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Cornell University Library 
 TC 784.161 
 
 The interoceanic ship canal papers etc 
 
 3 1924 022 883 536 
 
AMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY BU LU'.TIN, XO. 4, Ui7!). ,JOU HNAl,, VOL. XI 
 
 JULIUS BIENLITH.N.Y. 
 
 Quilldo 
 
THE INTEEOOEANIO SHIP 0A2f AL. 
 
 MEETING AT CHICKBRING HALL. 
 Beeember 9, 1879. 
 
 Papbe by Rbae-Admikal DANIEL AMMEN, U. S. Navt, 
 
 IlepreBentatlve of the United States in the CongreBs at Paris on 
 THE PROPOSED INTBROCBANIC CANAL ACROSS NICARAGUA. 
 
 Addresses by CmBF-JusTiCE Daly, and A. G. Menocal, Chief-Engineer, 
 U. S. Navy. 
 
 Letters from Frederic M. Kellet, Walton W. Etans, C. E., and Nathan 
 Appleton. 
 
 Report on the Proceedings of the Congress in Paris, in May, by Rear-Admiral 
 Daniel Ammen, U. S. Navy (See Appendix A). 
 
 Views of Walton W. Evans on the proposed Canal between North and 
 South America, dated May 9, 1879, and addressed to M. C. Augusts von 
 Hbrnbrt, for submission to the Paris Congress. 
 
 Report of W. E. Johnston, M. D., Delegate of this Society to the Paris Con- 
 gress, dated August 15, 1879, on the Proceedings of-the Congress. 
 
 The Nicaragua Canal: Extract from Mr. S. B. Rugglbs's Semi-Centennial 
 Address at New Haven, July 37, 1864. 
 
 Among the prominent gentlemen upon the stage were Chief-Justice Daly, 
 A. G. Menocal, C. E., Signer de Franco, General George W. Cullum, TJ. S. A., 
 Francis A. Stout, William Remsen, Harlow M. Hoyt, William H. Webb, Wil- 
 liam H. H. Moore, General Egbert L. Viele, Colonel T. Bailey Myers, James 
 T. Gardner, Director of the New York State Survey, Elial F. Hall, John E. 
 Body, and Sidney F. Shelbourne. 
 
 The formal business of the evening having been disposed of, the President 
 introduced Colonel T. Bailey Myers, of the Council, who, at the request of 
 Admiral Ammen, read his paper — the principal topic of the evening. 
 
 THE PROPOSED INTEROCEANIC SHIP CANAL ACROSS 
 
 NICARAGUA. 
 
 BT 
 
 Rbar-Admiral DANIEL AMMEN, U. S. Natt. 
 
 [In the absence of the anther, this paper was read by Colonel T. Bailey Myers, who briefly 
 referred to the topic as follows :] 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen — In fulfilling a duty devolved upon me 
 by Admiral Ammen, I regret that lie could not have been here in 
 
114 The Inter oceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 person. An accidental association some years since as members of 
 the Board of Visitors at the Naval Academy, ripening into friendly 
 relations and correspondence, probably induced him to select me to 
 represent him. With no personal interest in the enterprise, I have 
 the highest opinion of his capacity and the value of his opinion. His 
 paper was forwarded before the opening meeting, but was deferred 
 to that of Lord Dunraven, who was in haste to leave the country. It 
 seems proper to make an explanation on behalf of the Council of the 
 position of the Society on the Interoceanic Canal question. Its Hall 
 and Journal have been open for years for its discussion. Foresee- 
 ing that all attainable information on the subject would soon be ne- 
 cessary, a committee of the Council, consisting of Mr. Clarence King 
 (Director of the United States Surveys), Mr. Francis A. Stout (Com- 
 missioner for the New York State Survey), and myself, by memorial 
 and personal attendance at Washington, urged Congress, last winter, 
 to print the surveys and statistics connected with the Government 
 work on the Panama and Atrato-Napipi routes executed long be- 
 fore. This was only completed in a temporary fonn in time for the 
 use of the Congress at Paris, and has recently been officially pub- 
 lished. Access to it could not be had by the Society before that 
 time, and was refused to individuals. In sending representatives to 
 that Congress, the Society, therefore, claimed to take no part in the 
 decision of an important question, of the merits of which, for these 
 reasons, they could be but partially informed, but only as an appre- 
 ciation of its importance, and to acquire information. Naturally they 
 could not express an opinion without the time for study of prior 
 details, nor could they expect that their representatives, during its 
 brief and exciting session, should become able to do so. Two of 
 these representatives have since given to the public their conflicting 
 views on the plan presented by M. de Lesseps — Dr. William E. 
 Johnston, residing in Paris, by his able written report to our 
 President, Chief -Justice Daly, received in the vacation, and Mr. 
 Nathan Appleton, in reading at about the same time a paper before 
 the Board of Trade, supplemented by a communication to be read 
 this evening. 
 
 Admiral Ammen, as Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, having 
 been charged with the fitting out of the American explorations, and 
 as a member of a commission formed by the Government for the con- 
 sideration of its plans, having studied their results, has labored under 
 
The, Interoceanie Ship Canal. 115 
 
 no such difficulties. Those who know his capacity and devotion to 
 every duty will believe his to be of the greatest value as an edu- 
 cated opinion. Knowing that other conclusions will be advanced, 
 he has authorized me to say that he is prepared to sustain it, and 
 to reply to them if brought to his attention in the public press, 
 that he considers the subject worthy of exhaustive, if competent, 
 discussion. 
 
 Of one so important, those present will, it is hoped, patiently 
 submit to an extended discussion, caused by a desire to entertain all 
 opinions, and open its merits to a free investigation. I will now read 
 Admiral Ammen's paper. 
 
 THE PAPER. 
 
 I am indebted to a prominent member of your Society for the 
 suggestion that I should continue the discussion of the Interoceanie 
 Canal question under its auspices. 
 
 I propose for your examination, " The Present Aspect of the 
 American Interoceanie Canal Question." 
 
 I shall not tire the patience of my hearers by an- attempted history of 
 this subject ; those who are desirous to inform themselves as to what 
 was known and what was asserted prior to 1866, can do so by read- 
 ing a Report to Congress by Rear- Admiral Davis, U.S.N., published 
 that year under the title of " Interoceanie Railroads and Canals," 
 of course referring to this continent. It contains from pages 31 to 
 37 the authorities cited ; a large amount of valuable information 
 necessarily interspersed with much that is wholly unreliable, or only 
 of partial value. The elimination of mere assertions and of errors 
 has added vastly to the work of exploration and survey since that 
 time. For an outline as to what has bee;n done since then, I may 
 refer you to my paper of Oct. 31, 18V6, and a second, read 'Nov. 
 15th, 1878, before your Society. 
 
 The first paper was intended to show the errors of M. Drouilet, 
 French engineer, and those who regarded him as an authority, 
 as shown in a pamphlet issued in Paris in May, 1876, apparently 
 with the approval of the commercial branch of their Geographical 
 Society. It was designed to show that there did not exist unknown 
 routes comparable for the construction of a ship canal to those 
 already known. The second paper was to show the feasibility of a 
 ship canal via ^Nicaragua as a commercial question, and to do this it 
 
116 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 seemed to me necessary to establish its superiority over all known 
 points, especially as to economy of construction and permanency of 
 works, from less liability to the destructive effects of floods or other 
 probable causes. 
 
 In the month of March last, when our Government thought 
 proper to have our maps and plans, the results of close instrumen- 
 tal surveys on the Isthmus of Panama, and also those known as 
 the Atrato-Napipi route, published for presentation to the Congress 
 called to assemble at Paris on the 15th of May, it was considered 
 desirable that I should go abroad to present them, with such other 
 surveys as had been recently made under its orders. 
 
 I suggested that I had been one of a Commission appointed by 
 the President on the 13th of March, 1872, for the purpose of ex- 
 amining into and reporting upon the question of a ship canal across 
 the Continent, and that on the 7th of February, 1876, this commis- 
 sion had made its report as to locality, etc., which had been ac- 
 ceptable to the Government. It seemed to me, therefore, that 
 some other person should be selected to attend the Congress. A 
 second objection was that the selection of the canal route was emi- 
 nently a question capable of settlement only by the ablest engineers, 
 aad those of the highest character. I urged further, that Commander 
 E. P. Lull, of our Navy, who had been engaged on the surveys of 
 Caledonia bay, and south of it, and afterwards had been chief of 
 the parties making the surveys of the Nicaragua and the Panama 
 routes, could well take my place, as he had a rare judgment and 
 capacity, which would enable him to present fairly such work as he 
 had done in comparison with the surveys made under the direction 
 of other officers. 
 
 Notwithstanding these representations made by me, I found that 
 the Government preferred my going as a delegate, when of course 
 I appreciated fully the honor, and made such suggestions as seemed 
 necessary to discharge properly the duties which belonged to the 
 position. It seemed to me important that the civil engineer who 
 had been employed on both the Nicaragua and Panama surveys, 
 and who had performed his duties most satisfactorily to the officer 
 conducting them, should go also, either as my assistant or as a 
 delegate, to make the technical development of the routes. The 
 suggestion was carried out, and I may add that, so far as I am 
 aware. Civil Engineer Menocal performed his duties with entire 
 satisfaction to our Government. In presenting important informa- 
 
The Interocecmic Ship Caned. HV 
 
 tion to the Congress, the results of our Government surveys, it 
 seemed necessary that certain ideas connected therewith should 
 be expressed. For that reason, what I shall hereafter call my 
 " Address " to the Congress was prepared, and submitted to the 
 inspection of the department of our Government under whose 
 instructions I went abroad. On arriving in Paris, the day preceding 
 the meeting of the Congress, Mr. Menocal and myself lost no time 
 in paying our respects to M. Ferdinand de Lesseps, too widely and 
 too favorably known to require further comment, unless I may add 
 that then and on all other occasions our intercourse was in all 
 respects agreeable. 
 
 On the morning of May 15, preceding the meeting of the 
 Congress, I received a visit from M. Blanchet, an agreeable French 
 gentleman who had been to Nicaragua on two occasions to secure 
 a concession for the construction of a ship-canal, and indeed had 
 one, which last March was rejected by their Senate. I was in- 
 formed by him that the previous evening M. de Lesseps had either 
 caused a meeting to be held or an agreement entered into that was 
 acceptable to M. Blanchet, and to the party in the Congress who 
 would support the Panama project. My understanding of this was 
 that they had agreed to permit the discussion of the question to 
 stand on its merits, and that which ever side lost the vantage 
 ground, would receive some recompense which had been agreed upon 
 in advance. Once at least during the sitting of the Congress I 
 received a visit from M. Blanchet, who seemed to be very much 
 excited about the question, and to think I should be also. I 
 told him that the decision of the Congress was no concern of mine; 
 that my duties would be discharged by making a fair and full pre- 
 sentation of all the information in the possession of our Govern- 
 ment, which was in fact the object of my being in Paris. After 
 the adjournment of the Congress, previous to my leaving, I received 
 another visit from M. Blanchet, who informed me, or at least con- 
 veyed the impression, that his opponents had acted in bad faith with 
 him. 
 
 On the meeting of the Congress on May 15, an immediate organ- 
 ization was effected, M. de Lesseps being chosen President, with 
 five Vice-Presidents. 
 
 The names of the members of the different Commissions were 
 called, as follows: 1st, Statistics; 2d, Economic and Commercial; 
 3d, Navigation; 4th, Technical; 5th, Ways and Means, 
 
118 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 After naming the members of the Commissions M. de Lesseps 
 remarked in a jocular manner that om- work was all cut out, that 
 many of the delegates were anxious to get home, and that we could 
 cany the work through d I'AmSriGaine, which may be translated 
 with a rush. The full meeting of the Congress was then adjourned 
 until the 19th; the Commissions met at 9 o'clock the following 
 morning. 
 
 Owing to the non-arrival of our heavy package of books, maps, 
 etc., I was not able to present them the next day, as desired, but 
 did so on the morning of the 17th to the Technical Commission. 
 On theii' presentation I stated that I would have my remarks 
 printed in French and English. The following day copies were in 
 the hands of the Secretary for distribution to such persons as 
 wished them. The address was as follows: 
 
 Gentlemen : The Government of the United States has con- 
 ferred upon me the honor of presenting for the consideration of this 
 learned and distinguished body several surveys, recently executed 
 by its order, a part of them published only within the past month 
 In their order from the North to the South, they are as follows : — 
 
 1. The survey of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, by R. T. Shufeldt, 
 now Commodore U. S. Navy. 
 
 2. The survey of what is known as the Nicaragua route, an 
 actual location of an interoceanic ship canal, with several tentative 
 lines, by Commander E. P. Lull, U. S. Navy, assisted by Civil En- 
 gineer A. G. Menocal, U. S. Navy. 
 
 3. The survey of what is known as the Panama route, an actual 
 location of an interoceanic ship canal between Aspinwall and Pan- 
 ama, including feeder, etc. 
 
 4. The report of the surveys made by Commander T. O. Selfridge, 
 U. S. Navy, extending from the Gulf of San Bias on the Atlantic 
 and the Bayano or Chepo river on the Pacific coast to the mouth 
 of the River Atrato on the Atlantic, to the Gulf of San Miguel on 
 the Pacific coast, involving many tentative lines, and thence follow- 
 ing up the River Atrato 150 miles, and from thence up the valley of 
 the River Napipi, known as the Atrato-Napipi route, and terminat- 
 ing on the Pacific coast at Chiri-chiri. ' 
 
 5. An actual line of location for an interoceanic ship canal, of 
 what is known as the Atrato-Napipi route, terminating as before at 
 Chiri-chiri, by Lieut. Frederick Collins, TJ. S. Navy. 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Caned. 119 
 
 Maps, plans and calculations for material and labor on a common 
 basis of cost are made for the " Nicaragua," " Panama," and 
 " Atrato-Napipi " routes, as located, affording a ready means of 
 finally considering the relative cost of executing the work on the 
 several routes. 
 
 On the 13th of March, 1872, the President of the United States 
 appointed a commission whose duties were " to examine and consider 
 all surveys, plans, proposals or suggestions of routes of communi- 
 cation by canal or water communication between the Atlantic and 
 Pacific oceans, across, over or near the Isthmus connecting North 
 and South America, which have already been submitted or which 
 may hereafter be submitted to the President of the United States 
 during the pendency of this appointment, or which may be referred 
 to them by the President of the United States, and to report in 
 writing their conclusions and the result of such examination to the 
 President of the United States, with their opinion as to the possible 
 cost and practicability of each route or plan, and such other matter 
 in connection therewith as they may think proper and pertinent." 
 
 A final report was made by this commission on the 7th of Feb- 
 ruary, 1876, copies of which are furnished for the consideration of 
 this Congress. It was composed of the Chief of Bureau of Engin- 
 eers, U. S. Army, the Superintendent of the U. S. Coast Survey, and 
 the Chief of Bureau of Navigation, U. S. Navy. It held its sittings 
 at various times and considered all of the information then existing, 
 and concluded that the various surveys and reconnoissances extend- 
 ing over the wide region involved were sufficient to arrive at a con- 
 clusion, except in the region lying in the vicinity of the Panama 
 railroad ; it therefore requested the Government to have a survey 
 made and an actual line of location for an interoceanic ship canal 
 on the best route found practicable in that region, which was done 
 without delay. The Government, at the same time, thought it ad- 
 visable to have a more thorough examination and actual location 
 made along the entire length of what is known as the Atratro- 
 Napipi route. After a careful study of these surveys, maps, plans 
 and estimates, in addition to the information which was previously 
 before it, the commission made its final report, before alluded to. 
 
 In the consideration of a great work, such as the construction of 
 a ship canal across the American continent, we may well suppose 
 that its permauency should be regarded as important as the selection 
 
120 The Interoceanic Ship Oa^ial. 
 
 of the route itself, involving the least coat of construction with the 
 minimum of prohlems of doubtful cost in the execution of the work. 
 With these points assured the question becomes fairly debatable, 
 whether the physical conditions are to be considered too formidable 
 to admit of the execution of the work, as a commercial or monetary 
 question — in fact, whether a grand idea for the amelioration of 
 the great commerce of the world can be put into execution, or, per- 
 force, must be abandoned, through the existence of obstacles too for- 
 midable in their nature to admit of an endeavor to overcome them. 
 
 Should it be considered, after a careful and minute examination 
 of the question, that a commercial or monetary success is practica- 
 ble in the construction of an interoceanic ship canal, whatever 
 error may obtain by the selection of an inferior route through 
 a misapprehension of conditions of permanency, or of first cost of 
 construction in the location of the ship canal, would work a double 
 injury, in the failure to yield a proper dividend, by reason of unex- 
 pected and extraordinary cost in construction, through constant de- 
 mands for heavy expenditures in the endeavor to keep the canal 
 navigable, and in the probable imposition of tolls, which would tend 
 to drive away or fail to secure a considerable part of the tonnage 
 which should naturally pass through it. This would make the 
 ship canal appear rather as an obstructor than the promoter of a 
 world-wide commerce. I feel sure that these considerations will 
 have weight in the mind of our distinguished President, at whose 
 call this assemblage has met, to whose genius and indomitable 
 energy are due the inception and the completion of the Suez Canal. 
 
 I shall leave to my able associate, Civil Engineer A. G. Menocal, 
 U. S. Navy, a minute presentation of the surveys upon which he was 
 engaged — namely, what are known respectively as the " Nicaragua" 
 and the " Panama " routes. His note-books and other data will 
 show that the plans and estimates are based upon substantial and 
 sufficient information. 
 
 There are certain comparative conditions affecting the execution 
 of the work on the three different lines, upon which iwe give maps, 
 plans and estimates, which it is important to bear ill mind in the 
 consideration of the subject of the construction of a dhip canal. 
 
 In respect to the Nicaragua route, it may be paid that the 
 rainfall is comparatively small. Our observations at Lake Nica- 
 ragua, extending over one year, show an annual rftinfall of 48 
 
The, Interoceanic Ship Caned. 121 
 
 inches, or 1.22 metres.* There is a distinct dry season of between 
 five and six months, when work in progress' would not be delayed or 
 injured, and but little interruption need be apprehended in the rainy 
 season on that portion of the canal between the lake and the Pacific, 
 as the rains generally fall at night, with occasional showers during 
 the day. 
 
 There is abundant good stone, hydraulic and other lime, wood 
 and bamboo, which latter may be found very advantageous in the 
 construction of harbors. 
 
 There is a considerable population, well disposed, and when they 
 can have remunerative employment, fairly industrious. The 
 country has an abundant cattle supply of good quality for food, and 
 other productions which would furnish the main subsistence for 
 laborers on the canal, with a convenient water transportation in 
 general along the line of ship canal as located, and lake communi- 
 cation with an extensive, populated and fertile region. This water 
 communication can be greatly increased by the construction of a 
 six-foot canal to Lake Managua, at an inconsiderable cost, and 
 when completed it would make the supplies of all kinds super- 
 abundant. Between Lake Nicaragua and the Pacific, near the line 
 of the projected canal, several passable roads exist, and whatever 
 other roads might be required over this short distance could readily 
 be made at inconsiderable cost. 
 
 There is an inexhaustible water supply in the lake of 2,800 miles 
 of superfice, which equalizes floods and makes the daily changes 
 small in the discharge of the River San Juan, by which it debouches 
 into the Caribbean sea. 
 
 It has an excellent harbor on the Pacific coast at San Juan del 
 Sur, convenient for anchorage as Brito itself would be if improved 
 as a harbor, inasmuch as the vessel in transit would have time to 
 regulate her steam and be pointed fair to enter the canal at any 
 assigned time. This reduces the necessity of a harbor at Brito to 
 simply securing a perfectly smooth entrance to the canal. 
 
 Lake Nicaragua affords every facility for an interchange of 
 cargoes that may be desired. 
 
 The western coast and valley of the lake are, as compared with 
 
 * Observations since collated, extending over 1851, by Childs, and 8 months by 
 Lull, 1873, give a mean 83.65 inches. 
 
122 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 the eastern slope, comparatively healthy, and upon the eastern 
 slope a considerable part of the labor can be done by means of 
 dredging machines. 
 
 The approaches to both entrances are superior in advantages to 
 those of either of the two other routes with which the Niearaguan 
 is compared. 
 
 These considerations would seem to warrant the belief that cost 
 of construction, including material, would be far less than upon 
 either of the two other routes compared, as will be more fully 
 shown hereafter. 
 
 The Panama route is next to be considered. 
 
 The mean annual rainfall at Aspinwall in a series of seven years 
 is found to be 124.25 inches, or 3.15 metres. A dry season exists, 
 but it is limited to two or three months, lessening the effective time 
 for labor and of comparative healthfulness of the laborers employed, 
 the wet being the sickly season. 
 
 No building material suitable is known in that region. The ties 
 and railroad telegraph poles on the Panama railroad are brought 
 from Oarthagena or elsewhere. 
 
 The population is inferior to Nicaragua, as, also, the country, in 
 ability to furnish subsistence for a large number of laborers. 
 
 By means of the railroad already constructed, a canal under con- 
 struction would have a convenient transportation at whatever cost 
 might be agreed upon. 
 
 The cost of the feeder and adjuncts, and other disadvantageous 
 features (notwithstanding the shortness of the line), as shown by 
 maps, plans, and estimates, make a total of $94,511,380, against that 
 of the Nicaragua route of $65,722,137 on a common basis of cost of 
 material and labor. In Nicaragua the material is near at hand, 
 and subsistence abundant, while on the Panama route, or in its region, 
 there is no material for construction, inferior subsistence and less 
 favorable climatic conditions for labor, as before stated. 
 
 The last proposition which remains to be examined is in favor of 
 the Atrato-Napipi route. 
 
 Although the mean annual rainfall here is not known, there 
 is no doubt that it is largely in excess of the rainfill at Aspin- 
 wall. There is only a nominal dry season, as at any titne a precipi- 
 tation of several inches is likely to occur, and actuallkr does occur 
 many times yearly during the so-called " dry season." 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 123 
 
 The building material supposed to be available is confined to 
 wood. Population is so scant as to be unable to furnish either 
 assistance or subsistence for even an inconsiderable number of 
 laborers. 
 
 The River Atrato would furnish transportation to the mouth of 
 the River Napipi. Along the line of the projected canal the 
 country is alternately rough and covered with swamps, so that 
 great labor would be necessary to construct roads to secure even 
 wagon transportation for subsistence and material for construction. 
 
 Under such conditions the projected feeders requisite would be 
 made at great additional cost, as well as the projected tunnel and 
 locks. In dimensions the projected tunnel is as follows : length, 
 5,633 metres ; height, 35.96 metres ; width, 18.29 metres. 
 
 On the Atlantic slope there are twelve projected locks of 3.14 
 metres lift, and on the Pacific slope ten of 4.54 metres lift, the 
 summit level being 43.59 metres above mean tide. 
 
 With the view of having a definite comparison, th« estimates for 
 material and labor, so far as they are identical, were made on a 
 common basis with Nicaragua. The cost on this basis is given as 
 $98,196,894 ; but it is quite apparent that with the lack of material 
 convenient, and of subsistence and transportation, as well as the 
 absence of a dry season, and above all, the impossibility of making 
 even an approximate estimate of the cost of a tunnel under such 
 conditions, that the actual cost of the execution of the work 
 would be far in excess of the estimate. 
 
 The same physical conditions — the absence of a dry season, and a 
 general lack of material for construction, except wood, and the lack 
 of subsistence — were found to exist by all of our parties, at various 
 times, on what is known properly as the Isthmus of Darien, and of 
 all the region l7ing south of it. 
 
 The long period of time over which the surveys of the United 
 States have,been prosecuted, designing to elucidate the problem of 
 an interoceanic ship canal, indicates a persistent interest in this 
 subject. I am happy to add that the present chief magistrate and 
 his cabinet are fully alive to the benefit to be derived from a full 
 consideration of the construction of an interoceanic ship canal, now 
 that further researches of the topography of that region no longer 
 promise a commensurate reward. 
 
 The people of the United States will look with great interest 
 upon the discussions and deliberations of this distinguished convo- 
 
124 The Interoceanic Ship Camd. 
 
 cation, and to suggestions whicli indicate the means that may be 
 adopted to secure a speedy commencement of the work of an 
 American interoceanic ship canal on such a basis as should assure 
 its uninterrupted prosecution and early completion. It would 
 seem that this object could best be accomplished by making the 
 work actually International, could a proper and satisfactory basis of 
 cooperation be arrived at. 
 
 The people of the United States recognize the great amelioration 
 and benefit that the commerce of the world would derive through 
 the completion of this great work, and are not disposed to regard 
 the consideration of this subject solely with reference to the degree 
 in which the commerce and the interests of the United States will 
 be relatively benefited through its construction, as compared with 
 the advantages that may accrue to other commercial nations. 
 Such a ship canal cannot fail to be a great and common benefit, 
 especially in opening a rapid and easy transit between the 
 Atlantic coasts of Europe and America and the western coasts of 
 America, and by the speedy development of Australia. Regarding 
 this interoceanic ship canal when completed as the greatest possible 
 artificial highway that can be consiructed, conferring benefits on all 
 nations and peoples, the people of the United States consider its 
 construction as something of common interest, and the guaranty of 
 its neutrality a duty in common to all nations. 
 
 The presentation of maps, plans, etc., was followed by a technical 
 exposition of the Nicaragua route by Civil Engineer Menocal. 
 Afterwards, in answer to inquiries, he gave the piethods of pro- 
 posed improvement of the harbor of Greytown and! the regimen of 
 the bar, as observed by him during several recent visits to that 
 locality. I may add here properly, that the able sub-commission 
 subscribed to the efiiciency of the proposed method and as well to 
 the method proposed for constructing the dams s^croes the San 
 Juan. Several engineei-s of note at that time no^ favorably dis- 
 posed to the Nicaragua route, made many inquiries, -With the view of 
 developing its difiiculties and its inferiority, and became so well 
 informed as to adopt it as the route offering relatively the fewest 
 difiiculties, and in the end certainty of execution. These engineers 
 were found afterwards among those who abstained from voting. 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 125 
 
 On the second general meeting of the Congress, May 19, Sir 
 John Hawkshaw, of England, whose reputation as an hydraulic 
 engineer is second to none, was present. The afternoon was taken 
 up in a desultory discussion of the Panama route by Lieuts. Wyse 
 and Reolus, of the French Navy. A considerable part of the dis- 
 course was directed to the Nicaragua route, which was not then 
 under discussion. 
 
 The data upon which these plans were constructed was quite in- 
 sufficient. The cause of the anxiety of Lieut. Wyse, when in the 
 United States two months before, to obtain tracings of our maps 
 and plans, became at once apparent. They were not furnished, 
 because it was considered improper to give them publicity abroad 
 in advance of their publication at home. 
 
 It will be remembered that previous to last autumn, after making 
 an examination of the valleys of the streams falling into the Bay 
 of San Miguel in 1876-7, and visiting that region the following 
 season, Lieut. Wyse made plans and estimates for two routes, call- 
 ing the one preferred by him the Tuyra-Tupisa route, which by 
 his report was supposed equal, or nearly so, to any that had 
 been developed through our surveys. This line seemed to me 
 hopeless, from the existence of the gravest difficulties, some of 
 which I mentioned in my paper of November last. It seems, from 
 what I shall presently quote, that Lieut. Wyse had the frankness to 
 inform the Society for which he was acting that in his view a ship 
 canal across that region was impossible. He did not present it at 
 all in the Congress, but took up the Panama route on whatever in. 
 formation he had, and developed it for a ship canal d niveau, which 
 certainly was a step in the right direction. It may be said without 
 dispute, that for a canal at the ocean level the line from Panama to 
 Aspinwall is far preferable to any other. The possibility of it must 
 be considered simply in a commercial sense, as a canal, wherever 
 made, must have that condition. The following day, May 20, Civil 
 Engineer Menocal was invited to explain the plans and estimates 
 of the Panama route, but was so interrupted by questions that Sir 
 John Hawkshaw suggested allowing him to proceed, and submit- 
 ting questions afterward. 
 
 He stated that when Commander Lull and party began the survey 
 of the Panama route there was no pre-occupation as to what height 
 above the sea, if any, would be selected as the summit level. They 
 
126 7%e Jnteroceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 found at Matachin that the floods of the river passed some five or 
 six feet over the railroad track, and that at low water the surface 
 of the stream was forty-two feet above the ocean level. In consid- 
 ering the question it became apparent that if the ocean level were 
 adopted, an excavation would be necessary, making the normal 
 surface of the proposed canal forty-two feet below the present low 
 water, in the river, which would then make a small cascade, and in 
 periods of floods would be transformed into a cataract of one 
 hundred and sixty-one thousand cubic feet per second, of a height of 
 nearly seventy-eight feet, the decrease being due to the measure of 
 the velocity of the water as it approached the precipice, and also to 
 the head of water above the ocean level after falling, which would 
 give a corresponding velocity on its course to the sea. It was ap- 
 parent that either this great volume of water must be received into 
 the canal from an elevation which would make the effect destructive, 
 or that it would be necessary to " lock up " so as to permit the floods 
 to pass beneath the aqueduct, thus bringing the surface level of the 
 water in it to an elevation of one hundred and twenty-four feet 
 above the sea. This was found to entail the construction of a 
 feeder, with its adjuncts, at a cost of $9,942, 727, with either a 
 doubtful or a scant water supply during a portion of the seasons of 
 unusual drought. 
 
 On concluding, Mr. Menocal stated his willingness to answer 
 questions, without eliciting any more. \ 
 
 On the 21st another general session was held. Sir John Hawkshaw 
 gave his opinion on the Panama route as follows: i 
 
 " With regard to the question whether the canal should be con- 
 structed with or without locks, the following points occur to me: 
 
 " If the canal is to be without locks its normal surmce level would 
 be that of the sea, and its bottom level, say eight meters lower. 
 
 " This being the case, the canal would receive and must provide 
 for the whole drainage of the district it traversed. 
 
 " Therefore it would be necessary to ascertain fee volume of 
 water that would drain into the canal before it would be possible 
 even to determine the sectional area of the canal. I 
 
 " If the canal have a less surface fall than the river, as it would 
 have, it must have a larger sectional area to discharge the same 
 volume of water. 
 
The Inter oceanic Ship Canal. 127 
 
 " The average section of the river in a flood at Mamei was ascer- 
 tained by M. Reclns to be 1,310 square metres. This would 
 require a canal, if it were eight metres deep, to be 160 metres wide. 
 
 " The waters of the Chagres would have a tendency to flow to- 
 wards the Pacific, that is, through the tunnel, as the distance is less 
 and the fall greater than to the Atlantic. 
 
 "It seems to me that the dimensions of the tunnel, if it has to 
 serve for both the river and canal, would be too small. Mr. Menocal's 
 estimate of the volume of the Chagres in time of flood would much 
 more than fill the tunnel; and in any case the whole section of the 
 tunnel is only half that of the river in time of flood, as given by 
 M. Reclus. 
 
 " During the construction of a canal at the sea level, difiiculties 
 would arise in providing for the drainage, which would affect both 
 time of execution and cost to an extent that could hardly be ascer- 
 tained in advance. 
 
 " If, from such considerations as the foregoing, it should be 
 concluded that the canal should be so const;'ucted as to retain the 
 rivers for natural drainage, then recourse will have to be had to 
 locks. In that event there can be no difficulty, in my opinion, in carry- 
 ing on the traffic with locks properly constructed, provided there is 
 an ample water supply, which would be a sine qua non." 
 
 It will be observed that Sir John Hawkshaw expressed the axioms 
 heretofore acknowledged by able engineers : to avoid surface drain- 
 age, and to have an abundant water supply. After reading his 
 opinion, he remarked that a residence of two or more years in Inter- 
 tropical America had given him a knowledge of how these showers 
 behave; Tidthout which he might think differently. In a conversa- 
 tion with him before he left Paris, after two days' attendance at the 
 Congress, he expressed to me the opinion that the canal^ could not be 
 excavated d niveau, and if it were that it would be filled up with 
 trees and silt, 
 
 A pamphlet by M. Dauzats, Chief Engineer of the Suez canal, 
 compares that work with the various routes proposed across this 
 continent. He quotes at length from my last paper read before this 
 Society showing the marked contrast of physical conditions, the 
 region of the Suez canal having a mean annual rainfall of less than 
 two inches, whilst the region of the Panama canal has a rainfall of 
 one hundredjand twenty-four inches. His deduction is that surface 
 
128 The Tnteroeeanic Ship Canal. 
 
 drainage falling into a canal, has a scouring effect which is bene- 
 ficial, whilst the abrasion of the banks of a canal is far more de- 
 structive. 
 
 Were it not too great a tax on your patience, I would point out 
 the fallacy of such an argument. It is assumed that when a river 
 like the Chagres is dredged, it will change its regimen. This deduc- 
 tion is necessary to a supposition that a canal d niveau at Panama is 
 possible. 
 
 On the afternoon of the 19th, the Technical Commission was di- 
 vided, one part to report upon the practicability of locks as pre- 
 sented on the Nicaragua route, the other to consider the question of 
 making tunnels for navigation. There was confusion and violent 
 action, I was informed, on the part of Lieut. Wyse, growing out of 
 his opposition to Mr. Menocal being put on the sub-commission on 
 locks. Mr. Menocal very properly asked to be excused. 
 
 The report as to locks was, that they could be made to serve their 
 purpose. The calculations for a tunnel were made for construction 
 on a dry foundation ; it was stated there were no elements of calcu- 
 lation for building a tunnel below the sea level, as the plans 
 demanded. 
 
 During the sittings of the Congress, I found myself frequently 
 obliged to dissent from the propositions of Commander Selfridge, 
 U. S. Navy, who strangely enough was found in the Congress without 
 being named by our Government. This officer had been the chief of 
 large parties who were engaged during the seasons of 18V0, 1871 
 and 1873, in examining the coast lying south and east of the Panama 
 route, at San Bias, Caledonia bay, the streams flowing from the 
 flanks of the mountains adjacent to the Bay of San Miguel and of 
 the counter slopes falling into the Atlantic ; also in making an ex- 
 amination of the Atrato-Napipi route for a ship canal, Which will be 
 found in his report to the Secretary of the Navy, June|l2, 1873. 
 
 I refer the curious reader to pages 66 to 70 inclusive and to 
 map VIII, illustrative of the Atrato-Napipi route as developed by , 
 Commander Selfridge. Nobody reading this report and referring 
 to the drawings would suppose for an instant that the greater part 
 of it was purely imaginary, the ground lying betweer| the rivers 
 Atratro and Doguado never having been passed over by Comman- 
 der Selfridge or any of his party. It is delineated as an inclined 
 
The Interoeeanic Ship Canal. 129 
 
 plane, locks located and sections of elevations given in figures ! Be- 
 tween this fanciful presentation and the profiles made by Lieut. 
 Collins, U. S. Navy, there is a very wide difference. I quote from 
 page 7 of my report : 
 
 "Commander Self ridge then said that the remarks made by Sir John 
 Hawkshaw in relation to the Chagres River were not applicable to 
 the Atrato-Napipi route, and endeavored to enter into a further dis- 
 cussion of its merits. I stated that I would suggest the advantage 
 of discussing the carefully prepared plans of Lieut. Collins along 
 the lines of actual location, which were the best that could be found 
 in months of labor, instead of lines drawn at will by Commander 
 Selfridge, involving uncertainty of execution and an entire absence 
 of elements of calculation, as every engineer would recognize." 
 
 This was one of several occasions that I had to suggest the advan- 
 tage of discussing facts instead of indulging in fancies calculated to 
 deceive the credulous and unwary, and absolutely a waste of time. 
 
 The proceedings of the general Congress on the 23rd, and in the 
 Technical Commission on the 26th, are so significant that I shall ap- 
 pend them without omissions. 
 
 By reference to the Appendix it will be seen that the partial quo- 
 tations which I shall use do not present a perverted meaning. I 
 will submit the question to every reader of the Appendix, whether, 
 free from any comment, it is not patent that the Congress was not 
 called to decide upon the best routes for an interoeeanic ship canal, 
 but only upon what was possible via Panama. 
 
 M. de Lesseps announced : " That which struck us most, is the 
 enthusiasm of the United States of America in favor of the establish- 
 ment of a canal at Panama." 
 
 We may ask with surprise, when and where was this enthusiasm 
 manifested ? I saw nothing of it, nor was it conveyed by the 
 Government of the United States, in sending me to present the 
 plan for Panama, and to submit the other surveys and reports made 
 under its orders. I again quote M. de Lesseps: " Lieut. Wyse and 
 his companions have rendered us an account of the mission that they 
 undertook. Seven of them set out; four are dead in those wilds, 
 where one is only able to effect a passage with a hatchet in the hand." 
 " They have then returned, and have had the honesty to declare to 
 us that in their view a canal was impossible in the regions that they 
 had returned from exploring." This seems sufficient to dispose of the 
 historical sketch of M. Hertz, given on page 10 of the proceedings. 
 
130 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 as follows : " The French Committee of Study for the Interoceanic 
 Canal [in consequence of the completion of the surveys alluded to 
 byM. de Lesseps,] thus found itself able to submit to an Interoceanic 
 Canal Congress a collection [of information] upon which it would 
 be able to pronounce intelligently. It is known with what alacrity 
 the most learned men from all countries have responded to the call." 
 To show the sufficiency of our information previous to these surveys 
 of Lieut. Wyse, was the object of my paper, read Oct. 1876, in reply 
 to a pamphlet of M. Drouillet, who came to this country to obtain 
 assistance in making further surveys. The closing paragraph of my 
 paper was as follows : " I may add as a personal conviction, that 
 however long and seriously the search may be continued for ' re- 
 sults ' by surveys, nothing can or will be developed so advantageous 
 as that which the surveys of our Government present for your con- 
 sideration.'' Lieut. Wyse's survey undoubtedly destroyed preoccu- 
 pations in Paris, and so far was useful to them ; which they might 
 have effected at less cost by a more thorough examination of the 
 work that had been done by our Government. 
 
 Notwithstanding what M. de Lesseps said respecting the asser- 
 tions of Lieut. Wyse as to the impossibility of a canal in that region, 
 we find in Lieut. "Wyse's last report a tabulated statement of routes, 
 among which is the Tuyra-Tupisa, at an estimated cost of 600,- 
 000,000 francs. I quote again M. de Lesseps: "I have consulted 
 M. La Valley, and he has replied that it (would be) decided for a 
 canal d niveau, — that it was a public sentiment. I will permit my- 
 self to sustain that opinion." Again : " M. La Valley has studied 
 the question of a tunnel; he believes it certainly possible." He 
 says, " it is only a question of cost." 
 
 This Society will be surprised to find, on reading all that M. de 
 Lesseps has justly said of the high qualities of M. La Valley, as given 
 in the Appendix, that when the resolution was voted on, he, as also 
 some other distinguished engineers of the French Society, were de- 
 signedly absent. To the fact that these eminent engineers have 
 not given the sanction of their names to what, by others, was re- 
 garded as possible in engineering, is probably due the discredit shown 
 to the decision of the Congress. 
 
 I quote again M. de Lesseps : " In my belief we should not make 
 a canal with locks at Panama, but a canal d niveau; that is, I be- 
 lieve, the opinion of the public, of which I am the organ at this 
 moment." 
 
The Interoceanic Bhyp Canal. 131 
 
 Here we see that, instead of studying the question as an engineer, 
 and in its economic conditions relatively with other routes, M. de 
 Lesseps pronounces himself to be the organ of what he believes to 
 be public opinion. Happily for the public, its supposed demand 
 could not swerve M. La Valley and others of great reputation. 
 
 I call attention to the remarks of M. Peralta, as given in the Ap" 
 pendix. This learned and able Minister of Costa Rica to our Gov- 
 ernment is well known to many of you personally. His suggestions 
 were not to be considered. M. de Lesseps wished nothing more 
 embodied in the resolution than whether a canal d, niveau via Pan- 
 ama was possible. 
 
 The resolution was passed as he desired by such a vote as to call 
 forth an expression of his satisfaction — this, too, supported by the 
 demands of public opinion, as he stated — and yet he is not happy. 
 
 I again quote M. de Lesseps: " Since 40 years I have studied the 
 question of the Suez Canal. I have always understood that, for a 
 profit, it is necessary to receive at the least 10 francs per ton. One 
 can perfectly well make the American canal pay double that amount 
 whatever project may be brought about. These are considerations 
 that one is very glad to know for the future." 
 
 The humanitarian idea so nicely held out, and especially sup- 
 ported by M. Simonin, is dropped. There remains alone the idea of 
 constructing a canal without reference to whether it is on the best 
 location, but certainly on the line where the concessionists are en- 
 titled to receive, by the terms of the concession, 10 per cent, of the 
 stock issued. 
 
 The Report of the Commission on Statistics of the Congress gives 
 the tonnage likely to pass through the canal, as follows: 
 
 That of the United States 2,000,000 tons. 
 
 That of Great Britain 1,050,000 " 
 
 That of France 356,000 " 
 
 That of all other Powers 356,000 " 
 
 In the Bulletin du Canal Inter-Oceanique of October 1, pub- 
 lished in Paris, in the building of the Suez Canal, there is an article 
 of some length, entitled " Via Nicaragua," in which is set forth in 
 varied terms the egotism of the American Commission on the inter- 
 
132 The Interoceanic Ship Gcmal. 
 
 oceanic canal Question, as shown in their Report to our Govern- 
 ment, and also the same quality shown by our official delegates to 
 the Paris Congress. 
 
 If this ' egotism ' was shown, as is supposed, in the report, it was 
 simply in the endeavor to promote the public interests in the most 
 economic manner. The narrowness of the views of the Commission 
 is supposed to be shown in recommending lockage for vessels of only 
 four hundred feet in length, and a beam much greater proportion- 
 ately than that given vessels at this time. Without having the time 
 or patience tO' look up the French steamers, I will venture the 
 opinion that all of them longer than four hundred feet could be 
 counted on the fingers of one hand. 
 
 The • egotism ' of Mr. Menocal and myself at the Paris Congress, 
 so far as I am capable of judging, was confined to a fair presen- 
 tation of all of the information in the possession of our Govern- 
 ment, feeling no very lively interest in what the Congress would 
 decide, not determine, which belongs" to nature, and to the keen ap- 
 preciation of moneyed interests as to what will and what will not pay. 
 After the adjournment of the Congress an engineer very much in 
 the confidence of M. de Lesseps said to me, " Now that the matter 
 was settled, what amount of money might be counted on in America 
 to promote the enterprise?" I replied that, in my opinion, they 
 would not get a dollar. Evidently, in my ' egotism,' I was wrong — to 
 what extent will only be known when the Bulletin devoted to the 
 canal interests publishes the amounts subscribed in France and 
 elsewhere for the construction of the canal d niveau. Without 
 assuming to speak for the public, I feel sure that such a statement 
 would be read with interest. 
 
 Looking at the table just given of the tonnage of the different na- 
 tions, we see the ' egotisms ' (interests ?) of all of them in form and 
 substance. In the matter of the canal, the interests of the United 
 States now are practically double those of Great Britain, and will 
 become relatively greater, proportionate to the increase of popula- 
 tion. Those of France are, roughly, one-third of Great Britain, 
 and yet, if the word egotism is a proper substitution for the word 
 interests, she has as much as all the rest of mankind. 
 
 In an interview given in the New York World of Oct. 9, M. de 
 Lesseps is reported to have said: "If I may say so, I do not think 
 the Americans are very clear-sighted in this matter. Thev are of 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 133 
 
 the Anglo-Saxon race, and it is, to some extent, a question of race. 
 The Anglo-Saxon race is unequaled for its power of dealing with 
 the circumstances immediately before it, but I do not think it sees 
 very far in the future. The Latin race has a somewhat wider in- 
 tellectual horizon." 
 
 He regards the Anglo-Saxon race as eminently practical, and 
 without being of it, I can well believe him. Granting his foreseeing 
 power, may we not ask the probable number of Anglo-Saxons on this 
 continent at the end of this century, and at that time, also, of those 
 inhabiting Australia and the Pacific islands ? Awaiting this replyj 
 may we not without egotism assume it to be roughly one hundred 
 millions of people? We can leave to M. de Lesseps, with his long 
 view, the contemplation of the end of the next century, the period 
 A. D. 2000. Still, even to our obscured vision, there seems a 
 mighty multitude of men ; shall we give it shape in supposing it to 
 number at the least 300,000,000 ? 
 
 Dropping the consideration of humanitarian ideas so unhappily 
 dispelled, and looking at it as a plain business matter, could we not 
 submit the question to the citizens of the two powers first named, 
 whether it would not be worth while to consider the construction of 
 a canal on a commercial basis, and with reference to a careful exam- 
 ination of all of the points involved ; and if found practicable in 
 that view, do the work, and if otherwise, develop through the 
 United States and the Canadas such additional railroads as would 
 ameliorate the commerce of which they are so largely the factors ? 
 
 After considering the proceedings of the 23rd in the general session 
 and a part of the proceedings of the Technical Commission of the 
 May 26, as given in the Appendix, we can proceed to consider the 
 vote more intelligently. A resolution was introduced to conform to 
 the wishes, as expressed, of M. de Lesseps. It is as follows: 
 
 "The Congress considers that the piercing of an Interoceanic 
 Canal at a constant level, so desirable in the interests of commerce 
 and navigation, is possible, and that a maritime canal, to respond to 
 an indispensable facility of access and utilization which a work of 
 this kind should offer, should be located between the Gulf of Limon 
 and the Bay of Panama.'' 
 
 The official vote, as given in the proceedings, is as follows: 
 Absentions, 12; against the resolution, 8; in favor of it, 78. The 
 most significant figure is omitted. As counted up on the record, 36 
 
134 The, Interooeanic Ship Canal. 
 
 were absent, among whom, were a considerable number of engineers 
 of note, and perhaps half a dozen delegates who were not in attend- 
 ance during the session. 
 
 Had it not been that the expression of my absence from voting 
 was regarded as an " enigma " which has been solved in the Bulletin 
 of October 1, I would not have alluded to it. I abstained from 
 voting, on the ground that " only ' able engineers can form an 
 opinion, after careful study, of what is actually possible, and what 
 is relatively economical, in the construction of a ship canal." I feel 
 pure that it will excite a smile among us to suppose this in any 
 degree enigmatical, and may recall the ideas so ludicrously shown 
 in the comedy of the Irish Ambassador. 
 
 In relation to the vote and to the delegates, a pamphlet published 
 in Paris, titled "Panama, 400,000,000 k I'eau," gives the following: 
 
 " Let it be remarked that one-half of the members of the Con- 
 gress were French ; they had been chosen by the organizers of that 
 assembly; 34 members belonged to the Geographical or the Society 
 of Commercial Geography of Paris. What was their competency 
 to decide between a canal with looks or on a sea level ? Fourteen 
 other members were engineers or assistants of some sort on the 
 Suez canal. What was their impartiaUty to decide between M. de 
 Lesseps and others ? And, among the others, if one takes count of 
 personal friendships, and of the prestige exercised by a great name; 
 how many more will remain ?" 
 
 No one will deny that among the French delegates to the Con- 
 gress were men eminent in every branch of engineering science, and 
 others of the highest character as men of science; the same may 
 properly be said of the foreign delegates; they were men of charac- 
 ter and special attainments, usually having relation to the subjects 
 that would concern a canal, if not its construction. 
 
 As regards the engineers of Holland and Belgium especially, 
 where the land is so flat and the rainfall so small, their practical 
 experience of a head of water would be confined almost to tidal 
 action. However able they may be, they had not, so far as I know, 
 the practical experience of Intertropical America that made Sir 
 John Plawkshaw so competent an authority. 
 
 Engineers in other branches would naturally adopt the opinions of 
 the hydraulic engineers, and, so far as their consciences would per- 
 mit, be disposed to support the opinions and wishes of M. de 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 135 
 
 Lesseps, especially if expressed emphatically, as found in the 
 Appendix. They would say very properly, the execution of the 
 work was for M. de Lesseps, and not at all their affair. He had 
 asked them to say that the canal <i niveau was possible, and they 
 had obligingly done so. He did not think it worth while to ask his 
 honorable confreres if they thought Panama the best canal route; 
 indeed, it would not have been prudent to do so, as he had deter- 
 mined that the canal should be built at Panama, d niveau; as 
 expressed by an engineer very much in his confidence, "If they 
 found it possible, the first thing was to get the money; the next was 
 to build the canal in the best manner that they found possible." 
 Even a great general needs the " sinews of war;" the public who 
 made the demand through M. de Lesseps to have a canal d niveau 
 should not desert him so cruelly; he has met them fully half way 
 in reducing the cost of construction one-half as given by the Con- 
 gress, and in still further shortening the time for the construction of 
 the work as given in his provincial tours, beyond that assigned by 
 him in the Commission on the 26th, as shown in the Appendix. 
 
 I do not propose to discuss the terms of the concession fully, as 
 found on page 281 of the report of Lieut. Wyse. I will point out 
 some features that seem to me objectionable in the extreme. 
 
 The Canal Company agrees to transport, gratuitously, all persons 
 in the civil and military service of Colombia, their baggage, arms 
 and ammunition, and if the company is not provided with vessels 
 suitable for their transportation, to pay their passages, and for the 
 transportation of armaments and ammunition. 
 
 The Government of Colombia is to receive semi-annually five per 
 cent, of the gross receipts of the company for the first 25 years, six 
 per cent, for the second 25 years, seven per cent, for the third 25 
 years, and for the remaining 24 years eight per cent., at the end of 
 which time the canal reverts to the Colombian Government. 
 
 The Company is " authorized to reserve ten per cent, of the 
 shares for the benefit of the founders and aiders of the enter- 
 prise." 
 
 The only hope for a stockholder would seem to be in the extraor- 
 dinary impost of ten francs per cubic metre, not on the gross ton- 
 nage or weight of the vessel and cargo, but upon the cubical con- 
 tents of a parallelopiped represented by the length, breadth and 
 draught of the vessel ! Lieut. Wyse supposed that this measure- 
 
136 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 ment migM amount to 30 francs per ton, which, if imposed on 
 ordinary cargoes at ordinary prices, as wheat, would make a voyage 
 from San Francisco around Cape Horn preferable in economy. 
 
 Looking at the terms of the " concession," as it is called, and the 
 whole matter from beginning to end, the wonder is that the sub- 
 scriptions were so large, rather than that they were so insufficient 
 for the purpose of constructing a canal. 
 
 When Lieut. Wyse was before a Commission in the Congress he 
 was questioned as to the Panama Railroad and its franchises, and 
 replied that he had made a satisfactory arrangement, by which the 
 Canal Company would gain two millions of francs yearly, but gave 
 no further explanation as to the arrangement. 
 
 So far, in general, we have been regarding the aspects of the 
 interoceanic canal question from other points of view than our 
 own, with occasional objections or remarks thereon. Let us now 
 look at the question from our point of view. 
 
 After the adjournment of the Congress it seemed to me that its 
 high authority, and that of M. de Lesseps, who does not in the in- 
 terview overstate the confidence with which he has been regarded 
 in France, would deprive many peasants of their hard earnings ; 
 what kind angel protected them Heaven only knows. So far as the 
 English and our countrymen were concerned, the decision of the 
 Congress did not seem to me likely to inflict injury, other than a 
 delay and an uncertainty as to the time of commencement of a 
 great work. 
 
 In my report to the Secretary of State, which many of you have 
 doubtless read, I made the following deductions relating to the 
 Congress : 
 
 That personal interests, arising from a concession for the con- 
 struction of a canal, are unfavorable to a relative consideration of 
 natural advantages as between two or more routes ; that such per- 
 sonal interests did exist was quite apparent from first to last ; and 
 the " concession " was frequently partially discussed or alluded to, 
 especially in the committees or sub-committees. 
 
 That the discussion in Paris has shown that hereafter in the exam- 
 ination of the question only the Nicaragua and Panama routes need 
 critical examination, and that sufficient information exists as to all 
 other routes. 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 137 
 
 That the canal d niveau by the Isthmus of Panama, either with 
 or without a tunnel, has been shown to be hopelessly impracticable, 
 if considered as a commercial question. 
 
 That a general and special knowledge now exists among Euro- 
 pean engineers relative to the subject of a ship canal across the 
 American continent, which did, not exist prior to the assemblage of 
 the Congress in Paris. 
 
 In view of actualities, it seems proper that the Government of the 
 United States should consider the question of the interoceanic ship 
 canal as still undetermined, notwithstanding the report of its com- 
 mission on the subject ; which has received acceptance by the peo- 
 ple of the United States, and by our able civil engineers, inasmuch as 
 it has not received a criticism. 
 
 Should this be regarded as advisable it would seem necessary to 
 form a commission of the ablest engineers of our army, and to in- 
 vite the ablest civil engineers of our country, and as well invite all 
 the governments who were represented at the congress in Paris to 
 send their engineers, all to join in full discussion, and having equal 
 powers, with the view of removing it from all extraneous influ- 
 ence of " concessions," or other objects than the consideration 
 of the construction of a ship canal across this continent, capable 
 of fulfilling the demands of the world's commerce, under the most 
 economic conditions. 
 
 I have learned that the suggestion as to a commission was 
 maturely considered by our Government, and was regarded as un- 
 necessary, in view of a supposed unanimity of the people of the 
 United States in favor of the Nicaragua route. 
 
 It seems to me, however, that this fact, which I think undoubted, 
 does not do away with the great advantage of the discussion of the 
 subject by the ablest engineers ; especially if, after a close study of 
 the Nicaragua and Panama routes as presented by the surveys, they 
 should visit both localities for the purpose of verifying any part of 
 the work desired, and of the existence or non-existence of material 
 for construction, and the methods which could best be employed in 
 the execution of the work. This done, so far as human action can 
 go, the question will be presented with the least possible condition 
 of error — the locality where the canal should be made, or whether a 
 canal should be made at all. 
 
138 The Inter oceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 When it seemed to me that our Government was not disposed to 
 call a commission, I wrote, at the suggestion of a gentleman of 
 position and influence, to Sir John Hawkshaw, presenting the 
 advantage that the subject would derive from a personal inspection 
 of the Nicaragua and Panama routes, either by him or some able 
 engineer appointed by the Society of Civil Engineers of Great 
 Britain, accompanied by another appointed by the Society of Civil 
 Engineers of Prance, and also another by our own Society, or, if 
 our Government thought proper to detail Gen. Weitzel, XT. S. En- 
 gineers, or any other competent officer who has had large experience 
 in hydraulic works. As yet I have received no reply. 
 
 The public is aware of the willingness of General Grant to 
 assist in this great work, under such conditions of organization of 
 a company and of a concession as would enable it to be prose- 
 cuted vigorously and effectively. He has given the subject his care- 
 ful attention for years ; is well satisfied as to the route, which pos- 
 sesses a certainty of realization by development ; he appreciates 
 fully the great importance of the construction of the ship canal for 
 the commerce of the world, and especially for the full development 
 of our West Coast. 
 
 It is gratifying to observe that there is an universal expression of 
 opinion as to the advantage which the constructiqn of the canal 
 would derive from having General Grant at its head. The expres- 
 sion is unanimous that it would ensure an economical, intelligent, 
 and vigorous prosecution , of the work, and its completion within 
 the shortest time, and that it would have all of the conditions of 
 practical utility and permanency that could be secured. 
 
 Recent information, from the most reliable sources, gives the 
 assurance that the intelligent people and Government of Nicaragua 
 are in entire accord with this movement, and instead of embarras- 
 sing the question with impossible conditions, will do all in their 
 power to forward the great work. 
 
 To sum up the whole matter, we may well desire that our 
 countrymen should know what canal route will best serve 
 the commerce of the world, in which our countrymen are 
 so largely interested. This is eminently a question for the 
 ablest engineers to pronounce upon. Exact information will 
 be presented in a prepared form by Civil Engineer Menocal, 
 U. S. Navy, for discussion by the Society of Civil Engineers 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 139 
 
 of the United States, showing the quantity of work that will 
 be found necessary on the Panama route at the ocean level, and also 
 by way of Lake Nicaragua, with a lockage of 107 feet above the 
 ocean. It is really not a question of what we may desire, but 
 actually only of what Nature, whose forces are ceaseless and tire- 
 less, will permit. To enter into an ill-advised struggle with them 
 is to be defeated in the end, at whatever cost or continued effort. 
 The labor and expense of constructing a ship canal, under the most 
 favorable conditions granted by Nature, will be great, but the 
 result attained will be the grandest that man is capable of achieving 
 for the convenience and extension of the commerce of the world. 
 
 Through this discussion we may hope that all of the advantages 
 as well as the difficulties, positive and relative, on those routes, will 
 be fairly developed — not upon fanciful presentations, but upon 
 sufficient information through calculations. ' 
 
 I have taxed your patience in an endeavor to show the present 
 aspect of the ship canal question, and have now only to point to the 
 importance of the forthcoming calculations in detail, and the irre- 
 fragable results obtainable from their full and fair discussion. 
 
 Gen. Egbert L. Viele, of the Council, then read the following 
 letters : 
 
 Letter from Frederick M. Kelley. 
 
 [Before reading the letter of Mr. Frederick M. Kelley, Gen. Viele 
 said : Mr. Kelley has spent 27 years' time and over $120,000 in 
 cash in promoting the success of a ship canal without locks through 
 the American Isthmus, and during that time has sent to the 
 Isthmus seven different surveying parties and procured two govern- 
 mental expeditions to examine all the feasible routes via the Atrato 
 and San Juan valleys during the years 1852, '53, '54 and '55. The 
 reports of the engineers, Messrs. Troutwine, Lave, Porter, Kennish, 
 McDougall, Sweet and General Michler, who had charge of those 
 surveys, can be seen in the public libraries.] 
 
 No. 153 West 45th Stebet, ) 
 New Yoek, December T, 1879. j 
 My Dear Sir: Your favor of Nov. 26, inviting me to be present 
 at the meeting of your Society on the 9th to hear Admiral Ammen's 
 Nicaragua Ship Canal paper read, I received in due time, with 
 thanks; but on account of serious illness in my family I will not be 
 able to attend. 
 
140 The Interoceanic Ship Comal. 
 
 I would be very glad to see the Admiral, as it was my good pleas- 
 ure to make his acquaintance some years since in Washington; not- 
 withstanding I have no confidence in the enterprise of which he is 
 so zealous and able an advocate. 
 
 Twenty-seven years' study of the question, and an extensive inter- 
 course with men engaged in shipping interests in this country and 
 Europe, have convinced me that a short sea level canal, with good, 
 safe harbors, which will require no dredging or other improvements 
 to keep open, and which can be reached safely at all times on a wide, 
 open sea, is what the commerce of the world demands, and will 
 have sooner or later, cost what it may. 
 
 These important and necessary conditions the Nicaragua route 
 does not afford, as it is 180 miles long, requires 18 or 20 locks, so 
 liable to get out of order in the wet, decaying Isthmus climate, and 
 has no good natural harbors on either ocean. 
 
 A canal via the San Bias route will give us a deep, wide cut 
 through the narrowest part of the isthmus, through which vessels 
 may pass from ocean to ocean quickly and cheaply on an even keel, 
 without the expense, dangers and delays of locks, save one tidal 
 lock to control the high tides of the Pacific. 
 
 A ship, at the rate of three miles per hour, could be towed 
 through the San Bias canal in 10 hours, and thus 100 going from 
 the Atlantic to the Pacific, and 100 from the Pacific to the Atlantic, 
 200 ships could pass the Isthmus at this narrow point in 24 hours 
 with perfect ease. The same ship going at the same speed would 
 require 70 hours to pass the Nicaragua canal, including delays at 
 its numerous locks, even one of which, if disabled, would detain the 
 ship no one can tell how long — perhaps weeks or months. It 
 would be a great misfortune to build a long, many-locked canal 
 like the Nicaragua, as that would result in constructing another 
 one at the narrowest part of the Isthmus. 
 
 The San Bias route surveyed by Messrs. McDougall, Sweet, Fore- 
 man, Rude, and Fountain in ] 864, and partially examined by Com- 
 mander Selfridge in 1871, is but about 30 miles long, of which 10 
 miles is the Bayano river, easily, for a trifling expense, made navi- 
 gable for ships, thus leaving only 20 miles for canalization. Of this, 
 however, 7 miles is a tunnel, which the engineering skill of this day, 
 with steam and compressed air drills now in use, can drive, without 
 serious difficulty, the same as they have the Hoosac, Mont Cenis, St. 
 Gothard, and other tunnels in this country and Europe, which, 25 
 years ago, with the old mode of hand-drilling, would have been 
 thought impracticable. 
 
 In attempting to solve so great a problem as the best and 
 only route for a ship canal, it is important that additional sur- 
 veys should be made, especially of the San Bias route, which is 
 much the shortest of all proposed, as by this means a lower and 
 
The IrUeroceanic Ship Canal. 141 
 
 shorter pass will doubtless be found by flanking the sugar-loaf 
 shaped hills which extend through that part of the Isthmus. 
 
 The party should be in charge of a competent army officer like 
 General N. Miohler, who, in 1858, by order of Congress, made the 
 very creditable and able survey of the Atrato Truando route for a 
 canal without locks, via the Atrato Valley. 
 
 As we are building the canal for all time, and to satisfy the ever 
 expanding wants of commerce, it is the height of folly to locate it 
 where dangerous floods and almost bottomless swamps will destroy 
 it, and thus render useless the undertaking which has cost millions 
 of money. 
 
 The safest and most reliable material to excavate in that country 
 is rock, and the more miles of rock the canal passes through the 
 more safe and durable will be the structure, the less walling will be 
 required to keep the banks from falling in, and the less will be the 
 cost of maintenance after the work is finished. 
 
 Of about 30,000,000 of cubic yards of materials to be removed on 
 the San Bias route (which is much less than on any, other route ex- 
 cepting the Atrato-Napipi), about 25,000,000 is rock, and hence the 
 canal located there would be more safe and solid, and cost very 
 much less to maintain it in the future. 
 
 This, in the long run of years, is of very great importance to the 
 stockholders, as every railroad man in the country fully compre- 
 hends. If it costs all the receipts to maintain the work, where will 
 the shareholders get their anticipated dividends ? I have had care- 
 ful estimates made by the engineers employed, and the total esti- 
 mate of the cost of the canal is $104,000,000. The estimate of 
 cost of the tunnel, 80 feet wide at the water line, and 120 feet 
 high from the bottom of the canal, is $64,000,000. 
 Yours, very truly, 
 
 FREDERICK M. KELLEY. 
 Chief Justice Daly, 
 
 President of the American Geographical Society. 
 
 Letter from Nathan Appleton. 
 
 'No. 10 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, 
 
 December 3, 1879. 
 Chief Justice Daly, 
 
 President of the American Geographical Society. 
 Dear Sir: I beg to acknowledge, with thanks, the receipt of your 
 letter informing me that Admiral Ammen is to read a paper before 
 the Society, at New York on December 9, on the Nicaragua canal 
 question, and inviting me to take part in the discussion that will 
 follow it. 
 
142 The Interoceanie Ship Caned. 
 
 It will be impossible for me to be there, as I have an engagement 
 at Washington on the following day, to attend the quarterly meet- 
 ing of the United States Board of Trade. 
 
 All I could say would be to vindicate the earnest efforts and the 
 honest intention of the International Congress held at Paris last 
 May, under the presidency of M. Ferdinand de Lesseps, to decide 
 upon the best route for a canal across the American Isthmus. 
 
 I certainly believe that its decision in favor of a tide level canal 
 by Panama was the right one. I think that, if the same Congress 
 should meet again and discuss the question for a month instead of a 
 fortnight, it would come to exactly the same conclusions. More- 
 over, I believe that if an American Congress should be convened at 
 New York, it would arrive at this result, which is, that the only 
 canal which can respond to the demands of commerce is a straight 
 cut from ocean to ocean, without locks, and without a tunnel ; and 
 for this the only place thus far known, on the long stretch of the 
 American Isthmus from Tehauntepec to Napipi, is at Panama. 
 
 The line which was selected by American engineers for a rail- 
 road, thirty years ago, stands unchallenged to-day as the best place 
 for that other road of travel and communication — a canal. 
 
 I see no difficulty in building a canal by Nicaragua, nor would its 
 expense be very great ; but I contend that when it is done, with its 
 seventeen locks, more or less — a great ascending and descending 
 water staircase, to utilize the reservoir of the Lake of Nicaragua — 
 it will be a mere curiosity of engineering, but of no practical use, 
 for it will not enable a sufficient number of ships to pass through it 
 per day to encourage them to make the attempt. 
 
 I am not willing to accept this as the "American plan"; for I 
 say it is paying a very poor compliment to the intelligence of our 
 people to suppose that they will endorse any but the best project 
 for a ship canal. 
 
 The engineers who have been examining the line by Panama 
 since the decision of the Paris Congress declare that the difficulties 
 in the way of a canal there are less even than they had imagined. 
 
 When M. de Lesseps shall have gone there and looked at the 
 ground himself, as he proposes to do very shortly, if he, too, states 
 that a tide level canal is possible at Panama, as he has proved it to 
 be at Suez, then I suppose the world will accept his decision. 
 
 We can congratulate ourselves upon the interest General Grant 
 takes in the canal question ; and you can judge how. much M. 
 de Lesseps counted upon his co-operation, for he offered him the 
 first honorary presidency of his company — the only possible position 
 he could offer in a company which had no legal existence — as the 
 most conspicuous citizen of our land. 
 
 If these two great men will work together to build a canal in the 
 right way and in the right place, there is little doubt but that it 
 will soon be finished. 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 143 
 
 The canal opened through the American Isthmus must be the 
 highway of the world, secured by absolute neutrality. There should 
 be no national jealousy as to which nation will take the initiative 
 in building it ; but how can it better be done than by the joint 
 action of the people of the two great republics on either side of the 
 Atlantic ocean — France and the United States ? 
 
 As I cannot attend your meeting, I desire to present the following 
 resolution by letter : 
 
 "Resolved, That the American Geographical Society takes proper 
 steps to give M. Ferdinand de Lesseps a fitting reception on his 
 arrival at New York, and that he be invited to deliver an address 
 on the subject of the Interoceanic Canal." 
 
 Asking you to read this letter, if possible, at the meeting, I have 
 the honor to be 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 NATHAN APPLETON. 
 
 Letter from Walton W. Moans, O. JEJ. 
 
 The following letter from Mr. W. W. Evans, member of the 
 Council, was preceded by one to the President of the Society, in 
 which Mr. Evans expressed his conviction that the San Bias 
 route was preferable to the Nicaragua and Panama routes, in which 
 he states that he agrees with M. de Lesseps that the canal to be 
 built should be a tide water, or sea level canal ; and that, to be 
 safe, reliable, and at all times ready for quick transit, it must not 
 be on a line of drainage, in such a country as the Isthmus — a region 
 where, for m^ore than half the year, the heavens pour down floods of 
 water. He told M. de Lesseps, in Paris, that he never could 
 build the canal on the Panama route, as proposed by the Congress, 
 and says that when M. de Lesseps reaches there he will find the 
 physical conditions very different from those on the Isthmus of 
 Suez, where he had a rainless region, and was required simply to 
 dig in the sand, with no obstructions in vegetation, or rivers to 
 contend with. In our Isthmus, on the contrary, there must be 
 encountered continuous floods of rain, rock covering nearly the 
 whole distance, and vegetation so dense that one can scarcely see 
 into it, with which are united pestiferous influences from insect life 
 and other causes Mr. Evans calls attention to the fact that earth- 
 quakes occur nearly every day there, and says he thinks that this 
 earthquake element has not been duly considered bj Admiral 
 Ammen and others, who advocate a canal with locks. He 
 has seen houses so twisted by earthquakes that no one could 
 open or shut a door in them ; and what, Mr. Evans asks, would be 
 the efliciency of a canal, if the locks became so warped that no 
 power could open or shut the huge gates that would be required ? 
 
144 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 Mr. Evans says further in this letter, that he has had seven years' 
 experience in canal building ; that he has crossed the Isthmus at 
 Panama many times, and lived in earthquake countries ; that he 
 has studied the subject of a canal across the Isthmus for more than 
 thirty years ; and flatters himself that he knows as much of what 
 is required as most of the gentlemen who are now discussing the 
 question. 
 
 Having been requested by the President, in consequence of this 
 letter, to attend the meeting of the Society at which Admiral 
 Ammen's paper was to be read, Mr. Evans being prevented from 
 doing so by illness, sent the following letter. Before reading the 
 letter, Gen. Viele sai«l that, being himself an engineer, he deemed 
 it proper to say that Mr. Evans was considered by the profession 
 one of the ablest engineers of the country. 
 
 Sans Souci, New Rochelle, N. Y., 
 
 -December 5, 1879. 
 Chief Justice Daly, 
 
 President of the American Geographical Society. 
 My Dear Judge : I received your kind note of Nov. 2.3. I am 
 still troubled with a terrible catarrh in my throat, and when I ven- 
 ture out I have added asthma, and then can hardly move. As long 
 as I remain in the house, I am pretty well. I will try to write my 
 opinion in reference to the Interoceanic canal, so it can be read 
 when the matter is discussed before the Society. I was invited by 
 M. Lesseps to be a deputy at the Paris Congress. I was in Berlin, 
 but excused myself from going by saying that I could not hear any- 
 thing, so I could not join in the discussion, but I would write a 
 paper, or rather a letter, to my brother-in-law, M. C. A. von 
 Hernert, who lives in Paris, and was a delegate to that Congress. I 
 wrote it hurriedly and sent it. I never knew if it was read or not. 
 I sent a copy of it to Mr. Evarts, but I do not know if he read it 
 or not. I will look up this letter and send it to you to read. I 
 consider this canal the most important matter in the line of pro- 
 gress that is now before the world; it is of vast importance to Eng- 
 land, but it is of still greater importance to the United States. Eng- 
 land cannot much longer keep her eyes shut to the injury the 
 Suez canal is doing towards destroying her grip on the trade of 
 the world, and I fully believe in the truth of the remark made by 
 Michel Charlier, that the Suez canal was an artery that if kept 
 open would bleed England to death. Her only power to counteract 
 this influence is to join us, and cut the Isthmus canal. I see by the 
 papers that the influence of Admiral Ammen, backed by Gen. Hum- 
 phreys and Carlilo Patterson, will be so great that it is a matter of 
 difiiculty to counteract it, but I would like to have my opinion in 
 the matter put on record in our Society ; it can be summed up in a 
 few words ; it is this — that a canal built on the Nicaragua route will 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 146 
 
 be -when finished a total failure, and all the money invested in it 
 utterly sunk, for the day is not far distant when the trade of the 
 world will demand that a canal be built between the two oceans on 
 the shortest route, and on the most direct line, regardless of the 
 difficulties that may be encountered. This route is the " San Bias 
 route." It is acknowledged to be the route by Totten, Troutwine, 
 and Sweet, all old canal engineers, who have lived on the Isthmus 
 and know it well, and this is also the opinion of Mr. Kelley, who has 
 spent a fortune in surveys to find a proper route for this very 
 canal. I hope in a few days to be able to put this matter in 
 better shape for you to read to the Society, but I wish here to 
 say that if we now turn our backs on the San Bias route in 
 fright, merely because it calls for a big tunnel to be cut, and 
 because it may possibly cost in first outlay a little more than 
 the Nicaragua canal, we will in a few years be ashamed of our- 
 selves, and confess that we had not a quarter of the pluck 
 the Spaniards had two hundred years ago, when they cut the 
 " Desaguadero " in Mexico, a work that called for the . excavation 
 of three and a half times as many cubic yards of rock as would be 
 required to cut a ship tunnel ten miles long, 160 feet high, and 80 
 feet wide. Our weak-kneed people, who get frightened at the idea 
 of a tunnel, should go to Europe and study tunnelling as done there. 
 I found over 200 tunnels between Nice and Spezzia, on the edge of 
 the Mediterranean, cut and used for a very limited railway travel. 
 
 The line of the St. Gothard railway is a perfect marvel for tun- 
 nels. Nearly one-fourth of the whole line is in tunnels. The great or 
 Summit tunnel is 9J miles long ; and in seven places on the line — 
 three on the Swiss side of the St. Gothard and four on the Italian 
 side — they have tunneled into the sides of the mountain in great 
 entire circles of 1,000 metres diameter merely to . get distance and 
 keep the line to their fixed maximum gradient of 1 in 40, or say 132 
 feet to the mile. And what is all this terrible expenditure for ? 
 Why, merely to rehabilitate the trade which the Suez canal has 
 opened for them, and which the people of the Mediterranean en- 
 joyed, and out of which they built their great cities and filled them 
 with wealth up to the time when Vasco de Gama discovered, 
 four hundred years ago, the route to the East by the C^ipe of Good 
 Hope. England made this route her own, and out of it she made 
 herself the mistress of the seas, the storehouse of Europe, and the 
 richest country in the world. The time has come for a new deal : 
 the centres of trade are seeking new homes ; the gold and silver of 
 the western slope and the cereals of the eastern slope of America 
 are becoming elements in the great problem of moving and fixing 
 the money granary of the world. Bishop Berkley was prophetic 
 when he claimed that the course of empire traveled towards us ; 
 and so was the English poet Webb when he wrote, fifty years be- 
 fore our Revolution, the lines — 
 
 " Rome laments lier ancient fame declined, 
 And Philadelphia becomes the Athens of mankind." 
 
146 The Int&roceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 I beg pardon for letting my pen run at random over five sheets. 
 I commenced at first merely to say that I could not come to the 
 meeting of the Society's Council to-morrow, as I dare not trust my 
 throat in the cold. 
 
 Yours ever sincerely, 
 
 W. W. EVANS. 
 
 At the conclusion of this reading the President of the Society, 
 Chief-Justice Dalt, said : 
 
 It has been said, as I am informed by M. de Lesseps, that the late 
 Emperor Napoleon was in favor of the Panama route. I received a 
 letter this afternoon from our Fellow, Mr. Samuel B. Ruggles, 
 who, as the Society knows, has paid great attention to the subject 
 of canals, which letter was accompanied by an extract from an 
 address delivered by Mr. Ruggles some time ago, in which it is 
 shown that the late Emperor was in favor of the Nicaragua, but not 
 of the Panama route, in proof of which Mr. Ruggles quotes in his ad- 
 dress several passages from a pamphlet published by Louis Napo- 
 leon, to which Mr. Ruggles requests me to call attention this even- 
 ing. There is not time at present to read all that Mr. Ruggles has sub- 
 mitted, but it will be printed with the proceedings of the meeting. 
 We have invited several gentlemen to be present this evening who 
 have made the subject of this interoceanic canal an especial study. 
 We have with us Mr. Menocal, who was a delegate to the Paris 
 Congress ; Mr. Bogart, the Secretary of the Society of Civil 
 Engineers ; Mr. Gardner, the head of our State Survey ; Signor 
 de Franco, of Nicaragua, and Mr. Frank deY. Carpenter. I do 
 not know that any of these gentlemen are prepared to make any 
 remarks, but I think the Society would be gratified to hear obser- 
 vations from any one of them upon the paper and the letters 
 that have been read. I confess to have been impressed with 
 the statement of Mr. Evans, that the earthquake element has not 
 been duly considered by those who advocate the construction of a 
 canal with locks, and as there are several gentlemen here who must 
 know a great deal about the effect of earthquakes upon the Isthmus, 
 I think we would all be very much gratified to know what they 
 think of this objection. I should also say, in this connection, that 
 Mr. Evans transmitted to me to-day a copy of a long letter in favor 
 of the San Bias route, addressed to a member of the Paris Congress, 
 which letter we will publish in our Bulletin. He accompanied this 
 communication with a private note, containing a remark which I 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. Wl 
 
 think I may take the liberty of quoting. It is this : " I have given 
 my opinion as to the best route against my own private interest, 
 and have no interest of any kind in the San Bias route." I will now 
 take the liberty of asking Mr. Menocal what he thinks of Mr. 
 Evans' objection, that the constant occurrence of earthquakes will 
 have the effect on the Isthmus of warping, dislocating, or rendering 
 otherwise unmanageable the heavy wooden gates of locks, and 
 would add, that we would like to hear from him upon any of the 
 questions involved in the consideration of this subject, for there is 
 no gentleman present whose opinion is entitled to greater weight. 
 
 Responding to the invitation of the President, Mr. A. G. Meno- 
 cal, Civil Engineer, U. S. Navy, said : 
 
 I am not prepared to make a speech in regard to the Nicaragua 
 route, or any of the routes, but I will try to answer some of 
 the objections raised by the letters just read. In regard to 
 the earthquakes, I have to confess that earthquakes are very 
 frequent in Nicaragua, but they are only slight shocks, that never 
 did any damage to life or property, or in any way altered the 
 levels of the waters in the lakes, rivers, and wells. And, I would 
 ask, what damage could such eaithquakes do the locks of a canal 
 that would be of such serious character as to be regarded in the 
 light of affecting the questions of the construction and mainten- 
 ance of the work ? It might crack the walls, but that damage could 
 be easily Repaired. But what effect, on the other hand, would 
 earthquakes have upon such a tunnel as that proposed on the 
 Panama route, — one an hundred feet wide and one hundred and 
 sixty-eight feet high, as proposed. And we have them very near 
 Panama sometimes. Only a year ago they had an earthquake in 
 Santandea, where a whole town was destroyed, and fifteen hundred 
 lives lost by it. 
 
 In regard to the objection of Mr. Appleton, concerning the locks 
 necessary on the Nicaragua route, all admit that a tide lock will be 
 a necessity of the route he advocates, and this will restrict the ca- 
 pacity of the canal as much as any number of locks along the route.- 
 If it takes a vessel an hour to go through the tide lock, it will take 
 a dozen hours for twelve vessels to pass, irrespective of what the 
 conditions beyond may be. 
 
 With regard to the liability of locks to get out of order, I think 
 the American engineers are the ones who should speak least of that 
 
148 The Jnteroceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 objection. Locks are in constant use on the canals of England, of 
 Holland, of France, in fact all over Europe and inr this country, 
 and their -working is no longer a thing of speculation and theory. 
 The locks have been in use a great many years in the North Sea 
 canal, and the engineers of that canal, though friends of M. de 
 Lesseps, and advocates of a sea level route for an interoceanic 
 ship canal, admitted that they could pass a ship every hour through 
 the locks proposed on the Nicaragua route. That would carry all 
 the tonnage through the canal that will be wanted. 
 
 The Nicaragua canal, I claim, could be built for one-third as much 
 as that by the San Bias route ; not that I admit that the latter is 
 practicable, but assuming for the present the claim of its advocates 
 that it is. I think, from an engineering point of view, that the San 
 Bias route is impracticable ; but suppose its difficulties could be 
 overcome, it would cost three times as much as the Nicaragua 
 canal, which will answer all the demands of trade just as well. 
 Of the latter, nature has provided a great part already in lake and 
 river, in which a steamer can go at full speed, and the portion re- 
 maining, the sixty-one miles of canal that will have to be con- 
 structed, is what should, fairly, be compared with the San Bias 
 route. On that portion, sailing vessels will have to be towed, but 
 so will they on the other. On Lake Nicaragua they can take ad- 
 vantage of the winds, the same as if at sea. But, in considering 
 the San Bias route, the long towage out of the Bay of Panama to 
 the Pacific must be taken into account, and should properly be 
 added to the estimated length of that canal. It may be all very 
 well for vessels that pass through, but what about vessels coming 
 to the canal from the Pacific side ? How are they to convey an 
 intimation, upon their arrival at the bay, to the canal officials, that 
 they desire to he towed in ? It would be necessary to keep steam 
 pilot boats constantly on the look out for such vessels. The difficul- 
 ties of navigation on the San Bias route would be at least equal to 
 those on the Nicaragua route. 
 
 Chiei^Justicb Daly : How about harbors at either end of the 
 'Nicaragua route ? 
 
 Me. Mbnocal : We would have to build two harbors, one at 
 each end of the Nicaragua route, but theii- expense would not be 
 very great. The item of harbor improvement is covered in the 
 estimate stated by Rear-Admiral Ammen. The plans have been 
 submitted to several commissions of engineers, and fully approved 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. J 49 
 
 and the Paris Congress approved of them entirely, without any 
 criticism. 
 
 I have no doubt that when M. de Lesseps arrives at Aspinwall, 
 the information he will there receive concerning the recent floods of 
 the River Chagres, will satisfy him of the impracticability of the 
 Panama canal. As I stated at the Paris Congress, that river some- 
 times rises thirty-six to forty feet above the level of the sea at low 
 water. The effect of this has already been clearly stated in Rear- 
 Admiral Ammen's paper. When I stated this fact at the Paris 
 Congress, it was doubted, and I was asked if my information was 
 from actual surveys, or was only gleaned from the statements of the 
 natives. It was, I said, from actual surveys ; yet they insisted that 
 the River Chagres only rose seven metres. Now, they can satisfy 
 themselves of the fact that I stated. During the last flood the 
 river has risen forty feet. The town of Gatun was partially carried 
 away, and parts of the railroad were submerged to a depth of 
 several feet, during eight or ten days, by the floods. 
 
 I might remark on the difiiculty of building a tunnel such as will 
 be required on the San Bias route; but a discussion of the engineering 
 difiiculties to be apprehended would take a long time and hardly 
 be understood. The great difficulty will be the making of excava- 
 tions below the level of the sea. I have very carefully examined 
 what takes place in the wells, and in the gold and silver mines 
 and other excavations in that country, and I say that as soon as we 
 reach about one hundred feet below the surface of the ground, the fil- 
 trations become so great that many of the richest silver mines have 
 to be abandoned, because pumps could not be obtained of power 
 and capacity sufficient to keep them dry. Through the loose dis- 
 ordered masses, the results of volcanic action, that make up the 
 Isthmus, water filtrates with the greatest ease everywhere, and in 
 great quantities. At the summit of the Panama railroad, its high- 
 est point, which is 282 feet above the level of the sea, there is a 
 spring of water that supplies all the engines on the road, and in 
 addition so far exceeds the demands' upon it, that it runs down the 
 gutters on both sides of the road. 
 
 What then will be the effect of digging below the level of the 
 sea ? From my knowledge of the geological formation of the Isth- 
 mus, I believe that, so far from encountering solid and regular 
 strata, as they suppose, they will meet with all kinds of materials — 
 limestone, trap-rock, sand, conglomerate volcanic deposits — every- 
 
150 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 thing, indeed, without regularity, and in the most bewildering 
 variety, even within the narrowest limits. I have seen workmen 
 there, in the digging of a well to a depth of no more than fifty 
 feet, go through ten different kinds of materials. 
 
 Chief-Justice Daly : Do you know the character of the rock 
 through which it is proposed to cut the tunnel on the San Bias route? 
 
 Me. Menocal : I cannot say I know it positively, further than 
 my well-grounded knowledge of the geological formations generally 
 throughout that country assures me that, instead of one regular 
 and consistent character of rock, will be found many different 
 varieties. It has been said that the mountain through which the 
 San Bias tunnel is proposed, is a solid mass of granite, but that 
 I believe to be an error, and I should not be surprised if we found 
 there a soft limestone, such as we find at the headwaters of the River 
 ChagreS; not far from that route. 
 
 The President then called upon Mr. John Bogaet, Secretary of the 
 Society of Civil Engineers, who said : I think the majority of the 
 engineers are still wanting a little more information in regard to the 
 Panama and San Bias routes. The surveys made by Mr. Menocal 
 at Nicaragua have been very full, and we are thoroughly well in- 
 formed as regards the difiiculties to be met there, and the modes 
 proposed for overcoming them, but, certainly, as has been shown by 
 Mr. Evans's letter, the idea of a direct short route from ocean to 
 ocean, strikes engineers as an excellent solution of the problem. The 
 thing in the way is this great tunnel. It certainly is practicable for 
 engineers to discover — -if we can get, as Mr. Kelley suggests, a pro- 
 per survey of the San Bias route — just what the character of the 
 rock is. We hardly like to say that it would be impracticable to 
 put a tunnel in there. It is a question, of course, of possibility, and 
 therefore I think that most of us agree with the suggestion made 
 by Mr. Kelley, that before we positively decide on this matter, we 
 ought to know more thoroughly the character of the rock at the 
 San Bias crossing of the range. The subject is large enough, I 
 should say, Mr. President, to be discussed when we have more time. 
 There are several engineers ere in the audience,- whom I see 
 who, I am sure, could give us an interesting discussion of this sub- 
 ject, but it is rather late to-night to call on them. 
 
 Mr. T. Bailey Myers moved that the discussion of this important 
 question be continued by opening the rooms of the Society for that 
 purpose on stated evenings, to be hereafter assigned. 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 151 
 
 In putting the motion, Chief Justice Daly spoke as follows: 
 The Council having felt that, as this is a great international 
 question, in the proper disposition of which we have as deep 
 an interest, and perhaps deeper than any other nation, it 
 is the duty of the American Geographical Society to acquire and 
 diffuse as much information as can be procured, and to have the 
 question of the best route discussed, as far as it can be, upon 
 the ascertained facts. With this view, it is the wish of the 
 Council to continue the discussion at the rooms of the Society, 
 where, without any present limits as to time, the fullest opportunity 
 can be afforded for the expression of views, and where everything 
 that is said can be taken down and published in our Bulletin. 
 This duty seems especially to devolve upon us more than any other 
 American institution, for the reason, among others, that we have 
 greater facilities than any other body in the country, with perhaps 
 the exception of the Smithsonian Institution, for disseminating 
 throughout the world the information elicited by such an in- 
 vestigation. We appreciate the necessity for, and therefore pro- 
 pose, having a more full examination of the comparative merits of 
 the different routes than took place at the Paris Congress, which, I 
 am free to say, was hardly a discussion at all ; in which a very 
 positive conclusion was declared by a vote of the majority of the 
 body, with certainly very little preliminary investigation. We, on 
 the contrary, think that it is a great, important and practical ques- 
 tion, in which every opportunity should be offered for a more- 
 thorough examination and discussion of it than has yet taken place, 
 and it is our purpose that this shall be done, as far as it is in our 
 power to accomplish it. We intend, therefore, if the body of 
 the Society approve, to continue what we have commenced 
 to-night at the rooms of the Society, upon stated evenings, 
 until all that can be done in this way has been done, assuriiing that 
 those only will take part in it who have made the subject a matter 
 of special investigation, who have some information of practical 
 value to communicate, or views to express upon the ascertained 
 facts ; that it is not to be limited to an oral discussion, but open to 
 the reception and consideration of any written communications 
 upon the subject that any one may think proper to make. The 
 question to be first settled — which is the most practicable route, 
 under all the circumstances — is, in my judgment, a question for civil 
 engineers and physical geographers, and not for congresses. 
 
152 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 Such a question is not in a condition for final decision until 
 all the explorations and surveys have been made, which the present 
 state of our knowledge indicates should be made. We have 
 done more in the way of explorations and surveys to ascertain the 
 best route for the canal than any other country, at least so far as 
 respects the cost, completeness, and value of the surveys, and we are 
 naturally, therefore, not very much impressed — I say it in no spirit 
 of discourtesy — with the action of a body coming together at Paris 
 under the name of an International Congress, undertaking to dic- 
 
 • tate for the whole commercial world exactly where the canal shall 
 be built, upon the report of two naval ofiicers. I say this 
 not in review of reports by Lieuts. Wyse and Eeclus, or of the 
 route adopted by a vote of the majority of the Congress, 
 but simply as dissenting from this mode of attempting to 
 foreclose all future inquiry upon the subject, and to give, by 
 a preliminary proceeding of this nature, a kind of international 
 sanction to the inauguration of what was simply a commercial en- 
 terprise. When it shall be fully and exh'austively ascertained what 
 is the true route, in view of the general interest of commerce, the 
 facilities for the construction of the canal, the outlay that will be re- 
 quired to make it a satisfactory and permanent work, and what secu- 
 
 ■ rity it may reasonably be expected it will afford for the capital in- 
 vested in it, and for a moderate interest upon that capital — when, I 
 say, all this is ascertained, the question of the canal will be settled 
 without the instrumentality of international conventions or con- 
 gresses, for the commercial world is pretty well agreed upon its 
 utility, and the conviction is now very general that every year of the 
 world's progress will but render more apparent its indispensable 
 necessity. When all the information that can be gathered is obtained 
 and duly weighed, commercial sagacity will determine whether the 
 canal should be built, and where it should be built, and if it is to be, 
 commercial enterprise will, in my judgment, find the means of 
 doing it. This, as I understand it, is the American view of the 
 question, and we are a practical people, accustomed to handle great 
 enterprises, and in doing so, to possess ourselves first of all the 
 facts before deciding what to do. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Jas. T. Gardner, seconded by Mr. Francis A. 
 Stout, a vote of thanks was tendered to Rear-Admiral Ammen for 
 the paper furnished by him, and a copy requested for publication 
 by the Society. Carried. 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 163 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 Proceedings in the General Session of the Canal Congress in Paris, 
 May 23, and in the 4th Commission, JUay 26, 1879. 
 
 (Report by Rear-Admiral Daniel Ammbn, TJ. S. N., Delegate of the United States Govern- 
 ment to the Paris Congress.) 
 
 A Member : I see that the Congress is drawing to its close. It 
 will soon be called upon to decide between the different projects 
 which have been submitted to it. 
 
 Shall the canal pass through Lake Nicaragua, or by way of 
 Panama ? 
 
 I beg leave to recommend the Atrato project to the attention 
 of the President; leaving out the matter of expense and its tech- 
 nical question, I believe that it would have advantages for the 
 interests of the country. 
 
 M. DE Lesseps*: I would ask that you will be kind enough to 
 present your observations to the commission charged with the 
 examination of the question. 
 
 The representative of the Fifth Commission has now the floor. 
 
 The Secretary of the Fifth Commission : The Fifth Commis- 
 sion had announced its report for to-day's session ; it met yes- 
 terday, and, after discussion, became convinced that it would be 
 impossible to hand in its report before being fully advised of the 
 decision which the Statistical Commission will adopt. This com- 
 mission has informed us that they will complete their decisions at 
 the sitting of to-morrow, Saturday. We have been obliged, there- 
 fore, to adjourn until the communication of the decision which 
 will be made at that session. 
 
 M. DK Lesseps : We will have a general session, then, next 
 Tuesday, at 9 o'clock, to hear the different reports before the 
 closing session, which will certainly take place on Thursday even- 
 ing, at 9. 
 
 Now, gentlemen, permit me, as the President, to make a resum^ 
 of what has been done at the sessions of the Congress. You have 
 heard the different reports which have been laid before you. 
 What strikes us the most is the enthusiasm of the United States 
 of America in favor of locating a canal at Panama ; they have 
 been at considerable expense in sending out explorers to that 
 
 *The President of the Congress. 
 
154 7%« Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 Isthmus. It is unquestionable that America has hereby given us 
 proof of her impartiality, and of her devotion [to the interests of 
 a canal]. Let no one, hereafter, come to tell us that she does not 
 wish a canal because she has a railroad. Admiral Ammen and 
 Commander Selfridge, in their study of the projects, have expressed 
 to us the desire to come to an understanding in order to secure 
 something practicable. 
 
 Commander Selfridge has presented to us his plan for the Napipi- 
 Atrato route — a plan without locks, except the two by which to 
 descend from the level of the Atrato to the level of the Pacific. 
 M. Wyse and his companions have reported on the mission which 
 they undertook. Of the seven who went out, four died in those 
 wilds, where one cannot advance a step except with hatchet in 
 hand. They have at length returned, and have had the frankness 
 to declare to us that, in the countries which they have just ex- 
 plored, a canal is impossible. When I saw them, it was in company 
 with Monsieur La Valley, our illustrious Suez engineer, who has 
 already designed for us so many machines, and who, in like cir- 
 cumstances, will well know how to invent new ones. I have con- 
 sulted M. La Valley, and he has replied that the decision would be 
 for a canal d niveau — that this would be the general opinion. I 
 shall permit myself to sustain this opinion. Although I am not an 
 engineer, my experience has often served me in this matter. It 
 is very necessary to decide quickly ; if we should occasion delay, 
 we will be the cause of great injury to commerce. 
 
 The most distinguished' engineers of France have written some 
 articles on this subject, which you have been able to read in 
 the Revue des Deux Mondes. Some of them are in favor of a canal 
 with fifteen locks, that is to say, twice as many as any one has al- 
 ready constructed in a work of this kind ; and this for the very 
 simple reason, that they think it impossible to construct a tunnel. 
 Moreover, I learned a fortnight ago that, as the result of the sound- 
 ings very recently made, we cannot count upon an outlet from the 
 canal into the Pacific; but, at this day, when dredgers have come 
 into use, we have learned by the regimen of waters that what could 
 not be done some years ago, is now perfectly practicable. It would 
 have happened so to us at Suez («. e., we would not have an outlet 
 there) if we had left our harbors without cleaning them out. God 
 only knows at what we should have arrived in a century or two 
 more; we have learned now to secure the equilibrium of the waters. 
 
 I do not wish to interpose the least difficulty in the labors of the 
 Technical Commission. The savants have the means of foreseeing 
 
Th£ Interoceanic Ship Canal. 155 
 
 very many things, but there are some facts which are incontroverti- 
 ble. I -will ask the commission not to formulate any resolutions 
 which could arrest certain plans. I would wish them to say only 
 Yes or No ; whether it appears to them possible to construct 
 a canal d niveau, which seems to be the desideratum of the whole 
 world. M. La Valley has studied that question of a tunnel ; he 
 believes it clearly practicable. It is, he says, only a question of 
 expense. 
 
 I will not enter into the scientific question. I will only ask the 
 Technical Commission to tell us precisely what would be the expense 
 of a canal d niveau ; what estimates can be made of that expense, 
 and especially what the cost will be in the future (after construction) 
 for canals d niveau, or for those with locks. Governments can en- 
 encourage such enterprises; they cannot execute them. It is the 
 public then on whom we must call, and when you come before 
 them, they will ask of you (if it is a canal with locks) what will be 
 the expense in the future. 
 
 I will express my opinion. I consider that a canal with locks 
 would retard navigation. From the experience we have had at 
 Suez, a ship must not now be delayed. There are a thousand Phil- 
 istines there who can load a ship of' 400 tons in an hour. It is to 
 be remembered, also, that it costs a ship of a thousand tons, 2,000 
 francs for every day's delay. I have often been consulted on this 
 subject ; I have always replied, by dispatch, that ships must not be 
 delayed in their passage; they are informed that it will be well for 
 them to wait the rise of the tide when they cannot be sure of their 
 being able to steer satisfactorily. The larger number of them, in 
 spite of the delay, prefer to wait some hours for the tide. This is 
 certainly an obstacle, and we thought of remedying it at Suez by 
 means of tide locks ; but we have been obliged to abandon that 
 idea. I go every year to Suez. I have often met there with 
 large ships which were passing with the ebb tide because they 
 were in haste ; I have witnessed the slowness of their sailing. 
 We must not forget that the large vessels which come from Eng- 
 land must make their voyage in twenty-one days. I have often 
 seen these English vessels of 2,500 tons sheltering an entire regi- 
 ment. These brave people are on the deck, with their wives and 
 children, for you know they never travel without them. We look 
 on them from a distance ; they look like anything but soldiers. 
 
 In my opinion we ought not to make a canal at Panama with 
 locks, but d niveau — that is the opinion of the public whose organ 
 I am. 
 
156 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 Don Manuel M. Pekalta : I have listened with the most pro- 
 found respect to the opinion which M. de Lesseps has just ex- 
 pressed. It appears to me he has forgotten to say that the Govern- 
 ment of the United States appointed a scientific commission of 
 three members, and that these gentlemen successively examined 
 the different projects, from the route by the Atrato to the passage 
 through the great Lake Nicaragua, as well as the canal d niveau, 
 with a tunnel alongside the railroad from Colon to Panama ; but, 
 after a long and very conscientious study, and repeated explorations, 
 they decided that the plan of Commander Lull was preferable from 
 a humanitarian point of view, since it would save a great many 
 lives — a circumstance which had not been foreseen when the Pan- 
 ama railroad was built ; and, besides, that by this route sailing 
 vessels could always pass with favorable winds, which cannot be 
 hoped for on other routes, especially at Panama. The American 
 scientific commission decided on the Nicaragua route, since it was 
 demonstrated that the Panama route was impossible. Is there no 
 ground for taking its decision into consideration ? 
 
 M. DB Lesseps : The Government declared that there was no 
 impossibility for a canal with locks, and that it could not assert 
 that a canal d niveau was impossible. The Government, in its 
 fairness, was absorbed in one idea only. It acted on the principle 
 that nothing was impossible. 
 
 M. DES Geand : Since a commission has been named, com- 
 posed of members of the bureaus of the different sections, would it 
 not be well that this commission meet to formulate a programme 
 of questions to be resolved ? A programme which can be distributed 
 in time for us to reflect upon them before the last sitting of the 
 Congress ? In this way, instead of being limited to the one question, 
 which is best of all the canals ? — or which is the same as asking, 
 which is the best of all the governments ? — we can enlighten the 
 public more by increasing the number of questions. I wish to say 
 that what is understood to be the best of all the canals, is not, per- 
 haps, that which costs the least. 
 
 M.- DB Lesseps : The different sections can send in their memo- 
 randa to the Technical Commission, which will examine all their 
 plans. 
 
 M. DBS Geand : If we have before us this question only — Which 
 is the best of the canals ? I fear we shall not reach its solution. 
 
 M. DB Lesseps : We shall reach it in time. 
 
 M. Des Geand : I address the Central Commission, composed of 
 the President and the secretaries of all the committees, and I ask it 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Caned. 157 
 
 to formulate a programme, to which the Technical Commission will 
 have to reply. 
 
 M. DB Lesseps : We cannot impose a programme on that 
 commission. 
 
 M. RuELiE : I will limit myself to three questions, which I ad- 
 dress to the Commission of Navigation, to facilitate the labor of 
 the Technical Commission. 
 
 We have been told up to the present time that there would be 
 tide locks. I wish the Commission of Navigation to pronounce 
 clearly on this point, since on the construction or the non-con- 
 struction of tide locks may depend a difference of height in the 
 tunnel. 
 
 Then a second question as to the form, whether ovoid or ellipti- 
 cal : Which of these is most economical for constructing a tunnel, 
 and in which does the arch offer the most resistance ? I wish to 
 know if the width necessary for the passage of sailing ships can 
 accord with the elliptical form, and if we must be limited to a 
 width of 22 metres for the tunnel. 
 
 My third question to the Commission of Navigation is this : 
 What comparison can be made between the diflSculties of a ship 
 passing through several locks, and the passage of the same ship 
 thi'ough a tunnel of a certain length ? In a word, will a tunnel ten 
 kilometres long present the same obstacles to navigation as the 
 sailing of a ship through nine or ten locks ? 
 
 M. VoisiN Bey : From the questions which M. Ruelle addresses 
 to the Commission of Navigation, I wish to set aside the first one ; 
 that is, whether guard locks ought to be constructed on the Pacific 
 side. I add that this question can be answered only among 
 ourselves. 
 
 M. SiMONiN : As the Congress must close its sessions next 
 Thursday, and as our Honorable President has just told us 
 that we must examine the cost of a canal d niveau, whatever 
 it may cost, I ask permission to present some observations precisely 
 on what our President has just said. We who have met in this 
 body are not only engineers, geographers, theoretical scientists ; it 
 has seemed to me that we are also manufacturers, seamen and 
 business men, and in the preceding general session our Honorable 
 President said that in this matter it was not necessary to have the 
 assistance of Government, and that we must address ourselves to 
 the public only. Now, it has been announced that the transit of 
 the future canal will reach the figures of six millions of tons, 
 which I consider a very large maximum, and I have the right to so 
 
158 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 regard it, if I compare it with the figure of three millions of tons 
 passing through the Suez canal, which is an important point of 
 the world's commerce. Whatever may be the importance of the 
 Panama canal, I doubt whether it will ever exceed that which the 
 Suez canal has attained. I doubt it for more than one reason, because 
 the Suez canal leads to China, which represents . more than seven 
 hundred millions of people, while, in America, you can only count 
 on markets representing scarcely one hundred millions. Including 
 countries as far as the Straits of Magellan, you will not have the 
 millions of China. I believe, then, that the figure of six millions of 
 tons, which you have fixed upon as an average, is exaggerated. 
 Since we ought to treat it simply as a business afEair, we should 
 correct this estimate. We are going to make it an afEair of the long 
 future, as M. de Lesseps said ; but I believe that this would be to 
 proceed on a very bad principle. We are going to adopt the canal 
 d niveau, cost what it may, even though it should be five milliards 
 — the estimate which has been made by a person of great authority 
 in the United States. I say that we should examine the question 
 from another point of view. We should inquire what a canal with 
 locks might be ; besides asking specialists how many ships could 
 pass through these locks in twenty-four hours — whether a suflicient 
 number could pass for the number of tons which has been just 
 spoken of. I am not the advocate of any company or any canal ; 
 I have no reason to adopt one system rather than another ; but I do 
 not wish that we should go out from this body with a negative 
 vote. If we decide for a canal which would be impracticable, it 
 would be unfortunate. We ought to treat the question as business 
 men. It is necessary that this canal shall give large dividends to 
 its stockholders. Without that we shall have played a singular 
 part. I desire that our Honorable President will tell me if I have 
 misunderstood him when he asked the Technical Commission to 
 decide for a canal at any cost, provided it was d niveau. 
 
 M. DE Lbssbps : I have said that the commission would pronounce 
 for one canal or another. We must decide. We ought not to go 
 out from this body without making a decision. 
 
 M . Spbmbnt : I would remark to the assembly that we were 
 already acquainted with the opinion of M. de Lesseps. He said in 
 the Geographical Congress of 18V5 that he had always advocated 
 the use of canals d niveau everywhere, where their construction 
 had been shown to him possible. I believe he thinks a canal d 
 niveau would be preferable via Panama. If that should be impos- 
 sible there, we must go to Nicaragua. 
 
7%e Interoceanic Ship Canal. 159 
 
 M. DE Lesseps : Why not a fresh water canal 
 
 M. FoNTANE : I ask leave to make a single observation in reply- 
 to M. Simonin. He said that he accepted the figure of 6,000,000 
 tons having to pass through the Interoceanic canal as a maximum. 
 I wish simply to appeal to the patience of M. Simonin, and ask him 
 to await the report which the President of the Statistical Commis- 
 sion, M. Levapem, will present in a few days to the assembly. He 
 will find in this report all the elements necessary to form a definite 
 opinion. He added that he accepted the figure of 6,000,000 of 
 tons as a very large maximum, because there were but 3,000,000 of 
 tons which passed through the Suez canal. I desire to recall to 
 the Congress, that at its first meeting, in a report which I had the 
 honor to present, I stated precisely the reason why the Suez canal 
 has now a traffic of 3,000,000 tons. It is simply because steam 
 navigation almost alone can properly utilize the Suez canal, and 
 the shipbuilders cannot make enough steam vessels to carry on the 
 traffic which exists. I showed by official figures that the traffic 
 between the western and the eastern world through the Suez 
 canal would reach 10,000,000 tons. Consequently, the figure of 
 6,000,000 tons that M. Simonin considers as a maximum for an 
 Interoceanic canal, comparing it with the 3,000,000 tons of the 
 Suez canal, bfecomes almost a minimum, compared with 10,000,000 
 which could pass through the Suez canal. 
 
 A second opinion of M. Simonin bore upon the sum that the 
 Panama canal might cost — a sum which is reckoned at some mil- 
 liards ! We would like upon this point again to appeal to the 
 patience of our honorable colleague, and ask him to await the 
 developments of the report of the Technical Commission, charged 
 with estimating the cost of the canal. I have wished simply to 
 appeal to the patience of M. Simonin. It is perhaps asking too 
 much. 
 
 M. Simonin : I do not see why on two occasions M. Fontane, 
 my honorable colleague and friend, has made an appeal to my 
 patience. It seems to me that I speak with much calmness, and that 
 I have always given proof of much patience and tranquility ; con- 
 sequently, M. Fontane has wished to be witty, but I do not admit 
 his objection. As to the figures that I have made use of, I would be 
 glad if he would be good enough to demonstrate to me that they are 
 exaggerated. We are doing a work in the interest of humanity. I 
 shall experience great satisfaction when 10,000,000 tons will have to 
 pass through the canal we desire to open. 
 
 The figures that I have cited have been made by conscientious 
 
160 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 persons; show me that we are ■wrong — I ask nothing better; but it 
 is useless to occupy the attention of so numerous and busy an as- 
 semblage in making personal questions. 
 
 M. DE Lessbps: There is nothing personal in that question, in 
 what has been said ; it has only been the occasion for us to learn 
 the opinions of those in listening to whom we have always great 
 pleasure. M. Simonin has said that we have ten francs, since the 
 Suez canal has been opened to navigation, and that, considering 
 the number of vessels which pass through the canal, we had a return 
 of 10 per cent. In truth, we have already received large returns, 
 and we have been obliged to reduce our tariffs. Through whatever 
 route the Panama canal will pass, it will shorten the distance more 
 readily than the route of the Suez canal does. During the forty 
 years that I have studied the question, I have always understood 
 that, for a profit, it is necessary to receive at the least ten francs per 
 ton; we can readily make the American canal pay double this, 
 whatever may be the project that is brought about. These are con- 
 siderations that one is very glad to know for the future. 
 
 Commander Sblfbidge makes known to the assembly, through 
 the interpreter, that the people of the United States have no pref- 
 erence for any project. Everyone in America is convinced of the 
 special competence of the Congress, and whatever may be the result, 
 the nation will accept with eagerness all the decisions which may be 
 taken here. 
 
 M. Laeoussb : I will ask permission of the Congress to put 
 another question in addition to those of M. Ruelle; it is to compare 
 the difference of distances which the proposed canals would give, 
 considering the principal regions which they would be called upon 
 to benefit. It is certain that the Congress, in order to make a de- 
 cision, will also have to estimate the time judged necessary to pass 
 through the different canals, etc. ; all of which points, I think, re- 
 quire some explanation. 
 
 M. Eiffel : I desire that the Commission on Navigation will be 
 good enough to give us some explanation upon the inconvenience of 
 locks, if the number of them were reduced. In other words, would 
 canals with locks present much less inconvenience with less than 
 half the number of locks than by the plan as now presented ? 
 
 M. DE Lessbps : If no other person wishes to speak, I will remind 
 the assembly that our first general meeting will take place Tuesday 
 next, at 9 a. m., to hear the reports of the First and Fifth Commis- 
 sions, and that the closing session is fixed for Thursday. 
 
 The adjournment took place at 6.45 p. m. 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. J 61 
 
 Views of Walton W. Evans on the pkoposbd Canal between 
 NoETH AND South America, addebssed to M. C. Auguste 
 VON Hebnert, for submission to the Paris Congress. 
 
 Berlin, May 9, 1879. 
 Monsieur C. Auguste von Hernert. 
 
 My Dear Sir : — When I left Paris last November, I promised 
 to write to you my views and opinions on the projected canal be- 
 tween North and South America, to run from the waters of the 
 Atlantic to the waters of the Pacific, so that you could bring these 
 opinions to the notice of that far-seeing and most intelligent cosmo- 
 grapher, Monsieur Le Count Ferdinand de Lesseps, at the Congress 
 which is to assemble in Paris this month, to consider and discuss 
 the subject of an Interoceanic Canal. I should have written this 
 letter before, but for my long sickness with Roman fever in Egypt. 
 
 I will not attempt to discuss or offer opinions on the traffic that 
 this canal will command, or the amount of tonnage that will pass 
 through it, or the amount of benefit it will be to tffose nations inter- 
 ested in it, for they have been most thoroughly discussed and written 
 on, and tables of tonnage made out by most competent compilers of 
 statistics in both America and Europe. They all agree in the great 
 importance and benefit to commerce that will result from the con- 
 struction of this canal. I think that they all agree in one important 
 point, namely, that the direct returns for the use of the canal will 
 make it a commercial success, and I think that every one who has 
 studied the subject will admit that the indirect returns to the three 
 great commercial maritime powers, England, France and the United 
 States, must be iriimense. The isthmus that divides North from 
 South America has been for ages looked upon as a point or region 
 that must some day be of great commercial importance. The Span- 
 iards, in the day of their great power, made it a capital offense to 
 speak of or discuss the matter of a canal between the two oceans. 
 That long-headed Scotchmau, William Patterson^ the founder of the 
 Bank of England, established a colony on the Isthmus of Darien, 
 at Caledonia lft,y, and would no doubt have made it a place 
 of great commercial importance, but for the war waged on him by 
 the king of Spain. Backed by all the power and influence of the 
 king of England, he and his followers were driven from there, 
 dying from hunger, and from that time to this the Mandingo 
 
162 • The Interoceanie Ship Canal. 
 
 Indians, a tribe of about 800 souls, have held that region, as the 
 supreme power, against all comers. William Patterson estab- 
 lished his colony with the firm belief that in time it would be one of 
 the greatest commercial centres in the world. There were over thirty 
 pamphlets and papers published before the year 1700 on the 
 general features connected with this colony and region. They all, I 
 think, agreed in the healthiness of the climate and the productions 
 of the soil. No man that I know of has ever been allowed. to cross 
 the isthmus at this point for nearly two hundred years without the 
 consent of the Mandingo Indians, except Doctor Cullen. I hold 
 that a full and complete survey of the Darien route from the Bay 
 of Caledonia direct to the Gulf of San Miguel, or some navi- 
 gable point on the Savanna river, has never been made with 
 the view of tunneling the ridge which is met with near to the 
 Bay of Caledonia. The examination of this route by my friend 
 Captain (now Admiral) Provost, R. N., also the second explora- 
 tion of part of the route by L. Gisborne, C. E., and also the care- 
 ful survey of this route by Captain Selfridge, U. S. N., have noth- 
 ing in them to condemn the route unless it becomes a settled ques- 
 tion that the canal must be built without resort to tunneling. I 
 fear very much that the United States government have decided to 
 adopt the Nicaraguan route as the best for this great enterprise. I 
 cannot but look on this as a great error. I will in as few words 
 as possible attempt to explain my reasons for considering this an 
 error, and then give my own opinion on what route should be 
 adopted. I have taken much interest in this matter, and studied 
 it with care for more than a quarter of a century. 
 
 Before I was born, and that includes more than six decades of time, 
 the people of the United States looked forward to the time when they 
 could enjoy the benefits resulting from a route to China and the east, 
 by passing through a canal to be cut across the Isthmus of Panama 
 and at the same time contemplated the possession of the Sandwich 
 Islands as a stopping place on the route from Panama to the mouth 
 of the great Yang-tze-kiang river, in China. To show how great 
 errors may exist in reference to geographical relative positions, I 
 would state that there was not probably a man interested in the sub- 
 ject that knew that the Sandwich islands were not by two thousand 
 miles in the line of the shortest route from Panama to China, and 
 probably but few men in the world knew that the most dii-ect route. 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 163 
 
 irrespective of laud and water, from Panama to any point in China, 
 would pass to the east of San Francisco, and in traveling the great 
 circle pass far to the north of the Sandwich islands. It may be 
 asked what has this to do with an Isthmus canal ? It has not much, 
 but it shows, GOBteris paribus, the most northerly route for the canal 
 is the best, considering China and Japan as the objective points. 
 There is another point in connection with a route to the east by 
 way of. the canal, which has not been touched on, as far as I have 
 seen, in any recent reports or writings ; it is the pacific character 
 of the Pacific ocean. 
 
 It is now nearly thirty years since the British government pub- 
 lished an elaborate and apparently exhaustive report on mail routes 
 from England to the east, and discussed or brought to the attention 
 of the public not only the time occupied and cost of existing routes, 
 but also other routes that might some day be occupied. Admiral 
 Moresby, R.N., then in command of the British fleet in the Pacific, 
 brought this report to me to read, and said the author, in dis- 
 cussing the Panama route, had not said a word in reference to a 
 most important feature — the pacific character of the Pacific ocean. 
 I beg you to excuse my digression from the main question — the 
 canal. I will return to it and try to stick to it. 
 
 It is now some years since the Congress of the United States 
 authorized the President to appoint a commission to examine and 
 report on an Isthmus canal. The President selected three most 
 eminent men to form this commission — General Humphreys, the 
 Chief of Engineers of the United States ; Captain Carlisle Patter- 
 son, U. S. N., Chief of Coast Survey ; and Commodore Ammen, 
 U. S. N., all men of great ability and reliability in their professions, 
 and in the works that have been intrusted to their charge ; but 
 none of them were civil engineers, nor had they ever any connec- 
 tion with tunnels. Under their direction and superintendence, a 
 number of surveys were made of probable, possible and historical 
 routes, routes that were said to possess favorable features, and routes 
 that had been partially examined before. No one can read the long, 
 elaborate and illustrated reports made by the commanders of these 
 survey expeditions, without being struck with the great amount of 
 labor and fatigue these surveyors went through in this tropical 
 region, where the heat is intense, vegetation dense, matted and 
 thorny, insect life pestiferous in the extreme, and where the rain 
 
164 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 conies down much of the time in a deluge, as if the heavens had been 
 burst asunder ; they deserve all credit for the display of indefatiga- 
 ble spirits that carried them through their arduous labors. There 
 appears to have been two ruling and governing points in the minds 
 of these commissioners in conducting their surveys and in making up 
 their final conclusions : 
 
 Mrst. — That the route to be adopted, was the one found to be 
 the cheapest to construct. 
 
 Second. — That routes requiring tunnels must be ignored, and in 
 view of these points they concluded to report in favor of the Nicara- 
 gua route. 
 
 I once thought the Nicaragua route was the route, but on more 
 study and reflection, I came to different conclusions: 
 
 First. — That the subject is too important to be decided by the 
 matter of first cost. 
 
 Second. — That the Nicaragua route is too long, requires too 
 much locking up and down, is deficient in good harbors at both 
 ends, and is particularly unhealthy at Greytown, at the mouth of 
 the San Juan river, where the Gulf terminus must be. 
 
 It strikes me that the United States will not he in an enviable posi- 
 tion if it guarantees its credit to the amount of fifty millions of dollars, 
 or more, to a canal company, to huild a canal on the Nicaragua 
 route, and then finds that the world has awakened to the importance 
 of the subject, and demands that a canal "shall be cut on the 
 shortest route to be found between the two oceans. This route is 
 the San Bias route. From the Bay of San Bias on the 
 Atlantic side to the Bay of Panama on the Pacific side, the 
 distance is only thirty miles ; probably it is less on a direct line. 
 This route requires a tunnel of nine or ten miles long ; this is the 
 stumbling block that appears to be the insurmountable object in 
 the minds of many. But it ought not to be, in this age of steam 
 drills and improved explosive compounds. If the Spaniards could 
 cut the desaguadero (a work which Humboldt called the greatest 
 work of human hands), two hundred years ago, in Mexico, merely 
 as a precaution to save the i city in case of a great flood (this 
 desaguadero was an open cut, and as I understand the dimensions 
 it required three and a half times as many cubic metres of rock to 
 be removedj as it would require to cut a canal tunnel ten miles 
 
The Interoceaidc Ship Canal. 165 
 
 long, 150 feet deep and 80 feet wide), surely we in this age of 
 invention and great mechanical undertakings should not shrink in 
 fright from a ship-canal tunnel ten miles long, and particularly 
 when we look around and see the Mont Cenis tunnel completed, 
 the St. Gothard tunnel nearly completed, and the Simplon 
 tunnel seriously contemplated, all of nearly the same length as the 
 ship tunnel in question, all connected with other severe features 
 in the railway lines they are on, all for the limited traffic of a railway, 
 and all for what might in comparison be called a local busi- 
 ness ; while the Isthmus canal tunnel, and the canal itself, is the 
 greatest project before the world at the present day, and is but a 
 small link in a great net-work of ocean navigation, extending for 
 thousands of miles in every direction, and to every nationality of 
 any importance in the world. This little link in a great centre is 
 left for man to construct, while all the rest to the uttermost parts of 
 .the earth have been built by the Supreme Being, and given to 
 man for his use and benefit, free of cost for construction and re- 
 pairs. Can it be that there is not spirit and will and pluck enough 
 in the people of the 19th century to cut this little canal, open this 
 highway, and bring the Orient closer to the doors of the Occident ? 
 I have an idea that the location of this canal is of too great 
 importance to commercial interests to be decided by the mere 
 matter of first cost, and I further believe that if the merits and 
 demerits of the Nicaragua route, and the San Bias route were 
 laid before any great political economist, oosmographer or 
 statician for a decision, and he was told that the former would cost 
 fifty millions of dollars, and the latter one hundred and fifty 
 millions, he would decide in favor of the latter. I do not wish to 
 convey the idea that the San Bias route is going to cost any 
 such amount as $150,000,000. I have a belief that if the works are 
 directed by skilled, experienced and capable engineers, that the canal 
 can be completed in the very best manner inside of $150,000,000, 
 and that it can be made to pay a good interest on that sum. I 
 am much pleased to see in a recent paper that Mr. Kelley, of New 
 York, advocates the adoption of the the San Bias route. Mr. 
 Kelley is entitled to great consideration in the discussion and settle- 
 ment of the question, as he has devoted more time, attention and 
 money to it than any other living man, having made under his 
 direction, and at his sole cost, surveys of eight entire routes. 
 
166 The Inter oceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 It is established by the surveys of Col. Totten, for the Panama 
 railway, that the mean level of the two oceans is the same; that 
 there is little or no tide on the Atlantic, but that there is a tide on 
 the Pacific side of about 25 feet, or say 7.62 metres. This has, been 
 brought up as an argument against a tide-water canal across the 
 Isthmus, namely, that a current would be created in the canal, 
 injurious to it and to navigation. Let us examine this by the test 
 of figures. The mean level of the two oceans being the same, there 
 would be a period in each day when the waters of the Pacific 
 would be 3.81 meti'es higher than the waters of the Atlantic, 
 and another period when they would be 3.81 metres lower. 
 Taking the canal to be 30 miles long, this gives at the moment of 
 extreme elevation or depression of the Pacific a surface gradient of 
 0.127 metres per mile. This may be considered a most healthy 
 gradient, and could be used to advantage in passing ships in either 
 direction. The gradient of the Ganges canal in India was originally 
 18 inches to the mile, equal to 0.457 metres, but this was changed 
 to 15 inches per mile, equal to 0.38 metres, and has been worked at 
 that in either direction ever since its completion, and without diffi- 
 culty or risk, as far as I know. This gradient is over three times 
 the gradient that would exist in the Isthmus canal, if built as a tide- 
 water canal, without any locks at either end. Earthquakes have 
 been another cause for fear in constructing tunnels in this region, 
 but I am convinced that such fears are groundless. As far as I can 
 learn, this San Bias region is peculiarly free from earthquakes, while 
 they are frequent at Panama, but not strong enough to topple over 
 some arches and some tall stone buildings in that city that are in 
 decay and about 200 years old. We have constructed arches and tun- 
 nels on the Oroya railway, in Peru, where earthquakes are frequent ; 
 there are 62 tunnels on that railway, one of them being at an eleva- 
 tion of 15,648 feet above the level of the sea, equal to 4,769 metres, 
 and to this day I have not heard of any disturbance to arches in 
 these tunnels from earthquakes. (The Summit tunnel and some 
 others are not yet arched). I had constructed and erected in Pera, 
 on a railway, an iron bridge with a central pier 252 feet in height, 
 which has been in use six years without showing any movement 
 from earthquakes or other causes. I had constructed and erected 
 on a railway in Peru an iron bridge, which has cast-iron upper 
 chords and posts ; it has been in use over 24 years, and is still per- 
 
The Interoceanlc Ship Canal. 16V 
 
 feet. It is in sight of Arica, which was entirely destroyed by the 
 great earthquake of 1868. Near to this bridge lies the hull of the 
 U. S. man-of-war Wateree, that was carried by the tidal wave of 
 that earthquake over the railway and left in the sand. I have great 
 faith in our being able to construct a tunnel for a ship canal that 
 will be safe against the destructive effects of earthquakes. The 
 advantages that a canal constructed on the San Bias route would 
 have over one on the Nicaragua route, are : 
 
 First. — It would be only 30 miles long, while the other would be 
 181 miles long. 
 
 Second. — It would be a tide-water canal, while the other calls for 
 locking up lOY feet, and down 107 feet. 
 
 Third. — It has a good harbor at the northern end, and facilities 
 for constructing easily a good harbor at the Panama bay end, while 
 the Nicaragua route has no harbor at either end. 
 
 Fourth. — It is a healthy region at the terminus, while the Nicara- 
 gua route must terminate in a notoriously unhealthy region on the 
 eastern coast. 
 
 Fifth. — The cost of repairs and conservation must, I think, be 
 greatly more in favor of the San Bias route than the ratio of 
 length of the two routes, namely, 30 to 181; as the Nicaragua canal, 
 except the lake part, will be more exposed to accident on account 
 of the embankments, locks, and other mechanical structures on it. 
 
 Sixth. — The San Bias canal can be passed' through in six or 
 seven hours, while a Nicaragua canal would occupy five days or 
 more in the transit. 
 
 The immense amount of rock to be excavated for a canal tunnel 
 of ten miles in length, and the time taken to do it, will, no doubt, 
 frighten some people not thoroughly acquainted with such works, 
 but when compared as to time required, it should not be estimated 
 (with railway tunnels as a basis of calculation) to consume time 
 corresponding to the amount to be excavated, for it should take no 
 more time to drive a mile of heading for a ship-canal tunnel than it 
 takes to drive a mile of heading for a railway tunnel, and when the 
 " heading " is once driven through, an army of men could be put to 
 work on the whole length night and day ; and when they came to 
 the springing line of the arch, or before that, the work ought to be 
 done per cubic metre as cheaply as if it was in open cutting, or 
 cheaper and quicker, as the frequent rains which fall on the Isthmus 
 in vast quantity drive the men from their work for whole days at a 
 
168 The Interoeeanic Ship Canal. 
 
 time. This would not occur in the tunnel, nor would the tunnel be 
 washed or filled in by these rains ; the tunnel once cut and arched, 
 would stand for ages without requiring repairs, or being subject to 
 '• breaks," as is so often the case with elevated " reaches " of canals, 
 occasioning suspension of all trafiic sometimes for weeks. The 
 Nicaragua canal cannot be made entirely free from accidents of 
 this kind, while a tide-water canal is positively free from all such 
 trouble. I will now close this already too long document by stat- 
 ing what I would do if I were " king," and no one to say nay to 
 my acts. 
 
 First. — I would make complete surveys of the two routes — ^the 
 Caledonia bay route, and the San Bias route — to find which was 
 preferable, as regards length of tunnel, and also in other points, 
 such as harbors, total length of canal and drainage, etc., discarding 
 all other routes as objectionable. 
 
 Second. — If I found the San Bias route to be the best of the 
 two, I would buy the Panama railway and its concessions of all 
 kinds. 
 
 Third. — I would get a charter from the Colombian government, 
 allowing me to build, and if they did not give it on fair and reason- 
 able terms, I would take possession of the route and ignore them 
 altogethei', for this route is in the possession of the San Bias 
 Indians, as the Caledonia bay route is in the possession of the 
 Mandingo Indians; who have held it for 200 years against all 
 the power of Spain and their successors ; they are the supreme 
 power, and if I could not conciliate them by gold and kind acts, I 
 would exterminate them. 
 
 Fourth. — I would locate a direct straight line on the shortest 
 route from San Bias to Panama bay, turning neither to right 
 nor the left after getting through the tunnel, except to avoid the 
 Chepo or Bayano river. This line, starting from San Bias, 
 the most northerly point, will run to the east of south, and will 
 intersect the Chepo or Bayano river, which comes from the 
 east, and drains a considerable territory on the south slope of the 
 mountains, nearly as far as Caledonia bay. It has been proposed 
 to run the canal into this river, deepen its bed, and use its channel 
 for the canal for ten miles, to where it debouches into Panama 
 bay ; but this I consider objectionable, as this river raiust be sub- 
 ject to floods, and no doubt brings down at times a large amount of 
 debris from the mountains, chiefly vegetable matter, Through this 
 
The Interoceanio Ship Canal. 169 
 
 whole region there lie on the ground great masses of immense 
 trees, partially decayed. I would avoid this river by cutting a new 
 channel for it for ten miles, or turn the canal to the right, after 
 leaving the tunnel, and make it as free as possible from becoming a 
 drain for anything. 
 
 Fifth. — I would send for Monsieur Favre, contractor for the 
 St. Gothard Tunnel, who has more experience in great tunnels 
 than any man now living, and make a contract with him, or some 
 arrangement for the use of his brains or experience. I saw last 
 summer at the St. Gothard tunnel better and more perfect arch- 
 ing than I ever saw before in a tunnel. 
 
 Sixth. — I would call together a convention of merchants, ship- 
 owners and engineers to decide on the dimensions of the canal and 
 tunnel. 
 
 Seventh. — ^I would locate two tunnels, to be arched, half gothic 
 in form, with a pier between them of 100 feet in width; but I would 
 cut only one tunnel of 75 feet in width (22.86 ms.), suflScient to pass 
 one ship at a time, and when the trafBc wai-rants it cut the other 
 tunnel. 
 
 Eighth. — I would drive this work night and day until it -was 
 completed and thrown open for the benefit of the world. 
 
 Ninth. — I would call on the governments of England, France 
 and the United States to guarantee the bonds of a company to the 
 whole amount of estimated cost ; these governments to become 
 the owners of the canal, and all belonging to it, at the end of 100 
 years, they paying original cost, as determined by a board of their 
 own during construction. 
 
 Tenth. — I would make every man connected with this canal in- 
 terested in its cost, the time it occupied to build, and his own time 
 connected with it. 
 
 Eleventh. — I would insist on the whole work being completed in 
 twelve years. 
 
 Twelfth. — I would do a great many other things, not necessary 
 to mention here. 
 
 I remain, dear Sir, 
 
 Tour obedient Servant, 
 
 WALTER W. EVANS, 
 Member of the Institute of Civil Engineers of 
 England; of the American Society of Civil En- 
 gineers; of the Council of Ji-fnerican Geographical 
 Society, 
 
170 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 P. S. May 10th. — I find that in the hurried and rambling way 
 in which I wrote you a long letter last night, after my party had 
 gone to bed, that I omitted to jot down one or two points of im- 
 portance connected with this Isthmus canal matter. They may be 
 looked upon as axioms — at least they run through my brain in that 
 light. They are : 
 
 First. — The canal must be a sea-level canal, without locks, unless it 
 may be decided to have a tide-water guard-lock at the Pacific end. 
 
 Second. — This c^nal must not be on a line of drainage, or in any 
 valley subject to inundations. 
 
 It is but fair that I should give my reasons for using such strong 
 expressions as " must be " and " must not be." I have been seven 
 years connected with the construction of canals and in the severest 
 school for canal engineering ever known in the United States ; I 
 have had the direction of extensive engineering works in earthquake 
 countries for eleven years, and I have no hesitation in asserting that 
 any canal built in the earthquake country that exists where the 
 Isthmus canal must be built, would soon be rendered useless, if locks 
 are introduced, by earthquakes twisting and warping them, so that 
 the gates could be neither shut or opened. It is a very common 
 occurrence in South America to have a house so twisted out of 
 square that the doors cannot be opened or shut. When an earth- 
 quake happens in the night, every one — men, women and children — 
 rush from the houses in their night-dresses before the second shock 
 (the severe one) comes, so as not to get caught in their rooms and 
 unable to get the doors open. To build canal locks with chambers 
 of 75 to 80 feet wide, will call for the most mathematical accuracy 
 in the construction of the gates to make them work at all. If they 
 are warped by an earthquake, they could not be opened and shut. 
 
 To build an Isthmus canal in such valleys as the Chagres, on the 
 Panama route, and the San Juan, on the Nicaragua route, would, 
 in my opinion, be the extreme of folly. If the canal was not washed 
 out entirely and rendered utterly worthless, it would require so 
 immense and never-ending expenses for repairs as to eat up all 
 revenues received. You may depend on it that owners of large and 
 fine vessels, freighted with valuable cargoes, will think twice before 
 allowing their ships to enter such a canal as the Nicaragua canal 
 must be if ever it is built. 
 
 Has any one ever estimated the number of large ocean vessels 
 that could be passed through the Nicaragua canal each day ? The 
 
7%e Inter ocecmic Ship Canal. 171 
 
 huge leviathans that now traverse every ocean are not children's 
 toys ; nor are they easily started or stopped, as I had occasion to 
 notice in coming through the Suez canal within the past month in 
 a Peninsular and Oriental steamer, over 400 feet long. Entering the 
 canal from Lake Timsch, our steamer ran into the right bank, the 
 stern swung round and fastened itself in the left bank. The next 
 steamer from Bombay, of the same line, had the same thing happen, 
 and broke off two blades of her propeller. I hope you will bring 
 some of these points to the attention of the Congress that is about 
 to assemble in Paris. 
 
 If any one wishes to see what destruction might happen to a 
 canal constructed in a valley on a line of drainage, and depending 
 for its eifioiency on "locks" and "dams" as its chief features, let 
 him take a trip up the Lehigh valley, in Pennsylvania, and there he 
 will see (in a place where such floods occurred as are almost daily 
 occurrences in the Nicaragua and Panama region) the ruins of 
 what was once a most admirably constructed canal, having dams of 
 best design and build, and locks of the greatest lift ever constructed. 
 One single flood in the Lehigh river swept out to utter ruin every 
 lock and dam, and almost " like the baseless fabric of a vision, left 
 not a wreck behind." If any doubter, in search of fui-ther know- 
 ledge regarding the permanence and reliability of canals with 
 elevated "reaches," wishes to store his mind with facts, let him 
 take the records of the Erie canal, where the best " puddle walls " 
 and the most carefully built embankments ever dfesigned and con- 
 structed are to be found, and he will see the history of many 
 accidents from floods and wash-outs that occasioned delays and vast 
 expense ; and if he has a reflecting brain, with a slight knowledge 
 of the Isthmus region, the idea might dawn on it that such accidents 
 happening in the San Juan valley of Nicaragua, or in the Ohagres 
 valley of Panama, could not be repaired as readily, as quickly and 
 as cheaply by ten-fold as they could be in the state of New York. 
 
 If stone walls in cement are to be built along the whole length of 
 the embankments of the'Nicaragua canal, to prevent rats and roots 
 from boring through and starting little leaks, that soon grow to 
 destructive wash-outs, then the advocates of that route had better 
 add a few more tens of millions to their estimate of cost. Such acci- 
 dents cannot happen to a tide-water canal. And Count Ferdinand 
 de Lesseps was correct when he said to me, in Paris, that whatever 
 route we adopt, one thing is certain — it must be a sea-level canal. 
 
17 2 The Inieroceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 Report ot? W. E. JoHKSTOiir, M. D., Delegate of the Ameeican 
 Geographical Society to the Paris Congress, on the 
 Proceedings op the same : 
 
 I did not render you at the moment an account of the proceed- 
 ings of the Interooeanic Canal Congress held in this city two 
 months ago. I was not able at that time to do so. 
 
 The subscription has failed, but M. de Lesseps announces that the 
 project is not abandoned, and that he is going to the United States 
 to try to interest the people in the scheme. 
 
 As the agitation on the subject, therefore, is to be maintained, 
 and perhaps transferred to the United States, you will need all the 
 data on the subject it is possible to obtain. 
 
 For this reason, and because the American part in the affair has 
 been perverted, I feel it to be a duty to go back and give you the 
 history of the proceedings of the Congress and its accompanying 
 incidents as I saw them. 
 
 As I have taken the liberty pf informing you in previous letters, 
 the French people had come to look upon this canal questionas 
 exclusively their own. For many years the press and the public 
 men of the country had talked and acted as if they had a monopoly 
 of the matter. No attention was paid to the efforts of the Amer- 
 ican government, nor to the surveys of our able naval officers ; or, 
 if they were referred to, it was to depreciate their value or to throw 
 doubt on their sincerity. It was even charged in print that these 
 officers were bribed by the railway companies to slur over their 
 work, and not to find a feasible route. 
 
 In a country full of money seeking an outlet, this state of things 
 naturally begot a multitude of schemes for an interoceanic canal. 
 You would hardly believe how many people were spending their 
 time and money the last few years on this for them empty bubble, 
 the pretended inertia of the Americans all this time being attributed 
 to the opposition of the railway companies. 
 
 All of these schemes were submitted to M. de Lesseps and were 
 encouraged by him. He is the great canal digger; his influence with 
 his countrymen is legitimate and universal ; he is kindhearted and 
 obliging, but he is ambitious also — perhaps not more so than other 
 people — and appeared so anxious to attach his name to the success- 
 ful company that he gave his consent to all. 
 
 But it was pot till Bien with prominent napies capie forward that 
 
The Interoceanio Ship Canal. 173 
 
 he announced publicly his sympathy and cooperation. These men 
 were Messrs. Wyse, Turr and Bixio. Lieut. Wyse, of the French 
 Navy, is a son of a former English minister at Athens, and his 
 mother was a Princess Bonaparte of the Roman branch of the 
 family. General Turr is a Hungarian, and married Lieut. Wyse's 
 second sister. M. Bixio was a brother of the Minister Bixio, of the 
 Provincial government of 1848. He died of fever on the isthmus. 
 
 These gentlemen, backed by some bankers and personal friends, 
 made their first visit to the isthmus three years ago, and examined 
 one of the Atrato routes. They came back sick, reported unfavor- 
 ably, and after some months' consultation, in which M. de Lesseps 
 took a large part, it was decided that Lieut. Wyse should return to 
 the isthmus and look at the Panama route, with the view of making 
 that the affair on which they were finally to settle, and as the affair 
 to which the public in France would be most likely to subscribe. 
 
 The survey was made — how imperfectly was afterwards shown in 
 the Congress by the abandonment of all the figures, and of even the 
 plan; the party returned to Paris, and last winter the plan of cam- 
 paign of putting through the Wyse scheme was organized. 
 
 An International Congress was to be called, so as to give author- 
 ity to the scheme ; M. de Lesseps was to preside at the Congress 
 and issue the invitations, and as the President had the right to con- 
 stitute the Con'gress as he saw fit, enough French members of the 
 right sort were invited to counterbalance any opposition that might 
 manifest itself. So far as Lieut. Wyse and party were concerned, 
 they sought first to reimburse themselves for the losses already sus- 
 tained, and for which they were responsible to certain bankers and 
 friends, and this they hoped to do by forming a new company which 
 would assume the responsibilities they had incurred. 
 
 This was the origin of the famous Congress. It was not, as you 
 see, a very high-toned affair ; it was not intended that it should be. 
 The object was to get out of an old debt by creating a new one, to 
 be shouldered by some one else. The digging of a Panama canal 
 was a very distant and very problematic affair. 
 
 But it turned out that the Congress became a very serious and 
 very grave affair. As eminent engineers from foreign countries 
 began to arrive, the hope of carrying out the prepared programme 
 diminished. The great satisfaction which was at first manifested 
 at the prospect of having a large and respectable gathering, soon 
 gave place to sad reflections and sad surmises. The arrival of the 
 
1^4 The Inter oceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 two eminent American authorities, Messrs. Ammen and Menocal, 
 was a deathblow to their hopes, and although those two gentlemen 
 were treated with the greatest consideration, it was felt by the 
 leaders that their coming was a disaster, and that a new base of 
 operations would have to be adopted. 
 
 There is nothing, in fact, more curious in the history of caucuses 
 than the evolutions of , this Congress. 
 
 Not only was the President of the Congress named in advance, 
 but so also were the officers and the committees, and even the work 
 the committees were to perform. Nothing, it was intended, was to 
 be left to hazard. At the first meeting, at which were present the 
 136 members, and above 300 spectators interested in the subject, 
 nothing was done or allowed to be done but the reading of the 
 names of the members, the names of the committees and their presi- 
 dents, and an indication of the work they were to do. The' first 
 meeting did not last an hour, no one had a word to say but the 
 President and Secretary, and this very summary way of treating 
 the distinguished guests who had come a long way to the "study" 
 of the interoceanic canal project was climaxed at the end by the 
 President hastily adjourning the meeting with the remark : 
 " Gentlemen, we are going to rush this thing d VAm^ricaine : we 
 shall get through by next Tuesday." 
 
 Thus not only was the Congress packed and manipulated so as to 
 run through hastily and without fail the imperfect and impossible 
 scheme of Lieut. Wyse, but the most distinguished and honorable 
 experts from all parts of the world were invited to give the scheme 
 their aid and to cover it with their responsibility. 
 
 It was hardly dignified, therefore, for men holding the high rank 
 of government delegates to take their seat in a Congress which had 
 been gotten up for a certain limited and well-defined object, and in 
 which no proposition outside the programme stood the least chance 
 of adoption. 
 
 Fortunately, the American government had given such instructions 
 to its delegates as would meet just such an emergency : they were 
 simply to furnish to the Congress, for its instruction, the facts and 
 figures collected at the bureau in Washington, without pledging 
 the government to anything. Their mission was a mission of good- 
 will, and not of partisanship, and if the Congress did not benefit by 
 it, the government of the United States and its delegates were not 
 to blame. 
 
Ths Interoceanic Ship Canal. 1^5 
 
 When it came to the turn of Messrs. Ammen and Menocal 
 to give their figures and estimates of the different routes, a 
 complete revolution took place. The great body of able engin- 
 eers, who had come to the Congress unpledged to any route, and 
 who had come seriously to study the question without prejudice, 
 were astounded to find that nobody in Europe knew anything about 
 the question. The expos'e of the American delegates was a revelation, 
 in fact, to the whole'Congress. The estimates of Lieut. Wyse were 
 shown to be as fictitious as if made in Paris without ever having 
 visited the isthmus. 
 
 Prom this moment the Congress became a real Congress and not 
 a sham. The facts and figures of Messrs. Ammen and Menocal 
 now formed the only basis to stand upon. It was transformed into 
 a respectable Congress, with real data on which to base a scientific 
 discussion. Three-fourths of the competent members declared that 
 the surveys of Lieut. Wyse were worthless, and M. de Lesseps and 
 the Wyse party were in consternation. 
 
 We were now brought face to face with the singular spectacle of 
 a Congress which had become seripus and honest, and which saw its 
 way clear to the truth, and yet which was obliged to remain dis- 
 honest, and carry out the original plan, no matter by what means. 
 
 The reason of this singular anomaly is easily understood. M. de 
 Lesseps, Lieut. Wyse, and the bankers behind them, were pledged 
 to the Panama route, and could not adopt another. That was the 
 French route ; they had been long manufacturing enthusiasm for 
 that route ; the bankers and the public would not give a cent to 
 any route that was not patronized by M. de Lesseps and Lieut. Wyse. 
 So that to abandon that route was to abandon entirely for France 
 the glory of cutting the interoceanic canal, and that was not to be 
 thought of for a moment. They had been claiming, as I have 
 already told you, for years the monopoly of this question; they 
 claimed all the knowledge on the subject, and to back out now 
 would be to lose all the money they had engaged in the scheme, 
 all the money they expected to gain, which was a mountain, and to 
 lose their popularity besides. The Congress would have been dis- 
 solved without a decision rather than to have adopted another than 
 the French route. 
 
 But how was this accomplished? M. de Lesseps's galloping 
 Congress was adjourned for several days; we heard no more of rush- 
 ing the thing through ck VAmlricaine ; they had to stop to change 
 their base. Lieutenant Wyse, with such of the engineers as were 
 
IV 6 The Interoceanio Skip Canal. 
 
 pledged to his scheme, went to work in secret committee, and 
 labored night and day till they elaborated a new plan, to cover as 
 they thought the objections of Mr. Menocal, and with, of course, a 
 much higher figure of costs. The committee having in charge the 
 estimates on the probable receipts and expenditures of the canal, 
 were instructed by the President to try and make the receipts cover 
 the new estimate of costs, which they did with the greatest ease. 
 
 Again, the American engineers, backed this time by overwhelm- 
 ing arguments by Sir John Hawkshaw, showed that the plan was 
 still defective; and again the Congress was adjourned to give time 
 to the Wyse secret committee to get up new figures and a new 
 plan. The Congress, which started off on a gallop, had first dropped 
 into a trot, and was now at a walk. And all to allow Lieut. Wyse 
 to prepare estimates on diflScult details which he had never studied 
 on the ground, and which, therefore, were only theoretical. 
 
 The majority of the engineers lost their interest in the proceed- 
 ings from this moment, and became simple lookers-on, while the 
 meeting relapsed back into its original character of a Congress for 
 the benefit of Lieut. Wyse and his party. 
 
 The assembly was now in a crisis. On the one side were the en- 
 gineers, on the other the business men and the speculators. It 
 looked at one time as if the Congress, if called upon, would have 
 voted for the plan of Mr. Menocal by Nicaragua. The charter of 
 Mr. Wyse from the Colombian government exacts the building of 
 the canal by the most economical route, and to build it by the 
 dearest route is a violation, and a forfeiture of the charter. But 
 these difficulties, which were pointed out to the Congress, no longer 
 stopped the proceedings. The Wyse party had now offered their 
 ultimatum, which was an open cut, without locks, and with dever- 
 soirs, or side canals, the whole to cost 250,000,000 of dollars, and to 
 pay in receipts 18,000,000 of dollars a year. 
 
 At this point M. de Lesseps made a long speech. He is tenacious 
 as well as able, and did not propose to suffer a defeat. He com- 
 menced by several propositions, which are true, as, for example, 
 that in looking at the map Panama appears to be the right place 
 for a canal ; that this route already had a railroad, and a thriving 
 city at each end, which would facilitate the construction of the 
 canal ; it could there be built without locks, in his opinion, which 
 was a great desideratum. Finally, he made the statement, which 
 was new, and rather astonishing, but which nevertheless produced 
 a marked effect in favor of his project, that when he commenced 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. \*I1 
 
 the Suez canal many of the problems connected with it were un- 
 solved, and looked dark, but that as they progressed, and difficul-* 
 ties crowded upon them, men of genius sprung up to meet and con- 
 quer the difficulties. The same, he said, would take place in this 
 new enterprise. For every difficulty there would be found a man 
 of genius capable of conquering it. As for the money, there was 
 plenty in France; the enterprise was French, it would add largely 
 to the glory of France, and the money was ready, waiting the open- 
 ing of the subscription books. 
 
 The effect of this speech was enormous. The American engineers 
 had shown that the Panama route, principally on account of the 
 annual fall of twelve feet of rain, was impossible; that it never 
 could be finished if commenced, nor made to pay a dividend if 
 finished : it was all to no purpose ; Lieut. Wyse and his com- 
 mittee had but to retire to their consultation-room to find at 
 once in their own heads the figures necessary to head off Mr. 
 Menocal's estimates. It was the game of " I see you, and go you 
 one better," played by men who had no cards, but plenty of 
 money. 
 
 The next day the last meeting and the final voting were to take 
 place. The question had now been placed on national and patriotic 
 ground ; we had arrived at the moment of " sublime resolutions," 
 of those " sublime resolutions" which have been the glory and the 
 ridicule of France ; they were going to carry hundreds of millions 
 of money abroad for the good of mankind in general. It would cost 
 much money, but the money they had ; it would require men of 
 genius, but these also they had ; the absurd barrier which nature 
 had thrown up between the two seas was going to fall before the 
 force of French genius and the power of French money. It was 
 impossible, even in the absence of any practicable figures, not to 
 grow lachrymose over the Panama route. 
 
 Nevertheless, the intelligent chairman was not going to trust the 
 vote to any hazard which could be avoided. He had decided, with- 
 out consulting the meeting, that the voting should be nominal; 
 that each member of the Congress should be called up in alphabeti- 
 cal order to declare by yes or no how he voted, with the privilege 
 of explaining his vote by a word, but only by a word ; and in case 
 he had much to say, it should be said in writing, addressed to the 
 secretary. By this method of open voting certain wavering 
 Frenchmen were prevented from dodging an affirmative vote. 
 
 As the voting went on, certain delegates, by attempting to piake 
 
178 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 speeches against the project and against the mode of voting, irritated 
 M. de Lesseps to such a point that he suddenly exclaimed, for the 
 first time, and to the astonishment of everybody, that he would 
 take charge of the canal himself, and that they might be sure that 
 if he took hold of it the canal would certainly be cut, and cut 
 quickly, honestly and economically! This announcement electrified 
 the house, not only because M. de Lesseps is much loved and is 
 really the best man for the work, but because it was a plank of 
 safety thrown to a scheme which was being saved with difficulty. 
 
 After this the voting was more cheerful, and, when finished, 
 counted up 74 yeas, and 62 nays and abstentions, in a total of 136 
 registered delegates. When my name was called, I declared that I 
 abstained from voting, on the ground that only one route was put 
 to vote, and because none of the routes had been sufficiently 
 studied. I hope that this course will meet with the approbation of 
 your honorable society. Of the other American delegates present, 
 six in number, three — Admiral Ammen, Mr. Menocal, and Professor 
 Lawrence Smith — counted themselves with the abstainers, on the 
 ground that the work of the Congress had not been sufficiently 
 elaborated, while the other three voted in the affirmative. 
 
 If it be thought that the word " abstention " was too mild a word 
 to be found in the mouths of American delegates, it must be stated 
 in extenuation that these delegates were met and surrounded during 
 their whole stay with such a large hospitality, they were so dined 
 and f^ted, that they will be excused for lacking the heart to look 
 their entertainers in the face and pronounce so harsh a word as 
 "no." 
 
 An analysis of the final vote will show that the able engineers 
 who came to the Congress with their minds free from prejudice, and 
 with a desire to arrive at the truth, are either to be found among 
 the absentees, or among those who abstained from voting. 
 
 Thus, as the majority for the Wyse scheme was small, as the 
 neutral experts were opposed to it, and as the Congress from 
 beginning to end was manipulated in the interest of that scheme, it 
 may be said that, in an international point of view, the decision of 
 the Congress was no decision at all, and that it is without force and ' 
 not binding. 
 
 Thus, too, although a great use is being made of this sanction of 
 the Congress, and although the assembly in fact contained in its 
 list of delegates many of the most distinguished engineers in the 
 world, the whole affaii; was in reality a comedy of the most deplor- 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 179 
 
 able kind, and should have no weight whatever in any future meas- 
 ures it may be desirable to adopt. 
 
 Certainly there was no allusion to politics in the Congress, and 
 the enterprise was honestly intended to be a purely financial one ; 
 but every one understood that the bankers who proposed to take 
 the loan, intended to shove the shares into the hands of the people 
 as rapidly as possible ; that at the end of two or three years, when 
 the company failed, as it certainly would, the French government, 
 for motives of popularity, might be led to assume a responsibility 
 in the affair, and then the American canal would stand exactly in 
 the dangerous position in which the canal of Suez now stands, that 
 is to say, with a large portion of its stock in the hands of a 
 powerful government, waiting an opportunity when the protecting 
 powers may be in trouble to utilize this stock as its personal inter- 
 ests may demand. 
 
 ^o well did M. de Lesseps understand the need of getting his 
 stock into the hands of small holders, that he undertook at once a 
 voyage through the provinces, to create popularity for it with the 
 rural populations; because in a moment of distress these populations 
 have a stronger hold on the sympathies of the government than the 
 bankers or speculators. In these provincial tours he everywhere 
 gave the impression that the governments of France and the United 
 States were equally favorable to the enterprise; the flags of the 
 two nations were everywhere united over his head when he spoke; 
 and the following extract from one of his speeches, published in a 
 provincial paper, is but a repetition of what he said at all the towns 
 where he spoke : " The Monroe doctrine," he said, " has nothing to 
 do with our enterprise, because it is a private affair, because it is 
 international in its character, and, therefore, neutral. The opposi- 
 tion of the United States is not serious, because their representa- 
 tives at the Congress declared that the United States came to the 
 Congress to submit themselves to the verdict of the majority, and 
 this verdict has been rendered in favor of the Panama route. 
 Furthermore, the execution of the project cannot give rise to 
 political complications, for the reason that the direct or private aid 
 of any government has not been demanded." 
 
 I need not assure you, perhaps, that no authorized delegate of 
 the American government made any assurance of the kind to the 
 Congress, and that so far as I was concerned personally, I seized 
 upon every occasion to assure the members that the American 
 government, in the opinion of those who knew best, was opposed 
 
180 The Interoceanic Ship CanaX. 
 
 to the Panama route, because its engineers had shown that it was 
 too costly, and, therefore, not practicable. 
 
 But the statements of M. de Lesseps, in his speeches, have been 
 marked by such exaggerations as seriously to shake the public faith 
 in his soundness of mind, and one French newspaper declares 
 squarely that he has entered his dotage, and ought not to be 
 trusted with other people's money. 
 
 Another French paper, the France Financi^re, stigmatizes the 
 whole thing as a swindle, and as only a repetition of the transcon- 
 tinental affair (for which General Fremont and Baron Boildeau 
 were condemned to prison), and declares further that M. de Lesseps 
 is in a fair way to compromise his honor and to tarnish his fair 
 name. 
 
 Another paper, the Or&dit Maritime, declares that the canal will 
 cost so much that it will never pay dividends, that the government 
 will be forced to interfere, and that from that time diplomatic 
 trouble will commence. This paper adds that fortunately the con- 
 cession of the Colombian government exacts (as I have already 
 stated) that the most economical route should be adopted, and that 
 steps have already been taken to annul the concession. These steps 
 are being taken, of course, by the friends of rival routes, who 
 were cavalierly treated by the Congress, and who desire a revision 
 and a re-examination of all the routes. 
 
 In fine, the French have made a grave mistake in engaging them- 
 selves recklessly in a colossal enterprise about which they knew 
 little, and this mistake is due in the first place to the fact that they 
 were dazzled by the feat of digging the Suez canal, and by the pos- 
 session of a great and popular authority in canal digging in the per- 
 son of M. de Lesseps ; and, in the second place, to the circumstance 
 that for many years past the press and the public men of the country 
 have assiduously propagated the idea that France possessed the 
 monopoly of this whole question. 
 
 Under the empire M. de Lesseps would not have been permitted 
 to call a Congress, not even a well-intentioned Congress, on so grave 
 a question, without first investigating, through the legation at 
 Washington, the state of the question in the United States. The 
 failure of this Congress will teach the people the salutary lesson that 
 under the republic they must think for themselves, and not follow 
 the lead of any man. 
 
 Paris, Aug. 15, 1879. 
 
 W. E. JOHNSTON, M.D. 
 
Th£ Inter oceanic Ship Canal. 181 
 
 The Nicaragua Canal: Extracts from Mr. S. B. Rugglbs's Semi- 
 centennial Address at New Haven, July 27, 1864. 
 
 The picture of our fifty years would be singularly incomplete 
 were it to omit Louis Napoleon, that " mysterious and inscruta- 
 ble " sovereign, who mainly governs France by governing himself, 
 and preeminently the most commanding object within our field of 
 view at the present hour. Whatever ultimate designs he may 
 entertain in respect to America, and how much soever we may 
 reprobate his manner of reaching the throne, or his recent inter- 
 ference with the affairs of Mexico, we cannot close our eyes 
 upon the unexampled success of his civil administration. He 
 has certainly signalized his reign beyond that of any preceding 
 ruler of France, by the permanent improvement and splendid em- 
 bellishment of its cities, the vigorous prosecution of its works 
 of inter-communication, the canalization of its rivers, the rapid 
 increase of its commerce, and the immense augmentation of 
 the pecuniary value of the empire * ; not to mention his political 
 performances in the consolidation of Italy, and the recent remarka- 
 
 * The value of the real and personal estate of France authoritatively stated in 
 debate in the Corps Legulatif, May 7, 1864, was 249,000 millions of francs, about 
 46,000 millions of dollars. In 1853, it was about 124,000 millions of francs, show- 
 ing an increase, in twelve years, of about 23,000 millions of dollars. 
 
 The taxed value of the real and personal property of the United States in 1 850 
 was 7,135 millions of dollars. In 1860, 16,159 millions. Increase in ten years, 
 9,024: millions of dollars. During those epochs, the public works of both nations 
 were vigorously prosecuted. 
 
 The $9,024,000 added to the pecuniary value of the United States, in the decade 
 from 1850 to 1860, was occasioned largely by the increase of our population, shown 
 by experience for seventy years to vary very little from 35 per cent, for every 
 decade. The increase in the last decade from 33,191,176 to 31,445,089 (being 
 8,254,309), compared with the $9,034,000 increase of value, shows, a rate of 
 $1,093 (in metallic currency) for each additional inhabitant. 
 
 The increase of population for the present decade from 1860 to 1870, may possibly 
 fall somewhat short of the previous rate, but will not probably be less than ten mil- 
 lions for the whole United States, or seven millions for the loyal states. The latter 
 number, multiplied by only $800 (in metallic currency) for each additional inhabitant, 
 would amount to 5,600 millions of dollars — nearly threefold our present national 
 debt. All we require is an honest administration of our national resources — and a 
 metallic basis for our national currency. 
 
182 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 ble extension of the territory and power of France over the African 
 coast of the Mediterranean. It may well be, that his very charac- 
 teristic declaration, that " France makes it a point of honor to 
 keep rivers and revolutions in their proper channels," * — condensing 
 in a single phrase his whole policy at home and abroad, — has 
 offended the lovers of the largest republican liberty, but every one 
 will recognize his noble and comprehensive statesmanship, in seeking 
 so earnestly not only to recover and reconstruct the canal of Suez, 
 the work of Ptolemy and of Trajan, but to open through the cen- 
 tral portion of America, by his proposed canal of Nicaragua, the 
 way to the East Indies, which Columbus sought in vain to discover. 
 The fact does not seem to be generally known that Louis Napo- 
 leon, while a state prisoner of Louis Phillipe, and actually immured 
 in the prison of Ham, deliberately signed a contract to construct 
 the canal of Nicaragua, to pass vessels of 2,000 tons from ocean to 
 ocean, and personally to expend on the work seventy-five millions 
 of francs. It so happened that the progress of the public works of 
 New York, with which I had been officially connected, having beeii 
 unexpectedly and rather rudely stopped, I had gone to Europe ; 
 where my business was to ascertain whether France and England 
 would join the United States in constructing an interoceanic canal 
 through the Isthmus of Panama, to be free to all the nations of the 
 ■world, and to be forever consecrated to peace. It was on the sug- 
 gestion, and indeed at the request of the minister at Paris from 
 Nicaragua, that I met Louis Napoleon, in London, in 1846, about 
 a month after he had escaped from prison. To external observers, 
 he certainly then appeared to be very far from the throne of France, 
 80 that the conversation between us was comparatively free and un- 
 restrained, although his manner was at times just a little imperial. 
 On asking him if he thought that his proposed canal would yield an 
 adequate revenue on its cost, he answered with a princely air — 
 " Perhaps not ; but you now see me out of my true position ; and I 
 
 * This imperial sentence, so far as rivers are concerned, is a French paraphrase of 
 Horace's compact description of the Tiber, controlled in its innndations by the vigor- 
 ous arm of Augustus — " doctus iter melius.'' Every sovereign, ancient or modern, 
 dignified by history as " the Great, " has regarded the improvement of the rivers and 
 the roads of his country, as a duty and an honor. Alexander the Great died at 
 Babylon while clearing the Euphrates from obstrnctions. 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 183 
 
 " must do something worthy of the name I bear." He was then 
 writing a pamphlet, in which he fully and very ably set forth, not 
 only the commercial, but the high political importance of the pro- 
 posed interoceanic canal. The pamphlet, a copy of which, bearing 
 the autograph of the writer, is now before me, indicates so clearly 
 the exalted objects which he then had in view, and which he has 
 since acquired the power in snome degree to accomplish, that I beg 
 leave to read one or two brief extracts. They are of peculiar inter- 
 est at the present time, not only in bringing boldly out the noblest 
 features of the golden age of civilization we have just been review- 
 ing, but also in manifesting the opinions then entertained by the 
 present ruler of France in respect to the abolition of slavery, not 
 alone in America, but throughout the civilized world. 
 
 ".The geographical position of Constantinople," says this now 
 imperial writer, " is such as rendered her the queen of the ancient 
 world ; occupying,, as she does, the central point between Europe, 
 Asia and Africa, she could become the entrep6t of the commerce of 
 all these countries, and . obtain over them an immense preponder- 
 ance ; for in politics, as in strategy, a central position always com- 
 mands the circumference. 
 
 " This it what the proud city of Constantine could be, and this is 
 what she is not, because, as Montesquieu says, God permitted that 
 Turks should exist on earth, a people the most fit to possess use- 
 lessly a great empire. 
 
 " There exists in the New World a state as admirably situated as 
 Constantinople, and we must say, up to the present time, as icselessly 
 occupied ; we allude to the state of Nicaragua. As Constantinople 
 is the centre of the ancient world, so is the town of Leon, or rather 
 Massaqua, the centre of the new ; and if the tongue of land which 
 separates its two lakes from the Pacific ocean were cut through, 
 she would command, by her central position, the entire coast of 
 North and Soixth America. The state of Nicaragua can become, 
 better than Constantinople, the necessary route for the great com- 
 merce of the world, and is destined to attain to an extraordinary de- 
 gree of prosperity and grandeur." 
 
 " France, England, Holland, Russia and the United States have a 
 great commercial interest in the establishment of a communication 
 between the two oceans ; but England has, more than the other 
 powers, a political interest in the execution of this project. Eng- 
 
184 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 land will see with pleasure Central America become a flourishing 
 and powerful state, which will establish a balance of power, by 
 creating in Spanish America a new centre of active enterprise, pow- 
 erful enough to give rise to a great feeling of nationality, and to 
 prevent, by backing Mexico, any further encroachment from the 
 north. 
 
 " The prosperity of Central America is connected with the in- 
 terests of civilization at large ; and the best means to promote the 
 interests of humanity, is to knock down the barriers which separate 
 men, races and nations. This course is pointed out to us by the 
 Christain religion, as well as by the efforts of those great men who 
 have at intervals appeared in the world. The Christain faith teaches 
 us that we are all brothers and that in the eye of God the slave is 
 equal to his master — as the Asiastic, the African and the Indian 
 are alike equal to the European. 
 
 " On the other hand, the great men of the earth have, by their 
 wars, commingled the various races of the world, and left behind 
 them some of those imperishable monuments, which, in levelling 
 mountains, opening forests, canalizing rivers, have a tendency to up- 
 set those obstacles which divide mankind, and to unite men in com- 
 munities, communities in people, people in nations. War and com- 
 merce have civilized the world. The time for war has gone by; 
 commerce alone pushes its conquests. Let us then open to it a new 
 route; let us approximate the people of Oceanica and Australia to 
 Europe; and let us make them partakers of the blessings of Chris- 
 tianity and civilization." 
 
 It would not fall within the scope of the present address, which 
 seeks to review the men and the sovereigns of the last fifty years, 
 not as potentialities, but as historical facts, with actual, visible re- 
 sults, to look beyond the present hour^ or to enquire how far the 
 reigning Emperor of Prance will probably carry into practical effect 
 the enlightened and far-seeing views of the " Prisoner of Ham.'' 
 They now apply not alone to Nicaragua, but emphatically to Mexico, 
 as furnishing a more accessible and easier route for the great inter- 
 oceanic channel which he then regarded as vouchsafing such bless- 
 ings to all mankind, and especially to the colored races held in 
 slavery. 
 
 Louis Napoleon is a thoughtful student of history, and, as such, 
 wisely covetous of lasting fame. After announcing his purposes, 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 185 
 
 80 grandly Christian and philanthropic — and in full view, moreover, 
 of the magnificent example hung high in the heavens hy his great 
 compeer in Russia, emancipating at a single stroke a population of 
 more than twenty millions — can it he possible that he will so 
 disregard the judgment of coming ages as to lend his aid at 
 this late hour to blacken the American continent with the blight 
 oiF African bondage ; still less that he will openly uphold and 
 abet the unholy and savage effort to establish on the ruins of our 
 young republic a barbarian power proclaiming slavery as its 
 corner-stone ? 
 
 Louis Napoleon is, moreover, a mathematician, profoundly versed 
 in the knowledge of quantities, material and political. Will he 
 forget the material and political science practically taught by the 
 first Napoleon in ceding to the American republic nearly one-half 
 of its widespread continental area, for the very purpose of building 
 up in this western hemisphere a continental power of sufficient 
 weight to preserve the political equilibrium of the globe, which the 
 constantly increasing possessions of England were disturbing ? 
 
186 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 DISCUSSION UPON THE PROPOSED INTEROCEANIC 
 
 SHIP CANAL. 
 
 Special Meeting, Monday evening, December 16, IS'ZO, at No. 11 
 West 29th Street, Chief Justice C. P. Daly presiding. 
 
 Present,^Gen. Geo. W. Cullum, U.S.A.; Gen. Q. A. Gillmore, 
 U.S.A.; Signer de Franco; Horatio Seymour, State Engineer of 
 New York, and James T. Gardner, Director of the State Survey; 
 Major Sidney F. Shelbourne; Col. ,T. Bailey Myers ; F. A. P. 
 Barnard, President of Columbia College; Messrs. A. G. Menocal, 
 Wm. H. Webb, A. L. Ford, A. J. Cotheal, Wm. L. Elseffer, Elial 
 F. Hall, Wm. H. H. Moore, Cyrus Butler, D. Torrey, John 
 Bogart, Secretary of the Society of Civil Engineers, and others. 
 
 Chief Justice Dalt : It was suggested, at the last meeting of 
 the Society at which this subject was considered, that it should be 
 continued at the rooms of the Society. The fact that several gen- 
 tlemen who are familiar with the matter are now in the city, and are 
 about to leave in a day or two, made it necessary that we should 
 call a meeting within so short a period as left no possibility of 
 sending individual notices to our members, as is our custom. All 
 we could do was to give notice in the evening papers to-day, 
 and I am gratified to see that there is a larger attendance than we 
 had reason to expect. We have here present several gentlemen 
 who have made this subject of an interoceanic ship canal a matter 
 of especial study, and their views upon it are necessarily of im- 
 portance. I will ask Mr. A. G. Menocal, Civil Engineer, who is 
 present, and who is to be in the city but a day or two, to give us 
 his views as to the proper canal to be constructed, and some ac- 
 count, if he will do so, of the Nicaragua route, of which he made 
 the survey. 
 
 Responding, Mr. Menocal opened the discussion of the evening 
 by the following remarks : 
 
 It will not be necessary, I suppose, for me to enter into any 
 description of the state of Nicaragua, which doubtless is well 
 known to all here. The Lake of Nicaragua, which is at the sum- 
 mit of the proposed canal by the so-called Nicaragua route, is a 
 body of water 110 miles in length, by 30 miles of average width, 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 187 
 
 having a superficial ai-ea of 2,700 square miles. Its elevation above 
 the sea at high tide is 103 feet, and at mean tide 107 feet. The 
 depth, from a point 1,200 feet east of its west side to within about 
 nine miles of its outlet, the San Juan river, is at all points as much as 
 30 feet, and in some places as much as 150 feet. Several lines were 
 run from the lake to the Pacific ocean to find the lowest depres- 
 sions in the supervening mountains, and two were found that 
 seemed to offer the best prospects ; in one of these the point of 
 greatest elevation above the level of the lake was 48 feet, and on 
 the other it was 134 feet. The length of the former is 18^ 
 miles, of the latter 16-^ miles. The latter, the shortest, was recom- 
 mended, for the reason that though the summit was higher, there 
 is on the other line a small stream, or river, carrying 5,000 cubic feet 
 of water per second, that would have to be received into the canal. 
 The level of the lake is to be extended westward eight miles to the 
 slope down to the Pacific. From that point to the sea the ground 
 falls at the rate of nine feet to the mile. The locks are to be so dis- 
 posed that there will be no less than 2,500 feet between any two of 
 them. A ten-foot lift was adopted, not because the foundations 
 were not firm enough to give a larger, but because this was found 
 about the mean lift of all the locks then in operation in the United 
 States, and was deemed sufficient. Possibly, on the final location 
 of the line, a larger lift might be adopted, and the number of locks 
 reduced. This total lift of 103 feet will be overcome by ten locks. 
 There will also be a tide-lock, to overcome the tide of the Pacific, 
 which at the maximum is 8^ feet, with the medium 5| feet. The 
 level of the canal there is such that vessels can come in at any time 
 from that side without double lockage. That is, we do not need to 
 have a second system of locks, as would have to be adopted in a 
 canal opening from the east at a lower level than that of the sea. 
 The exploration of this line was extremely careful. In some places 
 elevations were taken every 25 feet, and borings were made every 
 1,000 feet, ])articularly on the sites of the locks, to ascertain what 
 foundation we could depend on for' the construction of the locks. 
 All the small streams that would cross the line of the canal are to 
 be provided for by culverts, through which their water would be 
 discharged into the Rio Grande, the stream running through the 
 gap along the line of which the canal was located ; and so perfect 
 is the system of drainage afforded by that river, that the water 
 
188 77te Jnteroceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 from any part of the canal can be turned into it, and the desired 
 lock be left perfectly dry. The proposed width of the canal is 
 generally 72 feet, and the slopes of rock are J to 1 above the sur- 
 face, and 5 to 1 below the surface. In earth, the slopes are 1^ to 1. 
 I have merely given this general description upon such points as 
 have, suggested themselves to me, and will be glad to answer any 
 questions that any of the gentlemen present may desire to ask me, 
 before we proceed to the description of the canal on the other side 
 of the lake. 
 
 Q. by Mr. Gaedner : What is proposed as the actual width of 
 that part of the canal, surface and bottom ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : The width varies. In this deep cutting of rock 
 it will be 60 feet at the bottom, 90 feet wide 10 feet above the 
 bottom, and 106 feet wide at the surface. In earth, the bottom 
 width will be 72 feet, and the surface 150. 
 
 Q. Is there any tunnel from the lake ? 
 
 Mr. Mbnocal : No, sir; the elevations are not sufficient between 
 the lake and the ocean to require a tunnel, being only 43 feet on one 
 line, and 134 feet on the other. 
 
 Q. The depth of the water, I presume, is 24 feet ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : No; 26 feet in depth on the whole line of the 
 canal. On the west side, where the canal will leave the Jake, there 
 will be an excavation, under water, for 1,200 feet, commencing with 
 zero, and extending into the lock at that depth of 26 feet. That 
 will be as far as we have been able to learn from the indications in 
 gravel and rock. 
 
 Q. What is the nature of the rock ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : Trap rock, the same as we j5nd all along the line; 
 basalt and greenstone. That is, it is the rock generally found, 
 though in some places there is limestone. There is a large bed of 
 limestone at this point. La Flor, between the summit and the Pacific. 
 
 Q. Will any of the mountain streams be taken into the canal ? 
 
 Mr. Mbnocal : No; it is not proposed that any of those streams 
 shall be taken into the canal, but that it shall be fed exclusively 
 from the lake. For that reason the higher elevation was adopted, 
 on account of the better drainage. It is, however, proposed now 
 to make further examinations toward ascertaining the possibility of 
 diverting the Rio Grande into the lake; in which case, the line of 
 the lowest elevation will be recommended as the best for the con- 
 
Th^ Tnteroceanic Ship Canal, 189 
 
 struction of the canal, as it would save no less than six millions of 
 dollars in the estimates. 
 
 Q. Where do you get water for your summit level on that line ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : From the lake. Its level is extended clear to 
 the slope down to the Pacific. It is the summit, and there is no 
 doubt about the supply of water being ample. In the stated area 
 of the lake is, of course, comprised the area of the other and 
 smaller lake, Managua. The present connection between them is 
 only open when they are full, and the water from this lake does not 
 at all times flow into Lake Nicaragua, but that is a matter easily 
 remedied, and the area of the water-shed properly embraces the 
 water-shed of that lake. 
 
 Q. by Gen. Gillmoee : What is the greatest rise and fall of 
 that lake ? 
 
 Mr. Menooal : Four and a half feet seemed to be the maximum. 
 We examined well the water-marks, and from all the indications they 
 afforded, we arrived at the conclusion that that was the maximum. 
 
 Q. What is the annual rain-fall there ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : It varies from 45 to 50 inches. For six months 
 we have hardly a drop of rain. In the rainy season we 
 have frequent showers at night, rains occasionally in the day-time, 
 and sometimes there are rain-storms that last two or three days. 
 
 Q. What is the size of the locks you contemplate ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : The locks proposed are 400 feet long, by VO feet 
 wide; but that length may be increased to 450 or 500 feet if it is 
 deemed desirable. There are, however, few vessels now afloat 
 that will require above 400 feet, and I suppose that will answer 
 for all practical purposes. 
 
 Q. Are there many mountain torrents to bring in debris ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : No, sir. ; not into the canal, which is kept 
 entirely free from surface drainage. 
 
 Q. What kind of a harbor have you at Brito ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : A very small and insuflficient one. We will 
 have to build a harbor there. 
 
 If there are no more questions to be asked about this portion of 
 the work, I will now pass on to the consideration of that part of 
 the canal on the other side of the lake. The San Juan river is the 
 outlet of Lake Nicaragua, and carries off, when the lake is full, from 
 12,000 to 15,000 cubic feet of water per second. The river falls 
 
190 The Interoceanio Ship Canal. 
 
 but two feet in 28 miles, and then 12 feet in the following nine. 
 There are two rivers emptying into the lake — Rio Rama and Rio 
 Frio — almost parallel with the San Juan, but running in the opposite 
 direction, both of which are large streams. 
 
 You will perceive that the water-shed of the river, between the 
 lake and where we leave it, is very small. The depth of the stream 
 will have to be increased, by dredging and blasting under water, 
 to a mean of six feet. The maximum will be at Toro rapids. 
 The fall of the river to those rapids is two feet only, and at the 
 rapids we have a fall of six feet from there to Castillo, where we 
 propose to build the first dam. This dam is proposed to be 940 feet 
 long. The rise of the water will be 18.87 feet in front, and 13.32 
 below, by the second dam. The second dam will be 1,196 feet in 
 length, and 31 feet high above the bottom of the river. The rise 
 of the water here will be 22 feet above and 12 feet below. The 
 third dam will be 824 feet in length, and 33 feet, or nearly 34 feet 
 above the bottom ; the rise in front 26 feet, and below 16 feet. 
 The last dam will be 1 ,000 feet in length, and the water will be 
 raised in front 30 feet, the fall 23 feet. In the other dams, the fall 
 wUl be equal to the lock in the short canal that is going to be built 
 around the dam, which in every case is ten feet and a fraction — ten 
 feet and nearly ten inches. Below Toro rapids, there will be no 
 dredging of the river, because the present depth of the river, in- 
 creased as it will be by the raising of the water by the dams, will be 
 suflBcient, except in two places, to give the required 26 feet. 
 Between the last two dams the river is very deep, as much 
 as 80 feet, which would bring the bottom 30 feet below the level 
 of the ocean. 
 
 At this point the Rio San Carlos comes into the San Juan. 
 This is a silt-bearing river, a torrential river, and for that 
 reason the canal is there taken from the line of the Sari Juan 
 and is built inland. Owing to this high hill right opposite 
 the mouth of the Rio San Carlos, it is proposed to extend 
 the slack-water navigation to a few hundred feet below the 
 mouth of •that river, where the last dam will be constructed, and 
 a new channel is proposed for the Rio San Carlos, to divert it and 
 make it empty into the Rio San Juan below the dam, so as to pre- 
 serve for the canal only the clear water from the lake. 
 
 These short canals around the dams are to be about a mile in 
 
The Interocecmic Ship Canal. 191 
 
 length ; one is to be three-quarters of a mile, and the others between 
 that and a mile and a quarter. The dimensions of these sections, 
 or small canals, are to be similar to those of the one proposed on the 
 other side of the lake. Now we come to the consideration of the 
 section between where the canal leaves the river and Greytown. 
 
 Q. by Gen. Gillmoee : What is the extreme length of this 
 slack- water navigation ? 
 
 Mr. Mbnocal : Sixty -three miles, with four dams. 
 
 Q. by Mr. Gakdneb: How far from the lake to the first dam ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : Thirty-seven miles ; so that really the level of the 
 lake will extend on the Pacific side eight miles to the slope, and 
 37 miles on this side. 
 
 Q. What is the discharge of the San Juan ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : It varies. Above this point (indicating on the 
 map) at a high rate from 12,000 to 15,000 cubic feet per second ; 
 below this point, sometimes 22,000 to 24,000, because the volume 
 is increased by this large river, the San Carlos, and others. Besides 
 the San Carlos, as you will see, we have three other rivers coming 
 into the San Juan, below where the canal leaves it. The larger 
 tributaries all come from the Costa Rica side. The largest are 
 the San Carlos and the Serapiqui. 
 
 Q. Then from where you enter the lake on the west side there is 
 unimpeded navigation for 93 miles ? 
 
 Mr. Menocai : Fifty-six and a half, lake — 37, river — all at 
 the same level — and eight on the other side ; so that really the 
 navigation is uninterrupted for 102 miles of summit level, 103 feet 
 above high tide. 
 
 Q. What is the extreme rise and fall of the slack water of the San 
 Juan in times of flood and drought ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : The maximum rise is between four and a half 
 and five feet. The lake acts as a large distributing reservoir, so 
 that the floods have little effect on the rise and fall of the river. 
 
 Q. What is the average breadth of the river ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : At the broadest point, between the last two dams, 
 it may be, in some places, only about 600 feet. That is where it 
 has such very great depth. Above the third dam there is an average 
 of 1,200 feet, except in one place, where it contracts to 840 feet. 
 That is at Machuca. Above that it is all from 1,200 to 1,500 feet 
 wide. 
 
192 The Interoceanic Ship Comal. 
 
 Q. What is the depth, or what will be the depth, when the 
 improvements are completed ? 
 
 Mr. Mbnocal : 26 feet. 
 
 Q. And the width at bottom ? 
 
 Mr. Mbnocal : 80 feet, with slopes of 6 to 1 where dredging 
 is required. For a vessel drawing 20 feet the channel width there 
 would be 152 feet, and for one drawing 24 feet would be 104 feet. 
 I do not see, really, why the width of this canal should be any larger 
 than the one on the other side, because there are no winds to be 
 feared, because the river is protected by the high hills and forests 
 on the sides, and the current is not over half a mile per hour. The 
 prevailing breezes are from the northeast. Here, in the lower canal, 
 where the line of the dredging to the dimensions indicated extends, 
 the mountains and forests so shield a vessel that there is but a very 
 light breeze. It is so also on the river, and there is no fear of 
 winds throwing the ship from one side to the other of the canal. 
 
 Q. What water will you have on the dams ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : I have computed very closely the water at the top 
 of the dams at both high and low water. The thickness of the 
 volume of water on the first dam will be 2.93 feet, on the second 
 2.56 feet, on the third 3.28 feet, and on the last 2.92 feet. The 
 velocity of the water in the river will be, in the first section, .46 ; in 
 the second and third, .54 ; and in the fourth, .49 ; so in only two 
 sections will the velocity of the current be a fraction over half a 
 mile per hour. The flow of the river is, in the first three dams, as 
 near as we could come to it, 12,453 cubic feet per second in the first, 
 and 12,953 cubic feet per second in the second and third ; while in 
 the fourth it is 13,206 cubic feet per second. So the difference in 
 the volume between the first and last reach of the canal in that slack- 
 water navigation will be only about 800 cubic feet per second, which 
 is caused by the small streams coming in between the lake and the 
 Rio San Carlos. 
 
 Q. Is that at low or at high water ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : At low water — I have it also for high water, but 
 fail to find it in the notes I have with me. But I know positively, 
 without having the data to confirm my memory, that at no time 
 will the water on the top of the dam be over four feet in thickness 
 at high water. As you see, it is only the last dam that will have 
 to stand the pressure of the water raised in front. Borings were 
 
The Interoceanio Ship Canal. 193 
 
 made at the sides of the river where the locks are to be located, and 
 the character of the rock was found to be the same as on the other 
 side of the lake — that is, wherever rock was found ; but we saw 
 very little rock on this side of the lake, only in the bottom of the 
 stream, in reefs, here and there, and in the rapids already spoken 
 of. Here, in the rapids, we did not take any borings in the bottom 
 of the river, but when the lead struck hard bottom we estimated it 
 rock, and where it went through soft material we estimated earth 
 or clay. 
 
 Q. What harbor is there on the Atlantic side ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : There is no harbor. One will have to be made. 
 I am coming to that directly. We are now arrived at the section 
 between where the canal leaves the river and Greytown. It follows 
 the line of the river to this point, as you see on this map, a distance 
 of 24 miles, and thence goes by almost a straight line to Greytown. 
 The line was at first laid out here, along and over these hills, but 
 afterwards I made a complete survey of that part of the country 
 and found a lower path, by which the line can be located at a reduc- 
 tion on the former estimates for cutting, of from one and a half to 
 two millions dollars. 
 
 Q. What is the estimated total cost of the work ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : Fifty-two millions, to which is to be added the 
 customary allowance of 25 per cent, for contingencies — call it, alto- 
 gether, including the harbor improvements necessary, $65,000,000. 
 The harbor at Brito will cost 12,337,000 ; that at Greytown, 
 12,822,000. The cost of harbor improvements, such as will be here 
 required, will be not great, for the reason that we will have abund- 
 ance of rough stone, convenient of access, from the excavation of 
 the canal, and plenty of excellent wood near at hand. 
 
 Q. What is the rise of the tide on the Atlantic side ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : One and a half feet. 
 
 Q. What drainage have you on this side ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : It varies, but is always amply suflBcient (because 
 the river is), though constantly following the canal, at varying dis- 
 tances from it. The bottom of the canal is, however, generally, 
 above the bottom of the river, and the streams coming from the 
 north it is proposed to pass under the canal by means of siphons, 
 except some very small ones that may be received into the canal. 
 
 Q. What is your project f«r the harbor on the Atlantic ? 
 
194 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 Mr. Mbnocal : We propose to build a jetty. At Greytown the 
 sea strikes the sand beach at an angle of about 45 degrees, and is 
 constantly shifting the sand from east to west. This has caused the 
 formation of the sand bar now closing the harbor. It is proposed 
 to build a jetty out to a depth of 30 feet at low tide, and let these 
 drifting sands from the northeast accumulate in the angle between 
 the coast and the jetty. In course of time it will fill up there, but 
 then, by a further extension of the jetty two or three hundred feet, 
 we would increase to almost double the area of deposit, and the 
 harbor would be preserved from the shifting sands for a certain 
 number of years. The artificial beach thus formed by the accumu- 
 lation of the sand may be so shaped that it will be either perpendi- 
 cular to the prevailing winds, or so inclined to them that the sand, 
 instead of moving toward the entrance of the harbor, will be shifted 
 to the south toward the Colorado, when the harbor may be con- 
 sidered permanently restored. The Colorado river takes ffths 
 of the water of the Rio San Juan, only -j^jth going to the 
 harbor of G-reytown. It is proposed in the plan for the improve- 
 ment of the harbor so to obstruct the channel of the lower San Juan, 
 by means of trees and other obstructions, as to throw all the silt- 
 bearing water of the San Juan into the Colorado, and receive into 
 the harbor only the clean water of the canal, drawn from Lake 
 Nicaragua. I have here plans showing the alterations in the harbor 
 of Greytown from 1809 to the present time, and, if you will look 
 at them, you will see at once that the bar has been formed in the 
 way I have described. 
 
 Q. Is the mouth of the San Juan river permanent in its location, 
 or has it moved ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : Well, it is permanent now, so far as its emptying 
 into the lagoon is concerned. It does not empty into the ocean, 
 but into the lagoon. In the wet season, when the accumulated 
 waters bank up in the lagoon, then it cuts an outlet through the 
 sand-bank to the sea, but as soon as that pressure is removed that 
 outlet is quickly closed again by the sands drifted by the action of 
 the wind. 
 
 Q. What is your estimate for the removal of earth from the canal 
 per cubic yard ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : Thirty-five and forty cents per cubic yard. 
 
 Q. And how much for rock ? 
 
 Mr. Mbnocal : $1.25 and $1.50, and under water $5. The 
 
The Jnteroeeanie Ship Canal. 195 
 
 blasting and dredging of rock under water will be done in the Rio 
 San Juan before the water is raised by the dams. I think, however, 
 that if it be desired, the dams can be built at the same time the 
 dredging and blasting is going on, by leaving sluices sufficiently 
 large to carry the volume of the river. After all the dams are 
 completed, these sluices — which will be provided with gates — can 
 be closed at once, and then, as the water has to be banked up to the 
 lake, I calculate that it will take about four months before the 
 water comes to the top of the first dam. During that time the 
 sluices and openings will be closed with masonry, and, before the 
 full pressure comes upon them, will have ample time to settle. 
 
 Q. What is the material you will employ in the looks and dams ? 
 
 Mr. Mbnocal : Concrete. It is difficult in that country to find 
 dimension stone. The country rock will make a nice material for 
 concrete work, but it would not do for cutting into dimension stone. 
 
 Q. What is the lowest temperature there in winter ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : About 71°, and in summer it rises to 81°. The 
 variation is only about ten degrees in the year. 
 
 Q. Have you examined the old structures on the Isthmus, between 
 the lake and the Pacific, to see if they are cracked by earth- 
 quakes ? 
 
 Mr. Mbjstocal : Yes ; and they are not at all affected from that 
 cause. They cannot have been injured and repaired, for they are 
 entirely neglected by the Indians; yet they are in as good condition 
 as they were, presumably, when the Spaniards left them. 
 
 Q. Do you anticipate any danger to the locks of the canal from 
 the action of earthquakes ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : Decidedly, I do not. I do not know that earth- 
 quakes there ever do any damage to life or property, or that they 
 ever have the slightest effect of altering the water supply in rivers, 
 lakes or wells. But even if the wall of a lock should be cracked, it 
 will be a very simple thing, and readily executed, to repair it. 
 
 Q. Are there, properly, less apprehensions of danger from earth- 
 quakes there than in other parts of the Isthmus ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : Not less than in all other parts, but much less 
 than in some others. For instance, in San Salvador they are much 
 more violent and frequent, and in Guatemala and in parts of the 
 United States of Colombia. 
 
 Q. Have you examined the ruins left by Walker at Grenada, to 
 note their condition, as to whether they had been affected by earth- 
 quakes or not ? 
 
196 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 Mr. Menocai : I have. They stand to-day just as he left them ; 
 those, at least, which were allowed to remain as ruins. The houses 
 were rebuilt, but the churches were not, and their bare blackened 
 walls, standing alone and devoid of any support or braces, rise to a 
 height of, I should say, forty feet. I have examined them very 
 carefully, and did not find a crack in them. Some of the towers 
 were partially blown down then by powder, and look as if they 
 were likely to tumble down at any moment. One, especially, seems 
 threatening to fall with the wind. Yet they stand there as they 
 have stood since 1854. Those are forty -two miles from the line of 
 our proposed canal. In the town of Rivas — two and a half miles 
 from the canal — they have many stone houses, and about ten years 
 ago they completed a stone church there, which had been building 
 during thirty or forty years — one which would be a noteworthy 
 stone church anywhere — and it has never received any injury from 
 earthquake shocks, nor have the stone houses about it. 
 
 Q. Those Spanish ruins at Grenada, Castillo and San Carlos must 
 be over one hundred years old ? 
 
 Mr. Mbnocal : Not less than three hundred years, probably, 
 some of them. I had occasion to show to the United States com- 
 missioners dams that had been built surely over one hundred years 
 ago, which are standing to-day, though not for any present 
 practical purpose, which have never been repaired, yet which 
 manifest no imperfections which can be detected by the closest ex- 
 amination. They were built originally for the purpose of damming 
 up water to be used in the manufacture of indigo, and were 
 abandoned, and have been standing there for one hundred years, 
 perhaps. We saw a gentleman who lived close to the dam near 
 Rivas, and he said it had been there since he was born — he was not 
 less than seventy years old — and before his time, but he could not 
 say how long, as his father never told him when it was built. Yet 
 it is now in the same perfect condition that it was, presumably, 
 when first built, with no cracking, no imperfections and no leakage. 
 Yet it has no apron, and the water has a sheer fall of 15 or 
 20 feet to its base. Its length is V5 feet. That shows, to 
 my mind, not only that earthquakes there will do no injury to 
 constructions of this character— the locks of our canal, for 
 instance — but that the material we have there for the construction 
 of the work is of the best quality. 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 197 
 
 Q.. What material did you say you proposed to use for locks ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : Concrete ; and I suppose the lime of the country 
 would be sufficient. 
 
 Q. What sort of wood have you ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : Oh, excellent — of various kinds, with Spanish 
 names that I do not recall at this moment. 
 
 Q. Are those old Spanish works of concrete ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : Rubble masonry, with mortar between ; the 
 spaces among the large rough stones filled in with smaller ones and 
 mortar. 
 
 Q. by Gen. Gillmobb : At what do you estimate the cost, per 
 cubic yard, of this construction ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : From $7.50 to $9 per cubic yard for the locks, 
 and $12 per cubic yard for the dams, on an average. To be explicit, 
 take lock No. 2 as an example : concrete and foundation, $7 ; lock 
 walls, $8; lift walls, $8; rubble masonry, $7.50 per cubic yard. For 
 the dams across the San Juan the estimates are : rock excavation, $5 ; 
 hydraulic concrete^ $12; rubble masonry, $15; concreting abutments, 
 $8; coping (dressed stone), $20, per cubic yard. 
 
 Q. You can get all the materials there at hand ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : All the materials. The excavations of the canal 
 will furnish the stone, and the lime of the country will answer every 
 purpose. They have built a small water-works at Masaya, in 
 Nicaragua, which lifts the water 224 feet ; and they have con- 
 structed a reservoir or tank in the centre of the town, where they 
 store the water to a depth of 20 feet. The thickness of the wall of 
 this tank at the bottom is only 4^ feet, hardly the theoretical thick- 
 ness required for the best possible construction of such a wall, yet 
 this is built only in the roughest way, of rubble work, and though 
 it has been in use four or five years, there is not the slightest sign 
 of any imperfection from weakness, earthquakes or any other cause. 
 
 Q. How about the harbor on the Pacific side ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : On the Pacific side, we propose to build a jetty 
 here (indicating on the map), starting from this point, 800 feet 
 in length, extending out to 25 feet depth of water ; and another 
 jetty here, running westward, to prevent the sand shifting into the 
 harbor. Then the harbor will have to be dredged. No rocks 
 will be encountered there. I have tested to a depth of 30 feet 
 under water and found the bottom all sand. The materials for the 
 
198 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 jetties will be taken from this hill, on the coast, which is nothing 
 but trap-rock. 
 
 After these surveys were completed, the government ordered a 
 commission of two army officers, an assistant to the coast survey, 
 and two civil engineers, to go over the line and verify the work. 
 The line was located only two years before, so that the stakes and 
 bench-marks marking the locks, cross-sections for dams, etc., were still 
 preserved and were carefully examined by them. Also, through 
 our suggestion, several portions of the line were carefully re- 
 surveyed by them to determine the accuracy of the surveys which 
 had been made. All were found to be perfectly accurate in every 
 point. Bench-marks were found about every 2,000 feet along the 
 line, and the profiles were found to be the actual facts in the careful 
 surveys we had made. After they were m^de, I was in the country 
 several times, in connection with the improvement of the Rio San 
 . Juan and harbor of Greytown, and also with reference to a pro- 
 posed improvement connecting the two lakes — Nicaragua and 
 Managua. Then I made still further careful surveys of this portion 
 of the line, and I know that modifications of the original survey 
 can be made that will reduce the cost of the canal perhaps ten or 
 fifteen per cent. I am sure that any change made in the line, in 
 accordance with my suggestions, will tend to reduce the estimates. 
 
 Q. In what year were the estimates made ? 
 
 Mr. Mbnocal : In 1872. 
 
 Q. What was Mr. Child's estimate? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : His estimate was for a canal only 1 6 feet in 
 depth, and I think it was $34,000,000. Perhaps it was only 
 seventeen or eighteen millions ; I do not remember now. 
 
 Q. What is the radius of your shortest curves ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : 2,200 feet. That is the minimum adopted, and 
 was recommended by naval officers whom I consulted on the sub- 
 ject. They said that the versine of an arc with a chord of 500 feet 
 in such a curve being only 4 feet, there would be no difficulty in 
 taking a ship 400 feet in length around a curve of that radius. An 
 enlargement of the radii of all curves to 5,000 feet would not 
 increase the estimates more than one and a half or two millions of 
 dollars. 
 
 Q. Did you see any external indications of earthquakes along the 
 line of the canal 1 
 
The Jnteroceanic Ship Canal. 1&9 
 
 Mr. Menocal : None whatever, sir ; and I would like to call 
 npori Mr. Ford, an expert engineer who is conversant with that 
 country, to say what is his information upon this subject of earth- 
 quakes. 
 
 Mr. A. L. Ford : It is commonly said there, and reported in the 
 authorized government history of the country, that there has been 
 no instance of loss of life or property by earthquakes. 
 
 Q. by Mr. Mbnocal : You went through Leon ? 
 
 Mr. Ford : Yes ; and I saw no marks or imperfections caused 
 by earthquakes. I also examined with interest some very large 
 concrete-walled tanks — indigo vats — that have been built several 
 hundred years, but show no signs of cracking, 
 
 Q. by Chief Justice Daly: Does this apply to the whole country ? 
 
 Mr. Ford : It is so said. I do not know of my own knowledge, 
 as I did not go through the whole country. 
 
 Q. by Chief Justice Daly to Mr. Mbnocal : What are the 
 most prominent engineering objections to the Panama route ? 
 
 Mr. Mbnocal : I suppose the Chagres river offers the most really 
 serious one, and the rise and fall of the Pacific tide and the pre- 
 vailing calms at Panama the next. The Rio Chagres, in the dry 
 season, is a very small stream, say 250 feet wide and two feet deep. 
 I have waded across it many times. But in the rainy season it 
 becomes a torrent and rises in less than a single day to a maximum 
 of 40 feet. In that case the width of the river is some 1,500 feet, 
 and the volume of water carried fully 160,000 cubic feet per second. 
 The bed of the river is 42 feet above the sea, and as it rises 40 feet 
 in flood at the point where it is proposed to be taken into the canal, 
 you see it will have to be received into the canal with a fall of 82 
 feet, or say 78 feet, making allowance for the decrease due to the 
 velocity of the water as it approached the precipice, and for the 
 head of water above the ocean level after falling. 
 
 Q. Does not the Chagres river bring down much debris ? 
 
 Mr. Mbnocal : Oh, yes ; very much — decayed vegetation, mud, 
 trunks of trees, houses even. In the recent floods it carried away 
 two whole villages. I see reports that it even carried away an iron 
 tank that was 17 feet above the level of the Panama railroad track. 
 
 Q. What is the rock formation there — on that route ? 
 
 Mr. Mbnocal : Sandstone, conglomerate, limestone, coral, and in 
 the upper Chagres large masses of a very soft limestone, so soft 
 
200 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 that with a half-pound hammer you could break oif large pieces of 
 it. And it is not a continuous mass. On one side of the river you 
 will see a vertical, or even overhanging, limestone wall, 80 feet 
 high, and on the other side of the river four or five feet only of 
 limestone, with 20 feet of clay on the top of it ; and in a few 
 feet farther you will find the limestone wall on the other side 
 of the river where the clay was, and the clay on the side where the 
 limestone was. 
 
 Q. How does M. de Lesseps propose to deal with it ? 
 
 Mr. Mbnooal : At the Paris Congress they proposed to build an 
 artificial channel from where they intend to take the river-bed for 
 the canal to the sea. 
 
 Q. How far is that ? 
 
 Mr. Mbnocal : It is 30 miles by railroad ; I do not know how 
 far by their canal. They will have to cut through some very high 
 hills and mountain spurs projecting on both sides of the river to its 
 very banks, in order to straighten its tortuous course to meet the 
 practical requirements of a ship canal ; and they will have to 
 build walls across the lower valleys between the high hills extend- 
 ing to the river. As the cross-section of the river is 15,000 square 
 feet, and the water-section they propose to give the canal is about 
 2,000 square feet, the new channel for the river will have to be no 
 less than 7^ times the proposed section of the canal. 
 
 Q. Do you think the enormous waterfall there would have any 
 effect upon a marine railway ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : I think it would, as has been proved by the great 
 damage done to the Panama railroad by the recent floods of the 
 Chagres river. 
 
 Q. The canal, then, would have to discharge 160,000 cubic feet of 
 water per second in time of flood ? 
 
 Mr. Mbnocal : Of course, since it is to receive the volume of the 
 river ; and what difliculties may have to be encountered in confining 
 so great a body of water, moving with such velocity, in an artificial 
 channel, we may well appreciate, since we all know how hard it is 
 to divert even small streams and confine them to new channels. 
 
 Q. And the velocity is very great ? 
 
 Mr. Mbnooal : 'So less than seven miles per hour with the present 
 fall of the river, and as the canal is only a few hundred feet from 
 the river, and the water of the river is several feet above that in the 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 201 
 
 canal, we may well fear that at any time the river may overflow its 
 artificial banks and flood the canal. 
 
 Q. by Chief Justice Daly : Will you not explain a little more 
 fully the difficulties to be encountered at the mouth of the canal — I 
 mean of the Panama route — and the means by which the projectors 
 of that route propose to overcome them ? 
 
 Mr. Mbnocal : I do not know what plans they propose to adopt. 
 
 Q. You suggested a difficulty from the character of the coast ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : If they build their canal at the level of the sea 
 at Panama, they will have to excavate in the Bay of Panama one 
 and a half miles under water, and in the harbor of Colon they must 
 also excavate under water a long distance to get sufficient depth for 
 their canal. 
 
 Q. And they will require steam vessels to get sailing vessels out 
 of the Bay of Panama, will they not ? 
 
 Mr. Mexocal : In regard to that, I will request Col. Myers to 
 read a paper I have here — a letter from Commodore Maury — with 
 some remarks thereupon by Captain Pim, of the Royal Navy. 
 
 Col. T. Bailey Myers read the following : 
 
 " 30 Haeley St., Cavendish Square, ) 
 "London, July, 1866. \ 
 
 " My dear Captain Pim, — I had occasion some years ago to 
 study, more or less closely, almost every route between the British 
 possessions on the north, and the Isthmus of Darien on the south, 
 whether rail or canal, that had up to that time been attempted or 
 projected across the American continent. Owing to the character 
 of the researches with which I have been for more than twenty 
 years engaged, my attention was directed to those routes rather in 
 their physical and commercial aspects, than to their topographical 
 features, or to their facilities of construction. 
 
 " The great importance of one or more good commercial high- 
 ways across Central America being admitted, the whole question as 
 to route resolves itself pretty much into a question of the cost of 
 construction, and the facility of ingress and egress by sea to and 
 from the opposite termini ; the latter is an affair of winds and cur- 
 rents. Their influence is powerful. Panama has the advantage of 
 land transit ; Nicaragua has the advantage in winds, terminal ports 
 and climate. The first is obvious; but to place the latter in a clear 
 
202 The Interoceanic Ship Canal, 
 
 light, a little explanation may be necessary. * * * j ]iave 
 spoken of a calm-belt about the equator ; Panama is within its 
 range. Owing to the contour of the Central American isthmus, the 
 height and direction of the mountain ranges by which it is traversed, 
 and the influence of these upon winds, this calm-belt is greatly 
 enlarged on the Pacific or lee side of the isthmus. It is difficult to 
 convey, to one who has never experienced these calms, an idea of 
 the obstinacj' with which they vex navigation. We are all familiar 
 with calms at sea, which last for a few hours, or even a day; but 
 here they last for days and weeks at a time. I have known vessels 
 going to or from Panama to be detained by them for months at a 
 time. * * * On one occasion the British Admiralty, wishing 
 to send one of their sailing vessels into the Arctic ocean from 
 Panama in time to save the season, had her towed by a steamer 
 through this calm-belt, and carried 700 miles out to sea before she 
 could find a breeze. * * * These remarks apply to the ap- 
 proach and departure by sea to or from the Pacific terminus of any 
 route across the Isthmus of Panama or Darien, and even with 
 greater force to the Atrato and others on the South American side 
 of Panama. In short, the results of my investigation into the 
 winds and currents of the sea, and their influence upon the routes 
 of commerce, authorize the opinion which I have expressed before, 
 and which I here repeat, namely: if nature, by one of her convul- 
 sions, should rend the continent of America in twain, and make a 
 channel across the Isthmus of Panama or Darien, as deep, and as 
 wide, and as free as the Straits of Dover, it would never become 
 a commercial thoroughfare for sailing vessels, saving the outward 
 bound, and those that could reach it with leading winds. Steamers 
 would and coasters might use it, but homeward-bound vessels in 
 the China, India or Australia trade rarely. * * * -yy^g come 
 now to the Nicaragua routes. Of these there are several. Though 
 longer across from ocean to ocean than Panama, some of them have 
 already, and with a degree of success by no means discouraging, 
 competed with it before the world for public favors. * * * 
 Skillful engineers, both French and American, have examined them 
 [the engineering difficulties and topographical features of this 
 Nicaragua route]. Those of both nations report gradients gentle 
 enough for a canal. In truth, the lakes, their distance from the 
 sea, and their height above it, indicate that the summit-level is to 
 be attained without any very steep ascents. 
 
The Inter oceanic Ship Canal. 203 
 
 " It is to this part of the isthmus, too, to which we must look for 
 a route which shall best fullfi] the present requirements of commerce 
 between the two oceans, as well as for transportation and travel 
 between the Pacific shores of North America on the one hand, and 
 the Atlantic shores both of Europe and America on the other. * * * 
 Vessels under canvas would, in the main, do the fetching and carrying 
 for the Nicaragua route, which, for reasons already stated, cannot be 
 done for Panama. The aggregate amount of this trade is immense, 
 and it is neither accommodated for Panama, nor Panama for it. * * * 
 Therefore, returning again to the physical features of the Panama 
 route, as I promised to do, we can now compare more in detail than 
 I have yet done the advantages possessed by each, as far as those 
 advantages are influenced by facilities of navigation, by the 
 elements, by salubrity of climate, and by the dictates of commerce. 
 The French and English Admiralty charts give the most accurate 
 information that I possess concerning the harbors at the opposite 
 ends of the two routes, Panama and Nicaragua- — I mean as to mere 
 anchoring ground, depth of water, and shelter aiforded. It is 
 proper to remark here, that I was a great friend, an earnest advo- 
 cate, and an active supporter of the Panama road, giving it in 1849 
 the preference over all other isthmian routes. At that time my 
 ' wind and current ' investigations had not extended into the Pacific 
 ocean, and the discovery of those causes which make the approach 
 and departure to and from the Bay of Panama so very diflBcult for 
 sailing vessels had not been suificiently established to give them 
 their proper weight. * * * You wUl observe, at a glance, that 
 the Isthmus of Panama, or Darien, is, on account of these winds 
 and calms, in a purely commercial point of view, the most out-of- 
 the-way place of any part of the Pacific coast of intertropical 
 America. * * * < Lieutenant Mauj-y,' remarks Mr. Hull, master 
 of H. M. S. Havannah, ' truly says that the passage under canvas 
 from Panama to California is one of the most tedious, uncertain, 
 and vexatious that is known to navigators.' Realejo (Nicaragua) 
 is in the northern verge of these calms (Panama), and where they 
 have nearly ceased to be vexatious to the navigator any season. 
 Here, then, is the physical advantage in favor of the Nicaraguan 
 route, for which it is difficult to find the money value. * * * 
 The transit route of Nicaragua is exempt from those heavy draw- 
 backs of dampness and disease. It passes through a salubrious 
 
204 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 climate. The soil is productive ; its pastures abound in cattle. 1 
 never heard of any disease peculiar to the country, or of especial 
 virulence there. 
 
 [Signed] "M. F. Maury." 
 
 Col. Myers : Upon the foregoing letter, Captain Pim goes on to 
 remark, in a paper read by him before the British Association in 
 Sheffield, this year, as follows : 
 
 " Commodore Maury tells us in the plainest language, that if 
 nature, by one of her convulsions, should rend the continent of 
 America in twain, and make a channel across the Isthmus of 
 Panama, or Darien, as deep, and as wide, and as free as the Straits 
 of Dover, it would never become a commercial thoroughfare for 
 sailing vessels, and I have only to endorse this opinion; for of all 
 parts of the world I have ever visited the calms in the Bay of 
 Panama are the most vexatious and enduring. It therefore seems 
 the clear duty of a Central American Isthmus canal projector to 
 decidedly avoid this locality. Under these circumstances it becomes 
 necessary to look elsewhere for a more feasible line of transit, and 
 (once more relying upon the letter of Commodore Maury) the route 
 from the Atlantic by way of the magnificent Nicaraguan lakes to 
 the harbor of Realejo, seems that which is adapted for the required 
 purpose ; for, as Commodore Maury states, and I quite agree with 
 him, it would be impossible to exaggerate the money value of 
 having, as he describes it, a fair start and approach by means of the 
 little monsoons of that coast. 
 
 " Assuming that arrangements can be made for transferring the 
 public favor — or perhaps I ought to say that of M. de Lesseps — 
 from Panama to Nicaragua, I think it may be desirable, as I have 
 been many, many times over that route, to give a general outline of 
 its features, and I will conclude by offering a few suggestions^ 
 which I trust may prove of utility to those who will embark in the 
 grand enterprise of effecting a junction between the Atlantic and 
 Pacific oceans. The great difficulty to be overcome in the con- 
 struction of a canal across Nicaragua is in the making and main- 
 taining the harbor of Greytown on its Atlantic terminus. My 
 friend, the late Mr. Robert Stephenson, the great engineer, when I 
 was with him in Egypt in 1858, used to say that he was acquainted 
 with the deltas of all the great rivers of the world, but that he was 
 
TTie Interoceanic Ship Canal. 206 
 
 not aware of a single instance in -which a harbor was maintained at 
 the mouth of such rivers. Now, the Rio San Juan de Nicaragua 
 has a delta at its mouth, but no other delta in the world is so capri- 
 cious. In 1856 a squadron of Her Majesty's ships rode securely at 
 anchor in the harbor of Greytown ; but in 1860, when I was sta- 
 tioned as senior naval oflBcer in that locality, the sand-bar which 
 made the harbor stretched across very nearly from shore to shore, 
 leaving only Sufficient depth of water for the very smallest coast- 
 ing craft. A few years later there was again a considerable opening, 
 and so matters go on, but now for some time it has been completely 
 closed. A strong norther is sufficient to close the harbor, while a 
 high river will reopen an entrance. Mr. !|lobert Stephenson's dic- 
 tum, therefore, as to the enormous difficulties to be encountered in 
 the attempt to form a harbor at the delta of any great river is more 
 than borne out in the case of Greytown ; although I am well aware 
 that an exception has occurred to this ruling in the case of the Mis- 
 sissippi, where Mr. Eads has succeeded in obtaining a depth of 
 27 feet, under high pressure from Congress ; but the problem is, 
 how to maintain that depth at anything like a paying cost ? If the 
 engineering difficulties could be overcome in forming and maintain- 
 ing a harbor at Greytown, the other obstacles to the opening of 
 the canal from ocean to ocean would be found of very secondary 
 importance ; but to my mind the cost of such an undertaking would 
 completely paralyze the enterprise." 
 
 Q. by Major Sidney F. Shblbouene : Can you tell me, sir, 
 whether Captain Pim does not now hold a concession for a canal by 
 way of Nicaragua ? 
 
 Col. Myers : I cannot, sir. I have simply been requested to read 
 this article, and know nothing farther of Captain Pim's interests in 
 or associations with any interoceanic ship canal enterprise. 
 
 Mr. Thos. de Franco : He holds a concession for a railway 
 instead of a canal, I understand. 
 
 Major Shelboukne : I hold in my hand an article in which it is 
 stated that there are now three concessions foi- Nicaragua canal 
 routes — one to M. de Belly, one to Captain Pim, and another the 
 one in which Commodore Vanderbilt was once interested. 
 
 Col. Myers : I take it, sir, that it is entirely immaterial to the 
 discussion of the questions at present before us who holds conces- 
 sions, or is going to furnish the money to build the canal. What 
 
206 The Jnteroceanie Ship Comal. 
 
 we are endeavoring to arrive at is a knowledge of the feasibility of 
 the several routes, their difficulties and advantages, by such infor- 
 mation as Mr. Menocal is now endeavoring to give us from his sur- 
 veys upon the route be advocates. When we have heard from him 
 we hope to hear from others, until we have collected all the infor- 
 mation possible of value for the world. It will then be time to dis- 
 cuss other questions. There have been for years, as we are all 
 aware, many projects, in some cases sustained by official grants for 
 various forms of transit, none of which were carried out, perhaps 
 for want of money. The present discussion has again called atten- 
 tion to them. If any of them are an improvement to those accepted 
 by the French Congress, or approved by the American government, 
 the projectors will have the opportunity of settling their relative 
 merits amongst themselves, and with those who appear to be acting 
 with an assurance of means to build, and therefore must have the 
 privilege in the end of selecting their route. Having no interest 
 myself, present or prospective, in any project, I feel at liberty to 
 express this opinion. 
 
 Mr. Menocal : The reason I asked the reading of the letter and 
 accompanying matter was simply for the purpose of placing before 
 the meeting the opinion of so great an authority as Captain Maury. 
 
 Q. by Chief Justice Daly : Do the trade winds blow regularly, 
 on both sides of the isthmus, at the termini of the Nicaragua 
 route ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : Yes, sir. 
 
 Q. And how far down do they extend on the Pacific side ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : Not so far as Panama. A sailing vessel generally 
 gets about as far as Costa Rica without difficulty. 
 
 Q. And with those trade winds, sailing vessels can at all times 
 approach either the Pacific or the Atlantic end of this canal ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : Yes, sir. 
 
 Q.'It is published that your estimate for passing a vessel through 
 the canal is thirty-eight hours ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : Yes, sir ; that is correct. 
 
 Q. At what rate of speed would that be ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : Three miles per hour in the canal, eight in the 
 river and ten in the lake, the usual speed of a steamer at sea. The 
 time allowed for passing through the locks is twenty minutes. 
 There are some gentlemen here who have some experience with 
 
7%e Interoceanic Ship Canal. 207 
 
 canal looks, from whom I would be glad to hear an opinion as to 
 whether this is an over-estimate or not. Mr. Seymour and General 
 Gillmore can speak as authorities on this subiect, I believe. 
 
 HoEATio Seymour, Jr.: I do not know that I am particularly 
 posted in this matter, any more than are a number of other engi- 
 neers here. 
 
 Mr. Menocal : Only in regard to the time required to pass the 
 locks, I should like to hear your opinion. 
 
 Mr. Sbymoue : I should say twenty minutes for each lock was a 
 proper estimate of time. It takes a boat eleven minutes to go 
 through one of the Erie canal locks. At the Sault S'te Marie it 
 takes twenty minutes. Col. Weitzel estimates twenty minutes as 
 quite sufficient. 
 
 Gen. GiLLMOEE : Twenty minutes is an ample allowance of 
 time. 
 
 Q. by Chief Justice Daly : I understand these locks are made 
 for 3,000-ton ships. Can you slow up a 3,000-ton ship, get it 
 through the lock and start it again in twenty minutes ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : -That is what more experienced engineers than 
 myself in canal operation believe is practicable. 
 
 Q. Are there any locks in the world, of the same magnitude as 
 these are intended to be, which would afford a precedent as to 
 time? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : Not except in the enlargement of the Welland 
 canal, which at least approximate. They are 270 feet in length, by 
 70 in width. Here in the United States I think we have locks 400 
 feet long, but not so wide or so deep. The Ohio locks, I think, are 
 only twelve or fourteen feet in depth. It is in the handling of the 
 ship, where you have to swing it around, that time is required, and 
 that will be all that will cause delay in the operation of the tide 
 lock — getting it into the axis of the lock. But in a canal where the 
 line of the vessel is in the axis of the canal, all we have to do is to 
 stop the velocity of the ship, close the gates, and then, when the 
 gates before her are opened, the ship starts again, promptly, and 
 without any swinging around. The opening and closing of the 
 locks can be done in a very short time. 
 
 Mr. Gaednee : There can hardly be greater difficulties in passing 
 ships through ship canals than are encountered in the St. Lawrence 
 ca,nal, yet nine thousand were passed through there in one year. 
 
208 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 Mr. Menocal : And they have there but one system of locks, 
 have they not ? 
 
 Mr. Gakdner : I think most of them are single. 
 
 Mr. Metstocal : The engineer of the North Sea canal, Mr. Con- 
 rad who is in favor of M. de Lessep's plan, told me they could 
 pass seventeen ships during the hours of the day — they do not 
 operate the locks at night — through the two great locks of the 
 North Sea canal ; that is, large ships of four or five thousand tons. 
 If there were that number of ships to pass through our canal, with 
 a system of single locks, we could carry four or five times the proba- 
 ble trade of the canal. 
 
 Q. I understood from Lieut. Wyse, in a series of interviews I 
 had with him last winter, that M. de Lesseps was opposed to the 
 lock system, because there was no precedent by which to satisfy 
 owners of vessels that they would be safe in entrusting their vessels 
 and cargoes to such an extensive system of lockage as proposed by 
 the Nicaragua route, or by the plan he himself proposed by way of 
 the Atrato. 
 
 Mr. Menocal : It is to be remembered that M. de Lesseps is not 
 an engineer, and never had anything to do with canals until he was 
 a financial promoter. I have here the opinions of M. Cotard and 
 M. Lavalle — two prominent French engineers, who took an active 
 part in the construction of the Suez canal. They find no difliculty 
 in building a canal on the plan proposed by the Nicaragua route, 
 and before the Paris Congress advocated the construction of that 
 canal. M. Lavalle has subsequently stated before the French 
 Society of Civil Engineers that the efficiency of the Suez canal 
 would have been increased if a tide lock had been built on the Port 
 Said side of the canal. Neither of those engineers anticipate any 
 difficulties in working a canal with locks, provided they are 
 properly built and sufficiently supplied with water. 
 
 Mr. Gardner exhibited a profile of the Welland canal improve- 
 ment. He said : This represents a canal 2 71 miles long. You will 
 observe that there is a perfect staircase of locks, to carry vessels of 
 2,000 tons, and the total lockage, by this staircase, is 326J feet, or 
 three times as high as from the Atlantic to the ' summit-level 
 of the proposed Nicaragua canal. These locks are 240 by 40 feet, 
 with a depth of 14 feet. The total height of the lockage be- 
 tween the lake and Montreal, is about 550 feet. The Cana- 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 209 
 
 dians built their first ship canals in 1829, and after about 
 twenty years' experience with the system, were so well satisfied 
 that they commenced enlarging and improving them, and they 
 have expended about thirty million dollars in this work of enlarg- 
 ing these canals so as to make them practicable for 2,000-ton 
 vessels. The Canadian engineers have more experience than any 
 others with long shij) canals, and demonstrate their success most 
 practically by the enterprise with which they are extending and en- 
 larging their serviceability. The total expenditure of Canada on 
 this long ship-canal route, when it shall have been completed, will be 
 over $54,000,000. 
 
 Chief Justice Daly : Within $10,000,000, nearly, of the 
 Nicaragua canal's estimated cost. 
 
 Mr. Gakdnbe : Yes, about the same as the Nicaragua canal 
 proper. But here this lockage, in a single place, within a distance 
 of seven miles, is three times as great as that required on the 
 Nicaragua canal. The locks are not as large as it is proposed 
 those shall be, but they are large enough to carry 2,000-ton vessels, 
 and these vessels succeed each other rapidly, one right after 
 another. Through the old Welland canal they could put through 
 4,400 vessels in a single year, but through the new system 9,000. 
 I telegraphed yesterday to the Secretary of the Department of 
 Railroads and Canals, at Ottawa, to know the actual time a vessel 
 made in going from Port Colborne to Dalhousie, and he sent me 
 back word that he had transmitted full information by mail — which 
 does us no good this evening. I had hoped to be able to present 
 the information now, but will have to defer it until another time. 
 
 Q. How many locks are there in that staircase ? 
 
 Mr. Gardner : They have 2V in the flight, of about 12 feet lift. 
 
 Major Sidney F. Shelbotjrne : It is disagreeable to have to 
 differ from a gentleman of such experience and ability as Mr. 
 Menocal, but I shall have to say something regarding the calms in 
 the Bay of Panama. I am not in favor of M. de Lesseps's route. I 
 think i^ impracticable, financially and scientifically. I am in favor, 
 however, of the San Bias route, which opens into the Bay of Panama, 
 and I have taken particular pains to investigate that matter of the 
 calms in the Bay of Panama, because I have heard it reiterated, 
 again and again, what difficulty vessels would have in passing into 
 and out of that bay. It is true there is a belt of calms, extending 
 
210 TM Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 from about 4° north latitude to 14° or 15° north latitude, and it 
 extends all the way across the Pacific ocean to the China seas. It 
 varies in its width, sometimes extending not higher up than 8° or 
 10°, sometimes to 14° or 15° north latitude. Within this larger 
 limit is the Pacific terminus of the proposed Nicaraguan canal. The 
 San Bias terminus is in about 8° north latitude. This belt is called 
 by sailors " the doldrums," and is not wholly calms, but full of 
 variable, shifting, light winds and calms. I have taken the opinion 
 of sea captains in the California trade — have gone on their ships 
 and enquired about it — and I have consulted with Mr. Charles Fred- 
 erick Elwell, President of the Maritime Association of this port, and 
 head of a very old shipping firm that sent out the first supply vessel 
 to California. He said that in a single year his firm had sent as 
 many as 125 to 130 sailing vessels to Panama and Aspinwall, and 
 "they would just as lief go to Panama as to any other port on the 
 coast ; there was no difference." Maintaining the view I had fixed 
 in my mind that there was in the Bay of Panama, during about one 
 third of the year, a season of almost perpetual calm, I asked him if 
 there was not a time when there were nearly constant calms in the 
 Bay of Panama, but he wouldn't hear to that. Now Mr. Elwell 
 has no interest in this matter, and he said that his firm " would as 
 lief send vessels into the Bay of Panama as any other port on the 
 coast." 
 
 But now, suppose the argument was true, that there were calms in 
 the Bay of Panama, and that the fact was due to that bay being in 
 the belt of calms or equatorial " doldrums," would it not then be 
 apparent to you that, if this belt extends across the Pacific, then 
 vessels passing through the Nicaraguan canal, and coming out near 
 the northern verge of that belt, if bound for any South American 
 Pacific port, Japan, China, or Australia, would have to pass through 
 this belt of calms — through the whole of it ? But vessels going 
 through by the San Bias, or Panama route, would only have to pass 
 through one-half of it, admitting the full extent of their argument. 
 
 Captain Pim and Lieutenant Maury doubtless stated this as a 
 matter of scientific inquiry, but those men whom I have consulted 
 have realized it, experienced it in their business as a fact, and are, 
 surely, competent to judge of its importance. Now is book knowl- 
 edge, or scientific experiment and knowledge, to be compared with 
 the practical experience of sea captains and shipping houses who 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 211 
 
 have carried and sent vessels by the hundred into this very port ? 
 Which is worth more, the opinion of one party or of the other ? 
 With regard to this Nicaragua route, the subject is so large, the 
 figures so extensive, the plans so elaborate, that if a person has not 
 studied them by days and weeks a very plausible and fair-seeming 
 statement of the different parts of the plans would pass muster, and 
 be accepted almost anywhere, even with an audience as intelligent, 
 and capable of judging of things, as this audience is. But let us 
 look at them a little. You will see, from Mr. Menocal's statement 
 of the width of the bottom of his canal, in rock, that it is 60 feet; 
 the slope of the wall one vertical to one horizontal. That is, at four 
 feet from the bottom you will have a width of 64 feet. 
 
 Mr. Menocal : Excuse me a moment. Sixty feet is the width of 
 the bottom of the canal at a depth of 26 feet ; at a depth of 16 feet 
 the width is 90 feet, and on the surface of the canal it is 106 feet. 
 But it will be observed, by looking at the section of the water-prism 
 of the canal, that by continuing the slopes proposed of ^ to 1, from 
 the surface of the water to the bottom of the canal, the bottom 
 width will be V2 feet, or more than the Suez canal, and the increase 
 in the excavations will be insignificant, probably not more than 500 
 cubic yards in the whole extent of rock excavation in the canal. 
 
 Major Shelbouene : Even allowing that change to have been 
 calculated in the plans and made, the canal 72 feet wide upon the 
 bottom, with this rise of one foot vertical to one-half foot horizontal, 
 would still, at a height of four feet from the bottom, be but 76 feet 
 wide. But vessels of three, four, and five thousand tons, such 
 ships as would be employed in this interoceanic trade, have a 
 beam of 40 or 45 feet. Now two vessels of that size, each drawing 
 24 or 25 feet of water, could not meet and pass in that section of 
 the canal, because the outer side of each would graze upon the unex- 
 cavated rock. The canal is not wide enough on the bottom in the 
 rock section, and any just estimate of its cost should be based upon 
 a very material enlargement in this direction. Another thing that 
 materially affects the estimates is, that while the canal is calculated 
 on a depth of 26 feet on this route, the calculations for the San 
 Bias and M. de Lesseps's routes are made upon the basis of a depth 
 of 28 feet. Between the lake and the first dam, Mr. Menocal 
 says, is 29 or 30 miles, and the excavation would be made to an 
 average depth of six feet. Now, then, in that part of the river we 
 
212 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 have, according to Mr. Menocal's own estimate, some 834,000 and 
 odd cubic yards of rock excavation required to get the depth of 
 26 feet of water. Then you have a width of 80 feet to obtain ; 
 and, understand, that excavation in the rock is not all at one 
 point, but at various places along a distance of some 28 miles, 
 in removing reefs of rock spread out in the river, in some 
 instances only a little to come off, in others more. He says that 
 excavation can be made before the dams are completed — that is, he 
 would have that rock excavation to do under a depth of, say, 10 to 
 15 feet of water, and that water the current of a river, before a dam 
 is built upon it. My experience shows me that it would be easier 
 to blast out and remove rock from a depth of 26 feet in still 
 water, than under 10 or 14 feet where you have a current of three 
 or four miles an hour, or even less, to contend with. But, granting 
 him the most favorable conditions in still water, Mr. Menocal has 
 put his estimate for this rock excavation much too low. He has 
 placed it at $5 per cubic yard. Now we all know that here in 
 New York harbor, where there is competition and the best appli- 
 ances, for simply lifting rock from the bottom, and taking it away 
 after it has been blasted out by Gen. Newton, in his work in the East 
 river — and that not in Hell Gate, but from other obstructions he has 
 been removing — the cost has been something like $4.50 per cubic yard. 
 The latest estimate, I believe, was $2.26 per ton, and two tons are 
 calculated to the cubic yard. That would make a difference in Mr. 
 Menocal's estimate of $6,424,245, taking the quantities of necessary 
 excavation he has calculated upon. If you should go to 28 feet in 
 depth, to put figures on a comparison with those of other routes, as 
 all submarine reefs increase in contents more or less largely as they 
 go down, you would have a still greater quantity, an indefinite but 
 vast quantity, to add to the present estimates. Suffice it to say, 
 taking the 10,000 and odd cubic yards of rock excavation at the 
 west side of the lake where the canal passes down to the Pacific, 
 and adding the number of cubic yards in the river where the slack- 
 water navigation is to be, the whole quantity would be 856,566 
 cubic yards. In this paper he has undertaken to justify the figures 
 he has placed, by saying that Col. Child's estimate in 1851 was 
 from $2.50 to $5 per cubic yard. He has also estimated the gravel 
 and sand dredging in the river, at a depth of 9 to 14 feet, at 
 2,180,589 cubic yards. Now, if you will look on the map, you will 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 213 
 
 see the curves and angles of that river, and I should like to ask any 
 engineer, who has practically excavated such a work, whether a 
 width of 80 feet, following the course of such a crooked river, would 
 be wide enough to allow vessels to pass without grazing their sides 
 and bottoms on the rocky sides of that tortuous cut. Again, in 
 regard to the open cut. He has made the sum of that 14;677,389 
 cubic yards, and he has told you that he has estimated the cost of 
 that at $1 to 11.25 per cubic yard. Now, all engineers who have 
 done any work on the isthmus — among them Col. Totten, Mr. 
 Evans and other gentlemen of practical experience — will say to you 
 that that price is wholly inadequate for that work. In some par- 
 ticular localities it miglit be sufficient, but not here. To bring the 
 figures up on the basis of the estimates on the other routes would 
 add to that estimate for that open-cut work the sum of $24,535,469, 
 making those two items — the six million dollars necessary increase 
 on the item of rock excavation in the river and these twenty -four 
 millions — something over $31,000,000. Adding that— with the cus- 
 tomary percentage for contingencies — to their present estimate, 
 would bring the total cost up to $104,421,790. Moreover, on the 
 canal on the Atlantic end, there is a stretch of seven miles that will 
 have to be constructed through a swamp imbedded with trunks of 
 trees — a perfect network of trees, and stumps, and other material. 
 The removal of this is not so difficult as the fact of maintaining a 
 canal through such a swamp, with such a section as Mr. Menocal 
 has estimated for it. A slope of 1| to 1 is wholly inadequate. In 
 such a swamp, where it is more or less mud, the material taken out 
 in the excavation of that canal would have to be put far back on the 
 bank. Now, then, to increase the estimate for that part of the 
 canal — those seven miles through the swamp — necessarily to increase 
 it to obtain a work capable of being maintained, to make the slope 
 4 to 1 and get a width of 100 feet on the bottom, would add some 
 9,000,000 of cubic yards (double what he has allowed) to the exca- 
 vation. And when you have done that you will still have to line 
 those walls with rip-rap to get them to stand, besides putting the 
 material taken from the cut far back from it, to prevent its weight 
 and slipperiness pushing it back into the canal. This part of the 
 canal passes through two or three small lakes, and there is a river 
 called the San Juanillo that crosses it almost at right angles. What 
 provision has been made for that river I do not know, and cannot 
 find out from the estimates. 
 
214 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 Again, in the lake, there are seven miles, from Fort San Carlos 
 on the east side out into the lake seven miles, where the excavation 
 of the mud has to be to a depth of 10 feet on an average. Mr. 
 Menocal has said that the width of the bottom there was calculated 
 to be 80 feet, with a slope of 4 to 1, and he thought, because vessels 
 would not meet with any wind in that part of the canal, that that 
 bottom was wide enough. Now, in all government works, it has 
 been calculated that a channel, where the excavation is only 3 to 6 
 feet upon an average, and it is desired to make it navigable for 
 large ships, should have a width of 300 feet at least. I will refer 
 you, by way of illustration of such a work, to the channel which is 
 excavating in the Patapsco river for the improvement of Baltimore 
 harbor, under the direction of Col. Craighill. They commenced 
 that with a width of 500 feet, and have been increasing it. 
 
 Mr. Menocal says sailing vessels would probably be able 
 to sail across the lake and not be obliged to take a tow. 
 But this evening he states that that channel would be wide 
 enough because there would not be any wind there. How 
 then could sailing vessels go across the lake without any 
 wind ? They would have to be towed across the lake. But, 
 to increase the width of that channel to a width of 300 feet and 
 provide as would be necessary in such soft material, you would 
 have to excavate 12 feet, with a slope of 3 or 4 to 1. A friend who 
 has sailed across that lake tells me that the paddles of light-draft 
 side-wheel vessels would blacken the water by stirring up the mud 
 from the bottom, it was so soft. So, to maintain that cut there, you 
 would have to be continually dredging to keep it 300 feet wide, and 
 you would have to buoy it to make it convenient or safe even for 
 steamers. As regards the harbors on both sides you have had suffi- 
 cient information, and are able to judge of the difficulties in the 
 way of constructing and maintaining them. I do not see any diffi- 
 culty in creating a harbor on the Pacific, but I do see difficulty, not 
 in creating, but in maintaining one on the Atlantic side, and if any 
 of you will see the length of the line of coast directly east from 
 Greytown, you will appreciate how long a breakwater will have to 
 be built, how far out it will have to be built, before the direction of 
 the prevalent wind will be at right angles to the bank that is 
 formed between the breakwater and the present coast. 
 
 Mr. Menocal : How far ? 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 215 
 
 Major Shelbouene : I think the coast extends almost directly 
 eastward from the entrance to Greytown harbor for a distance of 
 a mile to two miles. 
 
 Mr. Menocal : And how long will the jetty then have to be ? 
 
 Major Shelbouene : Well, that is a mere matter of engineering 
 calculation. 
 
 Mr. Menocal : Oh ! and I suppose you have not studied that ? 
 
 Major Shelbouene : Oh, I don't assert that a harbor cannot be 
 maintained there, but any jetty built will be only temporary in its 
 effect, and it will continually have to be extended. 
 
 Mr. Menocal : The question is how far it will have to be extended 
 before we have the sands drifted by the action of the winds at right 
 angles with the present coast ? 
 
 Major Shelbouene : Well, my impression is that the coast ex- 
 tends a mile, or a mile and a half directly east. Now, if the winds 
 strike that coast at an angle of 45°, that jetty will have to be extended 
 to make a right angle with the coast. If Mr. Menocal will be 
 present at any future discussion, I will be careful to make the esti- 
 mates, and tell him how long the jetty will have to be before the 
 conditions he desires will be attained. 
 
 In regard to the matter of locks, and the time of passing through 
 them, that is a matter for every engineer to judge for himself. I 
 want to say, however — though I do not wish to be understood as 
 offering it as a valid objection against the lock system — that if you 
 calculate the area of the present pipes that Mr. Menocal has located 
 in his locks to fill them, taking the velocity of the inflowing water 
 at 10 feet per second, it will take, as you will find, some eighteen 
 minutes for the water to fill them. I do not say those pipes cannot 
 be increased, but I do say the present estimates are wholly inade- 
 quate. I think it is fair to remind the gentlemen present that the 
 commission of which Mr. Menocal speaks, said that, as far as the 
 scientific work in the surveys was concerned, they found no fault 
 with it, but at the same time they say — and Mr. Menocal has so 
 admitted in a paper he wrote for The Engineering News — that this 
 commission found that in some instances the prices put upon this 
 work were not altogether adequate. 
 
 Mr. Menocal : I think you are in error, sir. I did not say, " the 
 commission," but " some members of the commission.'' The fact 
 is, that there was but one out of the five, Major McFarland, who 
 
216 The Interoceanie Ship Canal. 
 
 entertained that impression, but in writing that article I did not wish 
 to seem personal, and so wrote " some of the members," instead of 
 " one of the members," which wonld have been correct. 
 
 Major Shelbouene : I do not stand here to correct the gentle- 
 man as to what he said on a former occasion. I simply say that to 
 bring the prices on a par with those upon which the estimates of the 
 other routes are based, is to add for two items alone an increase of 
 about thirty-one million dollars to his estimates. 
 
 In regard to this matter of earthquakes in Nicaragua, and the 
 different parts of the isthmus, the fact appears to be this : When 
 you take the very narrowest parts of this isthmus, as it is at San 
 Bias, and very little more between Panama and Colon, you find that 
 it is not altogether free from slight shocks, or tremblings of the 
 earth, but they were never known to have done any damage. You 
 know some years ago, Caraccas, which is on the body of South 
 America, had a very severe earthquake, in which the whole city was 
 destroyed. I have not enough data by which I can say that my 
 remark will be borne out by experience or scientific conclusions, but 
 it appears to me, from the data I have seen and the information I 
 could gather, that where the continents begin to widen out, so as 
 to form a broad area, that earthquakes are more numerous and more 
 severe. When you get into the body of South America the earth- 
 quakes are sometimes very disastrous, and you know earthquakes 
 are very severe in Mexico. The idea seems to me to be this : Here 
 you have a narrow region of isthmus with more or less depth of 
 ocean on each side, and, as an earthquake must be due to internal 
 commotion of the earth — volcanic or whatever you choose to call it 
 — -and will be disastrous in proportion to the resistance offered to 
 that force finding its exit on the line of least resistance; so, if you 
 take the isthmus at San Bias — 1,500 feet high and very narrow — 
 there it would seem the earthquake force would find its way out 
 without any great resistance, and consequently without provoking 
 any very great effect, but in South America it would have to exert 
 a greater power to find the line of least resistance and effect its 
 exit. So above in Nicaragua also, where the isthmus is wider. 
 
 There are other points, but I hardly feel like taking time this 
 evening to develop them. 
 
 Mr. Menocal : I would like to say, in regard to the gentleman's 
 proposed alterations in my estimates, that from all the information 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 217 
 
 I have been able to obtain, I am led to believe that the excavations, 
 tinder water as well as out, can be executed along the whole route 
 for the prices stated in these reports, and a very responsible person 
 here in New York has told me they would be very willing to take 
 the contract for all the rock blasting and dredging at the prices 
 estimated. 
 
 As to the winds on the lake. I have said, and I say, that the 
 winds do not prevail on that portion where the lake would have to 
 be dredged, as that part is shielded by mountains. It would there- 
 fore be necessary for a vessel to be towed along the river and into 
 the lake until she got a fair wind, beyond this sheltered corner, and 
 then her way would be open for her all across the lake, for pro- 
 gress by the aid of her own sails. 
 
 As to the channel through the swamp, it is not proposed to bank 
 the excavated material, but to dump it in the little lakes and the 
 lower channel of the San Juan. 
 
 Q. What is the material ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : Sand and clay, and as to a doubt of its stand- 
 ing a slope of 1^ to 1, I will simply say that the natural banks of all 
 these lakes, as they stand, have a slope of ^ to 1, so that they have 
 deep water very close to the edge. In that little lake (indi- 
 cating upon the map) you have ten feet depth of water within 
 five feet of the edge, and the center depth is 16 feet. All this 
 material, as has been said, it is proposed shall be dumped into these 
 little lakes and the channel specified. There is no proposition to 
 form dykes on the sides of the canal. 
 
 Q. How high are the natural banks around those lakes ? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : On the south and west sides they are high, 
 though I do not remember the exact altitude now, but all this 
 (indicating the other margins on the map) is low land. 
 
 Q. How far does that river extend across the channel, and what 
 is its character? 
 
 Mr. Mbnocal: It is simply an outlet of the Rio San Juan, and 
 it is proposed to cut it off altogether, which can be done very easily. 
 
 Q. Do you propose to blast any rock in a current like that at 
 Hell Gate? 
 
 Mr. Menocal : Oh no, not at all. There is a short place 
 where we might have to blast at a depth of nine feet, in a current 
 of five miles an hour, and as we blast away the rock which acts as a 
 
218 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 dam, "the current will increase, but it can be at no point so violent 
 ^s to offer any serious obstacle to the work. 
 
 Q. You have spoken of it as trap rock. Is it at all similar in 
 character to that about here ? 
 
 Mr. Mbnocal: Oh no. It is loose and fractures easily, while 
 this you have to encounter here is very hard and compact. 
 
 Q. Hard rock, like granite, would increase the cost of removal ? 
 
 Mr. Mbnocal: Yes; naturally. But I can say that responsible 
 persons here are willing to take the contract for all that work at the 
 prices named in the estimates. Those estimates are correct, and no 
 engineer of reputation, conversant with the facts, has — heretofore 
 — criticised them. 
 
 Mr. A. L. Fokd: So far as it affords an indication of the actual 
 cost of earth excavation in that country, I will say that a large 
 pontract has just been made in Nicaragua for the cdnstruction of 
 80 miles of railroad, and the contract has been taken by Mr. 
 Norris. His basis of figures for the earth work is on 30 cents 
 per cubic yard for all kinds of earth, not merely light loam, but stiff 
 clays and some swamp; and lie based his figures on calculations 
 including the rainy season and a prospective increase in the price 
 of labor — for the entire labor market of that country is affected by 
 ^ contract of such magnitude as building 80 miles of railroad. 
 
 Mr. Menocal: I would like to call the attention of engineers 
 Ito the fact that, in the construction of the proposed canal across 
 Nicaragua, the work is not concentrated at any particular point, 
 but extended along the whole length of the line ; so that the men 
 can be put to work at the same time from one end of the canal to 
 the other, and the work can be completed in a relatively short time 
 as compared to the time that would be required to build a canal by 
 either the San Bias or the Panama routes, where, on account of the 
 proposed tunnel and of the deep cuts, only a limited number of 
 men can work at once. 
 
 Chief-Justice Dalt : It is now twenty minutes to eleven 
 o'clock. This discussion will be continued next Monday evening, 
 until which time this meeting will stand adjourned. 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 219 
 
 INTEROCEANIC SHIP CANAL. 
 
 Special Meeting of the American Geographical Society, held at 
 their rooms, on the evening of Monday, December 22, 1879. 
 
 Among others, there were present — Chief Justice Dalj-, the Presi- 
 dent of the Society, Mr. William H. Webb, Mr. John E. Body, 
 General E. W. Serrell, Civil Engineer, Mr. Elial F. Hall, Mr. 
 Octave Chanute, Mr. D. S. Moulton, Mr. Jess Young, F.R.G.S., 
 Major Sidney F. Shelbourne, Mr. James M. Bowman, and Mr. 
 Simon Stevens. 
 
 Upon calling the meeting to order, the President said that it was 
 the intention to devote the evening to the consideration of the San 
 Bias route for an isthmus canal, the last meeting having been given 
 to the consideration of the Panama route, which led to the present- 
 ation of claims on behalf of opposing routes, among which was the 
 San Bias. 
 
 The Pkbsident said : Before the investigation commences, I 
 think I should call the attention of those present to the fact that 
 an address was made before the Committee on Technique, which, 
 as I understand it, was the chief scientific committee of the Paris 
 Congress, appointed to examine preliminarily the various routes, 
 their advantages and disadvantages, by Mr. De Courcey, a civil 
 engineer. The fact that he addressed such a committee is of itself 
 an indication that he was a person of some consequence in their 
 estimation ; and that his address was considered of importance, I 
 infer from the fact that it has been translated and published in the 
 last number of the Popular Science Monthly in this country. 
 
 I wish to call attention to three statements that he makes, one of 
 which is certainly very extraordinary for a civil engineer professing 
 to speak upon a subject with which he assumed to be acquainted — 
 that is, to the effect (I give his language as in the translation) that 
 to carry out the San Bias project a harbor must be built on the Atlan- 
 tic. Now, it is known to geographers — at least, to all American 
 geographers — that the' bay of San Bias is a very remarkable one, and 
 that in the northwestern portion of that bay, at the mouth of the 
 Mandinga river, which is to be the mouth of the projected canal, 
 there is a very fine harbor capable of accommodating vessels of any 
 
220 The Interoceanie Ship Canal. 
 
 depth of draft. At least, that is the fact unless all the informa- 
 tion we have hitherto received is unfounded, and Mr. De Courcey 
 has information which we do not possess. 
 
 The other statement is, that at the mouth of the Bayano river^ 
 which is' to be utilized for the canal on the Pacific side, and at the 
 mouth or near the mouth of which the canal is to terminate — that 
 on that side there is a bar which he says it is by no means certain 
 can be mastered. He may be correct in this statement, for I am not 
 particularly informed in regard to the mouth of the Bayano ; but 
 there are gentlemen here who are, perhaps, informed upon that sub- 
 ject, and who can tell us whether there is such a bar, and whether 
 the difficulties are so great as Mr. De Courcey suggests. 
 
 The last statement is in i-espect to the proposed tunnel on the San 
 Bias route. He says that shipmasters do not take kindly to a tun- 
 nel with so long a passage without fresh air; that they will have 
 an unconquerable antipathy to passing through it, even with the aid 
 of an electric light. The passage through this tunnel as estimated, 
 so far as I understand, will occupy about two hours — which amounts 
 to the proposition that a shipmaster, from his " unconquerable " 
 repugnance to a tunnel, would prefer carrying his ship around Cape 
 Horn instead of going through a tunnel in a passage of two hours. 
 
 I mention these three facts, as they are reproduced in a publica- 
 tion here for the information of the American public, to show how, 
 in my judgment, even in the most important committee of the 
 Paris Congress, they were misled in respect to the true facts by gen- 
 tlemen professing to have knowledge of them. 
 
 Major Shelbourne, who was heard on the previous evening in a 
 criticism of Mr. Menocal's exposition of the Nicaragua route and it» 
 superior advantages, is here. If he is willing I will call upon him, 
 and we shall be glad to hear from him as full an exposition of the 
 San Bias route as he is disposed to make, giving us as far as he can 
 an exact account of what is proposed to be done, the nature of the 
 country through which it is proposed to pass, the character of this 
 tunnel, and, so far as such a matter can be now judged of, its esti- 
 mated cost, or any other matters which he deems essential in con- 
 nection with it. 
 
 Major Sidney F. Shelbourne then came forward and spoke as fol- 
 lows : 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 221 
 
 ADDRESS OF MAJOR SIDNEY F. SHELBOURNE. 
 
 THE NICABAGUA EOUTB. 
 
 Major Shelboukne said : Mr. President and Gentlemen, — Before 
 entering upon the principal subject of discussion for this evening, I 
 beg your indulgence for a moment while I return to a detail of the 
 Nicaragua route, which was under discussion at your last meeting, 
 a week ago, and in which Mr. Menocal undertook to question a 
 statement that I had made in reference to the breakwater or jetty, 
 and the silt that would throw around it. His statement was to the 
 effect that the jetty would be, as I undej-stood him, some 600 feet 
 long from the shore, and that it was intended to stop the drift of 
 the sand along the coast, as it is now formed there, at the harbor of 
 Oreytown, and that eventually the condition would arrive in which the 
 northeast trade winds, which now strike the present coast at an angle 
 of 45 degrees, driving the sand along it, would fill up the angle to 
 be formed by the breakwater with the coast so as to create a shore- 
 line at right angles to the direction of the wind ; and thereafter the 
 sand, instead of drifting westward in the direction of the proposed 
 outlet for the canal, would be turned in another direction, and be 
 driven towards the south. 
 
 I stated that the coast at that point trended almost, if not directly 
 east, for a distance of between one and two miles. I had not made 
 an exact measurement of the distance on the scale, and the question 
 which Mr. Menocal put to me was as to the length of the coast 
 trending directly eastward along which the sand would drive. Not 
 wishing to speak at random, I said I would make a calculation, and 
 at the next meeting of the Society I would present it. 
 
 Those of you who can see this portion of this map will see the 
 direction of that coast. That point [referring to a location on the 
 coast as delineated on Map No. 4, accompanying the report of the 
 surveys of the Nicaraguan route by the United States government] 
 is the proposed breakwater. It is not proposed to be built at right 
 angles to the coast, but at an angle of about 115 degrees with the 
 trend of the coast. I have produced here [exhibiting a diagram of 
 the coast and an extended breakwater on a scale of one mile to the 
 inch] a rough idea of the conditions which will obtain. This 
 coast, from the place where the breakwater is proposed to be 
 
222 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 built out from it, trends directly east, as you see by the map, not a 
 mile and three-quarters, as I stated, because I did not want to speak 
 without exact knowledge, but I find, upon a calculation upon the 
 plans and maps made by Mr. Menocal himself,' that the direction of 
 this coast eastward is for a distance of two miles and ninety-three 
 one-hundredths from the point whei-e the breakwater is proposed to 
 be built. I stated that the sand driving along that coast would 
 very soon fill up the angle between the shore arid the end of the 
 breakwater ; and then the breakwater would need to be continually 
 extended in order to prevent the sand from drifting into the mouth 
 of the canal. You will see, then, since the northeast trade winds 
 Strike this three miles of coast at an angle of 45 degrees, the con- 
 ditions for turning the sand in another direction, which Mr. Menocal 
 hopes to attain, will not arise in Greytown harbor until this break- 
 water is extended out a distance equal to the distance from the 
 shore end of the breakwater to the point eastward where the coast 
 faces off towards the sonth, which is about three miles. 
 
 The length of the breakwater, as it is proposed to be built, if I 
 understood Mr. Menocal's statement correctly, would be represented 
 on this diagram of a scale of one inch to the mile, by a line only 
 one-eighth of an inch in length. But the condition of safety for the 
 canal would not be attained until the breakwater actually built 
 could be represented on this same scale by a line nearly three inches in 
 length, so that when the breakwater shall have been extended for a 
 distance of three miles from the shore, and the angle formed by it 
 with the three miles of coast should become filled up with sand, the 
 wind would then drive the waves bearing the sand at right angles 
 to the new-made shpre, and the movement westward would pro- 
 bably cease and possibly the sand find an easier lodgment in another 
 direction. Now, 600 feet is a little less than one-eighth of a mile ; 
 consequently, if the breakwater is to be 600 feet long at the com- 
 mencement, it would have to be extended twenty-four times its 
 whole length before the condition of security would arise. The 
 danger of the sand drifting into the mouth of this canal around the 
 breakwater, and its rapidity of lodgment, will be apparent to you 
 when I repeat Mr. Menocal's own statement that a half million of 
 cubic yards of sand and debris is brought down by the San Juan 
 river and fed to the waves of the sea through its outlets at and 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 223 
 
 near the harbor of Grey town — a half million cubic yards everf 
 year. 
 
 Mr. Menocal has said that all engineers who have examined his 
 plans for a breakwater here at Greytown have approved of them, 
 and that they were approved by the Paris Congress. I think you 
 all will approve of this proposed breakwater as a makeshift for the 
 present, and as the beginning of a very prolonged struggle with a 
 herculean difficulty. . However, Mr. Menocal himself states that it 
 will need to be extended from time to time. In that statement he 
 admits the whole objection. I should approve of it, too, if the 
 Nicaragua route were the only canal route, and every engineer can 
 see that to build a breakwater or jetty at right angles to a coast 
 along which the sand is driven, will stop the sand for a certain length 
 of time. 
 
 THE SAN BLAS ROUTE. 
 
 Turning from the subject of the Nicaragua canal to that of the 
 route by way of San Bias, I have to say, in the first place, that every 
 feasible and available route except San Bias, every route that is now 
 brought to the public ear, has had its government surveyor and its 
 official volume, containing very extensive letterpress and numerous 
 detailed maps ; but the San Bias route has nothing to represent it 
 that the government did or paid for, except two small maps among 
 seventeen contained in Commander Selfridge's report, the letter- 
 press of which, relating to the San Bias route, is comprised in six 
 pages. 
 
 It was the great misfortune of the San Bias route that a private 
 citizen spent his money and sent his engineers down to the isthmus 
 some six or seven years before the first of the prominent government 
 surveys were made, and the fact that he thus surveyed this route, 
 and made his map of it, and advocated it, so that it was called the 
 " Kelley route," was enough to condemn it in the eyes of the gov- 
 ernment officials. A naval officer does not take his cue from a civi- 
 lian, nor, if he can help himself, does he propose to take a secondary 
 place in any project, scheme or exploration that a civilian has com- 
 menced and carried to a certain progress of demonstration. There- 
 fore the naval officers — each one who made a survey upon the 
 isthmus — had routes of their own, and Selfridge, who merely went 
 to the Gulf of San Bias after the beginning of the rainy season, and 
 
224 Tlie Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 spent a few days there and made a reconnoissance up the mountain, 
 following the crooked beds of the watercourses and a partial and 
 tortuous chain and level survey upon the ridge, in his report elabo- 
 rates a route that his own name could lead, the Atrato Napipi route, 
 and the great bulk of his maps are devoted to the detailed plans of 
 that route, commencing in the Gulf of Uraba, and ascending the 
 Atrato river for 150 miles, and reaching the divide in the general 
 line of the valley of the Napipi with a tunnel through the ridge, and 
 with locks down to Cupica or Liroon bay on the Pacific. The Te- 
 huantepec route, surveyed un der Captain Shnfeldt, has its volume 
 bound in red, perhaps because it is a demonstrative color. The 
 Nicaragua route has its volume, the final survey being made under 
 Commander Lull. The Panama route has its volume, and, as I have 
 just said, the Atrato Napipi route dwarfs everything else in the volu- 
 minous theme of Commander Selfridge. I will not, however, under- 
 take to explain how it happens that each naval officer has come to 
 have his judgment invariably set in favor of that route the report 
 of which bears his own name in large capitals on its title-pages. It 
 is, undoubtedly, natural that a father should love his child, and 
 wish, too, to be publicly recognized as the father of his own. 
 
 But if the officers of the United States government have failed to 
 give to the San Bias route that attention which it deserves and 
 if it is not represented before you to-night by a detailed report 
 of a government officer and by maps of profiles and sections, and 
 plans and minute details, elaborated at Washington, it may fortun- 
 ately be said that nature herself has presented her strongest argu- 
 ments for the San Bias route, and the geographer, true to her as he 
 hopes to declare the merits of his work, has delineated them in every 
 school atlas, and they may be found upon the shelves of every 
 scientific society. It is enough to say that it has long been shown 
 in all atlases that at San Bias the isthmus comes to its very nar- 
 rowest — less than 27 minutes of a degree of latitude as Mr. 
 
 Sweet makes it, and Mr. McDougal's survey, 30 miles and a small 
 fraction. Commander Selfridge, however, represents it in his 
 report as being 37 milfes from ocean to ocean. How he arrives 
 at this length I cannot imagine, while on his map, according to the 
 scale, the whole direct distance across from ocean to ocean is a 
 trifle under 30 miles. As this latter distance agrees, within a few 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Caned, 225 
 
 feet, with the results of McDougal's survey, it should he assumed 
 to be substantially correct. If Commander Selfridge had taken the 
 trouble to determine the true latitude and longitude of the shore on 
 the Pacific side at the mouth of the Bayano river, we could have 
 known the exact distance across the isthmus at this point to within 
 at least 150 feet. None of these maps which are hanging on the 
 wall before you will show the direction to the Gulf of San Bias 
 from New York ; but bearing in mind that the longitude of New 
 York and the eastern point of Cuba is about the same, being 74° 
 west from Greenwich, the route as far as Cuba will be in a great 
 circle, and taking what is called the windward channel, we pass the 
 eastern extremity of Cuba, and then bearing southwest by south, 
 we also pass the eastern point of the island of Jamaica, striking the 
 Gulf of San Bias on a direct course, and passing Point San Bias on 
 a southwest by west course, we enter the magnificent harbor of 
 Mandinga. Now, the distance from New York by the passage I 
 have delineated to the proposed San Bias canal is 85 miles less than 
 that by the same windward channel to Greytown, the Atlantic 
 terminus of the proposed canal through Nicaragua. We will com- 
 mence with the exposition of the San Bias route on the Atlantic 
 side, while on the Nicaragua route they have usually commenced 
 on the Pacific ^ide. We reach, then, across this open sea, the Gulf 
 of San Bias, as represented upon this map [referring to Mr. Kelley's 
 map of the San Bias survey loaned to the society], and 85 miles 
 nearer to New York, as I have said, than Greytown. This map 
 was made by Mi\ Sweet, one of Mr. Kelley's engineers engaged in 
 the survey. This survey was made in 1864, under the auspices of 
 Mr. Kelley and Mr. Cyrus Butler, and no complete survey of this 
 route has ever been made since, but only a reconnoissance and 
 partial survey by Commander Selfridge in the expedition of 1870^ 
 The engineers of Mr. Kelley commenced their survey upon the 
 Pacific side. Pausing here, I will say that this harbor of Mandinga 
 was surveyed by Commander Lull, then under Selfridge, but after- 
 wards having command of the expedition which completed the 
 survey of the Nicaragua route. It was commenced in April, 1870, 
 and was completed during the time of the land survey of the San 
 Bias route under the other officers of Commander Selfridge's expe. 
 dition of that year. Lull spent twenty-five days altogether in the 
 
226 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 survey of the approach to this harbor, and in a trigonometrical 
 survey of the harbor itself and the Gulf of San Bias. There is an 
 area here in the harbor of as much as nine square miles, where a 
 vessel can ride at anchor at all times with perfect safety. As you 
 approach this harbor from the Gulf of San Bias through the channel 
 which has been named after Admiral Porter, and pass the southern- 
 most of an extended parallel group of islands which form its north- 
 east boundary, the depth of the water in the harbor is 112 feet 
 and as you pass inward towards the delta between the mouths of 
 the Rio Mandinga, you have a depth of 30 feet within 300 yards of 
 the shore. The bottom of this harbor is a clay and clayish mud, 
 so you see it affords an excellent holding ground. The mouths of 
 the Mandinga river are not shown upon Mr. Kelley's maps, except 
 one of them, as you will see here by this slight shore indication, 
 which was perhaps plotted afterwards from Commandei" Lull's 
 survey of the harbor. The river Mandinga has two mouths opening 
 into this harbor of the same name. The reason that Mr. Kelley's 
 engineers have not located the mouths of the rivers Mandinga, 
 Vercalagua and Carti, which open here into the gulf of San Bias, 
 is that at the time their survey was made in 1864 this tribe of 
 Indians inhabiting the Atlantic slope of the Cordilleras at San Bias 
 had beea almost entirely excluded from contact with civilization, 
 and were very hostile. They were very jealous of the presence of 
 strangers, and when Mr. Kelley's party of engineers and surveyors 
 got over the ridge down to the low land — for about three miles the 
 ground does not rise more than four or five feet above the sea level, 
 and during the rainy season it is a part of the time overflowed — 
 when they got down here the Indians made hostile demonstrations, 
 and the sui-veyors were obliged to get back over the mountain. 
 
 I have here a small map, which Mr. Curren has kindly pinned up 
 for me, which was made under the auspices of Commander Selfridge, 
 and is map No. 12, accompanying the report of his expedition of 
 1870. It will show you the chief features of at least the Atlantic 
 division of the San Bias route, and the details of Mandinga harbor 
 and the Gulf of San Bias, for it was to these features, not examined 
 by Mr. Kelley's engineers, that the most of his attention was directed. 
 As this map is very poorly plotted, .and as the lines are not in colors 
 and not very prominent, it will be very difficult for those of you in 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 227 
 
 the back of the room to see the details of this Gulf of San Bias. 
 At any rate, I can explain to you that Point San Bias, shown on thi» 
 map, is the point of the mainland the furthest towards the north- 
 east of this whole region of the isthmus lying to the south, south- 
 east of Aspinwall, and that it forms the northern shore of the large 
 Gulf of San Bias, enclosed between it and the mainland, at the 
 mouth of the river Carti on the south. The entrance to the Gulf of 
 San Bias is from the direction of northeast by east. There are a. 
 number of outlying islands here, which protect the gulf and the- 
 interior harbor of Mandinga, and make it safe at all times. The- 
 entrance, however, into the interior harbor is by a broad channel, 
 called, as I have indicated, Porter channel. 
 
 This Mandinga harbor, then, embracing an area of about nine 
 square miles, is intended to be the Atlantic terminus of the Sare 
 Bias interoceanic canal. 
 
 The two mouths of the Rio Mandinga are separated from each 
 other by a distance of two and a half miles, while it is only one and 
 a half miles in a direct line across the delta from the shore to the 
 point where the river separates into its two outlets. Altogether, for 
 a distance of three miles in a direct line from the harbor shore, the 
 Mandinga passes through low ground, scarcely elevated above the 
 sea, and then we begin to find rising ground as we ascend in its bed. 
 If we were standing upon the slope of the Cordillera to the south- 
 west, and looking towards Mandinga harbor and the Gulf of San 
 Bias, and the dense verdure and intervening ridges did not obstruct 
 the vision, we would see the Mandinga river on our left entering 
 into the harbor towards the east ; the Rio Vercalagua before us, and 
 partly to the right, also entering into Mandinga harbor, further 
 towards the right and in a northerly direction ; and on the extreme 
 right the Carti river entering into the Gulf of San Bias, in a 
 northerly direction, near the easterly limits of the southern shore of 
 the gulf next to the sea. 
 
 As the Rio Mandinga is quite to the left, and the Rio Carti far 
 to the right of the proposed line of the canal, their peculiarities and 
 water-shed do not enter into the problem before us, although both 
 of these rivers find their source far up towards the centre of the 
 isthmus. But the Vercalagua more directly interests us, because 
 through a portion of its upper valley would the open cutting of the 
 
228 The Interoeeanic Ship Canal, 
 
 canal on this side of the Cordillera be made. It has its rise on the 
 Atlantic slope of the Cordillera, about seven miles in a direct line from 
 the harbor of Mandinga, and when you get three or four miles from 
 the harbor, and strike its valley, it is nothing but a little mountain 
 rivulet, sometimes dry, but in the wet season a little mountain tor- 
 rent. The open cutting of the canal would strike the bed of this 
 river at a distance of two miles from the point where the canal be- 
 gins, at the hai'bor of Mandinga, and follow its bed in general direc- 
 tion for another half mile, when it again leaves its bed, and takes 
 the valley to the right or southward of the stream itself, to the point 
 where' the tunnel would commence, five miles from the harbor of 
 Mandinga. It will be seen, therefore, that the Vercalagua will have 
 a new direction or debouohement given to it from a point two miles 
 and a half from the harbor of Mandinga, by the embankment of the 
 rock debris brought from the tunnel, and that its outlet into the 
 harbor will then be near the southernmost mouth of the Rio 
 Mandinga. 
 
 I will now go forward and locate for you the termini of the pro- 
 posed San Bias canal, and give you the approximate length and 
 character of its sections. Its Atlantic end would be in latitude 
 9° 26' 56" north and longitude 79° 2' 50" west, the harbor of 
 ]JIandinga presenting at this point the nearest available approach 
 southward towards the ridge of the Cordilleras. This end of the 
 canal may be further located on the map by a distance of 2 miles 
 550 yards in a direction west by southwest from the mouth of the 
 Rio Vercalagua. The first section would be five miles of open 
 cutting in a generally south southwest direction. Then would fol- 
 low the tunnel for a distance of seven miles through the Cordillera, 
 varying but little in direction from a meridian of longitude, and 
 terminating upon the Pacific slope of the range about a half mile 
 east by northeast of the falls of Salto. From this point the canal 
 would be led by an open cutting a distance of 12 miles into the 
 Rio Bayano at its great bend, a point six miles from the Bay of 
 Panama. And now returning to the Atlantic side, let us follow 
 this work more in detail. The five miles of open cutting commenc- 
 ing at Mandinga harbor would pass for a distance of two miles 
 through a lowland, which lowland is not a mud — not a soft mud — 
 since it is composed of a reddish yellow clay in the main part, with 
 some vegetable decomposition and dark alluvium upon the surface. 
 
The Jnteroceanic Ship Canal. 229 
 
 For nearly three miles the cutting would be quite light. I may say 
 in this connection that the tide passes up this river, the Vercalagua, 
 for a mile and a half, and the tide only rises and falls on an average 
 eight-tenths of a foot in the harbor of Mandinga, so that you can 
 see how little the rise of the ground must be for that distance, since 
 eight-tenths of a foot brings the tide a mile and a half up that river. 
 After you get three miles in a direct line from the harbor of Man- 
 dinga, the ground begins to rise rapidly until, at a point five miles 
 from the harbor, you come to an elevation 190 feet above the surface 
 of the sea. 
 
 It has been laid down, and seems to have been agreed to by en- 
 gineers generally, and by persons who have studied this subject, 
 since no one has presented adverse views, that when you arrive at a 
 depth in open cutting of 190 feet above the sea that it would be 
 cheaper and more desirable to make a tunnel. If this depth of open 
 cutting, thferefore, be taken as the proper one for commencing the 
 tunnel, the length of the cutting of this depth would not' be more 
 than a quarter of a mile in the situation under our consideration,, 
 for the surface of the gi-ound immediately falls down to an eleva- 
 tion of 166 feet, then to 130, 98 and 66 feet at the middle point of 
 this five miles of open cutting, while the average of the remainder 
 is but a trifle above the sea. It is to be observed, however, that 
 when we add 28 feet, the depth of the canal below the sea level, ta 
 the 190 feet of open cutting above that level, we will have, for 
 a few rods of open cutting just at the mouth of the tunnel, a 
 depth of 218 feet, and the tunnel being proposed of a height of 
 168 feet above the bottom of the canal, it will be seen that there 
 will remain above the arch of the tunnel at its commencement a 
 roof of rock of a depth of 50 feet. 
 
 Two routes for the tunnel suggest themselves to those who have 
 studied the features of this portion of the isthmus, slightly varying 
 from each other in their outlet on the Pacific side; but which would 
 be the most advantageous would depend upon more accurate surveys. 
 There have been a great many fears expressed, and a great many 
 doubts entertained in regard to the feasibility of the tunnel — in 
 regard to its cost — in regard to its utility after its construction, and 
 in regard to the stability of its natural arch, involving the question 
 of the probable necessity for supplying a masonry arch for the 
 whole length of its seven miles. 
 
230 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 Judge Daly : And the danger of the inflow of water ? 
 
 Mr. Shblbofene: Yes, that is one of the expected difficulties — 
 the infiltration of water through the rock into the tunnel while it is 
 feeing excavated the 28 feet below the surface of the sea. 
 
 I wish, however, first to speak of the problem of the length of 
 this tunnel. There is a wide discrepancy between the two surveys, 
 or partial surveys, as we must call one of them, in regard to the 
 distance through the Cordillera at an elevation of 190 feet above the 
 ocean, and consequently in regard to the probable length of the 
 tunnel. It will be worth the time to explain how that arose. 
 
 If you will follow the direction of the river Bayano, on this map 
 of Mr. Kelley, up from its mouth at the Bay of Panama to the junc- 
 tion of the river Mamoni, and then up that river to the dividing 
 ridge and over it, you will trace the principal line of survey made by 
 Mr. Kelley's engineers. Commencing in the Bay of Panama, they 
 made an accurate survey up the Bayano and the Mamoni, locating 
 all the bends, banks, spurs of hills and points of shore, and passing 
 in the same way up the Mamoni, skirting a spur or ridge of hills on 
 their right, which approaches from the east close to the Mamoni, 
 they came up that river to the falls of Salto, in the first range of the 
 Cordillera on that side through which the tunnel would have to be 
 made. Knowing the general direction of the proposed tunnel to be 
 north from the point where they were, they took the bend of this 
 first range of the Cordillera, and found, instead of its being directly 
 «ast and west, that it fell away toward a point north of east on 
 their right; they therefore Surveyed along the foot of this range 
 towards their right for something more than half a mile, and 
 located the Pacific end of the tunnel, as they thought, in the most 
 favorable and advanced position northward to be found in the base 
 of the mountain. Returning to the Mamoni, they continued a 
 •chain and level survey up the circuitous valley of this river, noting 
 <every angle with their instruments, and coming to the sources of the 
 Butler river, a north and south branch of the Mamoni, they passed 
 over the divide, and finding the head-waters of a branch of the 
 Samgandi, they passed down the Samgandi and the Mandinga, 
 with which it joins, to the base of the Cordillera on the Atlantic 
 side, where, as I have said, they were driven back by the Indians. 
 Now, as far as the mountain itself is concerned, this survey of Mr. 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 231 
 
 Kelley's engineers, although it was a series of circuitous valleys, 
 was, nevertheless, unique and complete, and the determination, 
 upon a scale, of the consecutive series of angles obtained, will give 
 us the distance in a straight line from one side of the mountain to 
 the other. That they did not go from the base of the mountain on 
 this Atlantic side to the harbor of Mandinga, here shown on Self- 
 ridge's map, and obtain the exact distance, and locate the mouths 
 of the rivers which flow into the harbor and gulf, and get the topo- 
 graphy of the harbor and the bearings of this point of San Bias 
 and all the locations hereabouts, does not make any difference as 
 regards their survey of the ridge of the mountain. 
 
 You see that this map [referring to map 12 of Self ridge's report], 
 so far as the Pacific side is concerned, was made entirely from Mr. 
 Kelly's survey. Here is almost, if not quite, a complete copy, on a 
 reduced scale, it is true, of the curves and bends and direction, and 
 everything else, of this river Bayano. Nobody made a proper 
 survey of this side of the isthmus for this route, except Mr. Kelley's 
 engineers, that I am aware of. Mr. Kelley's engineers passed over 
 this ridge entirely. Mr. Selfridge's engineers, when they made 
 their survey six years later, commenced on the Atlantic side in the 
 harbor of Mandinga, and passed up the valley of the Mandinga 
 river and its branches, in the same circuitous way in which Mr. 
 Kelley's engineers came down, until they passed over the ridge, and 
 came to the junction of the river San Jose with the Mamoni, where 
 they fixed upon the marks of Mr. Kelley's survey, and joined their 
 line with his. Commander Selfridge says, in his report, that they 
 met Mr. Kelley's survey at the junction of that river, San Jose, with 
 the Mamoni, and that they found there only half a mile of difference 
 or variation between the location of that point, as determined by 
 his own surveyors and the surveyors of Mr. Kelley. And he says 
 further, that this half mile of variation shows the accurate work of 
 Mr. Kelley's engineers, for they took their base line from the coast 
 line of the Pacific, while his own party took their line from astro- 
 nomical observations; and he says of the Pacific shore line, that it 
 " is doubtless half a mile in error." Now, Mr. Selfridge's surveyors, in 
 plotting this map [No. 12, before referred to], went to work to join 
 their survey to Mr. Kelley's surveys, and they brought out this sheet 
 accordingly. It is a hybrid production, part of one sort and part of 
 another; and in the merging together of two surveys it may be 
 readily understood how, when they plotted their map, they could 
 
232 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 make upon it the distance through this mountain here, in a direct 
 line, to show ten miles or any other imaginable approximation. That 
 there is an error in this map [No. 12] is apparent, for this reason. 
 You will observe the direction of that ridge of the Cordillera [the 
 first extended ridge on the Pacific side on which are located the falls 
 of Salto]. As it has been plotted on this map [No. 12] it is almost 
 at right angles, if not at right angles, to the proposed direction of 
 the tunnel. Upon the general map of the Isthmus of Darien [map 
 No. 1, accompanjdng Selfridge's report], that range of mountain 
 immediately to the eastward of Salto falls turns to the northeast 
 until it meets the longer range bearing south of east. By measur- 
 ing the distance from a fixed point on the Bayano river, on the 
 scale of Selfridge's map, to the points of this range of the Cor- 
 dillera, as shown on the map, and comparing these distances with 
 the same distances as determined on the scale of Mr. Kelley's map, 
 from which the other was made, an error appears in Commander 
 Selfridge's map, in a single particular alone, of one and one-half 
 miles. I compared the distance and pointed out the error to General 
 Newton, who seemed to agree with me that the method of detection 
 was conclusive. 
 
 Another point is this : In determining the length of the tunnel 
 through this mountain to be ten miles. Commander Selfridge took 
 his starting point on the Atlantic side from the valley of the 
 Mandinga and his elevation above the sea at 160 feet, counting 30 
 feet for the bottom of the tunnel below the sea level to make up 
 the 190 feet for his tunnel starting point. Now, the valley of the 
 Mandinga, looking down the Atlantic slope, is quite to the left and 
 decidedly away from the direct and shortest cut through the 
 mountain, and his elevation of 160 feet in the Mandinga valley is 
 much to the rear of the point adjacent to the valley of the Verca- 
 lagua, where the tunnel would commence. 
 
 A further indication is worthy of notice. A member of the party 
 which surveyed the Rio Vercalagua, states in his report that the 
 mouth of this river has a direct south bearing from the point of 
 San Bias, while in fact it is located on Commander Selfridge's map 
 nearly four miles to the westward of that bearing. If the reporting 
 oflicer had made that statement of the mouth of the Rio Carti, 
 either the map or the officer would have come within two-thirds of 
 a mile of the truth. These various particulars, then, show that this 
 map of Commander Selfridge, being plotted by the surveyors who 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 233 
 
 made a partial survey and appropriated Mr. Kelley's surveys for the 
 rest and filled up a gap of half a mile at the point of junction, is 
 altogether unreliable as to the distance through this mountain and 
 the length of this tunnel; while Mr. Sweet, who has in his note- 
 book every particular of his work over this whole ridge, since this 
 question came to be talked about and since the sitting of the Paris 
 Congress, has gone over the details of his map and the length of 
 this tunnel, and he cannot find any error in it. So that it may be 
 taken for granted, upon all the best information that we have at 
 present, that this tunnel will not be more than seven miles long. 
 
 Judge Daly : At what point of elevation do you place the com- 
 mencement of this tunnel ? I ask the question for this reason : If I 
 correctly recollect, Commander Selfridge in his report states that 
 the tunnel will have to commence at about 350 feet of elevation, 
 assuming that he makes the distance ten miles. 
 
 Mr. Shelbottene : 190 feet above the sea is assumed as the 
 elevation for commencing the tunnel. I am not aware that Com- 
 mander Selfridge so spoke of the San Bias route. I cannot find any 
 such statement in the text of his report. He speaks, however, in a 
 supplement to his report, of a possible lock canal on this route, with 
 thirty-one locks, to gain an elevation of 372 feet, and then a tunnel 
 of seven miles through the ridge. It may be, though, that he has 
 made some such statement as you name of the Napipi. 
 
 Judge Daly : I think not. I will send for the report. 
 
 Mr. Shelbouene : We then have the length of the tunnel, as far 
 as we are now able to determine it. 
 
 I want now to advert to the method which was very feasible to 
 Commander Selfridge, with the facilities at his command, for deter- 
 mining the length of this tunnel astronomically. You will observe 
 that the direction of the tunnel is almost exactly upon a meridian of 
 longitude; that is, the question of longitude, for determining the 
 length of the tunnel astronomically, does not come into the 
 problem. Conceiving that such a simple method of determining the 
 length of that tunnel would be feasible, I wrote to the Naval 
 Obsei-vatory at Washington, and I have a letter from Rear Admiral 
 Rodgers, which, with your permission, I will read : 
 
 U. S. Naval Obseevatoey, ) 
 Washington, September 9, 1879. ) 
 Dear Sir : It is difl[icult to answer your question, since the skill of 
 the observer is so important an element ; but in a night a zenith 
 telescope may, in good hands, be put up and a result obtained for 
 
234 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 the station, with a no greater probable error in latitude than the 
 quarter of a second. 
 
 With this error assumed for each end of the line, the probable 
 error in the length of the tunnel, supposing that the stations are 
 upon the same meridian, will be found by this formula : 
 
 ± V (0".25)^ + (0".25y — ± 0".35. 
 
 This represents a probable error of some 36 feet. 
 Yours very respectfully, 
 
 John Rodgbes, 
 Recur Admiral, Superintendent. 
 
 I also wrote to Professor Peters, of the Litchfield Observatory at 
 Clinton, and he writes : 
 
 Litchfield Obsbktatokt of Hamilton College, 
 Clinton, N. Y., September 16, 1879. 
 Sidney F. Shblbouene, Esq. 
 
 J)ear Sir : An experienced observer, with suitable instruments, 
 should be able to determine the latitude of a place by one night's 
 work to within one or two seconds of arc, that is, about to within 
 100 or 200 feet. 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 C. H. F. Peters. 
 
 Both of these eminent gentlemen agree, then, that with such a 
 telescope as Selfridge had at his command, his parties might have 
 placed their station of observation at an elevation of 190 feet up the 
 Rio Vercalagua on the Atlantic side from the harbor of Mandinga, 
 and in one night made an observation ; and upon the Pacific side at 
 an elevation of 190 feet, and in one night made an observation, which 
 would have determined within at least 200 feet the length of this 
 tunnel, and settled this question upon the basis of fact, and not 
 upon that of conjecture. But these observations were not made, 
 and while the party attached to Commander Selfridge's survey had 
 an astronomical station upon the shore of the harbor of Mandinga 
 and determined its position, we have no account of any observations 
 made anywhere on the interior of this route or on its Pacific side. 
 It was Lieutenant-Commander Eastman who made a hydro- 
 graphic survey of the Bayano river on the Pacific side; and in 
 regard to the point that Judge Daly mentioned at the opening of 
 this meeting, as coming from a statement made by a member of the 
 Paris Congress before the Committee on Technique, that an insur- 
 mountable bar existed at the mouth of the Bayano, I will say 
 that the report of the officer making the survey says that a bar had 
 
The Interoceanio Ship Canal. 235 
 
 been located there by all the charts with not more than six feet 
 of water on it, but that he found no such bar; but, on the contrary, 
 a channel into the river of a depth of IS feet at low water, 
 sufficiently wide for all practical purposes. The average rise and fall 
 of the tide at the mouth of this river is 16 feet, as laid down by the 
 surveys, making a depth of 31 feet, without any further improve- 
 ment, at high water. I should say the spring tides, which occur at 
 the full and new of the moon, rise sometimes as much as 21 feet, 
 but the average rise and fall of the tide is 16 feet. This river, from 
 its mouth up to and beyond the point where the canal enters into 
 it, has a depth of 15 and 18 feet, and in parts as high as 25 feet at 
 low water, giving also at high water from 31 to 41 feet without any 
 further improvement. 
 
 Judge Daly : Does that extend as far as the tide extends ? 
 
 Mr. Shblbouene : No, sir ; not as far as the tide reaches. You 
 will see that the river makes a large but sudden and very closely 
 returning bend here where the canal would enter it. The distance 
 from this bend and the canal cutting to the mouth of the river is 
 six miles, and it is for that distance that I speak when I say that 
 the survey shows there is from 15 to 25 feet of water in the river at 
 low water. The tide extends up this river, as the i-iver runs, for a 
 distance of 21 miles ; but as you come up around this great bend 
 where the canal enters the river from the northward, the river has 
 its direction quite from the eastward and away from the line of 
 the canal, so that you see, as the canal enters the river compara- 
 tively near its mouth and a long distance below the head of tidal 
 action, any freshets in the upper reaches of this river cannot 
 materially afEect its level where the canal enters it. As you pass 
 wp the river from this great bend, its bed rises more rapidly until 
 you arrive at the head of the tide — that is to say, that the river at 
 the head of the tide would have an elevation of 16 feet above 
 the river at its mouth in the bay of Panama, and the tide would 
 influence the river up to that elevation, or, more correctly speaking, 
 to a point where the ordinary surface of the river is elevated 16 feet 
 above the surface of low water in the bay of Panama, a distance of 
 about 27 miles. The head of the tide water in this little river, the 
 Mamoni, closely adjacent to the line of the canal, is in a direct line 
 from the great bend where the canal enters the Bayano, a distance 
 of four and one-sixth miles ; so that it is apparent that the depth 
 of open cutting in the canal for this distance will vary only up to 
 
236 
 
 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 16 feet above low water in the Bay of Panama, and from the head, 
 of tide in the Mamoni to the base of the mountain, where the tunnel 
 would commence on the Pacific side, the elevation above low water 
 would vary from 16 feet to 75 feet close up to the base of the ridge. 
 The exact length of cutting from an elevation of 75 feet to that of 
 190 feet I have not been able to determine from the data I have had 
 before me, but I should say less than one mile. 
 
 It will be observed that that part of the Bayano river to be 
 utilized in connection with the canal has a width of nearly half a 
 mile for one-third of the distance from its mouth. 
 
 Now, in regard to the tunnel and its proposed width and height. 
 I have had a drawing made which will represent to you the section 
 of the tunnel : 
 
 ^77777777777777777^/77777. 
 
The Interoceanie Ship Canal. 237 
 
 There have been various widths proposed for it, from 60 to 80 
 feet. Considering that it might be desirable that the largest vessels 
 now afloat should pass each other within the tunnel — one going in 
 one direction and the other in the opposite direction — and consider- 
 ing the progressive size of the vessels of the future, I have made 
 this tunnel 100 feet wide at the surface of the water. It is also 
 100 feet wide at a depth of about 14 feet below the surface of the 
 water, and to a height of 54 feet above it. Angles are avoided in 
 the bottom of this tunnel, and the sides are seen to curve inward 
 towards the floor, leaving a convenient fillet of rock in the corners. 
 The height of the tunnel altogether, from the bottom to the top, is 
 proposed to be 168 feet, with a depth of water of 28 feet. The 
 springing of the arch is to begin at 54 feet above the surface of the 
 water, and continue thence a further perpendicular height of 86 
 feet to the crown — making the latter point 140 feet above the sur- 
 face of the water. 
 
 The drawing shows, in its left-hand section, a representation of 
 the ship James Nesmith, a sailing vessel of 2,000 tons. The po- 
 sition of her topmast-head is shown when the side of the vessel is 
 against the side of the tunnel. I have shown it in that way in 
 order to answer the objection of those who argue that a vessel com- 
 ing in contact with one side of the tunnel would injure its masts, 
 yards and rigging against the decline of the tunnel arch. The yards 
 of the vessel are shown cock -billed — that is, having one end of them 
 brought downward on an inclination as shown in the figure. Both 
 ends, therefore, of the yards are brought within the perpendicu- 
 lars of the sides of the vessel. It will be seen by this drawing 
 that, when the side of that vessel is, against the side of the tunnel, 
 the topmast-head will not touch the arch — it comes, at least, 10 feet 
 from the decline of the arch. The width of this ship is 41^ feet. 
 The figure shows the space between the central line of the tunnel 
 and the body of the ship when she is placed next to the side of the 
 tunnel ; consequently, two such ships might pass each other in this 
 tunnel, leaving a space of 17 feet between them. 
 
 The arrow-head in the right-hand section of the drawing shows 
 the relative position of the topmast-heads of the steamers City of 
 Chester and City of Serlin, of the Inman line, when passing each 
 other in this tunnel. This arrow-head shows where the topmast- 
 head of each vessel would come — the one on one side of the tunnel 
 
238 The Inter oceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 and the other on the opposite side — with reference both to the con- 
 tral line of the tunnel and the declines of its arch. I am told that 
 the height of the topmasts of these steamers equals those of any now 
 afloat. You see that the clear distance, sidewise, to the arch is 
 about 8 feet ; while, if one of these vessels were passing along in 
 the central line of the tunnel, the vertical clearance would be more 
 than 22 feet. I should say, at this point, that it is proposed to have 
 longitudinal fenders fastened against the sides of the tunnel, of 
 heavy timber, so that a vessel passing through it will never come in 
 contact with the rock nor any of its roughness. 
 
 Again, sailing vessels in passing through the tunnel will always 
 be in charge of a tug, alongside, and the tug being the lowest by far, 
 with its smoke-stack and rigging, will take its position next to the 
 side of the tunnel, keeping the vessel as near as possible in the cen- 
 tral line of the passage. A steamer in transit can keep its direction 
 and position with the greatest facility, for the water in this tunnel 
 will be always quiescent. 
 
 In the work of excavating this tunnel it is proposed to begin at 
 the top and excavate first a top section or heading of the main tun- 
 nel. This heading, or preliminary tunnel, as I shall call it, will have 
 a vertical section of about 40 square yards, and, conforming in its 
 arch with the arch of the main tunnel, will have its floor 15 feet 
 below its crown and be about 30 feet in width ; so that, at the 
 sides of this preliminary tunnel, its roof would be 7 to 9 feet 
 above its floor. If a section of 40 square yards be assumed for this 
 excavation, a length of seven miles would give 492,800 cubic yards. 
 Of course this preliminary tunnel is commenced upon each end — 
 giving, so far, two working faces. If shafts are deemed desirable 
 to expedite the work, it is designed to provide for three shafts, 
 located at the most feasible points on the top of the mountain, and 
 sunk to the level of the floor of the preliminary tunnel, and that 
 would give us eight working faces altogether, if such rapidity of 
 operation should be found necessary. It may be observed, here, that 
 the St. Gothard tunnel is being excavated without shafts, a length 
 of nine and one-quarter miles, and the whole time is a little more 
 than seven years. 
 
 The cost of this preliminary tunnel has been placed at $10 a 
 cubic yard, and would amount to $4,928,000. When the work I 
 have just named is completed, all the tunneling work, wliich it is. 
 
The Interoceanio Ship Canal. 239 
 
 proper to name as such, is done. The rest is to be classed as work 
 of another character. 
 
 Now, in regard to the price of tunneling work. A committee of 
 the Paris Congress put upon the excavation of this tunnel upon the 
 San Bias route, and, in fact, upon all the routes where tunneling 
 was required, the greatest price that had been paid for the excava- 
 tion of tunnels when they were excavated by hand-drilling and the 
 explosive was gunpowder ; and, more than this, they estimated the 
 whole immense excavation, all of it, at the price for driving a small 
 tunnel or heading, so that at $10 per cubic yard for tunnel, the San 
 Bias canal, with 20,727,715 cubic yards of what the committee 
 would call tunnel rock, would really amount to the total sum they 
 named — somewhere about two hundred and sixty millions of dollars. 
 This will show us how hasty and superficial were the calculations of 
 the majority of those members of the committee having this subject 
 in hand. Louis Favre, the contractor for the St. Gothard tunnel, 
 did not place such figures upon the San Bias tunnel, for he made 
 the cost at less than one hundred millions of dollars while estimat- 
 ing for a length of about nine miles. 
 
 Now, let us see how the question stands. The contract price for 
 the Hoosac tunnel in 1869, for the entire excavation of the eastern 
 section, was $1 1 per cubic yard ; that contract was made in De- 
 cember, 1869, before the active era of nitro-glycerine, or dynamite, 
 which is a modified form of the same substance, and before the use 
 of machine drills in that tunnel, as it stood from the hands of pre- 
 vious operators. It was only after Mr. Shanly had got fairly at 
 work under his contract that he introduced the Burleigh drill ; and 
 they kept perfecting their machinery from month to month and 
 from year to year. Mr. Mowbray in 1869 was eagerly at work 
 trying to perfect nitro-glycerine, so as to give the best results and 
 make the explosive the least dangerous. Here, then, and in this 
 condition of the art in 1869, with its inflated prices and gold pre- 
 miums, there was a contractor who undertook to make a contractor's 
 profit out of a small railroad tunnel at $11 per cubic yard. 
 
 The contract for the St. Gothard tunnel was made August 7th, 
 1872, and the contract price for the excavation of the tunnel 
 amounts per cubic yard in our currency to $6.72. Here was another 
 contractor who, thus early in the art, could find a contractor's profit 
 in such a small tunnel at such low figures ; but his mind was open 
 
240 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 to the future of his work, in the midst of the success of which he 
 laid down his life. The vertical section of the St. Gothard tunnel 
 is about 72 square yards. 
 
 Again, as to rapidity of execution in tunneling work : In 1863 
 the progress made in the Mount Cenis tunnel with hand-drilling 
 and powder as an explosive was an average of a foot and a half per 
 day. After they had commenced to introduce power drilling and 
 the Sommeiller machine, the progress they made was three times 
 greater — that was four and a half feet per day. When Louis Favre 
 took the contract for the St. Gothard tunnel in 1872, the Hoosac 
 tunnel was then in the rush of its progress under Mr. Shanly. 
 Shanly completed his contract and made a provisional settlement 
 December 22, 1874, and the tunnel was put to use the following 
 year. Mr. Shanly said in 1874 of the machine drills used : "The 
 use of the machine drills saved about two-thirds of the expense of 
 drilling. The expense of labor would have been, I think, fully 
 three times the cost of machine drilling. To have done this work 
 by hand-drilling would have taken, I should estimate, not less than 
 twelve years." This was the work, even at that time, accomplished 
 in less than five years. 
 
 In the St. Gothard tunnel, from 1875 to 1877, with the greater 
 perfection of explosives — for they had come to use nitro-glycerine 
 by mixing it with an earthy material, making a compound consist- 
 ing of seventy-five per cent, of nitro-glycerine and twenty-five per 
 cent, of the adulterant and calling it dynamite, from a Greek word 
 signifying power, and which is the standard explosive they now 
 use — in 1875 to 1877, I say, with better explosives and improved 
 drills, they made a progress of five to one ; that is to say, they 
 excavated their tunnel about five times as fast as was the progress 
 in the Mount Cenis tunnel in 1863 by hand-drilling. Now, in the 
 years 1878 and 1879, by the general improvement of the whole 
 administration in the St. Gothard tunnel, they are making a progress 
 of more than eight to one, or about 13 feet per day, through granitic 
 gneiss, in a single heading. So that now, if they can excavate and 
 remove rock from a tunnel eight times faster than they could fifteen 
 years ago, you may readily see how much easier — how much more 
 feasible — a tunnel has become to-day, on an Isthmus canal route, 
 than at the time, in 1870, when the surveys of Selfridge were made. 
 Indeed these naval officers, in their sphere of action, were ignorant 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 241 
 
 of and had not conceived as possible these strides of inventive and 
 engineering skill. How much value then — and I appeal to the 
 judgment of each one of you — how much value must we now place 
 upon the reports and opinions of these naval officers as to the com- 
 parative merits of a route, with a tunnel or without one, at the time 
 their surveys were made ? 
 
 The object of these surveys by the government was to find a low 
 pass through the Cordilleras upon which they could construct a canal; 
 and one of the conditions of the problem was that they should find 
 a sufficient water supply to furnish the locks of the canal. They had 
 hardly conceived the idea of making a tunnel ; and if they were to 
 have a tunnel as Selfridge proposed for the Napipi route, it was to 
 be a short one, and only an absolutely necessary adjunct to permit 
 them to realize the other conditions of water supply and a lock route 
 through as low an elevation as it was possible to find. 
 
 I have a letter from Mr. W. Shanly, dated in September, in 
 which he says that he would be willing to take the contract to drive 
 the preliminary tunnel I have explained to you, for the San Bias 
 route, for $9 a cubic yard. I have placed the cost at $10. Of 
 course Mr. Shanly's price provides for a contractor's profit above 
 the real cost of the work. 
 
 Now, in regard to the remainder of the work. You will see that 
 when this preliminary tunnel has been excavated as represented by 
 the section I have named, that only a very small percentage of the 
 excavation has been accomplished. Engineers agree — Mr. Shanly 
 has so stated, and Mr. Latrobe, and, I believe, Mr. McAlpine — and 
 indeed it is clear to the mind of an engineer that when the prelimi- 
 nary tunnel is once driven the remainder of the work becomes 
 nothing more than open cut work, with the extra advantage that 
 you have the protection of a roof over you, so that the work with 
 electric light can be carried on twenty-four hours a day the year 
 round, without exposure to the vicissitudes of the weather, or the 
 malarial atmosphere of swamps and vegetable decay. 
 
 Now, if the estimates for open cut rock upon the Nicaragua route, 
 as its advocates have placed them, should be applied to this tun- 
 nel open cut work here, the result would be that the whole cost of 
 the tunnel would be only $30,837,644, that is allowing $10 per cubic 
 yard for the preliminary tunnel, and calculating the remainder at 
 $1.25 per cubic yard. But I have endeavored to show on several 
 
242 The Jnteroceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 occasions that the estimates of the advocates of the Nicaragua route; 
 for their open cut rock work are entirely inadequate. I have more 
 than doubled their price for this class of work, and placed the exca- 
 vation of the remaining portion of this ship canal through the moun- 
 tain at |3 per cubic yard ; so that the cost of this great tunnel — I 
 mean the excavation of it — would be something like $65,000,000. 
 I have the exact figures somewhere, but not just now at my com- 
 mand. If, however, sixty feet should be thought wide enough for 
 the passage through the mountain, the cost would be reduced to 
 about $40,000,000. 
 
 Every one who has objected to a canal route by way of San Bias 
 has brought his first and chief objection and his last and reiterated 
 objection to bear upon this tunnel : I suppose because all the other 
 features of this route, except what lay in their ignorance, were 
 admirable and pleasing to their minds, and the tunnel was the one 
 thing to decry. They say that it is impossible to calculate its cost, 
 and they assume to fear that the mountain would tumble in on the 
 workmen, as if it were a quicksand, or that everything will be 
 drowned out of it, as though it were a cloud of waterspouts. I 
 have been careful in placing the figures upon this work, and I think 
 they will cover the maximum. If the open cut work upon so large a 
 scale as this could be done for $1.50 or $1.25 per cubic yard, you see 
 that the whole cost would be reduced more than one-half the high- 
 est figures I have given ; but I prefer to be safe in this respect. 
 
 After the preliminary tunnel has been driven into the mountain on 
 either side for a certain distance, a multitude of workmen is placed 
 upon this open cut excavation, and the tunnel is enlarged from the 
 top downward in benches of rock and in convenient sections, always 
 providing a depression for the drainage of infiltration. A track is 
 laid in the tunnel and the debris is railroaded out on flats and 
 dumped at either side of the proposed canal upon the low ground 
 adjacent to the sea, and perhaps extending a certain distance into 
 the harbor of Mandinga, and widening out on either side so as to 
 form a convenient mouth for the canal. 
 
 But the great question has been whether the rock in the line of 
 this tunnel would be homogeneous enough so that a natural arch 
 would be self-sustaining — whether, in fact, the rock there was not 
 entirely disintegrated and full of broken pieces, seams, cavities and 
 cracks, so that, as we attempt to go through it, as one person ex- 
 
The Jnteroceanio Ship Canal. 243 
 
 pressed it to me, it would be like going through a mountain of 
 cobble-stones. Indeed, some of the objectors seem to have agitated 
 their minds into a lather of swollen apprehension on this subject. 
 
 It is sufficient to say that, through the base of the Cordillera upon 
 this route, the rock is largely, if not entirely, granite rock. 
 
 Judge Daly: Is that the report of Mr. Kelley's engineers, or is it 
 the surface indications ? 
 
 Mr. Shelboubhe: That is not the report of Mr. Kelley's engineers, 
 because there were no geologists with Mr. Kelley's engineers ; they 
 made an engineer's survey. But this section of the isthmus has 
 been examined, embracing both the San Bias route and the coast 
 and interior further south at Caledonia bay, by J. Petigru Carson, 
 mineralogist, and E. W. Bowditch, assistant mineralogist, of the 
 expedition of 1870. Besides, the geology of the whole lower isth- 
 mus, embracing the Gulf of Uraba and the Atrato region, on the 
 Atlantic side, and also the Pacific side, including the Tuyra region 
 to the dividing ridge, and the coast from Limon Bay to Panama, and 
 across on the line of the railroad to Aspinwall, has been examined and 
 carefully reported upon by Dr. A. G. Mack, of Cambridge, Mass., 
 and the specimens he brought home are now, by permission of the 
 Secretary of the Navy, lodged in the geological collection of the 
 Cambridge University. We have also various information from the 
 works of older geologists and others who have exploited these por- 
 tions of the isthmus, among them being Mr. Arthur Schott, accom- 
 panying Michler's survey of the Atrato-Truando region. On the 
 San Bias route the boulders and other loose specimens found in the 
 beds of the rivers up their courses were examined, and also the out- 
 crop upon their banks and upon the various ridges of the mountain^ 
 besides, immense gorges of syenite were found, one of them extend- 
 ing for half a mile. 
 
 There is one very important thing, then, which can be said of this 
 section of the isthmus that cannot be said of any other portion of it 
 through which the various proposed routes for a canal pass. It 
 cannot be said of Panama, nor of Nicaragua. It is this: that the 
 San Bias Cordilleras are composed, on the Atlantic side at least, and 
 through the bases of the main ridge, of the older crystalline un- 
 stratified rocks, granite and syenite, which is a species of granite. 
 The common granite is composed of quartz, feldspar and mica. 
 Syenite is that species of granite in which the mica is supplanted 
 
244 TJie Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 by hornblende. Now, these older crystalline unstratified rocks are 
 the very oldest of all the rocks that appear upon the face of the 
 «arth. They are called primary in the books. Indeed, before any 
 animal or vegetable life came upon the earth these rocks formed the 
 ribs, we might say, of the continents. They are coeval with the 
 foundations of the earth, so that we may write upon them an 
 inscription quoted from the third canto of Dante's Inferno: 
 
 " Before me created things were none, save things eternal." 
 
 This part of the isthmus, cutting it off near to Panama on the 
 west and north on the one side, and taking the Bay of San Miguel 
 and the Tuyra river over the divide to the Atrato valley and the 
 Gulf of Uraba, as the limit towards the south and east — this part of 
 the isthmus was originally a mountainous island. The whole of the 
 lower valley of the Atrato river is an alluvial deposit. The part of 
 the isthmus between the Bay of San Miguel, the Tuyra river and 
 the Atrato valley on the north, and Cupica bay on the south, was 
 upheaved long after the bases of the San Bias Cordillera appeared. 
 This southern region shows the later tertiary formations. The 
 same may be said in regard to the broken region between Panama 
 and the Bay of Colon, which shows scarcely more than a series of 
 detached hills, irregularly placed with reference to each other, like 
 a lot of tumbled biscuits' on a tray. The waters of the Atlantic and 
 the Pacific were, at one time, united both in the region between 
 Panama and Colon, and between the Bay of San Miguel and the 
 Atrato valley, which was, in early ages, a part of the Gulf of 
 Uraba, the junction of the two oceans being in the general line of 
 the Tuyra river. So that we have to the north of this river the 
 foundations of the Cordilleras range and its spurs composed of the 
 primary unstratified rocks, and to the south of it, towards Cupica 
 bay, the volcanic rocks, belonging to a much later era, and between 
 the two formations, rocks of what is called the transition series. 
 Here is a general map of that part of the isthmus, which I have 
 taken from the series accompanying Commander Selfridge's re- 
 port, and is map No. 1 of that series. You will see on it the gen- 
 «ral relation of the two divisions of the Cordilleras south and north 
 ■of the Tuyra river. You will see, as you pass from the Bay of San 
 Miguel up Darien harbor and the Tuyra river, the peculiar broad 
 pockets and connecting reaches of water made by the banks, so un- 
 
The InteroceaniG Ship Canal. 245 
 
 like an ordinary river, and as you get up towards the ridge, or rather 
 the depression or division between the two formations at the head- 
 waters of the Tuyra, yoii will see how the mountainous section of 
 the isthmus, on the north and east, is divided from that towards the 
 southwest, so that, in a general way, they may be said to lap by 
 each other. You see that the region at the headwaters of the Tuyra 
 is filled also with numerous detached hills like the region at Panama, 
 and the Rio Chucunaque, coming down from the far north and the- 
 middle of the older part of the isthmus, makes a very angular turn 
 below Yavisa, and fl.ows with the Tuyra towards the northwest and 
 Darien harbor. Before the upheaval to the south, this river doubt- 
 less flowed into the passage between the two oceans, where now it 
 makes its sudden bend to the northwest, and Darien harbor and the 
 Bay of San Miguel are nothing more than the depression that was 
 left after this later upheaval. In the fact of this passage here be- 
 tween the two oceans we may largely find the origin of the exten- 
 sive alluvial deposits of the Atrato valley. The tide rising twice a 
 day from 17 to 24 feet in the Pacific at this part of the isthmus, and 
 scarcely 20 inches in the Gulf of •Uraba on the Atlantic, the swift 
 tidal current through the passage, always in one direction, must 
 have carried immense quantities of alluvium with it. To the same 
 cause I attribute the large swamp area adjacent to Colon in the 
 Panama region. 
 
 Here, then, are two facts which mutually support each other. 
 First, the fact that granite and syenite, both in mass and as boulders, 
 are found only in the region of San Bias, and south towards the 
 region of the Upper Tuyra, and nowhere else on the whole isthmus, 
 from above Nicaragua southward, proves the fact that the transition 
 rocks exist somewhere between the old and the new — and sure 
 enough, the fact that the formations found in the Upper Tuyra 
 region are of this series, and reveal their fossilliferous character by 
 their marine shells, proves both the fact that the waters of the two 
 oceans once joined in this region, and the fact of the older forma- 
 tions on the one side and the later on the other. So that, when the 
 upheaval took place in the later tertiary period which closed this 
 passage, these broken hills which were thrown up here partook of 
 the character of each adjacent formation. 
 
 Again, as to the evidences of the character of the San Bias Cor- 
 dillera, on the Panama side. We see that the continuous ranges of 
 
246 The Interoceanie Ship Canal. 
 
 these Cordillera, running towards the west, terminate abruptly here, 
 and are succeeded by a series of lower detatched hills, as I have said. 
 None of these hills are of a granitic character, but are the result of 
 volcanic eruption. The fact, however, appears that in the playas of 
 the Chagres river at Mamey and at Matachin, we find the older crys- 
 talline pebbles, the granite and the syenite. Now, the Chagres has its 
 sources in the high elevated San Bias Cordillera, from which these 
 pebbles have been driven by the river current ; but no pebbles what- 
 ever of a granitic character are found in the beds of the rivers coming 
 from the opposite direction. The later eruptive origin, then, of the 
 rocks on the Panama route, proves the fact that the Chagres river 
 at one time found the waters of the sea at Matachin. This is also 
 evidenced by the fact that, close to the highest ridge of this part of 
 the isthmus, fossil corals have been found, and up the Chagres 
 limestone deposits filled with fossil sheila, while in number- 
 less places along the railroad the strata of the volcanic tuffs are ap- 
 parent, and quarries of it for the use of the railroad have been opened 
 containing particles of gold belched out, and fallen into the sea 
 or strait with the volcanic cinder. ' 
 
 Following the isthmus northward to Nicaragua, we will find the 
 rock to be of the same general character as at Panama. The geolo- 
 gist connected with the survey of the Nicaragua route says tha 
 rock they found there was mostly of the later tertiary period, vol- 
 canic, basaltic. They found some crystalline limestone, which be- 
 longed to the group of sedimentary deposit, and was slowly 
 upheaved from the sea. I think, therefore, upon the evidence 
 presented, the distincive fact appears that of all this region of the 
 iisthmus, commencing at Uraba, and away to Nicaragua, the only 
 part of it where the primary formation appears — the oldest of all — 
 the unstratitied rocks, the granite and the syenite, is in the range 
 of the San Bias Cordillera. This fact, then, of the character of the 
 rock to be found on the line of the San Bias route, will give ns an 
 indication of the work before us in piercing a tunnel, and the 
 homogeneity and stability of the material. Further than that, we 
 cannot say. Nobody has bored into the heart of that mountain to 
 determine just what may be its character and to what extent we 
 may depend upon the uniformity and closeness of its structure. It 
 mav be, and the probabilities are, that the most of the rock found 
 in that tunnel will be sufiiciently homogeneous to be self-sustaining. 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 247 
 
 The general reputation of granitic rock for continuity and 
 closeness is pretty well sustained by the fact that it usually excludes 
 water infiltration. Of 2,00u metres of granitic gneiss, of a single 
 stratification, in the St. Gothard tunnel, the work was quite dry. 
 
 But if, on the other hand, we admit the probability of finding 
 demoralized rock, we know the proportion of it in the tunnels that 
 have been excavated. Let us take at random the Hoosac tunnel, as 
 the nearest and most prominent example. Mr. Shanly told me re- 
 cently that they found various characters of rock there, some gran- 
 itic rock, but largely mica schists and other schistose formations, and 
 of 25,000 feet in length, which he excavated under his contract, only 
 4,000 feet needed any arching of masonry. Here you find a tunnel 
 made with a very flat arch — a tunnel in a very variable climate, the 
 temperature now up to 100, now down to zero and below, freezing 
 the water in the crevices. Upon the isthmus we have a nearly 
 uniform temperature of 70 to 85 and perhaps 90 degrees. There 
 would be no snow — no freezing. The arch would be a gothic arch, 
 as shown here in the figure. If we should find as great a propor- 
 tion of the length of the tunnel that would need arching as they 
 found in the Hoosac tunnel, which would be in this case a trifle 
 more than one mile, it is proposed that an arch be constructed rest- 
 ing upon abutments in the natural rock sides of the tunnel, 50 feet 
 on the curve of the arch below its crown, which would make each 
 segment or rib of the arch a length of 50 feet. Now, to construct that 
 arch with these ribs made of cast iron, would give about seventy -five 
 per cent, more strength, with only about one-third of the dead weight 
 of an arch made of the best of stone, as granite, five feet iu thick- 
 ness over that whole space. A section of one of those ribs may be 
 roughly represented by a plain letter Jj with the head stroke short- 
 ened and the body stroke lengthened. The width of the head, which 
 would be on the greater or outward curve, next to the rock, would 
 be one foot, and the depth of the remainder of the section of the rib 
 would be two and one-half feet at the crown of the arch, and three 
 and one-half feet where it rests upon the abutment. A shoe or bear- 
 ing plate would be cast on either end, the full width of the head 
 and depth of the section, the shoe, on the lower end, resting on the 
 abutment, and the bearing-plate on the upper end coming in contact 
 with that of its fellow at the crown. As these ribs would be placed 
 close together, each successive pair in contact with the preceding, it 
 
248 The Interoceanio Ship Canal. 
 
 will be seen that each foot in length of the portion of the tunnel 
 arched in this way would be represented by a pair of these ribs. The 
 metal in the ribs would be of a uniform thickness of two inches, 
 with a fillet at the junction of the head with the body. But objec- 
 tors will say that the iron will easily perish with rust, and so crum- 
 ble away. Now, we know that iron rusts in proportion to its purity. 
 Cast iron rusts very much more slowly than wrought iron, and 
 wrought iron chemically pure rusts most freely of all. But these 
 ribs or segments are so devised that neither a drill or a chisel will 
 touch them ; and by lining or sifting the mould with the elements 
 of glass, or the powder of ground glass of the commonest descrip- 
 tion, you will cast upon those ribs a coat of glaze, so that they would 
 be protected for an indefinite period of time from rust. These seg- 
 ments of the arching being placed close to each other, side by side, 
 the backs of the whole, when in position, would represent a contin- 
 uous arch-roof of iron, and the space between this roof and the 
 irregular rook above, perhaps from three inches to a foot, would be 
 filled with concrete. The arch thus constructed could be rapidly 
 and easily put in position, and the cost would be less than one-half 
 that of a granite arch of the thickness I have named. It would be 
 very difficult to put up large granite blocks in an arch of that charac- 
 ter, and it would involve a great deal of work, and be very slow of 
 accomplishment. Such an arch of iron has therefore been proposed, 
 if it should be found that an artificial arch would be necessary; and 
 if so, our present examples teach us that it would only be required, 
 in this tunnel, for about the length of a mile. 
 
 I believe I have spoken of all the points in the excavation of this 
 tunnel, except this matter of infiltration. It will be seen that in the 
 excavation of the preliminary tunnel, whose floor would be 175 feet 
 of elevation above the sea, the drainage of the infiltration could be 
 made perfect at each end ; and only in case shafts are sunk from the 
 top of the mountain to expedite the work, would pumping be needed, 
 and then only in the shafts. While there are peaks of the Cordil- 
 leras which rise very high above the general plateau of the elevation, 
 there may be points selected in this plateau where these shafts can 
 be sunk at perhaps an average of 500 to 600 feet above the level of 
 the sea ; so that the shafts would be of that depth minus 175, the 
 depth from the floor of the preliminary tunnel to the sea level, or 
 altogether a depth of the shafts of from 325 to 425 feet. In the 
 
The Interooeanic Ship Canal. 249 
 
 Hoosac tunnel they pumped up the water of infiltration for the 
 whole working central section through a shaft of 1,030 feet deep. 
 They had shafts in the Sutro tunnel of 800 or 900 feet in depth — 
 twice and three times the depth proposed here at San Bias. But, 
 leaving out of view the question of the shafts, this preliminary tun- 
 nel can be perfectly drained from each end, while the work is in 
 progress, without a gallon of pumping, and the drainage could be 
 equally perfect while driving through the whole depth of the tun- 
 nel open cut work, until you get down to the level of the sea ; and 
 then first, of all the work, would the water of infiltration need to 
 be removed by pumping ; but that would only be for the depth 
 of the excavation below the level of the sea, varying from nothing 
 to a depth of 28 feet. 
 
 Now, where you have a depth of 1,100 or 1,200 to 2,000 or 3,000 
 feet, from which to pump water, it is a different problem altogether 
 from that where you have only to pump it up an ordinary depth 
 of 28 feet. The large centrifugal pumps, now in common use, 
 would throw almost a Niagara of water up from so small a 
 depth into sluices which would carry it off. By excavating this 
 portion of the tunnel in consecutive sections of half a mile, Mr. 
 Shanley has stated, and I perfectly agree with him, that there would 
 be no difficulty whatever, with ordinary pumps, in easily keeping 
 the water free from this excavation while it is being made to the 
 depth of 28 feet below the level of the sea. 
 
 Of course the excavation of the five miles of the canal between 
 the tunnel and the harbor of Mandinga would be done in the lower 
 portion next to the harbor by dredging machines, thus bringing the 
 navigation up to within about two miles of the mouth of the tunnel, 
 and this two miles being excavated down nearly to the sea level, a 
 bulkhead of rock would be left towards the sea end of it, perhaps 
 20 feet thick, while the rest of it is being excavated below the sea. 
 The same condition, as to open-cut work, drainage and pumping and 
 method of procedure, would obtain upon the Pacific side as upon 
 the Atlantic ; a considerable portion of it would be done by dredg- 
 ing machines, commencing at the debouchement of the canal into 
 the river Bayano. 
 
 Now, in regard to the tide levels of the two oceans, and in regard 
 to the tide-lock that would be required for this canal. As I have 
 said, the mean rise and fall of the tide in the harbor of Mandinga, 
 
250 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 upon the Atlantic side, is eight-tenths of a foot. Now, that being 
 the mean, the extreme would be somewhere about two feet at spring 
 tides, and with the wind blowing from a direction to pile up the 
 water in the harbor, or the reverse. So that, in order to keep a 
 depth of water in the canal of 28 feet at all times, without a gate 
 or any artificial structure upon the Atlantic side, it would be neces- 
 sary to make the level of the water in the canal to correspond with 
 the lowest low water Ifevel in the Gulf of San Bias. The conditions 
 of the whole case will be readily represented by some parallel lines 
 shown on this diagram: 
 
 d 
 
 a . --. a 
 
 b b 
 
 The line a <i will represent the level of half-tide, which is the 
 same in the two oceans. Of course, it is readily understood that if 
 there were no tide in the Atlantic, and no tide in the Pacific, and 
 the waters of the two oceans rested quietly without tidal movement 
 the same as in a small lake or pond, they would be at the same gen- 
 eral level in both oceans, due to the law of terrestrial gravity ; and 
 that level would be the level of half-tide as things at present exist, 
 and would be represented by the line a a. Although it is not 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 251 
 
 the practice in popular usage, for the purposes of this illustration 
 we will say, when the tide rises it is above a a, and when it falls 
 it is below a a. Taking the distance between the lines a and b 
 and between the lines a and c to be in each case one foot, c would 
 represent the maximum rise of the tide and h the maximum fall 
 of the tide at the Atlantic end of the canal; the mean rise of 
 four-tenths of a foot above a, and the mean fall of four-tenths of a 
 foot below a, coming of course between the lines b and c, it is not 
 necessary for our purpose to represent. Now, instead of taking 
 the half-tide level a a as the proposed level of the water in the 
 canal, we take the line b b for that level ; because, if a a were 
 taken as the level of the water in the canal, when the tide had 
 fallen in the Gulf of San Bias to the line b, the water in the canal 
 would run towards the gulf, for the water in the gulf would then 
 be one foot lower then the assumed level of the canal. To avoid 
 such a state of things, therefore, it is proposed to make the level of 
 the water in the canal correspond with the level of lowest water in 
 the Gulf of San Bias, that is, the line b b. On the Pacific side the 
 mean rise and fall of the tide is 16 feet, that is, eight feet rise above 
 the line a, which is represented by the line d, and eight feet of fall 
 below the line a, which is represented by the line e. But the line b 
 has been assumed as the level of the water in the canal, and there- 
 fore, in the ordinary movements of the tides on the Pacific, the tide- 
 lock at that end of the canal would, a part of the time, lock upwards 
 from b tod, a, height of nine feet, and the remainder of the time lock 
 downwards from 5 to e, a descent of seven feet, these conditions of 
 lockage alternating as the tide should be high or low in the Pacific. 
 At times, however, the tide rises and falls in the Pacific at this part 
 of the coast more than 16 feet, in which case the lockage either way 
 would be correspondingly increased. 
 
 The tide lock upon the Pacific end of this canal would be con- 
 structed of a length of 1,125 feet and a breadth of 100 feet ; the 
 gates, instead of being double at either end of this lock, would be 
 single, and would be sliding instead of folding gates, and move on 
 rollers, the advanced end of the gate moving into a recess across 
 the opening of the lock, so that the pressure from either side will 
 not disturb it from its position as the tide may be high or low. 
 These gates need not be tightly fitting, for, since the two oceans 
 
252 Ttie InteroceaniG Ship Canal. 
 
 are the water supply, the escape of more or less water in the one 
 direction or the other is of no consequence. 
 
 At the middle division of this lock there would be a slight con- 
 traction in its width, and here would be another gate of the same 
 construction, which would ordinarily be left open. Now, you may 
 conceive that occasion may arise for the removal of one of these 
 gates for ordinary repairs ; or one of them may become damaged 
 by accident, in which case you always have a tide-lock between the 
 other two, of a length of 560 feet, and either one of the three may 
 at any time be regarded as an extra gate, and be removed for re- 
 pairs. It will be observed, that a tide-lock as here proposed to be 
 constructed and used, is not at all comparable with the detail lockage 
 and conservation of water supply, as contemplated on the Nicara- 
 gua route. There the gates must be close fitting, to save their 
 lockage supply, and * double and mitreing to each other, that they 
 may be close fitting, and the locks made as small as practicable, and 
 locking only one vessel at a time, all for the purpose of saving the 
 water. In our tide-lock, however, prodigality is not waste, for 
 what escapes from the Pacific goes to the Atlantic, and vice versa ; 
 and, until both these oceans run dry, we shall always have enough. 
 So that, in our tide-lock of the length and width proposed, six ships 
 of 1,000 tons each can be passed through in one lockage. 
 
 To fill and deplete this tide-lock, it is proposed that the main 
 gates shall have subsidiary gates arranged within them, to be raised 
 or lowered, so as to open and close a passage through the main 
 gates 60 feet wide by six feet high, located below the level of low 
 water in the gate next to the Pacific, and at any convenient dis- 
 tance below the water in the canal at the opposite end of the lock. 
 The time required to fill the entire undivided lock to a level of nine 
 feet would be less than three minutes. 
 
 It hardly seems to me that the question of calms in the Bay of 
 Panama needs any more explanation than I have already given it, 
 both here and elsewhere. But I want to say that this subject has 
 been investigated and reported upon, under the concurrent written 
 instructions of Commander Selfridge and Admiral Ammen, then 
 in the Navy Department, by Lieutenant Frederick Collins, who 
 was attached to Self ridge's expedition, and who was ordered to 
 inquire and report upon the winds and tides of the Pacific ocean, 
 with particular reference to the functions of a canal constructed on 
 
The Interoceanio Ship Canal. 253 
 
 the Atrato-Napipi route. This is the gallant Collins who, as we all 
 know, never stood up against the flag of his country, nor forswore 
 the oath which made him one of the trusted protectors of our con- 
 stitutional Union and our civil liberties. In his investigations he 
 had occasion to make some observations and pass some criticisms 
 upon that other former ofiioer of our Navy, Lieutenant Maury, and 
 to point out a great discrepancy of view between the well-known 
 authority, Kerhallet, and his own countryman with reference to the 
 general subject of his inquiry. Now, Lieut. Maury had the whole 
 Pacific ocean for the subject of his inquiry, away across to the 
 China seas, and so did Lieut. Collins, and yet, while he was to make 
 all the results of his work to converge on the edge of the Bay of 
 Panama, at the Pacific end of the Atrato-Napipi route, he does not 
 even once, with reference to calms, mention the Bay of Panama in 
 his report. Was this gallant ofiioer overawed in his judgment by the 
 dominant ofiicialism of a then different interest, or did he really for- 
 get to point out to his superior and directing officers the one import- 
 ant fact they should have known as against that route, if the objec- 
 tion of the calms which the Nicaragua advocates now spread with so 
 much wind of talk over the whole Bay of Panama were really a valid 
 one ? But leaving them to their efforts, I have to say there are, gen- 
 erally speaking, up and down this Pacific coast of North and South 
 America what are called coast trades, or, localized, the monsoons of 
 Mexico. When the sun is going south these winds blow towards 
 the south. They go with the sun. When the sun is coming north, 
 they blow towards the north. It is 300 miles away to the west- 
 ward from the general line of this coast that the great system of 
 winds of the Pacific are located and extend across to the China 
 seas. It is true there is located in the general system of the winds 
 of the Pacific a belt across the Pacific near the equator, called the 
 belt of the " doldrums," but this word does not mean calms by any 
 interpetation, but rather light and variable winds, with storms of 
 wind and rain and squalls and calms thrown in; or, as the sailors 
 call it, " dusty weather." But what has this to do with the coast 
 breezes, which by common report we are told exist in the tropics ? 
 And yet, if the logic of the objectors should hit the real fact, in- 
 stead of an assumed one, it would prove too much ; for a vessel 
 going through a canal by the Nicaragua route, and destined to any 
 of the ports of the South Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, the west 
 coast of South America, and the numerous islands south of the 
 
254 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 equator, would have to pass, in the voyage, through that whole 
 belt of " calms " which they use so diligently to give size to their 
 statements when objections to any more southern route than their 
 own are in place to be heard. 
 
 But they are careful to locate these " calms " precisely in the 
 Bay of Panama. They say a vessel would be likely to be held in 
 this region for perhaps three months, not able to get in, or once in, 
 not able to get out. Surely, in their view, it must have been here 
 where Coleridge's Ancient Mariner conceived the situation of a 
 " painted ship on a painted ocean." 
 
 Now, I have the practical observations and experience of sea 
 captains in the California trade, who have gone into the bay of 
 Panama time and again. I have the statement of the President of 
 the Maritime Association of the Port of New York, who sent the 
 first vessel to California, with supplies in the early days of its El 
 Dorado — whose firm in the height of this California trade sent as 
 many as 125 to 130 vessels with various materials in a single year to 
 Aspinwall and Panama, the one and the other, and that they 
 regarded Panama as favorably for access and sailing convenience as 
 any port on the coast. That, then, is the practical statement of the 
 case. 
 
 Judge Dalt : Are there any earthquake diificulties on the San 
 Bias route, so far as known ? 
 
 Major Shblbouenb : There are none, so far as we know, from the 
 earliest records. We have, on the contrary, the geological character 
 of this portion of the isthmus, and the notable fact that in all this 
 region of the older rocks we have not a sign of a crater, living or 
 dead. Of course I do not wish to be understood to mix up earth- 
 quakes and volcanoes as necessarily coexistent in the same localities; 
 but, while earthquakes are due to the mighty pent-up forces under 
 the crust of the earth out of their equilibrium, and seeking relief, 
 the volcanoes are the local, the open and the speaking mouths of the 
 earthquake energies. 
 
 Judge Dalt: About how far does the volcanic rock come down 
 upon the isthmus ? 
 
 Major SHELBOtTKNE : It comes down on the north to the Panama re- 
 gion; and, as I said, this portion of the isthmus, from Panama up to, 
 and I know not how far beyond, Nicaragua, is entirely of a later 
 formation — a secondary sedimentary, and a tertiary volcanic origin. 
 There is also basaltic oi'^volcanic rock in the San Bias region, but it 
 
The Interooeanic Ship Canal. 255 
 
 forms the caps and the overcoat of the Cordillera, so to speak, while 
 the bases of the mountain are granitic. As to the activity of earth- 
 quakes in the region towards Nicaragua, I was informed after the 
 last meeting in this room, a week ago, by one of the gentlemen 
 present — I think the one who spoke last, and was called upon by 
 Mr. Menocal to give some idea of prices of excavation in Nicaragua, 
 because he had been connected with engineering work in Costa Rica 
 — that during the past year advices had been received that in one of 
 the towns of Costa Rica, which, as you know, adjoins Nicaragua, a 
 cathedral had been rent and very much damaged by an earthquake. 
 Now, in the San Bias region of the isthmus, the region of the very 
 earliest rock formation, as I have said, so many ages have elapsed 
 since it was the scene of active volcanic energy, that nowhere 
 are there any traces even of extinct craters to be found. But if 
 you go either north or soiith, on the one hand only as far as Mexico, 
 and on the other to the Colombian territory itself, at the very 
 northwest part of the South American continent, we find regions 
 of active volcanic action, an example of which may be found 
 in the Colombian State of Tolima, where there is an active 
 volcano identical in name with the State. In fact, geologists 
 tell us that under the South American region of the Andes, from 
 Colombia on the north to Chili or beyond on the south, there 
 are whole lakes of melted lava, involving regions of hundteds of 
 square miles in extent. It is a well established fact that earthquakes 
 have their origin and are most frequent and violent in active vol- 
 canic regions. Now, the fact that from Panama south to the Gulf 
 of Uraba no indications of even extinct craters exist, and nothing 
 more than the very slightest sensations of earthquakes have been 
 felt, and no damage done discoverable from the time of the earliest 
 records, points sufficiently to the conclusion that active volcanic and 
 subterranean action have entirely ceased in this part of the isthmus 
 since remote ages. In like manner we find in other parts of the earth 
 the same conditions to exist, for ancient volcanic mountains are met 
 with in Hungary and in central France, of whose eruptions no record 
 exists, and many parts of the Rocky mountains give evidence of 
 the same character. Fisher's Peak in Arkansas is also said to be an 
 extinct volcano. In 1863, the best authorities enumerated eighteen" 
 active volcanoes in Central America. As none of these are to be 
 found in the Columbian part of the isthmus, they must be credited 
 to the more northern countries, of which Nicaragua and Honduras 
 
256 Hie Jnterooeanic Ship Canal. 
 
 are the central states. Within the past month a; map has been 
 published, the data of which is the work of Dr. Kuyper of Holland, 
 giving the location of thirty-eight volcanoes between the southern 
 bounds of Costa Rica and the proposed Tehuantepec route on the 
 north, of which number ten are found in Nicaragua. It is not 
 stated how many of these are active, and only the figures of 1863, 
 which I have given, will enable you to form an opinion. 
 
 It seems, moreover, natural in science that in this narrow San 
 Bias region of the isthmus, which was slowly upheaved ages and 
 ages before the more northern region was produced, that volcanic 
 action should be now entirely dead, and as to earthquakes having 
 their origin in regions more or less remote, the pent-up forces under 
 the crust of the earth seeking a vent would be found to demonstrate 
 their energies, according to science, in the line of least resistance, 
 instead of up through a narrow ridge of high mountains with deep 
 ocean beds on either side. It would appear, therefore, from all the 
 considerations adduced, that we are entitled to expect entire safety 
 for a tunnel pierced through the San Bias Cordillera. 
 
 It has been suggested by some of the friends of this route that 
 the canal ought not to be taken into the Bayano river at all, but to 
 make a separate cut for it along the valley of the river into the bay 
 of Panama, with the object of avoiding the continual filling up of 
 the deepened river and bar at its mouth by the material brought 
 down from its head waters. That is merely a question of choice 
 based upon cost; the bottom of this river is largely mud and easily 
 excavated. It would cost about five million dollars extra to cut the 
 canal outside of the river and make a proper mouth for it in the 
 bay. The interest on this sum at four per cent, would represent an 
 annual sum of $200,000. For half this sum per annum the required 
 depth in the six miles of the Bayano river could be constantly mam- 
 tained. 
 
 Judge Daly : Can you give us some idea of the general cost 
 before you conclude ? 
 
 Major Shelbournb : I have estimated the exact cost of the tun- 
 nel, as near as may be, placing the liberal prices I have named upon 
 it. The cost of the preliminary tunnel would amount to $4,928,000; 
 the cost of the remaining or floor work in the tunnel, at $3 per cubiQ 
 yard, comes to $62,183,145, making about $67,000,000, assuming the 
 width to be 100 feet and the height 168 feet for the whole tunnel. 
 In addition to the tunnel there would be 17 miles of open-cut exca- 
 
The Intero6eanic Ship Canal. 257 
 
 vation, about one-half of which being of very small elevation the 
 cutting would be light. You will observe, from the fact that no 
 borings have been made to determine the depth through the soil 
 to the rock, and no survey of an actual location of this line having 
 been made, the character and depth of the open cutting at every 
 particular point cannot now be given ; but a general estimate, 
 coming within a fair approximation, can be attained. I should say 
 that for four miles of this work a half million dollars per mile would 
 be a liberal estimate ; for five miles of the remainder one million 
 dollars per mile, and for the last eight miles a million and a half per 
 mile would cover the whole cost, making the open cut work, outside 
 of the tunnel, amount to $19,000,000. If two million dollars are 
 allowed for the tide-lock on the Pacific and for other minor works 
 of artificial construction, there would still remain twelve million dol- 
 lars for general administration and contingencies to bring the total 
 cost of a canal on this route up to 100 million dollars. 
 
 Judge Daly : What was the estimated cost by way of Nicar- 
 agua ? 
 
 Major Shblbourne : As estimated by Mr. Menocal, it was 
 altogether, about $66,000,000. But that was by placing a very 
 inadequate estimate upon the work. If the prices for two items 
 alone — the open-cut i-ock excavation and the submarine rock exca- 
 vation — are brought up to correspond with the prices I have placed 
 for the San Bias route, his estimates would at once be increased by 
 the large sum of $31,000,000; that is, by estimating 14,677,386 
 cubic yards of open-cut rock at $3 instead of $1.25 and $1.50, as he 
 has it, and by estimating the submarine rock at $12.50 per cubic 
 yard, instead of $5, the price he has assigned. Without considering 
 any other under-estimates except these two, and adding his usual 
 percentage for contingencies, the cost of the Nicaragua route would 
 mount up to $104,421,790. 
 
 It will be seen that the San Bias route is free entirely from the 
 troublesome question of a large surface drainage and intersecting 
 rivers. Cut through at one level, from tide-water to tide-water, it 
 takes only the parallel valleys of the little Mamoni, near its mouth, 
 and the still smaller Vercalagua, on the Atlantic side. 
 
 For access, this route admits of ship navigation to within five 
 miles of the mouth of the tunnel on the Atlantic side, at the very 
 outset of the work, and within seven miles of the tunnel on the 
 Pacific side — permitting the unloading of machinery from shipboard 
 within easy distance of the main excavation. 
 
258 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 The whole -work, with the progress being made elsewhere in rock 
 excavation, could be executed probably in six and certainly within 
 eight years. The preliminary tunnel could be completed in four 
 years ; but, from the outset, the open-cut work could be in free 
 progress, and the floor excavation downward from the preliminary 
 tunnel could follow, closely upon the advancing heading. While 
 the exposure of the entire work on the Nicaragua route would limit 
 the operations to the daytime, and the work be suspended for 
 times at least during the wet season, from rains above and fioods 
 beneath, the tunnel excavation at San Bias could proceed the year 
 round, both night and day. For this reason 21 millions of cubic 
 yards of floor rock cnuld be excavated under the roof of the San 
 Bias tunnel in less running time than the 15 million cubic yards of 
 exposed open-cut rock on the route through Nicaragua. 
 
 It remains only to speak of maintenance and cost of towage. 
 The advocates of the Nicaragua scheme have assigned a sum of a 
 million and a half to two million dollars per year for the mainte- 
 nance and operation of a canal by that route. Its total length is 
 more than six times as great as the route by San Bias, and because 
 of its multitude of locks and other artificial constructions, and the 
 fact that its promoters are not noted for excessive figures — if we 
 take the larger sum as the approximate one, and reckon a pro rata 
 expense for this natural, rock-walled passage at San Bias — there will 
 be held of its income, each year, an advantage over the Nicaragua 
 route of more than a million and a half to the credit of its 
 dividends. 
 
 And we mark the towage at the same proportion — five dollars of 
 every six saved to the vessel, or, with no difference to its owner, 
 added to the profits of the scheme. "Would j'ou not say that in 
 these last items alone it would be easy to determine a balance of 
 reasons sufficient to move the money circles of the world to the 
 route they should choose ? 
 
 I have thus presented the most important features of construction 
 and advantage of the shortest of all possible routes through the 
 isthmus, and I have long had the conviction that it will eventually 
 share alike the earnest attention and favor of men of science and 
 capital and commerce. 
 
 Judge Daly spoke of the address of Major Shelbourne as being a 
 clear, precise and practical exposition of the subject, founded upon 
 facts and free from speculation — a communication of great inrport- 
 ance. — The meeting then adjourned. 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 259 
 
 THE INTEROCEANIC SHIP CANAL. 
 
 Special Meeting of the American Geographical Society, held at 
 its rooms, No. 1 1 West 29th Street, New York, on the evening of 
 Monday, December 29, 1879. 
 
 There were present — Chief Justice Daly, Mr. Frederick M. Kelley, 
 Mr. H. H. Hall, Mr. John E. Body, Major S. F. Shelbourne, Colonel 
 D. Woodruff, TJ. S. A., Elial F. Hall, Henry Morrison, Jess 
 Young, Dr. St. John of Cleveland, Ohio, General G. W. Cullum, 
 U. S. A., Alexander Lang, Chief Justice Curtis, General Egbert L. 
 Viele, Mr. N. P. Bailey, Captain Jenkyns C. Battersby and Mr. 
 Octave Chanute. * 
 
 Judge Dalt, the President of the Society, upon calling the 
 meeting to order, said that the last evening had been devoted ex- 
 clusively to the consideration of the San Bias route ; but that the 
 desire of the Society was that all the routes should be investigated, 
 so far as was possible ; that it was proposed to listen this evening 
 to Mr. Hall in an exposition of the Tehuantepec route, which had 
 been surveyed for a railroad, and to a certain degree for the purposes 
 of a canal. Judge Daly said he understood that measures were 
 now being taken to build a railroad, without reference to the 
 building of a canal, and that it was a matter of interest to know 
 how far, for the present and for the future, a railroad would serve 
 the general purposes of commerce, and to what extent it might dis- 
 pense with the necessity for a canal ; but that the general im- 
 pression prevailed in this country, and throughout the commercial 
 world, that a canal will ultimately be necessary. After alluding to 
 the favorable geographical proximity of the proposed route to the 
 United States, and particularly to their southern boundaries. Judge 
 Daly introduced Mr. H. H. Hall. 
 
 Before making his remarks upon the Tehuantepec route, Mr. Hall 
 read the following communications: 
 
 Your attention is called to the accompanying copy of a railway grant across 
 the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and also to the epitomized memoranda. 
 
 The grant gives authority to Edward Learned and his associates to construct 
 
260 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 a railroad and telegraph across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and operate the 
 same, for the term of ninety-nine years; and, in aid of such purpose, donates 
 large subsidies both of land and money. 
 
 The eastern or Atlantic terminus of the road will be at the mouth of the 
 Coatzacoalcos river, about one hundred and ten miles southeasterly from Vera 
 Cruz; the line will run thence southwestwardly across the plains to the moun- 
 tain range; thence across through the range to Chivela pass, and thence across 
 the plains to the inland lake called the Upper Lagoon, on the Pacific coast. 
 The length of the main line will be between 140 and 150 miles. Turnouts and 
 sidings may make the extreme length 160 miles. 
 
 The road will traverse an exceedingly healthful and productive country, 
 with easy grades, and, for the most part, requiring comparatively inexpensive 
 preparation for the superstructure. The mountain section, with a summit 
 altitude of not exceeding 750 feet, presents no unusual or serious obstacles, 
 and can also be prepared without very extraordinary cost. 
 
 Harbors, safe, commodious and easy of access by the largest class of vessels, 
 will be constructed at the mouth of the Goatzacoalcos by deepening the present 
 channel over the bar for a distance of 600 feet, and at the Lagoon by dredging 
 an entrance channel from the Pacific across the intervening sand bars a distance 
 of two miles ; by an alternative arrangement, which would somewhat increase 
 the length of the road, this dredging may be materially reduced. At each 
 terminus will be constructed desirable facilities for receiving and discharging 
 cargoes direct to and from the cars, to and from the ships alongside of 
 wharves, whereby an immense business which is now forced around Cape 
 Horn will be drawn to the route. The tolls provided by the grant to be 
 collected for the use of these harbors will rapidly repay their entire cost, and 
 at an early day their entire amount will become net revenue to the road. 
 
 The Atlantic terminus will be: 
 
 665 miles south from Galveston. 
 725 miles west-southwest from Havana. 
 800 miles southwest from New Orleans. 
 1,905 miles from New York. 
 2,076 miles from San Francisco. 
 
 The route froin New York to San Francisco will be about 1,500 milei shorter 
 than by tlis Panama line, and when the contemplated canal across the penin-> 
 sula of Florida is constructed, this advantage will be largely increased. The 
 route will materially shorten all lines of communication, and facilitate the 
 transmission of traffic between the principal ports of the Atlantic and Pacific 
 oceans, and consequently will attract to it that portion of the trade of Califor- 
 nia, Oregon, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Manilla, Batavia and the 
 numerous fertile islands of the Pacific, which under these advantages can 
 afford the expense of the Isthmus transit. 
 
 The gross tonnage, inward and outward, to and from those localities in 1878, 
 exceeded 2, 500, 000 tons, wool, wheat, sugar and tea being the most prominent. 
 Australian wool by this route can be delivered in England in 50 or 55 days, 
 giving an advantage in time of from 50 to 75 days ; and California wheat can 
 
The Interooeanic Ship Canal. 261 
 
 be so delivered in 50 days, with a time advantage of from 70 to 90 days, and an 
 avoidance of the damage (estimated at 15 per cent.) of twice crossing the 
 equator. Ordinary drafts against shipments by this route maybe provided for 
 by sales and actual delivery before maturity. 
 
 As a passenger route, the line will offer the inducements of favorable lati- 
 tude, salubrious climate, direct transit and shortness of sea voyage, with free- 
 dom from extremes of heat or cold, blockades of snow, and the vicissitudes 
 of navigation around Cape Horn. 
 
 In addition to the eight lines of steamships which now ply to the Gulf of 
 Mexico, new lines will be established on both the Atlantic and Pacific, to meet 
 the requirements of the new course of trade created by this route. 
 
 In estimating the probable revenue of the road, it is regarded that despatch, 
 safety and prompt delivery will control the direction of such of the foregoing 
 traflSc as is not forced into other channels from economic considerations, and 
 that it is certainly not extravagant to assume that at least thirty per cent, of 
 the above gross tonnage will be transported over this route. 
 
 KEVBNUE. 
 
 30 per cent, of 2,500,000 tons, 750,000, at $5 per- ton, railroad 
 
 tariff $3,750, 000 
 
 15,000 through passengers, $10 each 150,000 
 
 15,000 tons local freight, $5 per ton 75,000 
 
 15.000 local passengers, $4 60,000 
 
 Tonnage dues, tolls and all other revenue 350,000 
 
 Gross earnings $4,385,000 
 
 Deduct for operating expenses, repairs and depreciations, 50 per 
 
 cent., although with such high tariff 40 will be ample 3,193,500 
 
 $2,193,500 
 Deduct for allowance to Mexican Government on 15,000 
 
 through passengers, 12 cents each $1,800 
 
 On 750,000 tons through freight, at 35 cents per ton 187,500 
 
 189,300 
 
 Net income $2,003,200 
 
 COST. 
 
 In estimating the cost of the road, harbors and appurtenances, it is to be 
 borne in mind that the route is by no means a terra j»c«^m'to— elaborate surr 
 veys, maps and profiles have been made under the auspices of the government, 
 one for railway by Gen. J. G. Barnard, IT. S. Engineers, another by Gen. W. 
 H. Sidell, U. S. A., and for a ship canal by Capt. ii. W. Shufeldt, U. S. Navy, 
 supplementing a survey by Senor Moro. All authorities agree as to the prac- 
 ticabilty and feasibility of the road, the favorable character of the country, 
 and the permanency of the harbors ; furthermore, that all foreign material 
 for construction will be imported free of duty; and that the road will be con- 
 structed at its lowest money cost without intervention of " construction com- 
 
262 The Jnteroceanie Ship Canal. 
 
 panies" or other devices, which not unfrequently divert into irregular channels 
 the money of investors. 
 
 KSTndlATB. 
 
 For clearing, grading and masonry, 130 miles, at |V,500 |975,000 
 
 20 miles mountain section, at $35,000 per mile 500,000 
 
 Iron Bridges 300,000 
 
 160 miles ties and track laying, at $3,750 per mile, including 10 miles 
 
 siding 440,000 
 
 160 miles, including siding, steel rails, 1,500 tons, at |32 per ton .... 480,000 
 
 550 tons flsh plates and spikes, at $50 per ton 37,500 
 
 Stations, machine shops, tools and fixtures 300,000 
 
 Boiling stock 600,000 
 
 Harbors, wharves, &c. , Atlantic terminus 250,000 
 
 Pacific " 750,000 
 
 Freight, haulage, &c 50,000 
 
 Engineering ; . 300,000 
 
 Contingencies, 10 per cent 487,350 
 
 $5,359,750 
 The above estimate is believed to be considerably in excess of the actual 
 amount necessary to open the road, well supplied with all requisite appur- 
 tenances to perform its business. 
 
 Nkw York, December 27, 1879. 
 Edwaed Leaened, President, i&e. 
 
 Sib, — In regard to your request that we shall give you our professional opinion 
 as to the " feasibility, cost and advantages of the Tehuantepec Interoceanic Rail- 
 road, equipped for a business, say, of 750,000 tons per annum, and also of the 
 practicability of establishing good harbors for vessels of 25 feet draft at each ter- 
 minus, with the probable expense thereof," we have to say : 
 
 That from our examinations of the very complete maps, data and statistics fur- 
 nished by the several governmental and corporate surveys heretofore made, and 
 from other sources of information to which we have had access, including a personal 
 examination of the line several years ago by one of the undersigned, Mr. Van 
 Brocklin, we are enabled to give with great confidence the opinion that the railroad 
 can be substantially built with steel rails and equipped to the extent necessary for 
 the amount of business named, for from four and a half to five millious of dollars 
 and that safe and adequate harbors can be established at each terminus, by an ex- 
 penditure in the improvement of the entrances thereto, to admit vessels of 25 feet 
 draft, for about a million of dollars. 
 
 That the work can all be accomplished within less than three years. 
 
 In regard to the advantages of the route, though not strictly a professional matter, 
 we hold the opinion that from New York via Pensaeola and Tehuantepec, San Fran- 
 cisco can be reached in eleven or twelve days. 
 
 That via Galveston and via the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad, East India 
 goods, sugar, teas, &c., can be laid down in St. Louis, and probably in Chicago, 
 more cheaply than by any overland all-rail route. 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 203 
 
 That freight from the Atlantic ports can be delivered in San Francisco in about 
 fifteen days. 
 
 That the vast grain crops of Oregon and California will seek Enropean markets by 
 the Tehuantepec route from either of the several advantages it will present over the 
 route via Oape Horn. As we proceed to-day to Mexico, we hope in a short time to 
 supplement this statement by facts from personal observation, which will more con- 
 clusively determine the professional opinions herein given. 
 
 Respectfully, 
 [Signed] Wm. J. McAlpine, 
 
 [Signed] M. Van Bkocklin, 
 
 Chief Bngineer. 
 
 Mr. Hall then began his remarks, frequently referring to a map 
 of the district. He said : 
 
 This important route commences at the Coatzacoalcos river. 
 We propose ending the line at the lagoon or lake upon 
 the Pacific side. The city of Tehuantepec is situated inland about 
 eight miles from the Pacific coast. The greatest height that we have to 
 surmount is about 760 feet, at Chivela. We have to cut a canal from 
 the Pacific into the lagoon, about 2| miles. That is cut thi-ough a sand- 
 bar, which was formerly part of the sea, but which Has been formed 
 from the wash from the Tehuantepec river and from other rivers 
 emptying near there. The lake is about 12 miles wide and about 
 16 miles in length, having an average depth of from 19 to 21 feet, 
 with about four feet of rise and fall of tide. The cutting will give a 
 harbor with 25 feet of water at high tide. On the Gulf side, I 
 found in the survey that we had about 1,200 feet from the line of 
 the-coast, a bar of about 400 feet, where we have now about 15 feet 
 of water. That we have, of course, to cut away, and after di-edging 
 through this bar we have about eight miles from the coast line on 
 this river, carrying about 38 feet of water. 
 
 The line of the route will take this direction [following Rio 
 Nueva], coming off to the westward, coming down through here 
 [on Farifa plains] and passing down through Chivela. At the pass 
 on this highest point we have mountains on each side rising from 
 8,000 to 12,000 feet. Chivela pass, itself, is only about 26 miles 
 in width, reckoning from the mountains where we come down to the 
 Pacific plains, where is a very beautiful, level and fertile country. 
 
 In speaking of Tehuantepec, I want the Society to understand 
 that I am not here to disparage the canals or anything of that kind 
 
264 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 — far from it. I would like to see the canal go through the Isthmus 
 of Tehuantepeo. The railway will go a long way to assist this 
 enterprise. I have crossed the Nicaragua route. My impression is, 
 a canal never will be built there. On the Nicaragua route we have 
 to traverse a river, and my impressions are that for some 80 or 90 
 miles it will be almost impossible to dredge or to keep up banks. 
 On the Tehuantepec line you have got, you will notice, this river 
 running up to the edge of these mountains ; you carry a river there 
 for about 90 miles, and then you have this summit to overcome. 
 Speaking of tunneling and cutting deep cuts, my impression is that 
 you can get a canal through Tehuantepec with nearly the same cost 
 as on the Nicaragua route. I maintain that the point of health is 
 one of the main things in carrying through an enterprise of this kind. 
 Then, again, there is no comparison between the two regions of 
 country. It is also much nearer our own shores. At this point 
 [Coatzacoalcos] we have easy navigation for Galveston, Pensacola, 
 New Orleans, from there on to Havana, and, you may say, nearly 
 home. There is no trouble from earthquakes on the Isthmus of 
 Tehuantepec ; earthquakes have not been known there for many 
 years. 
 
 I have been some 25 years connected with the Pacific trade, hav- 
 ing resided 24 years in Australia, and established the "very first 
 Australian mail service to the United States. I took that up single- 
 handed, and opened the service between Sidney and San Francisco, 
 a distance of 7,260 miles — to-day, I think, the longest mail route in 
 operation. My attention was first drawn to Tehuantepec by noticing 
 the straight line that we had from Australia to Europe. Then, 
 from China, the passing through this isthmus gives us another 
 very favorable position. There are many features worth men- 
 tioning. After many years' experience, I found that the trade 
 of the Pacific required a different class of ships from those in 
 use upon the Atlantic. The Pacific trade requires light ships, well 
 ventilated, with large carrying capacity. In the Atlantic we know 
 that very heavy ships are required, with very large tonnage, and 
 great speed and good sea qualities. I have been for many years try- 
 ing to connect with the Union and Central Pacific railroads for the 
 purpose of getting through freights for passengers, specie and 
 different commodities, and have been unable to do it. Prom San 
 Francisco to New York alone they would have to traverse about 
 
7%e Interoceanic Ship Canal. 265 
 
 3,200 miles by rail. Of course, to get freight through that length 
 of road becomes expensive. On the Tehuantepec route, it being 
 only 140 miles in length and on a straight line, we would control the 
 better portion of a very large trade between the United States and 
 the Australias; and not only that, but with the Pacific islands. 
 When the Australian service was first started we called at Kan- 
 davan, one of the Fiji group; thence went to Honolulu. The trade, 
 at the beginning, on the round voyage to those different islands, 
 would amount to $6,000 or $"7,000 ; and we thought that was 
 very good work. To-day that service is paying $30,000 to 
 $40,000, over that same track, stopping at the three points. My 
 round voyages then used to work in about $30,000 ; to-day 
 they are netting about $80,000. That simply shows, by steam 
 communication touching at these different points, even from San 
 Francisco to the Australias, what the service will be. We took in 
 coal at Sidney to supply our ships from New South Wales to San 
 Francisco and back. That also shows the advantages to-day gained 
 by the compound engine. In former days, to do that service, 
 which was really 1 5,000 miles, would have taken over 5,000 tons 
 of coal; now about 2,500. The service from Sidney to Panama was 
 undertaken by the Panama Steamship Company, but that service 
 failed on account of the heavy consumption of coal and the great 
 distance that they had to steam with no coaling stations. 
 
 Judge Daly : The report states that the distance from New York 
 to San Francisco by way of Tehuantepec, would be about 1,500 
 miles less than by way of Panama. Is that correct ? 
 
 Mr. Hall : It would be about 1,300 miles. 
 
 Judge Daly : Will you state what the route would be — the sail- 
 ing route — the shortest distance ? 
 
 Mr. Hall : The distance from New York to Panama would be 
 about the same that it would be from New York to Tehuantepec, or 
 rather to Coatzacoalcos; the difference is really on the Pacific side. 
 
 Judge Dalt: "Allow me to ask another question. What would be 
 the advantages over the Suez canal, for a route to India, by Tehuan- 
 tepec or any of those routes ? 
 
 Mr. Hall : I don't think there would be any. For New York, it 
 would be shorter. In coming from China to New York, it would 
 be shorter by way of Tehuantepec than through the Suez canal, 
 thence down the Mediterranean and across the Atlantic. I should 
 say there would be a difference of 1,800 miles in our favor. 
 
266 The Interoceanic Ship Ccunal. 
 
 Judge Daly : It would make no difference to Europe ? 
 
 Mr. Hall : No, I think it would not have any effect. 
 
 Judge Daly : Nor any canal through the Isthmus of Darien ? 
 
 Mr. Hall : Well, there are some points where it would, and 
 others where it would not, on account of winds. On the Pacific 
 side, north of the equator, the strength of the northeast trades would 
 be in latitude 16°; and, similarly, latitude 16° south would be the 
 parallel of the southeast trades. So that, really, in coming from 
 the Pacific islands in that direction, we get a fair wind running for 
 the Gulf of Tehuantepec. Now, in making the Nicaragua i-oute, 
 when we get in about 12° north we are getting so far south again 
 that we are running away from the parallel of trades and getting 
 into the calm belt. When on this coast, it is almost impossible to 
 handle a ship under sail ; you have to depend upon steam, on 
 account of calms. Panama, I suppose, would be about 8° north. 
 Then you have to go a good distance southward from that before 
 you get into strong winds. 
 
 Judge Daly : There is a belt of calms all along on either side ? 
 
 Mr. Hall : Yes. That is the difficulty you have here, unless you 
 work by steam. I think that a canal cut across by the Nicaragua 
 or Panama route would only be used by steam — that it would be 
 almost useless for sailing vessels. You could not come out in the 
 Pacific 1,200 or 1,400 miles to seaward to pick up a ship. No 
 doubt, when she came on the coast line, there would be steam 
 tugs to carry her through. Most of the trade coming into the 
 lagoon would be from the northward — from China and other north- 
 ern countries landing their cargoes there, and then passing over 
 instead of coming on the long route around Cape Horn. 
 
 When I took up the Australian service, my object was the run- 
 ning of the mails from Australia to Europe. We had a large sub- 
 sidy for the purpose. We are performing that service now in 42 
 days, touching at Honolulu, San Francisco and to Liverpool. I am 
 under the strong belief that that service can be performed after the 
 completion of the Tehuantepec route in 32 days. It is a long distance 
 but with the experience that I have had in the Pacific, and with 
 the known speed of ships, I am confident that this service can be 
 performed in the time named. Of course these canals when completed 
 will have some advantages ; there is a large trade to be developed 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 267 
 
 in the Pacific islands. We are now at work on the Tehuantepec 
 road, having a staff of engineers, and I suppose between 200 and 
 300 men at the mouth of the Ooatzacoalcas river. We are now 
 working at that point. Mr. McAlpine and Mr. Van Brocklin sailed 
 on Friday ; they are on their way to the isthmus. The purpose 
 of their visit is to make themselves thoroughly familiar with the 
 Tehuantepec route ; and if Mr. McAlpine's health pei-mits, when 
 he reaches Mexico I rather think he will visit the Pacific coast ; and 
 I hope that when he comes back he will be able to give you informa- 
 tion that I have not. 
 
 In response to several inquiries, Mr. Hall said that on the Te- 
 huantepec route a tunnel of about 12 miles would be required, with 
 about 22 locks, through an easy country, with principally limestone 
 formation ; that the tunnel would come out about 60 feet above 
 the lagoon, making a fall to that extent necessary before entering 
 the lagoon ; that the water supply would begin with a source that 
 emptied into the upper end of the Coatzacoalcos river. In relation 
 to the cost of the canal, Mr. Hall said that Mr. Garay, who was here 
 some time ago, appointed to represent the Mexican government at 
 the Paris Congress, estimated the expense at about $60,000,000. 
 But Mr. Hall thought that was an estimate wide of the mark where 
 a tunnel of such length and magnitude was to be cut. But where 
 Mr. Garay's estimate was for 80 locks to the summit, and then down, 
 this tunnel would require only 22 looks. After coming through upon 
 the Pacific side, the tunnel would be 56 or 60 feet above the sea; 
 and then it would come down on to what is called the Pacific plain. 
 Mr. Hall was not able to say how high the body of the canal would 
 be above the ocean. As a harbor, the mouth of the river on the 
 Atlantic side is about 1,500 feet wide. A bar is there which must 
 be removed; but from surveys it would appear that the sand there 
 has not varied or shifted for the last 30 years. The tunnel would 
 not be an open cut, but a regular tunnel, principally through lime- 
 stone. There would be about 20 locks in all — 10 on the Pacific side 
 and 10 on the Atlantic. Mr. Hall said, that from advices by the 
 last mail from Mexico, it was his information that the Mexican gov- 
 ernment had sent engineers to make a thorough survey, and regular 
 reports for the canal, and he believed a communication on behalf of 
 the Mexican government was to be presented to our government, 
 asking the United States to withhold support until this survey could 
 be made. 
 
268 The Interoceaniic Ship Canal. 
 
 In reply to a question by Judge Daly, Mr. Hall said that he 
 thought it would be found very difficult to compete with the Suez 
 canal for the Indian trade. The Suez canal has a peculiar advan- 
 tage in having no locks. Vessels generally anchor over night at 
 the mouth of the canal ; at daylight they enter the canal, and about 
 sunset of the next day they are through ; they always use steam 
 power. Upon the Tehuantepec route, with the number of locks 
 that would be necessary and the stoppages, Mr. Hall thought that 
 it would take three days, or in that neighborhood, to pass a vessel 
 .360 or 370 feet in length; but he thought for trade from Calcutta 
 and China, there would be a gain for American ports of from six to 
 eight days, and therefore great advantage would accrue to the 
 United States; but for Europe he did not think it would be much 
 used, except it might be for the west coast trade. 
 
 Major Sherbourne inquired whether, for the numerous islands in 
 the South Pacific, a canal by the American isthmus would not be 
 much nearer. 
 
 Mr. Hall thought that for the Australian, New Zealand, Tahite, 
 the Feegee group and the Sandwich islands trade, it would be nearer 
 for Europe to avail itself of the American isthmus for steamers, 
 but sailing vessels would not attempt it; they would go round Cape 
 Horn in preference. 
 
 An inquiry was made as to whether steam was not rapidly super- 
 seding sailing vessels. 
 
 Mr. Hall replied, not in all kinds of trade ; many classes of freight 
 could be carried cheaper by sail ; although it was true that the use 
 of steam was on the increase. But there was much time lost in 
 collecting freights among the Pacific islands, and the expense of 
 working a sailing ship would not be one-half that of handling a 
 steamer of the same tonnage. 
 
 Major Shelbourne inquired whether, in laying out a line between 
 Australia and Europe directly through Tehuantepec, Mr. Hall had 
 considered whether it was equivalent to great circle sailing. 
 
 Mr. Hall replied. Yes; that the plan which he exhibited was on 
 Mercator's projection ; that it had been furnished by the British 
 Admiralty for the Australian service some years ago. 
 
 Mr. Chanute inquired which would be the short line from Great 
 Britain to the eastern ports of China. 
 
 Mr. Hall said that he would go through the Suez canal — that it 
 would be considerably shorter in positive sailing distance. 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 269 
 
 In response to an interrogatory, Mr. Hall said that lie thought 
 very few sailing vessels go through the Suez canal ; that there were 
 some transport-ships that went through by the aid of tugs; that the 
 strong winds are not met until some distance below Aden. 
 
 In response to a suggestion, Mr. Hall said, that if a canal were cut 
 across Florida a great deal would be saved in sailing distance and in 
 insurance — a saving of at least 200 miles between Tehuantepec and 
 New York ; that it was proposed as a quick line to run from the 
 Coatzacoalcos river to Pensacola, and then take an air line from 
 there to New York. 
 
 Judge Daly: As I understand, you navigate the Coatzacoalcos 
 river to a certain extent, and then your line begins. 
 
 Mr. Hall: No; we have abandoned that. It was first recom- 
 mended to run up 22 miles from the mouth. That was General 
 Barnard's plan, but it has been abandoned. We start directly from 
 the mouth of the Coatzacoalcos river and have a railroad the whole 
 way. The entire distance would be 150 miles from the mouth of 
 the Coatzacoalcos river to where we end at the lagoon. 
 
 It was inquired whether there were any mountain torrents to 
 interfere seriously with the road. 
 
 Mr. Hall: We keep on the dividing range. When we start from 
 the mouth of the Coatzacoalcos river we run on nearly a level for 
 14 miles. Then we strike the dividing range, and we keep on this 
 divide until we get to Chivela. We avoid all mountain torrents. 
 The first survey that was made followed the level of the Coatza- 
 coalcos river, but we find that a better plan is to keep away from 
 the currents, although the distance is a little further. In a direct 
 line it would be about 130 miles, so that we lose about 10 to 20 
 miles. For the first 30 miles we will have to send our ties from 
 Florida ; but for the rest of the distance we can get very good 
 timber for the purpose. The principal timber on the isthmus is 
 mahogany. The ties we get from Florida are hewn and of pitch 
 pine. The Vera Cruz and Mexican Railway have been getting 
 lately many of their ties from Cedar Keys and Pensacola. 
 
 Mr. Hall remarked, in conclusion, that this railway was quite in- 
 teresting ; that it runs a distance of 14 miles on a grade of 212. 
 
 Judge Daly then introduced Mr. John E. Body. 
 
 Mr. BoDT prefaced his remarks upon the main subject of the 
 evening by narrating an interview a few years ago between himself 
 
2V0 The Interoceanic Ship CamM. 
 
 and Lord Kimberley, Secretary for the Colonial Department at Lon- 
 don, formerly known as Mr. Wodehouse, Under Secretary of State. 
 Speaking of the opposition of Lord Palmerston to the building of the 
 Suez canal, the Secretary remarked that the opposition was confined 
 to Lord Palmerston, who, in this respect, was not supported by the 
 rest of the cabinet; that it was a part of the method of the British 
 system to have as few fixed points of necessary agreement among 
 the members of the government as possible, and while all were gen- 
 erally agreed upon general subjects, there were many matters upon 
 which each member held and expressed ideas peculiarly his own. 
 Lord Kimberley was exceedingly sanguine about the Nicaragua 
 canal across the American isthmus, and thought it was bound to be 
 built. Being asked by Mr. Body if he knew of any reason, political, 
 military, or otherwise, that would make the building of a canal by 
 way of Nicaragua objectionable to the British government, he replied 
 that he knew of none whatever. He said that Great Britain con- 
 sidered herself at the head of the industry of the world, and that 
 whatever shortens time or distance is in favor of the industrious 
 nations. Being informed that the government of the United States 
 was about to make surveys of the different routes which had been 
 projected for the forming of a line of communication between the 
 Atlantic and Pacific oceans, he suggested that, in the matter of the 
 sending of a surveyor by the British government to accompany 
 such expeditions, Mr. Body should see Earl Granville. Earl Gran- 
 ville thought, as the survey would be so purely American, while 
 wishing it every success, it would be more appropriate for Mr. John 
 Fowler, an eminent engineer of London, to send one of his surveyors 
 rather than that the government should send a directly accredited 
 representative. That it made no difference to the English govern- 
 ment whether the canal was built by Englishmen, Frenchmen, Ger- 
 mans or Americans, so long as it was built, it being purely for com.- 
 mercial purposes, and let him do the work who can do it best and 
 cheapest. Earl Granville said that the opposition of Lord Palmer- 
 ston to the Suez canal caused a great deal of French money to be 
 invested in it; it was thought by the French that the canal would 
 be a serious blow to English commerce; that the trade of England 
 with the East would be cut in two, and that France would be a 
 great gainer. Earl Granville corroborated Lord Kimberley's state- 
 ment that the attitude of Lord Palmerston with reference to the 
 Suez canal was wholly individual, and confined to himself. 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 271 
 
 Mr. Body stated that he was President of the Central American 
 Transit Company, who were the successors of the Atlantic and 
 Pacific Ship Canal Company, the original grantees by the govern- 
 ment of Nicaragua for a canal, and that eminent counsel had 
 advised that the successors of the Atlantic and Pacific Ship Canal 
 Company had the right as such successors to build the canal. Mr. 
 Body also said that he had been connected with the Nicaragua route 
 since 1860, and said that the greater part of his business life had 
 been passed in watching the isthmus, and trying to forward the 
 views of the company that he represented. 
 
 Mr. Body then spoke upon the topic of the evening as follows : 
 
 The range of mountains extending from 95° W. 17' N. to 76° W. 
 4' N., a distance of about 1,700 miles, including the Tehuantepec 
 and Darien isthmus, forms one single chain in its entire length, and 
 of such altitude that the navigator, having their summits constantly 
 in view at a distance of 100 m,iles, can run his course by their 
 direction. They screen the Pacific ocean from northers, except at 
 Tehuantepec, where the depression of the chain in a north and 
 south direction admits those furious winds to a limited action on 
 that otherwise still sea. 
 
 The adjacent republic of Guatemala presents no such depression 
 in her mountains. Nor do San Salvador or Honduras invite the pas- 
 sage of northers. These states, as well as the republic of Costa 
 Rica, may be called mountainous regions having in their altitudes 
 vast plains, fertile in all that the heart of man can desire, with a 
 very salubrious climate; this is especially the case in Nicaragua, 
 which is celebrated for its productions of coffee, sugar, indigo, 
 cocoa (the finest in the world), cattle, and all kinds of fruits ; 
 hides, deer-skins, india-rubber, and an abundance of medicinal 
 roots and plants; gold and silver mines, many of them of great 
 antiquity and considerable richness. 
 
 Nicaragua is an old settled country, with a high civilization in 
 its capital cities, and a widespread common school education all 
 over the land. It is rare to find a man who cannot read and write, 
 even in the lowest grade of laborers. The upper classes are just as 
 well educated as we are, and fall in no degree short of our standard 
 in the refinements of society; they are eminently a polite and hos- 
 pitable people. 
 
 Nicaragua, like all the tropical countries of Central America, is 
 
272 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 short of population, and cannot be relied on to furnish the labor to 
 build the canal, except very partially. We must look to China and 
 the West Indies for working hands; but Nicaragua offers abundant 
 and very cheap meat, fish, corn and fruits along the entire line of 
 the proposed canal. 
 
 Moreover, there is no danger of having to fight hostile Indians 
 in prosecuting the work; none exist upon the soil of the republic. 
 
 The geographical arrangement of Nicaragua differs from that of 
 all the states in the range from Tehuantepec to Darien. Nicaragua 
 has two ranges of mountains running nearly parallel to each other : 
 the eastern range, which joins the mountains of Honduras, and is 
 separated from the mountains of Costa Rica by the valley of the 
 San Juan river; the western range, which begins with the mountain 
 El Viego, 6,500 feet high, and runs a southeast course along and 
 near the Pacific coast until it joins the mountain range in Costa 
 Rica, which continues its southeast direction until it is merged into 
 the great South American Andes. 
 
 In the departments of Metagalpa and Chontales, the eastern range 
 of mountains discharge about one-half their water into the basins 
 of Lake Managua and Lake Nicaragua. These two lakes are con- 
 nected, and the outflow from Managua into Nicaragua lake is very 
 considerable at high -water season, but it has never been gauged; 
 at low water they do not connect. 
 
 In Lake Nicaragua, near its southwestern extremity, immediately 
 opposite the entrance to the projected canal, which it protects 
 from easterly or trade winds which prevail, is the island of Omote- 
 pec, about eleven miles long, having a remarka))le mountain upon it, 
 6,500 feet high, almost a perfect cone in form. This remarkable 
 mountain towers above everything surrounding, and is visible to 
 the eye, and forms the true bearing for approaching the shore to 
 ships, more than 100 miles out at sea. 
 
 In the Pacific or western range of mountains, in the immediate 
 neighborhood of this giant sentinel, is found the lowest elevation in 
 the mountain range, which separates the waters which flow into the 
 Atlantic from those which fall into the Pacific, from the Arctic 
 ocean to Cape Horn. 
 
 These facts are of such paramount importance that their discov- 
 ery could not fail to interest the scientific world and to prompt men 
 of enterprise to endeavor to acquire a geographical position which, 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 273 
 
 in my humble judgment, has not its equal on the face of the globe. 
 
 Here let me fulfill a duty, which has been inexcusably neglected of 
 late, to the memory of a truly great man, who was formerly state 
 engineer of the state of New York — the late Orville W. Childs. 
 Of his report on the interoceanic canal via Nicaragua, which I had 
 the honor to submit to Mr. John Fowler of London, that eminent 
 engineer said to me : " It fulfills all the requiremfnts of modern 
 engineering. I have read it with much pleasure on my journey from 
 London to Scotland and back, and you may say that I endorse all 
 that Mr. ChUds has said in his report.'' 
 
 The various expeditions sent out by our government to survey the 
 different routes which were proposed for the canal were all furnished 
 with the report and maps of Mr. Childs. 
 
 It would be presumptuous in me to say that the opinions of Mr, 
 Childs, formed in 1850 and 1851, must rule now. The recent surveys 
 have been in very able hands, and have led to the discovery of eco- 
 nomic facts of greater or less importance, more especially as the canal 
 now is to have a depth of 28 feet instead of 17 feet, as laid out by 
 Childs in 18.50 and 1851 ; yet the main features of the canal route 
 remain the same. 
 
 It was this very canal across Nicaragua, of which we hold the 
 franchise from that republic, which called forth the Treaty of Pro- 
 tection, which, speaking in the name of modern civilization, says 
 that they who do the work shall be protected in its possession — 
 their capital shall be secure, and they shall enjoy the benefit of 
 the enterprise. 
 
 In contemplation of the fact that Great Britain and the United 
 States entered into a convention on the subject of this canal, I may 
 be excused from noticing the unworthy insinuation that the work 
 is a sentimental project. 
 
 Acting under very liberal instructions from Mr. Cornelius Van- 
 derbilt and his associates, to determine the best line for an inter- 
 oceanic canal, a survey was made and embodied in a report of the 
 cost of constructing the interoceanic ship canal from the harbor of 
 San Juan del Norte or Greytown on the Atlantic, to the harbor of 
 Brito, on the Pacific, in the republic of Nicaragua, Central Amer- 
 ica, made to and for the American Atlantic and Pacific Ship Canal 
 Company, in the years 1850 and 1851, by Orville W. Childs, chief 
 engineer. The report embraced also, a topographical description of 
 
274 The Jnteroeeanic Ship Canal. 
 
 the country, a thorough reconnoissance for a line from Salinas bay, 
 on the Pacific, to the Rio Sapoa, an affluent of Lake Nicaragua ; 
 also, a line to the north of Rivas, which, after investigation, was 
 deemed impracticable and was abandoned in favor of a line to the 
 south of Rivas city, in the department of that name, from Lake 
 Nicaragua to ^rito harbor, using the Rio Lajas, which falls 
 into Lake Nicaragua, and also the Rio Grande, which falls into 
 the Pacific at Brito. The summit level between these rivers is only 
 46 feet above high water in Lake Nicaragua, and has a width of 
 only 1^ miles ; it is approached on eaqh side up a generally broad 
 and uniform plane. 
 
 The level of Nicaragua lake at high water is 103 feet above high 
 water on the Pacific, and 111 J feet above the lowest tide level. The 
 fall to the Atlantic is 107^ feet to the level of high water, and 108f 
 to the level of low water, in San Juan del Norte, or Greytown har- 
 bor. The distance over which this fall is distributed is 119 miles of 
 good navigable water, when the river is only half full. The pre- 
 eminent advantage of the Nicaragua route for an interoceanic 
 canal is the inexhaustible supply of water at the summit level. The 
 great lake of Nicaragua has an average length of about 110 miles 
 by an average breadth of about 25 miles, and receives the rainfall 
 of more than 200 miles by 50. It is the great reservoir of water 
 of Central America, which unquestionable fact marks it as the 
 natural line for an interoceanic canal. 
 
 Colonel Childs estimates the quantity of water to supply canal 
 navigation from the summit level, including evaporation, infiltra- 
 tion and leakage to locks, at a 105,130 cubic feet per minute, and 
 the same eminent authority shows, by the test of its gauges, that the 
 average outflow of the lake is 899,000 cubic feet per minute. 
 
 These tests were made from the 23d of December, 1850, to the 
 27th of April, 1851. They began when the lake was Z\ feet above 
 low level, or about the middle stage, and they give the result that in 
 that period of 125 days the supply from the lake was 143,022,600,000 
 cubic feet in excess of the requirements for the canal and its naviga- 
 tion, to pass three ships through its locks every hour. The great 
 rise of water caused by the autumn rains had about half run off when 
 the test of Colonel Childs was made. A rise of water in the lake of 
 five feet only is a low supply. It is frequently six feet and upwards, 
 and upon the area of this inland sea the increased volume in excess 
 
The Interoeeanie Ship Canal. 275 
 
 of low-water stage may be roundly stated at 400,000,000,000 cubic 
 feet, without estimating the immense quantity which has to runout 
 of the lake during the time when the rise of water is going on. 
 
 The rainfall, which is among the heaviest in the known world, 
 having been gauged repeatedly, is found to give 98 inches 
 for a year, or a fall of solid water eight feet deep, over an area 
 four times the surface extent of Lake Nicaragua itself. 
 
 In consequence of the immense area of this lake, the water rarely 
 rises over one or two inches a day, and its outflow by the San Juan 
 river is regulated accordingly. In an experience of 25 years, there 
 has not been a time when, on account of the rapidity of the current, 
 the San Juan river, up or down stream, has been impassable, or 
 even difficult, to steamers capable of making six miles an hour. It 
 is during the season of the heaviest rains and high water on the 
 lake and river that our steamers for the lake service have been 
 sent down to Greytown, thence up the river to stations on the lake ; 
 this could not be done on any other river of Central America. 
 
 I believe myself justified in saying that no conditions exist on 
 this continent so favorable to the construction of an interoeeanie 
 canal as are offered by Nicaragua, and this opinion I hold in com- 
 mon with very many m'en distinguished in science, whose views are 
 on public record. The report of Colonel Childs fixed attention to 
 this project and culminated in forming an American company 
 to construct the canal. Of the report itself, I desire to 
 say that it remains unchallenged after nearly twenty years of pub- 
 lic exposition, and has received the approval of the engineer 
 specially appointed by the British government to examine it ; as 
 also of our own board of topographical engineers at Washington, 
 to whom it was referred by the President of the United States, in 
 1852. They reported thereon through Col. J. J. Abert and Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel W. Trumbull, of that bureau, who said : " We think 
 the plan as proposed by Mr. Childs practicable, there being an 
 abundant supply of water in the summit lake alone, apart from 
 other supplies below it ; that no other route is so adequately sup- 
 plied with water, and that the work could be done at the amount 
 stated upon his exposition of quantities and labor." 
 
 The large interests held by ourselves in Nicaragua have rendered 
 all projects for explorations to discover new routes of communica- 
 tion between the oceans of great importance, and they have re- 
 
276 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 ceived earnest consideration. But I desire to state, as the result of 
 my steady attention to this subject for upwards of twenty years, 
 that, so far as my knowledge extends, no interoceanic pass has been 
 discovered which was not kn'own to the old Spaniards and their cat- 
 tle hunters, and was used by the Indian inhabitants of the continent 
 in times preceding them — and they were not a barbarous people 
 (as the magniiicent ruins of their cities testify to this day), but a 
 people who have left very important evidences of active communi- 
 cations with Central America, both from the north and the south. 
 The conclusion is not unreasonable that no new route will be 
 discovered. 
 
 The naval authorities at Washington, some years ago, expressed 
 the opinion that the interoceanic canal, in width, depth and supply 
 of water, in good anchorage and secure harbors at both ends, and 
 in absolute freedom from obstruction by lifting locks or otherwise, 
 must possess as nearly as possible the character of a strait, and the 
 recent expedition to Darien sought in vain to discover these condi- 
 tions. It is generally assumed now that they do not exist; and it is 
 proposed to supply the deficiency of nature, and to pierce the moun- 
 tain range by a tunnel on the ocean-level to be used by sea-going 
 ships, the feasibility of which can only be decided when the fact 
 shall be accomplished. 
 
 It is not certain that the Cordilleras are solid at their base ; they 
 may be seamed with enormous caverns, caused by the upheaval of 
 their gigantic mass. All reports so far agree that the structure of 
 this portion of the great chain of the Andes is substantially a trap- 
 rock formation, a submarine overflow from the bowels of the earth 
 at different periods, which carried up with it boulders of granite 
 mixed in its mass, and in its latest elevation above the ocean raised 
 also much drift and alluvium. This trap-rock is too loose and 
 separate in its parts to be useful for construction. Whether such a 
 tunnel, if made, would support itself, is more than we can decide ; 
 who would, or could, guarantee its permanent safety ? 
 
 The sober sense of mankind will avoid such desperate risks, which 
 have not the recommendation of cheapness to offer as a compensa- 
 tion, and we must look to the system of above-ground water com- 
 munications alone as they exist in Nicaragua. 
 
 The engineers who planned the different tunnels in the Darien 
 and Panama canal schemes were driven to such contrivances by 
 
The Interooeanic Ship Canal. 27*7 
 
 the contemplation of the practical impossibility of making a deep 
 cut from ocean to ocean, which would have the desired character of 
 a strait for ships to pass through on the ocean level. 
 
 We may except the scheme of M. de Lesseps, which has so re- 
 cently been brought forward, for a canal on the ocean level. It has 
 no tunnel to pass through, but a bottomless swamp, 12 miles long; 
 also it requires a dam about a mile long and 150 feet high to hold 
 up the waters of the Chagres river ; likewise a tide lock at Pana- 
 ma, where the tide rises and falls 20 feet. His projected canal will 
 only pass one ship at a time, and its cost is estimated by American 
 experts at $400,000,000. On commercial principles such a scheme 
 can hardly be entertained, but there may be political reasons of which 
 we know nothing. 
 
 Theoretically, a tunnel of any length or size may be assumed as 
 possible, but it by no means follows that because a tunnel through 
 the granite of Mount Cenis, sufficiently large to pass a railroad car- 
 riage, is practicable, that a tunnel 160 feet high by 100 feet wide 
 through the loose trap-rook mountains of Central America, sufficient 
 for the largest ships to pass through, is practicable. 
 
 We are, for reasons before given, as well as for others concerning 
 ventilation and navigation, compelled to reject all canal schemes 
 having long tunnels, whether they be on the level of the ocean, like 
 the San Bias, or high up in the air, with a more than doubtful water 
 supply all the year round. 
 
 The line across Nicaragua, as surveyed and laid down by Childs, 
 is free from the objection of tunnels, great or small, and has at its 
 summit a level of navigable water {from Castillo on the San Juan 
 river to the first lock descending to the Pacific) of 103 miles without 
 an impediment of any hind. This is a sea of fresh water at the 
 summit, 12 feet lower than the reservoir in Central Park, City of 
 New York, inexhaustible in quantity, and tlie rim which confines 
 it on the Pacific side is only 46 feet high. 
 
 In regard to the comparative cost of the construction of an inter- 
 oceanic canal, the distance from ocean to ocean is reduced nearly 
 one-half by the use of the San Juan river for 90^^ miles, and 
 costs only $12,528 a mile, according to the computation of Childs, 
 to make it complete for service. 
 
 The artificial canal of Childs, leading from the San Juan river 
 into Grey town harbor, 28^ miles, being an earthwork altogether, 
 
2Y8 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 costs $164,752 a mile, whereas the section work on the Pacific, 171 
 miles long, l)eing mostly stone excavation, costs $439,372 a mile. 
 The locks on the San Juan river cost, on an average, $248,246 each, 
 and the dams $224,574 ; on the earth-canal the locks cost $245,265 
 each. On the Pacific side the locks cost rather less, averaging 
 $224,572 each. 
 
 Fortunately, the amount of cutting at the summit, between the 
 lake of Nicaragua and the Pacific ocean, is principally confined to 
 a section five and a half miles long, with a summit elevation of 46 
 feet above the lake, about one and a half miles long; but this piece 
 costs at the rate of a million dollars a mile. 
 
 The outflow of the San 'Juan river from the lake of Nicaragua, 
 has worn a channel for our use which would have cost incalculable 
 millions to remove by any process of art known to man. These 
 estimates which have been made by Mr. Childs were based upon 
 formal survey, and are accompanied by ascertained quantities of 
 above-water excavations, and under-water excavations in the various 
 earth, rock, gravel, clay and sand encountered between the two 
 oceans, and the price of such excavations varies from $3 per cubic 
 yard for submarine rock, to as low as $1.40 for rock work very 
 favorably situated; but the principal rock excavations above ground 
 are calculated at $1.60 per cubic yard, earth excavations generally 
 at 35 cents per cubic yard, gravel and clay at $1.50 per cubic yard, 
 and sand at 25 cents per cubic yard in gold, and the depth of the 
 canal and its locks was for vessels drawing 17 feet. The entire work 
 was estimated to cost $31,500,000. The same work well located in 
 New York State would cost only $13,500,000. 
 
 The larger dimensions of the canal proposed by Mr. Menocal will 
 probably bring up the cost of a 28-feet-deep canal to $55,000,000 as 
 against $31,500,000 for the 17-feet-deep canal of Childs. I have 
 great faith in the ability and good judgment of Mr. Menocal, which 
 he has shown by his plan of carrying the canal from Greytown to a 
 point above where the San Carlos i-iver enters the Rio San Juan. 
 
 The harbor of Greytown, when I first knew it in 1850, was large, 
 deep, and well sheltered, and was a favorite rendezvous for ships of 
 war ; and the most ancient maps have this harbor laid down. We 
 hear a great deal said about the moving coast sands, but the loss of 
 the harbor was not brought about primarily from that cause. It was 
 the result of a freshet of unusual force, which carried away a small 
 
The Inter oceanic Ship Canal. 279 
 
 island in the San Juan river, a little above the divergence of what 
 is called the Colorado branch of the Rio San Juan, which allowed a 
 large increase of water to pass down the Colorado branch, impover- 
 ishing just so much the current of water which heretofore formed 
 the lower San Juan branch, and had sufficed to keep the entrance to 
 Greytown harbor open and with sufficient water at the bar to admit 
 the entrance of the largest ships. 
 
 With a powerful river like the San Juan in its rear, if the same 
 means were adapted to deepen the harbor and its entrance which 
 have been put in practice upon the mouths of the Danube and 
 the Mississippi rivers, there would appear to be no reasonable doubt 
 that Greytown harbor may again be made available for the purposes 
 of commerce and especially for the entrance pf the canal. The San 
 Juan, the Danube and Mississippi discharge their waters into almost 
 tideless seas, and the depth of water on the bars of the Danube and 
 Mississippi has been more than doubled by the simple process of em- 
 bankments and jetties. It is a question of cost ; but if the engineers 
 of the Nicaragua canal should decide, after fully weighing its proba- 
 ble results, that such method should not be undertaken, and that an 
 artificial entrance to the canal by means of piers or jetties outside 
 of Greytown harbor is the best for so vast a work as the canal, it 
 seems to me a very weak objection to the plan that the piers may 
 possibly require to be lengthened at certain times when the supposed 
 drift of the sands along the coast shall reach the mouth of the pier 
 entrance and threaten to obstruct it. Allowing for the sheer possi- 
 bility of this action of the sands, it must be reckoned as one of the 
 standing expenses of the canal to provide a fund to lengthen the 
 piers. 
 
 The Suez canal is most likely the reopening of a navigation which 
 in very ancient times united the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. 
 Africa was then an island, and Egypt did not exist. The Nile hav- 
 ing its sources under the equator, created Egypt, and the mud of 
 the Nile, passing out to sea, was carried easterly by the Mediterra- 
 nean current, and thus gradually filled up the waters which separated 
 Africa from Asia, and formed the Isthmus of Suez. 
 
 The same process is going on to-day, and the piers of the Suez 
 canal will have to be lengthened from time to time, because the Nile 
 mud-deposits always did and always will be formed about the 
 entrance of that canal. 
 
280 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 The great trade of our isthmus canal will probably be the coast- 
 ing trade of the United States, and the direct trade of California 
 and Oregon with Europe. 
 
 Who can measure the future of the west coast of this continent, 
 or assign limits to the intercourse of mankind, the moving to and 
 fro of nations, and the living activities which Asia, awakened from 
 her slumber of thousands of years, must infallibly call into life ? 
 Where is the limit of the probable ? Ask the experience of the 
 past, and it will tell you that the facts of our own day far exceed the 
 stretch of the most sanguine expectations of our youth — and so to 
 the future will the doings of our times appear insignificant com- 
 pared with the facts of our next generation, and in nothing so 
 clearly and demonstrably as in the movement of mankind, the in- 
 creased wants of civilization and the means of supplying them, of 
 which the interoceanic canal will be the most illustrious fact. 
 
 Why subject this trade for all time to the unnecessary burden of 
 an additional distance of seven hundred miles by any of the routes 
 which end in the Bay of Panama ? They are all too far south for 
 the interests of the United States. 
 
 If the Nicaraguan route should cost twice as much as any of the 
 Panama routes, it would be better to build the canal by the way of 
 Nicaragua, even at that cost. Instead of this, the estimated cost of 
 the Nicaragua canal is scarcely half the cost of any of the Panama 
 Bay routes, and not one sixth of the costs of M. de Lesseps' pro- 
 jected canal. 
 
 In regard to the proper location for the interoceanic ship canal, 
 have we any room to doubt ? The white clouds which cling like 
 pennants to the lofty top of Mount Ometepec, proclaim to the 
 nations of the world, " This is the gate of the two oceans." 
 
 Upon the conclusion of Mr. Body's remarks, 
 
 Judge Dalt said : All the routes have been examined during 
 the four sittings of the Society, with the exception of the Panama 
 route. Mr. Appleton expected to be present at the last meeting, 
 but he was unexpectedly called ^to Boston and has not returned. I 
 received a letter from him yesterday, in which he expressed his 
 strong desire that there should be a full exposition of the merits of 
 the Panama route, and he suggested that, as he was unable to be pres- 
 ent. Commodore Mead, who has just returned from Panama, might 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 281 
 
 come here to-night and give us an account of the Panama route. I 
 sent a messenger to Commodore Mead with Mr. Appleton's letter, 
 but the Commodore stated that, as he was acting for the govern- 
 ment, he did not feel at liberty, at present, to make any statement 
 that might be published. We therefore need an exposition of the 
 Panama route to enable us to complete the subject. 
 
 I do not know that we shall sit again. The investigation has been 
 very exhaustive ; and as everything that has been said will be record- 
 ed and will be printed, I think we shall have a very full presentation 
 of the views entertained of all routes, except that by way of Panama. 
 On that route we can say that we have a great many objections 
 recorded against it from gentlemen who favor other routes. But it is 
 desirable that the Panama route should have some advocate here, one 
 fully acquainted with it, prepared to answer the objections made 
 against it, if they are answerable. I shall take occasion before the 
 proceedings are published to communicate with some gentlemen 
 who favor that route, in order to obtain such an account of it as 
 they may be willing to furnish. 
 
 I received a letter from M. de Lesseps before his departure 
 from Europe, stating his intention of coming to this country and 
 visiting this city, which I suppose he will do after he has finished 
 the inspection of the Panama route. It was intimated at the first 
 meeting, at Chickering Hall, that he would be invited to meet this 
 Society. "We propose to give him a public reception upon his 
 arrival here, either at our house or at Chickering Hall, where a large 
 number of members can assemble to receive him, and hear from 
 him such an exposition as he may desire to give. As a distinguished 
 citizen of the world, who has conferred great benefit upon mankind 
 by the opening of the Suez canal, who has accomplished one of the 
 extraordinary enterprises of this age, we propose to have our re- 
 ception personal, leaving him to address the Society if he chooses 
 to do so upon the subject of the Panama route. I have corresponded 
 with him during the progress of the building of the Suez canal, and 
 I can say that certainly as many objections were raised to that 
 route, and as many statements made of the impossibility of its 
 accomplishment, as have been made to any of the routes that have 
 been discussed during these sittings. The Suez canal was pro- 
 nounced-impracticable from almost all quarters, and various reasons 
 were suggested why it would prove so ; most of which proved to 
 
282 The Interooeanic Ship Canal. 
 
 be unfounded, and some of which were very serious, but were 
 ultimately overcome ; and Monsieur de Lesseps enjoys very great 
 triumph in the success of the enterprise which he undertook almost 
 single-handed, and for the wonderful way in which he enlisted the 
 pecuniary aid necessary to the performance of the work. 
 
 I but express the feeling of the Society when I thank the gentle- 
 men who have discussed these questions. With the exception of 
 Mr. Body, who is an old member of the Society, I believe they 
 have not been connected with it ; they have been engineers, who 
 have discussed it from a practical point of view. We are very 
 much indebted to them, and I think the commercial world will 
 consider itself indebted to them for they have given us practical 
 views of men entitled to be heard. 
 
 We have Mr. Kelley with us to-night, and I asked him whether 
 he had anything that he would like to say upon the subject of the 
 San Bias route. Mr. Kelley, I believe, has spent over $100,000 
 in getting up surveys of the isthmus, a matter of private enterprise, 
 and he is entitled to the thanks of the commercial world and 
 especially of this country. 
 
 Judge Daly then introduced Mr. Kelley, who spoke substantially 
 as follows : 
 
 Mr. Kbllbt said: My plans have been discussed so much that it 
 seems to me hardly worth while to say anything. My friend Major 
 Shelbourne handled the subject much better than I could, and I 
 could only go over the same ground. 
 
 My eflEort has been to find a canal practicable, without locks, and 
 I believe that is the only manner in which it will be built. In my 
 judgment the San Bias is the best route of all, because it is the 
 shortest route. Short lines are what the commercial world want 
 — quick lines. Ships want to go through on an even keel ; they 
 do not want delay ; they want harbors already made; they want 
 harbors that are natural and that will remain open naturally, 
 with no necessity for dredging to keep them open. Ship cap- 
 tains and shipping merchants in this country and in Europe are 
 all agreed in this respect. On the San Bias route the total 
 distance through is 30 miles, 10 of which is the river Bay an o, 
 almost suitable for navigation, and of the remaining 20 miles, 
 seven is a tunnel. That is the only spot that I can see .anywhere 
 on the isthmus that a sea-level canal can be built. It is only a 
 
The Interoceanie Ship Canal. 283 
 
 question of time when tlie commerce of the world will demand a 
 deep, wide cut through the shortest part of the isthmus. A canal 
 by way of Tehuantepec or Nicaragua will not satisfy commerce. 
 Large ships of from 4,000 to 7,000 tons burden will not cross that 
 isthmus through locks required to be 400, 500 or 600 feet long and 
 constantly liable to get out of order. The question is not so much 
 one of cost as of convenience and facility. What are $30,000,000 
 or $50,000,000 more or less in a work of this kind, which is to last for- 
 ever, and accommodate the ever-expanding needs of trade. The 
 world has the money ; there is enough to build this canal if it 
 should cost $200,000,000. The state of New York has spent more 
 than that amount in public improvements. What are $150,000,000 
 for the world ? There is a great deal in having a canal that will be 
 economical to maintain when finished. A canal must have some- 
 thing besides dirt to line its embankments. No dirt embankments 
 will stand in that climate without walling. If the canal is 60 
 miles long, you must have 120 miles of something besides dirt 
 for embankments. The Atrato river has natural embankments, 
 the growth of ages, but they are like sieves, and hold no water. 
 That is the same with the banks on Nicaragua or at Panama. 
 Wherever a canal is built, there must be stone embankments or 
 something besides dirt which the rains of a night will wash away. 
 Those who have figured estimates have not included this expensive 
 item. All are interested in making their estimates as low as possible. 
 You cannot build a canal through Nicara,gua 28 feet deep and 125 
 feet wide for less than $125,000,000. Of course you can build a 
 small-boat canal there for less money. But we are not talking of 
 that — we are talking of a ship canal large enough to satisfy the com- 
 merce of the world for all time. Prom all the late surveys, the least 
 quantity of material to be removed is on the Napipi, and next to 
 that comes the San Bias route. A tunnel 80 feet wide at the water 
 surface and 140 feet high above the canal bottom to crown of arch is 
 sufficient. You can have it a little higher, or a little lower, if you 
 please ; that is merely a matter of convenience. Eighty feet in the 
 tunnel is wide enough for one vessel. A ship can pass this route in 
 ten hours, towed at the rate of three miles an hour; 100 ships can pass 
 from one ocean to the other in 10 hours and 100 back, making 200 in 
 24 hours. No other route will furnish such facilities. The heading 
 in the tunnel, of which there are 332,642 cubic yards, is estimated at 
 
284 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 $20 a cubic yard ; break-down, containing 10,090,080 cubic yards, at 
 $5 ; open-rock cutting, 15,011,219 cubic yards, at $1.50 to $2.50; 
 earth excavation, 3,995,895 cubic yards, estimated from 50 to. 75 
 cents a cubic yard ; masonry, amounting to 54,446 cubic yards, 
 estimated at $15 a cubic yard; concrete, $7; pumping, 2,500,000; and 
 the total cost of the canal finished from ocean to ocean, including 25 
 per cent, for contingencies, would be $104,01'7,'780. If the tunnel 
 should require lining, its entire length, which the firm character 
 of the rock does not indicate, then about $30,000,000 additional 
 would have to be added to the above sum. The total quantity 
 of material to be removed on the entire line would be 29,389,828 
 cubic yards, of which 25,543,939 cubic yards is rock — the safest, 
 best and most reliable material out of which you can construct the 
 canal; the remainder is earth — nearly 4,000,000 of cubic yards. So 
 we have 25,000,000 yards of rock and something over 3,000,000 
 cubic yards of earth. The harbor of San Bias, on the Atlantic 
 side, is excellent. Of it. Commander Selfridge says that "San 
 Bias has a most magnificent bay, with deep passage and fine anchor- 
 age, perfectly protected from the north winds. In the northwest 
 corner is an inner harbor, formed by a circle of islands, with a pas- 
 sage leading into it a mile wide, capable of holding easily all the ship- 
 ping of an immense trafiie." There is not a blow to be struck in 
 that harbor, not a single dollar to be spent on it, except to put up 
 light-houses. These are the kinds of harbors we want for a ship 
 canal — natural harbors, which ships can reach at all times — har- 
 bors that are not constantly filling up, and that, in order to keep 
 open, it will be necessary to dredge as long as the world exists. 
 
 A member of the Society said that the speaker had referred to a 
 canal without locks, but it was understood that the tide in the Bay 
 of San Bias, on the Atlantic side, had less than two feet of rise 
 while on the Pacific side the rise was 22 feet. He inquired how 
 Mr. Kelley proposed to overcome that without locks. 
 
 Mr. Kellet : Latterly the discussions have been in the papers 
 and before the Paris Congress of a canal " without locks." This is 
 not a proper term. The proper term is a " sea-level " canal. But 
 no lift lock will be required. The tide rises on the Atlantic side 
 from 18 to 24 inches ; it rises in the Bay of Panama from 12 to 18 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 285 
 
 feet. To overcome that difficulty we have to place a tidal lock on 
 that side of the isthmus. 
 
 Now, I wish to call your attention to one point : the only prac- 
 ticable route that exists anywhere on the isthmus, without a lock, 
 gate, a dam, or any. obstruction is the Atrato and Truando route. 
 
 [Mr. Kelley here pointed out the lines of the Panama railroad, 
 the San Bias route, the old Darien route, the Atrato and Truando 
 route, the Napipi route, and the San Juan route.] 
 
 Mr. Kelley continued: Baron von Humboldt states in his writ- 
 ings, that as early as 1188, a Spanish priest constructed a little canoe 
 canal and at that early period bungos ascended the Pacific coast 
 to the San Juan, ascended that river to San Pablo, and there their 
 cargoes were discharged into small canoes, taken through that canal, 
 then put into bungos, and a descent was made down the Atrato to 
 the Atlantic ocean. He states that there was a water passage. 
 We surveyed that route and such a passage never existed. Yet it 
 is a remarkable statement, for it is the lowest summit that has ever 
 been found. That statement made by Humboldt in his work on 
 Central America is untrue ; no canal ever did exist or could exist, 
 for the reason that the headwaters of the Atrato are 102 feet above 
 the San Juan, and the Atrato at that point has only canoe naviga- 
 tion, the San Juan having about 10 feet of water. If that had been 
 the highest point, it might have been available but there is no 
 water to feed it. My surveying parties were all through this 
 valley during 1852, 1853 and 1854. I had it thoroughly explored, 
 and the result is what I now state. 
 
 Judge Dalt : What is your opinion in respect to the possibility 
 of finding any lower summit level through the isthmus ? 
 
 Mr. Kelley : It is not possible at all. 
 
 Judge Daly : In other words, you think, if it had existed, the 
 Indians would have found it out ? 
 
 Mr. Kelley : If there had been a low summit, in all probability 
 the Indians would have found it out. What I mean is, no such 
 thing as a dead level exists anywhere on the isthmus. The summit 
 of the Panama railroad is the lowest summit, and that is 290 feet 
 above the level of the sea. The San Bias summit is 1,500 feet 
 above the level of the sea. It is not at all likely that any lower 
 summit than 150 feet will be found. Entering the Atrato at the 
 Gulf of Darien, we ascend it for a distance of 67 miles, and on 
 
286 The Interoceania Ship Camal. 
 
 reaching its junction with the Truando we are 20 feet above 
 either ocean — a natural summit. From there we turn to the rignt, 
 deepen and widen that stream hy dredging, and make a through 
 cut into the Pacific ocean at Kelley's inlet, the result of which would 
 be that this great river would have two mouths, one discharging 
 into the Pacific and the other into the Atlantic. At the point of 
 separation, which would be the summit level of the canal, it is 20 
 feet above the mean tide of either ocean. The supply of water 
 would all be drawn from the Atrato at that point. This is a grand 
 river, 220 miles long. Two Great Easterns can float up the Atrato 
 river at this point. Once the canal was made, the Pacific would 
 have a flow out and in of 12 feet, and the Atlantic would have a 
 flow of two feet. But never would there be an overflow of the 
 20-feet summit. That is why it is practicable without a lock. The 
 waters of the two oceans never would unite on that line. That 
 summit is just right to accomplish these results. But the objection 
 to that route is that it is 131 miles long — an excess in distance of 
 over 100 miles over the San Bias route. Again, the bars at the 
 mouth of the Atrato must be improved by a system of dredging or 
 jetties, or some other plan to clear away obstructions. In the third 
 place, there is a harbor to be created on the Pacific side. The 
 probabilities are that the immense quantity of silt passing out of 
 this river would create another sandbar which would give considera- 
 ble trouble. By way of San Bias the harbors are natural ; it is 
 only 30 miles long, and we are out of the reach of the enormous 
 flood of waters that would be met on the Atrato. 
 
 Being interrogated as to the climate, Mr. Kelley said it was bad 
 throughout the whole isthmus — the Nicaragua, the Panama, the 
 San Bias and the Atrato regions were all about the same in the matter 
 of climate, but the Pacific side of the isthmus was much the drier, 
 and there was the longest slope of open cutting in the San Bias 
 canal, which was a great advantage. 
 
 Capt. Jbnkyns C. Batteesby then made a few remarks, in which 
 he deprecated the building of a canal or the projection of any route 
 along a water-course, on account of the danger from sudden and 
 excessive freshets, saying that the safety and perpetuity of such a 
 work would be proportionate entirely to the amount of rock through 
 which it might be cut. 
 
 Adjourned. 
 
The Jnteroceanic Ship Canal. 287 
 
 Estimates foe a Ship Canal, Raileoad, etc., aceoss the 
 Isthmus of Panama. 
 
 By Henry Tkacy, Civil Engineer. 
 [From the original deposited In the Society, by Chablbs M. Tbaot.] 
 
 The surveys made under your direction being limited, I have 
 used the best information I could obtain from a personal examina- 
 tion of the valley of the Chagres river between Cruser and 
 Chagres, and a part of the route from Panama to the mouth of the 
 Rio Obispo. As the entire distance from Panama to the mouth of 
 the Rio Obispo has not been measured, I have assumed it at 195 
 miles, which probably will not vary more than two miles. The 
 distances in the Rio Chagres are taken from a traverse of it, which 
 I made by floating down the stream in a boat, taking the time of 
 passing various places, and occasionally trying the velocity of the 
 current. 
 
 The following table gives the distances from Panama to the mouth 
 of the Obispo and thence along the Chagres river to its mouth : 
 
 TABLE OF DISTANCES. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Panama to summit 9 miles .... 9 miles 
 
 Thence to mouth of Rio Obispo.. 10 
 
 " " Gorgona 3 
 
 " " a bad sand-bar above ) „ 
 
 19 
 
 22 
 
 28 
 
 34 
 5V 
 62 
 
 Palanquilla [ 
 
 " " Palanquilla 6 
 
 " " Gatun 23 
 
 " " Chagres 5 
 
 The elevation of the surface of the ground at the summit was 
 given me by Mr. Baldwin's levels at 330 feet above tide. I have 
 made my calculations for this route (the one examined), though by 
 no means certain that it is either the cheapest or the best route, or 
 even that the lowest summit has been obtained. 
 
 From Panama to the summit the surface of the ground is undulat- 
 ing ; a part of this distance near the summit, the rock is near the 
 surface of the ground, and, though easy to excavate, it will ren- 
 der the line rather expensive. The remaining distance to the mouth 
 of the Obispo is in the valley of the Obispo river, in an alluvial 
 soil, easy to grade. The valley of the Chagres river will also be 
 comparatively easy to grade, with the exception of a few points where 
 
288 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 the hills crowd the i oute into the edge of the river. Of necessity 
 the line will be rather crooked, but if a railroad be adopted none of 
 the curves will be of so small a radius as to interfere with using loco- 
 motives. 
 
 There is necessity on this part of the route to have the embank- 
 ments at least five feet above the highest known floods of the river, 
 which sometimes in places rise 35 feet above low-water mark. 
 
 It is also necessary to have the whole line (if a road or railroad be 
 adopted) well drained, and the bridges and culverts large enough to 
 allow the great floods peculiar to the isthmus to pass off without 
 doing injury. 
 
 The isthmus is so thinly populated that it is doubtful whether 
 more than 150 laborers can permanently be obtained from the pro- 
 vince at the ordinary rate of wages, viz., four reals Granadinos, or 40 
 cents a day. By raising the price to five reals, or 50 cents a day, 
 1,000 or 1,200 can be obtained from the provinces of Mumpox, San- 
 tamarta and Cartajena. If more are required it will probably be 
 necessary to get them from some of the "West India islands, and the 
 price of wages will go up to six reals, or 60 cents a day. 
 
 The principal mechanics will have to be brought from the United 
 States and the West India islands. Their wages, including all the 
 expenses of transporting them, &c., can safely be taken at about 
 double the ordinary price in the United States. 
 
 As the climate is always a hot one, and as the rainy season gener- 
 ally continues from the first of June to the first of December, and as 
 during the remaining five months occur heavy rains, a man cannot 
 do as much work there in a month as in the more temperate or dryer 
 climates. 
 
 Taking all these circumstances into consideration, I have made 
 an estimate of the cost of 
 
 I. — A ship canal from Panama to Chagres. 
 II. — A railroad. 
 
 III. — A plank road. 
 
 IV. — A turnpike or wagon road. 
 
 V. — -A railroad from Panama to the mouth of the Obispo river 
 and making the Chagres river navigable by means of locks and 
 dams to Panama, for steamboats 180 feet long, 48 feet wide (includ- 
 ing wheelhouses), and drawing five feet of water. 
 
 VI. — A wagon road from Panama to the mouth of the Obispo 
 river, and making the Chagres navigable as above. 
 
.7%« Interoceanic Ship Canal. 289 
 
 I. — Estimate of the cost of a ship canal from Panama to Chagres, 
 to pass vessels 350 feet long, VO feet wide (in the clear), and 
 drawing 24 feet of water : 
 19 miles of canal from Panama to the mouth of Rio 
 
 Obispo, at 1200,000 $3,800,000 
 
 15 miles of canal to Palanquilla, at $120,000 1,800,000 
 
 28 miles of canal to Chagres, at $100,000 2,800,000 
 
 60 locks, at $350,000 * 21,000,000 
 
 2 grand locks, at $300,000 600,000 
 
 Reservoirs and feeders to furnish the summit with 
 
 water, say 2,000,000 
 
 Total $32,000,000 
 
 N. B. — The canal to be, except in a few places, 250 feet wide on 
 the surface and 26 feet deep. 
 
 11. — Estimate of the cost of a single-track railroad from Panama to 
 Chagres : 
 
 GRADING. 
 
 19 miles from Panama to the mouth of Rio Obispo, 
 
 at $22,000 $418,000 
 
 42 miles from there to Chagres, at $18,000 756,000 
 
 SUPEESTBUCTUEE. 
 
 70 miles superstructure, at $12,000 840,000 
 
 Locomotives, cars, machine shops, depots, etc 1 86,000 
 
 Total $2,200,000 
 
 N. B. — The distance for the railroad is put at 61 miles, or one 
 mile shorter than the canal line. 
 
 III. — Estimate of the cost of a plank road from Panama to Chagres : 
 
 Grading from Panama to the mouth of Rio Obispo, 
 
 19 miles, at $4,000 176,000 
 
 19 miles planked surface, 10 feet wide, 3 inches thick, 
 with sleepers of 4 x 5, at $7,000 133,000 
 
 * Note. — Each of these locks will require about 38,000 cubic yards of hydraulic 
 masonry. The estimate is for plain, strong, but not finely cut, stone work. 
 
290 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 Grading, Rio Obispo to Palanquilla, 15 miles, at $3,000. 45,000 
 
 15 miles planked surface, at $7,000 105,000 
 
 Grading, Palanquilla to Chagres, 28 miles, at |3,000 84,000 
 
 28 miles planked surface, at $7,000 196,000 
 
 Total $639,000 
 
 — say $650,000. 
 
 N. B. — The plank suitable for a plank road cannot be procured 
 on the line of the road at this time for less than 50 cents to $1 
 each, as they are worked out by hand, and only a small portion of 
 the population understand the business. 
 
 IV. — Estimate of the cost of a turnpike or wagon road from 
 
 Panama to Chagres: 
 19 miles from Panama to the mouth of the Rio Obispo, 
 
 at $7,000 $133,000 
 
 43 miles from there to Chagres, at $6,000 -258,000 
 
 Total $391,000 
 
 — say $400,000. 
 
 N. B. — This estimate is for a turnpike road to be graded gener- 
 ally 26 feet wide between the ditches, and gravelled except in a few 
 places where gravel cannot be obtained ; in these places to be cov- 
 ered with broken stone so as to make a good, but not a macad- 
 amized, wagon road. 
 
 V. — Estimate of the cost of a railroad from Panama to the mouth 
 of the Rio Obispo, and of making the Chagres river navigable 
 for steamboats from there to its mouth: 
 Grading 19 miles of railroad from Panama to the mouth 
 
 of Rio Obispo (as before given) $418,000 
 
 23 miles superstructure, at $12,000 276,000 
 
 Locomotives, cars, machine shops, «fec 100,000 
 
 5 locks and dams in the Rio Chagres, at $90,000. 450,000 
 
 Clearing banks of river in various places, &c 26,000 
 
 Steamboat wharf and warehouse at Chagres 30,000 
 
 Total $1,300,000 
 
 VI. — Estimate of the cost of a turnpike or wagon road from 
 Panama to the mouth of the Rio Obispo, and of making the 
 
The Interoceanio Ship Canal. 291 
 
 mouth of the Rio Chagres navigable for steamboats from there 
 to its mouth : 
 
 19 miles turnpike from Panama (previously estimated) . . $133,000 
 Improving the navigation of the Chagres river (as pre- 
 viously estimated) 506,000 
 
 Total $639,000 
 
 —say $650,000. 
 
 The estimates are in United States currency, and I think are 
 abundantly sufficient to do the work on their routes. It is possible 
 that it may be done for 15 per cent, less ; but it is not very prob- 
 able that it could be. 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted, by 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 Barranquilla, July 5, 184:8. Heney Tract. 
 
 Advantages of the Suez Canal over the Intbrooeanic Canal 
 AS A Route from the United States to China, India, &c.; 
 WITH Tables of Distances. 
 
 By Jessk Yodnb, Corresponding Member of the American Geographical Society. 
 
 These tables, which are as correct as the limited means at mv 
 disposal will allow of, will serve to show the relative distances between 
 England on the one hand and New York on the other, and the prin- 
 cipal ports of India, China and Australia respectively — that is, for 
 steamers; for sailing vessels, the courses vary so much at different 
 seasons of the year that no correct general idea can be obtained. 
 From both England and America steamers will call at Gibraltar, 
 Malta, Port Said, Suez and Aden for Bombay, and Point de Galle for 
 Madras, Calcutta, Burmah, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Yoko- 
 hama; from Point de Galle for Australian ports, via King George's 
 sound, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, and New Zealand, though 
 doubtless the distance to Australia in the course of a very few years 
 will be materially shortened by vessels calling at Port Darwin direct 
 from Aden,, or more probably Locotra island, rounding Cape Guar- 
 dafui, and discharging their mails, &c., to be forwarded to their 
 various destinations overland, thus avoiding the much dreaded Cape 
 Lewin. The distance from Point de Galle to Port Darwin being 
 3,120 miles, it thus makes the distance to Australia from England 
 9,856 miles, against 11,381 miles to Melbourne via Cape Lewin. 
 
 For eastern ports via the Panama route, vessels will coal at St. 
 
292 The Inter oceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 Thomas, Panama, Honolulu, Yokohama, &c. ; but for Fiji, New 
 Zealand and the eastern ports of the Australian colonies, steamers 
 will probably have to steam the entire distance of some 7,000 miles 
 without coaling; this will prevent their being able to carry very much 
 freight. It will be seen by comparing the distances, that with the 
 exception of Japan, New Zealand, Fiji and the eastern ports of 
 China, and the west coast of the Americas, Europe will derive no 
 advantages whatever from the interoceanic ship canal, all other 
 ports being nearer via Suez. For south Europe, even China, Japan 
 and Australia (via Torres straits), are neai-er via Suez, but I have 
 taken England as a point of departure for all, it being one of the 
 remote countries of Europe. Moreover, East African, Arabian 
 Indian, Burman, Malayan, Javan, some Chinese and some Australian 
 ports are nearer for the American commerce via Suez, than by way 
 of Panama, or whatever route on that isthmus may be selected for a 
 canal. The great advantage which the Suez canal will have over 
 the Central American route, for all commerce with foreign countries 
 where a canal is used, is the all important requisite of being able 
 to coal at short distances, thus enabling vessels to carry a large 
 amount of freight, and to take in fresh cargo and provisions at the 
 numerous stopping places; none of these things can be done when a 
 ship has to carry such ah immense amount of coal for her own con- 
 sumption. The traffic for sailing vessels would be comparatively 
 small, judging by the number which now rounds Cape Horn, as 
 against the number of twenty years ago. 
 Following are the distance-tables: 
 
 APPBOXIMATE DISTANCES EROM LIVBKPOOL. 
 
 Via Suez. Via Panama. 
 
 To Hong Kong 9,670 14,943 
 
 " Melbourne . 11,381 13,195 
 
 " Melbourne (direct from Cape Guarda- 
 
 fui, without calling at Ceylon) .... 11,000 
 
 " Point de Galle 6,736 16,347 
 
 " Port Darwin 9,856 14,200 
 
 " Yokohama 11,290 13,323 
 
 " Panama, direct 4,593 
 
 " Melbourne, via Cape Horn 13,290 
 
 EEOM NEW TOEK. 
 
 Yia Suez. Via Panama. 
 
 To Hong Kong 11,620 11,489 
 
 " Melbourne, via Galle 13,331 9,539 
 
 " Point de Galle 8,686 13,693 
 
 " Yokohama 13,240 10,869 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 293 
 
 Prom Panama to Honolulu 4,650 
 
 " Panama to Sydney 8,000 
 
 " Panama to Auckland 6,780 
 
 " Panama to Fiji 6,240 
 
 " Sydney to Fiji 1,693 
 
 " Auckland to Fiji 1,095 
 
 " NewYorkto Gibraltar. 3,250 
 
 Statement by Commander Selpeidge, U. S. N., regarding his 
 Surveys on the Isthmus of Darien. 
 
 Chief Justice Daly, 
 
 President American Geographical Society. 
 
 To the many communications on the subject of the piercing of the 
 American isthmus that have appeared in the columns of your Bulle- 
 tin, and in American newspapers, I have studiously refrained from 
 adding, partly because I have never been ofBcially connected with 
 either of the present routes — Panama or Nicaragua — now prominent 
 before the public, and partly because, from absence on foreign 
 service, I have not had the opportunity of keeping pace with the 
 discussion. 
 
 But in your issue of December 10, there appears a detailed report 
 of a paper by Rear Admiral Ammen, read before the American 
 Geographical Society, which might be styled a criticism upon 
 the late International Congress, in which this gentleman goes out 
 of his way to attack me personally; and, therefore, a further sUence 
 would be a tacit acknowledgment of his ungenerous remarks. 
 
 Quoting from the paper alluded to. Admiral Ammen goes on to 
 say: " During the sitting of the Congress, I found myself frequently 
 obliged to dissent from the propositions of Commodore Selfridge, 
 U. S. Navy, who, strangely enough, was found in the Congress with- 
 out being named by our Government." The impression evidently 
 intended to be conveyed is, that I had no right there. No doubt 
 my presence was strange enough to Admiral Ammen, and a surprise 
 to one who seemed, by his own admissions, to have had a good deal 
 to do with whom should be sent to represent the United States. 
 Admiral Ammen knew when he wrote this that I was, like himself, 
 a member upon invitation of the French Geographical Society, 
 issued through Baron de Lesseps, and, as such, was his equal in all 
 the discussions of the Congress. My presence might have been 
 strange enough to him, but to a Congress gathered for a general 
 discussion of the subject the absence of one who surveyed or had 
 
294 The Jnterooeanie Ship Canal. 
 
 been identified with all the routes covered by the Isthmus of Darien, 
 would have been equally strange. 
 
 Admiral Ammen's insinuations that the Congress was gathered 
 for an endorsement of the Panama route, is an insult to the many 
 eminent men that composed it; and when it is remembered that of 
 the two representatives of the United States both were avowedly 
 in favor of Nicaragua, an inference equally uncharitable' might be 
 drawn. 
 
 The project of a canal via Nicaragua never stood any chance in the 
 Congress, not because its opinion had already been manufactured, 
 but simply because the idea is indelibly fixed in the majority of the 
 French people that only a canal without locks can be a financial 
 success, and Nicaragua does not admit of the construction of such a 
 canal. 
 
 Many years ago, in a correspondence with Monsieur de Lesseps, 
 he said to me frankly that no project which included the construc- 
 tion of locks could receive his approval. 
 
 Familiar with the Nicaragua route from the surveys of Mr. 
 Childs, Commander Lull and Mr. Menocal, and with the Panama 
 route from frequent passages across on the railroad, I have always 
 been, and am still, of the opinion that the one known as the Atrato- 
 Napipi is the more to be preferred. 
 
 In regard to my part in the Congress upon the discusssion of the 
 latter. Admiral Amman says: "I refer the curious reader to pages 
 66 to 70 inclusive, and to map 8, illustrative of the Atrato-Napipi 
 as developed by Commander Selfridge. Nobody reading this re- 
 port and referring to the drawings would suppose for an instant 
 that the greater part of it was purely imaginary. It is delineated 
 as an inclined plane, locks located, and sections given in figures ! 
 Between this fanciful presentation and the profiles made by Lieuten- 
 ant Collins there is a very wide difference." Instead of this covert 
 misrepresentation, Admiral Ammen should have bad the manliness 
 to tell the whole story. He knows the valley of the Atrato-Napipi 
 was, previous to my visit, an unknown wilderness; that no maps or 
 data were, or had been, ever collected. The survey alluded to was, 
 therefore, as all surveys of an entirely new country must be, pre- 
 liminary; and my plans were based upon such information as I 
 obtained from this reconnoissance. He knew that entirely upon my 
 representation the Hon. Geo. M. Robeson, then Secretary of the 
 Navy, consented to send an expedition solely for the survey of the 
 
The Interooeanio Ship Canal. 296 
 
 Napipi valley, wMch, up to that date, time had not been afforded me 
 to perform. 
 
 I had been many times to the isthmus, and, feeling that this 
 service could be equally as well performed by Lieutenant Collins as 
 myself, I asked that he might be ordered to take charge of it, and 
 also requested that Lieutenants Eaton, Sullivan and Paine, able 
 young officers, who had served with me upon all the previous sur- 
 veys, might, with their consent, be attached to the expedition. I 
 superintended its fittings, and Lieutenant Collins's instructions were 
 drawn from memoranda suggested by my experience and knowledge 
 of the route. The work was faithfully and ably performed by 
 Lieutenant Collins and his associates. 
 
 Notwithstanding that the inception of a canal via the Napipi was 
 mine own, that the peculiar characteristics of its construction had 
 been worked out after long study, and correspondence with the 
 first engineers of our country, Admiral Ammen, as then Chief of 
 Bureau of Navigation, under the cognizance of which all surveys 
 had been made, saw fit to ignore my previous participation in this 
 work, and directed Lieutenant Collins to make out a report. 
 
 Then, finding that his obvious intention was to shut me out from 
 any further connection with a route that I was the first to have 
 explored, I procured all the data obtained by Collins, and, with the 
 assistance of Lieutenant Eaton, made an entirely new calculation of 
 the contents of the prism of the canal, and a change of location, as 
 far as the last survey showed such to be necessary. 
 
 It was with a map and profile so prepared that I presented the 
 Atrato-Napipi project to the Congress, taking care to lay before the 
 " Commission Techinque," at the same time, the map and profile of 
 Lieutenant Collins, and pointing out the only differences, which 
 were in my avoiding a few of the elevations cut through by him, 
 by straightening some of the numerous ox-bows of the Napipi, and 
 availing myself of the low ground thus acquired. Admiral Ammen, 
 who had never, if I am not mistaken, visited any portion of the 
 American isthmus, except to cross at Panama, who lays no claim to 
 be an engineer, has the hardihood to call these plans — based strictly, 
 as he well knew (if he had taken the trouble to inquire), upon the 
 information acquired by Collins — " purely imaginary and a fanciful 
 representation.'' 
 
 In answer to such an accusation, flung out to the New York 
 Geographical Society, of which I am a member, but unable, from 
 
296 The Interoceanie Ship Canal. 
 
 absence on foreign service, to contradict till long after it had been 
 made, I must be excused, in defense, for inserting the remarks of 
 Mons. Lofebrere de Pourey, the president of the second "Sous 
 Commission Technique," and the senior engineer of the Congress, as 
 taken from the journal of the proceedings, at his speech in closing 
 the discussion: " The project by way of the Atrato is one that has 
 been rendered very enticing by the devotion of the man who has 
 more especially occupied himself with this question. [Applause.] I 
 believe I am the interpreter of the commission in saying that Mr. 
 Selfridge will carry away with him the admiration of the com- 
 mission, [applause] and I do not for a moment doubt that the 
 entire commission will agree to the words with which I have ex- 
 pressed my high appreciation of the beautiful work of Commander 
 Selfridge. [Prolonged applause.] " 
 
 A comparison of the rival routes of Panama and Nicaragua can 
 only be made by applying a similar construction (namely, with 
 locks) to each, for Nicaragua does not admit of any other. As to 
 the sea-level canal at Panama, it will be better to await the per- 
 sonal investigation of Count de Lesseps, with the French engineers, 
 and of Colonel Totten, whose long familiarity with this route makes 
 him an authority beyond all question. 
 
 As to a canal with locks, I have no hesitation in preferring 
 Panama to Nicaragua. In that we have a length of canal navi- 
 gation of 48 miles, offset by one of 124 miles, not including the 
 transit of Lake Nicaragua. 
 
 The great obstacles at Panama are the floods of the Rio Chagres, 
 and to avoid them it does not seem necessary to carry the summit 
 level higher up than the station known as Barbaooas, which would 
 be about 60 feet above mean tide, requiring six locks against the 
 lift of 107 feet in Nicaragua. A strong feature in favor of Nicar- 
 agua is that there are no very deep cuts in the route, as proposed, 
 from which, at the same time, the Panama line is not entirely free. 
 This is more than offset by the amount of under-water rock excava- 
 tion required for Nicaragua. Besides, when a canal does not inter- 
 fere with the natural channels of drainage, I am of the opinion that 
 danger from rains merely can be averted by not very costly expe- 
 dients. 
 
 It is alleged that the rainfall of Panama is very much greater 
 than of Nicaragua. In the absence of any reliable measurements 
 for the latter, and considering the fact that Aspinwall and Grey- 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 297 
 
 town are but 1^° of latitude apart, it is doubtful whether the 
 diflFerence, if any, would be material. 
 
 In advantage of harbors, Panama is far ahead. No doubtful 
 results attach themselves to the security of Aspinwall by a simple 
 breakwater, while the same at Greytown cannot by any means be 
 said. In the facility with which all parts of the line can be reached, 
 and supplies forwarded, the Panama is immeasurably ahead. In 
 one case, steamers would unload at the wharfs of Aspinwall, and in 
 a few hours distribute their supplies over the whole line ; in the 
 other, till a harbor was dredged and breakwater made, supplies must 
 be landed on the beach, then transported, in the absence of a rail- 
 road, by carts, or by light-draught steamers over falls, for a distance 
 of 100 miles or more. 
 
 In compactness of line, involving greater economy in construc- 
 tion, Panama is much superior. 
 
 It is alleged, in favor of Nicaragua, that its Pacific terminus is 
 600 miles nearer San Francisco. While this is true, it is wholly off- 
 set by the additional time it would take for the transit by Nica- 
 ragua, while the eastern termini of both are about the same distance 
 from New York or Europe. 
 
 Lastly, against Nicaragua, it has, I think, been a reasonable objec- 
 tion, that the western portion of the proposed route passes through 
 the most active volcanic region at present known. Much more might 
 be said, but I will not trespass any further upon you. 
 
 It is to be regretted that the partisans of these two rival routes 
 cannot reconcile their diiferences, and form an international com- 
 pany, under the leadership of such men as General Grant and Baron 
 de Lesseps, the pride equally of their countrymen, which would 
 command the confidence of the world. Such an organization, send- 
 ing out a corps of engineers committed to no locality, blinded by 
 no prejudice, would arrive at a result which the future could give no 
 cause to regret. Thos. O. Sblfkidgb, Jr., 
 
 Commander IT. S. Navy. 
 U.S.S. " Enterprise" Athens, Greece, 
 Jan. 14, 1880. 
 
 Objections to the Isthmus of Tehaitntepbc as a Canal RorTB. 
 
 Chief Justice Dalt, Pres. of the American Geographical Society. 
 
 SiE, — At the time of the reading of my communication before 
 your Society, Dec. 9, 1879, I invited its discussion by others 
 interested in the question, and am glad that it has been considered 
 
298 The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 
 
 at several subsequent meetings held at the Society's rooms. The 
 discussion has taken somewhat broader grounds than I anticipated, 
 in renewing debate upon a variety of projected routes which have 
 been considered at various times within our memory, and has thus 
 drifted away from the two which seem to me to be under discussion 
 at this time. As I could not be present at these meetings, and have 
 accepted the courtesy of your Society heretofore in communicating 
 most of my views to those interested in the question, I think it 
 proper to contin.ue to avail myself of it in thus communicating what 
 appears to me to be a succinct idea of what is likely to promote, and 
 what to prevent, tj^e construction of a canal, at least by an American 
 company. 
 
 For some extraordinary reason, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec is 
 again presented as a possible line of canal construction, and a survey 
 of it is again proposed. Yet we know that it has a summit level of 
 "754 feet, and will require 140 locks, or seven times the number of 
 the Nicaragua canal ; it has a line of actual excavation of 144 miles, 
 or more than double the distance on the Nicaragua line, and it has 
 a proposed dredging of a river subject to floods for a distance of 
 35 miles. 
 
 It has also to draw its water by a feeder 27^ miles long, requiring 
 a dam 86 feet high to get the necessary elevation, having four tun- 
 nels aggregating 3j miles, and even then a deficient water supply. 
 
 By the report of Engineer Fuertes, of the Tehuantepec survey 
 under Captain Shufeldt, page 26, the Corti river, at point A, Map No. 
 2, is stated as supplying 1,618 cubic feet per second, exactly the 
 quantity required for the alimentation of the canal, as given on 
 page 31. All the available streams were found to yield 2,113 cubic 
 feet per second, or 490 feet more than required. He estimated the 
 loss in the feeder filtration, evaporation, &c., at 550 cubic feet per 
 second, thus making the delivery amount .to 1,563 feet per second 
 making a deficiency of 55 cubic feet per second. 
 
 On page 31 he cites two examples of feeder losses. The St. 
 Priv6, 26,000 feet long, loses three-fourths of its water ; if loss at 
 the same rate should occur, no water would reach through the 
 seventh mile. In the example of the feeder of Boulet. which is 
 56,000 feet long, if loss at the same rate should occur, the water would 
 not reach through the fourteenth mile. In the first case the water 
 would reach one-fourth the length of the proposed feeder, and in 
 the second case it would reach one-half of its length. 
 
 He states, however, that the nature of the soil along the Corti or 
 
The Interoceanic Ship Canal. 299 
 
 proposed feeder from it, is well calculated to prevent filtration, but 
 in giving the difEerent sections along the feeder, he mentions that 
 some portions of the cutting and tunnelling are in shale and drift, 
 or " humus and loose earth." In the fifth division there is a tunnel 
 two miles long, which, he says, " can be easily excavated, the 
 ground being very soft." On some portions of the feeder, he 
 states the formation to consist of clay, sandstone, marble and com- 
 pact limestone. 
 
 There are numerous proposed dams for the interception of small 
 streams crossing the line, and an aqueduct 1,200 feet long. Through- 
 out several miles of its course, the feeder is raised above the natural 
 surface, a condition favoring a large loss through filtration. 
 
 The cost of locks at the same estimate of the Nicaragua route 
 would be $50,000,000; of actual excavation, $45,000,000; of feeder 
 on Panama route — none being required via Nicaragua — $25,000,000; 
 then the excavations of the Coatzacoalcos river for thirty five miles 
 would sum up probably $5,000,000. The estimated cost on the 
 upper San Juan, and $5,000,000 more, as in Nicaragua, for harbors 
 presenting the same difficulties, make a total of $130,000,000. 
 
 The commission appointed by the President, of which I was a 
 member, instead of adopting the estimate of 25 per cent, of the 
 engineer to cover contingencies on the Nicaragua route, thought it 
 necessary to double the estimates, and that too where building ma- 
 terials of all kinds were abundant and convenient. There is still 
 greater reason to double the estimate of the Tehauntepec route, 
 making it $260,000,000, and that too, as is shown, without a water 
 supply adequate, at least, during the dry season. 
 
 Another survey cannot materially change the summit level already 
 determined; it cannot change the length of the canal; it cannot add 
 to the water supply without an increase in the estimate; it cannot, 
 by any means, change the relative disadvantages which unhappily 
 exist in its comparison with Nicaragua. "What then is the purpose 
 — what the object of a survey ? Certainly there is not the faintest 
 hope of those who are informed that the conditions will be found 
 materially different from the above statement, whatever the asser- 
 tion may be. 
 
 The Nicaragua route has in canalization 61f miles; the remainder 
 is either lake or slack-water navigation in a river not subject to 
 floods; the water supply is twenty times more than could be used 
 in lockage; the summit level of the canal, 107 feet, and of the 
 divide between the oceans, 150 feet. The cost of the canal, as esti- 
 
300 The Interocecmic Ship Canal. 
 
 mated by the civil engineer, without an allowance for contingencies, 
 was $52,000,000, and the cost named by the commission, $100,- 
 000,000. 
 
 The Panama route was carefully located at the request of the 
 commission, and a line located at an elevation of 123 feet above 
 the ocean, which will probably require an increase of four or five 
 feet, as shown by the flood of last November. The cost of the last- 
 named route, on a common basis for labor and materials with Nica- 
 ragua, was more than 50 per cent, greater, and will, in fact, cost 
 more than double to execute. 
 
 It would doubtless be interesting to the public, and advantageous, 
 to have the two last-named routes passed over by able engineers, with 
 the instrumental surveys in hand, to approximate the relative cost 
 of execution. To include the Tehuan tepee route would be to in- 
 clude what is simply impossible of execution, by reason of the 
 physical conditions above named. The object could not be to hope to 
 make a canal there, but simply to prevent its execution elsewhere. 
 
 At this time there are in Nicaragua two European parties who are 
 asking a concession. In March last, one was agreed upon to M. 
 Blauchet, and only lacked one vote in the senate to confirm it. 
 
 The problem then is, shall we place no obstacle in the way of an 
 American company, and thus probably enable it to secure a grant, 
 with the idea of only permitting tolls that would be liberally remu- 
 nerative, or, shall we place these obstables in the way, and certainly 
 tlirow the concession into the hands of Europeans, and allow them 
 to impose their proposed tolls upon us ? 
 
 They may very well say that we are not compelled to pass through 
 the canal ; it is simply optional whether we go that way or via 
 Cape Horn. We cannot very well propose to dictate what these 
 tolls shall be, at least, unless we do so in advance of the granting of 
 a concession by Nicaragua, and even then it would seem somewhat 
 pretentious, in view of our inability to support such a demand, 
 either in reason, or by material force. 
 
 I may add, that the commission appointed by the President in 
 1872, which sent in its report in 1876, had all of the information 
 thought necessary respecting all the region involved. In short, the 
 only two routes worth looking at are Panama and Nicaragua, and 
 then only to establish the relative approximate cost of execution. 
 
 Daniel Ammen, 
 
 Hear Admiral, ZT. S. ITl 
 

 
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