LITTLE-KXOWN PARTS OF PANAMA 



631 



of organic remains, show that the whole 

 plain is an ancient sea-bottom, uplifted 

 at a not very remote time either by some 

 sudden cataclysm, or insensibly by the 

 slow process that governs the emergence 

 and subsidence of coastal lands all over 

 the globe. 



In former explorations, in the adjoin- 

 ing part of Costa Rica, I have noticed 

 the same indications of a general up- 

 heaval, the neck of the Osa Peninsula 

 still showing unmistakable evidences of 

 a recent broad sea-channel, and bluffs, 

 bearing the peculiar relief due to the 

 action of the waves, lifted to nearly 300 

 feet above sea-level. 



Most of the flat country about David 

 is utilized as grazing land, and during 

 the dry season it is constantly swept by 

 the strong trade wind, reaching over the 

 mountains through the deepest depres- 

 sions of the Cordillera. Only in shel- 

 tered places along the rivers, behind the 

 knolls that rise here and there, and 

 around the houses, is there any show of 

 arboreous vegetation, among the most 

 conspicuous representatives of which 

 may be cited the algarrobo and the 

 corotu. The tamarind and mango, two 

 East Indian trees now naturalized all 

 over the tropics, and the native wine and 

 plum palms, are the trees most generally 

 seen around the houses. Extensive for- 

 ests, displaying the luxuriance and gen- 

 erous proportions of real tropical vege- 

 tation, are found only at some distance 

 to the west, on the lands adjoining the 

 Chiriqui Viejo River, or to the east be- 

 tween Gualaca and Horconcitos. 



Going north in the direction of the 

 Chiriqui Peak, one is soon struck by the 

 peculiar range of low hills running, as it 

 seems, between the plains and the moun- 

 tains and parallel to the sea-coast. The 

 road winds between these and, mostly 

 following the Dolega River, ascends 

 gradually toward El Boquete. The gen- 

 eral incline is so insensible that one 

 travels nearly 25 miles before reaching 

 the foot of the volcano, at an altitude of 

 about 3,000 feet. The ride is mainly 

 across savannas or through what ecolo- 

 gists call a parklike landscape. 



During the dry season the long stretches, 

 bare of arboreous vegetation, are con- 



stantly swept by the north trade wind,, 

 which attains its major intensity between. 

 9 o'clock a. m. and 3 o'clock p. m., and 

 is often of such violence that even the 

 horses find it difficult to stand and to 

 proceed on their way. Every detail of 

 the surrounding landscape bears the im- 

 press of the wind. In the most exposed 

 places the surface of the soil is submitted 

 to an active aerial erosion, the minute 

 particles of the ground being whisked 

 away the moment they become loose. 



The meager sod is characteristic in 

 appearance, consisting not of a continu- 

 ous carpet of grasses, as in most sa- 

 vannas, but of isolated tufts of sedges 

 and small plants (mainly Leguminosse 

 and Rubiacese), distinguished by the un- 

 usual development of their root system. 



Many an acre is absolutely bare, and 

 at places long stretches of stones, run- 

 ning from north to south, are explained 

 by the natives as being remnants of 

 former eruptions of the volcano. They 

 are really what is left of low ridges de- 

 molished by the wind. 



In hollow places, as along the dry bed 

 of creeks that flow only during the wet 

 season, the trees show some attempts at 

 congregating in small groves ; but they 

 have a stunted appearance, their trunks 

 are twisted and knotty, their limbs few, 

 and all strikingly growing in a southerly 

 direction (see page 636). 



The few head of cattle browsing 

 through these thinned savannas are 

 shaggy, and even the people and their 

 dwellings, the former with their large 

 hats tied upon the head and the latter 

 with roofs half gone or mended tempo- 

 rarily with the leaves of the native royal 

 palm, show the permanent action of the 

 wind. 



Not to impress the reader too deeply 

 with the dreary barrenness of the coun- 

 try, it should be added that the south- 

 side exposures of the hills and the deeper 

 valleys offer sheltered nooks, with pros- 

 perous villages surrounded by patches of 

 grassy pastures and of forests. 



Through this rather desolate region 

 several rivers have cut deep, narrow 

 canyons, in which subtropical vegetation 

 is mixed in a curious way. Oaks are 

 seen growing next to palms, giant elms 



