MAP OF PANAMA
(click image to enlarge)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| PART I | ||
| CHAPTER | TO PANAMA | PAGE |
| [I] | Chicago to New Orleans—Principally Chicago | 11 |
| [II] | Getting Off | 23 |
| [III] | At Sea | 29 |
| [IV] | Port Limón | 48 |
| [V] | Colón and the Panama Railway | 64 |
| [VI] | Panama | 87 |
| [VII] | At Gran Hotel Centrál | 100 |
| [VIII] | For Doctors Only | 125 |
| [IX] | A Siesta and Such | 136 |
| [X] | About Town | 151 |
| [XI] | Town Topics | 169 |
| [XII] | The Past and the Present Panama | 176 |
| [XIII] | New Year’s Day and the Sabanas | 184 |
| [XIV] | The Bull-Fight | 192 |
| PART II | ||
| THE FOURTH PAN-AMERICAN MEDICAL CONGRESS | ||
| [I] | The Opening of the Congress | 207 |
| [II] | Breakfast and Dinner on the Same Day | 220 |
| [III] | Panama Bay and Paramount Barrett | 230 |
| [IV] | Congress Redivivus | 241 |
| [V] | To See Ourselves as Others See Us | 251 |
| PART III | ||
| BACK | ||
| [I] | Accommodations at Colón | 265 |
| [II] | Sunday at Colón | 273 |
| [III] | After Bananas and Alligators | 292 |
| [IV] | From Bad to Worse | 309 |
| [V] | The Didactics of Seasickness | 327 |
| [VI] | The Last Day at Sea and the First on Land | 335 |
| [VII] | Traveling North by Way of the South | 356 |
| [VIII] | Did You Have a Pleasant Trip? | 375 |
ILLUSTRATIONS
| PAGE | |
| Map of Panama | [4] |
| Panama Flag | [10] |
| Huts on Line of Panama Road | [82] |
| Abandoned Machinery of the French | [84] |
| Along Panama Railroad | [86] |
| In Panama City | [90] |
| The Cathedral of Panama and Corner of the Park | [92] |
| Ocean Front at Panama | [162] |
| Ruins of Santo Domingo Church | [172] |
| Ruined Tower of Old Panama | [178] |
| Club House on the Sabanas | [222] |
| The Congress Waiting for Lunch | [224] |
| Taboga Island | [232] |
| Square in Colón | [266] |
| Washington Hotel, Street Front, Colón | [268] |
| Path Leading Across the Lawn from Washington Hotel to the Beach | [270] |
| Christ Church at Colón, Seen from a Corner of the Hotel | [274] |
| De Lesseps Palace at Christobal | [276] |
| Monument to Columbus, Christobal | [278] |
| Combination Store and Residence at Bocas Del Toro | [288] |
| A Bunch of Bananas | [296] |
| Toucan, or Preacher Bird | [304] |
FOREWORD
When I made up my mind to go to Panama, I could find no guide book. I had to depend for information upon the advertising matter of the United Fruit Company, and upon the experience of a friend who had spent a few days there on business and who had seen nothing but swamps, rusty machinery, polyglot politicians and gesticulating foreigners. I had no conception of what I was coming to, and had to be content with the reflection that he who has no books must learn by experience. On the other hand, it occurred to me that by recording the main facts and mental impressions of my trip, I might take the reader with me in spirit and impart to him such knowledge as would be of use to him if he went there, and of interest if he stayed at home, for he who has no experience must learn from books.
As a physician attending the Pan-American Medical Congress, I felt that I was not competent to give the accurate general information sometimes found in guide books, and that I should be more concerned with climate and disease than the average writer; but on the other hand I hoped that, since my viewpoint would differ somewhat from that of the general run of writers, my impressions might not be unworthy of record, and might contribute in their way to a better understanding of the country and its customs.
Some readers will think that the book is too full of appetizers and nightcaps, of diet and donnerwetter, and they will be right. But this is so because the narrative is honest and describes what was seen and felt instead of what ought to have been, or might have been, seen and felt. The busy majority care more about what was than what ought to have been. What was is truth; what ought to have been is fiction, and the worst kind.