OCR Text |
Show 380 PERSONAL ADVENTURES argue against the abolition of slavery, that where they have had-as at Panama-so In any privi .. leges, they have made but little progress. I can only say that the majority of them are ignorant, filthy, and lazy, and that their dwelling here in numbers renders a residence here extremely disagreeable to the majority of foreigners. The Americans whom I bad heard speak of Panama, judging of it merely from the character of the present population and probably the state of the weather when they visited it, had informed me that it was one of the dirtiest and most dis .. gusting places they had ever seen -the town being half sunk in mud, and, to use their own phraseology, " overrun with niggers." I had therefore expected to find it n1erely a collection of adobe and cane tenements, without a vestige of the labours of the civilized race that had once colonized it. Few places, however, have more interested me. As I surveyed the various re .. mains of former greatness that every,vhere presented tl~emselves to my vie,v, I was struck with a~miration at the enterprising genius and indomitable perseverance of the old Spaniards, and contrasted them with the indolent habits and deg~nerate spirit of their descendants. When we examine those enduring rnonuments of their vast labours, and take into consideration the gigantic difficulties which they had to encounter • IN CALIFORNIA. 381 in their accomplishment, it seems difficult to comprehend how the lapse of a few centuries should have so effeminated the mental and physical energies of this iron-willed and formidable race. Whether it be attributable to the influence of climate, or the admixture of blood, or to both conjoined, it is a subject for speculation, whether the action of nearly similar causes on the hardy Anglo-Saxon population attracted to these shores, is not likely in time to produce an analogous effect. I had some difficulty in hiring mules to Crucis, owing to the number of persons who were travelling that road. The natives had raised the price in proportion to the demand, and I found it im .. possible to obtain any sort of animal at less than sixteen dollars for the trip. I thought this rather extravagant, as the distance was only thirty miles, and felt very reluctant to hire a second one at the same price. Whilst reflecting on the matter, one of the volunteers informed me that I could hire one of the negroes to carry my baggage acrogs for five dollars. I was rather surprised at this, having heard a formidable account of the difficulties of the road; but, on inquiry, found that such was the fact, and accordingly made the bargain. _ I had passed three days in Panama; and, feel· ing desirous of continuing my journey, I had no |