West-Jersey pioneer., 1875-04-15

able daubs, wooden effigies, and tinsel Or
naments on the altars, all crumbling to ruin,
are strikingly suggestive of the crumbling
power of Old Rome.
Perhaps nowhere in the world is there
more bitter, satire or religious bigotry and
priestly avarice than this Old City presents.
It's ruins are evidences of the immense
wealth, of which it once boasted, the mas
sive walls and Notifications, it's scores of
great churches (wrung out of the life blood
OF whole nation, enslaved by their Jesuit
tyrants,) are silent monuments of Popish,
Intolerance and Spanish Cupidity. If Won
Bismarck and Kaiser Wilhelm had lived in
the days of Martin Luther to have waged
their relentless war of determination
against Papal tyranny and bigotry, perhaps
Christianity would not have had to blush
with shame for the innumerable crimes
committed in her name.
With what sensations of triumph did the
adventurous "Balboa,'' from the summit of
the Cardilleras, first gaze upon the mighty
Ocean that stretches in calm repose at his
feet? Far different were ours. who for the
first time, standing on the Battery of Pan
anna, took our first look at the broad
Pacific. We never experienced such a
sense of utter loneliness, the ocean was un-
like any of the seaports of the Western
Ocean with but one solitary exception, (the
United States steamer "Richmond, '') the
bay and wharves were devoid of anything
like nautical life. The tide rises and falls
twenty feet, making it impossible for the
steamers to come to the wlfarves. The de-
pots and sheep yards for the steamers, are
| situated on some small Islands five miles
down the bay. Passengers and cargoes are
transferred in steam lighters to and from
the city. A large portion of the oil of the
Pacific whales is landed at this place. and
shipped home by rail and steamers The
Pacific Mail steamers touch at all the prin-
cipal ports between Panama and San Fran
cisco; an English line connects with the
railroad and runs to all the ports on the
west coast as far as Valparaiso.
The famous Pearl Islands are situated in
the Bay of Panama. 1t is the most valu.
able pearl fishery in the world, and is car.
ried on extensively by Americans, with div.
ing apparatus.
The city presents ruinous appearance,
two-t thirds of it is uninhabited. 1t is moi
unusual to see buildings five stories high,
| Tor rather their walls three feet thick, J with
trees growing in them, and limbs as large
as mans body, projecting from the win
dows. Like all Spanish cities, the streets
are narrow, from ten to fifteen feet in width,
and no side walks. Cleanliness is unknown
in the Spanish vocabulary. The streets
and markets are as filthy as years of accu-
mulated offal can make them. Nature and
her scavengers, (the heavy rains and vul-
tures), are the street cleaning bureau Of
Panama, and what they fail to do is left
undone.
| After doing the city as the ''tourists'
say, and getting lunch at the American
| House, (the name is all there is American
about it, } at 1.30 p. M, we were aboard
the train, homeward bound, where we ar.
arrived at 5 o'clock, in drenching storm
of rain, well pleased with our trip, and
thankful that our lot was cast in civilized
country. WEB FooT.