Aspinwall is only about five years old. It cannot fail to become a very important place, commercially; the passage of emigrants, the greater number of them bound for California, is at present the principal basis of its prosperity. Its population is made up of various races, from the purest whites to the solid black of the finest of negroes, and including the various shades of the Indian peoples. One part of the village is marshy, which must render it unwholesome; but this serious disadvantage will soon have been remedied.
The Isthmus of Panama is thirty-six miles in width, and the railroad that joins the two oceans forty-seven in length. This railroad may be cited as a wonder, for the boldness of the undertaking and the success with which it was carried out. It traverses dense forests and crosses one handsome river, over which a bridge of the most solid construction has been thrown. It is indeed a gigantic work, and must have cost an enormous sum. How many European workmen, attracted by greed of gain, have come to this burning climate in search of fortune, and found nothing but death!
There is no sign of human habitation along the way, save two or three little villages, consisting of a few poor huts of bamboo. The children wear scarcely any clothing; grown persons are covered, but very lightly. Their food consists mainly of vegetables and fruits, which are very abundant and grow almost without cultivation.
Formerly, to reach the farther shore, it was necessary to travel three or four days afoot or on horseback, amid privations and difficulties of every kind. To-day you are softly transported in less than three hours from Aspinwall to Panama. During the short ride, I admired a charming and graceful little flower with a white centre and purple petals. It bears a deceiving resemblance to a very young dove with
outspread wings. Head, eyes, bill, nothing is lacking, except the feet. The Spanish have named it, very properly,
the Flower of the Holy Spirit. It is indeed a very remarkable country, with respect to flowers, plants and trees; the