Through its port of Balboa, in the Canal Zone, Panama is in communication with the whole world, and the ships of every nation stop there to load coal and supplies. The city is built on a rocky peninsula jutting into the Bay of Panama, eastward, and its most commanding site is Mount Ancon (56o ft.), now enclosed within the Canal Zone, and the picturesque island of Taboga in the harbour (935 ft.). Taboga was one of the sites taken over by the United States for canal defence during the war and has been one of the issues brought up by Panama in the negotiation of the new treaty. (See PANAMA and PANAMA CANAL ZONE.) Panama was, during the early Spanish regime, strongly fortified and richly endowed with buildings and churches. It was the store house of the gold and silver from South America and the treasures of the Orient, and was the envy of the pirates and buccaneers. The ruins of the old city, destroyed in 1671, are still standing and are the object of tourist visits. The site was removed 5 m. west and the town was rebuilt in 1673 by Alfonso Mercado de Villa corta, to be nearer the port. The new city was entirely surrounded by a granite wall, whose remains are still landmarks in the modern city and a portion of which, along the sea, is a famous promenade, Las Bovedas. The streets of the old town are narrow and tortuous, and automobiles have complicated an already difficult traffic prob lem. There are several old squares, the four chief centres being Cathedral, Santa Ana, Bolivar and de Lesseps. The old cathedral was built in 1760, and is a handsome landmark. Other public buildings include the new Government palace, on the water front, the municipal palace, the episcopal palace, the church of Santa Ana, the national theatre, school of arts and crafts, a handsome new railway station, various old office buildings and colonial resi dences. The prevailing architecture is stone, flat or red tile
roofed, two or three storeys high. The streets are well lighted and paved in the central portion and the tramways system is adequate. The water supply and drainage were established by the U.S. Government engineers, and are maintained by them.
Ancon, including the residence of American officials, the Canal Zone hospitals and administration buildings, and the large hotel operated by the U.S. Government for travelers, adjoins Panama, while Balboa, the actual port (formerly called La Boca), is on the canal and entirely within the Canal Zone; it is connected with Panama by railway and tram-line. (W. Tiro.) PANAMA CANAL, the canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the narrow isthmus of Panama, where the Continental Divide dips to one of its lowest points. Its length from shore line to shore line is 40.27 m., and from deep water in the Atlantic to deep water in the Pacific 50.72 miles. The canal does not, as is generally supposed, cross the isthmus from east to west. It runs due south from its entrance in Limon bay, through the Gatun locks to a point in the widest portion of Gatun lake, a distance of I I m.; it then turns sharply toward the east and follows a course generally south-east till it reaches the Bay of Panama, on the Pacific side. Its terminus near Panama is about 221 m. E. of its terminus near Colon. In passing from the Atlantic to the Pacific a vessel enters the approach channel in Limon bay, which has a bottom width of 500 ft. and extends to Gatun locks, a distance of 6i miles. At Gatun it enters a series of three locks in flight which lift it 85 ft. ; next upon Gatun lake which covers an area of 164 sq.m. with a channel depth varying from 45 to 87 feet. The channel within the lake varies from 500 to 1,000 ft. in width for a distance of nearly 24 m. to Gamboa, where the Gaillard (Culebra) cut begins. The channel through the cut, a distance of about 8 m., has a bottom width of 30o ft. and a depth of 45 ft., and extends to the locks at Pedro Miguel, the Pacific end of the water bridge. At Pedro Miguel the vessel is lowered in the single lock 31 ft. to a small lake, at an elevation of 54 ft. above sea-level, through which the vessel passes one mile to the two locks at Miraflores. These lower it to sea-level, and through an approach passage 8 m. long, with a bottom width of 500 ft., it passes into the Pacific. The locks are duplicate or "double-barrelled" so that ships may be passed in opposite directions simultaneously. The cut has eight angles and at these the channel is widened sufficiently to allow a i,000-ft. vessel to make the turn. In the whole canal there are 22 angles, the total curvature being 600° 54'. The sharpest curve is 67° I I'. A thorough system of lights and buoys makes the canal as safe to use at night as by day.