The worst of it was, that the money which had been subscribed was not from
rich people, who would feel its loss very little, but from poor people,
who put their savings, and the money they were storing away for their old
age, into the Canal; and when they lost it, it meant misery and poverty to
them.
So the Panama Canal failed.
But the project of making a canal was not given up. Two years before the
idea of digging at Panama had been thought of, the ground where the
Nicaragua Canal is being built had been surveyed, and thought better
suited to the purpose than Panama.
The reason for this was, that at Panama a long and deep cut had to be made
through the mountains. This had to be done by blasting, in much the same
way that the rocks are cleared away to build houses. This is a long and
tedious work.
The Nicaragua Canal will be 159 miles long, while the Panama, if it is
ever completed, will be only 59 miles; but of these 159 miles, 117 are
through the Nicaragua Lake and the San Juan River--water-ways already made
by nature. For the remaining distance, there are other river-beds that
will be used, and only 21 miles will actually have to be cut through.
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