[XXXIV-9] A survey made in 1715 was sent to the secret archives of Madrid, where other like documents lie hidden. In 1774 the Spanish officers Corral and Cramer, after inspecting the route reported that a canal of about eight leagues might join the Chimalapa and Malpaso rivers, and establish a communication between the two streams. The Spanish general Orbegoso in 1821 explored this isthmus, and formed a map, which was not published till 1839. In 1825 he showed that it was not easy to carry a through-canal across Tehuantepec. In 1842-3 a survey was made under the auspices of José de Garay by C. Moro and others, to determine the practicability of a ship canal by way of the Coatzacoalcos to the gulf of Tehuantepec. The objections to the route were shown to be the expense of cutting, the uncertainty of water upon the summit level, and inadequate ports at the termini. Garay, however, announced as practicable a canal of the same size as the Caledonia, in Scotland, and was put in possession of lands, etc.; but nothing came of the transaction but diplomatic complications resulting from Garay's transfer of his grant to a foreign company. Finally, the Mexican congress in 1851 declared the grant forfeited. Nouv. Annales des Voy., ci., iii., 8-9; Duflot de Mofras, Explor. de l'Oregon, 119; Reichardt, Cent. Am., 183-4, 188-9; Córtes, Diario, 1813, xix. 392; Robles, Prov. Chiapa, 70; Chevalier, Pan., 61-2; Mex. Col. Dec. y Ord., 115; Id., Col. Ley., Ord. y Dec., iii. 113-14; Bustamante, Med. Pacific, MS., ii., supplem. 15; Mex. Mem. Sec. Rel., 47-8; Rivera, Gobern. Mex., ii. 116; Id., Hist. Jalapa, ii. 362; iv. 211, 225, 236; Dublan and Lozano, Legisl. Mej., i. 738-9; Instituto Nac. de Geog., Bol. No. 1, 30-43, with map and profile; Ward's Mex., i. 311; Liot's Pan., Nic. and Tehuan., 6-12; Ramirez, Mem., 1-108; Garay, Privilegio, 1-28; Id., Survey Isth. Tehuan., 3-188; Manero, Notic. Hist., 51-6; Id., Apunt. Hist., 12-13; Mex. Mem. Sec. Guerra, 1852, 19-22; Id., Mem. Instruc. de los derechos, etc., in Mexican Financier, no. 1, 1-39. In 1850-1 an American commission headed by Maj. Barnard, U. S. Engineers, surveyed the route, who reported it to possess but little 'merits as a practicable line for the construction of a ship canal.' Davis' Report, 5-6. In 1869 officers of the U. S. surveyed the route, and made a favorable report. In 1870 Capt. R. W. Shuffeldt, of the U. S. navy, made another survey, which confirmed the conclusions of the former, to the effect that no extraordinary engineering difficulties existed, as sufficient water could be had from rivers in the Sierra Madre to supply the canal. The route begins about 30 miles above the mouth of the Coatzacoalcos, and after traversing a long distance, rises to a level of about 680 ft, then descends to the lagoon on the Pacific, a total distance of 120 miles. The distance from New Orleans to Hongkong would be 8,245 miles less than by Cape Horn, and 1,588 less than by way of Panamá. Am. Cyclop., iii. 690; Manero, Apunt. Hist., 13-15.
[XXXIV-10] By resolution of the Mexican congress, the contract of the American company was declared void in Oct. 1882, and soon after the govt made an arrangement to have the road built on its own account. Id., Artículos, Soc. Arquit., 7-10; S. F. Call, Oct. 5, 1882; Mex., Diario Ofic., Oct. 10, 17, 18, 20, 1882.
[XXXIV-11] Mex., Diario Debates, 10th Cong., i. 273-1930, passim.; Id., El Noticioso, Nov. 29, 1880; Id., Col. Ley., xxxvi. 320-4; Id., Diario Ofic., June 2, 1881; Aug. 10, 23, 1882; Mex'n Financier, Dec. 13, 20, 27, 1884; Jan. 10, 24, 1885.
[XXXIV-12] The Mexican govt guaranteed in 1885 one and a quarter million dollars per annum for 15 years. Pan. Star and Herald, Jan. 16, 1886.
[XXXIV-13] Gov. Pedrarias Dávila had the outlet of lakes Nicaragua and Managua discovered. His officers Este and Rojas favored the plan of a canal round the falls of the San Juan, and another on the Pacific slope. The project occupied the court and colony for many years. Herrera, iv., iii., ii.; Cent. Am., Extractos Sueltos, in Squier's MS., xxii. 108; Fröbel, Aus. Am., i. 144, 241. The plan not only engaged the Spaniards but the French and English, the latter contemplating the conquest of the country. The royal engineer Manuel Galisteo in 1781, the system of locks being little known then, declared the connection of the lake with the Pacific to be impracticable. In 1791 La Bastide proposed widening the river Sapoa between the lake and Papagayo Gulf, and cutting a canal between that river and the gulf of Nicoya; but the French revolution caused the matter to be forgotten. In 1814 the Spanish córtes decreed the survey and construction, but subsequent political events made that decree inoperative. Saravia, Bosq. Polít. Est., 13-17; Viajero, Univ., xxvii. 180-4; Bastide, Mém. Sur. Nouv. Passage, 1-70; Humboldt, Essai Polít., i. 1-17; Bourgoane's Trav., in Pinkerton's Coll., ii. 498-9; Reichardt, Cent. Am., 169-70; Duflot de Mofras, Explor. de l'Oregon, i. 137; Squier's Nic., 658.
[XXXIV-14] Herewith I give a synopsis of what occurred. In 1823 a franchise was given to John Baily for a house in London, who did nothing, and the privilege was granted to parties in New York, who also failed to carry out the stipulations. Numerous proposals came between 1825 and 1829, which were successively accepted, but neither of them had effect. In 1829 a franchise was decreed to the king of Holland, and there was some prospect of a canal being constructed; but the war which detached Belgium from Holland broke out, and the king abandoned the project. President Morazan then contemplated doing the work on Central American account, and the survey was begun in 1837, interrupted by Morazan's fall, but continued in 1838 for account of Nicaragua. This same year Edward Belcher, of the Brit. navy, suggested the possibility of an artificial communication between Lake Managua and the bay of Fonseca. Baily's explorations along the line from Rio Lajas to San Juan del Sur were terminated in 1843, and their publication furnished exact data on the canal. Meanwhile, P. Rouhand (1839), Viteri (1840), Castellon and Jerez (1842), had unsuccessfully tried to raise funds for the work in Europe. The king of France in 1844 refused his coöperation. In 1846 Louis Napoleon became warmly interested for a time. Great Britain in 1847 seized San Juan del Norte on the north, and Tiger Island on the south. Louis Napoleon turned his thoughts to other subjects. Örsted studied, in 1847-8, for the Costa Rican govt, a canal project which differed from Baily's in choosing a low line south of San Juan del Sur along the Sapoa River into Salinas Bay. Nicaragua in 1848 entered into a contract to build the canal with a house in New York, which, however, surrendered it. Baily's Cent. Am., 127-50; Annales des Voy., cliii. 14-17; clvii. 16-17; Nouv. Annales des Voy., xxviii. (1825), 370-82; xxxii. (1826), 369-74; Squier's Trav., ii. 251-80, 405-20; Id., Nic., 658; Liot's Pan. Nic. and Tehuan., 13-16; Niles' Reg., xxx. 447; xxxi. 2, 72-3; lxiv. 130-1; lxv. 57-61; lxvii. 148; Salv., Diario Ofic., Dec. 16, 1879; Reichardt, Cent. Am., 171-3; Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., xiv. 127-9; xx. 172; Scherzer, Cent. Am., 241; Belly, Nic., i. 84-7, 137; Id., Carte d'études, 35-45; Strain's Int. Comm., 7-8; Garella, Projet, 182-8; Sampson's Cent. Am., 7-18; Marure, Mem. Hist., 1-47; Bülow, Nic., 44-57; U. S. Comm. Rept, 145, p. 230-65; U. S. Gov. Doc., Sen. Miscel., Cong. 30, Sess. 1, no. 80, 69-75; Id., H. Ex. Doc., Cong. 31, Sess. 1, no. 75, 50-326, passim.
[XXXIV-15] This survey was considered reliable. English engineers pronounced Brito 'unworthy of this great ship navigation.' Davis' Report, 6-7.
[XXXIV-16] S. Bayley in 1852 proposed a route from La Vírgen to San Juan del Sur, nearly following that of the Transit Co. without passing through the valley of the Lajas, which Baily recommended in 1843. In 1853 E. G. Squier tried to revive Belcher's plan of utilizing both lakes, and reaching Fonseca Bay through the Conejo Valley and the Estero Real. Squier's proposed Honduras railway also was to reach that bay; and it is quite possible that he contemplated connecting the two works. Felix Belly, for Belly, Millaud, and Company, in a contract of May 1858 with the Nicaraguan government, purposed carrying into execution Örsted's proposition; but after several years' waiting without Belly or his assigns, the International Canal Co., accomplishing anything, or offering better prospects for the future, the government, in 1868, declared his contract forfeited, and entered into another with Michel Chevalier, from which better expectations were entertained; but they were destined not to be realized. Chevalier required, as a condition sine qua non, that the contract should be ratified by the Costa Rican congress. This took place a year later, and then came the war between France and Prussia, and Nicaragua's last effort, like all former ones, was frustrated. Belly, Nic., i. 31-50, 170-4, 401-6; ii. 1-13, 27-36, 59-464; Id., Carte d'études, 19-27, 49-91; Nic. Canal de, 1-21; Col. Dec. y Acuerdos, 1863, 39-40, 118; 1869-70, 8-23; Pim's Gate of the Pac., 1-14, 58, 116-34, 221-30, 322-70, 394; Nic., Gaceta, Jan. 7, Apr. 8, 1865; March 20, Apr. 17, 1869; Id., Informe Sec. Rel., 1869, 8-9; Id., Id., Hacienda, 1869, 3-5; Marcoleta, Min. Nic., 1-32; Hunt's Merch. Mag., lv. 31-48; lvi. 32-4.
[XXXIV-17] Nic., Gaceta, Dec. 12, 24, 1863; Nov. 9, 1867.
[XXXIV-18] The exploration by Com. Lull, of the U. S. navy, established the existence of a practicable route for a canal with Lake Nicaragua as its summit level, 107 ft above mean tide. It was proposed to connect the lake with the Pacific by a canal 16.3 miles in length, from the mouth of the Medio River to Port Brito. The first 7.5 miles would require an excavation averaging 54 ft in depth, which would be the most costly part of the work. The plan calls for ten locks, and one tide-lock between the lake and the sea. The lake navigation is of 56 miles. The river San Juan would be improved by means of four dams; namely, at the rapids of Castillo, Balas, and Machuca, and at the mouth of the San Cárlos River, all of which places are suitable for dams. A short section of canal with one lock would be needed to get around each of the upper three dams. From the fourth dam to San Juan del Norte, an independent canal 41.4 miles long with 7 locks must be constructed, which presents no apparent engineering difficulty. The total length of the canal would be 61.7 miles. No tunnelling needed. The harbor of San Juan del Norte must be dredged, and otherwise improved, to insure that no water but that of the canal shall run into the harbor. Short breakwaters must be built to protect the entrances from the surf. Lake Nicaragua with a surface of 2,700 sq. miles, and a drainage area of 8,000 sq. miles, will supply 38 times the maximum possible demand of water. The depth of water would be 26 ft; the width at bottom 72 ft, and at surface 150 ft. The locks, 21 in number, with a lift of from 8 to 10 ft, would be 400 ft long, 72 ft wide. The cost was estimated at about eighty million dollars. U. S. Gov. Doc., Sen. Jour., 916, Cong. 41, Sess. 2; Id., H. Ex. Doc., Cong. 42, Sess. 2, i. no. 1, pt. 1, 670-8; Id., 3d Sess., i. p. 160, 462-5; Id., Sec. Navy Rept, Cong. 43, Sess. 1, p. 10-12; Id., Nic. Ship Canal Route, Cong. 43, Sess. 1; Lévy, Nic., 428-40; Nic., Gaceta, Aug. 20, 27, Oct. 22, Dec. 24, 1870; Oct. 21, 1871; Jan. 11, Feb. 22, July 12, 1873; March 21, June 6, Nov. 28, 1874; Id., Mem. Sec. Rel., 1871, 10-16, 29-39; 1875, xiii.-xiv.; 1879, xxvii.-viii.; Costa R., Col. Ley., xix. 17-34, 180-1; Id., Informe Sec. Rel., 1872, 2-5; 1877, 2; 1885, 4-6, 47-54; Guat., Mem. Sec. Rel., 1884, 6, 8, 9; Pan. Canal, March 5, 1883; Id., Star and Herald, Feb. 12, 14, 1883; La Estrella de Pan., Jan. 15, 1885; El Guatemalteco, March 4, 1884. It has been asserted that formidable obstacles exist to a permanent deep-water entrance at San Juan del Norte, owing to sand and other detritus carried into it by the San Juan River, rendering it shallow and dangerous. Gisborne's Isth. Darien, 8-11.