Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1860-04-18
For the Spirit of the Age.
Ink Drops From the Tropics
BY oLIN oLNE
PANAMA, New Grenada,
February 18th, 1860.

"A. M. GORMAN, ESq.-DedT D"'-N hch
saw you last, / promised to let you near
rom me whenever | should have a convenient
%pportunity, and to-day being somewhat al
iicted with the monster-plague of idleness-
'ennui'-I have, in the hope of relief come
o nv pen once more to commune with the
eaders of the Spirit" 1t is a privilege
which | hope never altogether to renounce
or when | write, | feel that an again amid
he circle which gather round the hearth
stone Of the cottage, and | know that | am
,onversing with the happy inmates Of thous-
and homes of Carolina.
1t is scarcely necessary to tell how we set
sail from New York on the 9th Of February,
and gliding out from beneath the shade of the
hills Of Staten Island, bore away upon the
bosom of the Atlantic. 1t was late in the af-
ternoon, and as we passed away from the
shore and the snow-covered highlands, the
sun was sinking far behind them and casting
long, dark shadows in our wake. One by
one the spires of New York sunk beneath the
waters Of the bay, until the last one had dis
appeared, and we left the great city in its
hurry and confusion, and turned from the
hustle of the deck to the quiet OF our W
state room. New York is certainly a great
city-grcat in every sense of the word-great
in its benevolence, and great in it's crime =
and. Notwithstanding it's Greelys and Beech
ers, has many undetermined, right-thinklng
mep. But l am going from my story.
For some time we passed down the coast
of New Jersey, but after leaving that we saw
no Rnore land until Cuba-that land OF orange
groxes and r%ustling palms-broke upon oul
view. The coast where we saw it was low
and fiat, but far inland the Sl.a lan as g Efe sfeam e5
followed near to the shore for several miles,
the scene which was presented was one of ex-
ceeding beauty. Here would be fields of
grain and countless groves of orange and
palm, while over beyond would peep out the
long rows of negro huts and the white villas
ofthe planters. The grass and verdure grows
quite close down to the waters edge, and the
whole plain beyond looked very fresh and
green, forming quite a contrast to the bleak,
cold hills which we had left behind. The
upward curling of the smoke from distant
habitations, the tinkling of bells mingled with
the lowing of cattle, and the still air of re-
pose which seemed to hang over the island,
made us think of a far distant home, and we
fain would have remained longer gazing at the
peaceful picture, but the t~ireless arm of the
engine was rushing our keel through the wa
ter, and with the setting sun went dow the
last glimpse of what seemed almost fairy land.
After sunset, the moon rose up in all her
beauty, and a food ~ofsilver light came down
over the sea-. 1t was one of those soft, haZy
evenings peculiar to this latitude, and the sea
was almost perfectly still-so still that we
almost regretted to see it whirled and tossed
into foam by the rushing of our gallant PROV.
A faint breeze, scarcely sufficient to watt the
perfume from the neighboring islands, came
softly over the water and the air was so soft
and mellow that we almost forgot that we
were floating upon anything but an ethereal
element-forgot but that it was always thus
forgot that even here the wild tornado
rushes with all its ~terrors, and that round
about these enchanted isles the earthquake
and pestilence are lurking in ambush. But
| do think the enjoyment of one such evening
as that was, is worth all the trouble and pri-
vations of voyage. AT any rate, | shall not
soon forget my first night on the Caribbean
sea.
Five days from the West Indies found US
entering the harbor of A%spinwall, a NAL town
situated at the terminus of the Panama Rail
Road. 1t is named in honor of one of the en-
terprising founders of the Rail Road-Wm.
Ii. Aspinwall-and will one day become a
place of considerable Importance. The situa-
ton is low and fiat, and the harbOr is much
exposed to south and east winds, though this
defect has been remedied in a good degree by
the erection of spacious docks and water
sheds. There are a number of hotels and
stores, which, ranged along the shore point
ing to the bay, give the place quite an Gamer
lean" appearance. The hotels are all built
with wide, cool porticoes and balustrades,
and long rows of cocoa trees shelter the walks
from the sun. Back of the town the forests
bloom in all their beauty, and when viewed
from the sea, form for it a back ground of the
most delicious tropical green.
The patiEssb ha = long os since: lear2ed the
NV anu rr - oIanges qaaS 49,
-as 0npogoa rOI ssItfs OF parrots,
Aspinwall may b sa6zfSs5; owe almost Il
tirely its existence AID present prosperity to
the energy and go-ahead-ativeness of the man
ayers of the Panama Rail Road. Before the
commencement Of that work, it consisted of
only a few native huts, the inhabitants sub
sisting by fishing and on the spontaneous
productions of the soil. Then it was that the
sea-worn California travellers of 1916 were
f charged twenty-five cents for an egg, fifty
cents for a small Indian cake, and three dol
lars for the ground rent" of a single ham
mock. Then having been boated up the Rio
Shagres, and drank of its malaria-giving wa
tiers for several days, they were at length
: landed upon an unknown and almost unin-
A habited shore, to make the best of their way
- to the Pacific, toiling over rugged mountains
by day, and c~ontending at night with savage
l beasts and still more savage men. These
were some of the hardships of the "pionec1
f gold hunters"
With us it was quite different. We had
e none of their dangers to encounter. The
+ splendid locomotive, with its long train Of
: we'll furnished cars, rolled up before the pas
} senger house; and securing a seat where W.
. could use our peppers to advantage, WI
glided away down through cool avenues
:, fanked by tall forests of Palm and Coca trees
c anon leaning, as it were, to kiss each Other
S above our heads, and forming pictures of yer
dure by far more beautiful than poet evel
dreamed of, or painter ever painted. Trail
y ing vines and creeping plants were every
where in the greatest profusion the forme,
enveloping the trees and hanging in graceful
~festoons above our track. Sometimes W,
would glide along for miles through low
marshy forests, Melted so thickly with vine
a and underground as to effectually shut GU
the view of anything Situated only a few pace
beyond in fact, forming a living wall of tn
he richest verdure. Then again, we would burs
" forth into rolling meadow and grazing land
i, with here and there smooth sheets of waite
lie glancing in the sunlight, and receiving upo
their surface the shadows of mountains ia
n in the distance.
le After VIC passed the bridge of the Rio Sha
V gres, the surface of the country was niue
&c r,oro broEap and d;varci6ad in tic amman,