No fewer than 64 powerful mail steamers, of the united burthen of 96,000 tons, and representing a money value of at least £4,000,000, ply, part on the Atlantic side (Southampton viâ St. Thomas, and New York to Aspinwall), part on the Pacific side to the various harbours on the west coast of America, and keep up regular communication between Europe and that series of States, consisting of not less than 11,000,000 human beings. The value of the products and merchandise annually passing to and fro across the Isthmus amounts to about £15,000,000, while the amount of precious metals is not very much less.
The pearl-fishery in the Gulf of Panama has of late years notably fallen off from its former importance. At present it lags far behind that of the Persian Gulf, from which there are annually about £300,000 worth brought up, whereas here, notwithstanding the enormous extent of the pearl-oyster-banks, the yearly take of pearls does not exceed £24,000. Indeed the fishery is carried on less for its costly contents than for the sake of the mother-of-pearl itself, of which some 800 or 900 tons are shipped annually.
On 23rd June I went by rail from Panama to Aspinwall, on the Atlantic side. Except on the days when the steamers on either side bring their fortnightly quota of passengers,
the traffic of the line is very small. When, however, the passenger steamer at either end has disembarked her living freight, the Isthmus is all alive, and the coffers of the Company are amply replenished. The number of passengers both ways annually has been estimated at from 36,000 to 40,000, and the gross receipts of the Company at from £200,000 to £300,000.[155]
The fare for the somewhat short distance, 47 miles, is high. There is but one class of carriage, and the charge is £5 5s., besides 10 cents (5d.) for every pound of baggage above 30 lbs. But it must always be borne in mind that enormous difficulties had to be overcome in the construction of the line, and that the cost of maintaining the permanent way in anything like order is very great, in consequence of the climate and the rich tropical vegetation. Whoever has struggled through the almost impenetrable forests of the Isthmus, before the rail passed through it, and bears in mind the immense physical difficulties of that laborious operation, would thankfully pay double the sum now charged for performing within a few hours a journey which often occupied a whole week.
The construction of the Panama Railroad was commenced in 1850, the first sod being cut on the Atlantic side. On 27th January, 1855, the locomotive first performed the journey from ocean to ocean. The cost of construction amounted to about £1,100,000.[156] This capital was speedily subscribed by the eager speculative Yankees, and, as the result proved, insured from the very first to the shareholders a handsome constantly-increasing dividend.
The concession enjoyed by the Company from the Government of New Granada only lasts for twenty years, from the day on which the entire line is opened; on the expiry of that period the New Granada Government must either pay down 5,000,000 dollars (the entire cost of construction), or extend the concession for ten years more. At the expiration of this second term, the Government may purchase for 4,000,000 dollars, or grant a third term of equal length, after which they are to be at liberty to purchase it for 2,000,000 dollars.
The traffic managers of the line, Messrs. Lewine and Dorsay, showed me the most polite attention. The resident director, Mr. Center, whose office is in Aspinwall, and to whom I had letters of introduction, invited me by telegraph to make free use of the line, as nothing would give him greater pleasure than to become of some service to a scientific traveller. I took with me fourteen goodly packages, chiefly
collections of natural history. Most of these required great care and attention, some on account of their fragile texture, others in consequence of being of a perishable nature. All these were transported with as much care as though they had been charged the very highest rate of freight. The treatment of scientific travellers is to some extent a measure of the degree of civilization of a people. Hence it is that the North American States and the British colonies are the points of the globe where the efforts of scientific travellers elicit the heartiest sympathy, where he may count upon the most friendly reception, and the most cordial co-operation in carrying out the objects he has in view. And speaking now after ten years of the most varied experiences of travel, I look back thankfully to the conspicuous evidences of good-will which I have universally received from all Americans, from the banks of the St. Lawrence to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, and recall with gratitude how every class of the community bestirred itself to promote and facilitate the scientific researches of a solitary traveller,—how, more particularly, the press, that great power of the intellect, lent the utmost assistance of its influential position to forward my wishes, and how its columns, thanks to the interest its conductors themselves felt, were always open in the most remote districts to welcome the stranger. And now, when for a second time I received from the sons of that same mighty republic the same cordiality of welcome, I recalled with redoubled vivacity the happiness of those long-vanished but most pleasant days, as I