THE SANITARIUM AT TABOGA
Panama Bay runs straight south from Ancon mountain about one hundred
miles. It is filled with a great number of islands, which are
evidently the tops of mountains projecting above the surface of the
water. One of these islands is Taboga, situated in the bay about
twelve miles south of the city of Panama. It rises abruptly from the
surface of the ocean about a thousand feet, and at the present time
is very thoroughly cultivated, the principal product being pineapples
which have a great local reputation for size and flavor. It was
inhabited by the Indians when the city of Panama was first founded
by the Spaniards, and the wealthy inhabitants of the city of Panama
early made it a resort, as being pleasanter, cooler and more healthy
than the mainland. The water was considered unusually pure, and the
island had the reputation of not being liable to yellow fever.
A quaint little village, Taboga, nestles on the beach at the foot of
the mountain. This village is now some four hundred years old, and
the church there is reputed to be about that age. A gruesome thing
about the pretty little church is the fact that in the outer wall a
human skull is imbedded in the masonry. A glass cover is placed over
the front, and the skull can be plainly seen. I was told that this
was the skull of one of the early padres, who had been a very good
man, and to whom the people were greatly devoted. And when he died,
they took this method of perpetuating his memory and showing their
veneration.
For the reason that Taboga was considered so much more healthy than
Panama, the French located there a sanitarium. It was very prettily
situated outside the limits of the village of Taboga, and the grounds
about the sanitarium had been beautified and improved by the French
just as had the grounds of Ancon Hospital. In their sanitarium
they could accommodate about one hundred people. We enlarged this
institution, and made it a convalescent hospital of about one hundred
and twenty beds, and patients were received here on the same terms
as in our other hospitals. It has proved to be to us a most useful
institution.
In the early days, the Isthmus had such a bad reputation for health
that when an American got sick, he became very much depressed and
made up his mind that he was going to die, and usually determined
that he would go back home to the United States if he ever again
became able to travel. The island of Taboga had such a reputation for
salubrity that we could generally persuade him, when in this frame of
mind, to go to the convalescent hospital there until he was able to
travel, or until his ship sailed. He usually improved so rapidly at
Taboga that by the time a ship was ready to sail, he had gotten over
his homesickness and depression. In this way a large number of useful
employees were saved to the Commission.
I think the bay of Panama, looking north from Taboga, compares very
favorably with the bay of Naples, and reminds one somewhat of that
famous sheet of water. A most romantic dell leads up to the top of
the mountain from the convalescent hospital. Down this dell runs the
only stream of water on the island, fed by springs near the top of
the mountain, by way of this ravine. When one has finally reached the
crest of the mountain a thousand feet above the level of the sea, the
view on all sides is superb. To the north the mouth of the Canal,
defended by the fortified islands of Naos, Perico and Flemenco; the
city of Panama, Ancon mountain, and in the distance the continental
divide of Culebra. To the south, the bay, extending some fifty
or sixty miles, dotted with islands, large and small, and in the
distance, the historic group of the Pearl Islands.
The trail referred to gave access to the dozens of small pineapple
farms located on each side of the ravine. Just as the trail reaches
the top of the mountain there are three or four crosses, locating an
equal number of graves. Every fall, in September, the whole village
of Taboga turns out and has a religious procession which goes up to
these graves and decorates them. The tradition among the natives is
that when Sir Henry Morgan captured old Panama in 1670, he sent an
expedition down to Taboga. The townsmen made a very brave resistance,
but were slowly driven back by the pirates up the trail to the top
of the mountain, where they made their final stand, and at last
succeeded in beating off their enemies. The little burying-ground
was the point where they made this stand, and the townsmen who were
killed in the fight were buried where they fell. The yearly religious
ceremony which I saw was kept up in commemoration of their brave
fight.
The bay north of Taboga is pretty well inclosed by the mainland on
the northeast and west, and Taboga on the south. This piece of water
is a favorite place for the collection of large schools of fish,
and when these schools are in, all species of birds and fish follow
in innumerable myriads. It is a very interesting sight to stand on
the gallery of the convalescent hospital and see the thousands of
pelicans and other species of birds diving and plunging after their
prey. This is also a favorite nook for whales. I recollect on one
occasion seeing as many as six in this little bay at the same time.
They did not seem to be particularly shy, allowing us to approach
them in the steam launch to within twenty-five or thirty yards.
This bay was the scene of one of the most remarkable naval battles of
history. About ten years after Sir Henry Morgan’s sacking of Panama,
another buccaneering expedition crossed the Isthmus. They struck the
South Sea about opposite the Pearl Islands, camping on the bay of
San Miguel. Here they collected enough Indian dugouts to carry their
force of three hundred men. This Indian dugout is very much like
the one made by our Indians in the southern states, an exceedingly
unstable and easily capsized boat, as anyone knows who has ever
attempted to navigate one. It is much better adapted to the smooth
inland waters than to the rough open sea. The Pearl Islands are about
forty miles south of Taboga, and Sharp, with the bulk of his men,
undertook a foraging expedition to these islands. Hawkins with sixty
men went northward along the coast toward the city of Panama.
When they reached the island of Chepo, they heard that the Spanish
fleet was anchored at Taboga. Chepo is easily visible from Taboga.
The Spanish fleet consisted of the flagship, the _Santa Maria_, whose
armament was twenty guns, and whose crew consisted of one hundred
men. She was accompanied by two tenders of a couple of guns each, and
crews of about thirty men. Hawkins, having accurate information of
the armament and strength of the Spaniards, wished to be reënforced
by the main body before going any further. After waiting several
days, he thought it unwise to delay any longer, and determined to
attack the Spaniards with the force he then had—sixty men. So he
started his canoes paddling toward Taboga, some fifteen miles off.
When the Spaniards discovered the buccaneering fleet approaching,
they got under sail, expecting to have no difficulty in running down
and sinking in the open sea the canoes of the buccaneers.
Now the buccaneer, like our frontiersman, was dependent upon his gun
for his food. Most of them had spent many years hunting wild cattle
in Haiti, and the cured beef of cattle killed in this way was their
principal support, and also their principal article of export and
commerce, under the name of “buccan.” And this is how they got their
generic title of buccaneer, a person who produces buccan. This wild
life on the coast caused them to become equally expert in handling
the dugout.
Ring Rose commanded the leading division of six canoes, and described
the fight most graphically. As the large Spanish vessel bore down
upon the canoes of the buccaneers, under full sail, the latter found
no difficulty in avoiding the big vessel by a few strokes of the
paddles. As the great ship passed, the expert marksman in the canoe
shot down the man at the wheel. This caused the big ship to yaw, lose
headway and become stationary.
The buccaneers in the same way would shoot down any other man who
tried to get hold of the wheel, and so the vessel was unable to get
under sail again. With the vessel stationary, it was very easy for
the canoes to lie close in out of range of the big guns, and the
superior marksmanship of the buccaneers, with their small arms,
enabled them to keep down entirely small-arm fire from the _Santa
Maria_. Here they lay all day, picking off any Spaniard who dared
show himself. When evening came, the Spaniards surrendered. Ring
Rose states that when he boarded the _Santa Maria_ to accept the
surrender, of the one hundred men of the crew who had commenced
the fight, ninety-two had been shot down, and only eight were left
standing. Everyone of these eight was, however, wounded.
I call it one of the most extraordinary naval battles of history,
from the fact that sixty men in dugouts, armed only with small arms,
were able in the open sea to capture this man-of-war and her tenders,
having an armament of over twenty great guns, and crews of over one
hundred and fifty men. And this was accomplished not by surprise
or stealth, but in an open, stand-up fight. The Spaniards saw them
coming for miles, and sailed out to meet them.
The _Santa Maria_ had, under the pirates, a most extraordinary
history for three years. She sailed up and down the west coast,
bidding defiance to anything the Spaniards sent against her. She
finally doubled the Horn, reached the Barbadoes, and was there sold
by the pirates for a good round sum.