In Christobal are dwellings of the Canal employees; a large building occupied by the Commissary Department contains a cold storage plant, a bakery, and a laundry, which serve all the employees of the canal, the railroad, and the U. S. Government on the Isthmus:—these with their families numbering at times 60,000. Also there is a Commission Hotel with meals at 30 cents for employees, 50 cents for transients, providing better fare than can be procured in most parts of the United States for the price to employees; and a Y. M. C. A. building which supplies a reading room, opportunity for games and for social diversions including dances, lectures, and other entertainments. There are five other similar structures along the line.
At the end of the Point are two houses constructed for Ferdinand de Lesseps and his son, now moved closer together and devoted to offices of the Commissary and Health Departments. Beyond is the statue of the great Discoverer: the monument, cast at Turin, a replica of one in Lima, presented by Empress Eugénie to the Republic of Colombia to be erected at Colon. Columbus, of noble countenance, is represented in attitude of explanation to an Indian maiden personifying America, whose face expresses wonder and alarm.
Porto Bello. With time to spare an excursion may be made to the beautiful harbor of Porto Bello, 18 miles northeast of Colon, where the Commission has been operating, in a great rock quarry, one of the largest stone crushers in the world. Millions of cubic yards of rock have been taken from here, a smaller size for the concrete of the Gatun locks and spillway, a larger size for the Colon breakwater. Porto Bello and Nombre de Dios were the two safe harbors found by the Spaniards on this coast. The former has been a Spanish town since 1597. With a fine location the town is considered unhealthy, having an extraordinary amount of rain, 237 inches in 1909. A tug leaves Christobal wharf every morning returning at night. One has two hours or more to view the American settlement of 1000 people at the stone quarries and to cross the bay to the old village to see the finest ruins on the Isthmus: an old customs house, old bridges, the remains of Fort San Jerome, and the old plaza. There is a population of over 2000, with a church and stores.
Some miles beyond Porto Bello begins the large section of country inhabited by the San Blas Indians, who have been smart and sensible enough to keep the white man out of their territory, thus preserving their independence to the present day. They come to Colon to trade, but seldom allow a stranger to remain over night in their territory.
San Lorenzo Fort. Another excursion of interest is to San Lorenzo Fort, at the mouth of the Chagres River, either by sea in a motor boat, or better, in a canoe down the river from Gatun, a sail of ten miles, during which one has a glimpse of the real tropical jungle; the sea route affords a better view of the old fort. The remains are very complete, an outer wall, and a castle to be entered by a drawbridge. There are strong rooms, galleries for prison cells, manacles, etc., seeing which the tourist is apt to be more contented with his own lot. At the foot of the hill is the little village of Chagres.
In front of Christobal a construction of five piers is being made enclosing ten docks capable of berthing ships 1000 feet long, these being the Atlantic terminal docks for the canal. Across the bay is Toro Point. From this headland a breakwater has been constructed to protect the canal entrance and Limon Bay from the violent northers which occasionally visit this coast. It will also reduce the amount of silt to be washed into the dredged canal. From Toro Point the breakwater extends northeast for a distance of over two miles. The bottom width varies with the depth of the water; at the top it is 15 feet wide and 10 feet above mean sea level. A double-track trestle was first constructed, from which carloads of rock were dumped into the sea. The cost is about $5,500,000. It has recently been decided to construct an additional though smaller breakwater on the Colon side, extending west, some distance north of Christobal Point. Fortifications for the defense of the canal are being raised, both at Toro Point and on the east side at Margarita Island, one mile north of Manzanillo.
CHAPTER IV
COLON TO PANAMA—PANAMA CITY
Four daily trains in about 2 hours at 3.00, 6.00 and 10.40 a.m. and 4.00 p.m. Special train for sight-seers, round trip fare $4.00, from Colon at 8 a.m., with barge service on lake, $1.50 extra.
Guides for tourist parties to inspect Canal, $7.50 per day, on application to Railway Ticket Agents, Colon or Panama.