Romance of Panama Canal 155 



locomotives which run upon a railway on 

 the bank. To avoid any misapprehension 

 as to the use of the ship's propelling 

 machinery an official comes on board as 

 the locks are approached and goes below 

 to seal up the engines. 



The next stage is across the Gatun Lake 

 easily the largest lake ever created artifi- 

 cially. So vast is it that all the navies of 

 the world could find safe anchorage there 

 and still leave abundant space for the mer- 

 cantile marines of the earth. 



It is strange to reflect as one passes 

 through Gatun Lake that only a few years 

 back it was a deep valley, singularly fatal 

 to any but natives on account of the fevers 

 which seemed to lurk there. In point of 

 fact the first conquest of the American 

 engineers was this fever- stricken region. 

 Not a turf was turned until the Chief 

 Medical Officer reported " All clear ". The 

 fight against fever was carried on unceas- 

 ingly for many months and those devoted 

 men, risking their own lives, made the 

 territory safe for the canal constructors. 



