330 



MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. 



the west coast of America, tended to overrule objections and dispose tlie public in 

 favour of the magnificent undertaking. The movement between the two oceans 

 was estimated at from 3 to 5 per cent, of the world's trade, or altogether nearly 

 5,000,000 tons. 



According to the original plan the cutting was to be 44 miles long, following 



Fig. 151. — Sill of the Lock Canal. 

 Scale 1 : 130,000. 



, 6 Miles. 



the valleys of the Chagres on the Atlantic and of the Rio Grande on the Pacific side. 

 The crest of the range was to be crossed at Mount Culebra, either by a tunnel 180 

 feet high or by a tremendous open cutting. Reservoirs were to be constructed by 

 means of dams to control the flood waters of the Chagres and its affluents, the 

 displacement of matter being estimated at first at 1,645 millions of cubic feet, and 

 afterwards at 2,520 millions, to allow for a tunnel nearly four miles long. But the 



