280 
THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 
their banks for fifty, or one hnndred, 
or two liundred miles on each side, and 
it has been usually supposed by those 
who have explored this country along 
the rivers that, owing to these floods and 
owing to this climate, it would be im- 
possible to turn the country to account, 
because the amazing energy of nature, 
making things grow faster than they can 
be cut down, renders it impossible to 
keep the land open for the service of 
man. I have been told there have been 
recently discovered all through this area 
elevated grounds which are perfectly fit 
for human habitation and cultivation 
and where settlements can be established. 
When that has been done it will be pos- 
sible to consider the still larger problems 
of reclaiming the lands below and mak- 
ing them also available. 
I suggest this to you as one of the most 
interesting and remarkable problems 
which will remain to be solved during 
the next fifty years. With all the re- 
sources of geographical science, includ- 
ing those branches allied to it, such as 
botany, geology, and meteorology, it will 
be the task of geography and those allied 
sciences to consider this South Ameri- 
can region from the point of view of its 
adaptability to human use, and there 
will be nothing more interesting for 
those of you who are still young than 
to follow and to watch during the next 
fifty years the process of seeing what 
human science can do to reclaim these 
lands for the service of man. I suggest 
this to you, ladies and gentlemen, as one 
of the new fields into which geographical 
science will advance, one of those direc- 
tions in which our powers of invention 
and application will be tested. I say that 
with particular pleasure to you here, be- 
cause you belong to the nation that has 
completed the greatest work man has 
ever attempted upon the surface of this 
planet. 
PANAMA CANAL 
Nobody can visit the Isthmus of 
Panama ; nobody can look at that canal 
and its immense locks, and at that won- 
derful cutting through Golden Hill at 
Culebra ; nobody can think of the his- 
tory of that Isthmus and the results 
which the opening of the canal may have 
on commerce, politics, and international 
relations of the great peoples of the 
world, without feeling that you have 
done a work such as has never been 
done before, and such as can never be 
done again, for there is no other isthmus 
whereon to do it. 
As this may be deemed to be an ap- 
propriate opportunity for me, I would 
like, if I may presume to do so, to say 
on behalf of my countrymen, who have 
also had a great deal to do in exploring 
the outlying parts of the world and in 
helping to carry forward civilization and 
to open up commerce along many lines — 
how much we appreciate and how much 
we admire what American energy and 
skill prompted by an altruistic regard 
for the interests of the whole world has 
been doing at Panama. It is with high 
ideals before your minds that you have 
undertaken this work, trusting that all 
mankind will profit by it, and when the 
Isthmanian Canal has been opened to 
the commerce of all nations on equal 
terms the world will feel that you have 
done for it a service never to be for- 
gotten. 
the: toastmaste;r, dr. bell 
I am sure we were all interested in 
His Excellency's remarks about the 
great work done by our agricultural de- 
partment. Before introducing the next 
speaker I would direct your attention to 
one of the products of plant immigra- 
tion into the United States. You will 
find upon the table in front of you a 
souvenir of American-grown dates, and 
if you think that it is an easy task to 
introduce plants from abroad into this 
country read the little story of explora- 
tion that shows the history of those 
dates (see pages 278-279). 
There is no part of the earth's surface 
that is attracting more attention at the 
present moment than Persia. We are 
all interested in Persia, the land of ro- 
mance of the past, and now our heart 
goes out to Persia in her troubles I am 
sure that we shall listen with great in- 
terest to the remarks of the present rep- 
resentative of the Persian people in 
America, Mirza Ali Kuli Kahn. 
