It was not unnatural, therefore, when they sailed into what we now call the Gulf of Mexico and observed how far west they went before coming to land, that they should expect to find the passage there. When you look at the map that we print herewith, you will see that it is but a short step--for the mind--from the strait that was not found to the idea of connecting the two oceans by a manufactured strait or canal. Much more than a century ago the suggestion was made, and ever since efforts have been made to build such a canal. [Illustration] The Panama Railroad, a regular steam railroad for passengers and freight, was built across the narrow part of the Isthmus, as indicated in the map, in 1850 to 1855, and at that time negotiations were definitely entered into looking toward the construction of a canal. Ferdinand de Lesseps, a Frenchman, who made himself famous by building the Suez Canal, organized a company in France, and work was commenced on the Panama route. His plan was to construct what is known as a sea-level canal across the very narrow part of the Isthmus (see map). "Sea level" means that it was to be merely a cut in which the water would be all the way at the same level--an open clear waterway from one ocean to the other. This proved impracticable on account of engineering difficulties and the crossing of the Chagres River, and in 1887 it was decided that it could only be built with locks. The system of using locks allows the water in different parts of the canal to be at different levels. This is done by closing both ends of each section of the canal with gates; a second pair of gates is placed a short distance beyond, and the space between these is called a "lock." If a vessel is to be taken into a section of the canal higher than that from which she has come, she goes into the lock; water is then let into this lock from the higher level by opening a water-gate until enough has entered to float the vessel up to the level of the higher section of the canal; the gates before the vessel are then opened and she passes out into the new section. If she is to be taken to a lower section, the reverse of this operation accomplishes this: the water is let out until she is on the lower level. [Illustration: ROUTE OF NICARAGUA CANAL.] Mr. Eiffel, the engineer who designed the great tower in Paris which has his name, designed locks for the Panama Canal, but in March, 1889, work was stopped on account of lack of money. How extravagant an operation this canal was, is told by the figures. Two hundred and fifty millions of dollars were spent, and only one hundred and forty millions' worth of work can be shown for it. This great difference created a scandal throughout France, especially as the poorer French people had been led to invest in canal shares, in the belief that they would yield great profit.