Chapter XXXIV: Interoceanic Communication (22)

[XXXIII-69] The general government decreed in 1849 the
suppression of tithes; requiring of the several provinces of
the Isthmus to make up the amount which the suppressed tax
yielded the previous year. The aggregate was to be applied to
cover national expenses. _Pinart_, _Pan. Col. Doc._, MS., no.
86, p. 14; _Pan._, _Crónica Ofic._, Oct. 23, 1849.

[XXXIII-70] The commercial tax was not to be more than double
that assessed in 1885. The general govt on the 1st of April,
1885, established a salt monopoly, and in the same year
decreed the reëstablishment of custom-houses at the Isthmus
ports. This decree was subsequently suspended. _La Estrella
de Pan._, May 16, 1885; _Pan. Star and Herald_, Nov. 2, 4,
Dec. 30, 1885. The budgets for the ten years from 1867 to
1876 amounted together to $3,018,391, and the appropriations
voted for the same year were $3,335,084. The absence of
regular accounts for the period 1867-75 renders it impossible
to find out what were the actual receipts and expenditures.
The revenue from Jan. 1, 1876, to June 30, 1877, was
$339,526, and the expenses reached $356,483, though only
$274,298 were paid. The revenue collected from July 1, 1877,
to June 30, 1878, $218,095; the assembly voted for expenses
of that fiscal year $382,841, but the government seems to
have paid out only $226,278. For 1880-1 the legislature
computed the revenue at $300,628. It had the preceding year
authorized the executive to increase the commercial tax 25
per cent. The expenditures for the year were estimated at
$316,077. _Pan._, _Mem. Sec. Jen._, 1878, 43-6, 48; 1879, 3,
32-3; _Id._, _Leyes_, 1879-80, 8, 9, 64-78.

[XXXIII-71] $81,375 of it bore interest at 6 per cent.
_Pan._, _Mem. Sec. Hac._, 1879, 37. Dec. 19, 1879, the
legislature authorized the executive to borrow $50,000 at 12
per cent. For further information, see _Pan._, _Gaceta_, Nov.
17, 1870, to Sept. 1, 1881, passim.

[XXXIV-1] See summary of geographical knowledge and discovery
from the earliest records to the year 1540. _Hist. Cent.
Am._, i. 68-154, this series.

[XXXIV-2] They thus argued from the first: Quintus Metellus
Celer, proconsul of Rome in Gaul, was presented by the king
of Suevia with a number of red men, who had been thrown
upon his coast. So said Cornelius Nepos, and Pliny repeated
it. Now these savages, having no knowledge of ships or
navigation, could not have come from America; they were not
black, and consequently were not from Africa. There were
no people in Europe like them; so they must have come from
Asia. But how? Either from the east or from the west; they
could not have rounded the eastern hemisphere either by its
northern or southern side, for obvious reasons; therefore
they must have come from the north-west, and hence there
must be a way from Asia north-eastward to Europe, running
round the north pole. Upon this logic were staked thousands
of lives and millions of money. Dominicus Marius Niger, the
geographer, speaks of men who were driven from India through
the north sea to Germany, while on a trading expedition.
As late as 1160, some strange persons arrived on the coast
of Germany. Humboldt thought they might have been Eskimos.
Othon, in his _Storie of the Gothes_, speaks of such
arrivals, arguing that they must have drifted in through a
north-west passage. Gilbert's Discourse, in _Hakluyt_, iii.
16-17. Again, Hakluyt finds it recorded that some 200 years
before the coming of Christ, the Romans sent a fleet against
the Grand Khan, which, crossing the strait of Gibraltar, and
steering toward the N. W., in lat 50° found a channel, in
which it sailed to the westward until it reached Asia, and
after fighting the king of Cathay, returned by the way it
went.

[XXXIV-3] _Hist. Cal._, i. 1-109; _Hist. Northwest Coast_,
i. 1-342; _Hist. North Mexican States and Texas_, i. 1-201;
_Hist. Oregon_, i. I will add, in this connection, that
Juan de Ayola, with 200 Spaniards, in 1535 crossed from the
Paraguay River to Peru. Irola, twelve years later, ascended
the Paraguay River to 17° S., crossed the mountains to the
Guapay River, and succeeded in establishing communications
between Peru and her dependency, La Plata. _Lardner's Cabinet
Cyclop._, ii. 90.

[XXXIV-4] They fitted out two vessels, Le Maire advancing
most of the money, and going on the voyage as supercargo,
Van Schouten as commander. They doubled the cape with
one remaining ship in Jan. 1616. The Spaniards afterward
completed the exploration, and their forts in Magellan Sound
became useless. The straits of Magellan have been, however,
used in late years as the transit of an English steamship
line.

[XXXIV-5] Previously several attempts had been made.
Kotzebue, of the Russian navy, went in 1815 to Bering Strait,
and the next year discovered the sound bearing his name.
Golovnin made a voyage also, but accomplished nothing. The
English made a number of efforts, which, if unsuccessful
in not attaining the main object, added much to geographic
knowledge. Herewith I give the expeditions fitted out in
England, or under English auspices. In 1818 two ships, the
_Dorothea_ and _Trent_, under Buchan and Franklin, went to
the Spitzbergen waters, but could not advance far. Two other
ships, the _Isabella_ and _Alexander_, under John Ross and W.
E. Parry, were ordered to Davis Strait and verified Baffin's
exploration of Baffin Bay. Ross entered Lancaster Sound,
and reached 81° 30' W. by 74° 3' N. Parry made three other
voyages, in 1819, 1821, and 1824, in the last of which one
of his ships, the _Fury_, was wrecked in seeking a passage
through Regent Inlet. In 1827 he attempted the polar voyage
in sled-boats from Spitzbergen, reaching 82° 40' 30", the
farthest point hitherto attained. Capt. John Franklin tried
to find the passage overland from York Factory on the west
coast of Hudson Bay. He wintered at Fort Chepeweyan in 1819,
and in the _Enterprise_ in 1820. In July 1821 he navigated
the Arctic sea, east of Coppermine River, a considerable
distance, hoping from the trend of the coast to reach Hudson
Bay. Want of provisions compelled the abandonment of the
expedition, and after severe hardships, and journeying 5,500
miles, reached Great Slave Lake in Dec. 1821. Lyon in 1824
attained Sir Thomas Rowe's Welcome. Franklin renewed his land
survey of the Arctic coasts, 1825-7. He wintered in 1825
on Great Bear Lake, descended the Mackenzie, and surveyed
the coast line westward to Return Reef in 70° 26' N., and
148° 52' W. Meanwhile Richardson and Kendall of his party
made a voyage from Mackenzie to Coppermine River, doubling
several capes, and completing the survey of the coast through
60 degrees of longitude. Beechey in 1826 in the _Blossom_
explored the coast from Kotzebue Sound to Icy Bay. One of
his parties reached Cape Barrow. He waited for Franklin till
Oct. 1827, and returned home via Cape Horn. Ross in 1829
tried to find a passage through Regent Inlet, but had to
abandon his ship in Victoria Harbor, near 70°. P. W. Dease
and T. Simpson in 1837-9 made important explorations between
Point Barrow and Mackenzie River; the portion on the east
side between Point Turnagain and the estuary of the Back's
Great Fish River; and also the south sides of Victoria Land
and King William Land. John Rae of the Hudson's Bay Company
surveyed a part of the Arctic coast east. In 1845 he surveyed
Regent Inlet east and west, found an isthmus between Regent
Inlet and the sea explored by Dease and Simpson. Franklin
and Crozier were despatched in May 1845 with two stout
ships, the _Erebus_ and _Terror_, well supplied for three
years. The expedition sent letters from Whalefish Island,
near Disco, and was last seen on July 26th waiting to cross
the 'middle ice' on to Lancaster Sound, 220 miles distant.
The orders were to proceed to about 74¼° N. lat. and 98° W.
long.; thence take a S. and W. course for Bering's Strait,
the passage west from Melville Island being precluded. A
number of expeditions were despatched in search of Franklin;
namely, one under John Richardson and Rae, 1847-9; ships
_Enterprise_ and _Investigator_ under Ross and Bird, 1848-9;
_Herald_ and _Plover_ under Kellet and Moore, 1848-52; _North
Star_, commanded by Saunders, 1849-50; the _Investigator_
and _Enterprise_, in 1850, under McClure and Collinson;
whaler _Advice_, under Goodsir; a squadron commanded by
Austin, consisting of the _Resolute_ and the _Assistance_.
Capt. Ommaney with two steam tenders under lieuts Osborn
and McClintock; several ships sent by Franklin's wife; Rae
in 1851; expedition under Edward Belcher, 1852-4; ships
_Amphitrite_ and _Plover_, 1852-5; McCormick in 1852; Rae
in 1853-4; Anderson in 1855; and several others, among which
deserve mention the American expeditions under lieut De Haven
and S. P. Griffin, E. K. Kane, Hayes, Hall, and Schwatka;
most of whom made important geographical discoveries and
found relics of Franklin's party. It was ascertained beyond
a doubt that Franklin sailed up Wellington Channel to
77°, descended by the west side of Cornwallis Island, and
wintered 1845-6 at Beechey Island. The wintering positions
of the ships were in 1846-7-8 off the north end of King
William's Island. Franklin died June 11, 1847, and the ships
were abandoned near the above spot Apr. 22, 1848, Capt.
Crozier intending to lead the 105 survivors to Great Fish
River. Only 40 men reached the vicinity of this river, and
all died, according to Eskimo accounts. On this journey
Lancaster Strait was connected with the navigable channel
along the continent, and the existence of the north-west
passage proved. _Richardson's Polar Regions_, 136-7, 146-9,
151-202; _Lardner's Cabinet Cyclop._, iii. 176-7, 198-247;
_Tytler's Hist. View_, 133-4, 283-92; _Franklin's Narr._, i.
ii.; _Quarterly Rev._, xviii. 219; _Am. Jour._, xvi. 130-2;
_Encyclop. Brit._, xi. 347; xviii. 329-30; xix. 331-2, 335-8;
_Dictionnaire de la Conversation_, xii. 2; xiii. 608-10.

[XXXIV-6] Sent by Capt. Pellet on Barrow Strait, and was
guided by a message left by McClure at Winter Harbor on
Melville Island.

[XXXIV-7] Nordenskiöld, a Swedish professor and experienced
navigator, with the steamer _Vega_, commanded by Lieut
Palander, on the 19th of August, 1878, reached Cape Severo
or Tchelyusken, the most northern point of Siberia and of the
Old World in 77° 41' N., and steered a south-easterly course,
the sea free from ice and quite shallow. Aug. 27th the mouth
of the Lena River was passed, the _Vega_ parting company with
her tender, the _Lena_, and continuing her course eastward;
she almost accomplished the passage that first season; but
toward the end of Sept. the _Vega_ was frozen in off the
shore of a low plain in 67° 7' N. and 173° 20' W. near the
settlement of the Chugaches. After an imprisonment of 294
days, the _Vega_ on the 18th of July, 1879, continued her
voyage, and on the 20th passed Bering Strait. Nordenskiöld,
without loss of life or damage to his ship, arrived at
Yokohama Sept. 2, 1879. _Encyclop. Brit._ (Am. ed.), xix.
337.

[XXXIV-8] For canal: I. Tehuantepec, connecting the rivers
Coatzacoalcos and Chimilapa. II. Honduras. III. River San
Juan de Nicaragua: 3. River San Cárlos, Gulf of Nicoya.
Nicaragua Lake: 4. Rivers Niño and Tempisque, Gulf of Nicoya;
5. River Sapoa, Bay of Salinas; 6. San Juan del Sur; 7. Port
Brito. Managua Lake: 8. River Tamarindo; 9. Port Realejo;
10. Bay of Fonseca. IV. Panamá: River Chagres: 11. Gorgona,
Panamá; 12. Trinidad, Caimito; 13. Navy Bay, Rivers Chagres,
Bonito and Bernardo; 14. Gulf of San Blas, and River Chepo.
V. Darien: 15. Bay of Caledonia, Port Escocés, Gulf of San
Miguel; 16. Rivers Arguia, Paya, and Tuyra, Gulf of San
Miguel. River Atrato: 17. River Napipi, Bay of Cupica; 18.
River Uruando, Kelley's Inlet. Overland. 1st. Coatzacoalcos,
Tehuantepec; 2d. Bay of Honduras to Bay of Fonseca; 3d. River
San Juan, Nicaragua, Managua, Bay of Fonseca; 4th. Port Limon
to Caldera, Costa Rica; 5th. Laguna de Chiriquí on Golfo
Dulce; 6th. Colon, Gorgona, and Panamá; 7th. Gorgon Bay,
Realejo; 8th. Gorgon Bay and San Juan del Sur. _Nouv. Annales
des Voy._, cliii. 9-10; _Davis' Rept_, 20.

[XXXIV-9] A survey made in 1715 was sent to the secret
archives of Madrid, where other like documents lie hidden. In
1774 the Spanish officers Corral and Cramer, after inspecting
the route reported that a canal of about eight leagues
might join the Chimalapa and Malpaso rivers, and establish a
communication between the two streams. The Spanish general
Orbegoso in 1821 explored this isthmus, and formed a map,
which was not published till 1839. In 1825 he showed that it
was not easy to carry a through-canal across Tehuantepec.
In 1842-3 a survey was made under the auspices of José de
Garay by C. Moro and others, to determine the practicability
of a ship canal by way of the Coatzacoalcos to the gulf of
Tehuantepec. The objections to the route were shown to be the
expense of cutting, the uncertainty of water upon the summit
level, and inadequate ports at the termini. Garay, however,
announced as practicable a canal of the same size as the
Caledonia, in Scotland, and was put in possession of lands,
etc.; but nothing came of the transaction but diplomatic
complications resulting from Garay's transfer of his grant
to a foreign company. Finally, the Mexican congress in 1851
declared the grant forfeited. _Nouv. Annales des Voy._, ci.,
iii., 8-9; _Duflot de Mofras_, _Explor. de l'Oregon_, 119;
_Reichardt_, _Cent. Am._, 183-4, 188-9; _Córtes_, _Diario_,
1813, xix. 392; _Robles_, _Prov. Chiapa_, 70; _Chevalier_,
_Pan._, 61-2; _Mex. Col. Dec. y Ord._, 115; _Id._, _Col.
Ley._, _Ord. y Dec._, iii. 113-14; _Bustamante_, _Med.
Pacific_, MS., ii., supplem. 15; _Mex. Mem. Sec. Rel._, 47-8;
_Rivera_, _Gobern. Mex._, ii. 116; _Id._, _Hist. Jalapa_,
ii. 362; iv. 211, 225, 236; _Dublan_ and _Lozano_, _Legisl.
Mej._, i. 738-9; _Instituto Nac. de Geog._, Bol. No. 1,
30-43, with map and profile; _Ward's Mex._, i. 311; _Liot's
Pan., Nic. and Tehuan._, 6-12; _Ramirez_, _Mem._, 1-108;
_Garay_, _Privilegio_, 1-28; _Id._, _Survey Isth. Tehuan._,
3-188; _Manero_, _Notic. Hist._, 51-6; _Id._, _Apunt. Hist._,
12-13; _Mex. Mem. Sec. Guerra_, 1852, 19-22; _Id._, _Mem.
Instruc. de los derechos_, etc., in _Mexican Financier_,
no. 1, 1-39. In 1850-1 an American commission headed by Maj.
Barnard, U. S. Engineers, surveyed the route, who reported
it to possess but little 'merits as a practicable line for
the construction of a ship canal.' _Davis' Report_, 5-6. In
1869 officers of the U. S. surveyed the route, and made a
favorable report. In 1870 Capt. R. W. Shuffeldt, of the U. S.
navy, made another survey, which confirmed the conclusions of
the former, to the effect that no extraordinary engineering
difficulties existed, as sufficient water could be had from
rivers in the Sierra Madre to supply the canal. The route
begins about 30 miles above the mouth of the Coatzacoalcos,
and after traversing a long distance, rises to a level of
about 680 ft, then descends to the lagoon on the Pacific, a
total distance of 120 miles. The distance from New Orleans
to Hongkong would be 8,245 miles less than by Cape Horn, and
1,588 less than by way of Panamá. _Am. Cyclop._, iii. 690;
_Manero_, _Apunt. Hist._, 13-15.

[XXXIV-10] By resolution of the Mexican congress, the
contract of the American company was declared void in Oct.
1882, and soon after the govt made an arrangement to have
the road built on its own account. _Id._, _Artículos, Soc.
Arquit._, 7-10; _S. F. Call_, Oct. 5, 1882; _Mex._, _Diario
Ofic._, Oct. 10, 17, 18, 20, 1882.

[XXXIV-11] _Mex._, _Diario Debates_, 10th Cong., i. 273-1930,
passim.; _Id._, _El Noticioso_, Nov. 29, 1880; _Id._, _Col.
Ley._, xxxvi. 320-4; _Id._, _Diario Ofic._, June 2, 1881;
Aug. 10, 23, 1882; _Mex'n Financier_, Dec. 13, 20, 27, 1884;
Jan. 10, 24, 1885.

[XXXIV-12] The Mexican govt guaranteed in 1885 one and a
quarter million dollars per annum for 15 years. _Pan. Star
and Herald_, Jan. 16, 1886.

[XXXIV-13] Gov. Pedrarias Dávila had the outlet of lakes
Nicaragua and Managua discovered. His officers Este and
Rojas favored the plan of a canal round the falls of the San
Juan, and another on the Pacific slope. The project occupied
the court and colony for many years. _Herrera_, iv., iii.,
ii.; _Cent. Am._, _Extractos Sueltos_, in _Squier's MS._,
xxii. 108; _Fröbel_, _Aus. Am._, i. 144, 241. The plan not
only engaged the Spaniards but the French and English, the
latter contemplating the conquest of the country. The royal
engineer Manuel Galisteo in 1781, the system of locks being
little known then, declared the connection of the lake with
the Pacific to be impracticable. In 1791 La Bastide proposed
widening the river Sapoa between the lake and Papagayo
Gulf, and cutting a canal between that river and the gulf
of Nicoya; but the French revolution caused the matter to
be forgotten. In 1814 the Spanish córtes decreed the survey
and construction, but subsequent political events made
that decree inoperative. _Saravia_, _Bosq. Polít. Est._,
13-17; _Viajero_, _Univ._, xxvii. 180-4; _Bastide_, _Mém.
Sur. Nouv. Passage_, 1-70; _Humboldt_, _Essai Polít._,
i. 1-17; _Bourgoane's Trav._, in _Pinkerton's Coll._, ii.
498-9; _Reichardt_, _Cent. Am._, 169-70; _Duflot de Mofras_,
_Explor. de l'Oregon_, i. 137; _Squier's Nic._, 658.

[XXXIV-14] Herewith I give a synopsis of what occurred.
In 1823 a franchise was given to John Baily for a house
in London, who did nothing, and the privilege was granted
to parties in New York, who also failed to carry out the
stipulations. Numerous proposals came between 1825 and
1829, which were successively accepted, but neither of them
had effect. In 1829 a franchise was decreed to the king
of Holland, and there was some prospect of a canal being
constructed; but the war which detached Belgium from Holland
broke out, and the king abandoned the project. President
Morazan then contemplated doing the work on Central American
account, and the survey was begun in 1837, interrupted
by Morazan's fall, but continued in 1838 for account of
Nicaragua. This same year Edward Belcher, of the Brit. navy,
suggested the possibility of an artificial communication
between Lake Managua and the bay of Fonseca. Baily's
explorations along the line from Rio Lajas to San Juan del
Sur were terminated in 1843, and their publication furnished
exact data on the canal. Meanwhile, P. Rouhand (1839), Viteri
(1840), Castellon and Jerez (1842), had unsuccessfully tried
to raise funds for the work in Europe. The king of France in
1844 refused his coöperation. In 1846 Louis Napoleon became
warmly interested for a time. Great Britain in 1847 seized
San Juan del Norte on the north, and Tiger Island on the
south. Louis Napoleon turned his thoughts to other subjects.
Örsted studied, in 1847-8, for the Costa Rican govt, a canal
project which differed from Baily's in choosing a low line
south of San Juan del Sur along the Sapoa River into Salinas
Bay. Nicaragua in 1848 entered into a contract to build the
canal with a house in New York, which, however, surrendered
it. _Baily's Cent. Am._, 127-50; _Annales des Voy._, cliii.
14-17; clvii. 16-17; _Nouv. Annales des Voy._, xxviii.
(1825), 370-82; xxxii. (1826), 369-74; _Squier's Trav._,
ii. 251-80, 405-20; _Id._, _Nic._, 658; _Liot's Pan. Nic.
and Tehuan._, 13-16; _Niles' Reg._, xxx. 447; xxxi. 2, 72-3;
lxiv. 130-1; lxv. 57-61; lxvii. 148; _Salv._, _Diario Ofic._,
Dec. 16, 1879; _Reichardt_, _Cent. Am._, 171-3; _Lond. Geog.
Soc._, _Jour._, xiv. 127-9; xx. 172; _Scherzer_, _Cent. Am._,
241; _Belly_, _Nic._, i. 84-7, 137; _Id._, _Carte d'études_,
35-45; _Strain's Int. Comm._, 7-8; _Garella_, _Projet_,
182-8; _Sampson's Cent. Am._, 7-18; _Marure_, _Mem. Hist._,
1-47; _Bülow_, _Nic._, 44-57; _U. S. Comm. Rept_, 145, p.
230-65; _U. S. Gov. Doc._, Sen. Miscel., Cong. 30, Sess. 1,
no. 80, 69-75; _Id._, H. Ex. Doc., Cong. 31, Sess. 1, no. 75,
50-326, passim.

[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.