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, and thus complete in a short time,
that work which otherwise will still employ it for ages. Less country,
too, would be destroyed by it in this way. These consequences would
follow. 1. Vessels from Europe or the western coast of Africa, by
entering the tropics, would have a steady wind and tide to carry them
through the Atlantic, through America and the Pacific ocean, to every
part of the Asiatic coast, and of the eastern coast of Africa: thus
performing with speed and safety the tour of the whole globe, to within
about twenty-four degrees of longitude, or one fifteenth part of its
circumference; the African continent, under the line, occupying about
that space. 2. The Gulf of Mexico, now the most dangerous navigation in
the world on account of its currents and moveable sands, would become
stagnant and safe.
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