PANAMA AND ITS PEOPLE—BELL, 621 
churches where services are held outside of Panama and the towns 
along the railroad. 
The chief amusement of the Isthmian is gambling, cock-fighting, 
and dancing, the latter assisted by the music of the tom-tom and by 
dried beans rattled in a calabash. After feasts or burials, when much 
bad rum and whisky is consumed, the hilarity keeps up all night 
and can be heard for miles, increased by the incessant howls of the 
cur dogs lying under every shack. Seldom does an opportunity come 
to the stranger to witness the really characteristic dances, as the 
natives do not care to perform before them, though a lttle money 
will sometimes work wonders. Occasionally, their dancing is really 
remarkably interesting, when a large amount of pantomime enters 
into it and they develop the story of some primitive action, as, for 
instance, the drawing of the water, cutting the wood, making the fire, 
cooking the food, ete., ending in a burst of song symbolizing the joys 
of the now prepared feast. In an extremely crude form, it reminds 
one of the old opera ballets and seems to be a composite of the original 
African and the ancient Spanish, which is very probably the case. 
The Orientals of the Isthmus deserve a word in passing. ‘They are 
chiefly Chinese coolies and form a large part of the small-merchant 
class. Others, in the hill districts, cultivate large truck gardens, 
bringing their produce swinging over the shoulders on poles to the 
city markets. Their houses and grounds are very attractive, built 
of reed or bamboo in the eastern fashion and marked everywhere by 
extreme neatness, contrasting so strikingly with the homes and sur- 
roundings of their negro neighbors. Many cultivate fields of cane or 
rice as well, and amidst the silvery greens, stretching for some dis- 
tance, the quaint blue figures of the workmen in their huge hats make 
a charming picture. Through the rubber sections Chinese “ middle- 
men” are of late frequently found buying that valuable commodity 
for their fellow countrymen in Panama city, who are now doing quite 
a large business in rubber. These people live much as in their native 
land, seldom learning more than a few words of Spanish (except 
those living in the towns), and they form a very substantial and good 
element of the population. 
THE INDIANS. 
The estimated number of full-blooded aborigines in the Republic 
of Panama is stated from 10,000 (5) to double that figure. Some 
years ago Acosta thought there was an even greater number than 
920,000, and, as the race is rapidly dying out, he may not have been 
as far wrong as it would seem—still, it is doubtful if the figure 
would have reached 30,000. These estimates are of little value, 
however, because at the present day no one can really know the 
number of aborigines. 
