PANAMA AND ITS PEOPLE—BELL. ‘ 633 
These Indians called themselves “ Cholos,” and I think may safely 
be considered Chocos. Cholo is a name applied to half breeds in 
many Latin-American countries, but these are obviously pure-blooded 
Indians, and it can easily be imagined that “ Cholo ” is a corrupted 
form of Choco. This explanation is further borne out by the follow- 
ing references from Bancroft, where the terms are used synonymously 
referring to the Indians of the section where the Chocos settled. 
Referring to “ Seeman’s Voy,” Bancroft (24) says (in an appendix), 
“The Cholos extending from the Gulf of San Miguel to the Bay of 
Choco, and thence with a few interruptions to the northern parts of 
the Republic of Ecuador.” Quoting from Latham in Journal of 
Geographical Society, London, Volume XX, page 189, is a statement, 
“ Cholos inhabiting part of the Isthmus of Darien, east of the river 
Chucunaque.” 
A very interesting palm-wood stool and a cacique stick, measuring 
about 24 feet, with a grotesque idol surmounting it and underneath 
bands of silver, was obtained in the deserted huts of these “ Cholos ” 
by the American to whom the writer is indebted for the two photo- 
graphs of these Indians, appearing in this article. The cacique 
sticks are used by the medicine men among the Darien Indians gen- 
erally, its magic effect is supposed to immediately follow when 
touched to the afflicted part. 
CONCLUSION. 
Panama is a land of wonderful possibilities, the home of an unam- 
bitious tropical people who have sat for generations at the gate of a 
world-traveled highway, watching the trend of progress as expressed 
in the passers-by. The small merchant of the towns in the main path 
of travel has developed a certain shrewdness, common to his class 
everywhere, in overcharging the wayfarer for his temporary needs, 
but the rest of the Isthmus remains much as it has been for centuries, 
half-awakened, sparsely settled, and in many parts semisavage or 
actually so. The necessities of life have come too easily, making 
progress very slow, but the day must come when a radical change 
will be brought about. Mr. Nicholas, in a magazine article in the 
Review of Reviews for March, 1904, says: “ Panama is not without 
development in the present or promise for the future, even away from 
the zone of great expectations along the canal. * * * Minerals 
are in good evidence, government lands to be had for the taking 
around Chiriqui, Lagoon,’ etc. But the immediate interest in 
Panama should be its rediscovery leading to fields of research for the 
zoologist, biologist, ethnologist, etc., and it would, indeed, be regret- 
table if America, whose future interests in this country will be pre- 
dominant, should not be first to send her scientists into this interest- 
ing and unexplored territory of Central America, 
