1116. CANAL, Panama.—
The Spaniards
are, at this time, desirous of trading to the
Philippine Islands, by the way of the Cape of
Good Hope; but opposed in it by the Dutch,
under authority of the treaty of Munster, they
are examining the practicability of a common
passage through the Straits of Magellan or
round Cape Horn. Were they to make an
opening through the Isthmus of Panama, a
work much less difficult than some even of the
inferior canals of France, however small this
opening should be in the beginning, the tropical
current, entering it with all its force, would
soon widen it sufficiently for its own passage.—
To M. Le Roy de L'Academie des Sciences. Washington ed. ii, 59.
(P.
1786)
See Gulf Stream.
