2-888-424 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Chagres - the Fort, [Isthmus of Panama], 1850. View of '...the ancient Spanish fortification at Chagres, situated at the mouth of the river of that name. It was built in the 17th century, when the present Republic of New Granada was under the dominion of Spain...I can corroborate...that gold is found near Panama [City]...Much gold was found on the Atlantic side of the Isthmus. It is collected by the Indians from the Riobro, a small stream about sixty miles N.W. of Chagres...I have seen specimens as fine and pure as any that have arrived from California; and am convinced that along the whole chain of mountains running from the Isthmus to the Sierra Nevada there are abundant deposits of the precious metal. I would not advise any European, however, to stop here to obtain it, as the climate is...very unhealthy; and, though gold might be got, it would be at the expense of health or life'. From "Illustrated London News", 1850.