LITTLE-KXOWX PARTS OF PAXAAIA 



629 



considerable extent. \Mien the fruit 

 reaches the ground, the seeds thus find 

 themselves at once immersed in an over- 

 flowing, gelatinous mass of gum, which 

 furnishes the water necessary to the first 

 stjages of germination. 



Another vegetable wonder that grows 

 among the bushes on sandy flats along 

 streams is often detected by the delight- 

 ful odor and the yellow bright color of 

 its singular fruits. It is the candle-tree, 

 now introduced into most botanical gar- 

 dens of the tropics, but a native of the 

 central part of Panama.'^' The beautiful 

 Giistavia superba should also be men- 

 tioned as a special feature of the Isth- 

 mian flora. 



In thus wandering across country, in- 

 stead of keeping exclusively to railroad 

 trains, the traveler will have occasion 

 many times to wonder at the incredible 

 luxuriance of vegetable life in general 

 and to observe the never-ending strug- 

 gle for supremacy. 



A" to the real Indians, he may succeed 

 in getting a look at some male specimen 

 along the wharves at Colon or around 

 the market in Panama City ; but the 

 chances are that they will mostly pass 

 unnoticed in the motley crowd of mixed 

 races of the larger towns. At least eight- 

 tenths of the native inhabitants of the 

 Republic show to a more or less marked 

 extent the stamp of African blood, and 

 the most extraordinary cases of inter- 

 breeding are observed everywhere. 



East of the canal, however, and not 

 taking the aboriginal tribes into consid- 

 eration, the negro element vastly pre- 

 dominates, the settlements of Porto 

 Bello, Xombre de Dios, Palenque, and 

 Viento Frio, on the Caribbean Sea, being 

 formed, as it seems, by descendants of 

 both West Indians and Spanish slaves, 

 and the villages of the Pacific coast — 

 Chepo, Chiman, Garachine — and those 

 in the Tuyra basin by the latter only. 

 West of the canal the predominance 

 of the African element becomes less 

 marked, at least on the southern side of 

 the country, as one goes farther toward 

 Chiriqui, where the whites and the civil- 

 ized Indians have the upper hand. 



Panama is hardly a country for moun- 



*See National Geographic Magazine, vol. 

 xxiii, p. 124, 1912. 



taineering, most of its area being below 

 the 3,000-foot contour line. The highest 

 elevations are in the western part, which 

 is an extension of the Costa Rican sys- 

 tem. There the Chiriqui Peak, or Vol- 

 can de Chiriqui, as it is more commonl}r 

 called, attains 11,000 feet and is worth 

 ascending. Farther eastward and on the 

 ^main divide several bold peaks can be 

 seen from both coasts; they very likely 

 reach the 10,000-foot line, but they have 

 never been ascended and their exact alti- 

 tudes, names, and even their true geo- 

 graphic position are still to be recorded. 



The same can be said of the eastern- 

 most group of high ranges, on the Co- 

 lombian border, an undeciphered mass 

 of domes and peaks, which have never 

 been explored and whose real relation to 

 the western Cordillera of Colombia has 

 never been ascertained. It is almost cer- 

 tain, however, that they form an inde- 

 pendent system, and that the old notion 

 of the South American Andes forming 

 also the backbone of the Central Amer- 

 ican Isthmus should no longer appear, 

 as it often does, in modern writings. 



From the naturalist's standpoint these 

 highest mountains at both ends of the 

 Panamanian territory are of special in- 

 terest. As few or no collectors have 

 ever visited them, they are likely to be 

 the abode of many unknown forms of 

 both vegetable and animal life. They 

 are also the most advanced outposts of 

 the fauna and flora of the neighboring- 

 countries. Besides, they are attractive 

 even to the ordinary tourist, on account 

 of their beautiful scenery and of the 

 marvelous changes observed within a 

 few hours as one rises from the lower 

 to the upper regions, experiencing at the 

 same time a corresponding variation in 

 climatic conditions. This is best seen in 

 the ascent of the Chiriqui Volcano, the 

 summit of which can be reached in three 

 days from David, by way of El Boquete. 



ASCEXDI.XG THE CHIRIQUI VOLCANO ■ 



David stands at about 12 miles from 

 the seashore, in an open, slightly undu- 

 lating country. It is one of the most 

 rapidly improving towns of Panama, on 

 account of the varied and abundant 

 resources offered by the surrounding 

 country and the affluence of foreign,_ 



