Excerpt from The Panama Canal: Its Past, Present, and Future The Isthmus of Panama has been well described as a barrier between two oceans which has, nevertheless, failed to serve as a bridge between two continents. So rugged and overgrown with tropical jungle, and so subject to malarious and other disorders is this isthmus, that, despite its fame and its beauties in certain respects, this natural pathway between North and South America has been neglected as a means of transit, in a longitudinal direction, from the one to the other; and it still remains - away from the immediate influence of the canal works almost as wild as when traversed by Balboa. The same may be said concerning great portions of South America, which remain unaltered since first aroused by the tramp of the European horseman. No railway or road traverses the isthmus connecting the two continents The Panama Railroad crossed it transversely; an isolated link of communication in the interrupted navigation between the Pacific and the Atlantic. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.