Traveller.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 357, 12 March 1903, Page 7

Traveller.

ACROSS THE ISTHMUS OF PANAMA arriving in Navy Bay* on which. Colon iB situated, your attention <>\§TO Is immediately taken up by the low-lying appearaace of the land. With the exception of the cocoa-nut palms, which are the first tropica] growths to catch your eye from the steamer, everything appears to lie on a level with the sea. Projecting from the shore into the sea are three wharves for the convenience of loading and unloading vessels. On being drawn up at one of these, the steamer is immediately boarded by gongs of niggers, who commence the work of unloading at once. On stepping ashore you find yourself almoet immediately in the mam street, at one end of which the railway station is situated. On looking around you note the curious shops, or rather stores, almost all being made of wood. In them, nearly everything can be bought, but the prices as a rule are very high. The population, so far as you can see, consists chiefly of blacks, many of whom are said to be the descendants of African slaves. Comparatively very few Columbians are to be seen, and these only at the public offices, suohasthe post office. Here, by the way, let me say, that these gentlemen of the post office have some very curious notions about the value of English silver coin, and'unless you can talk Spanish you do not nearly get the value of your money. A soldier, in very worn-out suit, with gun .shouldered and bayonet fixed, is usually to be seen marching to and fro before an official office or residence. The po'iceman is his exact opposite, for he is very neat in his appearance. Running along the edge of the sea, northwards, there is a very fine long avenue of cocoa-nut palm trees, which culminate before a few excellent residences, one of which is pointed out as laving been the residence of M. de Lesseps the great French engineer and originator of the Panama Canal scheme. Near by, and overlooking the sea, there is a fine statue of Columbus, discoloured somewhat from atmospheric effects. All along the avenue, underneath the palms, there are a large number of huts in which the niggers live. The huts, made of wood, rest upon pillars made of stones arranged at tho four corner s of a square and raised, to a height of 1-2 feet from the ground.: f'J Many of the large specimens of the black woman—familiar to us from pictures—are to be seen, with head tied up in coloured kerchief, taking a peep at the curious visitor. On the refuse heaps, of which there are many and at no great distance from each other, great black birds of the vulture tribe ..pan be seen scavenging. They appear to be the only sanitary authorities, and are thought so much of- by reason of doing this particular class of work that the Columbian Government imposes a fine on anyone who is aght shooting one of them. r ..., The smells are bad enough even with the birds as scavengers, what they would be like without the birds one cannot imagine. Veiy delicious fruits are easily obtained in Colon, but they are not so cheap as yoa would expect.

The language spoken by the majority of the population is a dialect of Spanish. Many of the negroes can speak a little English j this being no doubt due to the large number of English and Americans who pass through Colon. Colon possesses nothing that can compensate you for over one day's stay; in fact everything of interest can be seen in a few hours, besides the heat gets so oppressive as to force you to leave at the first opportunity. The train for' Panama starts at 8 a.m. A first-class ticket costs £2, and anything over the allotted weight in luggage is charged at the'rate of Hi. per lb. These figures are- rather high considering the distance, 47-48 miles. The train consists usually of four American cars attached tc a cow-catcher engine. A little before 8 a.m., a large bell attached to the engine begins to toll, and at 8 prompt the train leaves Colon.' On emerging from the station, the train proceeds along the main street, and then over swamps,' in which alligators, boaconstrictors, etc., exist. In a few minutes, however, the train is buried in the vast tropical growths, all sorts of tropical vegetatiorf' being open to your gaze. Various prettily coloured birds and magnificent butterflies are to be seen, and just a little inside from the railway monkeys, tiger cats, ant-eaters, etc, are to be met with. In some of the open views you get from the railway carriage, you can see curiously constructed huts o£ bamboo built right up amidst the branches of the trees; a long straggling fragile ladder reaches up from the floor, Indians, half-castes, and negroes live in these huts.

The rate of travelling is rather slow, and the number of stations the train stops at is almost incredible. Most of these places are very small, being merely a small collection of huts. The stations themselves are built wjth a minimum of material, there being little else besides a small timber platform set up near the line to enable the passengers to alight conveniently. The negroes chiefly get on and off at these places. The Chinaman is to be seen at nearly all of the stopping places stand ing at the door of his shop puffing away at his opium pipe. Many of the children run about absolutely naked.' On arriving at one of these stations the train is soon surrounded by fruit and cake sellers, who apparently don't care much whether you buy or not. This apparent apathy shown by the vendors is in harmony with the whole surrounding atmosphere of the place. It rather strikes you at first, for this iB probably the only chance they got of doing any business during the day. The railroad accompanies the canal for some distance and at different places materials used in the construction of the canal can be seen.

At a quarter to eleven a.m. the train arrives in Panama, the journey across the Isthmus thus taking two and threequarter hours. On stepping on to the platform at Panama you are immediately surrounded by swarms of niggers who wish to look after your luggage. Very soon yon find yourself being tossed to and fro in a broken down Victoria over the cobble atones and ditches on your way to the hotel. Panama is a large town, and possesses, like all other Spanish towns, a large plaza or square which is bounded ,by some of the principal buildings, The centre of the plaza is adorned with trees and shrubs, seats are arranged, and here in the cool of the evening you see foreign business men taking their constitutional. - All the large buildings in Panama are the churches, and are great in number, their appearance being very ancient. The bells, not often at rest, give anything but a musical sound.