820 THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA. 



work to he done along- its line were far too g-reat to permit its feasi- 

 bility being- considered in comparison with that of the Panama route. 

 The San Bias route, the Caribbean end of which is on the Gulf of San 

 Bias, is about 60 miles east of Colon. This route has the distinguish- 

 ing characteristic of being located on pi'obably the shortest line 

 between the tide waters of the two oceans on the Isthnuis, this distance 

 ])eing scarcely 30 miles. The short length of this line has secured for 

 it a number of earnest advocates. It also was subject to surve}" by 

 the engineering parties of the Isthmian Commission. The elevation 

 of the divide at this crossing is so great as to necessitate the consider- 

 ation of a ship tunnel from 5 to 7 miles long, the canal being planned 

 as a sea-level waterway. The great cost of a canal on this line and 

 the hazards attending such a construction as a ship tunnel rendered 

 this route, like the Caledonia line, neither practicable nor feasible, 

 compared with the Panama route. 



Many surveys and examinations have been made at different cross- 

 ings of the Central American isthnuis between Tehuantepec, in Mex- 

 ico, and the eastern limit of the Republic of Panama. As earnest and 

 as enthusiastic as the supporters of other routes have been, the most 

 complete and exact surveys and estimates have shown that the Panama 

 route embodies the greatest number of advantages of any line ever 

 considered for a ship canal between the two oceans. It is a tribute to 

 the sagacity and good judgment of the old Spanish explorers that they 

 also settled upon practically this route as the most feasil)le and prac- 

 ticable for the same purpose. 



The proposed Panama line, favorably reported upon by the Isthmian 

 Canal Commission and now adopted as the basis of the treaty being 

 negotiated between the United States and the Republic of Panama, 

 begins at Colon and extends in a southeasterly direction to a point on 

 the bay of Panama near the city of that name, and has a total length 

 of 49.07 miles between the six-fathom curves in the two oceans. At 

 the present time the citv of Colon has a population of probably about 

 3,000 people, while the city of Panama has a population of perhaps 

 2.5,000 people. The population scattered along the line of the railroad 

 may add 10,000 to 15,000 more, making a total of perhaps 1:0,000 to 

 1:.5,000 people in the 10-mile strip of territory between the two oceans 

 within which the railroad is found and the canal will be built. 



THE PLAN OF DE LESSEPS. 



This canal route is that which was adopted at the International 

 Scientific Congress convened in Paris in May, 1S79, luider the auspices 

 of Ferdinand de Lesseps, the concession for the canal having been 

 obtained from the Republic of Colom))ia in the preceding- year by 

 Lieut. L. N. B. Wyse, a French naval ofhcer. This congress not only 

 selected the Panama route, but also decided that the waterway to be 



