After the departure of the galleons, Portobello was almost abandoned by the Spaniards, and left mainly to negroes and mulattoes, the inhabitants living chiefly by renting their dwellings and stores at exorbitant rates.[XXVII‑11] The town was built in the shape of a crescent; its harbor was one of the most secure in the Indies,[XXVII‑12] and ship-building and the preparation of cedar lumber were its leading industries. The climate of Portobello, like that of other towns on the Isthmus, was unhealthy, as I have elsewhere stated, though less so than that of Nombre de Dios or even Panamá. The hospital was crowded with invalid soldiers, laborers, and slaves, and in 1608 an annual grant of two thousand ducats was assigned by the crown for its support. In 1610 the city of Panamá had not more than one third of the population which it possessed in 1585,[XXVII‑13] although from the time of its establishment to the latter date it had grown steadily in wealth and population. The best indication of its decline as a commercial centre is the fact that the revenues of the casa de Cruces,[XXVII‑14] which at one time were farmed out for ten thousand pesos a year, were rented in 1610 for only two thousand pesos. There were mines, but they were not worked;[XXVII‑15] pearl-fisheries, but they lay idle; a measure of trade, but it was in the hands of monopolists, who shared their profits with the king.[XXVII‑16] * * * * * The expenses of the general government of Panamá were met by annual appropriations allowed by the council of the Indies, and if we take into consideration the sparseness of the population and the comparative cheapness of the necessaries of life, the officials were exceedingly well paid for their services.[XXVII‑17] But good pay does not seem to have secured faithful service, for on the 28th of March 1605 his Majesty informs the president that he has learned that married officials, while going their official rounds, were accustomed to take with them their wives, who were always provided for at the towns they visited; he enjoins him to forbid them thus to take advantage of their position and to insist that the retinue of bailiffs and servants be reduced to the smallest possible number. Governor Valverde in his report of June 6th following, says that many of the interior towns of Tierra Firme had not been visited by an oidor for many years, and that the province of Veragua had never been visited at all. To remedy such neglect the governor orders the oidores to visit all properly designated places in rotation. * * * * * [Sidenote: INTEROCEANIC COMMUNICATION.]