Two commodities were watched and guarded with peculiar jealousy—wine and tobacco. Peru produced a wine that found favor with many and obtained a ready sale. In an ordinance of Philip II. dated the 16th of September 1586, no wine but that imported from Spain was allowed to be sold on the Isthmus; nor was it to be mixed with wine obtained elsewhere. The penalties attached to infringements of this law were heavy fines and even perpetual banishment. The reason assigned for these measures was the injurious effect of Peruvian wine upon the public health, but the real motive was the prejudicial effect of its sale upon the Spanish wine trade.[XXII‑13] Tobacco was a monopoly of the crown, and one rigidly protected, its sale, importation, or cultivation being forbidden under severe penalties.[XXII‑14]
Panamá imported most of her provisions, and the difficulties in obtaining a regular and cheap supply were augmented by the monopolies acquired by wealthy merchants who were enabled to control the market. New measures to correct this abuse were continually adopted, and as often evaded or violated.[XXII‑15] The scarcity of provisions sometimes caused distress approaching to famine, and at certain seasons was liable to be aggravated by the crowds of travellers and adventurers who crossed the Isthmus.[XXII‑16] Peru was the great source of supply and the trade with that country was the subject of frequent cédulas addressed to the viceroy.[XXII‑17]
PEARLS AND GOLD.
Pearls and gold were still among the leading productions of the Isthmus, and the most valuable fisheries were at the old Pearl Islands of Vasco Nuñez de Balboa.[XXII‑18] Diving for pearls was performed by negroes chosen by their masters on account of their dexterity as swimmers, and their ability to hold their breath under water. From twelve to twenty under charge of an overseer usually formed a gang. Anchoring in twelve to fifteen fathoms of water, they would dive in succession, bringing up as many shells as they could gather or carry. It was a laborious calling, and attended with great danger because of the sharks that swarmed around the islands and with which they had many a fierce struggle, often losing limb or life in the encounter. The divers were required to collect a certain quantity of pearls, and any surplus they were at liberty to sell, but only to their own masters and at a price fixed by them.[XXII‑19]
Ever since their first discovery these fisheries had maintained their fame, and there was obtained the largest pearl then known in the world; one that became the property of Philip II., and was described by Sir Richard Hawkins[XXII‑20] as being "the size of a pommel of a ponyard;" its weight being two hundred and fifty carats, and its value one hundred and fifty thousand pesos. It was presented by the king to his daughter Elizabeth, wife of Albertus, duke of Austria.
The number and variety of pearls were such that this trade became one of the most prolific sources of wealth to Panamá, Seville alone importing in 1587 some six hundred pounds weight, many of them rivalling the choicest specimens found in Ceylon and the East Indies. From this time there occurred a marked falling-off both in quantity and quality, and in consequence a series of restrictions was put upon the industry. Notwithstanding these precautionary measures the pearl-beds became rapidly exhausted; diving proved a profitless labor,[XXII‑21] and not until several decades later was this industry revived.
Gold had been found and mined in different parts of the Isthmus, notably in Darien, the scene of so many of Balboa's brilliant achievements, where, according to the report of a later governor, the metal had been so abundant as to be "weighed by the hundredweight."[XXII‑22] More definite is the information for this period concerning the mines of Veragua, a province of irregular shape, lying between the two oceans, and consisting largely of rugged and inaccessible sierras, down the sides of which fall mountain torrents that brought quantities of the precious metal within easy reach. The Spaniards were not slow to learn of this wealth, partly from the trinkets displayed by Indians, and soon the mines were flooded with laborers. When the strength of the native proved unequal to the task the Spaniards enlisted in their service, as we have seen, the more hardy negro, until in the prosperous days of mining, which culminated about the year 1570, there were two thousand of them at work at one time. Rumor magnified the yield to the ever ready ears of navigators, and according to Dampier "they were the richest gold mines ever yet found." "Because of their inexhaustible riches in gold," says Ogilby, "the Spaniards there knew not the end of their wealth."[XXII‑23]
The yield, if rich, did not prove lasting, however, and the number of mine-owners dwindled, though several causes united to this end, such as the attack of hostile natives or negroes who frequently swooped down on the Spaniards from their mountain fastnesses and despoiled their camp. The roads were difficult; the mining towns were sickly and for the most part abandoned during the rainy season, their occupants betaking themselves to Panamá. In 1580 there were but four of them in the entire province. These were Ciudad de la Concepcion, the capital, forty leagues west of Nombre de Dios; Villa de Trinidad, six leagues east of Concepcion by sea, but inaccessible by land; Ciudad de Santa Fé, where the smelting-works were established; and Ciudad de San Cárlos built on the South Sea, some forty or more leagues west of Santa Fé. These communities contained altogether about a hundred and seventy vecinos; all employed in mining or in matters connected therewith.
Mining towns were not, however, the only ones to retrograde. The town of Acla, which it will be remembered was founded by Pedrarias in 1515, and rebuilt by Vasco Nuñez two years later,[XXII‑24] had in 1580 dropped out of existence. And so it was with several settlements that at different times had risen with hopeful prospects. Either the climate killed or drove off the inhabitants, or rival towns sprang up under the patronage of some governor, and with real or fancied advantages lured away the citizens. Nombre de Dios had maintained its position as the leading town and port on the Atlantic side, in the face of objections which ere this would have doomed many another place. The climate was pestilential, so much so that the place was generally deserted at the close of the business season, and it contained only sixty wooden houses. It was subject to floods, and yet destitute during the greater part of the year of fresh water. Its harbor was exceedingly bad, exposed to severe northerly and easterly gales, by which, despite every precaution, vessels of large size were frequently driven ashore, and pirates could readily assail it. These and other disadvantages led many merchants to advocate the removal of the port of entry to one of the harbors on the coast of Honduras. Although the distance from Nombre de Dios to Panamá was only eighteen leagues, while that from Puerto de Caballos to the gulf of Fonseca was fully fifty, yet the cost of a single trip by mule over the former route was thirty pesos, and over the latter but nine.
ROUTES BETWEEN OCEANS.