Chap. I.—B. S.] 
FOREIGN ENTERPRISE. 
13 
the islands. A lithogram published by Appleton, of 
Hew Tork, of which nearly all the copies were de¬ 
stroyed by fire, gives an excellent idea of these 
savanas and their vegetation; and it is the only one I 
have seen that really does justice to the neighbourhood 
of Panama. Even such rough men as the buccaneers 
of old broke out in shouts of delight when, after toiling 
for days through the gloomy virgin forests of the 
isthmus, they at last reached the savanas, richly 
stocked with horses and cattle, and showing in the 
distance the wealthy city which they had come to 
sack. 
There are now several good hotels in Panama, kept 
by foreigners, who seem to he making money. A 
great many houses have already passed into the hands 
of Americans, English, Erench, and Germans, and 
ere long the whole town will be owned by them; 
the natives being too indolent to take advantage 
of the fine opportunities now presented of making 
their fortune or bettering their condition. As soon 
as a foreigner becomes possessed of town property 
he improves it; and in walking through the streets 
you need not look for the name of the owner 
before you decide in your mind whose house it is. 
All the trade is virtually in the hands of foreigners, 
and some of the largest plantations in the country, 
as, for instance, the Bayano Sugar Estate, were es¬ 
tablished by them. Panama will go on increasing, 
and ere long its great advantages, and that of Central 
America in general, will be fully appreciated by 
commercial men. It is so central a spot for obtain- 
