^"g'JoPgf'^P- PREHISTORY OF PANAMA VIEJO BIESE 9 



about 4,000 people, including the much more numerous Indians 

 and African slaves (Sosa, 1955, p. 29). It may be mentioned here that 

 the expansion of the city to its present ruined outlines and establish- 

 ment of the permanent stone structures dates from a much later 

 period, at least the early 17th century. 



Carles (1960), in compiling various sources, says that the city had 

 two important disadvantages. The first was the rather poor harbor 

 which, because of high tides, made it necessary to anchor ships at some 

 distance. Secondly, the water supply, except for a few brackish 

 wells, was a half league distant at the Lavenderas (now Juan Dias) 

 and was itself frequently dry. Because of these disadvantages, in 

 1534 a warrant was issued by Queen Juana (Joanna) ordering the city 

 to change its location. However, this warrant was overthrown by the 

 inhabitants because of the consequent loss of property and the abun- 

 dant food supply from nearby mussel spawning grounds. From later 

 sources we know that this place was an important food source for the 

 prehistoric Indians as weU. 



INDIAN SETTLEMENT OF MALAMBO 



It is from this point that confusion begins about the actual details 

 of the city. The controversy centers about the location of the 

 historical settlements of "Malambo" (Indian) and "Pererdevidas" 

 (Negro). It is of importance because Malambo has been variously 

 placed directly within the boundaries of our present archeological 

 report as weU as across the road and consequently out of the im- 

 mediate area. The only authentic map is that made by the engineer 

 Roda in 1609 and reproduced by Sosa (1955) from the original in the 

 Council of the Indies. This map shows only swamp in the site area 

 with no mention of fringe settlements. A detailed description sent 

 to Spain at this time does not mention the settlements. 



It is probable that the Spanish Archives contains, among the many 

 reports and letters of the time, some which specifically mention 

 Malambo, but these unfortunately are unavailable to me. Both 

 Anderson (1911) and Bancroft (1882) contain translations of exten- 

 sive excerpts from these letters which describe accurately every street 

 and house over various periods of time, but neither of these authors 

 mentions Malambo. On the other hand, Sosa gives: 



To the North the city prolonged the margins of the port, extending to the 

 settlements of Malambo, to the King's Bridge and a few steps further to the rocky- 

 road leading to Porto Bello; on the other hand, the city extended behind the 

 convents of San Francisco and La Merced, and with the suburbs of Pierde Vidas 

 it reached the Matanza. [Sosa, 1955, p. 29.] 



Matanza is now called St. Cristopher's Hill and this account would 

 place Malambo on the opposite side of the Portobelo Trail and out 



