is discussed in the Annual Report for 1907. 
 
 "Supplies are furnished to the hotels, messes, kitchens and 
 employees ... by the Commissary Department . . . 
 which has developed into a modern department store." 
 
 The Report for the next year (1908) says: 
 
 "Through its thirteen branch stores at the more important 
 points along the line of work, the Commissary supplies ice, 
 meats, bread, pies, cakes, ice-cream, and groceries of all 
 kinds, as well as laundry service. . . . 
 
 "The value of commodities sold during the year aggregated 
 $3,735,607.11. . . ." 
 
 By the end of June, 1910, the Commissary business had 
 grown to an annual "total sales" of $5,331,516.81. The 
 report of the Panama railroad for that year gives the fol- 
 lowing comprehensive analysis of prices: "In the face of the 
 constantly advancing wholesale market, we are to-day selling 
 goods cheaper than during any period of our operations . . . 
 with the exception of pork products, on which the advance 
 in price (wholesale) within the last year has been phenom- 
 enal." 
 
 The Commissary, first laxmched by the heads of depart- 
 ments of the Panama railroad to supply their immediate 
 families with groceries from the States, has never stopped 
 growing. Besides its buying and selling activities, it runs 
 a large ice factory with a daily by-product of 200 gallons of 
 ice cream. It has a bakery, which puts out every day about 
 15,000 loaves of bread, and 400 pounds of cake. During the 
 month of June, 1908, the model laundry plant of the Com- 
 
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EXPEEIMENT8 IN COLLECTIVE ACTIVITY 569 
 
 missary handled 194,855 pieces. The printing establish- 
 ment sends out over 2,000,000 pieces a month. Its delivery- 
 system handles close to 2,500 packages of ice and cold 
 storage foods a day. 
 
 It is indeed a modern department store. One of the com- 
 missary announcements contains such diverse articles as 
 sugared almonds, white linen duck; ladies' patent leather 
 shoes, "briar" pipes, base-ball gloves, teething rings for 
 babies. The Canal employees and their families make about 
 ninety per cent, of all their purchases through the Com- 
 missary. 
 
 Between 20,000 and 40,000 employees mean a community 
 of over 50,000 — a fair-sized town. The merchants of 
 Panama have not ceased wailing that this fat prize has been 
 taken from them. What rewards "individual initiative" 
 might reap from feeding, clothing and general purveying for 
 such a multitude! 
 
 In one respect the Commissary is not hke a "modem de- 
 partment store." It does not sell shoddy cloth nor adul- 
 terated food. 
 
 This restriction is also a violation of our accepted theory 
 of business. Despite the venerable traditions of trade, 
 despite the fact that cheating a customer was recognized 
 as legitimate business as far back as Ancient Rome, our 
 Government has turned its back on the old legal maxim of 
 "Caveat Emptor." In buying the Commissary insists that 
 it shall not be cheated and in selling it goes to unheard of 
 length in safeguarding the interests of the buyers. 
 
 It does not sound like "good business." Nevertheless 
 the price of beef steaks has been going steadily down — and 
 other things in proportion— just at the time when "The Cost 
 of Living" has been aeroplaning most dizzily in the States. 
 
 The Canal Record says that this reduction in the price 
 of meat has been made possible by economies effected in the 
 
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570 PANAMA 
 
 Commissary system. A careful study does not reveal a sin- 
 gle economy which is peculiarly Isthmian. In fact the cost 
 of labor and transportation is higher there than at home. 
 These economies are inherent in the cooperative system and 
 are just as practical 49 degrees North as they are 9 degrees 
 North. 
 
 One of the most striking of these economies is the small 
 cost of advertising. The Commissary is there to supply a 
 need, not to stimulate an artificial demand. It publishes 
 a regular catalogue, a four-page monthly bulletin of new 
 articles and changes in prices, and a column or so in 
 the weekly Canal Record. All this printing is done on its 
 own plant at cost. A metropolitan department store spends 
 more for a full-page display advertisement in a daily paper 
 than it costs the Commissary for publicity in a year. Of 
 course the housewife enjoys the saving. 
 
 One can not be long on the Canal Zone without beginning 
 to look around for the Socialist in the wood-pile. 
 
 The natural inference from all these varied collective 
 activities is that some or all of the Commissioners are 
 "tainted with Socialism." Nothing could be more untrue. 
 They are technical men, little interested in Political Philos- 
 ophy. Colonel Goethals, the chairman of the Commission, 
 is an army engineer and is so wrapped up in his specialty that 
 if you pointed out the Socialist trend of much that he is doing 
 he would be surprised. I doubt if he ever read a book on 
 Socialism or Political Economy. 
 
 All this practical operation of methods which our re- 
 sponsible editors and college professors call the vagaries of 
 Utopian dreamers has arisen out of grim necessity. The 
 Commission was not persuaded to take up " municipal trad- 
 ing," "government ownership of railways," nor the manu- 
 facture of ice-cream and apple pies, by the arguments of the 
 "Fabian Tracts," but because of the logic of events. The 
 
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EXPEBIMENT8 IN COLLECTIVE ACTIVITY 571 
 
 necessities of the situation forced them to experiment in 
 methods which have long been advocated by Socialism. The 
 marvel is that, even mider administrators unfriendly or in- 
 different to Sociahsm, these socialistic experiments have 
 succeeded — ^without exception. 
 
 It was the original intention of the Government to have the 
 Canal dug by private contractors. The case is stated at 
 length in one of the Annual Reports. The gist of it was, that 
 advertise as industrially as they could for bids, no private 
 contractor came up with anything like a reasonable offer. 
 Reluctantly the Government decided to do the job itself. 
 It was siirprised to find how much more economically it could 
 do it than private concerns. 
 
 This quotation from the Report, June, 1907, shows a 
 typical condition: "Over 600 horses and mules, with the 
 necessary wagons, carts, carriages and ambulances, are in the 
 service. In this connection it is interesting to note that the 
 cost per month per team to the Commission for teams 
 actually working, including all charges for labor, forage and 
 miscellaneous items, as well as expense for sick teams, was 
 about $110. A proposal was received recently by the Com- 
 mission from a contractor in the United States, who has had 
 considerable experience in similar work in Central America, 
 to do all land transportation at the rate of $450 per month, 
 per team, or over four times what it is costing the Com- 
 mission at the present time." The SociaUsts have always 
 maintained that the Government could do such things 
 cheaper than private concerns. The Commission was sur- 
 prised to find that it was true. 
 
 And so it is with all the socialistic methods I have spoken 
 of — and the hundred others I have not mentioned. The 
 Commission tried to get private contractors to handle the 
 problem of feeding — ^the only satisfactory way they could 
 do it was to do it themselves — ^in the way any Socialist 
 
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572 PANAMA 
 
 would have told them at the beginning was "common- 
 sense. " 
 
 It is not an easy thing to get men to leave good jobs at 
 home for an uncertainty in a strange country. The Com- 
 mission has had to offer many inducements besides good 
 wages. And once they have the men on the Isthmus they 
 must keep them contented and amused — and above all, 
 healthy. And so the Government has been forced into 
 socialistic reforms without end. 
 
 I happened to meet only one man during my stay on the 
 Isthmus who was a member of the American Socialist party. 
 He was a mechanic who had been here almost from the first. 
 He was a keen chap — a man with the best kind of education 
 in the world — ^the kind one makes for oneself out of night- 
 schools and books and keeping one's eyes open all the 
 time. 
 
 "Yes," he said, "this is a fine place to get an idea of what 
 some things will be like when we get the world educated up 
 to Socialism. Of course, it isn't SociaUsm. First of all, there 
 ain't any democracy down here. It's a Bureaucracy that's 
 got Russia backed off the map. Goethals runs this show. 
 He's the best boss I ever worked under — ^but you can't have 
 real Socialism without Democracy — first, last and all the 
 time. Government ownership don't mean anything to us 
 working men \mless we own the Government. We don't 
 here — this is the sort of thing Bismarck dreamed of. 
 
 "And then again this isn't a normal community. We ain't 
 producing wealth. That is, unless the Canal pays back all 
 the money it's costing. Lots of people think it never will — 
 anyhow it won't for a long time. Meanwhile we're spending 
 money instead of producing it. Socialism will have to be 
 self-supporting. Of course, we are producing some wealth. 
 Ice, bread, and we make a lot of things in the machine shops 
 which are wealth. And perhaps in the big sense this Canal 
 
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EXFEMIMENTS IN COLLECTIVE ACTIVITY 573 
 
 is wealth even if it doesn't pay — just as much as fine music 
 or a great painting. But in the ordinary bookkeeping sense 
 it's all going out and nothing coming in. We're being 
 supported from the States. 
 
 "But except for these reservations this Canal Zone is as 
 near SociaUsm as you can get to-day — a lot nearer. First 
 shot out of the box, we've got nationalization of land. 
 People get their ground here on lease — like the Henry George 
 scheme. Then there is the railroad and all these shops — 
 there isn't a better run machine shop in the States than 
 Gorgona — dam few as big — there ain't no competition nor 
 private profits in them. And the Commissary — that's got 
 the problem of retail distribution solved for us. 
 
 " I wish I could get some of those solid ivory-headed mutts 
 who get up in Socialist meetings at home and make objections 
 down here for a while. Not that I've got anything against 
 the Canal — ^but I'd like to show 'em! 
 
 "I never made a Socialist speech in the States yet without 
 some wise guy getting up and saying that the politicians are 
 all grafters, that they give men jobs in the street cleaning 
 department to get votes and that if we had municipal street 
 cars they'd just have one more vote for each motorman and 
 conductor, and that the Board of Aldermen always take all 
 there is in the City Treasury that isn't nailed down — so 
 why give them the gas and water company to steal, too? 
 God ! I wish I had a dollar for every time a man has said that 
 to me. Well, say, this is a government job — ^the biggest 
 one ever pulled off on this foot-stool. Have you seen any 
 graft nmning aroimd loose here? I guess not. The Old 
 Man's hell on grafters. 
 
 "I haven't anything good to say about the crooks up at 
 Washington, but what is done here on the Zone is done 
 straight. I know because I've been here right along. I've 
 seen more than one man get the G. B. for some little graft 
 
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574 PANAMA 
 
 they'd laugh at up in the States. But you can't put anything 
 over on Goethals, no matter how small. 
 
 "Now you don't expect a Socialist to be strong for the 
 army men. I ain't. I'd like 'em better without their brass 
 buttons and stuck-up-ness, but the crowd down here are on 
 the level. And if Col. Crazy Horse Roosevelt can pick an 
 honest man for a job like this, I guess we Socialists can. 
 That's one objection to SociaUsm that won't go with men 
 who have been on this job. 
 
 "And when that fellow gets through disturbing the meet- 
 ing another guy with side whiskers gets up — he's generally a 
 college professor — or got his dope from one. And his tale of 
 woe is that the race would go to pot if every one wasn't 
 hopping and hustling to make a stake. ' If you do away with 
 special rewards for individual initiative, inventiveness, etc., 
 there would be no progress.' That's all right, but when 
 you go at him you find he means that the only 'special 
 reward' which will make a man hustle is 'profit' — 'money.' 
 Rot! There ain't one man in a hundred to-day that works 
 for profit. The work of the world is done for wages. 
 
 "I wish I could get the chap that thinks you can't hire 
 brains for wages down here. Anyone who thinks you can 
 do a job like this without brains is a fool. Is Goethals 
 making a 'profit' on the Canal? No. He's working for 
 wages. Good wages, but he's a good man. There ain't 
 any one on the job who works harder. And why is it that 
 Goethals gives us men a square deal? Just because he's a 
 wage-earner also. He won't make any more money if he 
 gouges us. He don't increase his income by neglecting to 
 put a guard on my machine. There isn't any money in it 
 for him to have me living in a stinking tenement or eating 
 bum grub. 
 
 "He can afford tp be decent. And I guess that is Social- 
 ism in a nutshell. We want to revolutionize things so 
 
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EXFEBIMENTS IN COLLECTIVE ACTIVITY 575 
 
 every one can afford to be decent — so nobody will have to 
 cheat, nor underpay, nor overcharge to make a living. And 
 there isn't a man on the job who's making a profit. Brains? 
 Look at Grbrgas and the Sanitary Department. Brains? 
 Hell. It takes genius to turn a jungle like this was when I 
 came into a place Uke it is now. 
 
 "I wish you'd come over to my quarters and see the 
 kiddies — ^they've got tan on them an inch thick, and healthy? 
 Gee! You ought to see them eat. And when I came down 
 here in 1905, strong men were crumbling up Uke tissue- 
 paper. 
 
 "Don't tell me you can't hire brains for wages or that 
 'profits' are the only 'special reward' which will make a 
 man work. Did you ever read one of Gorgas's reports in 
 the Canal Record? 'I have the honor to report that during 
 this month there has been no case of yellow fever, small- 
 pox, cholera or the plague on the Canal Zone. The statistics 
 I submit herewith show a gratifying decrease in the sick rate 
 of pneumonia and malaria over the preceding months and it 
 is considerably lower than for the same month in any other 
 year since the American occupation.' Hell! Don't you 
 suppose the chance to write that is a 'special reward'? Do 
 you suppose Gorgas or the men imder him would work 
 harder if they were making money instead of fame? 
 
 "My God! It makes me swear when I think of all the 
 dough-heads who have jxunped up in meetings with that 
 objection. And inventiveness. Why, we're inventing some- 
 thing down here every minute. The boss of our shop is a 
 wizard — one of the kind who makes two 'foot-pounds' grow 
 where only one grew before. He's completely reorganized 
 our shop — ^knocked down costs about twenty per cent. He 
 didn't get any royalties. But he's getting — earnings — ^bigger 
 wages than any man of his age on the Isthmus, and he's 
 proud of it. Proud enough of it to sit up half the night 
 
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576 PANAMA 
 
 doping out some new wrinkle. Yes, sir! I wish some of 
 those chronic objectors would come down here for a while." 
 
 "But," I asked, "there have been some strikes on the 
 job, haven't there? And there would not be strikes under 
 Socialism." 
 
 "Well, I'll tell you about that," he interrupted himself 
 to fill his pipe. "In the first place this ain't Socialism. It 
 ain't Democratic. If the men were their own bosses I don't 
 see how they could strike. But even as it is there haven't 
 been any strikes like what we have in the States. The men 
 haven't walked out once because they were imderpaid or 
 overworked according to the standards we're used to — ^we 
 are getting more than we could get in the States. What 
 strikes we've had have been because the men thought they 
 could get more and didn't see any reason why they shouldn't. 
 It's surprising we haven't had more of them — ^because it's a 
 hard, expensive thing for the Commission to bring down 
 scabs. 
 
 "Take this last machinists's strike. We weren't dissatis- 
 fied. Take that from me straight. The men leave their 
 jobs sometimes because they want to get back to the States. 
 This climate gets on your chest — makes you nervous. 
 Especially the women. Lots of them get fussy and the men 
 go home to get some peace. But you don't hear us kicking 
 against the boss. Nobody hollering that he's had a raw 
 deal. The Old Man is straight as a string and he's got a 
 lot of sympathy. The men are strong for him. You could 
 go a long way — all the way — and not find a better boss. 
 But some of the fellows — new ones — got to saying that we 
 had them in the hole, that they'd give us diamond rings and 
 grand opera rather than see the work tied up. So after a 
 while we put in some demands for longer leaves of absence 
 on pay and more pay. I voted against it, but, of course, I 
 went out with them. They gave us the extra pay, but held 
 
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EXPEEIMENTS IN COLLECTIVE ACTIVITY 577 
 
 out on the 'leave'. I guess Goethals figured it out that if 
 he didn't refuse something, they'd pretty soon be asking for 
 the gold filling out of his teeth. Well, the National Organi- 
 zation wouldn't stand for the strike. With lots of men in 
 the organization at home hunting for work they couldn't 
 very well blacklist the best job in the trade — they had to 
 throw us down. So we went back to work. I guess we'll 
 let well enough alone for a while now. 
 
 "No, sir. There ain't many strikes down here. And 
 when the fellows get nervous and want to start some excite- 
 ment they have to hunt some before they can find a griev- 
 ance to howl about. 
 
 "I've been working in a machine shop since I was thir- 
 teen and I never found as good a job as this before and that's 
 because its half Socialist. You bet when it's finished and 
 I get back to the States, I'm going out with an axe for those 
 two chaps with objections I was telling you about. And if 
 we keep on making progress like we are now, that kid of 
 mine before he's as old as I am will be working on a job 
 that's not half Socialist, but the whole thing." 
 
 Every year about two thousand men, who have worked 
 on the Canal, come back to the States. All of them will 
 be home in a few years. Our orthodox economists are 
 going to have a hard time persuading these men that Gov- 
 ernment enterprise — as compared to individual initiative — 
 is necessarily inefficient, extravagant and dishonest. The 
 women from the Canal Zone will find it hard to believe that 
 there is sufficient sanctity in the right of the middleman to 
 his profit to justify the high cost of living, the vexation of 
 petty commercial dishonesty and the discomfort and danger 
 of adulterated foods. 
 
 Many people at home are urging cooperative buying, 
 mimicipal trading and the extension of Government owner- 
 ship. As a rule, we turn our backs on such propositions. 
 
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578 PANAMA 
 
 And our final argument in rejecting them is that they are 
 un-American. 
 
 Down at Panama our men are demonstrating that the 
 Spirit of American Enterprise is bigger than "individual 
 initiative" — ^that epoch-making things can be accomplished 
 even when it fails. 
 
 This is the lesson of Panama. The facts of the case force 
 us to revise our old judgment. "Collective activity" — ^this 
 new force which we are developing with such amazing suc- 
 cess in the tropics, which we, Americans, have carried fur- 
 ther than any other nation — is worth considering as a means 
 of solving our problems at home. 
 
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CHAPTER XXXV 
 
 FINISHING THE JOB 
 
 In the history of the Canal the year 1913 will stand for 
 Completion. There was little left to do in 1914 beyond 
 finishing touches. 
 
 On the 20th of May, 1913, two steam-shovels, working 
 from opposite directions, met on the bottom grade in Culebra 
 Cut. There was great tooting of whistles and much cheering. 
 It was- the first of The Final Acts. 
 
 The next day has equal importance in Canal History. The 
 last of the massive concrete in the great Locks was laid. 
 
 When I was on the Zone in 1911, the most important part 
 of the work was the steam-shovel excavation in the Cut and 
 the concrete job in the Locks. In the fall of 1913 this was all 
 changed. On the 10th of September the last dirt-train left 
 the Cut. "Dry Excavation" was practically over. What 
 was left to be done, was to be done by dredges. A few for- 
 lorn steam-shovels were at work here and there scraping 
 the top off of "slides." And I saw one which — as no work 
 really worthy of it could be found — ^was digging through a 
 mud bank, making a mere road. Their day was over, their 
 glory had departed. And most of the concrete men had 
 gone home. The few who remained were putting the trim- 
 mings on the Locks or casting the ornamental lamp-posts 
 which are to illuminate them. Some had even sunk to the 
 level of laying sidewalks. 
 
 The two men who — ^next to the Colonel — held the center 
 of the stage, this last winter of Canal building, were W. G. 
 Comber and Edward Schildhauer. Neither of them were 
 new men. On my first visit to the Isthmus in 1909, I heard 
 that "Electrical Eddie," as his friends call Schildhauer, had 
 
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580 PANAMA 
 
 invented some very important mechanism for moving the 
 immense lock gates, and I spent a very interesting day with 
 Comber, who had charge of the Pacific Dredging Fleet at 
 work in the channel and harbor of Balboa. I suppose that 
 the people who really understood the job knew, even then, 
 how important was the work these two men were quietly 
 doing and foresaw what prominent r61es they were to play 
 in the later stages of the undertaking. 
 
 In May, 1913, Comber was put at the head of all the dredg- 
 ing operations, and when, in September, the steam-shovels 
 left the Cut and "Dry Excavation" was over he became The 
 Canal-Digger-in-Chief. 
 
 In the same way as soon as the heavy concrete of the Locks 
 was in place, Schildhauer began installing the intricate 
 electrical plant which is the nervous system of the Canal. 
 It is generally admitted that the work of Schildhauer's de- 
 partment has called for more originality and inventiveness 
 than any other phase of the Canal Work. Other ditches had 
 been dug in other parts of the world, other dams had been 
 built, other great concrete jobs successfully performed. In 
 general the work of Panama was to do things which had been 
 done before, but to do them on a far larger scale. Much 
 of Schildhauer's work has been new. 
 
 On the 26th of September, the first conclusive test was 
 made of the Lock mechanism. The little tug Gatun was 
 lifted up from the Atlantic Ocean to the great artificial lake 
 which has formed back of Gatun Dam. 
 
 Every Canal employee who could get away from work, 
 hundreds of visitors, a regiment of Cinema men, had gathered 
 on the walls of the Lock to see the operation. At a quarter 
 to five the Gatun, flying every flag it owned or could 
 borrow, steamed into the lower chamber of the Lock. An 
 hour later it had reached the top step of the step-ladder of 
 water, the upper gates opened smoothly, and it steamed out 
 
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FINISBINO THE JOB 581 
 
 into the fresh water of the Lake. Every one of the crowd 
 who watched it was hoarse for days afterwards from cheering. 
 
 Everything worked with precision. It would have been 
 just as easy to lift the biggest ship afloat as that little tug. 
 I do not suppose that Colonel Hodges, who had general 
 supervision of the lock designing, nor Mr. Schildhauer, who 
 had worked out so much of the mechanism, had had the 
 slightest doubt that their creation would work. But I 
 warrant that actually seeing it work was a cheering sight. 
 It certainly was to the crowd of onlookers. 
 
 A few days later several units of the Atlantic Dredging 
 Fleet were locked up to the Lake. Some of the Pacific Fleet 
 came up through the locks at Miraflores and Pedro Miguel. 
 Before long it was a commonplace to see the Locks operated. 
 
 On the 10th of October the dike at Gamboa was blown up. 
 The newspapers all over the world announced that the Canal 
 was completed. But this occasion was no more important 
 than the other events I have mentioned. I have found a 
 rather amusing example of this misconception in the Parisian 
 paper Gil Bias of October 11th. The headline ran : 
 
 "The Atlantic and Pacific Yesterday Mingled their Waves 
 
 "The pressure of an electric button at Washington by President 
 Wilson exploded — at a distance of 3000 kilometres — a charge of 
 dynamite and blew up the dike at Gamboa, which alone still re- 
 strained the tumultuous desire of the two oceans to caress each 
 other (la tumuUueuse envie que les deux ocians avaient de s'embrasser).". 
 
 It is almost poetry, but not at all true. 
 
 The surface of the Gatun Lake at this time was over sixty 
 feet above sea-level. Steam-shovels had been at work on 
 the bottom of the Cut for many months at a grade of forty- 
 five feet above the sea. To keep the water of the Lake from 
 flooding them, a dam had been built at Gamboa across the 
 mouth of the Cut. 
 
 The steam-shovels were taken out in September and the 
 
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582 PANAMA 
 
 first of October large pipes through the dike were opened to 
 let the Lake water flow into the Cut and gradually equalize 
 the water level on both sides of this dam. When the dike 
 was blown up twenty feet of water had already run into the 
 Cut and the Lake level was scarcely six feet higher. So — 
 instead of joining the two oceans — the demolition of the 
 Gamboa Dike only joined two bodies of fresh water, which 
 had come from the same source — ^the Chagres River. 
 
 The Canal of Panama does not allow the two Oceans to 
 "embrace each other." Each ocean is joined, by means of 
 three great locks, to a large inland lake of fresh water — 
 eighty-five feet above their level. A navigable strip of water 
 now separates North America from South America, but it 
 does not "mingle the waves" of the Atlantic and Pacific. 
 It is poetic to speak of "The Wedding of the Oceans," but 
 it is much nearer the truth to call it "The Divorce of the 
 Continents." 
 
 But even after the dike was blown up and the water in the 
 narrow canon of the Cut had reached the level of the Lake, 
 the Canal was not "completed." The way was blockaded 
 by Cucuracha SUde. 
 
 An English general who visited the Canal records an 
 anecdote of Colonel Sibert, the Commissioner, whose special 
 care had been the great dam at Gatun. While Colonel Sibert 
 was showing him over the work, the distinguished guest 
 asked him how far it had been necessary to revise the original 
 estimates and plans because of unforeseen developments. 
 Sibert told him that such changes had been few. "On the 
 whole," he said, "we have been remarkably fortunate in our 
 guesses." 
 
 The one point on which our engineers have been un- 
 fortunate in their guesses was in connection with "the 
 Slides." 
 
 Back in 1884 the French made the acquaintance of the 
 
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FINISHINa THE JOB 683 
 
 treacherous "Cucuracha Slide." Culebra Cut goes — almost 
 at right angles — across the Continental Divide. Between 
 two fairly solid ridges, there is a great deposit of mixed mud 
 and rock. It was necessary to cut through this very un- 
 certain material. The French had considerable trouble with 
 Cucuracha but did not go deep enough to reahze how very 
 serious it would be. It was thought that this deposit of 
 slippery material was not very deep and that soon sohd rock 
 would be reached. [ 
 
 In the days before we began digging, one commission after 
 another surveyed and investigated the Canal Zone. They 
 were the best engineers available. And without exception, 
 they all bUthely prophesied that the material through the 
 Cut was solid and that no serious difficulty was to be an- 
 ticipated from breaks in the banks. 
 
 No one can maintain for a moment that this long line of 
 specialists, who planned this Canal of ours, were bad engineers. 
 The ships go through from sea to sea to disprove any such 
 statement. In all the immense intricacy of their work, no 
 other one of their "guesses" went seriously wrong. They 
 prophesied almost to a day when the concrete of the Locks 
 would be in place. They foretold without error how much 
 rain would fall in 1913. Their great Lake at Gatun was full 
 to the brim, the very month which — years before — they had 
 set. But in this matter of "slides," they were up against the 
 "Unforeseeable." 
 
 The way it baCed them is shown by The Canal Record. 
 In October, 1907, Cucuracha gave our men the first sign of 
 trouble. It was estimated that half a million cubic yards of 
 material was in motion. But the Record optimistically re- 
 marks that in spite of the slide "the total amount of earth 
 which will have to be removed, will probably be less than first 
 estimated." In 1908 an allowance of about four million 
 cubic yards was thought to be "ample" to cover all possible 
 
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 slides. Although the slides continued through 1909, — 
 thirteen different breaks developed in various parts of the 
 Cut, — ^the 1908 estimate was still considered "ample." 
 In January, 1910, the Record says that the slides are all imder 
 control. "It is believed that the greatest inconvenience 
 experienced with the slides is now over." 
 
 But in May half a million cubic yards slipped into the Cut 
 from Cucuracha, completely filling the Cut and interrupting 
 work for ten days. The Record is still optimistic. 
 
 In February, 1911, a new break in the east bank dropped 
 another half million cubic yards into the Cut. One slide 
 followed another, and towards the end of the next year — 
 September, 1912 — ^the Record began to take the matter seri- 
 ously. It tells that during the fiscal year 1909-10 14.8% 
 of all excavation had been from slides. The next year 26.3 %, 
 and in the year 1911-12 the proportion had reached 34.5%. 
 All together, 16,671,000 cubic yards had been removed from 
 sUdes. 
 
 In October, Colonel Goethals, realizing that the steady 
 increase in the slides was causing dismay, that some people 
 were getting pessimistic, made a statement. "The slides," 
 he said, "call for no other treatment than unremitting ex- 
 cavation." Such sublime conunon-sense is the keynote of 
 Goethals' character. 
 
 "The slides are worse than you expected." 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "What are you going to do about it?" 
 
 "Dig them out." 
 
 "How?" 
 
 "Unremitting excavation." 
 
 It would be necessary to find something more formidable 
 than sliding mud and stone to discourage the Colonel. 
 
 In November the Commission Geologist made a report on 
 his elaborate study of the formations of the Cut. He proved 
 
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FINISHmO THE JOB 585 
 
 as poor a guesser as any mere engineer. "Cucuracha," 
 says his report, "is practically dead." 
 
 But the new year of 1913 started in with a jolt. On the 
 16th of January, Cucuracha — in spite of the burial service 
 which the Geologist had just read over it — came to life 
 again and dumped another half million odd cubic yards into 
 the Cut — the worst slide since 1907. And before the 
 month was out — the 22d — a new break occurred in the 
 rock bank south of Gold Hill and slipped a full million of 
 cubic yards into the Canal. Near Empire, on the other bank, 
 was a smaller slide — a mere matter of a quarter of a million 
 yards. 
 
 A new estimate was made in February. It was announced 
 that this time every possible chance had been considered and 
 that this estimate was final. But the Unforeseeable had not 
 exhausted itself. The slides grew in magnitude, and by 
 August a new estimate was again necessary. 
 
 The way in which this problem grew is shown by these 
 figures. 
 
 In December, 1908, the amoimt of excavation necessary 
 in Culebra Cut was estimated at . . 78,042,295 c.y. 
 
 84,186,724 c.y. 
 89,444,005 c.y. 
 93,882,000 c.y. 
 99,516,817 c.y. 
 105,012,000 c.y. 
 
 In 1910 a new estimate 
 
 In 1911 a new estimate 
 
 In 1912 a new estimate 
 
 Feb. 1913 a new estimate 
 
 Aug. 1913 a new estimate 
 
 The increase was entirely due to slides. 
 
 But this immense increase in the amount of excavation 
 has neither postponed the opening of the Canal, nor increased 
 the original estimate of expense. In every other detail 
 of their work, our engineers, when they did not guess exactly 
 right — erred on the side of conservatism. The excavation 
 has not been as expensive nor as slow as they estimated. If 
 the slides had not played so many scurvy tricks on them, the 
 
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586 PANAMA 
 
 Canal would have been completed ahead of time and for 
 considerably less than the $400,000,000 of their estimate. 
 The bad "guesses" counteracted each other to a nicety. 
 Which, after all, is a poor way of saying that these engineers 
 did exceedingly good guessing. 
 
 Not even Cucuracha and the other slides, with all their 
 repertoire of surprises, could resist Colonel Goethals' method 
 of treatment — "unremitting excavation." 
 
 And this prescription was carried out by the dredging fleet 
 under Mr. Comber. Within two weeks after the Gamboa 
 Dike had been blown up, he had concentrated dredges, which 
 had been working in the Atlantic and Pacific, on both sides 
 of the Slide. By the middle of December they had a channel 
 cut through the Slide so that the Corazal — the most power- 
 ful dredge of the fleet — with a beam of 47 feet and a draught 
 of 14, could pass. That week they took out more than 
 70,000 cubic yards. Every week the output increased as 
 new equipment was brought to bear. 
 
 By the end of February the daily excavation was close to 
 20,000 cubic yards. Cucuracha Slide is not dead yet. It 
 may show signs of life for a good many years to come. But 
 as far as being a menace to the Canal, its teeth have been 
 pulled. 
 
 There was considerable discussion as to which boat was to 
 go through the Canal first and some difference of opinion as to 
 which one really did have the honor. By the middle of 
 October there was no part of the Canal which had not been 
 traversed by some boat — large or small. But the first self- 
 propelled steamer to make the entire journey from one ocean 
 to the other, was the old French crane-boat Alexander Le 
 Valley. It had been brought out from Europe for work in 
 the Atlantic Entrance and had been continually at work. 
 It was locked up at Gatun for service in the Lake and after 
 several weeks in fresh water, it was needed at the Pacific 
 
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FINISBINO THE JOB 587 
 
 Entrance. It was locked down at Pedro Miguel and Mira- 
 flores and reached the salt water of the Pacific on the 7th of 
 January. It had made its journey in the routine of work ; it 
 carried no passengers and made no fuss. Very few people, 
 even on the Zone, realized that a ship was going through the 
 Canal until they read of it afterwards. 
 
 A more picturesque incident was the voyage of the tug 
 Reliance. It was originally bought for work at the Atlantic 
 Entrance. After it had been at work there for some time, 
 it was decided that it would be more valuable at the Pacific 
 Entrance. The only way to get it there was to send it around 
 the Horn. So the Reliance sailed from Colon on the 11th of 
 February, 1912, and after a cruise of 126 days reached 
 Panama. It was brought up through the Pacific Locks with 
 the dredging fleet, and after a couple of months' work in the 
 Lake was locked down at Gatun to the Atlantic. It was 
 the first ship to sail all the way around South America. It 
 had taken it more than four months to go from Colon to 
 Panama via the Straits of Magellan. If it had not stopped 
 for work in the Lake, it would have gone from Panama to 
 Colon in a day. 
 
 These earlier trips through the Canal rather took the spice 
 and glory from the first "Official Trip" of the Panama 
 Railroad's steamer Alliama. It made its trip in June, 1914. 
 
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CHAPTER XXXVI 
 
 THE PROFIT 
 
 During my first visit to the Canal Zone the question most 
 frequently asked by my fellow-visitors was : "Will it work ?" 
 Any one who takes the trouble to go to the Isthmus to-day 
 can see it work. The common Question now is: "Will it 
 pay?" To the first question I used to reply: "I think it 
 will." To the second I say with even greater conviction: 
 "It has." 
 
 The Canal has cost the people of the United States ap- 
 proximately $4 apiece. I am convinced that its successful 
 completion has done more to establish our credit abroad than 
 anything else which we might have done with that $400,000- 
 000. It has done a great deal more to make us respected than 
 did our War with Spain. 
 
 It has been my fate to live abroad a great deal. It is the 
 general impression in Europe, to judge from the cartoons 
 of Punch and Simplissimus, from their newspapers, from 
 scattered references to us in novels and plays — that while 
 individually we may be fairly decent people and are beyond 
 doubt clever in buying and selling and rather inventive in 
 mechanics, and have in Mark Twain at least one writer to be 
 proud of — our attempts at government are quite pitiable. 
 Well, here our government has successfully completed a 
 bigger and more difficult undertaking than any European 
 government has ever attempted. To be sure, we are sur- 
 prised ourselves that we did it so easily, so surely, so cleanly. 
 The rest of the world is very much more surprised. 
 
 The Canal has already paid for itself in National Prestige. 
 Nobody doubts that this is a beginning. We have learned 
 
 588 
 
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THE PROFIT 589 
 
 how to do a big thing in a big, fine way. We certainly will 
 not let this new knowledge of power, this new self-confidence, 
 go to waste. 
 
 But, of course, when people ask if the Canal will pay, they 
 mean : "Will we ever get back in dollars and cents, the im- 
 mense smn it has cost and will cost ? " 
 
 Back in the early days the Canal Builders dodged this 
 question by insisting that its principal value would be 
 miUtary. By allowing our warships to pass quickly from 
 our Atlantic to our Pacific coast it practically doubled our 
 naval strength. It was a question, they said, of building 
 a Canal or duplicating our Navy. The Canal would be 
 cheaper. It did not matter whether Commerce used it or 
 not, in the saving to our Navy Bills it would pay for itself. 
 One does not hear this reply so often nowadays. 
 
 More and more, as the Canal was nearing completion, it 
 became evident that Commerce was going to use it. As 
 skepticism began to give place to certainty, the Traders of 
 the world woke up to the new opportunity. One day the 
 newspapers announced that the Royal Mail Steam Packet 
 Company, which runs ships from Southampton to Colon, 
 had bought the Pacific Steam Navigation Company, which, 
 sending ships from England round The Horn, carries most 
 of the trade of the West Coast of South America. The con- 
 solidation of these two lines means that the merchants of 
 England intend to use the Canal. It is rumored that the 
 Hamburg Amerika line has absorbed the Kosmos Line of the 
 Pacific. The Germans also are going to use the Canal. The 
 French "Transatlantique" Company is laying its plans to get 
 a share of the Pacific trade. A big Japanese line which 
 runs ships to London via Suez, is planning to extend its ser- 
 vice around the world, by way of New York, Panama, San 
 Francisco, and home. And this is only a beginning, a bare indi- 
 cation of how Europe and Asia are planning to use our Canal. 
 
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690 PANAMA 
 
 Our own ports on the Pacific, from Puget Sound down to 
 the Mexican border, have felt the approach of Opportunity. 
 Our western coast towns have spent or have voted to spend 
 nearly $100,000,000 on harbor improvements. They are 
 not doing so for love, nor for vainglory. Hard-headed 
 business men have figured out that the impetus to trade 
 given by the Canal will repay them richly for this outlay. 
 
 It is not only foreigners who are planning to use the Canal. 
 Nine keels for great cargo boats have been laid down by one 
 American concern alone, — The Bethlehem Steel Company, 
 — to bring them the cheap iron of the West Coast of South 
 America, via the Canal. For almost a year before the 
 opening, some of the great copper mines of Chili piled their 
 product on the wharves, waiting for the great saving in 
 transportation which the Canal promised. 
 
 It is certain that in the first years ctf its operation the Canal 
 will be called on to handle a great deal more commerce than 
 its most optimistic advocates prophesied. The receipts from 
 tolls will be much more than was originally anticipated. 
 Whether such receipts will pay for the capital invested is as 
 yet uncertain. 
 
 But the Canal offers us many other forms of profit. It will 
 certainly facilitate and cheapen transportation in many ways 
 between the Pacific Slope and the Atlantic Seaboard. It will 
 take years of careful work by the Statisticians of the Inter- 
 state Commerce Commission to determine the effect of the 
 Canal on trans-continental freight rates. But the fact that 
 the railroads have so bitterly fought the Canal indicates 
 that the results will be beneficial to the community. 
 
 In thousands of ways — ^which we will not notice, because 
 each is so small — the Canal will repay us the $4 apiece it 
 has cost. Chilean copper ore, for instance, will be delivered 
 cheaper to our smelters. Perhaps cheaper copper does not 
 at first thought sound interesting to most of us, but in the 
 
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THE PBOFIT 591 
 
 long run it means cheaper electric wire — a minute fraction 
 of a cent shaved off the cost of each of our telephone calls 
 and telegrams — perhaps one one-millionth of a cent saved 
 every time we press an electric button. Our grandfathers 
 used to say that "a penny saved was a penny earned." 
 But nowadays in our immensely crowded and complex life 
 our best brains are occupied in trying to save the figures 
 which come five and six and seven places after the decimal 
 point. And copper is only one of the myriad things which 
 the Canal will make a little cheaper. 
 
 In an indirect way the building of this Canal is going to 
 save us even more money. The men of the Isthmian Canal 
 Commission have set a new standard for us. We will not 
 be content to do things less well in our temperate home climate 
 than they did them in the far-away Tropics. There is some- 
 thing very typical of what I mean in the way various positions 
 have been offered to Colonel Goethals. Dayton, Ohio, was 
 wiped out by floods. The citizens in their crisis ask Goethals 
 to come and attend to the rebuilding. New York City gets 
 an honest government. Most reform administrations have 
 been wrecked by the Police Problem, so our Metropolis asks 
 Goethals to come and solve it for them. 
 
 This new standard of public honor, of common sense, 
 of straightforward administration, has become one of our 
 National Assets. Clergymen have preached about it. Social 
 Reformers, who wanted to get elected, have promised it. 
 And down there in the Canal Zone — 10° north of the Equa- 
 tor — this ideal has been realized. This new standard by 
 itself is worth a deal of money. 
 
 I do not think that many of our cities will care to permit 
 endemic typhoid and tuberculosis, with some one always 
 ready to remind them that down in the pest holes of Colon 
 and Panama our sanitary officers managed to eliminate the 
 far worse scourges of yellow fever and plague ! 
 
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592 PANAMA 
 
 The thousands of men who worked in the Canal, the tens 
 of thousands of tourists who visited it, are going to be very 
 skeptical when one of our railroad presidents says that it is 
 impractical to reduce the number of railroad wrecks, the 
 number of passengers and employees who are annually 
 slaughtered. Of course most of our railroad presidents are 
 too old to change their minds on such matters. But if I ever 
 hear that one of the men who has been trained on our 
 Government Railroad down in Panama has become traflSc 
 manager of a line at home, I will certainly travel on his road 
 when I can. The officials of the Panama Railroad have the 
 idea that when they sell you a ticket their personal honor 
 is involved in delivering you at your destination — alive 
 and unmaimed. 
 
 None of our Canal Builders will have to weep — ^like 
 Alexander — because there are no more worlds left to con- 
 quer. There is plenty of work for their kind of ability and 
 honesty — aplenty of place for their common-sense ideals — 
 at home. 
 
 Yes, I think the Canal has paid ; I do not feel that the 
 Government ever spent $4 of my money to better purpose. 
 
 "The Decades of the newe worlde 
 
 Wrytten in the Latine Totmge by Peter Martyr of An- 
 gleria, and tranflated into Englyffe by Rycharde Eden, 
 Londoni, Anno 1555" — was the first book in om- language 
 to give any full description of America. In the "Adress to 
 the Reader" Eden refers to Peter Martyr's account of the 
 Isthmus of Panama and points out the desirability of con- 
 structing a good road from ocean to ocean. He admits 
 that it would be a very expensive undertaking but argues 
 that the new trade route would benefit all mankind. I have 
 found nothing more worthy of the Canal to put at the end 
 of my book than his quaint phrases. 
 
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THE PROFIT 593 
 
 "But certeynely the moft trewe and permanent glory, 
 procedeth of fuch monumentes as brynge fume great and 
 notable comoditie and profite to the lyfe of men ; rather then 
 of the hugious heapes of ftones of the Pyramides of Egypt, 
 wherein is nought els to fee but the fonde and barbarous 
 oftentation of fuperfluous riches." 
 
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INDEX 
 
 Ada, 220, 222, 226, 227, 344, 432. 
 
 Adams, Charles Francis, 292. 
 
 Adelantado. See Columbus, Barth- 
 olmfi. 
 
 Alligators, 101. 
 
 Almagro, Diego de, 208, 230 to 245. 
 
 Almagro, Diego de (son), 245. 
 
 Almirante. See Columbus, Christo- 
 pher. 
 
 Almirante Bay, 68. 
 
 Amador, Dr., 469, 470. 
 
 Ancon, Village of, 51, 440. 
 
 Angleria, Peter Martyr of. See Mar- 
 tyr, Peter. 
 
 Anophine. See Mosquitoes. 
 
 Aspinwall, Town of. See Colon, City 
 of. 
 
 Aurea Chersoneus, 141, 159, 229. 
 
 Autenrieth, Dr. E. L., 398 to 400. 
 
 Avila, Pedro Airias de. See Pedra- 
 
 B. 
 
 Balboa, Vasoo Nufiez, 57, 95, 132, 
 170 to 189, 190 to 206, 207 to 
 227, 229, 431, 511. 
 
 Balboa, Town of. See Pacific Term- 
 inus. 
 
 Bancroft, Hubert, 171, 172, 191, 193, 
 199, 202, 204, 216, 221, 356, 361, 
 362, 368. 
 
 Barbadoes, 18 to 26, 320. 
 
 Bastides, Rodrigo de, 132, 170. 
 
 BidweU, Charles T., 407 to 417, 454 
 to 457. 
 
 Board of Consulting Engineers, 482, 
 483, 488, 489 to 492. 
 
 Bocas del Toro, Province of, 68. 
 
 Bolivar, Simon, 372 to 396, 451, 453. 
 Bolivia, 394, 396. 
 Bridgetown, Barbadoes, 18, 26. 
 Buccaneers, 284, 297, 317 to 336. 
 Bunau-Varilla, Philippe, 439, 440, 
 
 442 to 445, 468, 469, 475. 
 Bureau of American lElepublics, 396. 
 Burgos, Bishop of. See Fonseca. 
 Byres, James, 350 to 353. 
 
 Canal Commissions. See Isthmian 
 
 Canal Commissions and Walker 
 
 Commission. 
 Canal Projects, 431 to 444. 
 Canal Record, The, 632 to 537, 566, 
 
 568 to 570. 
 Canal Zone, The, 44 to 54, 218, 307, 
 
 431, 438, 445, 465, 468, 475, 477, 
 
 497, 500, 511, 514, 526, 527, 530, 
 
 539, 544, 555, 558, 562, 570, 573. 
 Careta, Cacique, 181, 188, 192, 215, 
 
 226. 
 Carthagena, 156, 169, 282, 304, 306, 
 
 308, 311, 313, 319, 346, 347, 
 
 386, 455. 
 Casas, Fray BartholomS Las, 108, 
 
 148, 223, 227, 245, 263 to 280, 
 
 361. 
 Castflla del Oro, 150, 152, 159 to 163, 
 
 174, 188, 208, 224, 229, 287. 
 Castle of San Lorenzo, 296, 328, 336, 
 
 370, 565. 
 Castro, Vaaco de, 245. 
 Chagres, River, 296, 397, 409. 
 Chagres, Village of, 397, 398, 408, 
 
 425. 
 Charles V. of Spain, 241, 246, 249, 
 
 258, 261, 273, 360. 
 
 595 
 
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596 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Charlotte Amalia, St. Thomas, 2 to 8. 
 Chepigana, Village of, 100. 
 Chiapa, Bishop of. See Casas, Las. 
 Chinese Laborers on Panama Rail- 
 road, 421 to 424. 
 Chiriqui Lagoon, 68, 73, 137. 
 Chiriqui, Province of, 69, 108. 
 Cholera, 400 to 407. 
 Cholo Indians, See Indians. 
 Churches in Panama City, 56, 58 to 
 
 61, 288, 289, 291. 
 Ciudad Real, Chiapa, 277. 
 Cimarrones, 306, 363 to 365. 
 Clerigo, The. See Casas, Las. 
 Climate, 74, 75, 398, 420, 444. 
 Cocl6, Province of, 71, 112, 459. 
 Codigo Boliviano, 394, 396. 
 Collective Activity, Experiments in, 
 
 557 to 578. 
 Colmenares, Rodrigo Enriquez, 176, 
 
 181, 187, 207. 
 Colombia. See United States of Co- 
 lombia. 
 Colon, City of, 44, 54, 65, 75, 401, 
 
 402, 408, 419, 426, 437, 440, 457, 
 
 471, 478, 494, 519, 522, 526, 538, 
 
 540, 558. 
 Colon, Province of, 71. 
 Colonial Policy of Spain, 281 to 301, 
 
 366 to 369, 370, 380, 397. 
 Columbus, Bartholomfe, 133, 141, 162. 
 Columbus, Christopher, 71, 132 to 
 
 149, 151, 162, 254. 
 Columbus, Diego, 152, 179, 180, 188. 
 Columbus, Ferdinando, 133. 
 Commerce, 54, 65, 75 to 77, 245, 281 
 
 to 301, 356 to 369, 380, 397 to 
 
 431, 434. 
 Commissary, 91, 555 to 570, 573. 
 Commissions, Canal. See Isthmian 
 
 Canal Commissions and Walker 
 
 Commission. 
 Company of Scotland, trading in 
 
 Africa and the Indies, The, 340 
 
 to 355. 
 Contract of Pizarro, Almagro and 
 
 Luque, 232, 242. 
 Contreras, Rodrigo de, 268, 363. 
 Coreal, Francois, 286, 291, 299, 367. 
 Cortes, Hernando, 163, 182, 230, 241, 
 
 267. 
 
 Cosa, Juan de la, 160, 151, 152, 168, 
 
 159. 
 Cristobal, Village of, 45. 
 Cromwell, William Nelson, 468, 469, 
 
 485. 
 Cruces. See Venta de Cruzes. 
 Currency, Spanish Colonial, 243. 
 Culebra Cut, 47, 50, 440, 478, 479, 
 
 500, 628, 543, 646 to 654. 
 Culebra, Village, 47, 497, 499, 528, 
 
 548. 
 
 D. 
 
 Dabaiba, The Golden City of, 217, 
 
 229. 
 Dam, Gatun. See Gatun Dam. 
 Dampier, William, 97, 318. 
 Darien, Bishop of. See Quevedo. 
 Darien Gold Mining Company, 72, 
 
 77, 104, 108. 
 Darien Harbor, 73, 94, 97. 
 " Darien, The," 94 to 107. 
 Darling, Dr. Samuel T., 521. 
 David, City of, 69. 
 " De Justis Belli Causis," 277.'' 
 de Lesseps, Ferdinand, 45, 435, 437 
 
 to 443. 
 de Lesseps Company. See French 
 
 Canal Company, Old. 
 " Destruycion de los Indies, Brevis- 
 
 sima Relacion," 267. 
 " De unico vocationis modo," 269. 
 Dominican Order of Monks, 257, 263, 
 
 267, 270, 272, 276, 288. 
 Drake, Sir Francis, 302 to 314. 
 
 E. 
 
 Earthquake in Caracas, 377. 
 
 East India Company, 339, 341, 346. 
 
 Ecuador, 392, 393. 
 
 El Real de Santa Maria, 9. 
 
 Empire, Village of, 49, 50, 500, 528, 
 549. 
 
 Employees, Canal. See Labor Prob- 
 lems. 
 
 Enciso, Bachellor, Martin Fernandez 
 de, 153, 164, 169 to 180, 188, 207, 
 208, 212, 241. 
 
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INDEX 
 
 697 
 
 Espinosa, Caspar de, 208, 212, 220 to 
 
 221, 231, 265, 364. 
 " Euntes docete omnes gentes," Papal 
 
 Bull, 273. 
 Exquemelin, 291, 317, 320 to 336. 
 
 Fevers, 345, 347 to 349, 353, 355, 420, 
 
 421, 436, 439 to 442, 492, 493, 
 
 501, 511 to 525. 
 Fiske, John, 133, 149. 
 Fonseoa, Bishop, 150, 151, 155, 207, 
 
 218, 221, 227, 258, 259, 262, 264. 
 Forbes-Lindsay, 292. 
 Fort-de-Franoe, Martinique, 9 to 18. 
 Fourth United States Infantry, 400 
 
 to 407. 
 French Canal Company, New, 445, 
 
 464, 465, 467, 468, 477, 546. 
 French Canal Company, Old, 429, 
 
 436 to 442, 445, 463, 464, 477, 
 
 479, 512, 521, 546. 
 
 G. 
 
 Gage, Thomas, 285, 287 to 289, 295 
 
 to 299, 300, 301, 319. 
 Gambling in Panama, 62. 
 Galleons, Spanish, 283, 297, 301, 319, 
 
 366. 
 Gasca, Pedro de la, 246 to 252, 363. 
 Gattinara, Premier, 263. 
 Gatun Dam, 47, 543. 
 Gatun Lake, 47, 516, 542, 543, 646. 
 Gatun Locks, 540 to 542, 565. 
 Gatun Village, 47, 425, 426. 
 Geography of the RepubUc of Pan- 
 ama, 67 to 80. 
 Goethals, George Washington, 496, 
 
 497 to 510, 522, 523, 558, 563, 
 
 670, 672, 674. 
 Goethe, 433. 
 Gold Rush, Califomian, 397, 418, 
 
 434, 448. 
 Gorges, W. C, 46, 479, 492 to 494, 
 
 520, 522 to 525, 676. 
 Gorgona Village, 48, 397 to 399, 402, 
 
 404, 409 to 412, 414. 
 
 Grant, Gen. U. S., 400, 403, 404, 435. 
 Grenadine Federation. <Sfee United 
 
 States of Colombia. 
 Gringos, 476. 
 
 H. 
 
 Hakluyt Publications, 281, 289 to 
 
 291, 366. 
 Haring, 282, 319, 325, 333, 356 to 
 
 361, 365. 
 Haskin, Frederic J., 629, 531. 
 Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty of 1903, 
 
 475, 476. 
 Hay-Herran Treaty of 1902, 465, 466, 
 
 471. 
 Hay, Secretary of State, 465, 466, 
 
 470, 475. 
 Hayti, 386. 
 Helps, Sir Arthur, 264, 256, 264, 267, 
 
 274, 276, 279. 
 Herran, Pedro Alcantara, 463. 
 Herrera (Translation of Capt. John 
 
 Stevens, 1725), 150, 161 to 164, 
 
 179, 181, 183, 201, 221, 222. 
 Hinojosa, Admiral, 246 to 251, 362. 
 " Historia Apoligetica," 277. 
 "Historia de las Indias," 253, 266, 
 
 267, 278. 
 Hodges, Colonel, 541, 563. 
 Humboldt, Alexander von, 433, 434. 
 
 Indians, 71, 72, 85 to 88, 94, 100, 118, 
 128, 310, 346, 398, 431. 
 
 Industrial Development. See Com- 
 merce. 
 
 Invasion of Venezuela by Bolivar, 
 383. 
 
 Irving, Washington, 137, 146, 147, 
 167, 168, 170, 194, 198, 205, 206, 
 208, 209, 213, 226, 431, 432. 
 
 Isthmian Canal Commission, First, 
 476, 479, 480, 482, 492, 498. 
 
 Isthmian Canal Commission, Second, 
 481. 
 
 Isthmian Canal Commission, Third, 
 27, 497, 498, 607, 509, 529, 630, 
 658, 559, 561, 563. 
 
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598 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Jenning, A. H., 514, 515. 
 
 Jeronimite Order, 259 to 261. 
 
 Johnson, Willis Fletcher, 74, 457 to 
 459, 461, 466, 470, 480. 
 
 Jungle, The, 120 to 131, 192, 419, 431, 
 511. 
 
 Juntas, South American Revolution- 
 ary, 372, 375, 383, 385. 
 
 Junta, Panamanian Revolutionary, 
 469, 476. 
 
 K. 
 
 Kirk of Scotland, 337, 343, 345, 346, 
 351, 353. 
 
 Labor Problems on the Isthmus, 26, 
 27 to 30, 43, 44, 46, 47, 364, 402, 
 421 to 424, 444, 482, 488, 499, 
 503, 526, 529 to 639, 555, 558, 
 559, 561, 562, 569, 572, 576, 577. 
 
 La Palma, Village, 98. 
 
 "Leander Filibuster, The," 374, 395. 
 
 "Le BuUelin," 436, 437, 439, 440. 
 
 "Lettera Rariasima di Cristoforo Co- 
 lombo," 132, 145. 
 
 Letters of Marque, 303, 346. 
 
 Loa Santos, Province of, 71. 
 
 Luque, Hernando de, 231 to 243. 
 
 M. 
 
 Magoon, Charlea E., 481, 486, 493. 
 Manzanillo laland. See Colon, City 
 
 of. 
 March Acroaa the Andes, 388, 389. 
 Mardi Gras in Panama City, 63. 
 Marriganti, Village, 104. 
 Martinique, 8 to 18. 
 Martyr, Peter, 151, 184 to 186, 190, 
 
 196, 200, 204, 216, 227. 
 Messes, for Canal Employees, 559 to 
 
 561. 
 Miranda, Francesco de, 372 to 381, 
 
 383, 390, 395. 
 
 Morgan, Sir Henry, 57, 318, 320 to 
 
 336, 347, 362. 
 Mosquera, General, 450, 452, 453. 
 Mosquitoes, 46, 420, 480, 493, 513 to 
 
 520. 
 Mountains, 67. 
 
 Natural History of the Isthmus, 78, 
 127. 
 
 Navy Bay. See Colon, City of. 
 
 Nelson, Horatio, Lord, 432. 
 
 New Caledonia, 344 to 355. 
 
 New Edinburgh, 345. 
 
 New Granada. See United States of 
 Colombia. 
 
 Nicaragua-Panama Canal Route Con- 
 troversy, 463 to 465, 467. 
 
 Nicuesa, Diego de, 72, 151 to 153, 159 
 to 163, 168, 174, 176 to 178. 
 
 Nombre de Dioa, 163, 167, 176, 181, 
 216, 229, 242, 244, 247, 281, 287, 
 304, 305, 308, 309, 311, 362. 
 
 Nueva Andalucia, 150, 152, 164, 169, 
 174. 
 
 Nufiez, Dr. Rafael, 452. 
 
 Ogilby, John, 197, 202. 
 
 Ojeda, Alonzo de, 150 to 159, 164 to 
 
 167, 169, 175. 
 Olano, Lope de, 160, 162. 
 Orchids, 80, 114, 125. 
 Otis, Feaaenden Nott, 419, 420, 438. 
 Oviedo, 215, 219, 227. 
 Oxenham, John, 307, 310. 
 
 P. 
 
 Pacific Steam Navigation Company, 
 
 428. 
 Pacific Ocean, Discovery of. See 
 
 Southern Sea. 
 Pacific Terminus of Canal, 66. 
 Palencia, Bishop of. See Fonseca. 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
INDEX 
 
 699 
 
 Panama, Bishop of. See Quevedo. 
 
 Panama City, Ancient, 217, 221, 227, 
 228, 232, 234, 236, 240, 243, 244, 
 248, 251, 254, 267, 268, 281, 288 
 to 295, 306, 311, 327 to 336, 432. 
 
 Panama City, Modern, 51, 54 to 65, 
 75, 362, 363, 369, 370, 372, 392, 
 395, 397, 398, 400, 402 to 405, 
 407, 411, 414, 416, 426, 437, 455 
 to 459, 471, 478 to 480, 494, 509, 
 519, 522, 526. See also Churches. 
 
 Panama "Massacre," 416, 417. 
 
 Panama, Province of, 72. 
 
 Panama Railroad, 44, 55, 71, 400, 
 402, 409, 418 to 430, 434, 448, 
 458, 478, 488, 539, 555, 558, 566. 
 
 Panama, Republic of, 475, 476. 
 
 Panama Revolution of 1903, 445, 461 
 to 475. 
 
 Panama Route, 295 to 297, 307, 327 
 to 336, 397 to 417, 418 to 430, 
 433, 436, 448. 
 
 Panama, Ruins of Old, 57, 94. 
 
 Panamanians, 46, 55, 63, 81 to 93, 
 438, 446, 468, 469, 476, 477. 
 
 Pan-American Congress of 1826, 395, 
 396. 
 
 Papal Bull on Slavery. See"Eunte3." 
 
 Paraiso, Village, 511, 512. 
 
 Parker, Captain William, 314 to 316. 
 
 Paterson, William, 337 to 355, 432. 
 
 Paul III (Alexandre Famese), 273. 
 
 Paxson, Frederic L., 370, 372, 380. 
 
 Pearl Islands, 57, 73, 96, 107, 201, 
 218, 224, 230, 366, 432. 
 
 Pedrarias, 207 to 228, 229, 231, 232, 
 234, 253, 265, 267, 364. 
 
 Pedro Miguel Locks, 500, 546, 565. 
 
 Penonom^, 112. 
 
 Peraza, Fray Vincente de, 228. 
 
 Peru, 218, 224, 229 to 252, 267, 268, 
 278, 284, 356, 362, 363, 365, 392 
 to 395, 432. 
 
 Peso del Oro. See Currency. 
 
 Petion, Alexandre, 386. 
 
 Philip II, 283, 432. 
 
 Philippine Islands, Trade with, 281, 
 366. 
 
 Piar, Manuel Carlos, 387. 
 
 Pirates, 282, 297, 303 to 316. 
 
 Pizarro, Francisco, 153, 166 to 169, 
 
 181, 182, 198, 213, 218, 219, 225, 
 
 226, 230 to 245, 267, 400, 447. 
 Pizarro, Gonzolo, 242, 245 to 252, 
 
 274, 362. 
 Pizarro, Hernando, 242 to 244. 
 Political Theories of Bolivar, 390, 
 
 391, 394. 
 Politics, Isthmian, 82, 84, 440, 446 to 
 
 460. 
 Polo, Marco, 136. 
 Porto Bello. See Puerto Bello. 
 Presbyterian Church. See Kirk of 
 
 Scotland. 
 Prescott, WiUiam H., 230, 231, 235, 
 
 237, 238, 240, 242, 244, 247, 252. 
 Privateers, 303 to 316. 
 Protector of the Indian^. See Casas, 
 
 Las. 
 Puerto Bello, 138, 139, 163, 281, 284, 
 
 287, 297 to 301, 312, 314, 315, 
 
 319 to 327, 347, 367, 419. 
 Puerto Passado, 111. 
 
 Quevedo, Bishop Juan de, 208, 212, 
 221 to 223, 225 to 227, 265. 
 
 R. 
 
 Rainfall. See Climate. 
 
 Religion, 90. 
 
 Repartimientos. See Casas, Las. 
 
 Republic of Colombia. See United 
 
 States of Colombia. 
 RepubUc of Panama, Geography. 
 
 See Geography. 
 Revolutions in the United States of 
 
 Colombia, 446 to 460. 
 Rios, Pedro de los, 228, 234, 236, 238, 
 
 241, 361. 
 Rivers, 74. 
 
 Robinson, Tracy, 419, 427, 437, 443. 
 Roosevelt, Theodore, 449, 463, 464, 
 
 467, 469, 471, 473, 481, 482, 488, 
 
 490, 492, 493, 495, 496, 506, 510, 
 
 574. 
 Ross, Dr. Ronald, 513. 
 Ruiz, Bartholomfe, 234, 235, 237. 
 
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600 
 
 INDEX 
 
 S. 
 
 Saint Pierre, Martinique, 9. 
 Saint Thomas, West Indies, 2 to 8. 
 San Bias Indians. iSee Indians. 
 San Lorenzo. See Castle of San Lor- 
 enzo. 
 San Martin, JosS de, 381, 392, 393. 
 San Miguel, Gulf of, 73, 96, 96, 198, 
 
 223, 310. 
 San Sebastien, 159, 164 to 169, 170. 
 Sanitation, 46, 54, 66, 402, 420, 441, 
 
 444, 478 to 480, 492 to 494, 511 
 
 to 525, 544, 575. 
 Santa Maria de Belen, 140, 162. 
 Santa Maria de la Antigua del Dar- 
 
 ien, 69, 173 to 189, 208, 209, 228. 
 Scots Colonic, The, 338 to 355. 
 Scruggs, William L., 452. 
 Sea-Level or Lock Controversy, 482, 
 
 489 to 492. 
 Sea Wall, Panama City, 56, 67. 
 Secession of Panama from Colombia. 
 
 See Panama Revolution of 1903. 
 Sepulveda, Juan Gines, 277. 
 Shonts, Theodore P., 481, 486. 
 Slavery. See Las Casas, Bolivar, 
 
 Paul III. 
 Smith, Moses, 374. 
 Smuggling, 367 to 369. 
 Society of Patriots, Venezuela, 375, 
 
 376, 380, 382, 390. 
 Sosa, Lope de, 227. 
 Soto, Hernando de, 208, 243. 
 Southern Sea, The Discovery of, 184, 
 
 190 to 206, 221, 222, 431. 
 Spanish Colonial Policy. See Colo- 
 nial Policy. 
 Spanish Succession of 1808, War of 
 
 the, 371, 372, 386. 
 Sport, 90. 
 
 Stegomyia. iSee Mosquitoes. 
 Stevens, John F., 487 to 489, 494 to 
 
 496, 498, 606, 547, 554, 563. 
 Sucre, General, 392 to 394, 396. 
 
 Taboga Island, 56, 404, 407. 
 Taft, William Howard, 461, 482, 484, 
 490. 
 
 Teredo, 138, 223. 
 
 "Tierra Guerra," 270. 
 
 Tivoli Hotel, 51, 626, 527. 
 
 Tomes, 420 to 425. 
 
 Totten, Colonel, 402. 
 
 Treaty of 1846 between United States 
 
 and New Granada, 449, 457, 462, 
 
 468, 471. 
 Treaty of 1902 between United States 
 
 and Colombia. See Hay-Herran 
 
 Treaty. 
 Treaty of 1903 between United States 
 
 and Panama. iSee Hay-Bunau- 
 
 Varilla Treaty. 
 Tripler, Dr. Charles S., 400 to 407. 
 Tumbez, City of, 235, 238, 239, 242. 
 Tuyra Biver, 72, 94 to 107, 109. 
 
 U. 
 
 United Fruit Company, 69, 77. 
 
 United States of Colombia, 369, 370, 
 372, 382, 386, 386, 388 to 390, 
 396, 418, 419, 429, 435, 440, 445 
 to 460, 461 to 474. 
 
 Universal Interoceanic Canal Com- 
 pany, iSee French Canal Com- 
 pany, Old. 
 
 Uring, Capt. Nathaniel, 367. 
 
 Utlatecan Mission, 269 to 273. 
 
 V. 
 
 Vasco NuHez. See Balboa. 
 Vela, Vasco Nufiez, 245. 
 Venezuela, First Republic of, 376, 
 
 379, 386. 
 Venzuelan Constitutional Assembly, 
 
 387, 388, 390. 
 Venta de Crazes, 295, 328, 368, 397, 
 
 399, 402, 403, 426. 
 Veraguas, Province of, 70, 456. 
 Veraguas, Bio, 140, 159 to 162. 
 
 W. 
 
 Walker Commission, Report of, 463, 
 464, 465. 
 
 Digitized by Microsoft® 
 
INDEX 
 
 601 
 
 Wallaoe, John Findley, 477 to 482, 
 
 484, 486 to 488, 606, 646, 663. 
 "War to the Death," 384. 
 Wara oi Independence, 370 to 396, 
 
 433, 447, 454. 
 Winsor, Justin, 146 to 148. 
 Women on the Canal Zone, American, 
 
 535 to 539, 577. 
 Wyse, Lucien Napoleon Bonaparte, 
 
 435, 436. 
 
 Ximenes Cardinal, 258 to 261. 
 
 Young Men's Christian Association, 
 631 to 634, 548. 
 
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