THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA. 817 



of people, unci then passed overland from that point either on foot or 

 horseback, or by such crude vehicles as the countrv afforded, to Pan- 

 ama. It was by this route that many people went to California during 

 the gold excitement of 1849 and the years immediately following. 

 This road has been abandoned for many years, as has the ancient road 

 from Portobello to Panama. 



The greater portion of the territory of the Republic is of small 

 elevation, with many large marshes along the seacoast. Even the 

 mountainous portions east and southeast of the railroad, forming the 

 Darien country, are not high, probably in no case exceeding an eleva- 

 tion of 2,800 feet. The arable land on either side of the Isthmus is 

 mostly ground of low elevation. 



CLIMATE. 



The climate of the Isthmus is thoroughly tropical in character, but 

 it is by no means entitled to the l)ad name which is so frequently given 

 to it. In speaking of this climate, all business and social activity in 

 the Republic of Panama is so centered in the vicinity of the railroad 

 line, which is also practically the proposed canal route, that observa- 

 tions as to climatic or other conditions apph" strictly to this vicinity, 

 although they are practically the same for other parts of the Republic. 



At Panama the Isthmus is scarcely more than 40 miles wide. The 

 proximity of the two oceans necessaril}- affects the climate in a marked 

 manner. The continental divide at this location is low, rising to an eleva- 

 tion but little more than 300 feet above mean sea level. Winds there- 

 fore blow across the entire Isthmus almost unobstructed. Under the 

 tropical sun the evaporation from the two oceans is rapid, and the conse- 

 quence is an atmosphere highly charged with aqueous vapor at nearly 

 all times. The high temperature of the tropical climate is therefore 

 accentuated with great humidity, which is enervating to a marked 

 degree to those who have been bred in a temperate climate. 



The tem})erature at Colon, on the Caribbean side of the Isthmus, not 

 often rises above 90'^ F., although it occasionally reaches 98" or even 

 a little higher, as in December, 1885 (98.2°), and January and March, 

 1886 (98.2 ), the latter year l)eing an unusually hot one. The mean 

 of the maximum monthh' temperature that year was 95.2° F. The 

 usual maximum monthly temperature ranges from about 85 F. to 

 about 91° or 92"^ F. The minimum monthly t(>nq)eratur(> usually 

 ranges from about 60° F. to about 75 F., the mean minimum monthly 

 temperature being l)ut little under 70° F. The mean temperature 

 throughout the year is not far from 80° F. The interior points of the 

 Isthmus, such as (lamboa and OI)ispo, about halfway across the Isth- 

 mus on the railroad line, generally experience maximum temperatures 

 perhaps 2 or 3 degrees higher than at Colon, and mininumi tem])era- 

 tures perhaps 3 or 4 degrees lower than at that point. On the Pacilic 



