The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1872-02-23

But my experience is that ,valuabl,
things are not to be found SO easily
The energies of these natives are how
ever, well employed in scratching sand
and they are naturally adapted to tn,
, business. Perhaps this is not surpris
, ing, since scratching becomes nation
. alprope lsity in these old and un
,, washed countries, where feas abound
l most of the natives whom I saw, undel
their own vines and fig trees, wert
earnestly engaged IN this pursuit.
It was on this shore that Europeans
first saw the Pacific ocean. That wa
in 1913, when the young Spaniard
Balboa, with his companions, came uI
the Chagres river from the Atlantic
ocean, and marched westward in search
Of new dominions for the King oi
Spain. The story says that, afte1
toiling for many days through the
forest, his Indian guide assured Bal
boa that from the top Of the next hill
he would see an ocean. Leaving his
companions, he went up alone, with
the devotedness of priest and the en-
thusiasm of q warrior, and beheld the
South sea stretching in endless pros
pect before him. When he reached
its shore, he marched into the water
with his armor on, declaring that be
took possession of this ocean In the
name of the king of Spain, whose right
to it he would defend against all en-
emies. ~ E/E
| His followers founded the city of
Panama; not the present city, but an
other of the same name, whose ruins
arc on the shore three miles below.
This city grew rich by traffic in slaves,
and gold and silver from the South,
becoming one of the most opulent
cities of Spanish America. It had ex-
listed about 153 years, when Henry
Morgan, the English freebooter from
jamaica, having heard Of its wealth,
dred men for the purpose Of plunder-
ing it.
At that time the old city contained
seven thousand houses built Of native
woods, of which it is said, two thou
sand were elegantly furnished; their
walls adorned with paintings, and their
balconies and varandahs with costly
draperies. The city. being the see Of
q bishop and the capital of theSpanish
province, was the residence of multi
tude of ecclesiastical and military Of
ficers. Above its wall arose the towers
of eight monaSteries and two cathe-
drals, whose affairs were adorned with
gold and silver. There were luxurious
stables for the animals that transport
ed the kings treasure across the 18TH
mus to Porto-bello, by a paved road,
of which remains are yet visible. Its
merchants had large trade with Qui-
to and Peru, and gave employment to
many artisans and skillful mechanics.
Fortifcations protected the land side
of the city, and the ebb tide left it be-
the reach of attack from the sea.
Plantations and gardens surrounded it.
It was here that Pizarro had built his
ships and recruited his army for the
conquest of Peru; and many of its cit
izens were the descendants of those
men who had explored the Pacific
ocean, conquered Mexico and added the
| Indian empires or South America to the
dominion of Spain.
THE PANORAMA.
In January, 1871, Morgan's men, af-
ter a march of nine days from Chagres,
emerged from the forest and saw below
them the sea, and the steeples and
gardens of Panama. Tne landscape
surprised them, as it surprises stran-
ger now, to whose eye it unfolds many
of the same enchantments that it pos
sessed two hundred years ago. This
panorama of mountain, forest, city and
| sea, when seen from a commanding
position, in the early or latter part of
J Of the day, is one of the most enchant-
| ing pictures have ever looked upon.
It is said that when Morgan's men first
saw it, they were so captivated that
| they were with difficulty induced to
pitch their camp and prepare for an
attack on the city. The next day the
iards were slain, the city was plunder-
| ed and burned. Those who escaped
from the buccaneers founded the pres
ent city of Panama two years after
wards, and built all the houses of stone
to prevent another destruction by fire.
The ruins of the old city still exist.
From our anchorage I can see the
square tower of one of its cathedrals,
standing alone; and going down to its
| site in q boat, I saw the remains of
walls, bridges, pavemsnts and cisterns,
now overgrown by pepper bushes and
Towering vines, and haunted by nox-
ious insects and reptiles.
Long ago the power and people of
old Spain became entirely extinct on
this coast. which Balboa discovered,
and Pizarro and Cortes made famous.
| THE MONOPOLY
The only Importance that it now
possesses has been given to 1t by the
commercial enterprises of the English
speaking race. And these enterprises
are now declining; owing, in q meas.
ure, to the sutocratic policy pursued
by the railroad company; which stands
on the isthmus, like the castle at Elsi.
more, levyipg whatever tribute it will
on whatever passes. The prosperous
days of the company have passed.
Like the man in the fable, whose i'm
patience and greed killed the goose
that laid the golden eggs, its demands
on customers have caused q new road
to be contracted for across Costa Rica
and another across Honduras, and have
driven from Panama to Callao the
headquarters of the English steamship
company; which now carries its Euro
pean freights down the coast to VAL
pariso and thence, by a new line of
steamer, through the Straits of Magel-
Ian, to England. If the monopoly
which the railroad has purchased
from the Columbian government, were
abolished by international treaty, as
the monopoly of Elsinore was abolish
ed, we should soon see a ship canal
through the isthmus, on the belt which
the franchise of the railroad covers;
through which q canal can be made.
It seems to me that this canal would
place the United States in the centre of
the commercial world.
| Artificial milk has been prepared
by French chemist from sugar, dried
whites of eggs, carbonate of soda,
olive oil and water. By substituting
gelatine for the whites of eggs, and
with less admixture OF water, cream
is obtained. Another chemist, Gau-
din, in discussing the preceding sug-
gestion, gives his testimony as to de-
priving fats of all unpleasant odor by
mere subjectiOn to an appropriate
temperature. He also states that very
good artificial milk can be prepared
from bones rich in fat, by purifying
this fat by means of superheated
steam, and combining the fat thus
ohtoinad with Uolatin Thia milk