CHAPTER 6

January 1886

“Finally de Lesseps is coming!” Philippe thought when he finished reading the cablegram. In six weeks the Chambers of Commerce of several countries would be arriving to check the progress of the project. “Things must be very bad…” he thought when he realized that the true purpose of the visit was to try to convince businessmen from the United States, Germany, England, and other countries to invest in the Canal Company.

During the following weeks, all of Panama prepared for the second coming of “Le Grand Français”, who would be accompanied by his son, Charles, vice president of the company headed by his father. Streets were cleaned, buildings were painted, and activities were planned to entertain a delegation of more than one hundred people. Large amounts of wine and food were imported especially for the celebration. Philippe did his best to have reports, graphs, and discussions ready to impress de Lesseps.

On the afternoon of February 17, the young general director of the company in Panama anxiously awaited the arrival of the visitors. With his uniform impeccably pressed and his now mature mustache perfectly waxed, the young engineer observed as the steamship Washington neared the pier. Once it had docked, to Philippe’s delight, the first person to come down the ship’s stairway was Ferdinand de Lesseps.

“Mr. President, I’m Philippe Bunau-Varilla, general director of the project. Welcome to Panama,” he said nervously. “Le Grand Français” extended his hand to Philippe and spoke slowly and deliberately, “Ah, yes, Mr. Bunau-Varilla. I have received your reports. Thank you, thank you so much.” And without another word, his idol continued to greet the rest of the engineers and local dignitaries who had come to receive him. The patriarchs from the Obaldía, Boyd, Arango, and Arosemena families, among others welcomed the affable visitor while the rest of the delegation disembarked from the ship and the military group from the American gunboat Galena, courtesy of admiral Jouett, played upbeat melodies.

As the visitors finished greeting the reception committee, Dr. Amador gave each a small box of quinine pills to protect against tropical illnesses, and Bursera simaruba, an antidote for venomous snake bites. Philippe enjoyed watching the horror on the guests’ faces as they read the instructions written on the tiny papers inside the small first aid kits they had received.

That night a welcome supper was served at the Gran Hotel. The dinner, Panama’s most important event of the year, was prepared by French and Italian chefs brought in specifically for the occasion, and accompanied by a large quantity of Mouton Rothschild, Beajoulais, Chianti Classico and Frescobaldi to make the dancing to follow all the more enjoyable. After speeches by local dignitaries, and at the request of Ferdinand de Lesseps, the celebration lasted until dawn.

Big reception for Count Ferdinand de Lesseps during his second visit to Panama in 1886. Public domain image.

The following weeks were full of activities for the visitors. Each morning at seven o’clock sharp, the groups went off to observe different areas of the project. They went to the Culebra Cut, the hospitals, workers’ dorms, Matachin, the Chagres River, and Panama City, and were always accompanied by engineers who optimistically explained the progress of the work. Philippe had chosen to lead the group which included Ferdinand de Lesseps and the American committee.

On one of the site visits, the general director blew up a small mountain along the excavation route, to the delight of the visitors. That night, Philippe handed to de Lesseps, with great ceremony, a small rock that represented one thousandth of a millionth of the mountain he’d blown up that morning.

Despite the success, or at least, the hopefulness resulting from having the visitors to Panama, Philippe was frustrated because he hadn’t managed to sit down and talk, not even once, with his idol. Each time he tried to get near, for some reason “Le Grand Français” had something else to do. Philippe didn’t understand why de Lesseps was keeping his distance.

***

One afternoon, while the guests were resting after an excursion to the island of Taboga, Ferdinand de Lesseps asked Philippe to call together available engineers to discuss some technical details. Once everyone was in the Canal Company offices, they were seated around a large table to listen to what de Lesseps had to say. It was at this moment that Philippe understood the attitude of “Le Grand Français.”

“Mr. Bunau-Varilla, I have received reports that you are proposing to change the design of the canal in order to incorporate locks. From the beginning I have said that this was to be a sea level canal, as in Suez, without locks. “Is this rumor true?” the patriarch asked, obviously irritated.

“Mr. President, this is one of the things I’d been hoping to discuss with you, but haven’t had the chance. If you prefer, we could talk later so I could explain…”

“Now, please,” de Lesseps said firmly.

Philippe cleared his throat before proceeding, and thought about his answer for a fraction of a second before responding confidently, “Several years have passed since we began the work here in Panama. Now we are more familiar with the geology of the land we are excavating and I believe a canal at sea level would be rather expensive. If we make it with locks, we can open the canal in less time. If we combine the locks with the creation of an artificial lake, as Godin de Lépinay suggested some years ago, we would significantly reduce the total excavation and we could open the canal sooner…”

“Of course. So the young engineer knows more than all of the members of the technical committee. Right?” de Lesseps replied sarcastically.

“No, Mr. President. But considering that we now know that the land we are excavating is different from what we initially thought, we ought to adjust our plans accordingly. For example, the Lavalley machinery worked well in the sands of Egypt, but it doesn’t work for excavating the rocky Panamanian land,” Philippe said firmly but respectfully.

Ferdinand de Lesseps sat quietly, but his eyes betrayed a fury provoked by the junior engineer. Just then, one of the new recruits who had come with de Lesseps stepped in. His name was León Boyer, a distinguished graduate of the Polytechnic School that had become famous for constructing bridges throughout Europe.

Boyer remembered Philippe from his days as a student. “Philippe, we’ve been told that the Canal Company is restricting entry into the hospital to certain workers, and that some have been forced to die in the street. What can you tell us about this?”

Philippe answered without hesitation, “Mr. Boyer, this enterprise isn’t a charity institution. It is true that the hospital is denying entrance to several people, but only because they aren’t really ill. Go to the hospital and you will see that eighty percent of the patients are black natives of the French Antilles. Since they were freed from slavery, they’ve devoted their lives to being professional patients. Then go to the excavation site. There you will find that eighty percent of the blacks working are Jamaican.”

“Are you insinuating that Anglo-speaking blacks are better workers than French-speaking blacks?” Boyer asked incredulously.

“Mr. Boyer, I’m not insinuating—I’m telling you. You need only visit the excavation site and the hospitals to confirm that what I’m saying is the truth,” Philippe stated firmly.

Boyer’s questions and the questions of other engineers continued and Philippe answered with authority, demonstrating absolute knowledge of the operation. Even though the technical personnel seemed to understand and accept Philippe’s explanations, Ferdinand de Lesseps remained clearly displeased with the young man’s arrogance.

Ferdinand de Lesseps during his second visit to Panama; the girl seated on the stairs is his daughter. Philippe is standing sideways on his left. Photo courtesy of Mr. Ricardo López Arias.