Facilities for Constructing the Canal.—There are many considerations connected with an enterprise of this kind besides its feasibility in a mere engineering point of view, such as labor, materials, etc., etc. To all of these Colonel Childs seems to have devoted some attention.
Timber.—As compared with those of the United States, the original forests of Nicaragua are inferior in size, and the kind and quantity of timber proper for use less in proportion. The tree called the 'cedro,' or cedar, is produced in considerable abundance, and can be usefully applied. It grows to a great height, and will produce timber 36 to 40 feet long, and 12 to 18 inches square. The 'roble,' a species of oak, is also a tall tree, and furnishes timber equal to the cedar in size. The 'níspero,' 'laurel,' 'madera negra,' and others, answer a very good purpose. The 'níspero' is 29 per cent stronger than white oak, and may be procured in sufficient quantities, in the opinion of Colonel Childs, to be relied on as a substitute for all the purposes in which oak is required. He thinks that, in the aggregate, the forests of Nicaragua, in the sections traversed by the canal, will probably produce all the lumber required.
Stone.—Along the river San Juan, the rock is chiefly trap, graywacke, and shale; in many localities too friable for use, but in others, Colonel Childs thinks, it may be found fit for the purposes required. On the west side of the lake limestone quarries were found, capable of producing good lime in abundance. The stone, generally, between the lake and Pacific, on the proposed canal line, is not good, but it was thought that in case of need it might be obtained from Granada, sixty miles to the north-west, and from a lower point on the Isthmus. Very good and abundant clays were found, and a stone from which water-lime of a fair quality may be obtained.
Labor.—Colonel Childs concedes that the prosecution of the works of the canal would be attended with vast difficulties, resulting from a lack of all the essential requisites in the shape of mills, roads, carriages, etc., etc. He thinks the oxen of the country may be obtained in sufficient numbers to do all the necessary hauling of materials. But there is yet a consideration of vastly more importance, viz., labor. Colonel Childs apprehends that it would be necessary to rely chiefly on foreigners. He says that, although the laboring population of the country, when under compulsory circumstances, are capable of great activity and of enduring much fatigue, in their ordinary avocations they are tardy and irregular in their labor. An exception is, however, made in favor of a class of boatmen employed on the river, some 400 in number, in whom we have an example of physical labor and exposure to the elements scarcely equalled in any country, endured by them with no perceptible prejudice, but apparently with advantage to their health. These men sleep on a narrow plank across their boats, with no other protection than a single blanket; yet there is probably in the world no class of men of more athletic forms, and notwithstanding their indifferent attention to the conditions of health, more capable of hard service. So far as can be gathered from Colonel Childs' observations, it seems that he would rely chiefly on foreign labor for the construction of the proposed work.
CLIMATIC TRIALS.
He seems to think it is not unlikely that foreigners, already accustomed to hard labor, may, when thoroughly acclimated, and under no unnecessary exposure, be capable of a fair amount of labor in this country, although not as great an amount as in higher latitudes. He states that of the party engaged in the survey west of the lake, nine were unaccustomed to the climate. After a few months, a slight fever, followed by ague, prevented some of the number from continued daily exercise; but being in all cases under the control of medicine, it was of short duration. During seven months in this part of the state, illness in the party at no time interrupted a daily prosecution of the survey. Upon the San Juan River, the surveying party consisted of twelve persons, exclusive of native citizens. The survey occupied six and a half months, from March to September. 'The party generally enjoyed good health, and no individual was prevented by indisposition, beyond a day or two, from full service. Of those engaged as axemen in clearing the line, two were northern men, whose daily exercise exceeded that usual to men in canal-work, without detriment to health or constitution.'
Soil.—From San Juan Harbor to where the proposed canal would strike the river, the soil is vegetable mould, coarse sand, and sandy loam. Along the river it is of a more mixed character, clay and loam predominating in the valleys, and a gravelly clay, with detached stones, on the hills. West of the lake, the central portion of the summit is principally clay; the remainder, together with the soil through the valley to Brito, has a very nearly uniform and equal intermixture of clay, sand, and gravel. The surface soil is generally fine, and contains enough of vegetable mould to render it capable of great production.
Food.—Among the staple articles of food that would, during the construction of the canal, be most required for consumption, may be named maize, plantains, and beans. Of the former and latter two crops are annually raised on the same ground, and the supply of plantains is constant. Besides these are bananas, oranges, lemons, pineapples, cocoanuts, squashes, melons, tomatoes, and other garden vegetables. Colonel Childs, while considering these sources of supply in food, is nevertheless of opinion that salt meat and flour would have to be brought in large quantities from abroad. Fresh beef, pork, and poultry are abundant in the country.
Opinion of Colonel Abert and Lieutenant-colonel Turnbull.—Although a different impression has been sought to be produced in the public mind, yet the government of the United States had no direct interest in the proposed canal, nor manifested any other than might naturally attach to any enterprise of supposed general importance. The surveys of Colonel Childs seem, nevertheless, to have been sent to the secretary of war, with a request for the opinion of the government engineers. Mr Conrad politely referred it to Colonel Abert and Lieutenant-colonel Turnbull, of the bureau of topographical engineers, who give their opinion in a brief letter, dated March 20, 1852. Proceeding upon Colonel Childs' data, they think his plan practicable, that his estimates for a canal of seventeen feet are liberal, and that some reductions might possibly be made. They think that a shorter line might be traced between the port of San Juan and the point of intersection with the river, and recommend another survey of that portion.
Opinion of English Engineers.—The American minister in England, at the request of the company, appears to have transmitted Colonel Childs' surveys to the earl of Malmesbury, with a wish that he would submit it to competent English engineers for their opinion. James Walker, Esq., civil engineer, and Edward Aldrich, captain of the royal engineers, were named for this service. They seem not only to have examined Colonel Childs' survey, but to have subjected that gentleman, who was then in England, to a very close personal examination. Taking his plans, measurement, and statements to be correct, their opinion is, on the whole, favorable. They think that his estimates for work are ample, but regard the amount set down for 'contingencies' (fifteen per cent) too small by at least ten per cent, that is to say, that it should have been twenty-five instead of fifteen per cent. Of all the works of the proposed navigation, they regard the Brito or Pacific harbor as least satisfactory. To use their own language: 'Presuming Colonel Childs' statements and conclusions to be correct, the Brito harbor is in shape and size unworthy of this great ship navigation, even supposing the Pacific, to which it is quite open, to be a much quieter ocean than any we have seen or have any information of.'