CULTURE OF PEOPLE OF SOUTHEASTERN PANAMA 3 



rows. The largest collection of the year, however, was secured 

 by the Marsh-Darien Expedition. 



Marsh-Darien expedition* — The largest collection of material ob- 

 jects from the Darien Indian tribes, probably the largest collection 

 of material objects pertaining to the ethnology of southeastern Pan- 

 ama now extant was obtained by the Marsh-Darien expedition 

 and presented to the National Museum in December, 1924, through 

 Richard Oglesby Marsh, of Brockport, N. Y. The Smithsonian 

 Institution was represented on this expedition by John L. Baer, 

 of the Division of Physical Anthropology of the National Museum. 

 The party included 11. O. Marsh, leader, J. L. Baer, anthropologist, 

 Maj. J. A. Johnson, naturalist and taxidermist, Charles M. Breder, 

 Senor Raul Brin, the representative of the Panama Government, 

 Charles Charlton, the Pathe photographer, and others. The expe- 

 dition sailed from Panama' City eastward along the Pacific coast 

 and spent seven weeks exploring southern Darien and studying the 

 Choco natives of the lower Chucunaque River basin, also the Cuna 

 of the upper Tuyra River valley. At the end of March, 1924, the 

 base camp at Yavisa, on the lower Chucunaque River, was broken 

 and the journey of ascending the upper Chucunaque and of crossing 

 the Cordillera was begun. During this trip the party was reduced 

 by sickness, death, and desertion. Senor Raul Brin was attacked by 

 fever, returned to Panama and died. Mr. Baer had been weakened 

 by blood poisoning and died at Caledonia Bay, on the Carribbean 

 coast. After crossing the mountains, Mr. Charlton, Maj. John- 

 son, and Mr. Marsh continued the journey up and down the San 

 Bias coast, where they obtained the confidence and friendship of 

 the Tule Indians and secured a large collection of ethnological 

 material. The material gathered among the Choco had been for- 

 warded to Panama before the ascent of the Chucunaque and the 

 crossing of the mountains was begun. The ethnological collection 

 gathered by this expedition comprises several hundred objects, and 

 is representative of the Tule of the Caribbean coast, the Cuna of the 

 interior highlands, and of the Choco of the Pacific slope, including 

 the Tuyra River basin. 



GEOGRAPHY OF SOUTHEASTERN PANAMA 



Location. — The Republic of Panama lies between the two con- 

 tinental land masses of North and South America, and shares to 

 some extent the plant and animal life of the adjoining areas. The 

 great transverse curve in the longitudinal axis of the Panamanian 

 isthmus causes this region to face the continental areas horizontally 

 rather than vertically, presenting thus a frontage of several hun- 

 dred miles at right angles to Mexico on the north and to Colombia 



