CHAPTER VIIPanama

MAP OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA

above all the enormous amount of money absorbed for apparently so little return, all tended to prevent the public from further financial venture in the scheme. By the aid of special legislation, and by dint of dexterous compromise, most of the lawsuits which had been instigated against the company were settled, and the claims of a number of its creditors and bondholders successfully resisted. But none of the persons shown to have made large pickings out of Panama money evinced any inclination to refund, although an ex-Minister of the French Government is understood to have shed tears in confessing to a bribe of 375,000 francs.

The Republic of Colombia granted an extension of time for the purpose of the organisation of a new company and the completion of the canal, and, although on a very reduced scale, the work was still carried on.

Towards the close of the year 1894 a new company was formed upon entirely commercial lines and having no connection, alliance, or relation whatever with any Government except such as were established by the concession held from the Republic of Colombia. The board of directors was an entirely new one and was composed of gentlemen having no official relation with the old Panama Company.

Pursuant to judicial sale authorised by the French Court, the new company became the sole owner of all the canal works, plant, material, concessions and other property of the old company. Deciding not to be bound by the conclusions arrived at from the surveys of the old company, the new board of directors resolved to examine and study anew all the questions involved, the most recent improvements in material and the advances made in engineering.

They therefore appointed an International Technical Commission, composed of fourteen members, seven of whom were eminent French engineers, and of the other seven (experts of different nationalities) four had been particularly connected with well-known canal undertakings. The investigations of this Commission were carried on during many months, and the question was studied in all its details—technical, climatic, physical, geological and economic.

It was not till 1898 that their report was issued, and in it they suggested a canal of forty-six miles in length from ocean to ocean, with a system of locks, four on each slope of the divide. All thelocks were to have a rock foundation and double lock-chambers, and the time of passage from ocean to ocean was to be less than a day. They maintained that nothing in the physical conditions on the isthmus would prevent a change to a sea-level canal should such be deemed desirable in the future.

They found that two-fifths of the work on the canal had been actually constructed, and that the remaining three-fifths was in a fair way to completion, as, during the last few years, three or four thousand workmen on an average had been employed in working on the canal.

The existence and operation of the railroad greatly facilitated the work of construction, and, whilst the two greatest difficulties were the control of the Chagres River and the excavation of the Culebra cut, nothing had been planned that was not fully justified by practical experience.

For the control of the floods of the Chagres River it was proposed to construct two great artificial lakes, one at Bohio and the other at Alhajuela, and not at Gamboa, the site selected for a dam by the old company. With regard to the cutting at Culebra, the difficulty lies principally in transporting the excavated material to the dumps, and in effecting the transportation as rapidly as will keep pace with the efficiency of the excavating machines.

About the time that the report of this Technical Commission made its appearance, public sentiment in America had been greatly aroused in favour of an interoceanic canal under American control, and general opinion favoured the Nicaragua route. In anxiety lest a rival scheme should be initiated just at the time when the New Panama Company was about to appeal to the great financiers of the world for monetary support, the board of directors sent to the President of the United States the report of their Commission and a letter drawing his attention to the state of the work and the prospects of the new company. It was fully realised that should the American Government decide to construct a waterway, investors would be deterred from backing a private enterprise which could not commercially compete with a national undertaking, and, further, should a Government undertaking be commenced, the Panama Canal would be greatly retarded if not prevented by the difficulty of securing the requisite labour.

The American Senate being engaged in considering the advisabilityof supporting the Maritime Canal Company in its Nicaragua project, the New Panama Canal Company managed to secure a hearing, at which its position was fully explained and an offer made to re-incorporate the company under American law.

The upshot was that the President was authorised to make a thorough investigation as to the best route for a canal which should be under the control of the United States and the absolute property of that nation.

THE CHURCH AT CHAGRES.

This led to the appointment of the first Isthmian Canal Commission, who proceeded to ascertain upon what terms the property and rights of the New Panama Canal Company might be acquired by the United States. The company could hardly submit a definite figure to a body which had no authority either to accept or reject its offer, but submitted a tentative proposal to sell and transfer its canal property to the United States for $109,141,500.The Commission promptly assessed the value at $40,000,000 and submitted a report favouring the Nicaragua route. On this becoming known in Paris the directors of the company at once resigned, and at a general meeting of stockholders it was resolved to accept the Commission’s estimate.

This surrender was practically forced upon the company by the American Government, as the threat to construct a canal at Nicaragua meant death to any hopes of raising sufficient extra capital for the completion of the Panama Canal. A telegram was sent, offering to sell out all assets, rights, and interests to the only possible purchaser at that purchaser’s own figure of $40,000,000. At once the Commission issued a supplementary report, that under the altered conditions the most feasible and practical route for an isthmian canal under the control, management and ownership of the United States was the Panama route.

The scheme for beating down the New Panama Canal Company in its price having proved successful, Congress passed what is commonly known as the Spooner Act, which authorised the President to acquire the property of the Canal Company for a sum not exceeding forty millions of dollars, to acquire the necessary territory from the Republic of Colombia, and to proceed with the excavation, construction, and completion of the canal.

The same Act, however, authorised the President to proceed with the Nicaraguan scheme should he fail in acquiring the Panama property.

At the same time the Hay-Herran Treaty was negotiated with the Republic of Colombia, its object being to secure to the United States the privilege of constructing a canal through the Isthmus of Panama. The Colombian Government failed to ratify this treaty, and, at the instigation of some person or persons unknown, a bloodless revolution was accomplished whereby Panama became an independent republic. This having occurred, the United States immediately concluded with the new State the Hay-Varilla Treaty, by which the United States guaranteed to maintain the independence of the new Republic of Panama, receiving in return the concessions necessary for the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation and protection of the canal, also a zone of territory ten miles in width, extending five miles on either side of the centre line of the canal, and a group of small islands in the Bay of Panama. The price of the concession was $10,000,000gold to be paid down, and an annual payment of $250,000 gold beginning nine years after the date of the ratification of the treaty.

The way was now clear for the acquisition of the Canal Company’s property. Three-fourths of the purchase money was transmitted by gold shipments, and it took two months to accomplish this prudently and safely and without disturbing financial conditions. The other fourth was conveyed through the ordinary medium of exchange, but all the documents were delivered and possession given the moment the United States Government paid over the money to the bankers in New York who had undertaken to effect the transmission.

The canal is to be ready for traffic in 1915, although rumours are afloat that the official opening may take place at an earlier date. Much depends, however, upon causes over which even the resourcefulness of a great nation has no control. Slides in the Culebra Cut have worried both the French and American engineers, and have given much extra labour. There are twenty-seven in all, and an area of one hundred and fifty acres is affected. The Cucaracha slide has necessitated the removal of an extra two million cubic yards of “dirt,” and it is still active. Altogether over nine million yards of extra excavation have been caused by these natural movements.

The Isthmus of Panama lies in the earthquake zone, and within the last one hundred years many shocks have been experienced. It is always pointed out, however, by engineers that as the flat arch in the old church of Santo Dominic has stood for two hundred and fifty years without being affected, the severity of the earthquake shocks of the past could not have been serious, and no trouble is anticipated from seismic tremors. Industry, patience, and money have accomplished much, and there is no doubt that the canal is nearing completion. Great developments are expected when it is opened, and many that are quite unexpected are certain to take place. It is the intention of the Canal Commission to Americanise the Canal Zone. The majority of workers at present in the district will no longer be welcome when the work is completed. At present there seems to be an impression abroad that the authorities intend to repatriate labourers brought there under contract as soon as their task is done, and that foreigners will be deported as soon as their services can be dispensed with. These will be the preliminary steps towards the establishmentof an American Colony. This strikes one as rather drastic treatment at first, but on second thoughts it is clear that the American Government cannot tolerate an idle lot of bush-squatters along their territory; for one thing, the expense of keeping the health conditions good would be too great. The undesired labourers will have to seek other quarters. It is probable that the West Indies will get a large number of them; others may find an opening for their services in Colombia and the other republics further south, who can all do with them. The Zone will be a military reservation, and the canal will be fortified. This was made clear by Mr. Roosevelt at Omaha in September, 1910, when he stated that in his opinion the canal would be opened in January, 1915, at latest, and perhaps by the end of 1913. With regard to the fortifications, he said that the United States Government were bound in honour to fortify their great work so as effectively to guarantee its neutrality and to prevent its being used against them. To refuse to fortify it he asserted would mean the abandonment of the Monroe doctrine. He also pointed out that one of the national advantages the United States gained by the waterway was the doubling of the strength of their navy. Forts are already in course of construction on the islands lying at the mouth of the Pacific entrance and on the shores of Limon Bay. When schemes of great magnitude are accomplished certain interests are bound to suffer. The greatest sufferer in the present instance is likely to be the Tehuantepec Railway. The railways of America may also “feel the draught,” and will no doubt actively oppose the raising of capital for steamship companies. The fixing of canal dues has yet to be done, and the shipping world is looking forward with keen interest to the arrangements that will be made. The passing by the Senate of the Panama Canal Bill in August, 1912, with its clauses giving favoured treatment to America coastal shipping has aroused a chorus of protest from foreign countries, and even in the States difficult points remain to be settled, and until they are the interests of different shipping and railway companies are naturally rather anxious. In nearly all maritime countries preparations are being advanced to take advantage of the new highway, and American shippers in particular are awaking to a sense of the importance of the markets made more accessible. The American Hawaiian Company, now using eighteen ships between Hawaii and New York, has ordered five large freight steamers to theisland via Panama Canal. A new company, the “Atlantic and Pacific,” proposes fifteen vessels as a start. The Royal Mail steamers from Southampton to Colon and the Pacific Steam Navigation Company will be in a strong position for obtaining a large proportion of the South American trade. The Hamburg-American are reported to be looking for docks at San Francisco. The Ward and other American lines will become patrons of the canal, and it is estimated that one hundred new American vessels will soon be under construction in national yards, and that will make nearly one hundred and fifty of that nation ready for the canal. Other countries are not idle. Japan has boats in course of construction; Denmark contemplates a service between Copenhagen and San Francisco and other Pacific ports; the Holland-American line of Rotterdam and the French Transatlantic will also enter into the Pacific trade. The Hamburg-American line projects carrying emigrants to the Pacific coast (Peru, etc.) from Hamburg, Antwerp, Cherbourg, Plymouth, Genoa, and Naples at the same rate as to New York plus canal dues. That the whole course of commerce will be changed there can be no two opinions, and that the Pacific seaboard of South America will benefit is also a foregone conclusion. Guayaquil, Callao, Mollendo and Arica and Valparaiso will be brought nearer to their markets by direct steamship service, and the closer intercourse will undoubtedly bring about large increases in their commerce. Ships sailing from the Eastern and Western coasts of the United States will save a distance of from seven to eight thousand miles, and European shipping to Pacific ports will reduce their voyages by about the same number.

WHEN the present city of Panama was founded in 1673, its architects and builders in laying out the new town fixed its location up the rocky peninsula which juts out into the sea at the foot of Ancon hill. They had a vivid recollection of the fate that had overtaken the old city, and were determined that the new one should offer a more formidable front to any invading foe, and so strongly fortified was the new city that with the exception of Cartagena it was the most impregnable fortress in the whole of South America. Shortly after the city was founded it became the capital of Terra Firma, and it was hoped by the founders that the surrounding provinces of Panama, Darien, and Veragua would contribute largely to its importance and support. But the Indians of the Darien province, regaining their independence, became uncontrollable, and the gold mines in the other provinces proved, after extended trials, to be unremunerative, so that the new city was dependent chiefly upon the pearl fisheries, which are to this day of considerable importance to it. The pearls of Panama are of fine quality and remarkable size, and although the fashions of different ages have undergone changes with regard to jewels, the fisheries have, in spite of the increasing popularity of diamonds, been able to hold their own by opening up new markets in Peru and Southern America. The real reason, however, of the importance of the new city was the unique position it occupied. It rapidly became the market for the products of the rich countries on the Pacific coast, and fleets of small sailing craft were ever arriving at the port laden with valuable merchandise. Great stores were built for the reception of the goods until the mule trains were ready to convey them across the isthmus,en routefor Spain. Many of the older buildings are now in ruins, but what

OUTSIDE A CHURCH ON CHRISTMAS EVE, PANAMA.

remains affords ample evidence of the city’s former splendour. With the decay of piracy the necessity of keeping up the earlier standards of resistance ceased and many of the older buildings were allowed to fall into decay. Even the old city wall has dwindled until only a portion about a quarter of a mile in length remains. This is a favourite playground of the children, andwhen the sun is setting, the older people of the poorer classes rest upon the worn-out benches that project from the stone parapets, enjoying the cooling breezes that evening brings. Legend has it that Philip V of Spain was observed by his courtiers gazing into the distance that lay in the direction of the new colonies, and when one of his ministers asked him what he strained his eyes to behold, the King, with a merry twinkle in his eye, replied that “he was trying to discern the walls of Panama, for they had cost so much, that surely they must be visible even from Spain.” The whole of the old town is built of stone quarried from the volcanic rocks in the vicinity; the walls of most of the buildings are from three to four feet in thickness, with the windows placed high up from the ground; the thick doors are plentifully studded with huge nails, and bound by stout iron bands. The cathedrals and churches are massive and liberally supplied with heavy buttresses; in fact, they look more like fortresses than places of worship; and there are so many of them that one might easily fall into the error of believing that the founders of the city and early inhabitants were a very religious community. There is one church in the Calle San José that I visited frequently during the heat of the day, the cool shade it afforded was a welcome contrast to the hot glare of the streets; and although I have been in it many times, I never saw more than two or, at the most, three persons in it at the same time. It has an earthy smell, and is damp, cool, and fusty. Round the edifice altars stand out in harsh relief from the austere whitewashed walls. Carved figures of saints draped in dusty raiment that was once brilliant gave the place an aspect of a cheap waxworks. The small windows high up in the walls let in a silvery light that diffused itself through the interior. The pews or forms arranged down the centre of the aisle were in the last stages of decay, so frail and rotten that they could not support any substantial weight. Occasionally a negress with a bright-coloured turban and long, trailing gown would sail into the gloom and glide noiselessly up to one of the many altars, in front of which she would kneel and stare about as if bewildered. But I was generally alone in the great building, sometimes catching glimpses of the aged priest, who, with robes tucked up, was occupied in sweeping the damp, stone floor, a pathetic reminder of the waning power of Holy Church in the city. At Christmas time there is created in this church a huge

THE FLAT ARCH OF ST. DOMINIC.

toy-like representation of the Nativity, with small dolls crudely suggesting the shepherds and the Magi visiting the manger. A great array of candles are set in front and all around the tawdry show, and all day long crowds of the poorer classes stand gazing spellbound at the marvel. All the other churches in the city have some similar exhibition during Christmas week, and the crowds go from one to another, eager to see all they can for nothing. The church of La Merced, which stands in the Calle Real, in what used to be the extreme limit of the city, is built from the materials gathered at the ruins of the old church of the same name that stood in the ancient city of Panama. The church stands at a street corner, and on the left of the main entrance, occupying the corner of the building, is a small chapel, some sixteen feet square, with a door from either street. At all timessome worshipper is to be found inside this little sanctuary, for so conveniently situated is it that passers-by have only to step a few feet out of their way to be within its walls. Women with great bundles on their heads step in, cross themselves, mutter a word or two, and are not detained more than a few seconds by their devotions; whilst the man of business and small urchins rush through one door and out at the other, to save the turning at the corner of the street. The oldest church in the city, that of San Felipi Nevi, has the date “1688” carved on a shield above its entrance, but the more modern buildings that have sprung up around it almost hide it from view. Its walls are about five feet in thickness, which doubtless accounts for it still standing. The cathedral in the Central Plaza, the largest building in the city, is in a very good state of repair, and is generally well attended. It has two lofty towers surmounted with conical domes covered with oyster-shells, which glisten and sparkle in the sun. The front of the church is richly moulded and faced with flat, fluted, and engaged columns. In the niches sculptured figures representing the twelve apostles are placed, while at the top, in the centre, is placed an effigy of the Virgin. The whole building is painted over with a disagreeable colour-wash of saffron hue, an act of vandalism that could only occur in a country that pays little or no regard to the upkeep of its public buildings. Another instance of the scant attention and regard for ancient monuments can be seen in the ruins of the once noble church of St. Dominic. The roof of this large building has long since disappeared, probably during one of the numerous fires that have played such havoc in the city. There remains, however, in this church a most extraordinary specimen of building construction—a large arch of over sixty feet span, near the principal entrance, has caused much discussion amongst engineers and architects. It is practically flat, having no other support than its terminal columns. How it has survived the earthquake shocks that have from time to time visited the city is a mystery. Some experts have pointed to it as evidence that no very serious tremors can ever have taken place since it was built. But, however this may be, it is certainly an ingenious piece of construction, probably unique. A legend obtains currency amongst the better informed natives to the effect that before success attended the labours of the builders three failures befell them. On the last occasion the designer of the arch

OLD HOUSES ON THE SEA WALL, PANAMA.

stood underneath it and proclaimed it to be a sound piece of construction if it did not fall upon him. It hardly needed the pious architect to point out that something was indeed seriously wrong with the work if it did fall and kill him. But silly legends abound in Latin America as well as in other parts of the globe. The church of St. Dominic must have had an imposing appearance in its early youth, for even the ravages of time and weather have failed to rob it of distinction, and the thick, tropical vegetation that now runs wild over its crumbling walls suggests forcibly that nature is more anxious to hide decay than man is to prevent it. The city has undergone many changes since its birth, and the regular symmetrical design that was in earlier times adhered to by its builders has been so modified and altered by subsequent designers that it is with difficulty that we can form an idea of its earlier aspect. Whenever fire and time have destroyed buildings, no effort has been made to rebuild in the substantial early manner. The old fortifications have nearly all disappeared, and the city has grown far beyond the limits which they set to its extension. Flimsy structures are now erected of timber framework covered with plaster, and treated with a coat of whitewash. The sham is rampant. How the shade of Ruskin would writhe in agony should it chance in its wanderings to visit Panama, where stucco masquerades as stone. A month or two at most of the varying climatic conditions of alternatedry and damp heat and the most pretentious mansions present a disreputable aspect. The colour schemes which are attempted by the decorators are novel and discordant. The half-formed, undeveloped, æsthetic sense of the Latin American is more amazing than the crudest efforts in art of the rudest savages. A striking instance of perverted colour sense was displayed by a prominent citizen during the memorable visit of President Roosevelt. In honour of the unique occasion, this enterprising gentleman caused the exterior of his house to be covered with a hideous magenta water-wash, ornamental parts being picked out in a canary yellow. The originality of this scheme attracted much attention; and although the few judicious grieved, the masses were delighted.

THE difficulties that beset the early travellers across the Isthmus of Panama over two hundred years ago still remain, and confront the explorer in these regions at every turn. Very little has been done to cultivate the rich lands which are capable of rapidly yielding in great abundance every kind of tropical fruit.

Few roads exist, and until some attempts are made thus to open up the country, little or no change will ever take place in the condition of the interior. The activity on the isthmus to-day is confined to the Canal Zone, but there are indications that in the near future the systematic cultivation of this hitherto neglected country will yield a harvest richer than any ever reaped by the gold seekers of Pizarro’s day.

The average Panamanian of the present day, true to the traditions of his race, has little inclination or no taste for husbandry, and is well content to occupy some trivial government position which brings him in a sure if small income, whilst putting no tax upon his intelligence. He has leisure to live a life of social gaiety in the capital, and spend his time in enjoying the intercourse with strangers passing over the highway to the Pacific coast. With the Spaniard’s love of an indolent life accentuated by a tropical climate, the only violent exercise they ever take is vehement talking by the hour, at all times and in all places on affairs of government. Panamanians are a strange mixture of many races. Spanish by descent, with an infusion of more or less Indian, negro, German, English, Dutch, and French blood, some of them claim that they are pure Indians, and therefore true Americans, and proudly point out that the inhabitants of the United States have not the same authority to call themselvesAmerican as the real descendants of the aborigines of the two continents.

PANAMA FROM ANCON.

But they are very amiable, these Panamanians, ever ready with a smile or salute as you pass them on the street, and with an infinite capacity for making acquaintances, if not for forming friendships.

Late in the afternoon you can see many of them astride prancing steeds, neat, round-bellied little animals, with finely-arched necks, tapering legs clattering along the newly paved streets, their small feet making a strange music like castanets. The saddles used are of the Mexican type, and the large leathern protections which surround the front portion of the stirrups give the riders a somewhat grotesque appearance. About the same hour a continuous procession of carriages drives along the Savannah road, many of them of smart appearance. The black coachmen are all more or less disfigured with tall, shining hats and brass-buttoned coats, but the occupants reclining behind them look beautiful and cool in bright-coloured gowns of amazing cuts. There are only two roads leading out of Panama over which carriages can pass, and consequently the drivers in the neighbourhood of the city are limited to them. One of these—that leading to Balboa—passes the cemeteries of the city. Until very recently a custom obtained in Panama with regard to the burial of the dead which was so repellent it is almost incredible that it could have existed even in a savage country. A concession was granted by the Governmentto one of its prominent citizens who let out graves on lease and collected rents from the relatives. Should they fall in arrears with the rent, the stony-hearted concessioner had little compunction in ordering his men to remove the remains from the vault in which they rested, and cast them into a waste bit of ground near by. Other cemeteries separated by walls from one another are provided for the interment of different religious bodies. Jews, Mohammedans, Chinese, Roman Catholics, and Protestants are each buried among their co-religionists.

The United States Government, with a sentimental regard for the feelings of its citizens, has, through the Canal Commission, made a rule that, should any citizen of the United States in the employ of the Commission die while on the isthmus, his body shall be embalmed and conveyed at the Government’s expense to any part of the United States that the relatives may desire.

That a reform of the burial system in Panama from a sanitary point of view was necessary and should have impressed itself upon the health authorities is not to be wondered at, but it only could have been brought about in this instance by the United States having full power over the health and sanitation of the country which adjoins their strip of territory. In the country districts there are, of course, no special burial grounds, but the small wooden crosses and cairns that are scattered up and down serve to mark the spots chosen for the interment of the dead.

There is one other cemetery about two miles from Colon called Mount Hope, better known on the isthmus as “Monkey Hill.” The graves marked with wooden crosses contain the remains of representatives of nearly every country in the world. The monuments erected are of the most flimsy materials, so that any indications of the last resting-place of thousands of the makers of the isthmian route will inevitably disappear. So accustomed were the inhabitants of Colon to the procession of the funeral train, that they became quite callous to the fate of the many who had been stricken with the deadly fevers so rampant in the place, and funerals going along the streets are usually followed by mourners engaged in lively conversation and smoking big cigars.

Close contact with these melancholy scenes is unavoidable in the small area in which the inhabitants of the towns of Colon and Panama dwell, and the high death-rate which both havesuffered from has made their populations familiar with the trappings of woe.

The road that leads out of the city to the Savannahs, where the summer residences of the better class merchants are situated, is good, as it comes within the canal strip ceded to the States. It is mostly used by the gentry of Panama, and it has lately been extended right out to the ruins of the earliest Latin city in America, “old Panama,” which was destroyed by Morgan in his famous raid. Very little remains of the city which was known to its contemporaries as the “Golden cup of the West.” Its churches with rich altars, and houses filled with priceless tapestries, its richly furnished mansions, its opulent warehouses and wealthy inhabitants, belong to the past. The ruined tower and walls, all overgrown with jungle, that lie near the shore, are all that remain of the cathedral church of St. Anastasius. A couple of narrow masonry bridges near the city indicate where the famous “gold road” led into the town. Over this road, the Cruces trail which led from Panama on the Pacific to Porto Bello on the Atlantic, travelled the famous mule trains with their precious freights of gold and silver from Peru. The road can still be followed, a track of huge, irregular stones marking the course it took, and in some places fair-sized patches of the pavement are still intact. There is little interesting about the ruined city except its associations with the past. It is dead, and nature is striving hard to inter it decently beneath a luxuriant pall of green. One can only visit the spot to stir the imagination and call up its wondrous past. On this spot Pizarro banded his followers together, and from the now overgrown harbour walls his little fleet set sail on one of the most momentous voyages on record. The happenings in “old Panama” make the first page in the voluminous history of the great sub-continent.

Of the saloons and restaurants, with imposing names and uninviting aspect, much might be said. Even the best of them could be improved with little difficulty, but they serve well enough the uncritical tastes of their patrons. The better class cafés or bars in Colon and Panama are generally attached to hotels; and in the time when the French Company’s headquarters were in the Plaza at Panama the cafés and saloons were filled with exuberant life, until the early morning hours, and the larger and more important bars were the most popular places in the

A BIT OF THE OLD TOWN.

city. But to-day the clubs have taken the places of saloons, as far as the higher officials are concerned, while the spread of the canal offices all along the route has greatly affected the business of the saloons. Still on Saturdays and Sundays many of the gold employees on the Zone (clerks, steam-shovel men, engineers, foremen, supervisors, timekeepers, and others, whose occupation it would be difficult to discover) flock into Panama, to witness the baseball games and meet their friends. At such times the saloons and bars enjoy once more a taste of their almost forgotten popularity. The most important saloon is that attached to the Hotel Central in the Plaza. If you sit in it from early morning till late in the evening, you will be certain to meet with every important person in the city. Some you would see very often, others but seldom. Their merry chatter and hilarity make the place lively,and their almost unquenchable thirst keeps the bar-tender busy. Always parched and thirsty themselves, they are obsessed with the opinion that everybody they meet is suffering from the same complaint. Before dinner-time, about half-past six in the evening, the crowd in the saloon of the “Central” gathers, and each small round table is the centre of a noisy group of companions who order cocktails, “high bulls,” and other cheering concoctions. Meanwhile small boys shout the evening paper, a miserable little sheet that never contains any news sufficiently important to cause comment, for all the information it prints has been discussed hours before. Nevertheless, many copies are sold, for the Panamanian, ever anxious to keep abreast with the manners and customs of civilised communities, generally buys a copy. Old women with lottery tickets do quite a large business at this hour, for after the twentieth cocktail even the most accomplished drinker becomes a little regardless and throws his money about recklessly. But for all that, great care is taken in choosing with a becoming semblance of sober judgment a number that the purchaser has some very particular fancy for. Once a ticket has been sold, the demands of others, always ready to emulate the plunging of a good sportsman, keep the vendor of chances busy. Two or three of the roysterers will join together and purchase a ticket between them. The division into shares and complex allotments of the ticket invested entail the making of illegible notes and memoranda which serve to give a business-like air to the transactions. More small boys, wearing a grin that makes up for the scantiness of their clothing, dart in and out through the open doors with paper bags containing pea-nuts, and soon dispose of their entire stock. Piles of these nuts lie on each of the little tables, and the cracking and munching sounds as they disappear make up for breaks in the conversation. The stone floor soon assumes the aspect of a newly gravelled pavement, and the parties begin to separate and make their ways to dinner. Thus early in the evening is the “Central” saloon deserted, and should the visitor be desirous of being in the crowd after this hour, he must seek some other resort. At the numerous gatherings and entertainments which take place in Panama a great variety and odd assortment of types from every quarter of the globe are encountered. Quite apart from the casual gatherings of transients at the hotels, there are many opportunities for those whoappreciate gaiety to indulge their taste to the full. Scarce a week passes but there are two or three balls, receptions given by members of clubs or private residents, and visitors to the city generally receive invitations.

THE PLAZA, PANAMA.

The weekly reception by the President is usually well attended by the Panamanians and visitors, while many of the Canal Commission officials put in an appearance, and with their white uniforms lighten the scene. The official residence of the President guarded by about twenty lounging, diminutive policemen, is alive with bustling movement, and carriages in all stages of decay line the street outside. After leaving your hat with a very unofficial-looking servant at the entrance, you pass into a largesalon, and are introduced to the President, who stands near the door. Many of the leaders of fashion and society are assembled in the room, and you soon discover that a free and easy air entirelydevoid of anything like formality pervades the apartment. Puzzle games that long ago were sold by the vendors of cheap novelties on the streets of big cities lie around on tables in heaps to amuse the guests, while at circular tables, placed at one end of the room, elderly, stout persons sit playing at the game of puff-ball. The room, about one hundred feet long by thirty feet wide, is furnished with gilded chairs and lounges and tables, and along the top of the walls, doing duty as a frieze, are a series of poorly painted portraits.

These pictures are painted on the surface of the wall, and round each is an oval frame or wreath, also painted in yellow colours, to represent gilding.

Past Governors and patriots and statesmen all glare down on their successors in the game of politics. For whom they all were intended, and what names the originals bore, it is doubtful if any of the present generation could tell, for all the South American republics have scores of heroes whose reputations and fame have long been forgotten, and there are few who have sufficient interest in the past to keep green the records of the illustrious dead. The living specimens of “patriots,” who with perfervid zeal talk of their country’s rights and wrongs, its present and its future, are certainly a better-looking lot than their predecessors, but it may be that the artists who limned the features of the latter have not done the originals justice.

The ladies of Colombia are proverbial for their good looks, and those of Panama are no exception. The popular conception of the jealousy of Spanish husbands, who are commonly supposed to be rather ready with the knife and stiletto, is quite erroneous, at least as far as Panama and Colombia are concerned.

The ladies of Colombia affect the fashions of Europe and Paris, and in Panama one sees but few of the older picturesque fashions that still obtain in many of the cities and towns of the interior. Some of the poorer classes still wear their thick, black hair in two long plaits hanging over their shoulders, and a few of the costumes are rather original, consisting of black silk skirts cut sufficiently close to show the form, a large kerchief thrown over the head, and falling in long folds down to the waist. The mantilla is worn by some, but newer fashions are fast ousting every kind of national dress. In Cartagena and Bogota are seen more of the older, picturesque forms, but it is only amongst the lower orders

AN INTERIOR, CARTAGENA.

in Panama that frills and flounces still linger. Smoking is quite common amongst the women all over Latin America, and the fair sex in Colombia are no exceptions. Their cigars are often carried in their hair. In Panama the ladies have a freedom that is quite notorious; far from being confined behind iron gratings, they are allowed the diversions of balls, dances, supper parties, and receptions, without any fear of the control of their husbands, who are not always in attendance. The Panamanianseñorasare extremely good-natured, and their bright smiles and dangerous glances are bestowed with a careless freedom that would shock their fair sisters in Buenos Ayres. The education of women in South America generally is not so far advanced as it is in the northern continent or in Europe, though they are generally proficient, and frequently excel in musical accomplishments. They are perhaps no worse than the women of other lands in their love of gossiping and scandal, and, accustomed to flattery from their earliest years, and with interests narrowed down to a limited range of subjects, it is little wonder that they are incapable of conversing long or interestedly upon any topic save love, and that when it gives out they should fall back upon scandal. They weary over books, and turn over the pages with but a languid interest, and to any exercise save dancing they are naturally averse. Their conversation is rather free and unrestrained, and they talk glibly of the secret lovers of their dearest friends. Their beauty is but skin deep and wears rather badly; their indolent habits cause them soon to assume a bulkiness of form quite inconsistent with grace or comeliness, and it is only their passionate devotion to dancing that prevents them from becoming positively unwieldy.

Ministers and Consuls from other republics abound at the receptions and balls, and the many fashions in whiskers, beards, and moustaches provoke much comment and many smiles. Merchants, shopkeepers, doctors, lawyers, concessioners, their wives and daughters, all jostle one another in the crush. The rooms get stiflingly hot as the evening wears on; the balcony outside is invitingly cool, and the quiet beauty of the night contrasts strongly with the noise and glitter of the saloons. Across the bay lie the undulating hills, all but lost in a translucent opal pall; the myriads of stars overhead shine with a glory that evokes ejaculations of admiration, the more brilliant of them arereflected with many a tremor in the placid sea beneath. Lights on distant boats bob up and down, while the murmur of the waves as they break gently on the shore makes a music that can be heard above the sound made of all human speech that floats out of the open doors from thesalon.

At supper parties it is quite a usual thing for speeches proposing toasts to be made, and when once they are started there is no stopping the flow of oratory. They love long-worded speeches almost as much as the Brazilians, and will listen to themselves and others for hours, and it must be admitted that they have a ready if a simple wit on all occasions. I have heard a Panamanian after dinner make an impromptu speech, in which he felicitously described all the guests around the table, and if his incisive humour was at times a little grotesque and his satire biting, the subject of his jest was as delighted as the rest of his audience at his sallies.

On the last day of the old year I had an opportunity of seeing the Panamanians really enjoying and proving their capacity for entertaining themselves. A ball was given by one of the clubs on 31 December, and as their new president entered on his duties the moment the numerous clocks in the city should cease striking twelve, a fine occasion for a speech presented itself. All the company assembled in the ballroom about ten minutes before the dying year yielded up its last gasp of time. The ladies were seated on two long rows of chairs facing each other, while their attendant cavaliers stood immediately behind them. Each held a brimming glass, awaiting patiently till the time should arrive for the toast. At the last stroke of midnight the new president of the club stepped forward and addressed the assembly. As he went on speaking eloquently of the high honour of the office to which he had been elected, the duties of which he was now entering upon, expatiating on the dignity of the position and the halo it spread round the holder, it seemed probable that all the spirit, as well as the sparkle, would evaporate from the generous wine before any of the guests would have a chance of capturing it. When at last he made an end, after having been actively engaged upon his new duties for full half an hour, all raised their glasses and drank, not New Year’s wishes to one another, but to the success of the club and the health of its new president.

Dancing was resumed when the glasses had been drained andwishes exchanged for prosperity and happiness during the coming year, but it was not until a late or, rather, early hour and after all the ladies had been served with supper that the men settled down to the enjoyment of a long-deferred repast. Bottle after bottle was emptied, and each one round the festive table made a gallant effort to vie with his neighbour in inventing some new toast. Every nationality represented at the board was the recipient of lengthy adulation, and if the good feeling voiced by all present could only be extended to the courts and Governments of the world, little business would be left for Peace Congresses to transact.

The whole of the first of January was devoted to a round of festivities, and the powers of endurance displayed by many were amazing.

Hard or even moderate drinking is said to be a dangerous habit in hot countries, and the medical profession is almost unanimous in condemning the use of alcohol, whilst the old theory that it is a necessity in hot climates has been exploded by scientific investigation, for the enlarged liver which is so common in the torrid zone is no doubt contributed to by the alcoholic habit.

But it is a notorious fact that inhabitants of countries subject to earthquakes and volcanoes get inured to all idea of danger, and walk on the very brink of disaster with a light and merry heart, indifferent to the lessons of experience or the fate of their predecessors, and on that New Year’s Day the orgies of the Buccaneers were equalled, if not excelled, by many of the inhabitants.

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