Our messenger whom we had sent ahead, finding that we were fated to be held there for an indefinite period, had secured rooms where we could live and we moved in at once. The house, a two-story stone building, belonged to the governor of the state. His residence was on a corner of the plaza, and our house was opposite. He offered the building entire to us for 150 dollars or to rent for two dollars a day. This will give an idea of the value of real estate at that time. A large three story building standing on the main street was bought that spring for 300 dollars and opened as the “American Hotel.” It is still run as a hotel as I have noticed in the news from there.
As I have before mentioned, the city up to the California gold excitement had had for many years a location on the map but no business; in fact grass was growing in the streets. The English government had a line of steamships trading with South American governments, on the Pacific side, which came monthly to Panama to unload and pack their ingots of silver on mules’ backs to cross the Isthmus, to be reshipped for England. I saw two cargoes of ingots landed; there were 150 or 200 ingots, shaped like a capital V, and weighing 150 pounds each. They were guarded across by soldiers.
The city was then surrounded by a heavy wall 12 to 14 feet high, laid in cement as hard as stone. On the water side it was built on the bed rock so far out that the tide coming in had pounded holes through the wall. There were two gates for ingress and egress, one the main gate from the land side, the other on the water side. Just inside the main gate and facing it was a nice little stone building having but one room; inside was a life size image of the Virgin Mary, beautifully dressed, with diamonds sparkling all about her breast. She stood on an elevated platform—at her feet a pretty box for contributions. It is a Catholic country and every person on coming into the city was expected to pass into the room, kneel before the Virgin in an attitude of prayer for a moment or two, throw in his mite and go about his business. The priests removed the offerings at intervals.
Gambling and cock fighting, the latter on Sunday afternoon after services when even the clergy were to be seen, with an occasional mock bull fight outside the walls were the leading amusements. I saw a man who was tantalizing a bull with a red rag, caught on its horns and hurled against a stone building, apparently killed, but he finally came to himself and walked off.
There was a large cathedral with several churches. The cathedral was never closed. I was there during Lent and Passion Week and the displays were simply gorgeous—processions by day and torch light ones by night, the entire population in line, bare headed. One night the Virgin was placed upon a raised three step platform, and carried about the streets on men’s backs. I counted 180 wax candles eighteen inches in length, enclosed under glass resting on the steps of the platform, a beautiful sight. Apostles and Saints had processions making rich displays.
Palm Sunday was a noisy one; every individual native had his whistle, made of palm leaf and there were thousands of shrill toots, until in the middle of the afternoon, a procession appeared escorting an image of Christ, with His crown of thorns, astride an ass, a large number of the clergy with banners being in advance, and they preceded by a bevy of 40 or 50 little girls, dressed in white, with their arms full of flowers, scattering them as they walked, and all singing. The next morning a rope was stretched across the street, with an image of Judas hanging, by the neck, and every passer by hurling some missile at him. I was strolling one day behind a church building and saw a hole in the wall some four feet from the ground; on looking in I saw deep down, perhaps 10 or 12 feet, small human bones. On inquiry I was told they were the bones of still-born infants who died unbaptised and were thrown in with quick lime to destroy the soft parts.
I walked one day out to the cemetery which is nearly a mile outside the walls. There was an acre of ground surrounded by a wall of 8 feet or more thick and 10 or more high, laid in cement. On the inside were three tiers of openings in the wall large enough to admit a coffin. The dead were placed in a nice coffin, dressed as the circumstances of the friends could afford, covered with a profusion of flowers, carried in state to the cemetery, then stripped of everything, put in a tight rough box, the box filled with quick lime and finally pushed into the opening in the wall and sealed up with cement. After a proper interval, to allow the soft parts to be destroyed by the action of the lime and when the hole was wanted for another, it was opened and the contents, bones and all, emptied on the ground and another body put in. The ground was covered with bones. I picked up a human jaw bone which must have belonged to a giant; it was more than twice as large as any one I ever saw before or since. I brought it home as a curiosity and loaned it to William Johnston, of Sidney, an eccentric man descended from the pre-Revolutionary pioneer of the same name, and he forgot to return it.
The water for the city was all brought in on the heads of women, in earthen crocks holding three gallons and sold for 10 cents a crock; the spring was the best part of a mile outside the city, walled up nicely, and ran about a half inch stream as I remember it. The tide comes in at Panama 23 feet twice a day, while on the Atlantic side at Chagres one would hardly notice that there was a tide. The places are only 50 miles apart. This is an anomaly I have never seen explained to my satisfaction; there must be some other than the moon theory I think.
When the tide is out at Panama one can go out on the rocks two miles, but he must look out for the incoming tide. I was out one day looking for shells very busily; when I looked up I was nearly surrounded by water; you may rest assured I ran for life once certainly; I could not get into the city but got out of the water about a quarter of a mile down the coast.[94]
We had arrived in Panama the first of March and expected to meet the steamer California for which we had tickets. She failed to appear on account of her crew deserting her on her first arrival at San Francisco; the result was we were obliged to lie there until the Panama which left New York the same morning we did, and aboard which we were now to sail, came around the cape and reached Panama when the agent of the steamship company put us aboard her. It was estimated that there were 3,000 people from the States in Panama awaiting vessels to proceed to California. The condition became more and more alarming as the detention and increase of people increased the congestion. Sickness was very prevalent, funerals were of daily occurrence, a plot for a cemetery had to be purchased and it was rapidly filled. Many having but little money soon found themselves without means for living and with no prospect of getting away they took the back track and returned home.