the shores of which are nearly uninhabited.  Colon is the Caribbean terminus of the Panama Railroad, and is also that of the canal projected, and partly dug, under the De Lesseps scheme.  The harbor being good, though open to some winds, it is naturally indicated as a point where Isthmian transit may begin or end.  As there is no intention of entering into the controversy about the relative merits of the Panama and Nicaragua canal schemes, it will be sufficient here to say that, if the former be carried through, Colon is its inevitable issue on one side.  The city of Cartagena is the largest and most flourishing in the neighborhood of the Isthmus, and has a good harbor.  With these conditions obtaining, its advantage rests upon the axiomatic principle that, other things being nearly equal, a place where commerce centres is a better strategic position than one which it neglects.  The latter is the condition of the Chiriqui Lagoon.  This truly noble sheet of water, which was visited by Columbus himself, and bears record of the fact in the name of one of its basins,—­the Bay of the Admiral,—­has every natural adaptation for a purely naval base, but has not drawn to itself the operations of commerce.  Everything would need there to be created, and to be maintained continuously.  It lies midway between Colon and the mouth of the river San Juan, where is Greytown, which has been selected as the issue of the projected Nicaragua Canal; and therefore, in a peculiar way, Chiriqui symbolizes the present indeterminate phase of the Isthmian problem.  With all its latent possibilities, however, little can be said now of Chiriqui, except that a rough appreciation of its existence and character is essential to an adequate understanding of Isthmian conditions.

The Dutch island of Curacao has been marked, chiefly because, with its natural characteristics, it cannot be passed over; but it now is, and it may be hoped will remain indefinitely, among the positions of which it has been said that they are neutralized by political circumstances.  Curacao possesses a fine harbor, which may be made impregnable, and it lies unavoidably near the route of any vessel bound to the Isthmus and passing eastward of Jamaica.  Such conditions constitute undeniable military importance; but Holland is a small state, unlikely to join again in a general war.  There is, indeed, a floating apprehension that the German Empire, in its present desires of colonial extension, may be willing to absorb Holland, for the sake of her still extensive colonial possessions.  Improbable as this may seem, it is scarcely more incomprehensible than the recent mysterious movements upon the European chess-board, attributed by common rumor to the dominating influence of the Emperor of Germany, which we puzzled Americans for months past have sought in vain to understand.