"THE PLACE OF FISH."--AN EXCURSION TO OLD PANAMA.--VISITING A
HERMIT.--DRINKING CHICHI.--RUINS OF THE CITY.--MORGAN THE
BUCCANEER.--HIS HISTORY AND EXPLOITS.--HOW HE CAPTURED PANAMA.
[Illustration: VIEW FROM THE RAMPARTS OF PANAMA.]
From the ruins of the church the youths and their companions strolled to
the ramparts of the city, where they watched the sunset gilding the
distant hilltops and lighting up the waters of the beautiful Bay of
Panama. The wall is here enlarged into a wide promenade, which overlooks
a level space containing the arsenal, the military barracks, and the
prisons of the city government. The Esplanade is the favorite
lounging-place of the people at the close of the day, and our friends
had an excellent opportunity to study the local dress and manners.
Nobody appeared to be in a hurry, and there was a tendency to divide
into groups and couples, very much as in other lands and under other
skies. Some sauntered slowly up and down the promenade, while others
leaned over the parapet, or reclined on the grass which covered a
considerable part of the Esplanade. Ships and steamers were anchored in
the distance, while the foreground of the bay was dotted with native
boats, which seemed to be drifting aimlessly in the gentle breeze.
Altogether, the picture was delightful, and long to be remembered.
On the next morning our friends were up early for an excursion to Old
Panama, which we have already mentioned. As we drew on Frank's note-book
for the modern city, we will rely upon Fred for our information about
the ancient one.
"We had a delightful ride on horseback," said Fred; "leaving Panama by
the northwestern gate, which brought us to the fish-market on the beach.
To judge by what we saw, Panama is justly named 'a place of fish,' as
there seemed to be a supply three times as large as could possibly be
wanted for the use of the inhabitants. There were Spanish mackerel,
oysters, bonito, and a good many other fishes, and all of the very best
quality, with the possible exception of the oysters. We asked if these
oysters were the ones from which pearls are obtained, and they told us
the pearl-fisheries were about a hundred miles down the bay, and the
oysters not at all like those sold in the market. There was formerly a
fine revenue from the pearl-fisheries, but the beds are practically
exhausted, and of late years very little attention has been given to the
business.
[Illustration: ON THE NORTHEASTERN BEACH.]
"From the market we galloped along the beach for a couple of miles, and
then turned inland. We came out to the shore again, after winding among
rocks and thick foliage, and followed along the bay till we reached the
ancient city.
"Everything is in the most complete ruin; what was left by Morgan has
been vigorously attacked by the tooth of time. And I remark, by the way,
that the tooth of time is much more effective in its work in the tropics
than in the colder north, where the vegetation is less rapid and
aggressive. Walls and towers are so overgrown with mosses and creepers
that, in many instances, the structures are completely hidden from
sight, and their positions are only indicated by their shape. Seeds
carried by the birds, or wafted by the winds, fall into crevices between
the stones; they are warmed into life by the temperature, and nourished
by the moisture that prevails at all seasons of the year. They grow and
flourish in spite of the inconveniences of their position, and after a
time they force the stones apart, and the structure is weakened, and
hastened to its overthrow.
"Everywhere in Old Panama you can see evidences of this great force of
nature. Much of the stonework of the city has been thrown down by the
roots of the trees and plants, and in several places we saw stones of
great weight resting entirely upon the roots of the trees that had
lifted them up. Evidently the city was built to last, and it is a sad
commentary upon the work of its founders that it was so soon destroyed.
The walls were massive, and the stones carefully cut. The old Spaniards
came to America to plant colonies, and make a permanent home, if we may
judge by the way they constructed this important city, which was
intended to command the commerce of the Pacific seas.
[Illustration: WATCH-TOWER OF SAN JEROME.]
"One of the most interesting relics of Old Panama is the watch-tower of
San Jerome, which is said to have been built only six years before the
city's capture and destruction. It is a square tower, and we estimated
its height to be about eighty feet; it is covered with mosses and vines,
and there are trees and bushes growing on its top. The staircase on the
inside has been thrown down by the roots of the trees, as far as we
could judge from the position of the stones, though it may have been
destroyed by the famous buccaneer. The whole of the inside space was
full of roots, and we could not have climbed to the top even if the
stairs had remained.
"The tower was intended as a signal-station, from which vessels
approaching Panama could be descried, and tradition says a light was
burned there at night. It is now the only visible part of the old city
as you look from the beach or from a boat on the water; everything else
is covered up with the tropical forest, which has been undisturbed for
two hundred years. The only way to see the ruins is by clambering
through the mass of vegetation; we did so, and were thoroughly wearied
with our exertions, though amply repaid for them.
"Not the least interesting part of the sights were the fantastic shapes
which the trees and vines had taken; in some places the trees were on
the tops of walls thirty or forty feet high, and had thrown down roots
on each side reaching into the ground. At every crevice in the walls
little twigs were thrown off to hold the roots in place, and it almost
seemed as though these vegetable growths had been endowed with human
intelligence. Two or three times we were deceived by the appearance of
the roots, and mistook them for snakes. Even when assured of their
harmless character, Frank paused and deliberated before moving nearer,
and I'm free to confess that I followed his example.
[Illustration: A HERMIT AT HOME.]
"We were accompanied on our excursion by a gentleman who lives in
Panama, but had not been in the old city for two or three years. He said
the place had two or three inhabitants, or, rather, there were that
number of negroes who lived there, and acted as guides to visitors. With
some difficulty he found the hut of one of them, and luckily for us its
owner was at home. His only clothing was a strip of cloth around the
waist and a pair of sandals on his feet, and the entire furniture of the
place would have been dear at ten dollars. He had a few baskets and
earthen jars, an old hammock, a rough bench to sleep on, an iron pot for
cooking purposes, and a pair of rollers for crushing sugar-cane. He had
a small patch of sugar-cane, another of bananas; the bay supplied him
with fish, the beach afforded plenty of oysters, shrimps, and mussels,
and the money obtained from visitors was enough for buying his tobacco
and a few other trifles which made up the sum of his necessities, and
were procured in a semi-annual trip to Panama. He declared that he was
perfectly satisfied with his way of life, and as he had been there for
twenty years and more, I have no doubt he spoke the truth.
"A prince in his palace could not have been more polite than was this
dark-skinned hermit. He had no chairs to offer, but asked us to sit down
on his bench; we accepted the invitation, and after handing us a gourd
of water, which we found very refreshing, he put on his hat in order to
be more fully dressed. Then, with true Spanish politeness, he told us
that the house and all it contained were ours, but we couldn't see that
we should have been much richer if we had taken him and his belongings
at his word. We rested perhaps a quarter of an hour, talking with him
about his solitary life, and then asked him to guide us through the old
city.
"'_Sí, Señores_,' he replied, touching his hat in a most dignified
manner, 'but would we drink some _chichi_ before starting.'
[Illustration: MAKING CHICHI.]
"_Chichi_ is the juice of the sugar-cane, and is a favorite beverage in
this region; of course we consented, and he immediately picked up his
_machete_ (hatchet) and went out. In a little while he returned with an
armful of sugar-cane, which he proceeded to pass through the rollers,
after first bruising the canes with a mallet to make the work of
crushing easier. Our Panama friend took one end of the machine, and got
himself into quite a perspiration before the job was finished; I fancy
he did not relish it, but our entertainer did not seem to mind it in
the least. The machine was a rude construction, and not to be compared
with the polished rollers that are to be found in sugar-manufactories on
a large scale, but it was entirely adequate to the wants of our sable
host.
[Illustration: BRIDGE AT OLD PANAMA.]
"We drank the _chichi_, which was most refreshing, and then were shown
through what is left of the city. Here and there we found portions of
paved streets, and it was only by following the lines of the streets
that we were able to get around at all. Then there were two or three
groves with very little undergrowth, which are thought to have been
public squares; evidently they were not paved, but macadamized, and
trodden so hard that the undergrowth has obtained no hold, though the
trees have not been so easily restrained. Our guide showed us a bridge
over a stream in the southern part of the city; it is called the _Punta
de Embarcadero_, and is said to have been the point where boats came to
discharge or receive their cargoes, and the stream it crosses is about
thirty feet wide. It is full only at high tide, and is more an arm of
the sea than a flowing river. The bridge is of hewn stone, and was
constructed with a single arch.
"When we had finished our wanderings among the ruins we went back to
the hut, drank some more _chichi_, then mounted our horses, and returned
to modern Panama by the way we went. We were thoroughly tired, but we
voted unanimously that the day was well spent."
The excursion to Old Panama naturally roused the curiosity of the youths
to know something of Morgan the buccaneer, and his exploits. The readers
of this narrative may have a similar interest in the events of two
hundred years ago, and we will briefly give them.
The rumors of the abundance of gold in the New World, which reached
Spain after the discovery of America by Columbus, led to the conquest
and settlement of the islands of the West Indies, and also of the
mainland for a considerable distance north and south of the Isthmus.
Within the fifty years following the first voyage of Columbus many
colonies were planted, forts were built, soldiers were brought out in
great numbers, and many ships laden with treasure were sent home from
the New World. The stories grew with each repetition, and in a little
while it was currently believed that there was sufficient gold in the
cities of Mexico, Peru, and the other countries of South and Central
America to enrich the entire population of Europe.
[Illustration: SLAUGHTER OF PRIESTS BY BUCCANEERS.]
The Spanish conquerors were relentlessly cruel, and subjected the rulers
and people of the conquered countries to all manner of tortures, in
order to obtain their gold. The rumors of the vast treasures of the New
World passed beyond Spain and reached England and France. Piracy was
fashionable in those times, and it was not long after the Spanish
treasure-ships began to traverse the ocean that the waters of the
Caribbean Sea were thronged with piratical craft. Their crews were known
as buccaneers, freebooters, pirates, or sea-robbers, and one name is as
good as another. We will follow the example of the old historians and
call them buccaneers, out of respect for their descendants, who dislike
the word "pirate."
[Illustration: PIRATES' RENDEZVOUS.]
They had plenty of hiding-places among the islands and along the coast
of the mainland, and their numbers increased so rapidly that they formed
colonies, tilled the soil, and in many cases established something like
local government, though it was not always very orderly. In some of
their colonies the more peaceably inclined buccaneers lived on shore,
raised crops, hunted for wild cattle or other game, and not infrequently
they brought their families from the Old World or found wives among the
natives. The rest of the community roved the seas in search of plunder,
returning occasionally to the colony to refit their vessels, and deliver
their proper share to the settlers on land, from whom provisions were
obtained.
Sometimes prisoners were brought to the colonies and kept as slaves, but
this was not the general practice, as it was not altogether safe; an
escaping slave might reveal the rendezvous of the buccaneers, and, in
spite of the greatest vigilance, escape was possible. Consequently, it
was the custom to release prisoners on payment of a heavy ransom, or to
sell them to be carried into slavery, where they could do no harm to
their captors. If they could not be disposed of in either of these
ways, or made useful in some manner, they were generally put to death.
Sometimes a chief released his prisoners unconditionally, and without
obtaining anything for them, but such action was not favorably received
by his followers, as they considered it a loss of property and an
indication of weakness totally inappropriate to his proper character.
Human life was held at little value in those days, not only by
freebooters, but by kings and princes in all parts of the world.
After all, there was little difference between the buccaneers, or
pirates, and the people against whom their exploits were directed.
Cortez, Balboa, Pizarro, and other leaders in the Spanish conquest of
the New World were simply the heads of legitimate marauding expeditions,
directed against the inhabitants of the countries they invaded. The
buccaneers endeavored to rob these legalized marauders; they stole what
had been already stolen, and their thievery was directed against
thieves. They adopted the same practices of torture and cruelties that
had been used to extort gold from the rulers and people of the conquered
countries; the buccaneers felt that the condemnation of their practices
was unjust, and their sensibilities were wounded when they saw that the
conquerors of the New World were sustained and honored by their king,
whose treasury was enriched by their plunderings.
[Illustration: BUCCANEERS EMBARKING ON AN EXPEDITION.]
Sometimes there was a period of war between Spain and England, and then
the king of the latter country would give commission to a well-known
buccaneer, and exalt him to the dignity of a privateer. He was to fit
out an expedition at his own expense, enlist his own men, and do pretty
much as he pleased; in return for the royal protection he was to give a
certain part of his gains into the king's treasury; though quite often
this condition was not exacted, since the destruction of the enemy's
commerce was considered a sufficient compensation for his commission.
This was the character of Morgan's enterprise against Panama.
Morgan had obtained an excellent reputation as a buccaneer; he had
captured several cities, murdered many people, often under circumstances
of great cruelty, and had been almost universally successful in his
expeditions. Priests, women, and children were indiscriminately
slaughtered along with his other prisoners, when they could not find a
market as slaves; and the stories of his barbarities would fill a
volume. At one time he had two thousand men and a fleet of thirty-seven
ships under his command. His piracies were directed against the
Spaniards; the English looked upon his performances with a kindly eye;
and when he organized his expedition which ended with the capture of
Panama the governor of Jamaica ordered an English ship of thirty-six
guns to assist him, and gave him authority to act in English interest.
There was a French ship in the harbor of Jamaica, also carrying
thirty-six guns, which Morgan desired; and he soon found reason enough,
to his mind, for her capture.
A short time before, this French ship had stopped an English vessel at
sea and taken provisions from her without paying for them. Morgan made
this a pretext for seizing her; accordingly, he invited her officers on
board the English ship and there made them prisoners. Then he seized
their craft, but, unfortunately for his plans, she blew up a few hours
afterwards and was totally destroyed. It was not known how the accident
occurred, but Morgan said it was caused by the French prisoners, who set
the ship on fire.
[Illustration: MORGAN'S RECEPTION AT CHAGRES.]
The fleet sailed away a week after this incident and proceeded to
capture Maracaibo, Saint Catherine's, and one or two other places,
before proceeding to Panama. From Saint Catherine's Morgan sent four
ships to capture the fort at the mouth of the Chagres River; the
expedition was successful, and when Morgan arrived and saw the English
flag flying over the fort he fired all his cannon in honor of the
victory. When he landed he was carried into the fort on the shoulders of
his fellows amid many demonstrations of delight.
An old nursery song has it that "Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a
thief." Substitute "Morgan" for "Taffy" and the description is exact, as
the hero of this story was born in Wales. Many of his followers were
from that country or from other parts of the British Isles, and his
second, who captured the fort at Chagres, was Captain Brodely, an
officer of English birth.
Morgan repaired the fort, gave it a garrison of five hundred men, left a
hundred and fifty to take care of the ships, and with twelve hundred men
started across the Isthmus for Panama. They ascended the Chagres River
in boats as far as they could go, and then marched overland through the
forest. All the boats but one were sent back; a guard remained with
this single boat, with orders never to leave it for a moment.
The journey to Panama was a terrible one, and showed the power of the
commander over his men. They had expected to find plenty of provisions
in the country, and consequently did not burden themselves with any on
their departure from Chagres. At the first landing-place they found the
people had fled, leaving nothing behind them, and this was the case at
nearly every other point. For three entire days the men were without
food, and many of them wanted to turn back; partly by persuasion and
partly by threats Morgan kept them together, though they were so much
reduced that they were forced to eat some leather sacks found at an
abandoned plantation on the way.
[Illustration: MORGAN'S MEN DINING ON LEATHER.]
The manner of preparing this food is interesting, but it is to be hoped
none of our readers will ever be obliged to put it in practice. Some of
the men devoured the leather raw, cutting it into small pieces, and
swallowing it with water. Others, more fastidious, cut it into strips,
moistened it with water, and then rubbed it between two stones until it
was flexible. Then they scraped off the hair with their knives and
broiled the strips over the fire. When the leather was thoroughly done
it was cut into small pieces and washed down with water. After this
frugal meal the men fasted two days, till they reached a plantation
where they found a storehouse full of corn. All order and discipline
were lost until the fellows had eaten all they wanted and loaded
themselves with as much as they could carry. When they were assembled
again they cheered their commander, and shouted "_To Panama_!"
[Illustration: DEATH OF THE INDIAN CHIEF.]
Their plenty did not last long, as they soon encountered a small force
of Indians who had been sent out to intercept them. The men threw away
their loads of corn and prepared to fight. The battle was a short one,
as the Indians were overpowered by the superior weapons of the
buccaneers, though the latter lost several of their number. The chief of
the Indians fought bravely, and thrust a spear through one of his
assailants before they succeeded in conquering him.
They were starving again, but as they came near Panama they found a herd
of cattle, which supplied excellent material for food. Here Morgan
ordered a halt till the men were fed, and their strength was restored;
the camp was full of joy at the prospect of a speedy termination of
their sufferings, and on the next morning the attack was ordered; the
invaders had seen the city from the "Hill of the Buccaneers," and were
now in front of it.
[Illustration: MOVING THROUGH THE FOREST.]
Morgan captured some Indians, and forced them to act as guides, under
the penalty, often exacted in war, of being shot if they gave false
information. Morgan had ordered the march to be taken directly to the
city, but his guides told him the road was lined with artillery, and the
whole Spanish force was concentrated there. Satisfied that the
information was correct, he turned into the forest, and endeavored to
move to the right without being discovered. The Spanish commander found
out what the buccaneers were doing; he could not move his artillery, but
he marched his soldiers, and drew them up on the open plain in front of
the position for which his assailants were aiming.
[Illustration: CAPTURE OF OLD PANAMA BY MORGAN. (_Fac-simile of an old
print._)]
When the invaders came in view of the plain they found three thousand
soldiers ready to meet them, while their own number was little over a
thousand. They were disheartened with the prospect, but Morgan told them
it would be certain death in the wilderness to turn back, while a
well-fought battle would give them the city with all its riches. Thus
doubly induced, they determined to fight; the battle was begun by the
buccaneers, and, certainly to the surprise of the Spaniards, it resulted
in the dispersal of the defenders, and the possession of the city by
Morgan and his followers, within three hours after firing the first
shot.
The buccaneers plundered the churches and the houses of the merchants,
and they tortured many of the priests, and other inhabitants, to compel
them to tell where their treasures were concealed. In anticipation of
disaster, much of the treasure of the churches, and also of the
wealthiest merchants, had been sent on board a ship which sailed for
Spain a few hours after the surrender of the city. It might have been
captured with ease, but a party which Morgan had sent to intercept any
departing vessel did not do their duty, and so the richest of all the
prizes slipped through their hands.
Morgan and his party remained in Panama for three weeks, and then
returned to Chagres. Before leaving they burned the city, and carried
away six hundred prisoners, and one hundred and seventy-five beasts of
burden laden with plunder. The division of the spoils was made at
Chagres; it amounted to only two hundred dollars apiece, very much to
the disappointment of the men. Morgan was openly accused of keeping very
much more than belonged to him; the accusations became so serious as to
threaten open revolt; and Morgan secretly embarked for Jamaica, and
sailed away, with two ships besides his own.
He reached Jamaica in safety, and as the war between England and Spain
was then over, his occupation as a legal freebooter was at an end. His
services were promptly recognized by the British government, and he
was appointed a marine commissary, and knighted by King Charles II. It
is to be hoped that he led a less disreputable life as Sir Henry Morgan
than when he was simply known as Morgan the buccaneer.
[Illustration: THE LUCKY ARROW.]
A curious incident is narrated by Morgan's biographer in the account of
the capture of Chagres. The fort was surrounded by a palisade which the
assailants repeatedly tried to set on fire, but each time failed. Just
as they were about to give up the attack and retire, an arrow from the
fort passed completely through the body of one of their number and
protruded from his breast. The man was mad with pain; he seized the
arrow and pulled it through, then wrapped it with cotton, rammed it into
his gun, and fired it back again at the fort. The powder ignited the
cotton, and this in turn set fire to the leaves with which the fort was
thatched. The Spaniards were so busy in beating back their assailants
that they did not discover the fire until too late to stop it. The
flames spread to a barrel of powder, which blew a great hole in the side
of the fort, and made an entrance for the buccaneers; meantime they took
advantage of the confusion to open the palisade, and soon had the fort
in their possession.