Until comparatively recent times the province of Chiriqui has remained
almost unknown to the world at large. The isthmus was traversed a number
of times by the conquerors, who published accounts of their discoveries,
but it was reserved for the period of railroad and canal exploration to
furnish trustworthy accounts of its character and inhabitants. The
situation of Chiriqui is unique. Forming, politically, a part of South
America, it belongs in reality to the North American continent. It
occupies a part of the great southern flexure of the isthmus at a point
where the shore lines begin finally to turn toward the north.
The map accompanying this paper (Plate I) conveys a clear idea of the
position and the leading topographic features of the province. The
boundaries separating it from Veragua on the east and Costa Rica on the
west run nearly north and south. The Atlantic coast line has a northwest
and southeast trend and is indented by the bay or lagoon of Chiriqui.
The Bay of David extends into the land on the south and the Gulf of
Dolce forms a part of the western boundary. A range of mountains,
consisting principally of volcanic products, extends midway along the
province, forming the continental watershed.[1] The drainage comprises
two systems of short rivers that run, one to the north and the other to
the south, into the opposing oceans. Belts of lowland border the shore
lines. That on the south side is from twenty to thirty miles wide and
rises gradually into a plateau two or three thousand feet in elevation,
which is broken by hills and cut by cañons. This belt affords a natural
thoroughfare for peoples migrating from continent to continent, and
doubtless formed at all periods an attractive district for occupation.
It is in the middle portion of this strip of lowland, especially in the
drainage area of the Bay of David, that the most plentiful evidences of
ancient occupation are found. Scattering remains have been discovered
all along, however, connecting the art of Costa Rica with that of
Veragua, Panama, and the South American continent. The islands of the
coast furnish some fragmentary monuments and relics, and there is no
doubt that a vast quantity of material yet remains within the province
to reward the diligent search of future explorers.
[Footnote 1: For physical features, see report of Lieutenant
Norton (Report Chiriqui Commission, Ex. Doc. 41, 1860).]