THE RISING LAKE COVERED MANY NATIVE VILLAGES 



Inhabitants in the remote valleys had no faith in the predicted rise and neglected to remove 



their property in time 



A ZOOLOGICAL AXD BOTANICAL PARK 



While the various so-called insular 

 possessions of the United States present 

 many strange forms of plant and animal 

 life, most of these are beyond the cur- 

 rent of our domestic intercourse and 

 are little visited by travelers from other 

 lands. Wonderful as are our national 

 parks, they must be seen, if at all, by 

 those diverted from the customary lines 

 of travel. 



The Canal Zone, however, is seen en 

 route, and is the only Federal domain of 

 surpassing interest that can be directly 

 traversed by boat or rail and in which 

 each citizen having a feeling of proprie- 

 torship should favor its permanent im- 

 provement and beautification. The ter- 

 minal cities of the canal — Colon and 

 Panama — will continue to be objects of 

 interest : but how refreshing and enter- 

 taining is the trans-Isthmian trip, for 

 here can be seen the tropic growths in 

 all their luxuriance, and here ought to 

 be visible every native variety of tree, 

 shrub, and bloom, the wonderful bird 

 life, the strange species of mammals and 

 reptiles, and all that goes toward mak- 

 ing a panoramic summary of tropical life. 



The lake district, as the center of this 

 great international park, would soon be- 

 come the natural home of the deer, pec- 

 caries, tapirs, monkeys, alligators, croco- 

 diles, and iguanas : a resort for every 

 variety of fresh-water fish known to the 

 southern continent ; the place to colonize 

 vast rookeries of heron and egrets, while 

 protection against the gun would soon 

 make the routes of travel resound with 

 the noisy chatter of parrots and macaws. 

 and myriads of bright-colored songsters 

 would give added color to the orchid- 

 laden trees. 



A LESSON FOR OTHERS 



"What an example in wild-life conser- 

 vation to our sister republics of the 

 South ! Such self-restraint in useless or 

 wasteful destruction would soon bring to 

 the car windows and to the edge of each 

 hamlet a varied and interesting life now 

 hidden to most eyes in the impenetrable 

 jungles. The introduction of many beau- 

 tiful and useful plants from South Amer- 

 ica could be supplemented by those from 

 Africa and similar climes, and not out of 

 line with such a display, as already sug- 

 gested by Colonel Roosevelt, would be 



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