beach, the property of strangers, and a few of the hotels, have anything of a respectable appearance. The whole population does not exceed 8000 to 9000 inhabitants, of whom about 500 are whites, the rest being negroes and mestizoes. At the time when the railroad was being made across the Isthmus, in the construction of which thousands of Irish and Chinese fell victims to the climate and the severity of the work, the experiment was made of introducing negroes from Jamaica, whose cosmopolitan nature asserted itself by their having increased and multiplied even here. At present there are upwards of 100,000 negroes on and near the Isthmus.
The expense of living in Panama is no longer so exorbitant as it was ten years ago, at the period of the first emigration to the newly-discovered gold-fields of California, when there was no railroad, and the journey across the Isthmus was made partly on mules, partly in small canoes. For from three to four dollars a day, one gets very fair board and lodging at the best hotels. The most expensive item is washing, the charge being 2 dollars (8s.) a dozen!! In a climate where European cleanliness necessitates frequent change of apparel, this item alone amounts to some 25 dollars to 30 dollars per month for a single person! Accordingly, it is found to be more economical to fling away several articles of the toilette as soon as they have been soiled, and purchase a fresh supply, rather than pay this heavy tax on the purification of the old garments.
The North American Company, which maintains direct
communication between California and New York, has made such excellent arrangements, that the passengers on their arrival in Panama by the train are conveyed in a small steamer from the station, which is close to the shore, out to the large steamer lying in the roads, which is to convey them to California. The entire time occupied in convoying 700 or 800 passengers with their usually rather heavy baggage from Colon across the Isthmus, and thence to their re-embarkation in the steamer upon the West Coast, does not exceed ten hours. The hotel-keepers of Panama, on the other hand, complain sorely of this arrangement, for whereas formerly no passenger ever crossed the Isthmus without spending one dollar at least, hundreds now pass through without ever setting a foot in the city.
When I was in Panama there existed an "Opposition Line" of steamers, a genuine American institution, of which we have occasional examples in Europe, but which is only to be seen in its fall bloom in the United States. Formerly, the fare for a deck-passage from New York to San Francisco was 160 dollars (£33 10s.). The "Opposition Line" lowered the fare to 35 dollars, and as out of this sum 25 dollars had to be paid to the railway, there remained only 10 dollars (£2 2s.) for the cost of transport and maintenance of passengers on board large handsome steamers from New York to San Francisco! For the public at large this was undoubtedly a vast benefit, and in consequence of the unexampled lowness of fares, an immense number of persons had
gone to California during the last preceding few months. Whereas formerly only adventurers, speculators, or persons of means, could turn their eyes on the land of gold, a poor but industrious labouring population now pressed eagerly thither. Of course, however, it was too good to last:—no enterprise could continue upon such ruinous principles. It was the war of large capital against small; whichever could longest stand the incessant drain, remained in possession of the field. Occasionally, however, a "compromise" is effected between the two parties, but in that case the public is usually the sufferer, since in order to make up for past extravagance, the two quondam foes combine to keep up exorbitant rates.
The salubrity of Panama, though still unhealthy enough during the wet season (May to September), is undoubtedly better than it ever was in former years. The doses of quinine pills with which people used to be presented in society, very much the same way as a pinch of snuff, have become infrequent, neither is it now the custom to drink sherry or brandy and water with quinine in it. Indeed, were foreign settlers to abstain from the practice of frequent meals, which even in more temperate climes cannot be continued in with impunity, the health of the inhabitants would benefit greatly. I repeatedly heard it maintained that the use of ice, which at present can be got in large quantities and at very low rates upon the whole Isthmus, and forms an ingredient of every beverage, and many dishes even, has materially improved the
hygienic conditions of Panama. About 360 tons of ice are imported into Panama annually, or about one ton per diem. The whole quantity is supplied from the North American lakes, chiefly from Boston, and is sold in gross at 7 dollars 50 cents (about £1 25s.) per 100 lbs., the retail price being a trifle over a shilling per pound. In order to avoid a glut which might make ice importation unremunerative, and endanger the steadiness of the supply, the Government has kept in its own hands the monopoly of the ice-trade.
By Dr. Lebreton, a French physician long settled in Panama, who, together with an Austrian gentleman, Dr. Kratochwil from Saaz in Bohemia, placed me under the deepest obligation for their cordial hospitality, I was furnished with a variety of most interesting details of the sanitary statistics of the Isthmus, and some curious and valuable particulars respecting the poison with which the Indians arm their arrow-tips. In Panama is published a most ably-edited daily paper in English, the "Panama Star and Herald," conducted by two Americans, Messrs. Power and Boyd, which so fully and impartially treats of the political, social, and commercial condition of the Isthmus and the South American Republics, as makes it indispensable for every one to subscribe to it who takes any interest in the development of this remarkable country. It is chiefly due to these two large-minded, far-seeing gentlemen that we possess a statistical detail of the very important commerce of the Isthmus, as well as along the west coast of South America. These
figures now lie before me, and give better than anything else a fair and complete estimate of its present activity, which, it may be remarked en passant, has owed nothing to the natives, but is entirely due to the energy of foreigners.