5§ 



The National Geographic Magazine 



the Pearl Islands in the Bay of Panama. 

 These operations of the early Spaniards 

 involved frequent crossing of the Isth- 

 mus, and even before the death of Bal- 

 boa it became evident that the most 

 practicable line of transportation was 

 that which is now known as the Panama 

 route. 



Many attempts were made to find other 

 practicable routes across the Isthmus be- 

 tween the Atrato River, emptying into 

 the Gulf of Darien, and the Chagres 

 River, emptying into the Caribbean Sea 

 eight miles west of Colon ; but the ad- 

 vantages of the Panama route were 

 promptly recognized by the Spaniards. 



A territory, consisting largely of the 

 present Panama, Colombia, and Vene- 

 zuela, was formed into the province of 

 Tierra-firma. It was the governor of 

 this province, Pedro Arias de Avila, who, 

 to strengthen his authority, brought 

 charges against Balboa, and after a form 

 of trial executed him at Acla. By the 

 middle of the sixteenth century large 

 numbers of Spaniards had migrated to 

 this country and created nourishing cen- 

 ters of trade. About this time, in order 

 to secure a more suitable government for 

 his colony, the Spanish emperor created 

 the presidency of New Granada, which 

 was subsequently raised to the rank of 

 a viceroyalty in 1718, then including 

 not only Colombia and Venezuela but 

 Ecuador also. The territory of the 

 Isthmus formed the northwestern arm of 

 this Spanish appanage. 



L,ike that of most Spanish colonies, the 

 government of the country was corrupt, 

 being administered largely for the bene- 

 fit of the favored few in authority ; but 

 on the whole the country nourished, the 

 population increased, and trade extended 

 along the lines of production of the 

 country. 



THE REVOLUTION AGAINST SPANISH 

 AUTHORITY 



The course of affairs in the viceroyalty 

 continued without much change until 



181 1. Many features of the Spanish 

 rule had long borne heavily upon the 

 people and aroused such feeling that at 

 last they broke out into an insurrection 

 against the home government. A con- 

 tinuous war against the Spanish forces 

 sent to put down the insurrection con- 

 tinued until 1824, when Spanish author- 

 ity disappeared. Meantime the Ven- 

 ezuelan patriot, Simon. Bolivar, born in 

 the city of Caracas in 1783, made his 

 way into prominence in national affairs, 

 and in 18 19 completed a union of the 

 three divisions of the country into the 

 first Republic of Colombia. This re- 

 public was short lived. Venezuela with- 

 drew in 1829 and Ecuador in 1830. 

 The creation of the Republic of New 

 Granada followed in 1831, but its con- 

 stitution was not formed until 1832. 

 Under it the territory was divided into 

 eighteen provinces. The president of 

 the new republic held office four years. 

 The course of affairs was much dis- 

 turbed, and a civil war broke out after 

 one or two presidential terms, and did 

 not close until 1841. In 1840 the Prov- 

 ince of Cartagena seceded from the new 

 republic, and immediately thereafter the 

 neighboring provinces of Panama and 

 Veragua took the same step. This was 

 the first period of independence of the 

 Isthmus of Panama. The revolting 

 states were soon reunited under a con- 

 stitution reformed in 1843. The Re- 

 public of New Granada enjoyed little 

 tranquillity, being subject to domestic 

 disturbances of greater or less mag- 

 nitude almost continuous^, but various 

 measures signifying general advance- 

 ment in civilization were adopted from 

 time to time. Among those was one 

 by which slavery was entirely abolished 

 in 1852. 



An important alteration of the con- 

 stitution took place in 1853, under 

 which the provinces were merely fed- 

 erated into the republic, each being 

 granted the right to assume its inde- 

 pendence at any time. This right under 



