. Pacific shores from Panama . sius, rising close by the beach,overlooking the little harbour. Here lay the townthat has caused such discussion among old Spanish chroniclers, with their customaryenthusiasm, describe it as a great city of severalthousand houses, with palaces and churches of suffi-cient splendour to make it resemble Venice! Benzoni,an Italian who visited it at this same early epoch,resented this comparison, and says that, on the con-trary, it was nothing but a collection of rude mudhuts. The truth lay somewhere between these two ex-tremes. The ruins that remain wo
. Pacific shores from Panama . sius, rising close by the beach,overlooking the little harbour. Here lay the townthat has caused such discussion among old Spanish chroniclers, with their customaryenthusiasm, describe it as a great city of severalthousand houses, with palaces and churches of suffi-cient splendour to make it resemble Venice! Benzoni,an Italian who visited it at this same early epoch,resented this comparison, and says that, on the con-trary, it was nothing but a collection of rude mudhuts. The truth lay somewhere between these two ex-tremes. The ruins that remain would certainly attesta well-built town of considerable importance, and itis probable that all about this substantial nucleus ofstone clustered hundreds of flimsy constructions ex-tending into the surrounding savannahs. When a treasure-ship was despatched from Peru, [32] PANAMA an express was sent ahead to advise the people ofPanama of its coming, and their governor, in his turn,notified the colonies along the Spanish Main. Upon. Ruins of Old Panama its arrival the treasure was carried across the Isthmusby recwas, or donkey-trains, convoyed by strong forcesof soldiers. But the English and French buccaneers,the Cimaroons, and the San Bias Indians with poi-soned arrows gave them many a bitter fight upon theway. Its destination was Nombre de Dios, that, [33] PACIFIC SHORES FROM PANAMA owing to its unhealthy situation, had but few per-manent inhabitants. Upon the arrival of these treas-ure-trains, however, it filled with a multitude ofmerchants from Panama and the colonies along theCaribbean, who bargained and bartered for Kings galleons, that had been waiting in the safehavens of Cartagena and Santa Marta, came over toload their precious cargoes and transport the KingsFifth to Spain. Thus upon this pebbly beach of Panama Viejo—acove large enough for galleons but scarcely capableof accommodating half a dozen modern ships—allthe wealth of the Incas, Atahualpas ransom, th
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