THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA AND ITS PEOPLE, WITH 
SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE INDIANS. 
[With 14 plates.] 
By ELEANOR YORKE BELL. 
INTRODUCTION. 
The object of this paper has been chiefly to collect and record the 
somewhat scanty and widely scattered data concerning the Panama 
Isthmus, much of which is not available to the average reader, being 
written in either the Spanish or the French language, especially the 
most valuable information in regard to the aborigines. An attempt 
has also been made to describe the scenery and the natives (in many 
instances from personal observation), and to reconcile widely di- 
vergent statements, as given by various authorities, when occasioned 
only by minor mistakes, such as the confusing of geographical 
names, etc. 
The notes throughout are numbered and refer to the list of books 
consulted. 
Of the 31,571 square miles comprising the Republic of Panama 
only a small section is known to the foreigner, and even the edu- 
cated Panamanians themselves possess a very slight knowledge of 
their country as a whole, vast areas of beautiful hills and valleys 
being practically unexplored. The great extent of coast line and pro- 
portionate small area, through which 463 so-called rivers flow, has 
worked against the development of the interior by means of exten- 
sive road building, as the small amount of native produce is easily 
transported down some navigable stream to a coast town. The cli- 
matic conditions, the scarcity of labor, the poverty of the country, 
and frequent political disturbances have also played an important 
part in this lack of progress in Panama. But Panama is undoubtedly 
a land well enriched by nature, and before long conditions must 
change which will result in the acquirement of many fortunes through 
the exploitation of its mineral and agricultural resources. 
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