84 COMPLETION OF THE LA BOCA DOCK 



Mr F. W. Nokris, Hon. Editor of the Viking Club, London: One week in 

 Cornwall, 1895. Three weeks in Scotland, Orkney, and Shetland, 1896. 

 Two weeks in England, 1897. 



Dr phil. Valtyr Gudmundsson, Professor of Old Norse History and Liter- 

 ature at the University of Copenlia gen: Direction of explorations in Iceland 

 for four months, 1895. Five weeks in and near Cambridge, 1896. 



Mr Thorsteinn Eulingsson, Iceland: Four months in Iceland, 1895. 



Rev. Henry Otis Thayer, Maine Historical Society : Two weeks among 

 old English ruins in Maine, 1896. 



Sir James Lh.moine, Past President of the Royal Society of Canada: Di- 

 rection of researches near Quebec, 1896. 



Mr C. C. Willoughby, Peabody Museum, Cambridge: Two days on Cape 

 Cod, 1897. 



Mr W J Mi Gee : Advice, criticism, and encouragement, both in Wash- 

 ington and Cambridge for over four years. 



COMPLETION OF THE LA BOCA DOCK 



In a recent report to the Department of State, Consular Clerk 

 Murphy of Colon announces the completion of the La Boca dock, 

 the Pacific terminus of the Panama canal. The real importance 

 of the work at La Boca, says Mr Murphy, remains to be demon- 

 strated. The tide fluctuation at Panama amounts to over 25 

 feet, and at the lowest ebb the bottom of the sea is exposed for 

 a mile or more from the shore. As to whether or not vessels will 

 venture to use the La Boca dock, time alone will prove. Mr 

 Murphy says he has heard the opinion expressed that the dock 

 will prove to be a complete success. On the other hand, he has 

 heard it even more confidently stated that this is only another 

 example of the waste which has characterized the management 

 of this apparently simple undertaking. To one traveling across 

 the isthmus, he says, it appears that there can be no obstacle to 

 the completion of the canal which money, honestly used, engi- 

 neering skill, and common sense cannot easily overcome. The 

 land is mostly level, the highest point being little over 300 feet 

 above the sea. The distance is only about 45 miles. The freshets 

 of the river Chagres seem to be the only difficulty, and it ap- 

 pears that provision for the storage or escape of such water can 

 be made. The work, if it were in American hands and under 

 American control, could, Mr Murphy believes, be completed in 

 a few years at moderate cost. About one-half of the work — 14 

 miles at the north end and 6 miles at the south — has been com- 

 pleted or partially completed, though the freshets of the Chagres 

 river have caused great damage during years of neglect. 



