446 The National Geographic Magazine 



middle of the 19th century it was seen 

 that nothing but a systematic and scien- 

 tific treatment of theproblem would avail, 

 and one of the first to realize this was 

 the late Rear Admiral Daniel Ammen, 

 U.S.N. He had sought permission from 

 the Navy Department to take charge of a 

 party to explore the Isthmus of Panama 

 early in the fifties, but was refused. 

 Soon after this, civil war broke out in 

 the country, and the navy had its hands 

 too full to consider other than military 

 matters. Hardly had the war ceased, 

 however, before Ammen took up the 

 problem and, enlisting the influence of 

 his great friend, General Grant, he ham- 

 mered away at it until the day of his 

 death. Fortunately, Ammen was suc- 

 ceeded in that office of the Navy Depart- 

 ment having charge of such matters by 

 Rear Admiral John G. Walker, U.S.N. 

 His earnest interest in the subject is 

 demonstrated by the fact that he is now 

 the President of the Isthmian Canal Com- 

 mission.* But today the canal project 

 owes no man more for its promising fu- 

 ture than it owes General Grant. 



Well-equipped expeditions were fitted 

 out for surveying the different routes se- 

 lected for examination by such men as 

 Shufeldt, Lull, Self ridge, Crossman, Col- 

 lins, Hatfield, all officers of the navy, 

 and when the mass of evidence seemed 

 to be pointing toward Panama as the 

 most favorable site for a canal, a French 

 naval officer came in suddenly and un- 

 expectedly took the stake. 



I say this with some fear of contra- 

 diction, yet I believe this contention can 

 be maintained. To be sure, a number 

 of the leading men in our country favored 

 the Nicaragua route, and many naval offi- 

 cers were strong in their conviction that 

 its location was the most favorable for a 

 canal , bu 1 1 claim this view was 1 argely in- 

 fluenced by political considerations and 

 the imperfect knowledge then extant re- 

 garding the work necessary to construct 

 a canal on so large a scale. 



* Since this address Admiral Walker has 

 been succeeded by Hon. Theodore M. Shonts. 



One of the first officiaracts of the gov- 

 ernment of the United States in connec- 

 tion with canal investigation was a reso- 

 lution passed by the United States Senate 

 March 9, 1866, reading'as follows : 



"Resolved, That the Secretary of the 

 Navy furnish, through a report of the 

 Superintendent of the Naval Observa- 

 tory, the summit levels and distances by 

 survey of the various proposed lines for 

 interoceanic canals and railroads between 

 the waters of the Atlantic and the Pacific 

 oceans, as, also, their relative merits as 

 practicable lines for the construction of 

 a ship canal, and especially as relates 

 to Honduras, Tehuantepec, Nicaragua, 

 Panama, and Atrato lines ; and also 

 whether, in the opinion of the Superin- 

 tendent, the Isthmus of Darien has been 

 satisfactorily explored ; and, if so, fur- 

 nish in detail charts, plans, lines of lev- 

 els, and all information connected there- 

 with, and upon what authority they are 

 based." 



The result of the resolution was a com- 

 prehensive report of the whole canal 

 question as far as then known by the 

 late Rear Admiral Charles H.Davis,U.S. 

 Navy, Superintendent Naval Observa- 

 tory, of which 8,000 copies were printed 

 by order of Congress. 



Another able and voluminous report 

 on the ' ' Problem of Interoceanic Com- 

 munication by way of the American 

 Isthmus ' ' was prepared in pursuance of 

 an order of the Navy Department by 

 Lieut. John T. Sullivan, U. S. Navy, in 

 1883, which was published in accordance 

 with authority of Congress, and which 

 became a standard reference book on the 

 subject. 



THE PANAMA ROUTE 



Capt. B. P. Lull, U. S. N., surveyed 

 this route in 1875, and he estimated, as 

 the most practical plan, for a lock-canal 

 of a length of 41.7 miles from sea to sea ; 

 but the real origin of the Panama Canal 

 as an accepted project may be found in 

 the brief surveys of Lieutenants Wyse 

 and Reclus of the French navy. On the 



