y of
Jamaica negroes and natives of mixed Spanish, Indian and African
descent. It is served by the Panama railway, which crosses the Isthmus
of Panama from ocean to ocean. Colon has a deep, though poorly sheltered
harbour, and is either the terminus or a place of call for seven lines
of steamships. It thus serves as an entrepot for much of the commerce
between Atlantic and Pacific ports, and between the interior towns of
Central and South America and the cities of Europe and the United
States. The city lies on the west side of the low island of Manzanillo,
is bordered on the landward sides by swamp, and consists mainly of
unimposing frame houses and small shops. The most attractive parts are
the American quarter, where the employes of the Panama railway have
their homes, and the old French quarter, where dwelt the French officers
during their efforts to build the canal. In this last district, near the
mouth of the old canal, stands a fine statue of Christopher Columbus,
the gift of the empress Eugenie in 1870. Here also stands the mansion
erected and occupied by Ferdinand de Lesseps during his residence on the
isthmus. With the exception of railway shops, there are no important
industrial establishments.

Colon dates its origin from the year 1850, when the island of Manzanillo
was selected as the Atlantic terminus of the Panama railway. The
settlement was at first called Aspinwall, in honour of William H.
Aspinwall (1807-1875), one of the builders of the railway; but some
years afterwards its name was changed by legislative enactment to Colon,
in honour of Christopher Columbus, who entered Limon Bay in 1502. The
original name, however, survived among the English-speaking inhabitants
for many years after this change. With the completion of the railway in
1855, the town supplanted Chagres (q.v.) as the principal Atlantic port
of the isthmus. Later it acquired increased importance through its
selection by de Lesseps as the site for the Atlantic entrance to his
canal. During the revolution of 1885 it was partly burned and was
rebuilt on a somewhat larger plan. As the city has always been
notoriously unhealthful, the United States, on undertaking the
construction of the Panama Canal (q.v.), became interested in preventing
its becoming a centre of infection for the Canal Zone, and by the treaty
of November 1903 secured complete jurisdiction in the city and harbour
over all matters relating to sanitation and quarantine, and en