Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-03-04
THE NATIVES OF PANAMA.
A Mixture Of Indian, Spanish and Me-
qro-Manner of Life.

that perhaps word about them
would not be amiss AS one ap-
proaches them from sea or land,
there is no evidence Of human habi-
tation until the huts are right at
hand. They are completely hidden
in the trees and surrounding vegeta-
ton. The houses are built on sand
dunes above high tide, and each one
has appropriated a dune to itself
without consideration Of order or
symmetry. In Narrancho there are
about a dozen Of these huts on ten
acres of land. You cannot see one
hut from the door Of another though
the place is regarded as a town and
has sort Of intendant. OF course,
there are no streets; trails through
the grass and brush lead from one
dwelling to another, and the beach is
the only common highway.
| The huts are distinctly African in
the type of their architecture, though
the inhabitants may be largely Indian
in blood. But one who has travelled
much in the interior of Africa can
easily see that the African type Of cul-
ture Of all sorts has prevailed over
the Indian, where as practically
everywhere in Central America, there
has been a mingling Of the two races.
The huts are generally square I'm
shape, like those Of my old friends,
the Bakuba and the Baschilide. The
walls are Of upright sticks, with as
many cracks as sticks. The roof is
made of palm leaves. Under the
leaves is a loft in which the residents
sleep, while below is the kitchen and
living room.
There is a doorway, and rarely
secure door in 1t. But no one seems
to fear thieves here-it Is the most
honest country 1 ever saw. I some
times wonder how long this happy
condition will last after the Ameri-
can influence has become entirely
dominant.
| In these houses are the usual
primitive belongings of a rude and
pSOplt. OHc VI &c
wooden mortars. in which is pound
ed out the rice or corn; bag, heavy,
double-headed pestles, which give the
women arms like a feminine Her
cules, earthen water jars, tin cans ga
lore, muzzle-loading shotguns, splen-
did machetes, the one thing whose
quality Is above reproach; fishnets
and lines, deer and alligator hides
heron plumes and feathers. a few
plates, cups and other utensils; some
pictures Of the Madonna flanking the
cigarette girls, bench or two and a
rough table, wooden sandals, strings
over the fireplace on which jerked
meat is smoking, piles Of the shells
Of clans, oysters and crabs, and Q
box or two for the bright-colored
cloths which come out for the fiestas
and funerals-such are the furnish
ings, with dogs, pigsr chickens and
ducks pottering about in the midst Of
it all.
| Did anyone ever see a negro's
home without ducks? The dogs are
mongrel to the last degree; In land
where deer hunting might be in
| dulged in to the hearts content have
not yet seen a deerhound, and in a
country where cattle is the one re-
lance I have yet to find collie.
Narrancho also boasts a flock Of
turkeys but the guinea is conspicuous
by it's absence.
The population is what was left by
the Spanish Of the Indian, and what
what was produced by the mix up Of
| all three. You can see the Indian in
the straight hair, the negro in the
thick lips and the Spaniard in the
aquiline nose. Sometimes it is all ne
gro, sometimes all Indian, hardly
ever all Spaniard.
The last do not live with the rest,
except by indirection. But the names
are all Castilian enoush-Santo Do
mingo is the mayor, Eduardo the
main boat-builder, Juan the heaviest
tippler, FREDERICK an expert charcoal
burner, Catalina a lucky fisherman,
George an English-speaking Jamai-
can, who drifted into the old canal
companys service and was never able
to get away, a mighty hunter. If
they have any surnames I have not
been able to discover them.
1t is sometimes conceived that
these people are degenerate despera-
does, ripe for revolution, ready for
any desperate deed. AS a matter of
fact they are a docile, simple, inoffen-
sive class of men, and what evil they
do in times Of riot and confusion
comes from instigation Of rum. The
revolutions are the work Of design
| ing and INSCRIPTIONS politicians and
these lower classes are often more the
victims than the producers Of the
revolutions.
1t is interesting to hear these peo-
pie talk about the fact that now since
the Americans are in evidence on the
Isthmus there are to be no more revo-
lutions. Whatever may be the atti-
tude Of some of the wealthier men In
Colombia, it is emphatically true that
in Panama the bulk of the people are
delighted to have a government which
is not likely to have to call them to
arms every few months.
Just above Narrancho is a red hill,
on top of which are piles Of stones
which were the breastworks for the
defense OF the harbor in the last revo-
luton. There were several thousand
head of cattle on the adjoining haci-
enda and the government troops ate
them all up AS the government then
was Colombia, and the revolution
which succeeded came so quickly on
the heels of that which failed the
owner never has obtained any in
demnity. This condition obtained all
over Panama. The truth is that it has
been the very docility and simplicity
of these peon people which has led
to the possibility of these frequent
political disturbances.-S. P. Werner