Chagres, a village of the Republic of Panama in the Colón Province. It's a harbour from 10 to I ~ ft. deep, which's difficult to enter. The port was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1502, and was opened for traffic with Panama, on the Pacific coast, by way of the Chagres River, in the 16th century. With the decline of Porto Bello in the 18th century Chagres became the chief Atlantic port of the Isthmus, and was at the height of its importance during the great rush of goldhunters across… (More on Chagres)