What then are we to understand by the term "neutral" as applied to the Panama Canal in war time? I suppose the meaning to be that if there be a war to which the United States is not a party, the Canal will be used by belligerents in exactly the same way as was the Suez Canal, _e.g._, in the Russo-Japanese War, and that the Government of the United States has pledged itself to see that such neutrality is preserved. But if there be a war in which the United States is a party, the circumstances of fortification and operation by the United States in fact render it impossible for the other belligerent to use the Canal, and are intended[3] to have that effect. This being so, the United States is preparing to defend the Canal from attack. Thus it is important to the proper understanding of the undertaking on which the United States Government has embarked that we should clearly realise that the Canal is only neutral in a restricted sense. The commercial status of the Canal, however, is similar to that of Suez, in that by Article III., § 1, of the Hay-Pauncefote treaty, "The Canal shall be free and open[4] to the vessels ... of all nations ... on terms of entire equality, so that there shall be no discrimination against any such nation, or its citizens or subjects, in respect of the conditions or charges of traffic, or otherwise." [3] See Report of Canal Commission, 1897, p. 168. [4] In Article XVIII. of the treaty with Panama this clause is cited, with the addition "and the entrances to the Canal." CHAPTER II ON THE CANAL AS IT IS TO BE BETWEEN Colon and Panama the American Isthmus is about 36 miles across as the crow flies, and is therefore nearly, though not quite, at its narrowest. In this portion of its sinuous course both coasts trend north of east and Panama lies nearly south-east of Colon. The Isthmus in general is a very confused mass of hills and mountains. It is crossed by no transverse trench (such as sometimes occurs in mountainous regions), neither by the trough provided by down-folded strata, nor the rift valley produced by fracture and foundering of rock. A low-level transverse can only be found by following up the course of a river, crossing the divide, and following the course of another river downwards to the other ocean. From the vicinity of Colon, by following up the valley of the River Chagres, we are led in precisely the required direction, _i.e._, directly towards the Pacific, for nearly two-thirds of the way. The distance from the head of Limon Bay, following the curves of the valley, is 26 miles to this place, Obispo, and for the greater part of the distance the river flows in a broad valley of deep alluvial deposits. [Illustration: FRENCH DREDGER LAID UP.] [Illustration: FRENCH TRUCKS PARTLY COVERED WITH FOREST GROWTH]