21. _Caymans_, Crocodiles.

22. For an interesting Account of the best route to and from the West
Indies in order to avoid the vigilant French and English corsairs, see
_Notes on Giovanni da Verrazano_, by J. C. Brevoort, New York, 1874, p.
101.

23. At the time that Champlain was at the isthmus, in 1599-1601, the gold
and silver of Peru were brought to Panama, then transported on mules a
distance of about four leagues to a river, known as the Rio Chagres,
whence they were conveyed by water first to Chagres. and thence along
the coast to Porto-bello, and there shipped to Spain.

Champlain refers to a ship-canal in the following words: "One might
judge, if the territory four leagues in extent lying between Panama and
this river were cut through, he could pass from the south sea to that
on the other side, and thus shorten the route by more than fifteen
hundred leagues. From Panama to the Straits of Magellan would
constitute an island, and from Panama to New Foundland another, so that
the whole of America would be in two islands."--_Vide Brief Discours
des Choses Plus Remarquables_, par Sammuel Champlain de Brovage, 1599,
Quebec ed., Vol. I. p 141. This project of a ship canal across the
isthmus thus suggested by Champlain two hundred and eighty years ago is
now attracting the public attention both in this country and in Europe.
Several schemes are on foot for bringing it to pass, and it will
undoubtedly be accomplished, if it shall be found after the most
careful and thorough investigation to be within the scope of human
power, and to offer adequate commercial advantages.