[XXXIV-15] This survey was considered reliable. English engineers pronounced Brito 'unworthy of this great ship navigation.' Davis' Report, 6-7.

[XXXIV-16] S. Bayley in 1852 proposed a route from La Vírgen to San Juan del Sur, nearly following that of the Transit Co. without passing through the valley of the Lajas, which Baily recommended in 1843. In 1853 E. G. Squier tried to revive Belcher's plan of utilizing both lakes, and reaching Fonseca Bay through the Conejo Valley and the Estero Real. Squier's proposed Honduras railway also was to reach that bay; and it is quite possible that he contemplated connecting the two works. Felix Belly, for Belly, Millaud, and Company, in a contract of May 1858 with the Nicaraguan government, purposed carrying into execution Örsted's proposition; but after several years' waiting without Belly or his assigns, the International Canal Co., accomplishing anything, or offering better prospects for the future, the government, in 1868, declared his contract forfeited, and entered into another with Michel Chevalier, from which better expectations were entertained; but they were destined not to be realized. Chevalier required, as a condition sine qua non, that the contract should be ratified by the Costa Rican congress. This took place a year later, and then came the war between France and Prussia, and Nicaragua's last effort, like all former ones, was frustrated. Belly, Nic., i. 31-50, 170-4, 401-6; ii. 1-13, 27-36, 59-464; Id., Carte d'études, 19-27, 49-91; Nic. Canal de, 1-21; Col. Dec. y Acuerdos, 1863, 39-40, 118; 1869-70, 8-23; Pim's Gate of the Pac., 1-14, 58, 116-34, 221-30, 322-70, 394; Nic., Gaceta, Jan. 7, Apr. 8, 1865; March 20, Apr. 17, 1869; Id., Informe Sec. Rel., 1869, 8-9; Id., Id., Hacienda, 1869, 3-5; Marcoleta, Min. Nic., 1-32; Hunt's Merch. Mag., lv. 31-48; lvi. 32-4.

[XXXIV-17] Nic., Gaceta, Dec. 12, 24, 1863; Nov. 9, 1867.

[XXXIV-18] The exploration by Com. Lull, of the U. S. navy, established the existence of a practicable route for a canal with Lake Nicaragua as its summit level, 107 ft above mean tide. It was proposed to connect the lake with the Pacific by a canal 16.3 miles in length, from the mouth of the Medio River to Port Brito. The first 7.5 miles would require an excavation averaging 54 ft in depth, which would be the most costly part of the work. The plan calls for ten locks, and one tide-lock between the lake and the sea. The lake navigation is of 56 miles. The river San Juan would be improved by means of four dams; namely, at the rapids of Castillo, Balas, and Machuca, and at the mouth of the San Cárlos River, all of which places are suitable for dams. A short section of canal with one lock would be needed to get around each of the upper three dams. From the fourth dam to San Juan del Norte, an independent canal 41.4 miles long with 7 locks must be constructed, which presents no apparent engineering difficulty. The total length of the canal would be 61.7 miles. No tunnelling needed. The harbor of San Juan del Norte must be dredged, and otherwise improved, to insure that no water but that of the canal shall run into the harbor. Short breakwaters must be built to protect the entrances from the surf. Lake Nicaragua with a surface of 2,700 sq. miles, and a drainage area of 8,000 sq. miles, will supply 38 times the maximum possible demand of water. The depth of water would be 26 ft; the width at bottom 72 ft, and at surface 150 ft. The locks, 21 in number, with a lift of from 8 to 10 ft, would be 400 ft long, 72 ft wide. The cost was estimated at about eighty million dollars. U. S. Gov. Doc., Sen. Jour., 916, Cong. 41, Sess. 2; Id., H. Ex. Doc., Cong. 42, Sess. 2, i. no. 1, pt. 1, 670-8; Id., 3d Sess., i. p. 160, 462-5; Id., Sec. Navy Rept, Cong. 43, Sess. 1, p. 10-12; Id., Nic. Ship Canal Route, Cong. 43, Sess. 1; Lévy, Nic., 428-40; Nic., Gaceta, Aug. 20, 27, Oct. 22, Dec. 24, 1870; Oct. 21, 1871; Jan. 11, Feb. 22, July 12, 1873; March 21, June 6, Nov. 28, 1874; Id., Mem. Sec. Rel., 1871, 10-16, 29-39; 1875, xiii.-xiv.; 1879, xxvii.-viii.; Costa R., Col. Ley., xix. 17-34, 180-1; Id., Informe Sec. Rel., 1872, 2-5; 1877, 2; 1885, 4-6, 47-54; Guat., Mem. Sec. Rel., 1884, 6, 8, 9; Pan. Canal, March 5, 1883; Id., Star and Herald, Feb. 12, 14, 1883; La Estrella de Pan., Jan. 15, 1885; El Guatemalteco, March 4, 1884. It has been asserted that formidable obstacles exist to a permanent deep-water entrance at San Juan del Norte, owing to sand and other detritus carried into it by the San Juan River, rendering it shallow and dangerous. Gisborne's Isth. Darien, 8-11.

[XXXIV-19] The report of course gives in minute detail the engineering features of the three divisions. The proposed locks have a uniform length of 650 ft between gates, and at least 65 ft of width. The canal is to have a depth of 28 or 30 ft. It is anticipated that a ship can pass from San Juan to Brito in 30 hours. Thirty-two vessels can pass the canal in a day. Excellent materials for construction are at hand. Pan. Star and Herald, Dec. 5, 1885, and San Francisco newspapers.

[XXXIV-20] This latter objection seems to be disproved by the researches of the American engineers. But the great difficulty still remains about the establishment and future maintenance of a deep-water entrance to the canal at San Juan del Norte. Encyclop. Brit. (Am. ed.), iv. 701.

[XXXIV-21] This Isthmus was surveyed in 1520 by two Flemish engineers, who reported adversely. The king for politic reasons would not have the subject mentioned again. So it has been said. Duflot de Mofras, Explor. de l'Oregon, i. 119. The section was repeatedly explored. In 1534 preliminary work for a ship canal was done, under royal order, by Gov. Gama. The Chagres River was made navigable to where the wagon road began. Pan. Céd., in Squier's MSS., xi. 1-6; Andagoya, Carta al Rey., in Id., 8; Garella, Isth. de Pan., 3-5; Datos Biog., in Cartas de Ind., 761. Various schemes were broached in the 17th century, meeting with no encouragement. In 1687 Lionel Wafer was guided by Mandinga Indians from the gulf of San Miguel to Concepcion on the Atlantic side. W. Paterson, from his settlement at Caledonia Harbor, made several journeys into the interior, recommending it to his company for interoceanic traffic. Ulloa and Jorge Juan explored Panamá for a route in 1736. Juan and Ulloa Voy., i. 94; Fitz-Roy, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., xx. 170, 178; Reichardt, Cent. Am., 164-5. A road was opened on the isth. of Darien by Gov. Ariza from Puerto Escocés to Puerto del Príncipe on the Sabana River, which enters the Pacific. Ariza, Darien, MS., 11-12; De Puydt, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., xxxviii. 69; Cullen's Darien, 192-204; Pim's Gate of the Pac., 183-4; Scherzer, Cent. Am., i. 248-9. In 1820 Capt. Illingsworth of the Chilian corvette La Rosa (a) Andes had his shallop drawn across the cordillera, and launched in the Napipi, whence it proceeded to Quibdó or Citerá, near the mouth of the Atrato, where it was found in 1824 by Cochrane, who in examining Darien for a canal route found the obstacles almost insurmountable. Annales des Voy., cliii. 8, 22, 36. Domingo Lopez, a Colombian, traced a line for a canal between Panamá and Portobello. Arosemena, Apuntes Hist., 4. In 1827, C. Friend of the British navy made an excursion from the banks of the Atrato to the bay of Cupica. But the first formal exploration was made, shortly after Friend's tour, by Lloyd of Pres. Bolívar's staff, and Capt. Falmarc, a Swede in the Colombian service, under Bolívar's auspices. After completing their labors in 1829, they declared that a railway, if not a canal, was feasible between Chagres and Panamá. The notes of the expedition were published in Philosophical Trans., for 1830, and in London Geog. Soc., Jour., i. 69-101; Chevalier, Pan., 112-13; Bull. Societé Geog., xiv. 88, 53-66; Democ. Rev., vi. 297-8; Nouv. Annales des Voy., xlviii. 380-1; Garella, Isth. de Pan., 8-9.

[XXXIV-22] Thierry's canal project, 1835; Biddle's survey for a canal, 1836; Morel, soon after Lloyd's survey, in 1837-8, sought a canal route somewhat south of the line from Chagres to Pan. in the angle between the rivers Chagres and Trinidad, through Vino Tinto Lake. In a later survey he kept more to the left; Watts' explorations in 1838; Barnet's survey of Chiriquí in 1839. Niles' Reg., xlviii.; Arosemena, Exámen, 8-34; Pinart, Misc. Papers, no. 1, Decrees 113-17; Pan. Star and Herald, Oct. 4, 1882; Interoc. Canal and Monroe Doct., 23-4; Chevalier, Pan., 117-22; Barnet's Surv., in Chiriquí Imp. Co. Coll.; Pan., Gaceta Ist., Sept. 20, 1841; G. B. Watts, in Am. Geog. and Stat., Soc. Bull., i., pt. iii. 64-80.

[XXXIV-23] Garella's canal, beginning at Limon Bay, was to pass under the Ahogayegua ridge by means of a tunnel 120 ft high and 17,390 ft long, to the bay of Vaca del Monte, 12 miles west of Panamá. The route follows the Bernardino and Caimito valleys on the southern slope, and those of Quebrado and Chagres on the northern. The highest elevation 459 feet above the sea level, the mountain being tunnelled 324 feet 9 in. below its highest point; so that the canal would at the summit be 135 feet above the sea, and require 35 locks. Lloyd, acting for the British government, arrived at the same conclusions. Garella, Projet d'un canal, 11-194, 230; Nouv. Ann. des Voy., cvi. 36-40; U. S. Gov. Doc., H. Com. Rept, 145, p. 70-7, 506-71, Cong. 30, Sess. 2; Arosemena, Exámen, 5-6, 11. Hellert, in 1844-5, explored the Darien from Rio Paya to the Atrato. W. B. Liot, of the Brit. navy, proposed in 1845 a macadamized road, or a railroad from Portobello to Panamá. Capt. Kellet, being informed by Indians that the Napipi River, a tributary of the Atrato, approached very closely to the bay of Cupica, crossed on foot in 1847 till he reached a river which was supposed to flow into the Atlantic. Cullen claimed to have crossed the Darien. In 1849 he found the Sabana River, ascended it, crossed from Cañasas to the sea-shore at Port Escocés and returned. In 1850 and 1851 he crossed several times alone by different routes from the Sabana to Escocés, convinced that this must be the future route for ships. Here are the requisite secure harbors; the highest elevation of the valleys through the ridges is not over 150 feet, which is lower than any level as yet found; locks and tunnel might be avoided; the canal need be only 26 or 27 miles long, two miles through hard rock. Unfortunately, Cullen gave no notes or measurements to prove this. Capt. Fitz-Roy, of the British navy, published a memoir on a communication between the Atrato, by way of its tributary the Napipi or Naipi, and Cupica Bay. Greiff, a Swedish engineer, confirmed his observations. In 1850-1 Chevalier explored the Isthmus for information on interoceanic routes. U. S. Coast Survey, 1868, 260-7; Liot's Pan., etc., p. iii.; Seemann's Voy., i. 220; Davis' Rept, 9-14, and several maps; Cullen's Isth. Darien Ship Canal, 2d ed., 19; Annales des Voy., cliii. 23; Chevalier, in Soc. Géog. Bull., ser. iv., tom. iv., no. 19, pp. 30-70.

[XXXIV-24] The U. S. had the country surveyed in 1833-4 between the Chagres and Panamá. Fairbairn, in United Serv. Jour., 1832, pt ii. 207-9; U. S. Gov. Doc., 4 Ex. Doc. 228, vol. iv., Cong. 25, Sess. 2; Id., Id. 77, vol. iv., Cong. 28, Sess. 1; Id., U. S. Comm. Rep. 145, p. 3, 265-332, Cong. 30, Sess. 2; Pub. Treaties, 1875, p. 558; Nic., Gaceta, Nov. 18, 1848; Niles' Reg., i. 440; Tucker's Monroe Doc., 43-4.

[XXXIV-25] The parties forming the company were William H. Aspinwall, Henry Chauncey, and John L. Stephens, all of New York, who on the 15th of April, 1850, made a contract with the New Granadan government, binding themselves to construct within a given time a railway between a point on the Atlantic and Panamá, for the transportation of travellers, cattle, merchandise, etc., under a fixed tariff of rates. Certain advantages were allowed New Granadan citizens. It is not necessary to state here all the terms of the contract. It was to be in force 49 years, and the New Granadan government was to receive three per centum of the net profits. It subsequently received $10,000 a year additional on the mails. Passengers, merchandise, and everything else passing in transitu over the railroad, were to be free of duties and imposts. The contract was amended July 5, 1867. Under the new arrangement the company was to own the railway for 99 years; and pay the Colombian government one million dollars in gold, and thereafter $250,000 a year in quarterly instalments, Colombian mails passing over the road free of expense. Large grants of land were made to the company, who further bound themselves to carry the railroad to the islands of Naos, Culebra, Perico, and Flamenco, or to some other suitable place on the bay. The prolongation has never been carried out. Bidwell's Isth. Pan., 299-308, 397-417; Pan., Boletin Ofic., Nov. 15, 1867; Id., Gaceta, Oct. 31, 1880; Arosemena, Pan. Prolong. Ferrocarril, 1-18; Pan. Star and Herald, Sept. 3, Oct. 5, 1867; Sept. 12, 13, 28, 1877; Rouhaud, Régions Nouv., 1878-9, p. 343-51; Pan. Mem. Sec. Jen., 1877, 21-2.

[XXXIV-26] The difficulties of the ground and climate, together with scanty resources of the country and scarcity of labor, were overcome. The road runs on the easterly bank of the Chagres River as far as Barbacoas, where it crosses the river over a bridge 625 ft long, 18 ft broad, and 40 ft above the mean level. A full account of the construction may be found in Otis' Hist. Pan. R. R., 1-46; Thornton's Oregon and Cal., ii. 349-52; Pim's Gateway, 192-209, 415-28; Nic., Corr. Ist., May 30, June 12, 1850; De Bow's Encyc., pt ii. 493-4; Fremont's Am. Trav., 171-2, and other authorities too numerous to name here. The construction cost many lives of all nationalities, owing to the climate; and was finally completed with negroes of the Isthmus, Jamaica, the coast of Cartagena and Santa Marta. Maldonado, Asuntos Polít., MS., 6.

[XXXIV-27] Receipts from 1852 to Dec. 31, 1854, $1,026,162; 1855-60, $8,748,026; 1861-6, $12,369,662. Total, $22,143,850. Expenses to end of 1855, including share of profits paid the New Granadan govt, $1,123,081; of 1856-66, $8,748,318. Total, $9,871,399. Net proceeds, $12,272,451. The transit trade has been the main business of the Isthmus. For many years, till the Brit. steamship trade by the straits of Magellan developed, and the overland railway between Omaha and S. F. was completed, almost all merchandise going to or from Europe and the eastern ports of the United States, Cuba, etc., to California, the west coast of South America, and Central America, was sent by way of the Isthmus, including even copper from Bolivia and Chile. Receipts of the railroad 1883-4, $6,306,760. Expenses in same years, $3,979,144. Net proceeds $2,327,616; a net increase of earnings in 1884 over 1883, of $24,032. Further information in the last preceding chapter connected with the Isthmus transit trade. Bidwell's Isth. Pan., 286; Otis' Hist. Pan. R. R., 59-69; Superint. Burt's Rept, March 7, 1885, in Pan. Star and Herald, Apr. 22, 1885; La Estrella de Pan., May 2, 1885.

[XXXIV-28] Pan. Star and Herald, June 23, 1881; Sept. 18, 1882; U. S. Gov. Doc., H. Ex. Doc., Cong. 48, Sess. 1, i. pt 1, 217-19.

[XXXIV-29] Davis' Rept, 8; U. S. Gov. Doc., H. Journ., 1345, Cong. 36, Sess. 1; 541, Cong. 36, Sess. 2; Id., Sen. Doc. 1, pp. 17, 36-44, iii. pt 1, Cong. 36, Sess. 2; Harper's Mag., xxii. 193-209.

[XXXIV-30] New Granada granted, in 1852, to Fox, Cullen, and others, the privilege of opening a canal between Caledonia Bay and the gulf of San Miguel. Cullen's Darien Ship Canal, 1-146. Gisborne thought it was a mere matter of excavation costing about sixty million dollars. After having spent a great deal of time on the examination of the Atrato and San Juan rivers since 1852, F. M. Kelly, of N. Y., in 1864 explored the route from Chepo River to the gulf of San Blas, which is only 30 miles long, but calls for a tunnel. Several surveys followed; namely, Strain, of the U. S. navy, early in 1854, with a party explored the Darien. After several weeks' toil they lost themselves; five men perished, the rest reaching Yavisa on the east coast. About the same time a New Granadan expedition under Codazzi made a similar attempt, but meeting with disaster, after losing several men, gave up the enterprise. The same year English and French officers made explorations. Cullen and Gisborne were with them, and saw their former statements proved false. Next in order is Kennish's examination, followed by Michler and Cravens, of the U. S. navy, who confirmed his report in all essential points. Scherzer, Cent. Am., 250-1; Mex. Anales Min. Fomento, i. 83-8; Strain's Inter. Comm., 18-27. La Charme, in 1865, by order of the merchant Gogorza, surveyed from the south of the gulf of Darien to the gulf of San Miguel by way of the Tuyra River. De Puydt, for the International Colombia Co., reported having found a favorable route from Puerto Escondido to the Tuyra, and thence to the gulf of San Miguel. Abert's Ship Canal, 63-9, 72-9; La Charme, in Putnam's Mag., iii. 329-41; Pan., Gaceta, July 2, 1876; Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., xxiv. 249; xxxviii. 69-99. Bourdivl, in 1864, passed from the Pacific with 25 men to the mouth of the Lara, and thence across the Isthmus to Chucunaque River, reaching it just below the Sucubti. Here the natives left him for fear of the savages, and he had to return. Rear-adm. C. H. Davis, supt of the U. S. Naval Observatory at Washington, issued a Report on Interoceanic Canals and Railways, for his government, in 1867, reviewing modern explorations of the continent from Darien to Honduras for canals and railroad routes, and giving maps thereof, and a list of authorities thereon. His work is quite thorough to its date. Davis' Rept, 15-19. The secretary of the U. S. navy thus summarized in 1873 the report of Com. Selfridge, who, in 1870-2, made a thorough exploration of several lines in the narrower portion of Darien. This route includes 100 miles of navigation of the Atrato River, which is capable of being navigated by the largest steamers. Between the Atrato and the Pacific, a canal must be made of 28 miles in length, of which it would pass 22 through a plain with a gradual rise of 90 feet. Of the other 6 three would be in moderate cutting, the other three would be of tunnelling. The estimated cost was between $52,000,000 and $63,000,000, and the time for completing the work ten years. The tunnel would be 112 ft high, 60 feet wide, and have 87 ft of clear headway above the surface of the water. The canal would have 25 ft in depth, 50 ft of width at the bottom, and 70 at surface. The locks, 20 in number, were to be 427 ft long, 54 ft wide, with a lift of 10 ft. The water supply, much in excess of the requirement, would be derived from the Napipi River. Two alternative schemes were also presented, increasing the length of tunnelling, and diminishing the number of locks, at an estimated cost of $85,000,000 to $90,000,000. He proved De Puydt's line impracticable. Selfridge's full report, with maps and illustrations, etc., in U. S. Gov. Doc., Darien Explor., Cong. 42, Sess. 3; Brief reports by sec. of the navy and Selfridge, in Id., H. Ex. Doc., i. p. 3 (sec. of navy), vol. iii., pp. 9-10, 133-41, Cong. 41, Sess. 3; Harper's Mag., xlvii. (Nov. 1873), 801-20; Encyclop. Brit. (Am. ed.), iv. 700-1. In 1873 Selfridge surveyed the valley of the Bojaya, another tributary of the Atrato, more to the north, which was regarded as more favorable. The Am. govt despatched two other expeditions in 1874, one of which surveyed a line between the Atrato and the Pacific across the state of Cauca; the other a line parallel with the Panamá railway.

[XXXIV-31] It affords a much shorter route than that of Darien, and the cordillera is there less than 290 ft high. The watershed being nearer the Pacific than the Atlantic, the streams running into the former ocean are of little importance, whereas the Chagres on the Atlantic slope, with its tributary, the Obispo, forms a navigable channel, which in the rainy season attains to formidable proportions.

[XXXIV-32] A copy of the contract and grant appears in Bogotá, Diario Ofic., May 22, 1878; an English translation in U. S. Gov. Doc., H. Ex. Doc., Cong. 46, Sess. 2, i. pt i. 243. Under the contract the Colombian govt will receive at certain periods of it from 6 to 8 per cent of the net receipts; but its share is never to be under $250,000 a year.

[XXXIV-33] The U. S. govt tried to secure by treaty with Colombia the right to establish forts, arsenals, and naval stations on the Isthmus, though no forces were to be kept there in time of peace. A protocol was signed in New York by representatives of both governments in Feb. 1881, to amend the treaty of 1846, but failed of ratification at Bogotá. Diario de Cundinamarca, Apr. 28, 1881; Pan. Star and Herald, May 20, 24, June 24, 25, 1881.

[XXXIV-34] De Lesseps, Wyse, and other officials of the canal, received the highest marks of regard from the people of the Isthmus. Pan. Ley., years 1879-80, 9-11, 30; Id., Gaceta, Feb. 1, 12, 19, 22, 1880; Jan. 27, Feb. 13, 17, 1881. The company at once made provision for a health service, in spacious and well-regulated hospitals, etc. Companyo, Projet d'organiz. du serv. de santé, 1-137, and a map.

[XXXIV-35] The bottom throughout its length, 8½ metres below the mean level of both oceans; width, 22 metres at bottom, 50 metres at top; except through the Culebra ridge, where the depth will be 9 metres, with the width of 24 metres at bottom and 28 metres at top. It must be observed that the levels of the two oceans are not alike at all times; at Colon the difference in the tides never exceeds 23 inches, whereas in Panamá it is usually 13 ft, and at times nearly 20. This must produce a current in the canal sufficient to impede navigation for several hours at each tide. The great difficulties to overcome are the mountain and the river Chagres. The company contemplated at first to tunnel the mountain, but gave up the plan, and resolved to cut down through the solid strata—fortunately soft and otherwise easy—for a depth of between 300 and 400 ft over a long distance. The next task—by far the most difficult one—is to deal with the eccentricities of the Chagres, which discharges at Matachin a volume of water averaging 100 cubic metres per second, which at low water may sink to 15 or 20 cubic metres, and at flood rise to 500 or 600. Several plans have been contemplated, one of which was to construct an enormous dam at Gamboa, between the Obispo and Santa Cruz hills, 960 metres at the base, 1,960 at the top, with a width at bottom, of 1,000 metres, and a height of 45 metres. But it is understood that the engineers have finally concluded to make no use of the waters of the Chagres, but to change their course and let them run to the ocean through the desert; this will be left to the last. Moreover, locks will be built to control the tides. De Lesseps, confident that the canal will be finished in 1889, says there will be no time in the interval to construct the locks; that they can be made later. The chief point being that shipping shall pass through the canal. See Bulletin du Canal Océanique, issued since 1879; Engineering, 1883-4; Reclus, Explor., in Tour du Monde, for a series of views; Sullivan's Problem of Interoc. Communic., Washington, 1883; Ammen's Interoc. Ship Canal, Phila., 1880; N. Y. Herald, Feb. 6, 1882; Encyclop. Brit. (Am. ed., 1885), xviii. 213.

[XXXIV-36] It is estimated that the excavation of the canal proper demands the removal of about 122,000,000 metres, and up to Jan. 31, 1886, only 15,000,000 metres had been done, at an expense of $30,000,000.

[XXXIV-37] Charles D. Jameson, a member of the Boston Society of Civil Engineers, thinks there is no insurmountable obstacle. The following newspapers contain information on the canal's affairs. Pan. Canal, July 12, 1881; Id., Star and Herald, July 20, 1881; July 11, Nov. 10, 1882; and in almost every issue till 1886 inclusive. La Estrella de Pan., July 31, 1884; S. F. Bulletin; Id., Alta Cal.; Id., Morning Call; Id., Chronicle; and every other published on the Pacific coast, as well as in the whole United States; Mex. Financier, July 5, 1884; Correoso's Statement, MS., 9-11.

[XXXIV-38] To raise the original capital the liabilities of the company became $150,000,000, which at 4 per cent equals $6,000,000 annual interest. If ships crossing the canal be charged $3 per ton, $5,780,000 will be yearly required to pay the interest. S. F. Call, Nov. 9, 1886. De Lesseps reckoned the monthly output of excavation, which in 1885 was 658,000 metres and in 1886 1,079,000, should reach 2,000,000 metres a month in 1887, and 3,000,000 metres a month in 1888, and up to the completion of the work in 1889. Pan. Star and Herald, Aug. 5, 7, 11, 12, 1886.

[XXXIV-39] It is well to say in this connection that tramways have also been built in the capital, under the auspices of the govt. It was also planned to have another from the department of Sacatepequez, to run from the town of Ciudad Vieja, through Antigua Guatemala, to the town of Pastores.

[XXXIV-40] Guat., Mem. Sec. Fomento, for years 1880-5; Id., Sec. Rel., year 1884; Id., El Guatemalteco (official), March 4, May 10, 22, Oct. 12, 1884; July 19, 1885; Batres' Sketch Book, 8-10, 43; Pan. Star and Herald, Nov. 24, Dec. 16, 1882; March 8, 1884; Id., Canal, Jan. 17, 1883.

[XXXIV-41] Aniñon, Discurso, Izaguirre, Relacion, Duarte, Relacion, and Criado de Castilla, Descub., all in Squier's MSS., v., vii., viii., and xvii., respectively.

[XXXIV-42] Loans were raised in Europe for the purpose, the particulars of which are given in connection with Honduran finances.

[XXXIV-43] For further information, see Squier's Cent. Am., 74-9, 680, 729-30, 756-9; Id., Hond., 207-16, 225-35; Id., Hond. Interoc. Railway, 1-102; Reichardt, Nic., 284-6; Wells' Hond., 130-1; Fitz-Roy's Rept Railway; Guat., Gaceta, Jan. 27, 1854; Hond., Gaceta Ofic., May 10, 1854; Costa R., Gaceta, March 4 to Oct. 21, 1854, passim; Nic., Gaceta, July 25, Nov. 21, 1868; March 20, Nov. 13, 1869; Feb. 19, 1870; Feb. 11, Aug. 19, 1871; Id., El Porvenir, Oct. 1, 1871; U. S. Gov. Doc., H. Ex. Doc., Cong. 42, Sess. 3, i. 306; Nic., Semanal Nic., May 15, 1873; Am. Cyclop., viii. 790; Froebel's Cent. Am., 189-90; Belly, Nic., ii. 22-7; Pim's Gate of the Pac., 313-21; Laferrière, De Paris à Guat., 101-6; Pan. Star and Herald, March 23, Oct. 4, 1883; March 20, 1886; Id., Canal, March 28, 1883; Mex. Financier, Dec. 8, 1883.

[XXXIV-44] Nic., Mem. Min. Hac., 1883, pp. vii.-viii.; Presid. Cardenas, Mensaje, Jan. 15, 1885, in Costa R., Gaceta Ofic., Feb. 4, 1885.

[XXXIV-45] The termination of the Atlantic and other lines depends on the arrangement of the republic's foreign indebtedness. The cost of the three sections was $12,239,296; and in 1883 they were valued at $6,600,000. Costa R., Mem. Sec. Hacienda, 1883, Table no. 10; Annexes 8 and 9; 1884, 152-3, 287; Id., Id., Fomento, 1883, 1-4; 1884, 29-30; Pan. Star and Herald, Dec. 8, 1883; July 23, Oct. 24, 1885; Costa R., Gaceta, May 16, Aug. 12, Sept. 1-27, 1885.

[XXXIV-46] For particulars, see Costa R., Informe Sec. Gobern., years 1873-4; Id., Id., Obras Púb., 1879-80; Id., Id., Hac., 1880, 1883; Id., Id., Fomento, 1883; Id., Col. Ley., 1880, 85-9; 1881, 55-9; Nic., Semanal Nic., Jan. 15, 1884; Salv., Diario Ofic., Aug. 18, Sept. 12, 1878; Id., Gaceta Ofic., Aug. 12, 1876; Jan. 9, Feb. 22, June 29, 30, 1877; Apr. 19 to Nov. 13, 1879, passim; Nic., Mem. Sec. Hac., 1883; Id., Id., Gobern., 1883; Id., Id., Interior, 1883; Guat., Recop. Ley., Gob. Democ., ii. 81; Id., Mem. Sec. Fomento, years 1880-5; Id., Presupuesto Gen., 19-29.

[XXXIV-47] Eardley-Wilmot's Our Journal, 69; Colombia, Diario Ofic., Feb. 26, Sept. 10, 1874; Pan., Gaceta, Jan. 11, Aug. 12, 1880. The connection at La Libertad was established on the 1st of Oct., 1882. U. S. Gov. Doc., H. Ex. Doc., For. Rel., Cong. 47, Sess. 2, i. 51-4.

Scattered through this third volume have been given bibliographical notices of about twenty of the chief works consulted in its preparation. I have now to add a few others deserving of special mention. The Gospel in Central America was written by Frederick Crowe, an Englishman, and a Baptist preacher, who resided some time in Central America in the interest of his church. The book—a 12mo of 588 pages, published in London, 1850—contains, as its title implies, a sketch of the country, including British Honduras, physical and geographical, historical and political, moral and religious. The author did his task as well as circumstances permitted, in view of the fact that at his violent deportation much of the material he had gathered was left behind and never recovered. At all events, it afforded much which till then was little known of that country. The statements contained therein not original are credited to the sources from which they were taken; for events after the declaration of independence the author relied on the book of travels by Robert C. Dunlop, from which I have also culled some important facts. Centro-Amerika, and Nicaragua, both written in German by the traveller C. F. Reichardt, and published in Braunschweig, in 8vo form, respectively in 1851 and 1854; the former being of 256, and the latter of 296 pages, one and the other provided with maps. The two works contain valuable data, entitled to credit. Aus Amerika, by Julius Fröbel, issued in 1855 at Leipzig, and Geographie und Statestif von Mexico und Centralamerika, by J. G. Wappäus, published at Leipzig in 1863, have also afforded much useful knowledge. In writing this chapter on interoceanic communication, I am indebted to the Cabinet Cyclopædia, directed by Dionysius Lardner, and to John Richardson's Polar Regions, the first-named giving in its first three volumes all that was known to 1830-1, on the geography of the ancients and middle ages, and on modern voyages and discoveries. The latter narrates the voyages made to discover the north-west passage, furnishing likewise a view of the physical geography and ethnology of the polar regions north and south; the whole subject, though treated in a summary way, brings it out quite comprehensively. The Report on Interoceanic Canals and Railroads, between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans—an 8vo of 37 pages with numerous maps printed in Washington, 1867—by Charles H. Davis, superintendent of the U. S. Naval Observatory, contains all that was known on the subject to the time of its publication. The Encyclopædia Britannica—American edition, issued, 1875-86, at Philadelphia—has also afforded valuable data on the voyages in the polar seas, and on explorations and surveys connected with canal matters. None of those works, however, nor the numerous others consulted, have furnished the required information from the beginning of the 19th century to the present time; and those of later years do not usually, to any extent, go back to early ones, or if they do, it is only to give some meagre information.

But my researches have not been confined to books. Aside from the important facts obtained directly from the lips of intelligent natives and other persons conversant with Central American and Panamanian affairs, I have had before me presidential messages, reports of ministers and other officials of the several states, U. S. govt reports, official journals, statements of explorers and surveyors, cyclopædias, magazines, reviews, and a host of newspapers of different countries and in various languages, among which special credit should be given to the Star and Herald of Panamá for an ever well-informed and reliable gatherer and transmitter of news to and from the countries on both oceans over this bridge of the nations. Important data, wheresoever found, have been brought into requisition.

[XXXIV-48] 'Mr. Hopkins,' says Capt Fitzroy, p. 23, 'was lately prevented by the Indians from ascending the Chepo River toward Mandinga or San Blas Bay; Mr Wheelwright was also stopped there in 1837; and Dr Cullen was likewise stopped by the aborigines while endeavoring to ascend the Paya River, that runs from near the mouths of the Atrato to the Tuyra, which falls into the gulf of San Miguel.'

I learned in Darien that Mr Hopkins and Don Pepe Hurtado, a Granadian engineer, made a present of a scarlet military coat to an Indian on the Chepo, and that as soon as the Indian chief of the district learned it, he flogged the Indian who accepted the present, and summoned his people to arms, and Mr H. and Don Pepe had to fly for their lives. Most probably the chief looked upon the acceptance of gaudy trappings as an acknowledgment of submission to foreigners. I have mentioned elsewhere my having learned subsequently that the reason of the Indians having stopped me was the fear of small-pox being introduced amongst them rather than any dislike to foreigners.

[XXXIV-49] This I attribute to the jealousy of the Spaniards, who were careful to withhold any information that might lead the English to the discovery of an easy communication between the two seas. Alcedo, in his Diccionario Histórico de las Indias Occidentales, says that it was interdicted, on pain of death, even to propose opening the navigation between the two seas. 'En tiempo de Felipe II. se proyectó cortarlo, y comunicar los dos mares por medio de un canal, y á este efecto se enviaron para reconocerlo dos Ingenieros Flamencos, pero encontraron dificultades insuperables, y el consejo de Indias representò los perjuicios que de ello se seguirían á la monarquia, por cuya razon mandò aquel Monarca que nadie propusièse ó tratase de ello en adelante, pena de la vida.' The navigation of the Atrato also was interdicted, on pain of death.

[XXXIV-50] In its upper course, as it is navigable for large vessels nearly to Príncipe.

[XXXIV-51] 'It is ascertained,' says Captain Fitzroy, 'that there is only a trifling difference between the levels of the ocean at this Isthmus. A rise of tide not exceeding two feet is found on the Atlantic side, while in Panama Bay the tide rises more than eighteen feet; the mean level of the Pacific in this particular place being two or three feet above that of the Atlantic. It is high water at the same hour in each ocean.'

Colonel Lloyd says that the Pacific at high water is thirteen feet higher than the Atlantic, while the Atlantic is highest at low water by six feet. Baron Humboldt said, in 1809: 'The difference of level between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean does not, probably, exceed nine feet; and at different hours in the day, sometimes one sea, sometimes the other, is the more elevated.' But this difference would be no hindrance, but, on the contrary, a most important advantage in a ship-canal, since it would create a current from the Atlantic to the Pacific during the ebb, and one from the Pacific to the Atlantic during the flood-tide of the Pacific, and these alternate currents would enable each of the fleets to pass through at different times, those bound from the Atlantic to the Pacific during the ebb-tide of the latter, and those from the Pacific to the Atlantic during the flood-tide of the former. This arrangement in the periods of transit would afford many advantages, such as obviating the meeting of the vessels, and the necessity of their passing one another, and preventing their accumulation or crowding together in the canal, as each fleet could be carried right through in one tide, if not by the current alone, at least with the aid of tug steamers. The alternation of the currents would have the further beneficial effect of washing out the bed of the canal, and keeping it free from the deposition of sand or mud, so that dredging would never become necessary; and would also render the degree of width necessary for the canal less; though I do not reckon this to be a point of moment, as the wider and deeper it is cut the better, and the work once finished will last to the end of the world, since the natural effect of the alternate currents will be a gradual process of deepening and widening, which will convert the canal into a strait.

[XXXIV-52] And subsequent months, in a controversy with Evan Hopkins, Esq., C. E. & M. E.

[XXXIV-53] Narrative of an Official Visit to Guatemala, by G. A. Thompson. London, 1829, p. 512.

[XXXIV-54] March 13, 1788.

[XXXIV-55] Masthead angles were taken in Córdova's voyage, 1785-6.

[XXXIV-56] Four hundred.

[XXXIV-57] Five leagues from the shore. Sp. MS.

[XXXIV-58] The arms of Santa Maria de la Antigua were a golden castle between a jaguar and a puma.

[XXXIV-59] Squier's Nicaragua, vol. i. p. 195.