Expenses of Living at Panama. 425 



beach, the property of strangers, and a few of the hotels, have 

 anything of a respectable appearance. The whole population 

 does not exceed 8000 to 9000 inhabitants, of whom about 500 

 are whites, the rest being negroes and mestizoes. At the 

 time when the railroad was being made across the Isthmus, in 

 the construction of which thousands of Irish and Chinese fell 

 victims to the climate and the severity of the work, the ex- 

 periment was made of introducing negroes from Jamaica, 

 whose cosmopolitan nature asserted itself by their having in- 

 creased and multiplied even here. At present there are up- 

 wards of 100,000 negroes on and near the Isthmus. 



The expense of living in Panama is no longer so exorbitant 

 as it was ten years ago, at the period of the first emigration to 

 the newly-discovered gold-fields of California, when there 

 was no railroad, and the journey across the Isthmus was 

 made partly on mules, partly in small canoes. For from 

 three to four dollars a day, one gets very fair board and 

 lodging at the best hotels. The most expensive item is 

 washing, the charge being 2 dollars (85.) a dozen ! ! In a 

 climate where European cleanliness necessitates frequent 

 change of apparel, this item alone amounts to some 25 dollars 

 to 30 dollars per month for a single person ! Accordingly, 

 it is found to be more economical to fling away several 

 articles of the toilette as soon as they have been soiled, and 

 purchase a fresh supply, rather than pay this heavy tax on the 

 purification of the old garments. 



The North American Company, which maintains direct 



