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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



LOW TIDE) NEAR THE) PACIFIC TERMINUS OF THE: CANAIv 

 The range of tide on the Pacific end is 20 feet, while at Colon it is only one foot 



Sosa to Miraflores, which was recom- 

 mended and adopted in December, 1907. 

 This resulted in a change in the direc- 

 tion of the channel in Panama Bay. A 

 breakwater is being constructed from 

 Sosa to Naos Island which, by cutting 

 •off the silt-bearing cross-current, which 

 has always been troublesome, protects 

 the channel against silting. 



A second change is the widening of 

 the \Y 2 miles of Culebra cut to a width 

 of 300 feet at the bottom. This was 

 done by Executive order and was not 

 made on the recommendation of the com- 

 mission. 



A third change is the location of the 



breakwaters in Colon Harbor. The ne- 

 cessity for these breakwaters was made 

 apparent in the latter part of January, 

 when a storm of some magnitude 

 seriously interfered with shipping. As 

 originally proposed for both the sea-level 

 and lock types, the breakwaters were 

 parallel to the axis of the channel ex- 

 cavated in Limon Bay. If so con- 

 structed, sufficient area would not be 

 given to dissipate the waves entering 

 head on into the channel, and they would 

 not afford much, if any, protection to 

 shipping. These breakwaters are to be 

 built out from Manzanillo Island and 

 Toro Point, so as to give a sheltered an- 



