History of Central America, Volume 3, 1801-1887 / The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Volume 8

by Hubert Howe Bancroft

THE LONG-SOUGHT WAY.

The project of uniting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by a canal large enough to permit the passage of sea vessels has attracted the attention and enlisted the earnest sympathies and efforts of the Old and New World, from the discovery of the Isthmus of Panamá down to the present time. The great historian Prescott says: 'The discovery of a strait into the Indian Ocean was the burden of every order from the government. The discovery of an Indian passage is the true key to the maritime movements of the fifteenth and the first half of the sixteenth centuries.' The desire to discover this passage, which was confidently believed to exist, and thus give to Spain the dominion of the seas, and pour into her treasury all the wealth of that marvellous land of exaggeration, the Spice Islands, sent Columbus, Pizarro, Cortés, Balboa, Gil Gonzalez, and the other Spanish mariners and adventurers, upon their long, arduous, and eventful voyages, and resulted in the discovery, conquest, and settlement of the American continent.

However long the voyage; however great the discovery; however boundless and rich the new countries that were subjected to the Spanish crown; however brilliant the prowess of a chivalrous soldiery—the emperor always asked, 'Have you discovered the way to the Spice Islands?' If not, he was unsatisfied, and the discovery and conquest were robbed of half their value. He was constantly reminding his brave and adventurous mariners that he desired above all things to discover the way to the Spice Islands, and promised great honors and rewards to the fortunate adventurer who should make the discovery. In 1523 the Emperor Charles the Fifth wrote to Cortés, earnestly urging him to search for a shorter way to the 'Indian Land of Spice,' and for a shorter and more direct passage between the eastern and western coasts of Central America. In answer to the emperor, Cortés wrote: 'It would render the king of Spain master of so many kingdoms that he might consider himself lord of the world.' In 1524, in obedience to the emperor's wishes, he fitted out an expedition to discover it. Columbus wrote to the emperor: 'Your Majesty may be assured that as I know how much you have at heart the discovery of the great secret of a strait, I shall postpone all interests and projects of my own for the fulfilment of this great object.' It was for the purpose of making this discovery that Gil Gonzalez fitted out the expedition that resulted in the discovery of Nicaragua.

The interest in the interoceanic communication was not confined to the Spanish emperor, or his adventurous mariners. It extended to the learned men of Spain, and seriously engaged their attention. Francisco Lopez de Gomara, one of the earliest writers on America, in his chapter on 'the possibility of a shorter passage to the Moluccas,' in his work on the Two Indies, published in 1551, says: 'The passage would have to be opened across the mainland from one sea to the other, by whichever might prove the most profitable of these four lines; viz., either by the river Lagartos (Chagres), which, rising in Chagres, at a distance of four leagues from Panamá, over which space of territory they proceed in carts, flows to the sea-coast of Nombre de Dios; or by the channel through which the lake of Nicaragua empties into the sea; up and down which (the Rio San Juan) large vessels sail; and the lake is distant only three or four leagues from the sea; by either of these two rivers the passage is already traced and half made. There is likewise another river which flows from Vera Cruz to Tecoantepec, along which the inhabitants of New Spain (Mexico) tow and drag barks from one sea to the other. The distance from Nombre de Dios to Panamá is seventeen leagues, and from the gulf of Urabá to the gulf of San Miguel twenty-five, which are the two most difficult lines.' Cortés was in favor of the first of these routes, Gil Gonzalez of the second, and Pizarro of the third. Herrera, royal historiographer of Spain, writing of the events of 1527, refers to the routes via Nicaragua and Panamá, and the possibility of other connections between the two oceans. Martin Behaim, a geographer of Nuremberg, Germany, was probably the first who suggested the possibility of a natural communication between the Atlantic and Pacific. So Magellan stated in his memorial of November 28, 1520, to the court of Valladolid, asking permission to search for such a channel. It was granted, an expedition was fitted out, and he discovered the Straits of Magellan, bearing his name.

Soon after the discovery of Nicaragua by Gil Gonzalez, it was declared and believed by many that there existed a navigable channel, connecting Lake Nicaragua with the Pacific, and that vessels would be enabled to pass from one ocean to the other. But no systematic attempt was made to ascertain the truth of this conjecture until 1529, when Pedrarias de Ávila, then governor of Nicaragua, sent an expedition of soldiers and Indians, under Martin Este, to explore lakes Nicaragua and Managua; when they had penetrated into a province called Voto, a little north of Lake Managua, they were attacked by a large body of Indians, and compelled to return. They reported that they saw from a mountain top a large body of water (doubtless the gulf of Fonseca), which they supposed to be another lake. Don Diego Machuca soon afterward fitted out another expedition in the same year, which he accompanied and commanded. It resulted in the discovery of the river San Juan as the true outlet of the lakes. He sailed down that river to the Atlantic. Machuca Rapids take their name from him.

OVIEDO'S ACCOUNT.

Oviedo says that in 1540, at St Domingo, he met Pedro Cora, a pilot who had been attached to the expedition of Martin Este, and subsequently to that of Captain Diego Machuca. He gives a long and interesting account of the second expedition, as narrated to him by Cora. Cora said that at the port of Nombre de Dios he met with some old friends who had built a felucca and brigantine on the shores of Lake Nicaragua at an expense of several thousand dollars. Among them was Diego Machuca, who had been commandant of the country of the Tenderí, and of the district about Lake Masaya. They embarked on these vessels on Lake Nicaragua for the purpose of exploring it. Captain Machuca, with two hundred men, advanced along the shore, keeping in sight of the boats, which were accompanied by several canoes. After some days they entered the San Juan River, and passed down to where its waters appeared to flow into the sea. Being ignorant of their locality, they followed the sea-coast in an easterly direction, and finally arrived at Nombre de Dios, where the pilot Cora met them. They were arrested at this place by Doctor Robles, who desired to found a colony at the mouth of the San Juan River, and thus reap the benefit of their labor and discoveries, 'as is the custom,' says Oviedo, 'with these men of letters; for the use they do make of their wisdom is rather to rob than to render justice.' For this outrage he was deprived of his office. The pilot, though strongly importuned, refused to tell Oviedo where the river emptied into the ocean.

Oviedo says: 'I do not regard the lakes as separate, because they connect, the one with the other. They are separated from the South Sea by a very narrow strip of land.... This lake (Nicaragua) is filled with excellent fish. But what proves that they are both one lake is the fact that they equally abound in sea fish and turtles. Another proof is, that in 1529 there was found in the province of Nicaragua, on the banks of this lake, a fish never seen except in the sea, and called the sword-fish. I have seen some of these fish of so great size that two oxen attached to a cart could hardly draw them.... The one found on the shores of this lake was small, being only about twelve feet in length.... The water of the lake is very good and healthful, and a large number of small rivers and brooks empty into it. In some places the great lake is fifteen or twenty fathoms deep, and in other places it is scarce a foot in depth; so that it is not navigable in all parts, but only in the middle, and with barks specially constructed for that purpose.... It has a large number of islands of some extent, covered with flocks and precious woods. The largest is eight leagues in circumference, and is inhabited by Indians. It is very fertile, filled with deer and rabbits, and named Ometepec, which signifies two mountains. It formerly contained a population much more numerous than now, divided into eight or ten villages. The mountain in this island toward the east (Madeira) is lowest; the other (Ometepec) is so high that its summit is seldom seen. I passed a night at a farm belonging to a gentleman called Diego Mora, situated on the mainland'—probably near the site of Virgin Bay. 'The keeper told me that during the two years he had been in that place he had seen the summit but once, because it was covered with clouds.'[XXXIV-59] There are many evidences that the channel of the San Juan River was once much deeper and freer from rapids and obstructions than it is at present. At one time, sea vessels passed regularly up and down the river. It would be impossible for them to do so now. The river is too shallow, and the rapids are too many and difficult. In 1648 a Spanish brig from Carthagena (de la Indias) arrived at Granada, and discharged her cargo, reloaded, and started on her return. On her voyage back, the river was found unnavigable at one point, and the vessel returned to Granada; the cargo was taken out, and the ship laid up, and finally broken to pieces. Thomas Gage, an English monk, who visited Nicaragua in 1665, says that vessels often arrived at Granada, from South America, Spain, and Cuba, and reloaded and returned to those countries by way of the San Juan River and Lake Nicaragua.

In 1781 Manuel Galisteo, by order of the Spanish government, examined the country, and carefully surveyed a route for a canal between Lake Nicaragua and the Pacific. He estimated the level of the lake above the Pacific to be one hundred and thirty-four feet. The route selected by him was from the mouth of the Rio Lajas in the lake to San Juan del Sur. Early in the present century, a survey was made by an engineer name Thompson, of which we have no details, further than that he adopted the report made by Galisteo.

In 1837 Mr Baily was employed by the federal government of Central America, and made a careful survey of a route for the canal. He spent much time and a considerable sum of money in making the surveys, but was never paid for his services. Dr Andreas Örsted, of Copenhagen, made a survey in 1848, and published a map of the country. He selected the bay of Bolaños, thirteen and a half miles from Lake Nicaragua, as the Pacific terminus of the canal. In 1851 Colonel Childs, an Englishman, made a thorough survey and estimate of the whole work. He selected Brito as the Pacific terminus. According to his estimates, the actual length of water navigation, including the San Juan River and Lake Nicaragua, would be one hundred and ninety-four and one half miles. He submitted his plan and surveys to the British government, by which it was referred to James Walker and Edward Aldrich, royal engineers, who reported unfavorably. The plan and reports were then laid before a committee of English capitalists, with the purpose of raising the necessary capital for the work. But after a careful investigation, the committee declined to recommend the enterprise, believing it would be unprofitable, and more for the benefit of the United States than of Great Britain. This survey, and the action of the British government upon it, furnish strong confirmation of the general opinion, as to the purpose of that government, in seizing Greytown and the bay of Fonseca. A survey was made in 1850 by the Central American Transit Company.