26 
A list of these is available at the branch libraries, from 
which any book that interests you may be obtained on 
order. The Library has compiled a special list of books 
about Panama and the Canal Zone which, except for 
novels on the subject, are kept on a Panama shelf. In 
addition the Balboa Heights Library has set aside certain 
files for loose-leaf material on Panama. Here are a few 
titles selected from a long list: 
“Old Panama and Castilla del Oro ” by Anderson, this 
is a detailed account of the Spanish conquest and colonial 
era and will only interest those specially drawn to history. 
Well written and lavishly illustrated with old maps and 
Pn “The Panama Canal in Peace and War ” by Padelford. 
The most recently published book on the subject is an 
accurate account of the organization which operates the 
Panel rn 3. 
“Panama Gateway ” by Bishop. Written during con¬ 
struction days. • • i 
( ‘Zone Policeman 88" by Harry Franck. Entertainingly 
written account of personal experiences during construction 
‘‘Cadiz to Cathay" by Duval. A scholarly, well-docu¬ 
mented history of the Panama Canal, including the politi¬ 
cal and economic motives that prompted it. 
“In the Wake of the Buccaneers" by A. Hyatt-Verrill. 
The author, a talented writer of travel books, follows the 
trail of the pirates in Caribbean waters and Panama in a 
sailing vessel. Very entertaining. 
“My Tropical Air Castle" by Chapman. An account of 
Barro" Colorado Island that is recommended to lovers of 
nature and wild life. 
“The Bridge of Water" by Helen Nicolay. Although 
directed especially to boys and girls in theii teens, this 
story of Panama is written in a clear, vivid style that will 
interest adults. „ r TT 
“Cup of Gold" by John Steinbeck. The story of Henry 
Morgan, the pirate. . ,, , 
“The Tainted Token" and “Death Comes Dancing by 
Kathleen Knight. Two engrossing detective stories laid 
in modern Panama. 
“Island of Fu Manchu" by Saxe Rohmer. More of the 
same. 
27 
Pocket History of Panama 
Since time immemorial the Isthmus of Panama, a ribbon 
of land connecting two continents, has been a world’s 
cross roads. When Christopher Columbus discovered 
it on his fourth voyage in the year 1502, it was already a 
land bridge for tribes of Indians who, modern archeologists 
tell us, crossed vast stretches of jungle and mountain land, 
back and forth from Mexico to Peru. 
*■ 
Although the first Spanish discoverers knew nothing of the 
Pacific Ocean, they were convinced that Panama contained 
a strait that would lead them to the coveted Indies, and 
they continued to search for a water passage even after 
Balboa crossed the Isthmus and discovered the South Sea, 
as he called it, in 1513. The Pacific side was found to be 
drier and healthier than the Atlantic, so in 1519 the 
governor, Pedrarias, moved his capital city from Santa 
Marfa la Antigua del Darien, on the Caribbean Gulf of 
Uraba, to the old city of Panama, which took its name 
from the primitive Indian village the Spaniards found on 
the site they chose, which, in the Indian tongue, means 
“Land Abounding in Fish.’’ And less than ten years 
later Francisco Pizarro and his associates set forth from 
this pioneer Spanish settlement on the Pacific Ocean to the 
fabulous conquest of Peru. 
The city of Panama waxed prosperous as a receiving 
station for the gold from Peru, which was transshipped 
across the Isthmus by mule-train or on the backs of human 
slaves, to be transferred to the holds of galleons bound 
for Spain. For one hundred and fifty years, while the 
stream of gold from the Americas swept Spain to world 
eminence, Panama occupied a vital position in the supply 
line between the mother country and her colonial treasure 
house. 
When pirates of rival nations, jealous of Spain’s monop¬ 
oly of this lucrative prize, set out to “singe the beard of 
the King of Spain,” the Isthmus of Panama was one of 
their natural targets. In 1595 Sir Francis Drake sacked 
both Porto Bello and San Lorenzo, the former the Carib¬ 
bean terminus of the Cruces Trail, the gold road from 
Panama, and the latter the fort which guarded the navi- 
