Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/169



OtT THE  ISTHMUS,  157

their friends  were  the  favored  ones. Durmor all  this time the  cholera  was  playing  havoc  among  the  emi- grants as well  as  among  the  residents  of  Panamd. It is a  fact  that  hundreds  of  the  former  were  victims  of that  scourge,  and  of  malignant  fevers,  and  that  nearly the whole  black  population  of  the  Isthmus  was  also swept away  by  the  epidemic,  which  lasted  until  1851. In the  course  of  time,  ample  facilities  for  the  transpor- tation of passengers  from  the  Isthmus  were  provided ; but the  above  data,  and  those  given  further  on,  con- vey an idea  of  what  the  first  seekers  after  California gold by  way  of  the  Isthmus  had  to  undergo,  until  the railway, commenced  in  1850,  was  completed,  in  Janu- ary 1855=

Seven miles  of  that  great  undertaking — great  con- sidering the time  and  the  place — the  Panama  railway, was accomplished  when,  on  the  first  of  March,  1852, we dropped  anchor  off  Chagres;  and  to  afford  the company due  encouragement,  those  seven  miles  must be travelled  over,  and  contribution  levied  for  the  same, at the  rate  of  nearly  one  dollar  a  mile,  on  every  pas- senger crossing the  Isthmus  thereafter. So orders were given  to  weigh  anchor,  and  proceed  thence  two or three  leagues  easterly  to  Colon,  or  Navy  bay,  then called Aspinwall,  the  name  and  glory  of  the  first  ad- miral beino; thrust  aside  for  those  of  a  New  York money magnate. However, the  old  name  of  Colon was a  few  years  after  restored. There we  disembarked, and rode  ever  the  seven  miles  of  completed  work,  pay- ing for the  same  quite  liberally,  when  we  were  per- mitted to engage  boats  and  ascend  the  Chagres  river, which we  could  as  easily  and  as  cheaply  have  done before as  afterward.

Crossing the  Isthmus  in  early  times,  for  an  untrav- elled, provincial  people,  was  a  feat  altogether  indi- vidual and unique  ;  a  feat  very  different  from  a  three or four  hours'  ride  in  comfortable  rail-cars,  through