PANAMA AND ITS PEOPLE—BELL. 611 
New York alone, $12,742 worth of shell was sent during the first year 
of the Republic (26). 
A brief general historical review of the Panama Isthmus is neces- 
sary before taking up the description of the seven departments in 
detail, as each must be treated separately, owing to the fact that the 
different races, dates of colonization, etc., make it impossible to treat 
the subject homogeneously. 
The Atlantic coast of the Isthmus was first discovered by Rodrigo 
de Bastides and Alonzo de Ojedo about 1501 (some historians give 
the date as early as 1499), but no attempt at landing was made till 
Columbus on his last voyage founded a small colony on the Belen 
River, which was soon destroyed, however, by the war-like chief, 
Quiban. Columbus then sailed down the coast, discovering the harbor 
of Porto Bello and the Mulatas Archipelago, which he called “ Islas 
Berbas.” Ojedo was given a grant of land including the fertile 
valley of the Atrato and lower coast of Darien; his friend Nicuesa 
likewise obtained a grant which extended eastward along the coast to 
Cape Gracias a Dios. Two settlements were made, San Sebastian de 
Uraba and Santa Maria del Antigua. The former (not strictly in 
what is Panama to-day) was abandoned as early as 1514 (1, p. 31). 
St. Mary’s was governed by Encesio and Balboa, and from here the 
latter, with Alonzo Martin, about 1513, crossed the Isthmus and 
discovered the Pacific Ocean from the peak of Mount Perri, as legend 
has it, near the Cana mine. At this time, also, the Gulf of San 
Miguel, the Chepo and Pearl islands were discovered. 
After Balboa had seen the beautiful pearl encrusted canoe belong- 
ing to the Indian chief, Tumaco, he was determined to find the 
islands, and was aided in his quest by this friendly chief himself. 
Before the colony of Santa Maria removed to the site of Old Panama, 
various parties had explored as far as Veraguas, and a settlement 
was made at Nata by Espinosa as early as 1517 (5), or, according to 
the statement in “ Colombia” (7, p. 308), by Alonzo Perez de la 
Rua, in 1515. Either of these figures make this settlement antedate 
Old Panama, founded in 1519, which is generally but erroneously 
considered to be the first colony on the Pacific side of the Isthmus. 
The story of Old Panama, the wealth and splendor of the inhabitants 
leading to its destruction by Morgan, the buccaneer, in 1671, is known 
by all. Old Panama’s chief claim to interest is perhaps that it was 
here where Balboa was beheaded by Pedro Arias D’Avilla, at that 
time the governor, and that here also Pizarro fitted out his fleet for 
the conquest of Peru at the sacrifice of 2,000 poor Indians unac- 
customed to such labor, who had been pressed into service. Old 
Panama was the seat of a bishopric and had a mint as early as 1535, 
and was in every respect a powerful and opulent city for that day. 
A need was soon felt by the colonists for cities on the north coast 
