Below is given a summary of the comparisons which have just been discussed. _Panama Route_ _Nicaragua Route_ There are two good harbors. There are no good harbors. There is a good railroad. There is a very poor railroad. Two-fifths of the work is completed. No work is completed. The projected construction, according A dam without precedent in to the majority of canal work is projected. engineers, is justified by good engineering practice. Except at Bohio, the annual rainfall The most difficult works are nowhere exceeds 93 inches. where the rainfall is nearly 256 inches. The length is 50 miles. The length is 176 miles. There are no active volcanoes. There is one active volcano near the route. The time of transit is 14 hours. The time of transit is 44 hours. The curvature is comparatively The curvature is sharp. gentle. No troublesome winds and Heavy trade winds and strong cross-currents are expected. currents would be troublesome. III. HISTORY OF THE PANAMA ROUTE The Panama route as a line of transit was first established between the years 1517 and 1520. The first settlement on the site of old Panama, six or seven miles east of the present city, was made in 1517. The Atlantic end, called Nombre de Dios, was built in 1519. Here Balboa was tried and executed. It grew rapidly in importance and in 1521 became a city by royal decree. Even at that early date a road was established across the Isthmus. It, however, did not enter the city of Panama, but at the Pacific end passed through a small town called Cruces on the Chagres river about 17 miles distant, and at the Atlantic end passed through Nombre de Dios. The latter terminus did not prove satisfactory so the town of Porto Bello was made the Atlantic Port in 1597. This also was subsequently abandoned. At least part of this road was paved, and bridges were built over the streams. Even today its course is well defined. As early as 1534 boats began to pass up and down the Chagres river between Cruces and its mouth on the Caribbean shore and thence along the coast to Nombre de Dios, and later to Porto Bello. The commerce thus begun increased rapidly during the sixteenth century and Panama became a very important commercial center with a trade extending to the Spice Islands and the Asiatic coast. It was at the height of its power in 1585 and was called the “toll-gate between western Europe and Eastern Asia.”