182 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



Panama ; and of this we shall first give a description, 

 with recommendations to travellers, and the experi- 

 ence of some who have taken that route to the " land 

 of promise." 



Both steam and sailing vessels are constantly en- 

 gaged in carrying freight and passengers from the 

 principal ports of the Atlantic States to Chagres, the 

 principal port on the eastern coast of the Isthmus. 

 Tickets which will carry passengers to Chagres, and, 

 after crossing the Isthmus, from Panama to San Fran- 

 cisco, can be purchased in New York, from whence to 

 Chagres, the passage generally occupies about eight 

 days, and has been accomplished in seven. The 

 harbor of Chagres is a small but good one, for vessels 

 of less than two hundred tons burden. It is protected 

 by hills on all sides and towards the ocean, by a beet- 

 ling cliff, jutting out into the sea, on the summit of 

 which is the ancient and somewhat dilapidated castle 

 of San Lorenzo. At the base of this cliff is the chan- 

 nel which forms an entrance to the town. Ignorance 

 of this fact caused the wreck of several of the vessels 

 which went from the United States to Chagres soon 

 after the receipt of the news of the gold discovery. 

 The following is a description of Chagres and its 

 inhabitants in the early part of 1849. It has since 

 improved considerably, on account of the travel across 

 the Isthmus. 



" The first thing which struck our wondering gaze 

 on entering Chagres, was its bee-hive appearance. It 

 is a strange, fantastic, and oddish-looking town, situ- 

 ated in a deep, dark hollow or cove. It consists of 

 some forty or fifty huts, with pointed palm-thatched 

 roofs, and reed walls. Nor were the innumerable 

 buzzards which were flying about or resting on the 



