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VIEWS FROM A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD
#40 - PANAMA
Size: 3" x 5"
Copyrighted: 1891
Lithographer: Joseph P. Knapp
  
Illustrations: Portion of Canal; Mulatto's; Street Scene; View of Panama
| Reverse - Text |
Left section:
GRIND
YOUR COFFEE AT HOME
Right section: |
| PANAMA. |
| Panama, (an Indian word
meaning "abounding in
fish,") was founded in 1518
by Pedro Arias Davila, and is
thus the oldest European city in
America. It rose to great
importance, becoming the emporium
for the gold and silver from
Peru, but was destroyed by
Morgan's buccaneers in 1671, who
carried off 175 mule loads of
treasure and many hundred
prisoners. The city is on the
coast of the Pacific at the head
of the Gulf of Panama, a few
miles east of the mouth of the
Rio Grande. It occupies partly a
tongue of coral and basaltic
rock, and partly a gentle rise
towards Mt. Ancon. In the 16th
and 17th centuries Panama was
(next to Cartagena) the strongest
fortress of S.A., but its massive
granite ramparts, built by de
Villacorta in 1673, have been
razed on the land side and
allowed to sink into ruin toward
the sea. But few of the old
Spanish houses of the Moorish
style remain, but the dwellings
of three stories, of which the
upper two project, impart a
distinctive character differing
from the other towns of Central
America. There are some imposing
ruins of Jesuit and Franciscan
institutions. The Cathedral, a
Spanish edifice of 1760, has two
lateral towers which are the
loftiest in Central America. Its
façade was destroyed and the
columns thrown down by the
earthquake of 1882. The Church of
Santa Ana is interesting as the
rallying point for the insurgents
in the local revolutions. The
buildings of chief note are the
President's residence, Government
Office, State Assembly House,
Hospital in the old Convent of
the Conception, and the
headquarters of the Canal
Company. In the dry season, after
the perennial wells had been
dried up by the earthquake of
1883, water was brought in carts
from the Matasnillo; but works
were begun two years later for
introducing the water of the Rio
Grande. |
| The
business awakening started by the
California scenes of '49 prompted
the construction of the Isthmus
Railway and further agitation of
the Inter-oceanic Canal project,
which had been broached as early
as 1520. The tide rises and falls
about 20 feet at this point. |
| Population 1881, 30,000. |
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