Panama and the canal in picture and prose .. . lver in the town andmany chests of goldin the treasure his appetitewhetted for treasureDrake retired to plan a more profitable was to be nothingless than a land expe-dition to cut off oneof the treasure cara-vans just outside ofold Panama on its waydown the Nombre deDios trail. Had theIndian populationbeen as hostile to theEnglish then as theybecame in later daysthis would have beena more perilous at this time themen who lurked in thejungles, or hunted onthe broad savannashad one beast of prey they feared and hated mo
Panama and the canal in picture and prose .. . lver in the town andmany chests of goldin the treasure his appetitewhetted for treasureDrake retired to plan a more profitable was to be nothingless than a land expe-dition to cut off oneof the treasure cara-vans just outside ofold Panama on its waydown the Nombre deDios trail. Had theIndian populationbeen as hostile to theEnglish then as theybecame in later daysthis would have beena more perilous at this time themen who lurked in thejungles, or hunted onthe broad savannashad one beast of prey they feared and hated morethan the lion or the boa—the Spaniard. Whether In-dian or Cimmaroon—as the escaped slaves were called—every man out in that tropic wilderness had somegood ground for hating the Spaniards, and so whenDrake and his men came, professing themselves ene-mies of the Spaniards likewise, the country folkmade no war upon them but aided them to creepdown almost within sight of Panama. Halting here,at a point which must have been well within the. NATIVE WOMEN OF THE SAVANNAS BEARING BURDENS THE FUTILE ATTACK ON THE TREASURE TRAIN 69 Canal Zone and which it seems probable was nearthe spot where the Pedro Miguel locks now rise, theysent a spy into the town who soon brought backinformation as to the time when the first mule-trainwould come out. All seemed easy then. Most of the travel acrossthe isthmus was by night to avoid the heat of theday. Drake disposed his men by the side of thetrail—two In-dians or Cim-maroons toeach latter hadput their shirtson outside oftheir breast-plates so thatthey might betold in thedark by thewhite cloth—for the ancientchroniclerswould have usbelieve thempun c tiliousabout theirlatmdry were to liesilent in thejungle untilthe train hadpassed, thenclosing in be-hind cut off all retreat to Panama—when ho! for the fat pannierscrammed with gold and precious stones! The plan was simplicity itself and was defeatedby an equal
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Keywords: ., bookauthorabbotwil, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookyear1913
