TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: Minor typographic errors corrected. Some place names have out-of-date spellings. Photographic plates are presented on facing pages within the book and have been placed at the nearest paragraph break in this document. Chapters are preceded by a page with the chapter title printed on it; since this is repeated on the following page, such pages are omitted.

THE PANAMA CANAL AND ITS MAKERS

THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS

By George W. Crichfield

Illustrated. Two Vols. Royal 8vo, cloth, 25s.

THE SOUTH AMERICAN SERIES

Edited by Martin Hume

Each Volume Demy 8vo, cloth, 10s. 6d. net.

VOL. I.

CHILE

Its History and Development, Natural Features, Products, Commerce and Present Conditions. By G. F. Scott Elliott, M.A., F.R.G.S., Author of "A Naturalist in Mid Africa." With an Introduction by Martin Hume, a Map, and many Illustrations.

"An exhaustive and interesting account, not only of the turbulent history of this country but of her present conditions and seeming prospects."--Westminster Gazette. "Will be found attractive and useful reading by the student of history, the geographer, the naturalist, and last, but assuredly not least, the British merchant."--Scotsman.

VOL. II.

PERU

Its Former and Present Civilisation, Topography and Natural Resources, History and Political Conditions, Commerce and General Development. By C. Reginald Enock, F.R.G.S., Author of "The Andes and the Amazon." With an Introduction by Martin Hume, a Map, and numerous Illustrations.

"An important work.... The writer possesses a quick eye and a keen intelligence; is many-sided in his interests, and on certain subjects speaks as an expert. The volume deals fully with the development of the country, and is written in the same facile and graphic style as before. Illustrated by a large number of excellent photographs."--The Times. "A magnificent collection of information on this interesting country. The author's vivid and eloquent description invests it for us with some of the glamour it possessed for the Conquistadores of the sixteenth century; and on closing the book the reader feels tempted to set out at once for Peru."--Yorkshire Observer.

IN PREPARATION

VOL. III.

MEXICO

By C. Reginald Enock

LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN

MAKERS OF THE CANAL

THE PANAMA CANAL
AND ITS MAKERS.

By VAUGHAN CORNISH

Doctor of Science (Manchester Univ.), Fellow of the Royal Geographical,
Geological, and Chemical Societies of London,
Member of the Japan Society

WITH MAP, PLANS,
AND PHOTOGRAPHS
TAKEN BY THE AUTHOR

T. FISHER UNWIN
LONDON: ADELPHI TERRACE
LEIPSIC: INSELSTRASSE 20

1909

(All rights reserved.)

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED

TO

THE REVEREND CHARLES JOHN CORNISH, M.A. (Oxon),

OF FLEET, HANTS, AND SALCOMBE REGIS, DEVON,

BY

HIS AFFECTIONATE SON,

THE AUTHOR.

PREFACE

I AM indebted to many persons for advice and information in connection with my study of the Panama Canal, and wish to thank particularly His Excellency the Rt. Hon. James Bryce, the Rt. Hon. Lord Avebury, Mr. Claude Mallet, C.M.G., Colonel George E. Church, Colonel George W. Goethals, chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commission, and his colleagues, Colonel W.C. Gorgas, M.D., Major D.D. Gaillard, Major William L. Sibert, Mr. Jackson Smith, and Mr. Bucklin Bishop. Also Major Chester Harding, Mr. Arango, Mr. G.R. Shanton, Chief of Police, Mr. William Gerig (formerly in charge of the Gatun Dam), Mr. Mason W. Mitchell, and Mr. Tracy Robinson.

VAUGHAN CORNISH.

November, 1908.

CONTENTS

ILLUSTRATIONS

INTRODUCTION

AT the present moment the Canal Zone of the Isthmus of Panama is the most interesting place in the world. Here is gathered an army of 40,000 men engaged in the epoch-making work of uniting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and here is the greatest collection of machinery ever massed for the accomplishment of one undertaking.

If the present rate of progress continue unchecked, the Canal, it is calculated, will be opened in 1915. Then will that Isthmus, which has hitherto been a barrier between two oceans but has failed to act as a bridge between two continents, be pierced by a waterway capable of floating the largest ships now built or building. Then will the Pacific coasts of the Americas be accessible from ports on both sides of the Atlantic without the necessity of a voyage by the Straits of Magellan. Then will the distance from New York to San Francisco be shortened by 8,400 and that from Liverpool by 6,000 miles; the distance from New York to South American ports will be shortened by an average of 5,000 and that from Liverpool to these ports by an average of 2,600 miles: then for the first time Yokohama on the north and Sydney on the south will be brought nearer to New York than to Liverpool or Antwerp, and then will New Orleans and the ports on the Mexican Gulf be brought nearer than New York, by sea, to San Francisco, South America beyond Pernambuco, Australia, and Japan.

STATUE OF COLUMBUS, CHRISTOBAL, COLON.

CHRISTCHURCH, COLON.

No one who cares to know the greater things which are shaping the world can now afford to be ignorant of what is happening on the Isthmus of Panama. In the former days of unstable companies the student of affairs might decline to occupy himself in the study of an undertaking of which the fruition was doubtful. Now, however, that the Government of a great nation have put their hands to the plough the furrow will be driven through. The United States have acquired complete ownership and control of the Canal and of a strip of land five miles wide on either side, called the Canal Zone. The small State of Panama, in which this zone is situate, has placed itself under the protection of the United States. The Government of Great Britain has by a treaty ratified in 1901 waived the treaty right which it formerly enjoyed to share with the United States the control of any trans-Isthmian canal. The Isthmus has been freed from those pestilences which were the greatest obstacles to human effort, and the engineering difficulties are no longer beyond the scope of modern science.

Having first visited the Canal works at the beginning of 1907, I decided to make upon the spot a careful examination of the whole undertaking. For this purpose I visited Washington and made application through the proper channel to the Department of State, which kindly consented to further the inquiry. A set of the published documents was supplied to me, and I proceeded from New York to the Isthmus by the R.M.S.P. Magdalena, arriving at Colon April 12, 1908. Here Colonel Goethals, chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commission, provided me with a letter to those concerned to furnish all information, and proposed that I should make my way about unattended and pursue my inquiries independently. I was thus enabled to converse with perfect freedom with the rank and file, while drawing freely on the special information possessed only by the heads of departments.

For the benefit of readers in England I may explain that these circumstances were to me of especial importance on account of the doubts thrown by American writers, and also by Americans of repute in conversation, upon the reliability of official and other information supplied to the American public on the burning topic of the Isthmus. As an Englishman, and therefore standing outside American party politics, and as a scientific student not engaged in commerce or political life, I came to the study of the subject without prepossessions. This at least was my happy state when I arrived in Washington in March last. When I left for the Canal Zone a month later I was filled with gloomy forebodings that I might after all find a rotten state of affairs on the Isthmus. It was with intense relief that I found that I had what is called in America "an honest proposition" to deal with. As my doubts hitherto had been due to the patriotic anxiety of their compatriots, I am sure Colonel Goethals and his colleagues will forgive me for this frank statement of my difficulties and their solution.

Any Englishman, accustomed to see the work of our own soldiers and civil servants in the Crown Colonies or in Egypt, would recognise in the officers of the corps of Engineers and of the Army Medical Corps who are in charge of the Canal Zone men of a like high standard of duty. As this account is written not only for my own countrymen but also for readers on the other side of the Atlantic, I should be glad, if it be possible, to convince of my own bona-fides those anxious patriots who find it difficult to believe any good report from Panama. It may tend in this direction to state that I travelled and sojourned at my own charges, and that I went out on an independent inquiry. That I had promised to give an account of the Canal works to my brother geographers in London was my only undertaking, and the acceptance of a free pass on the Panama Railway my only financial obligation either in Washington or on the Isthmus.

In order properly to understand the present and future of the Canal undertaking, it is necessary to give a short account of the history of Isthmian communication, for the conditions which now face the American Government and the Commission are not solely due to present physical causes, but also to previous events.

CHAPTER I

HISTORICAL REVIEW

THE conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453 completed their capture of the trade routes between Western Europe and the East Indies. The East Indian trade had long been a source of great enrichment to European merchants. It was especially suited to the restricted carrying power of those times, the products (such as pepper) being small in bulk and high in price. The maritime nations therefore sought sea routes to the Indies in pursuit of this trade, and it was Columbus himself, in his efforts to open up a western route to the Indies and China, who discovered the Bay of Limon in 1497. He and his successors sought for a strait or channel which should open the way to the East Indies. Cortes sought for the strait in Mexico. Others sought as far north as the St. Lawrence, which was supposed to afford a route to China. No opening could, however, be found nearer to the Equator than the Straits of Magellan (1520), and the hopes of a short route westward to the Indies were disappointed. An Isthmian canal was talked of even in the days of Charles V. of Spain to open the route to the East Indies. In those days of small vessels, the river channels would have served for a great part of the traverse, so that the scheme was not so wild as it may seem.

LOCK AND DAM SITE, GATUN.

EXCAVATION FOR LOCKS, GATUN.

The purpose, therefore, of the first proposal for piercing the Isthmus was for shortening the distance to the Indies and China. The discovery of the nearer riches of Peru, however, illustrated the fact that the Isthmian barrier has its uses as well as its inconveniences. Porto Bello and Panama were fortified, ships were launched from the latter port for the Peruvian traffic, the treasure was carried across the Isthmus under escort and shipped to Spain. The treasure-ships, indeed, were liable to attack on the Caribbean, but the Isthmian barrier proved an important safeguard to the Peruvian possessions of Spain.

In the next century, the seventeenth, the importance of the Isthmian land route declined, owing to the fact that Spain was no longer able to secure even moderate safety for her ships on the Caribbean. In the present days, when the importance of naval power is so well understood, it is hardly necessary to enlarge upon the significance of this fact, and its bearing upon the problems presented by the Panama route to-day. The project of an Isthmian canal for the purpose of trade between Europe and Asia continued to be agitated, but the inducements were inadequate to overcome the obstacles.

In the middle of the nineteenth century, for the second time, it was the need of improved communication between the east and west of the American Continent which provided a sufficient inducement to improve the Isthmian route.

At this time the Government of the United States were much occupied with projects of trans-Isthmian communication, particularly by canal, not with a view to Transpacific commerce, but with the object of improved communication between the east and west of their own territory.

In 1846 a treaty was made with the State of New Grenada (afterwards Colombia) with a view to providing facilities for transport in the war between the United States and Mexico. In its most important provision it is similar to the present treaty between the United States and the new Republic of Panama, viz., the United States guarantee the sovereignty of the State in question over the Isthmian territory. Hence the Isthmus was thus early constituted a Protectorate of the United States.

But at this time it was generally thought that Lake Nicaragua provided the best route for a trans-Isthmian canal.

The Pacific seaboard having recently acquired importance to the United States, the Government desired to further the canal project on that account. The only practicable Atlantic terminal of a Nicaraguan canal lay within territory over which Great Britain had long exercised control. Further, the Pacific Coast of Canada had recently acquired importance to the eastern provinces and to the home country, and access thereto was extremely difficult. The outcome of these circumstances was the conclusion in 1850 of the celebrated Clayton-Bulwer treaty between the United States and Great Britain, which was duly ratified by Congress. By this instrument it was agreed that neither Government should ever obtain or maintain for itself any exclusive control of any canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, nor erect fortifications commanding the same.

This treaty remained in force until 1901, and I shall have to refer to it again. Meanwhile the great rush of gold-seekers to California had supplied the needful stimulus to a scheme, already mooted, of an Isthmian railway terminating at Panama. In spite of the enormous difficulties entailed by the pestilential climate, the undertaking was completed in 1855. This achievement, originating in New York, was the work of W.H. Aspinwall, Henry Chauncey, and John L. Stephens.

RE-LOCATION OF RAILWAY ABOVE GATUN.

MOTOR TROLLEY FOR INSPECTION OF WORKS.

It was undertaken independently of any canal scheme, but it exercised a profound effect upon the fate of subsequent schemes. The facilities which the railway afforded determined de Lesseps's choice of route, and de Lesseps ploughed so deeply that those who came after him have found themselves constrained to follow his furrow. The "New World" is in fact no longer new, and its statesmen now have to solve problems presenting historical as well as physical factors.

The American Civil War interrupted the prosecution of canal schemes, but the examination of routes was recommenced by the United States Government in 1866, a Commission finally reporting in 1876^[1] in favour of the Nicaraguan route.

^[1] The report, however, was not published until 1879.

In 1869 the Suez Canal was opened for traffic. Immediately, the route by Panama ceased to be the shortest from Europe to any part of the East Indies. The importance of that route to Asia was thus greatly reduced as far as Europe was concerned, but, relatively, its importance to the United States was increased, for the Suez Canal does not shorten the Asiatic voyage from New York, Boston, or New Orleans to the same extent as it does for European ports.

The Old World had been severed into halves by the enterprise of one man, and that man no potentate, but merely one possessing the gift of persuasion. By his achievement, which was immediately crowned by financial success, Ferdinand de Lesseps suddenly became possessed of powers such as are not always at the disposal of the Governments even of great countries. He decided himself to sever the barrier between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, convened a "Congress" at Paris in 1879, and inaugurated in 1881 the Compagnie Universelle du Canal Inter-océanique de Panama. He had decided to adopt the Panama route on account of the facilities afforded by the railway. The money was mainly subscribed in France. The American railway company was bought out at the enormous price of $25,500,000, and in the course of the next eight years a large part of the work required for a tide-level canal was well executed on sound lines by the genius of the French, who are excelled by none in the arts of the civil engineer. The exact proportion which the French work bears to that since accomplished by the American Government will be shown later. The engineers now on the Isthmus are full of praise for the work of the French engineers, and their wonder daily grows both at its quantity and its ingenuity. It is only those at a distance, or ill-informed, who have belittled these achievements. Unfortunately, the French engineers were not properly supported. De Lesseps, if he were ever a practical man, had certainly ceased to be so since his first great success. A practical man is one who counts the cost of everything he is about to do. De Lesseps no longer counted cost. He had become as one believing in his star. His actions remind us of those of some of the great conquerors whose early successes have led them to undertake impossible campaigns. The question has been discussed if any human character can stand more than a certain share of success and yet retain a sound judgment. Certainly the character of de Lesseps was not equal to the strain. The expenditure was awful—$300,000,000 in eight years, i.e., more than three times the sum for which the Suez Canal was constructed. The Company went into liquidation in 1889. Much had been embezzled. Much, it is said, had been spent in purchasing the silence of voices which would otherwise have been raised against a Europeanised canal.

The affairs of the Company were taken over by the New Panama Canal Company, who continued to administer the railway, and, with small means, did excellent work for the next twelve years in keeping the machinery and the works from deterioration, in excavations at the summit, and above all in extending the scientific examination of the country so as to obtain much-needed data for the construction of the high-level canal which was now proposed in place of de Lesseps's project of a tide-level waterway.

In 1869 President Grant, in a message to Congress, had recommended the construction of an Isthmian canal under the sole control of the United States, and popular opinion since that time, if not before, has always strongly held that if a canal be made it should be exclusively under that control. It was not the least of de Lesseps's imprudences that he proceeded with his project in spite of warnings on this matter. In 1898 an event occurred which made the American nation feel that an Isthmian canal was necessary, and that it must be under their exclusive control. At the outset of the war with Spain, the Oregon, one of the best of America's small fleet of battleships (we write of ten years since), was lying in the Pacific. She had to steam more than 13,000 miles to reach Key West, and the whole nation was in a state of nervous tension for many weeks pending her junction with the main fleet.

It seemed at the time that the Panama route could hardly be obtained for a canal under purely American control, and a further investigation of the Nicaraguan route was ordered—that route which had been preferred by the American experts before de Lesseps intervened. The New Panama Canal Company had by this time brought their labours to the point where it seemed practicable to appeal to the investing public of the world for funds to construct a high-level Panama canal. To do this in the face of a Nicaraguan canal, undertaken as a national affair by the United States, would have been hopeless: they therefore laid their detailed plans before President McKinley. A Commission was accordingly appointed by Congress to inquire into the best route for an Isthmian canal "under the control, management, and ownership of the United States."^[2] The report was presented to Congress on December 4, 1901, rather more than two years later, and is a document of great historical and scientific interest. The quarto volume of 688 pages is accompanied by a portfolio of 86 maps, plans, and panoramic views. The last of these, showing the mountainous skyline of the Isthmus east of Colon, with altitudes marked, illustrates in a striking manner the conclusion of the Commission that the San Blas route, or any route east of Colon, would involve a ship tunnel. These routes are dismissed as impracticable on account of the altitude of the divide. The Nicaraguan and Panamanian are found to be the only practicable routes, and the details of both are fully discussed. The high-level canal was preferred by the Commission to the sea-level at Panama, and on the Nicaraguan route only a high-level canal is possible, so that in this respect the two routes were considered to be on a par.

^[2] Act of Congress approved by President, March 3, 1899, Commission appointed June 10.

TROPICAL FOREST WITH PARASITIC GROWTHS.

PIPE CONVEYING OIL ACROSS THE ISTHMUS.

The relative advantages of the two routes are carefully set out in the report, the general tenor of which is favourable to that by Panama. Nevertheless, the Commission recommend that the Nicaraguan route be adopted, on account of the excessive valuation which, they state, was placed by the New Panama Canal Company on their works and property. The value of these, including the Panama Railway, was estimated by the Commission at $40,000,000. The New Panama Canal Company, learning that the Commission had thus reported, cabled an offer to sell at this price, and the Commission accordingly sent in a supplementary report in favour of the Panama route. By June 28, 1902, the "Spooner" Act had been passed and ratified, authorising the President to purchase the canal works at this price, and to acquire from the Republic of Colombia the necessary rights for the control of a Panama canal, then to be constructed; but in the event of his not being able to acquire such control, then to proceed with the Nicaraguan project.

Meanwhile, by the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty, ratified by the Senate December 16, 1901, Great Britain had waived the right of joint control of any Isthmian canal which she had held since the ratification of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty in 1850. It remained therefore only to negotiate a treaty with Colombia. The treaty of 1846 with New Grenada afforded a precedent as far as the question of control was concerned, and the negotiations appear to have been related mainly to the question of price. A treaty was negotiated by officials of the two Republics, by which the United States was to pay a sum of $10,000,000 to Colombia, and after nine years an annual sum of $100,000. This was confirmed by Congress but rejected by the Colombian Senate, and negotiations came to an end with the adjournment of that body, October 31, 1903.

Three days later the Province of Panama renounced its allegiance to Colombia.

Another three days, and the independence of the New Republic was recognised and guaranteed by the United States.

In less than a fortnight afterwards a treaty was signed at Washington by which the United States acquired complete ownership and control of the proposed canal for the sum of $10,000,000 and an annual payment of $250,000, to commence nine years afterwards. This treaty was ratified at Panama December 2, 1903, and by the United States Senate February 23, 1904.

One significant point must be mentioned with reference to the Panamanian revolution. The inability of Colombia to make an effective effort to assert its power on the Isthmus was due to naval weakness in the absence of communication by land. No army could march through the tropical forests which still isolate the Canal Zone from South America, and control at Colon and Panama still depends upon sea power.

Thus, at last, the United States owns and controls its Canal Zone. We will now state precisely the position in which that nation stands in reference to this matter, and then we may leave the work of the diplomats to consider the task of the engineers.

The National Status of the Canal.

The position which will be held by the United States in relation to other Powers is foreshown in the Hay-Pauncefote treaty with Great Britain and in Article XXIII. of the treaty with Panama. The Hay-Pauncefote treaty is in supersession of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty. The latter stipulated that no fortifications should be erected controlling the Canal. In the Hay-Pauncefote treaty this clause is omitted. On the other hand, it is stated in Article III., § 2, that "the Canal shall never be blockaded, nor shall any right of war be exercised nor any act of hostility be committed within it." Hence, the reader may have remained in doubt whether the United States Government had intended to reserve to themselves the right to fortify. However, the terms of the subsequent treaty with the Republic of Panama answer this question, for after stating in Article XVIII. that the Canal shall be opened in accordance with all the stipulations of the treaty of 1901 with Great Britain, Article XXIII. states that "the United States shall have the right to establish fortifications."

As a matter of fact, such fortifications are to be constructed, and the plan of the Canal has been adjusted to the requirements of military defence.

There have been, among public men in the United States, two schools of thought on the vital question of the defence of the Canal. One school has held that the best safeguard was to be obtained by leaving the Canal unfortified (as is the case with the Suez Canal), and by the establishment of a general Convention, by which all the Powers, including the United States, should bind themselves to respect the neutrality of the Canal and leave it inviolate. Other public men preferred forts, guardships, and a garrison. The general public in the United States, on the other hand, appears to have unanimously held that an international guarantee would be ineffectual and, moreover, derogatory. As we have seen, the popular view has prevailed, but traces of the antagonistic and incompatible notion of internationalisation remain in the language of the treaties. This is not surprising when we recollect that the first draft of the Hay-Pauncefote treaty was drawn up with a view to neutralisation, according to the precedents afforded by the Suez Canal. Thus we find that Article III. commences with the words: "The United States adopts as the basis of the neutralisation of the Canal ..."; and in Article XVIII. of the treaty with Panama we find: "The Canal when constructed, and the entrances thereto, shall be neutral in perpetuity...."

CHAGRES RIVER NEAR BABACOES.

CHAGRES RIVER NEAR OBISPO.

What then are we to understand by the term "neutral" as applied to the Panama Canal in war time? I suppose the meaning to be that if there be a war to which the United States is not a party, the Canal will be used by belligerents in exactly the same way as was the Suez Canal, e.g., in the Russo-Japanese War, and that the Government of the United States has pledged itself to see that such neutrality is preserved. But if there be a war in which the United States is a party, the circumstances of fortification and operation by the United States in fact render it impossible for the other belligerent to use the Canal, and are intended^[3] to have that effect. This being so, the United States is preparing to defend the Canal from attack. Thus it is important to the proper understanding of the undertaking on which the United States Government has embarked that we should clearly realise that the Canal is only neutral in a restricted sense.

The commercial status of the Canal, however, is similar to that of Suez, in that by Article III., § 1, of the Hay-Pauncefote treaty, "The Canal shall be free and open^[4] to the vessels ... of all nations ... on terms of entire equality, so that there shall be no discrimination against any such nation, or its citizens or subjects, in respect of the conditions or charges of traffic, or otherwise."

^[3] See Report of Canal Commission, 1897, p. 168.

^[4] In Article XVIII. of the treaty with Panama this clause is cited, with the addition "and the entrances to the Canal."

CHAPTER II

ON THE CANAL AS IT IS TO BE

BETWEEN Colon and Panama the American Isthmus is about 36 miles across as the crow flies, and is therefore nearly, though not quite, at its narrowest. In this portion of its sinuous course both coasts trend north of east and Panama lies nearly south-east of Colon. The Isthmus in general is a very confused mass of hills and mountains. It is crossed by no transverse trench (such as sometimes occurs in mountainous regions), neither by the trough provided by down-folded strata, nor the rift valley produced by fracture and foundering of rock. A low-level transverse can only be found by following up the course of a river, crossing the divide, and following the course of another river downwards to the other ocean. From the vicinity of Colon, by following up the valley of the River Chagres, we are led in precisely the required direction, i.e., directly towards the Pacific, for nearly two-thirds of the way. The distance from the head of Limon Bay, following the curves of the valley, is 26 miles to this place, Obispo, and for the greater part of the distance the river flows in a broad valley of deep alluvial deposits.

FRENCH DREDGER LAID UP.

FRENCH TRUCKS PARTLY COVERED WITH FOREST GROWTH.

At the point mentioned, the Chagres abruptly changes its course, and, if followed towards its source, will be found to be flowing from north-east to south-west. Moreover, it is now confined to a narrow valley, with steep hills of rocky substance on either side, and its gradient becomes much greater than hitherto. The course of the Canal cannot therefore follow the Chagres valley further. Fortunately, the valley has led us not only a long distance towards the Pacific, but to a place where the dividing ridge only attains an elevation of about 300 feet above sea-level. Striking from Obispo straight for the Bay of Panama, we come in 9 miles to the low alluvial plain of the Rio Grande, which leads straight to the sea in another 6 miles. Thus, from shore to shore, the course of the Canal along this route is 41 miles; but to reach deep water 4-1/2 miles must be dredged beneath the sea at either end, so that the total length of the artificial waterway is 50 miles. Of the land-course less than a quarter, or about 9 miles, is hill country, and most of this is less than 200 feet above the sea. The United States has been committed to this route by the long chain of circumstances already narrated.

Whatever type of canal was to be constructed along this route, there were certain excavations which must necessarily be done. These were, firstly, dredging the sea channels, and secondly, making a cut through the solid rocks of the divide. Thus, although de Lesseps started operations upon inadequate data, yet most of the work done by the first Panama Canal Company is available, either for the tide-level canal proposed by de Lesseps or for the 85-foot-level canal now being made by the United States. Similarly, the New Panama Canal Company, although hampered by many uncertainties, continued to work at the Culebra Cut, as it is called, that is to say, the trench through the rocky hills which separate the alluvial valleys of the Chagres and the Rio Grande.

Thus the works taken over by the United States in 1904 were available for any type of canal, and the decision to adopt the 85-foot-level was not taken until 1906. Even now, or in April, 1908, at the time of my visit, when so much work has been done upon the locks, many of the rank and file of the employees still cherish the hope of a tide-level canal, and there are not wanting well-informed people, both on the Isthmus and in the States, who, while accepting the high-level scheme as inevitable, regard a tide-level canal as essentially a better thing.

Let us resume our description of the Isthmus, in order that we may be in a position to understand the conditions with which the engineers have to deal. The practicability of the Panama route is due to the fact that rivers have already done a great part of the excavation, and if desert conditions had supervened—if there were, as at Suez, practically no rainfall—the construction of a tide-level canal would be simply the excavation of a trench in dry material, which would be filled by the inflowing waters of the sea. A tidal lock being added to regulate the ebb and flow at Panama (for the Atlantic side is tideless), the canal would be complete.

But as things actually are, the rainfall on the Isthmus is very heavy, particularly on the Atlantic side, where it reaches 140 inches^[5] per annum, and the rivers have at all times considerable bodies of water, and during the rainy season (commencing in May) are subject to sudden and violent freshets. The Chagres at Gamboa has been known to rise 35-1/2 feet in 24 hours.^[6] Suppose then that a tide-level trench were suddenly formed across the Isthmus, as by a convulsion of nature. We should then see the rivers pouring into this fjord in a number of cascades of various height. Of these the greatest would be the Chagres cascade, entering from the east near Gamboa and Obispo. The height of the waterfall would be 46 feet in the driest season and as much as 80 feet in occasional floods.^[7]

^[5] Abbot, "Problems of the Panama Canal," p. 96.

^[6] Loc. cit., p. 146.

^[7] Abbot, loc. cit., p. 116.

EXCAVATION NEAR TAVERNILLA.

RIVER CHAGRES AND RAILWAY NEAR GORGONA.

In order therefore to make a tide-level canal, some means must be found for disposing of the waters of the Chagres and other rivers. De Lesseps's tide-level project was rather an aspiration than a plan. He proposed to conduct the waters of the Chagres to the sea by other channels. The magnitude of this task would be scarcely less than that of cutting the Canal itself. The other rivers on both sides of the Canal would likewise require diversion channels, so that the final result would be roughly the formation of three channels, of which the centre one would be for navigation. The Board of Consuiting Engineers summoned by President Roosevelt in 1905 to advise the Isthmian Canal Commission recommended, in a majority report, a tide-level canal as practicable and best fulfilling the national requirements, defined by the Spooner Act of 1902. But whereas they had detailed schemes for high-level canals before them, they were in the matter of the sea-level project at the disadvantage of having to act in a constructive capacity and elaborate the details of a scheme before they could criticise it. Moreover, five of the eight who constituted the majority were European engineers, who returned to their duties as soon as the report was drafted. The report of the minority in favour of the 85-foot-level scheme having been adopted by Congress in 1906, all available engineering talent has for the last two years been devoted to improving the details of this scheme. The tide-level project of the majority of the Board has had no such advantage, and the difficulty of estimating the relative advantages of the two schemes is therefore all the greater.

Both schemes depend for their success upon the security of dams.

The tide-level scheme has a dam at Gamboa, near Obispo, thus making a lake of the upper waters of the Chagres, whose surface would be 200 feet above sea-level.^[8] The floodwater would partly be accommodated in the lake by reason of the great height of the dam above low-water stage, and partly by running the excess into the Canal, by which it would escape to the sea, generating currents which the Board calculated would not attain an injurious velocity.

^[8] Report, Board of Consulting Engineers, p. 205.

Streams entering the Chagres in its lower reaches would be dammed back or diverted—a considerable, but not momentous, undertaking. The three great objections to the scheme appeared to be:—

1. The extra cost, and above all the extra time, required to complete the immensely greater quantity of excavation required for the last 85 feet;
2. The fact that the artificial lake was to be above the Canal, so that, if the dam burst, the Canal might be ruined; and,
3. That the velocity of currents in the Canal due to discharge of the surplus waters might perhaps be a serious drawback to navigation in a narrow channel.

It will be seen presently that the second disadvantage is offset by corresponding disadvantages in the dam required for the high-level canal.

As for the cost, that has always been an unknown quantity, and, I think, has always been a secondary consideration. The fear of undue delay seems to have been the principal deciding factor in favour of the high-level scheme. Rival expert opinions that the majority of the Board of Engineers had under-estimated the time required for the tide-level canal were adopted by those in authority, and mainly on this account, I think, the high-level scheme became law.

Since visiting the Isthmus a second time, and inspecting the work in the great Cut between Empire and Paraiso, it has seemed to me that there is an objection to the tide-level project which did not fully appear in the early stages of the work, viz., that the behaviour of the rock might involve the engineers in ever-increasing difficulties as the depths increased. The opinion which had been held by many that the difficulties would diminish with the depth did not seem to me to be justified up to that time.

LIDGERWOOD UNLOADER, WINDING APPARATUS.

ANOPHELES BRIGADE OILING A DITCH.

Next let us see what are the special difficulties of the high-level project.

This also depends for its success mainly on the efficacy of one dam, which is now being made at Gatun. It will hold up the waters not only of the Chagres but of its tributaries, to a level of 85 feet above mean tide, and the area of the lake thus to be formed is shown on the map. The Chagres will be ponded back far above the point where it enters the Canal, and thus will be effectually tamed. The flood-waters will be spread over an area of about 164 square miles—for Lake Gatun will be twice the size of Lago Maggiore and about four-fifths that of the Lake of Geneva,^[9] and ships, in the ample waterway, will not be troubled by currents.

^[9] The size, in fact, will not differ greatly from that of the principal basin of the Lake of Geneva, all above the petit lac, or narrow part at the Geneva end. A good idea of this area is obtained by recalling the well-known view over the waters of this lake from the quai at Ouchy.

A flight of three locks at Gatun will raise ships to the level of this lake in coming from the Atlantic, and one lock at Pedro Miguel and two at Milaflores will lower them to the level of the Pacific.

It has been claimed that if the Gatun dam burst the consequences would be less disastrous than if the Gamboa dam burst, but there is in reality little to choose between the two catastrophes.

The great blot on the high-level scheme is that the great Gatun dam is not founded on solid rock. The Gamboa dam of the tide-level project would have been founded throughout on hard rock, from which it could have been built up of masonry so that the structure should be part and parcel of the rocky framework of the globe itself. The Gatun dam as recommended in the minority report, on the other hand, was designed to consist essentially of a mass of earth dumped upon an alluvial plain so as to fill up a gap of 2,000 yards between two ranges of hills, the gap through which the Chagres escapes to the Atlantic. Thus the Gatun lake was to be held up as a glacier lake is held by a moraine blocking a valley.

We shall presently describe the high-level canal as it is to be, from which it will be seen that it will provide a magnificent waterway, but before concluding the present section I must mention the special point in which it will be inferior to a tide-level canal. This is for purposes of defence. A fortress has to be preserved from capture, but not from damage. The locks, however, must be preserved from serious damage, which demands far more elaborate protection. Such protection, moreover, has to be provided at two positions (Gatun and Milaflores) about 30 miles apart.

The High-level Canal as it is to be.

The Spooner Act, the law under which the Canal is being constructed, enacts that it shall be "of sufficient capacity and depth as shall afford convenient passage for vessels of the largest tonnage and greatest draft now in use, and such as may reasonably be expected."

Accordingly the following dimensions have been selected:—

1. A minimum depth of 41 feet.

The Suez Canal has a depth of 31 feet^[10] admitting of the passage of ships with a draft of 27 feet.^[11] The channel of this canal is now being deepened, so that by 1915 it is hoped that a depth of 36 feet^[12] will be obtained. The Kiel Canal has a depth of 30 feet. The average draft of the Cunard s.s. Mauretania, the largest ship now afloat, is about 32 feet, but she is stated to draw, when fully laden, about 37 feet, and there are comparatively few harbours in the world which she could enter fully loaded.

^[10] Report, Board of Consulting Engineers, p. 175.

^[11] "Four Centuries of the Panama Canal," p. 436.

^[12] Daily Telegraph, June 18, 1908.

2. A minimum bottom width of 200 feet in the Culebra Cut.

The minimum bottom width, or width at a depth of 31 feet, in the Suez Canal is 108 feet.

The bottom width of the Kiel Canal is 72 feet.^[13]

^[13] Report, Board of Consulting Engineers, p. 173.

3. Each lock will have a usable length of 1,000 feet and a width of 110 feet.

The locks of the Kiel Canal have an available length of 492 feet and width of 82 feet.

The Mauretania has a length of 790 feet and beam of 88 feet.

4. The minimum radius of the curves is 5,577 feet (1,700 metres).^[14] This curve, however, does not come in the Culebra Cut, where the bottom width is to be 200 feet, but north of Bas Obispo, where the bottom width is 500 feet. Most of the curves have a radius of 9,842 feet (3,000 metres).

^[14] Vide p. 205 of General Abbot's "Problems of the Panama Canal" (1907). Slight changes in the projected course are made from time to time, so that this figure is subject to slight modification.

In the Suez Canal,^[15] outside Lake Timsah, there are five curves with a radius of 2,000 metres, or a little more, which are being enlarged to 2,500 metres (8,202 feet). The usual bottom width in these curves was 184 feet, but this is being increased to about 230 feet. The Kiel Canal has four curves with a radius of 1,000 metres (3,284 feet).

^[15] Report, Board of Consulting Engineers, p. 178.

A reference to the accompanying plan (vide Map, end of volume) of the Panama Canal will show that most of the curves are situate in Gatun lake, where the width of the canal proper is large, and where the spread of shallower waters secures better steerage.

Thus the high-level Canal is not only deep and wide, but also much freer from troublesome curves than might be supposed from a casual inspection of its course. The details of the bottom width of the high-level Canal in its different parts are as follows:—

100-TON WRECKING CRANE, GORGONA.

INTERIOR OF MACHINE SHOP, GORGONA.

Limon Bay being shallow, the deep water where a battleship can freely navigate or manoeuvre lies outside a line joining Colon Lighthouse with Toro Point, and at a distance of 7-1/2 miles from Gatun locks. From this distance the lock-excavation can now be plainly discerned from the deck of a ship without the aid of a glass. Here, when the Canal is complete, a ship will enter the buoyed channel of the submarine portion of the Canal, but this part of the channel does not lead directly towards the locks, which are not visible upon the face of the water. Moreover, they are presently hidden altogether by the land. Not until Mile 5, near Mindi, is reached does the course of the Canal, by a slight bend, open up the locks to uninterrupted view, and at this point the ship is already confined between banks. When the foot of the flight of three locks is reached a vessel will no longer proceed under her own steam, but be warped through.

The length and width of the locks has already been stated. The maximum lift will be 32 feet, or about 4 feet more than in any other locks at present in use. As the width (110 feet) is much greater than that of existing locks, it follows that the lock gates will be far larger than any now in use. The vessel has to pass through a flight of three succeeding locks. Parallel with this is a second flight of three locks, so that two ships could be simultaneously put through either flight in the same, or in opposite, directions. Each lock through which the vessel passes on her upward course is provided with two pairs of mitre gates, i.e., double-swinging doors, but the uppermost lock has in addition a rolling gate near the lower end. This is a precaution against the breaking through of the upper folding doors by a ship coming down, i.e., from the Pacific side. An emergency gate is also being designed, a sort of swing bridge, to close the upper entrance to the flight of locks, for Gatun, Pedro Miguel, and Milaflores. It is hoped that a vessel will be put through all three locks at Gatun in 50 minutes, to which must be added some delay in approaching. Coming from the Atlantic the water of the Canal will be smooth, and the vessel somewhat sheltered, so that there should be no difficulty. Approaching from the lake there may be some roughness, but anything more than a fresh breeze is rare, and the lake will be practically free from currents, so that the approach should present little difficulty. The Pacific side is always calm, so that no difficulty of approach or exit is to be anticipated there on account of either winds, waves, or currents.

Our vessel, having been locked up to the broad surface of Lake Gatun, proceeds under her own steam and at a fair rate of speed across that lake, slowing down to about 4-1/2 miles per hour for the 9 miles of Culebra Cut, which will thus occupy two of the 8 or 10 hours in which it is hoped to accomplish the whole transit. On this basis it is calculated that 40 ships could be put through in 24 hours from the Atlantic to the Pacific, or two fleets of 20 ships if passing simultaneously in opposite directions.

A 10-hour transit of the 50-mile channel is about the same rate of progress as that in the Suez Canal, where, though there are no locks, the speed has to be kept low on account of the friable nature of the banks.

It is evident that the time of transit cannot yet be certainly known to an hour or two, but a considerable margin beyond the above estimate would enable the passage to be made between dawn and dusk of the tropical day.

At Pedro Miguel our vessel passes through one lock on her way down to the Pacific, and at Milaflores through two locks. Each of these three locks has, of course, a duplicate alongside, permitting, as at Gatun, the simultaneous passage of a companion vessel, or of one passing in the opposite direction. In case of repairs to one set of locks the parallel set would maintain the waterway.

The lift of the lower lock at Milaflores is variable, depending upon the level of the tidal water in the last reach of the Canal. The extreme range of the tide at La Boca, the Pacific entrance to the Canal, is 20 feet; that is to say, low water during "spring" tides is 10 feet below the average sea-level. During low tide on the Pacific side, therefore, the water in the Canal stands 95, instead of 85, feet above that sea. Hence the maximum lift of 32 feet already stated, for

32 × 3 = 96.

MACHINE SHOPS, GORGONA.

CLUB HOUSE FOR EMPLOYEES, GORGONA.

Beyond the Milaflores locks our vessel enters a reach of the Canal which is exposed to the ebb and flow of the tide and which will be confined within banks or levees as far as La Boca. In this respect the plan and the section are both, unfortunately, misleading. The La Boca lock and dam have been abandoned, and no Sosa lake will therefore come into existence, the lowest lock being, as I have said, at Milaflores. I have thought it better to reproduce the existing maps as they stand rather than to attempt a re-draught which would necessarily be imperfect. Our vessel, then, below Milaflores is in a tidal channel and will be subject to some tidal current. By designing this channel so as to avoid a bottle neck, and by giving it a width of 500 feet, the calculated current will, however, not exceed 1 foot per second.

The La Boca site for locks was found to be much too exposed to gun fire and other modes of attack from the sea, whereas the Milaflores site is not only distant about 5 miles from the shore, but is well sheltered both by hills near it and by the position of the hilly eminences of the shore line.

It will be seen from the map that the dredged sea channel by which our vessel will reach deep water on the Pacific passes to the west of the Isle of Naos instead of to the east, as was proposed in the earlier plans.

Returning now to the Gatun locks. The mitre sill of the top lock is 37 feet above mean sea-level, i.e., 48 feet below the surface of the lake, which is 85 feet above mean sea-level. But the bottom of the lake here is only about 5 feet above sea-level, the total depth of water immediately above the locks and dam being 80 feet. It follows that, in the extreme case of both gates of one of the top locks (as well as the roller gate) being wrecked, the level of the water in the lake can only fall to the level of +37, which would leave a depth of 32 feet immediately above the dam. Ships of large draft could therefore lie there without being stranded. Moreover, the lake is so large that the outflow through the broken locks would only lower the level 2 feet per diem, so that more than three weeks would elapse before the water sank to the level of the mitre sill.

Again, the channel provided by the broken lock would be so small that in the Canal below the calculated current which would result from the outflow would have a velocity of only 3-1/2 miles per hour.

Above the Pedro Miguel and Milaflores locks there is not the same surplus depth of water, so that vessels might be grounded if the locks were broken. Moreover, as there is no wide-spreading lake above Pedro Miguel, the outflow of water would generate a somewhat swift current above the lock, which might be a source of danger to ships.

This circumstance serves to enforce the apparent paradox that the great area of Lake Gatun is in several respects an element of safety, not, as the layman might suppose, of danger. The hydrostatic pressure upon the dam depends, of course, solely upon the depth of water, not upon the area of the lake, while the greater the contents of the reservoir the more nearly stagnant are its waters.

As there is to be no lock at La Boca, the dams shown there on the plan and profile will not have to be constructed, so that it is not necessary to deal with the questions to which they formerly gave rise.

In the vicinity of the locks at Pedro Miguel and Milaflores, however, dams have to be constructed to hold up the water. At both places the dams will be short, and will be founded upon hard rock,^[16] and in each case the head of water to be held up will only be about 40 feet, instead of 80, as at Gatun. The construction of the dams at Pedro Miguel and Milaflores is not, therefore, regarded with anxiety.

^[16] "Canal Zone Pilot," pp. 316-317.

The great Gatun dam remains the one important experiment in the whole scheme of the high-level Canal, and much attention is being devoted to the planning of this work. The alluvial foundation is a disadvantage shared by the Bohio site formerly chosen, and all other sites in the lower Chagres valley; so that, having decided upon the Panama route, and a high-level canal, there appears to be no alternative to the construction of a dam upon this kind of bottom. The details of the proposed structure, as elaborated in April, 1908, were as follows:—

The length of the great earthen dam at Gatun is 7,700 feet, its breadth no less than 2,060 feet. The weight of the dam per linear foot is more than 60 times the horizontal pressure of the water in the lake, so that the pressure could not move the whole mass; and the weight of the dam is spread over such a great width that it is not thought that the ground will sink beneath it. The form of the plan and section is shown on the map, and an idea of the topography may be obtained from the photographs, which I took in April, 1908. The south-eastern end of the dam abuts on the hill of hard, fine-grained, argillaceous sandstone in which the lock-site is being excavated.

The dam, according to these plans, is not to be merely superposed upon the surface, as originally proposed in 1905. Embedded in its earthy mass there is to be a puddled core, and a trench will be excavated to a level of 40 feet below the sea (-40 feet) for the lower part of this core. Nor is this all that is to be done to check seepage beneath the earthen dam. From the bottom of the trench excavated for the puddled core, sheet piling, made of 4-inch timbers, is to be driven down for another 40 feet, so that sheet piling and puddled core together will form an impervious barrier to -80 feet; that is to say, 80 feet below the surface-level of the sea, or about 85 feet below the lowest natural surface of the ground. The puddled core is carried up through the earthen dam to the level of +90, that is to say, 5 feet above the level of the lake, which is to be 85 feet above sea. The crest of the dam will be +135 feet, i.e., 50 feet above the level of the lake; this excess of height being to provide top weight for increased stability of the whole structure, and also for the purpose of compacting the underlying material. The underwater slopes of the earthy materials have been reduced from the 1:3 of 1905 to 1:5. On the other hand, it has been decided that the width of 2,625 feet given in 1905 was in excess of utility, and that a reduction of between 500 and 600 feet can be made without loss of strength or efficiency.

EXCAVATION IN THE CUT.

PIPE FOR DIVERSION OF A RIVER, NEAR EMPIRE.

About half way across the valley occurs a low hill, on which a house is shown in the photograph. This hill is on the crest-line of the dam, and is useful as giving support to the sides of the regulating channel which will be excavated in it. The material of the hill, however, is not the hard argillaceous sandstone of the lock site, but merely alluvial. The regulating works themselves will be built of concrete: a solid mass built up to +69 feet, and on this piers will be constructed 8 feet in thickness, between which will be the sluice-gates. By their means the level of the lake will be prevented from rising unduly in flood time.

The capability of the dam to maintain the waters of the lake at a sufficient level in the dry season depends upon their not finding a ready way either through the dam itself or below it. The construction of the dam is believed to guarantee its own practical impermeability. Not only is there a puddled core, but the mud, sand, and rocks of which the principal mass will be composed will be laid down in the manner best calculated to secure compactness. With regard to underground flow, there is an underlying bed of indurated clay which is regarded as sufficiently impervious, and wherever the puddled core and piling are imbedded in that clay it may, I think, be assumed with some confidence that the leakage will be unimportant. On referring to the section (map), however, it will be seen that there are in the valley two old river gorges, which to a depth of 200 and 260 feet are filled only with gravel, sand; sand, shells, and wood; clayey sand, and so forth. These gorges, measured on the section shown in the figure, have widths of about 1,200 and 500 feet respectively at the depth to which the sheet piling goes, and extend about 120 and 180 feet below. How much water may escape by these gorges it is difficult to say. This leads us to the next division of our subject.

On the Supply of Water Available for the Needs of the High-level Canal.

The construction of the Suez Canal was a work of excavation pure and simple. The construction of any kind of canal across the Isthmus of Panama involves another task, second only in importance to the primary work of excavation, viz., that of regulating the rivers.

In the case of a sea-level canal the problem would have been how to get rid of their waters, particularly in the rainy season.

In the actual case of an 85-foot-level canal, the regulation of the rivers, particularly of the Chagres, presents two aspects, viz.:—

(1) In the wet season, disposing of the surplus waters.

(2) In the dry season, conserving water supplied by the rains so as to meet the waste caused (a) by locking, (b) by evaporation, (c) by percolation.

The arrangements for taming the torrents of the Chagres and its tributaries have already been described. They are, briefly, the construction of the Gatun dam and its spillway.

Turning to the other aspect of the problem, I have to answer the question, What is the guarantee that there will be sufficient water in the dry season?

IN THE CUT, WIDTH 500 FEET.

IN THE CUT, LOOKING SOUTH TOWARDS CULEBRA.

Probably there is no problem of the Panama Canal which has received more prolonged and careful study than this. From the outset the French engineers commenced collecting data relating to the hydrology of the Isthmus, and when funds grew low, and the proposed level of the canal began to rise, the matter received ever-increasing attention. The Comité Technique of the New Panama Canal Company commenced in 1894 elaborate investigations to determine the catchment area, the amount of rainfall, and the discharge of rivers. Brigadier-General Henry L. Abbot (late Corps of Engineers, U.S.A.), whose investigations upon the Mississippi are known the world over, was a member of this Committee of the New Panama Company until the work was taken over by the Government of the United States, for whom he continued to act; and he was a member of the Board of Consulting Engineers, signing the minority report in favour of an 85-foot-level canal in January, 1906. A continuous study for seven years is an advantage enjoyed by few of the American engineers, and the book on "Problems of the Panama Canal" published by General Abbot in 1905 (new edition 1907) deals very fully and ably with the hydrology and meteorology of the Isthmus. The observations were continued under the direction of Don Ricardo M. Arango, who has also a long experience on the Isthmus. I shall not attempt to summarise the mass of data upon which the authorities rely in their calculation that there is a sufficient water supply for the needs of the Canal during the dry season, contenting myself with showing, as above, that in this department of study, which more than all others connected with the Canal demands long experience, this requisite has in fact been secured. Yet whatever depends upon climate is liable to unexpected accidents, and personally I regard as an important safeguard the fact that at Alhajuela, on the Chagres, 9 or 10 miles above Obispo, there is an excellent site for a dam, which would form a reservoir where some of the surplus water of the wet season could be stored, and supplied to the Canal as required. The details for such a dam were elaborated in connection with one of the earlier plans of the Canal, so that the necessary data would be immediately available in case its construction should become necessary in the future.

Harbours and Fortifications.

There are no storms in the Bay of Panama, and but little additional protection from weather is needed there for shipping. The entrance to the Canal being at La Boca, a new city will grow up there. This will be the second westward migration of the terminal port, the present city of Panama lying between Old Panama and La Boca.

Colon is exposed to northers, and protection against the heavy sea which then rolls in will have to be provided. Whether this will be done by breakwaters or by forming an interior basin is not yet decided, and the cost of this part of the Canal works is therefore not yet known.

The Canal, as already stated, is to be fortified; but I made no inquiries as to the location or character of the proposed fortifications, a matter which I regarded as outside my province. The cost of fortifications is included in the provision made by Congress for the Canal.

CHAPTER III

ON THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE CULEBRA CUT, AND ON THE METHODS EMPLOYED FOR EXCAVATION AND DISPOSAL OF THE SPOIL

REFERENCE once more to the plan and profile on the map will show at a glance the length and position of the rocky divide, the whole of which is termed the Culebra Cut, from the name of the town near the highest point. The proposed form and dimensions of this cut, throughout the 5 miles of the greatest height, is also shown (the section adopted at the commencement of 1906), and the stage reached in April, 1908, is shown by the photographs. The line drawn across the above section at a level of 120 feet above bottom (160 feet above sea), shows the general level of the bottom of the workings at Culebra itself at the time the photographs were taken. A narrow pilot cut, only, was then 20 feet lower.

ROCK DRILL.

ROCK DRILLS AT WORK IN THE CUT.

All that part of the section below this line (+160) remained to be excavated.

Most of the rock above this line has been removed, but not all, for the final width is not, of course, reached at any level until the central portion has been excavated below that level.

The level of the original rock line shown in this section was +275, i.e., 235 above canal bottom, so that the photographs show excavation of 115 feet of rock. There was, however, soil above the hard basaltic rock, of varying thickness—removed to the slope 1:2 as shown on the section. The highest original surface of the soil on the centre line of the Canal (between Golden Hill and Silver Hill at Culebra) was +312 feet,^[17] so that the photographs in which Golden Hill appears show a total excavation of 152 feet along the centre line. As this line passed along a saddle between the two hills, the original surface at the sides was considerably higher, so that the total height shown in the photographs from the bottom of the cut to the highest berm, or ledge, on Golden Hill is considerably more than 152 feet.

^[17] The profile at end of volume shows the stage of excavation when the height here had been reduced to +210.

The bottom of the Canal will be 272 feet below the original saddle, and its depth below this berm, which is seen on the photograph, is considerably more. Thus will the gorge appear when the excavation is finished and before the water is allowed to flow in. When full, the surface of the water will be 227 feet below the original saddle, and the passenger on a vessel will gaze upon the scarped banks of a somewhat greater height than this.

For a tide-level canal, not only would the depth be 85 feet greater, but, as the slope could not be made steeper, the width of the whole cutting would be correspondingly increased.

With reference to the slope of the sides, it is important to note that it has not been found practicable to adhere always to the proposed section, which has to be made flatter, thus considerably increasing the amount of excavation required. The behaviour of living rock is not susceptible of the precise specification which can be applied to quarried stone on the one hand or loose gravel on the other. Mechanically it is complex, both on account of its structure and of the rôle which water plays in its economy. In the case of the Culebra rock, the volcanic dykes by which it is traversed have altered the nature of the rock in their vicinity, and the part played by water is considerable, owing to the wetness of the climate. Moreover, the rock does not remain wholly unchanged when exposed to air, but deteriorates by "weathering," a chemical and physical process which proceeds much faster in an equatorial climate than in the temperate zones. The climate, however, has a compensating action, in so far as the rapid growth of vegetation soon clothes and protects the scarped slopes, thus acting as a "revetment."

Alighting at Culebra station on the Panama Railway, and proceeding to the western side of the cut, one obtains the most impressive view of the Canal works, and this is the spot usually visited by travellers and tourists. I first stood there in January, 1907, and returned in April, 1908. The impressions obtained were very different on these two occasions. In January, 1907, after two and a half years of American occupation, what struck me most was the enormous mass of material which had been removed by the French companies, and the comparatively insignificant appearance of the American excavations, which could readily be distinguished from the older work, already coated with vegetation. It was then that I began to appreciate the heroic labours of the French engineers, whose achievements under circumstances of great difficulty are being daily more and more appreciated and praised by their successors. Turning to study the progress of work, I watched with delight the operations of the 100-ton steam shovels, which at a distance, when the human hands are not seen, appear endowed with volition, and remind the spectator of elephants at work. The cars were loaded with surprising celerity, and the dirt-train was hauled off to the distant dump by an old Belgian locomotive, part of the machinery taken over from the New Company. But then the hitch came—there were no cars to take the place of those already filled, and the steam shovel was idle. Looking round, I found that many other steam shovels and their crews were idle from the same cause, the machinery for transportation not having been provided in proper proportion to the machinery of excavation. That the time required for the completion of the rock-cut was limited by the possible rate of transportation of spoil, and not by that of excavation, had long been known, and the report of the Board of Consulting Engineers contains elaborate diagrams of space available for shovels and for tracks. It was apparent, therefore, that the organisation of the work was not yet perfected. In like manner, as far as I could judge during my first short visit, the West Indian labour was not yielding the best results, owing to white foremen and coloured labourers not being in perfect harmony.

THE CUT, LOOKING NORTH FROM CULEBRA.

THE CUT, LOOKING SOUTH FROM CULEBRA.

While, however, the fighting force, so to speak, of the Isthmian army was obviously imperfect in many respects, great results had evidently been achieved by the auxiliary services. The Department of Sanitation had already made the Isthmus healthier than most equatorial countries, food and quarters were excellent, law and order were well maintained.

On the first day of my second and prolonged visit, April, 1908, fifteen months later, I went at once to the same spot on the Culebra Cut opposite to Golden Hill and again surveyed the scene of operations. The change was enormous. The gorge below me was greatly enlarged, the shape of the hills altered, the face of the landscape changed. As I gazed into the deep trench below, the thought flashed across my mind, "If my life be spared a few years longer, I will sail through this on a ship."

The reason of the great change was readily apparent: organisation had now been perfected. In the first place, the whole width of the cut was laid down in railway tracks, tier above tier at the different levels, so that the view was like the approach to the metropolitan terminus of one of the world's great railways. Up and down these tracks there came and went without ceasing the spoil-trains, now composed of larger trucks than formerly, with new and ingenious devices for rapid unloading. The number of steam shovels visible was much larger than in 1906, yet they were kept constantly busy, and all the time the drilling machines were at work boring holes for charges of dynamite, and gangs of men were completing the preparations for explosions in other holes already made.^[18] Yet if the eyes were raised for a moment from the busy scene below, they rested on a silent wilderness of tropical forest, stretching unbroken to the horizon. I stayed until, at the approach of sunset, the work of the shovels ceased, and hundreds of men swarmed out of the Cut, and sought their quarters and the evening meal. But all was not over for the day, for now, when the Cut was cleared, the shot-firing began. At intervals there occurred a deafening explosion, the earth trembled as in a considerable, but preternaturally short, earthquake, and masses of rock rolled down the slopes, disintegrated and ready for the shovel-man when he should arrive next morning. I paid many visits to the Cut, between Empire and Pedro Miguel, but oftenest at Culebra itself. The sight never palls, and is one of the wonders of the world. The Pyramids are another wonder of the world which in common with many thousands in all ages I have thought it worth going to see—but to go to Culebra is as if one were privileged to watch the building of the Pyramids. Yet how few go to the Isthmus on purpose to see these things, and, mirabile dictu, how few Americans! How is it that this people, so enthusiastic in all that relates to national achievement and addicted to foreign travel, does not include the Isthmus among its many recognised places of pilgrimage? Of the Americans whom I met on the Zone there was scarcely one who had come voluntarily for pleasure. The hotel accommodation, it is true, is limited, but it is more than sufficient for present needs, and is good, as hotels in the tropics are reckoned. Moreover, Panama is now one of the healthiest places in the Equatorial Zone. English tourists going out to the West Indies by the Royal Mail are generally able to cross the Isthmus and see something of the work while their ship is unloading at Colon; but I would venture to suggest, to such of these as care to follow the world's progress, that they should make arrangements beforehand to step off at Colon, cross to Panama, put up there, visit thence the Canal works at various points, and proceed by their next ship. The West Indian tourist season coincides with the dry season on the Isthmus. At Panama the mosquito is almost an extinct animal, and though the heat there is sometimes trying, a run up to Culebra brings one to a dry and bracing atmosphere where a fresh breeze is almost always blowing.

^[18] During 1908 no less than one million dynamite charges were exploded.

The steam shovel is the principal agent of excavation. It scoops out loose soil directly, but the basaltic rock has to be broken up first by blasting. One shovel will load 1,200 cubic yards of such materials upon the cars within the working day of 8 hours, an amount equal to 600 two-horse loads.

For accelerating transportation railway trucks provided with flaps are used, which make of the whole train a single platform. At the rear of the train is a plough which can be drawn by a wire rope attached to a drum carried on a special car in the fore part of the train. When the train arrives at the dump the drum is started, and the plough, advancing, clears the 320 cubic yards of earth and rock from the 16 cars in 7 minutes. This is the Lidgerwood Unloader.

Another important piece of machinery is the track-shifter, which picks up and relays the railway lines of the ever-shifting spoil-tracks. This remarkably successful contrivance was invented by an employee on the Isthmus, and is moreover manufactured there in the great workshops at Gorgona.

FROM CULEBRA, LOOKING EAST TO DISTANT HILLS.

FROM CULEBRA, LOOKING EAST ACROSS THE CUT.

From Bas Obispo to Pedro Miguel, which constitutes the Cut, is a distance of about 9 miles, and excavation is so planned that a summit is maintained at Lirio, near Culebra, about half-way between these two points. On the north slope are^[19] 21 steam shovels, loading cars on 14 tracks. These, when loaded, are hauled down-grade to the northern dumps at Tavernilla and elsewhere, or to the site of the Gatun dam, which is also a dump. Nearly 4,000 cubic yards of rock are carried to the dam daily, a distance of about 24 miles. The return up-grade is made with empty cars. On the southern slope about the same number of steam shovels are at work, the spoil being taken to the southern dumping grounds on the Pacific side, including the trestle dump for the breakwater to Naos Island. The spoil-trains follow one another at intervals of about three minutes, and if, from any cause, delay occur, the steam shovels, and indeed the whole process of excavation, is brought to a standstill. Any cause of delay is therefore reported at once by telephone to the Superintendent of Transportation at Empire, and all energies are at once directed to clearing the way. On the Isthmus everything gives way to the spoil-train, as in a city to the fire-engine. An excellent lesson both in the complexity and urgency of the transportation is afforded by a run through the Cut on a motor trolley in company with the Superintendent of the Department of Excavation. Constantly shunted from one track to another, and occasionally having to retreat, much ingenuity is required to thread a way among the spoil-trains, but even the almost invaluable time of the Superintendent himself is sacrificed rather than any delay should occur to the "dirt" train, as it is usually called. It is this dirt which stands between the American nation and the realisation of their long cherished scheme, and nowhere is the classical definition of dirt as "matter in the wrong place" so appropriate as on the Isthmus.

^[19] This is for July, 1908.

Let us now see how much matter has been removed, and how much dirt remains which has yet to be removed. I will give first the totals of what has been got out in both dry and wet way, both in the Canal prism itself and for auxiliary works.

Total Excavations in Connection with the Panama Canal.^[20]

^[20] Canal Record, July 8, 1908.

Much of the work of the French Companies, however, consisted in dredging out sea-level channels at both ends of the Canal, whereas the principal American work has been rock-excavation in the Culebra Cut—or the Cut, as it might equally well be called. The figures relating to the Cut are:—

Excavation between Bas Obispo and Pedro Miguel, i.e.,
"The Culebra Cut," 9-1/2 Miles.

so that at the end of last June the Cut was half cut through, one quarter having been done by the French Companies and one quarter by the American Commission.^[21]

^[21] The total excavation for the prism of a sea-level canal was calculated by the Board of Consulting Engineers at 231,026,477 cubic yards.