Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1912-11-08

nearing cOmpleuOn between
the cities of Colon and Pana-
ma, will tell of his occasional
glimpses Of the virgin forests and of
his experiences with the natives, sup
plementing his narrative, perhaps.
with pictures of the jungle and of
what he took for aboriginal Indians,
says a writer in the Geographical
Magazine.
In fact, IL our friend has followed
the customary route, limiting his itin-
erary to q train ride from Colon
across to Panama, with stops at Gatun
and Pedro Miguel, to inspect the locks,
and at Culebra to see the big cut. he
knows very little of .the real coun-
Try, and in ninety-nine cases out Of a
hundred his native Indians are likely
to have had kinky hair and African
features.
There is undeniably plenty of jun
gle and thicket alons>the future canal.
but It is almost wholly second growth;
and in those places where the prime
val vegetation has been spared, as in
the swampy lowlands between Gatun
and Bohio and in the sleeper declivi-
ties Of the hills. It is and has always
been more or less stunted and scarce
and so does not give an adequate idea
Of the majestic forests that still cover
about two-thirds of the territory of
the Republic of Panama.
If. however, our tourist is a man
Of leisurely habits. a stranger to the
hurried ways Of the present genera
ton, he may leave the beaten track,
pick up the wanderers stock and go
tramping over the excellent roads
built parallel to the railroad and the
canal by the government Of the Canal
Zone. He will then meet occasionally
some last vestige Of the aboriginal
vegetation and examples of the won
derful rankness of tropical plant
life.
Not far from Pedro Miguel, on the
way to Panama, stands q cluster of
Cavanillesia trees, once part of the
forest, but today shading a pasture.
Apart from the striking effect Of their
huge straight trunks, which are out
Of proportion with their insignificant
nat crowns. these particular speci-
mems are of especial interest on &C
count of the fact that they grow
nearly at the extreme northwestern
areal limit of the species. East
ward, in Colombia, it seems to reach
the Magdalena river, and southwark 1t
can be followed along the coastal plains
az far as Peru.
In thus wandering across the coun-
try. instead OF keeping exclusively to
railroad trains, the traveller will have
occasion many times to wonder at
the indescribable luxuriance of vege-
table life In general and to observe
the never ending struggle for su-
premacy.
Real indians.
As to the real Indians, he may sue
coed in getting look at some male
specimens along the wharves of Colon
or around the market in Panama
City; but the chances are that they
will mostly pass unnoticed in the
motley crowd CT mixed races of
the larger towns. At least eight
tenths of the native inhabitants
of the republic show to more or
less marked extent the stamp of Az
rican blood, and the most extraor-
binary cases OF inter-breeding are OBJ
served everywhere.
East of the canal, however, and not
taking the aboriginal tribes into con-
sideration, the negro element vastly
predominates the settlements of Por-
to Bello, Nombre de Dios. Palasque
and Vineto Frio. on the Caribbean
sea, being formed, as 1t seems, by de-
scendants of both West Indians and
Spanish slaves. and the villages OF
the Pacific coast-Chepo, Gilman,
Garachine-and those in the Tuyra
basin by the latter only. West of the
canal the predominance of the Az
rican element becomes less mark
ed. at least on the southern side of
the country. as one goes farther to-
ward Chiriqui where the whites and
the civilized Indians have the upper
hand