"One may judge that if the four leagues of land which there are from
Panama to this river were cut through, one might pass from the South
Sea to the ocean on the other side, and thus shorten the route by more
than fifteen hundred leagues; and from Panama to the Straits of Magellan
would be an island, and from Panama to the New-found-lands would be
another island, so that the whole of America would be in two islands."

It is thus seen that the idea of connecting the Atlantic ocean with the
Pacific by cutting through the Isthmus of Panama is not a modern one, as
it was promulgated by Champlain over three hundred years ago.

At this time Spain was in great need of a good transportation service at
the isthmus. The treasures of Peru were sent to Europe by the Panama
route to Porto Bello, from where the ships sailed to the old continent.
The route between the Pacific coast and the Gulf of Mexico was
exceedingly bad. Sometimes the merchants forwarded European goods to
Panama, having them transported to Chagres. Here they were landed in
boats and conveyed to Cruces. From Cruces to Panama mules were employed
for the remainder of the journey. It was, however, the route taken by
travellers visiting Peru, Chili, New Granada, Venezuela, and other
Spanish possessions on the Pacific coast. The most regular connection
between the two oceans was from Fort Acapulco to Vera Cruz, through
Mexico. If Spain had adopted a better line of communication with her
western territories in the New World she might have derived vast
treasure from that source. In the year 1551 Lopez de Gomara, the author
of a "History of Indies," a work written with care and displaying
considerable erudition, proposed to unite the two oceans by means of
canals at three different points, Chagres, Nicaragua and Tehuantepec.
Gomara's proposals were not acted upon, and the honour of carrying out
the project was reserved for France. Ferdinand de Lesseps, who succeeded