PAMELA, a novel of Richardson’s, from the name of the heroine, a girl of low degree, who resists temptation and reclaims her would-be seducer.

PAMIRS, THE, or the “Roof of the World,” a plateau traversed by mountain ridges and valleys, of the average height of 13,000 ft., NW. of the plateau of Thibet, connecting the mountain system of the Himalayas, Tian-Shan, and the Hindu Kush, and inhabited chiefly by nomad Kirghiz bands; territorial apportionments have for some time past been in the hands of Russian and British diplomatists.

PAMPAS, vast grassy, treeless, nearly level plains in South America, in the Argentine State; they stretch from the lower Parana to the S. of Buenos Ayres; afford rich pasture for large herds of wild horses and cattle, and are now in certain parts being brought under tillage.

PAMPELUNA or PAMPLONA (31), a fortified city of Northern Spain, is 80 m. due SE. of Bilbao.  It has a Gothic cathedral and a surgical college, with manufactures of pottery and leather, and a trade in wine.  Formerly capital of Navarre, it has suffered much in war; has this century several times resisted the Carlists.

PAN, in the Greek mythology a goat-man, a personification of rude nature, and the protector of flocks and herds; originally an Arcadian deity, is represented as playing on a flute of reeds joined together of different lengths, called Pan’s pipes; and dancing on his cloven hoofs over glades and mountains escorted by a bevy of nymphs side by side, and playing on his pipes.  There is a remarkable tradition, that on the night of the Nativity at Bethlehem an astonished voyager heard a voice exclaiming as he passed the promontory of Tarentum, “The great Pan is dead.”  The modern devil is invested with some of his attributes, such as cloven hoofs, &c.

PANAMA (15), a free port in the State of Colombia, on the Pacific coast of the isthmus of the same name, and an oppressively hot and humid place, is the terminus of the Panama railroad and the seat of a great transit trade.  It has a Spanish cathedral.  The population, of Indian and negro descent chiefly, is only half what it was when the canal works were in full operation.

PANAMA CANAL Geographers were familiar with the idea of connecting the two oceans by a canal through Central America as early as the beginning of the 16th century, and Dutch plans are said to exist dating from the 17th century.  The first practical steps were taken by Ferdinand de Lesseps in 1879; two years later work was begun; the cost was estimated at L24,000,000, but on January 1, 1889, the company was forced into liquidation after spending over L70,000,000, and accomplishing but a fifth of the work.  Extravagance and incapacity were alleged among the causes of failure; but the apparently insurmountable difficulties were marshes, quicksands, and the overflow of the Chagres River, the prevalence of earthquakes, the length of the rainy season, the cost of labour and living, and the extreme unhealthiness of the climate.