Panama and the Canal in Picture and Prose — Inside the Classic

CHAPTER I. THE FRONT DOOR TO PANAMA 9

Antilla, a New Sugar Port--The Island of Jamaica--Kingston, The Colonial Capital--Women as Burden Bearers--Characteristics of the Native Jamaican--Life of the Negro Woman.

CHAPTER II. CRISTOBAL-COLON; AND THE PANAMA RAILROAD 23

The Approach to Colon--The Architecture and Population of Colon--Railroad Building in a Swamp--The French Come to Colon--The Beautiful Roosevelt Avenue--Colon Streets in the Early Days--The Varied Population of Colon--San Blas Indians and Their Cayucas--The Ghastly Story of the Chinese--Cost and Charges of the Panama Railroad.

CHAPTER III. NOMBRE DE DIOS, PORTO BELLO AND SAN LORENZO 45

The Harbor of Porto Bello--The First Appearance of Balboa--Early Indian Life in Panama--The Futile Indian Uprising--The First Sight of the Pacific--The Beginning of Balboa’s Downfall--The Traitor in Balboa’s Camp--The Character of Vasco Nunez de Balboa--Panama a Link in Philippine Trade--Flush Times in Porto Bello--The Piratical Raid of Sir Francis Drake--The Futile Attack on the Treasure Train--The Appearance of Morgan the Buccaneer--The Pillage of Porto Bello.

CHAPTER IV. SAN LORENZO AND PANAMA 75

The Waterway to San Lorenzo--Approach to San Lorenzo Castle--A Rip Van Winkle of a Fortress--The Assault of the Buccaneers--The End of Porto Bello and San Lorenzo.

CHAPTER V. THE SACK OF OLD PANAMA 87

The Advance of the Buccaneers--The Banquet before Panama--The Buccaneers Triumphant in Battle--The Pirates’ Orgy of Plunder--How Morgan Plundered His Pirates--The Scene of Morgan’s Great Exploit.

CHAPTER VI. REVOLUTIONS AND THE FRENCH RÉGIME 101

The Scottish Settlement in Panama--Disasters Beset the Scotch Colonists--The Repeated Revolutions of Panama--Early Projectors of a Panama Canal--Sea Level or Lock Canal--A Relic of the French Days--Some of the Finished Work of the French--The Financial Aberrations of De Lesseps--Yellow Fever’s Toll of French Lives--The Value of the French Work.

CHAPTER VII. THE UNITED STATES BEGINS WORK 123

Why Panama Wanted Independence--Our Share in the Revolution--A Revolution Without a Single Battle--Treaty Rights of the United States--Illustrations of the Magnitude of the Canal Work--The Passage of the Canal Locks--Spectacular Features of Gatun Lake--The Abandonment of Canal Towns--The Pacific Terminus of the Canal--The Forts at the Pacific Entrance.

CHAPTER VIII. THE FORMATIVE PERIOD 147

The Beginning of Work under Wallace--The Absentee Commissioners and the Red Tape--The Successful War with Yellow Fever--The Change from Wallace to Stevens--The Varying Estimates of the Canal Cost--The Resignation of Engineer Stevens.

CHAPTER IX. COL. GOETHALS AT THE THROTTLE 161

What the Colonel Meant by Orders--The Colonel’s Sunday Morning Court--The Autocratic Power of Col. Goethals--The Panama Work Shows Governmental Efficiency.

CHAPTER X. GATUN DAM AND LOCKS 171

Atlantic Beginning of the Canal--The Plan of the Gatun Dam--How the Chagres Current was Blocked--The Spillway, The Nerve Center of Gatun Lake--The Uses of the Electric Power of Gatun--The Colossal Concrete Work at Gatun--The Motive Power of the Lock Gates.

CHAPTER XI. GATUN LAKE AND THE CHAGRES RIVER 187

The Native Affection for the Chagres--The Indispensable Native Cayuca--Keeping the Record of the Chagres--Cruces in Its Day of Greatness--Animal Life on the Chagres River--A Typical Foreign Laborer on The Zone.

CHAPTER XII. THE CULEBRA CUT 201

The Great Problem of the Slides--The Physical Characteristics of the Slide--Some Peculiar Features of the Slides--The Explosive Experience of Miguel--The Gorgeous Coloring of Culebra--The Perilous Passage of Culebra Cut--The almost Human Work of the Steam Shovel--The Work of the Steam Shovellers--The almost Indispensable Track Shifter--The Industrious Ants of Panama--The End of the Canal at Balboa.

CHAPTER XIII. THE CITY OF PANAMA 224

The First Appearance of Panama City--The Popular Panama Lottery--Panama’s Cost of Living is High--Scenes in the Panama Market--The Prevalent Temper of the Panamanians--Why Americans are not Popular--American Sentiment on the Isthmus--The Public Buildings of Panama--The Stout Walls of Panama City--Scenes of the Mardi Gras Carnival--Cock-Fighting and the Liquor Trade--In the Ancient Chiriqui Prison--The Many Churches of Panama--Panama Clubs and Open Air Life.

CHAPTER XIV. THE SANITATION OF THE ZONE 253

Beginning the Warfare on Mosquitoes--Methods of the Anti-Mosquito Crusade--Some Humors of the Mosquito War--How the Streams are Sterilized--Results of the War on Mosquitoes--The Two Great Canal Commission Hospitals--The System of Free Medical Treatment--The Pleasant Village of Taboga--The Sanitarium and Leper Colony.

CHAPTER XV. THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA 273

The Doubtful Soil of Panama--The Simple Study of Native Life--The Building of the Bridegroom’s House--Labor and Land Titles in Panama--Agriculture and Temperature in Panama--Rubber and Cocoanuts Offer Possibilities--The Sport of Shooting Alligators--A Colossal Agricultural Enterprise--The Banana as an Empire Builder--Why the American Flag is Rare--Getting the Bananas to Market--David and the Cattle Country--Gold from the Indian Tombs--Efforts for a System of Industrial Education.

CHAPTER XVI. THE INDIANS OF PANAMA 305

Marriage Customs of the Indians--The Many Tribes of Panama Indians--Characteristics of the San Blas Tribe--An Exclusive Aboriginal People--Family Quarters of the San Blas--Customs of the Chocos and Guaymies--Peculiarities of the Darien Indians.

CHAPTER XVII. SOCIAL LIFE ON THE CANAL ZONE 320