John Augustus Lloyd

“ The heat is generally most oppressive. The town being surrounded by mountains, the freshening sea-breeze is never felt; and the immense forests that cover the mountains, and indeed the face of the whole country, precluding the passage of the sun's rays to dry the earth, the most dense vapor is continually exhaling, which ascends and forms immense clouds, deluging the country with almost incessant rains. The sun occasionally bursts out with the greatest fierceness, but before it can have had any but a mischievous effect, even to dry the streets, it is again enveloped in clouds ”

“ The chief articles of farinaceous food are maize, or Indian corn, and rice; yet the home growth of each seems very moderate. They are peeled, or shelled, by head, in a rude mortar, made by hollowing out a piece of a large tree; and the operation is so troublesome as to make a great difference in the price of the article before and after it is performed.
The greater part of the sugar used in the Isthmus is imported in skins from Central America, or from the Valley of Cauca, by way of Buonaveutura, on the Choco Coast. ”

“ It may reasonably be doubted, perhaps, how far tables of such extreme minuteness regarding a thinly-peopled, and by no means highly-civilized district, are quite so correct as they pretend to be;—but supposing them to approach the truth, a very remarkable disproportion is first observable between the males and females, both in the human species, and, as may be worthy notice, among brutes also, the return of men in Los Santos, in 1827, being 11,225 to 14,642 women ”

“ Amarillo de fruta.—Bearing a fruit; is yellowish white, with a long grain; tough and rather hard; is very common; grows to the size of not more than two feet diameter; the heart is of the same colour; is much used in house-building.
Amarillo carbonero.—A white-brown wood, with large heart, close-grained, and hard; it is very tough, and grows to the size of one foot or one foot six inches diameter; is used for houses and building; not very common.
Amarillo colorado.—
Amarillo curabasuel.—A green wood; hard and brittle; grows to very large size, and is common ”

“ All the meat that is consumed is thus sent from Panamà, or from some of the hatos on or near the road; and if not immediately killed the animals become emaciated, and their flesh little better than carrion, though there appears plenty of excellent herbage in the vicinity of the city. For this reason, although in every other part of the county there are numerous cattle estates, not one is to be found in this vicinity; and the only animals that appear to thrive are pigs and mules. ”

“ They are anxiously sought after, however, by the negroes and mulattoes, who frequent the forests as wood-cutters, and are particularly expert in attacking tigers, generally with no other arms than a lace and a machete, or very long sabre-like knife. With these they seek their hiding-places; and, encountering one, with the left arm enveloped in a blanket they with their lance incense the tiger to make a spring, when they wound him in the tendon of the paws if possible, which makes him retire. ”

“ Their indolence, it is added, is not to be attributed wholly to the climate, or their own original constitution, but chiefly to the extreme fertility of the soil, and the comparative ease with which a man and his family can derive subsistence from it. ”

“ Lloyd thinks that the Statistical Table, given above, of the province of Los Santos, may be considered generally as descriptive of the others also, with the exception of Darien and Porto-Bello, which are comparatively uncultivated, and of Panamà, in which the vicinity of the capital city gives a preponderance the other way. In general, however, he adds, the western and central districts, with the islands in the bay of Panamà, are the best cultivated and most populous, Los Santos being one of them. Elsewhere the landlords keep their estates chiefly in grass to save trouble ”

“ In summer the temperature rises to 90°, and even 93°, in the day the reflection of the sun, from the smooth surface of the Pacific, with the heat of the winds, which blow steadily from the south-east over a track of dry savannahs, makes it very sultry; but the land-winds at night are cool, coming chiefly from the adjoining mountains: and the climate may be called generally healthy, though a considerable tonality sometimes occurs. ”

“ The water-carriage from Chagres to Cruces is two dollars the bale; and warehouse room in Cruces two rials more. Thence the goods are carried to Panamà, either on mules, or by natives on their shoulders, as the case may be. If the packages are heavy, but strong and compact, mules are employed; but if liable to breakage, or of inconvenient shape for passing carelessly along narrow lanes, and up and down steep acclivities, men are considered the most trust-worthy and careful animals. The hire bf a mule is, according to the burthen and measure, from four to six dollars ”

“ The dampness and unhealthiness of the climate, combined with the heat, and the immoderate use of spirits, soon succeed in enervating the constitution, that the first attack of an epidemic is generally fatal; and though medical men of eminence have occasionally been induced to settle in Porto-Bello, they have seldom found their medicines and learning sufficient to guard even themselves long against the effect of the climate. ”

“ Manners, Education, Occupation, &c.—The upper classes in the Isthmus are of the common stock, but by no means so far advanced in civilization as their neighbours. The white people, and particularly the women, are noted for a tinge of European complexion, which can hardly be reconciled with their geographical position. ”

“ Many individuals in Panamà have made it their for years to collect, in this way, pearls for the formation of laces: some of which, after continued changing and labour, are certainly of the most perfect symmetry. ”

“ It rises very near the south coast, not far from the town of Chorrera, which, as will afterwards be seen, gives its name to a considerable river on its other side, flowing into the Pacific. Canoes of various descriptions navigate the Trinidad as far as a large town called Capua, which lies south-west of Chorrera and bring down produce to Chagres. As high as Mr. Lloyd went up, which was not, however, to this point, the breadth was about two hundred feet, the depth from twenty-eight to twenty feet, the reaches (calles) long and straight, without falls or any other impediment to easy navigation. ”

“ Lloyd, 'perhaps no part of the world possesses a greater variety of building materials, nor more facility in procuring them, than does the Isthmus of Panamà.' In the precious metals, however, the province is poor. In Panamà proper, only two mines are worked, Santa Rita and Pequeni, both for gold, but their produce is insignificant. They are in the mountains near Porto-Bello. In Veragua, including Choco, a considerable quantity of gold is obtained by washing, and is reckoned very pure: copper and iron are abundant ”

“ Those for slaughter may be bought at from twelve to eighteen dollars each, the best. The race of horses is small, but hardy; and their price varies from fifteen to forty dollars. Mules are said by Mr. Lloyd to be the animals most prized in the country, yet the return of their numbers in the canton of Los Santos, in 1827, is so small, as strikingly. to illustrate his previous statement as to the flatness of the country in this direction; for in mountainous districts, it is well known, no other animal is ever rode. Their price varies from twenty, even to 120 dollars. ”

“ Hence, though there is a college at Panamà, the head of which is a most excellent, well-informed clergyman, and considerable pains are here taken to instruct the youth in mathematics, natural philosophy, and other, the higher, sciences,—yet the formation of their character, and the instilment of honourable principle, and right feeling in them, are neglected ”

“ Pigs are few, and of most exorbitant value; of a good size and well fattened, they will fetch from thirty to thirty-five dollars each; and are chiefly purchased by women butchers, who, after killing them, cut off every morsel of fat, and. sell it separately as lard for culinary purposes.
Fish and fowl are plentiful, cheap, and much used; and in Panamà market, hundreds of young sharks, of the kind called shovel-nosed; and from one to two feet and a half long, are daily sold for food. ”

“ Yalla armadillo.—A beautiful close-grained wood, almost like box, of a lightish brown colour; grows only to a small size—at most one foot diameter. The fruits and esculent vegetables found in the Isthmus are those of other similar into-tropical situations. The grains cultivated are rice and Indian-corn. The sugar-cane is grown, but not extensively. Coffee and cocoa are cultivated as required for domestic consumption. ”

“ Its harbour is protected by a number of islands, a little way from the main-land, some of which are of considerable size, and highly cultivated. There is good anchorage under them all, and supplies of ordinary kinds, including excellent water, may be obtained from most of them.
The plan of the city is not strictly regular, but the principal streets extend across the little peninsula from sea to sea, and a current of air is thus preserved, and more cleanliness than is usually found in the Spanish American towns. ”

“ Its claws seem, indeed, formed for the purpose, having a membrane, or web, resembling that of the duck.
'The eggs of these creatures when dried, are considered a great luxury. They are little larger than a boy's marble, and have nearly the same flavour with turtle-eggs. The flesh itself resembles that of the fowl, both in appearance and taste. The Mosquito-Indians occasionally come to the river Chagres, in companies of twenty or thirty, to hunt the guana, which they do with great expertness, chasing them into the trees with small dogs, and shooting them with fowling-pieces. ”

“ The home produce is chiefly miel, or molasses, and raspadura, or pan-sugar, which are preferred by the.inhabitants to the finer preparations. Great quantities of wild honey are found in the woods, the bees collecting which do not sting, and are thus robbed without precaution. No return is made of the manufactory of ardent spirits. ”

“ An inexhaustible supply of the finest timer is in its immediate vicinity; and the fertility of the soil, where cleared, is such, that a small portion, with the labour of two men only, affords an ample supply of every article of subsistence for the whole establishment. Several roads lead to it from the neighbouring village; and one has been formed from a place on the united stream called Sambaja, where the largest class of vessels remain. ”

“ The family, at their leisure, then form a staga or second floor, to which a piece of balsa, cut with notches, serves to ascend; and a few stones for a fire-place, an iron cooking-pot, and some pieces of wood to sit on, complete the establishment. The nearest trees to the habitation are cut down, fire is. applied to the more distant, which, after burning some days, leaves the ground ready for a crop; advantage is taken of the first rainy season to get in the requisite seeds ”

“ The pearls thus tastefully disposed round the person of a fair Panamenian are, it is well known, procured among the islands of the coast, by diving. The occupation is very laborious, and success most uncertain; but the pursuit is a favourite one, and the divers are very expert. They generally proceed in companies of several canoes together, each containing six or seven men, who dive in succession armed with a sharp knife, rather for the purpose of detaching the oysters from the rocks to which they adhere, than for defence against danger. ”

“ The waters that run from the different mountains are particularly clear, and delicious to drink; but wo to the person who is rash enough to make immoderate use of them, their very excellence being their misfortune, as they cause dysenteries, from which few escape; and almost all the fevers of the country degenerate into this disease. They, however, afford the luxury of a cool and refreshing bath, which every one takes a little before noon ”

“ The clouds hang chiefly over the wooded heights; and at Porto-Bello, in particular, which is closely hemmed round by them, the rain descends in torrents, frequently accompanied by storms of thunder and lightning, of the most terrific description. 'Where the ground, to any extent, is level, however, and has been cleared of its wood, a great difference is perceptible ”

“ Their best quality is great liberality to the poor, and especially to the aged and infirm; of whom almost every family of consequence has several regular pensioners, who come every Saturday to receive an accustomed and liberal alms.
A considerable turn for commerce is observable among the inhabitants of Panamà; and from the highest to the lowest, each keeps a shop or tienda. ”

“ The hunter pursues, and generally succeeding in again cutting the paws, afterwards despatches him at his leisure,—carrying his head, paws, and skin to Porto-Bello, as a trophy of his valour, and preserving the skin to make tobacco-pouches, or covers to little easy chairs used in the country. ”

“ As the season advances, the rain gradually increases; and is incessant throughout July, August, September, and October. In November the nights are always wet and cloudy; but through the day the sky begins to break. ”

“ The women are retired and even unsocial, scarcely ever leaving their houses but to mass, or to follow in a religious procession. They are also altogether uninformed, and rear their children in the worst manner, allowing them to associate indiscriminately with the lowest negroes of their own age. ”

“ As the mountains and forests, which abound with animals of various descriptions, extend to the very foundations of the house, it is not uncommon to find wild hogs and small tigers near the town, and the later sometimes make inroads on the fowls and other domestic animals. ”