Chagres

“ Commanding McArthur left New York on one of the new Aspinwall steamers, and in due time landed at Chagres. The only route across the Isthmus was up the Chagres River in boats, and thence by mule train over the trail to Panama. Chagres was congested with a motley crowd, from all quarters of the earth, making its way to the California gold fields. Among the fortune hunters were many characterless men, and even fugitives from justice. ”

“ ITS CLIMATE
is, without doubt, the most pestiferous for whites in the whole world. The coast of Africa, which enjoys a dreadful reputation in this way, is not so deadly in its climate as is Chagres. The thermometer ranges from 78° to 85° all the year, and it rains every day. Many a traveler who has incautiously remained there for a few days and nights, has had cause to remember Chagres; and many a gallant crew, who have entered the harbor in full health, have, ere many days, found their final resting place on the dank and malarious banks of the river. ”

“ At the present time, vessels, steam and sailing, are being constructed at Chagres, for the passage up the river, the increase of the Isthmus travel rendering it both necessary and profitable.
The beauty of the country through which the Chagres river flows has been the theme of frequent praise. Its banks are filled with all the luxuriant 186 verdure which tropical climes produce. The tamarind, the date, the pomegranate, the plantain, the banana, the cocoanut, the lime, the citron, and the pine apple, are abundant. ”

“ The inauguration of President Taylor was observed by cracking a few bottles of [291] champagne furnished us by the generosity of the house of Livingston and Wells of New York. It is getting very hot for us northerners.
Wednesday 7th. Another fine day and fine run. We shall make Chagres Friday if everything continues favorable.
Thursday 8th. Another fine day and we have made a fine run. Nothing of consequence has occurred to-day except an eclipse of the moon this evening. To-morrow we expect to see Chagres, being at 4 o’clock to-day but 130 miles off. ”

“ The town of Chagres deserves notice, inasmuch as it is the birthplace of a malignant fever, that became excessively popular among the Californian emigrants, many of whom have acknowledged the superiority of this malady by giving up the ghost, a very few hours after landing. Most towns are famous for some particular manufacture, and it is the fashion for visitors to carry away a specimen of the handicraft ”

“ We crossed the river to Chagres, which consists of about thirty huts constructed of reeds, and thatched with palm-leaves, the inhabitants, the most squalid set of beings imaginable. They are all good Catholics, but do not go to the Bible for the fashions. There are fig-leaves in abundance, yet they are considered by the inhabitants quite superfluous, they preferring the garments that nature gave them, sometimes, however, adding a Panama hat. ”

“ At Chagres the dividend was made, and there was a considerable amount of dissatisfaction, his own companions telling him to his face that he had reserved the best jewels for himself. It appears likely that he had done so, and at all events, at this period he suddenly sailed away from the larger part of his pirate-associates, and left them in the lurch. ”

“ Before marching overland to Panama, Morgan had recaptured the island of St. Catherine, which was a very valuable station for his purposes, and had also taken the castle of Chagres on the mainland near by, and on his return from the conquest and pillage of the unfortunate city he and his forces gathered together at Chagres in order to divide the spoils. ”

“ The engineering problems never can be fully appreciated until one has seen the Chagres sweeping on in its conquering career.
Native customs and the mixed life of Canal construction are seen at the stations along the railway. Every village has its collection of parrots and monkeys. The sights differ from the scenes in other parts of the Isthmus, because of this intermingling of foreigners, largely Chinese and Jamaican. But the inhabitants are so markedly of the local type that they may be easily distinguished from the foreign mixture. ”

“ The Chagres is both the upper and the lower limit of the second division, and crosses it seventeen times in its length of 17 kilometres. The average level is 12 metres above the sea, except in a single hill of 25 metres height and in a sudden rise to the same elevation at the end of the division. The excavators are moved on railway tracks by an engine of 8 to 10 horse-power, and empty their buckets into cars on adjacent rails. Every facility for dredging is presented by the Chagres River, the depth of which is such that dredges can be put at each crossing. ”

“ The second largest and the best known of the rivers of Panama is the famous Chagres, whose mouth is only six miles from the Atlantic entrance of the canal. Like the Tuyra and the Chepo on the Pacific side, the Chagres is navigable for large canoes and small launches for many miles, particularly in the rainy season. River communication is very important in a heavily wooded country where roads are scarce and bad, as they were in the United States before the Revolution, and are still on the Isthmus to-day. ”

“ Panama is a healthy city to those acclimated, facing a beautiful bay, unlike Chagres, on this side of the Isthmus of Darien, which is the most unhealthy spot on this continent. Excuse this diversion, I must get back to my subject, the days of the forty-niners.
I stopped at the American Hotel. I was somewhat in a dilapidated condition from the experiences of my trip from Chagres. The waiter in my room at the hotel took the best of care of me. I soon found he was no ordinary waiter. He had resigned a position in Washington of $2,000 a year to go to the gold Eldorado. ”

“ Everyone is.”
“I have been through things,” he told her enigmatically. “Why look—just the trip: to Chagres on the Isthmus, and then mules and canoes through that ropey woods to Panama, with thousands of prospectors waiting for the steamer. Then back by Mazatlan, Mexico City, and Vera Cruz. A man sees things.” ”

“ That captain had reinforced the Chagres garrison, and had sent a warning over the isthmus to the Governor at Panama. The Chagres was now well lined with ambuscades. Panama was full of soldiers, and the whole Spanish population was ready to take up arms to drive the pirates to their ships, so they knew what they might look to get in case they persisted in their plan. This information was sent to Henry Morgan at the Santa Katalina fort, with news of the reduction of the Chagres castle. Before he received it, Captain Joseph Bradly died in the castle, of a wound he had received in the fighting. ”

“ There’s a big cup at the top of our pyramid, and steps, or ‘locks,’ lead down to the levels of the oceans on each side.”
“Oh, it’s as clear as mud,” muttered Tubby, “go on.”
“Now, then, we get to the Chagres and the part it plays,” went on Rob serenely. “That whole ‘cup’ at the top of our pyramid is actually an artificial lake of vast size. As a matter of fact, it will be 165 square miles in area. At Gatun a great dam will hold it in, and at Pedro Miguel the locks will perform the same office. This lake is the valley of Chagres, and the Chagres will be relied on to keep it filled. ”

“ We put up at the French Hotel, and learning that the Empire City was to remain but one day longer at Chagres, we resolved to embark early the next morning. We contracted with a native to take our party of eleven for $22, and at an early hour were en route. We glided down the river very pleasantly, propelled by three oarsmen, with our worthy captain at the helm.{194} After making two or three miles, we were brought to a dead stand on a sand-bar; our boatmen backed up, we mounted and were carried to the shore. ”

“ Whenever they feel inclined now they overpower the law easily; but seven years ago, when I visited the Isthmus of Panama, things were much worse, and a licence existed, compared to which the present lawless state of affairs is enviable.
When, after passing Chagres, an old-world, tumble-down town, for about seven miles, the steamer reached Navy Bay, I thought I had never seen a more luckless, dreary spot. Three sides of the place were a mere swamp, and the town itself stood upon a sand-reef, the houses being built upon piles, which some one told me rotted [Pg 11] regularly every three years. ”

“ They realized that without food or water they had practically no hope, for the chance that any ship would pick them up within a week was negligible in the extreme.
Yet, as they sat and rocked to the motion of the boat, they talked of Chagres and Panama, and of the future. ”

“ Having obtained a plentiful supply of provisions and three bandits, who were acquainted with the route from Porto Bello to Panama and who were promised their liberty and a share of the plunder, should the undertaking prove successful, Morgan sent four ships and one boat well equipped to Chagres to take the castle there, while he remained at St. Catherine’s with the bulk of the expedition awaiting the result of this preliminary venture, and to avoid giving the alarm to the Spaniards as to his real design. ”

“ From Chagres, the travellers proceed in canoes up the Chagres river, to Gorgona, a distance of about fifty miles, or eight miles further, to Cruces. The canoes are mostly owned by the natives, and the greatest care is necessary to get them to keep their agreement. ”

“ After demolishing the fort at Chagres, and setting fire to the principal buildings in the town, he surreptitiously crept on board the vessel which contained the treasure and provisions, taking with him a few of his chosen companions, and, in the early hours of the morning, while the remainder of the band were in a deep{47} sleep, he sailed away for Jamaica with all the plunder captured by the expedition, a rich store of the treasures which formed the staple commerce between the Old World and the New. ”

“ For an interesting Account of the best route to and from the West Indies in order to avoid the vigilant French and English corsairs, see Notes on Giovanni da Verrazano, by J. C. Brevoort, New York, 1874, p. 101.
23. At the time that Champlain was at the isthmus, in 1599-1601, the gold and silver of Peru were brought to Panama, then transported on mules a distance of about four leagues to a river, known as the Rio Chagres, whence they were conveyed by water first to Chagres, and thence along the coast to Porto-bello, and there shipped to Spain. ”

“ Venta Cruz, the modern Cruces, stood, and still stands, on the west or left bank of the Chagres River. It marks the highest point to which boats may penetrate from the North Sea. Right opposite the town the river broadens out to a considerable width, affording berths for a number of vessels of slight draught. At the time of Drake's raid it was a place of much importance. The land route from Panama to Nombre de Dios was, as we have said, boggy, dangerous, and pestilential. ”

“ The interior of the Isthmus, through [Pg 25] which water courses find a rapid passage, is equally healthy, and is inhabited by a robust and hospitable population, which, although thinly spread over a large tract of country, as in almost all the countries of Central and South America, together with that of the neighbouring countries, may amply supply the labourers necessary for the work, in case of its execution. Chagres is the only point where the climate has any degree of unhealthiness, owing to pure local circumstances; but this point will be avoided by the line contemplated by M. Garella. ”

“ At the point called Bas Obispo, where the Chagres valley, which has been running south-southeast towards the Pacific turns away to the northeast among the hills, the line of the canal leaves the Gatun river-lake, and we enter the third section, which I have called the Cutting. Here hills are encountered, so it became necessary, in order to avoid the making of more locks, to cut deep into the central line of the continent, with its ridge of rock which connects the Cordilleras of the southern continent with the Sierras of the northern. ”

“ The problem of keeping up a supply of men, fit to stand the climate, has been solved by importing on to the scene Spaniards, Portuguese, Italians, and West Indians, and they have endured the climate surprisingly. It is astonishing that in a shade temperature of from 89-91 so much energy can be displayed. In the rainy season the conditions become very difficult to contend against. The River Chagres rises and carries away long tracks of the railway, putting a stop to operations for days at a time. ”

“ Arrived at Gorgona and pitched our tent. The river is literally crammed with nice fish, but cannot be caught with a hook; am not so favorably impressed with the natives here as at Chagres; they are fast learning dishonesty from the Americans. They all smoke, women and all; I observed one woman smoking with the lit end in her mouth.
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Monday 12th. Nothing of note to mention except that we drew our seine and caught a few noble fish; but there are too many snags to fish safely. Gambling is carried on here by some Americans and several fools have lost all their money and returned home. ”

“ Like most fallen nations, they are very conservative in their habits and principles; while the blacks are enterprising, and in their opinions incline not unnaturally to democracy. But for their old antipathy, there is no doubt that the negroes would lean towards America; but they gladly encourage the prejudice of the New Granadans, and foster it in every way. Hence the ceaseless quarrels which have disturbed Chagres and Panama, until it has become necessary for an American force to garrison those towns. ”