The Work on the Isthmus 



587 



the Jamaican negro, but it is the convic- 

 tion of the chief engineer that satisfac- 

 tory work can never be obtained from 

 this class of laborers. The Commission 

 has advertised for bids on a contract 

 which it has put forth for Chinese labor- 

 ers, and in response it is understood that 

 several offers have been received, one or 

 two of which may prove to be satisfac- 

 tory. These are now under considera- 

 tion, but as there are many questions of 

 large importance involved, including in- 

 ternational relations, the contracts, to- 

 gether with the bids, are now under 

 examination by the Law Department of 

 the government and by the State Depart- 

 ment. 



The Commission has also advertised 

 for bids for doing the work of construc- 

 tion by private contract. Its proposal, 

 in brief, is that the government shall sup- 

 ply all material and retain control of the 

 hospital department, government and po- 

 lice departments, quarters and commis- 

 sary, construction and maintenance of 

 buildings, and the operation of the Pan- 

 ama Railroad. The contractor is to be 

 paid a percentage of the cost of the work 

 done, and this percentage will be a basis 

 of competition between bidders. In other 

 words, the government would employ 

 the contractor as its agent to do the work, 

 it supplying all the money and materials 

 and he receiving his compensation 

 through a percentage of the money ex- 

 pended. The Commission is confident 

 that it will receive many offers from the 

 leading contractors of this country and 

 abroad to do the work in this manner. 



SOUTH AMERICAN IMMIGRATION 



MR JOSEPH W. J. LEE, Minister 

 to Ecuador, reports that the gov- 

 ernment of Ecuador recently signed a 

 contract with an agency in Guayaquil for 

 the purpose of importing immigrants 

 into the lower and eastern portion of the 

 republic. The minister writes : 



The company is to be called "The 

 Ecuadorian Immigration Company," and 

 binds itself to import 5,000 families. It 

 is specified in the contract that the immi- 



grants shall be white and preferably 

 of the German or Dutch races. The 

 company is to receive 500,000 hectares of 

 land, but no land which interferes with 

 the construction of the Curaray Railway. 

 All necessities of life shall be entered 

 free of duty, and also all animals, imple- 

 ments, seeds, etc., which the colonists 

 bring with them. The company may sell 

 land in the proportion of 50 hectares to 

 each family. The price shall be adjusted 

 according to the company's expenditures 

 in the delivery of the immigrants. For 

 ten years the government will exact no 

 taxes from the colonists. 



The land in question lies low on the 

 eastern slope of the Andes, and trans- 

 portation therefrom can be accomplished 

 by means of various tributaries which 

 eventually flow into the Amazon. The 

 territory is said to be very rich in rubber 

 and dyewoods, but not particularly 

 healthful for Europeans. 



NOTE ON GLACIER DISCOVERY 



Detroit, Mich., July n, 1906. 



To the Editor National Geographic Magazine, 



Washington, D. C. 



Dear Sir: In a recent number (April) of 

 the National Geographic Magazine there is 

 a letter by Mr C. A. Taintor, of New York, in 

 which claim is made for original discovery of 

 glaciers on the eastern face of Fremonts Peak. 

 This is based on failure to find that the U. S. 

 Geological Survey, or any one else, had' ever 

 visited the locality, save his party. 



In Vol. I of the Annual Report of the U. S. 

 Geological Survey for 1878, and on p. xvi of 

 Dr Hayden's introductory letter mention is 

 made of the ascent of the peak by Mr Wilson's 

 triangulation party, and of the existence of 

 these glaciers. The writer was one, among 

 several others, who ascended the mountain at 

 the same time and made a series of negatives 

 showing the entire extent of the glacial field. 

 Mr W. H. Holmes also made a panoramic 

 drawing which accompanied the report. 

 Yours very truly, 



W. H. Jackson. 



THE ORIGIN OF "LABRADOR" 



Referring to the meaning of Labrador given 

 in the June number of the National Geo- 

 graphic Magazine, I send the following note : 



The name Labrador was originally given to 

 Greenland by the Cabots, who in 1498 made a 

 voyage from Bristol (England), and in the 



