Page 316 - The interest of America in sea power, present and future

294 Strategic Features of the Gulf of ;

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 it-
self the operations of commerce. Everything
would need there to be created, and to be main-
tained 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 sym-
bolizes the present indeterminate phase of the
Isthmian problem. With all its latent pos-
sibilities, however, little can be said now of
Chiriqui, except that a rough appreciation of its
existence and character is essential to an ade-
quate understanding of Isthmian conditions.
The Dutch island of Cura9ao has been
marked, chiefly because, with its natural char-
acteristics, it cannot be passed over; but it
now is, and it may be hoped will remain in-
definitely, among the positions of which it has
been said that they are neutralized by political
circumstances. Cura9ao possesses a fine har-
bor, which may be made impregnable, and it
lies unavoidably near the route of any vessel