ISTHMUS OF PANAMA. ii 



the Caribbean Sea through Venezuela and Colombia 

 deflects the current of the north-east trade wind until 

 it finally flows in an exactly contrary direction. What- 

 ever its origin may be, it might be supposed that the 

 interference of a current from the south-west with the 

 course of the regular trade wind would give rise to 

 storms of dangerous violence. These, however, rarely 

 if ever occur during the spring months. It may be 

 that, on the meeting of contrary currents of unequal 

 temperature, the ordinary result is that the warmer 

 current rises and flows over the cooler one without 

 actual interference. 



Before sunrise on the morning of the 6th we 

 reached Colon, and, after a little inevitable delay, took 

 leave of our excellent commander, and set foot on 

 the American continent at a spot which seems destined 

 to become familiar to the civiHzed world as the eastern 

 termination of the Panama Ship Canal. People who 

 love to paint in dark colours had done their best to 

 make us uncomfortable as to the part of the journey 

 between the arrival at Colon and the departure from 

 Panama. The regular train crossing the isthmus 

 starts very early from Colon, and we should be forced 

 to remain during the greater part of the day breathing 

 the deadly exhalations of that ill-famed port. In 

 point of unhealthiness Panama is but little better than 

 Colon, and as the weekly steamer of the Pacific 

 Navigation Company bound southward would have 

 departed one or two days before our arrival, we were 

 sure to be detained for five or six days, equally trying 

 to the health and temper. Fully believing these 

 vaticinations to be much exaggerated, we had no 



