Note XXXIV-48 — Chapter XXXIV · INTEROCEANIC COMMUNICATION. 1801-1887.

'Mr. Hopkins,' says Capt Fitzroy, p. 23, 'was lately prevented by the Indians from ascending the Chepo River toward Mandinga or San Blas Bay; Mr Wheelwright was also stopped there in 1837; and Dr Cullen was likewise stopped by the aborigines while endeavoring to ascend the Paya River, that runs from near the mouths of the Atrato to the Tuyra, which falls into the gulf of San Miguel.'

I learned in Darien that Mr Hopkins and Don Pepe Hurtado, a Granadian engineer, made a present of a scarlet military coat to an Indian on the Chepo, and that as soon as the Indian chief of the district learned it, he flogged the Indian who accepted the present, and summoned his people to arms, and Mr H. and Don Pepe had to fly for their lives. Most probably the chief looked upon the acceptance of gaudy trappings as an acknowledgment of submission to foreigners. I have mentioned elsewhere my having learned subsequently that the reason of the Indians having stopped me was the fear of small-pox being introduced amongst them rather than any dislike to foreigners.