I can imagine no more detestable spot anywhere than this Spanish Main,
in spite of the distant view of the mighty Cordilleras, around whose
summits perpetual thunderstorms seem to play, and from which fierce
gales swoop down on the sea. Clammy, suffocating heat, fever-dealing
swamps, decaying towns, with an effete population and a huge rainfall,
do not constitute an attractive whole. Owing to the intense humidity,
even the gales bring no refreshing coolness in their train.

It is easy to understand the importance the old Spanish conquistadores
attached to the Isthmus of Panama, for all the gold brought from Peru
had to be carried across it on mule-back to the Atlantic coast, before
it could be shipped to Spain. Even Columbus, who did not know of the
existence of the Pacific, founded a short-lived settlement at Porto
Bello, or Nombre de Dios, in 1502, and Martin de Enciso established
another at Darien in 1502, but the combined effects of the deadly
climate and of hostile Indians exterminated the settlers. After Vasco
Nunez de Balboa had discovered the Pacific on September 26, 1513, the
strategic importance of the Isthmus became obvious, so Cartagena on
the Caribbean, and Panama on the Pacific were founded. The ill-advised
and ill-fated enterprise of the Scotsman William Patterson came much
later, in 1698. The Scottish settlement of Darien, from which such
marvellous results were expected, lasted barely two years. In 1700 the
few survivors of the adventurers from Scotland were expelled by the
Spaniards, ruined alike in health and pocket. The fever-stricken
coasts of the Spanish Main needed but little defence of forts and
guns, to protect them against the aggressive efforts of other European
nations.

At our first calling-place after leaving England, we heard of the