THE ISTHMUS OF PANAMA. 



CHAPTER I. 



Character of the Spanish settlers — Agriculture the basis of National 

 prosperity — Example of the Spaniard and the Puritan — First set- 

 tlement on the Spanish Main — Discovery of the Pacific Ocean by 



• Balbao — He founds the City of Panama — Porto Bello — Fort San 

 Lorenzo. 



Although the History of *the Isthmus of Panama 

 records many remarkable events, and the ruins of 

 ancient towns and fortifications show that this has 

 been deemed valuable territory, and occupied by a 

 wealthy population, yet nothing is more evident than 

 that its settlers were actuated by the love of ad- 

 venture, and that their pursuit was for gold. 



While. Spain, with her almost inexhaustible re- 

 sources, was sending her colonists to this country, 

 and the fertile islands of the West Indies, and gath- 

 ering rich harvests of gold, and building fortifica- 

 tions for her protection and permanence, the hardy 

 Puritans were struggling for a simple subsistence by 

 2 



