324 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



George W. Childs. On the former occasion, Mr. Field, having referred 

 to the Suez Canal and the obstacles met with in its construction, said 

 with regard to De Lesseps and Panama : "As that work is now in 

 progress, it may be presumptuous to speak of what is in the future. I 

 can only say that I learned in Egypt that it will not do to say that 

 anything is impossible to M. de Lesseps, and that he has with him the 

 ardent hopes of all Americans that he may not taste of death till he 

 has carried out his last and greatest work, which will link his name 

 imperishably with this New World as it is already linked with the 

 Old." 



Sentiments of this sort, in sympathy with the undertaking rather 

 than opposed to it, were expressed at the banquet in Philadelphia. 

 De Lesseps, in the course of his visit, listened rather to what admirers 

 or sympathizers had to say than to utterances of another description. 

 But these compliments are not a reflection of the whole of public sen- 

 timent. Many Americans, having assumed in the beginning an antag- 

 onistic feeling toward the enterprise, are still disposed to keep that 

 feeling and to support it by regarding largely if not chiefly the dif- 

 ficulties to be met. It may not be out of place to see how far this 

 attitude is justified by the physical elements of the vast undertaking 

 and the financial prospects of the Panama Company ; we may also 

 glance at facts, perhaps at the opinions of authorities, as to the de- 

 sirability of some sort of interoceanic passage. 



In 1883 Admiral Cooper, then in command of the tTnited States 

 naval forces at Panama, submitted to the Navy Department a report 

 upon the condition of the enterprise ; in this he says : " The whole 

 undertaking is so gigantic that one can not believe that it will soon 

 be finished ; but I am impressed with the fact that the French are 

 thoroughly in earnest, and that if they fail to finish the canal on ac- 

 count of want of funds the work done by them will be well done, and 

 will be so extensive as to always give this route great advantages over 

 any other." He also observes : "Opinions have been expressed that 

 the work is being delayed by unnecessary attention to details and in 

 making provision for possible emergencies ; but this careful prepara- 

 tion for the great undertaking strengthens my belief that the canal 

 will ultimately be finished more than anything else." 



These opinions were expressed some four years ago, when hardly 

 a beginning had been made in the matter of excavation, less than one 

 million cubic metres having been removed. The amount removed up 

 to the 1st of January of the present year was thirty millions, about a 

 quarter of the whole.* It is safe to say that since 1883 the chances 



"" This estimate, twenty -five per cent, implies the completion of the work as a sea-level 

 canal. As much as this, however, we ought not to assume. Should the work be com- 

 pleted as a lock-canal the requisite excavation would be much less. 



With regard to the total excavation, estimated by the company at 120,000,000 cubic 

 metres, authorities are not agreed. Lieutenant Kimball, United States Navy, from whose 



