The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-23 00:00:00

The Darien Canal,

As a mercantile investment there is no doubt
that this interoceanic navigation will be one of great
pecuniary advantage. When we consider the fleets
of ships, belonging to all nations, desirous of saving
the thousands of leagues of distance which this
canal would enable them to save, the magnitude of
the undertakir g is met by the certainty of the
enormous profits which must result to the proprietors.
No project has ever been before the public which
embraces anything like the objects to be attained
by this canal. All other propositions have but
local importance, and seek their profits from local
trade ; but this one is adapted to every ship afloat,
and seeks a return from the trade of every country.

Every maritime nation has an interest in its success,
and the commerce of the world will yield its profits.
Its completion will make a change in every Pacific
port; and, as a railway makes its own traffic, so
will this work most certainly greatly increase the
commerce between the distantly separated cauntries
which steam power is only now beginning to reach.
Ia such a case statistics are almost saperiluous ; it
is safer to consult the history of the progress of
commerce and argue from it, than to calculate the
profi s from the existing state of things. But even
on this limited ground it can be shown that
the capital invested will meet with a good
return by charging for tollage only a little more
than the amount saved in the insurance, without
reference to all the other advantages which the canal
will offer. From the trade statistics it appears that,
in 1851, upwards of three millions of tons of ship-
ping, and 150,000 passengers would, in that year,
have taken advantage of this navigation. The
Times of Oct. 15, 1850, states—" The traffic that
would pass through the canal, estimated now on the
basis adopted in 1813, would amount to £1,700,000.
In the hands of the most timid this cal-
culation could scarcely be reduced to any
point that would leave the enterprise other
than a legitimate and attractive one. But

the great feature always to be borne in mind with
regard to it is, that it would be so identified with
the progress of the world that its returns at any one
period could never be taken to limit our ideas of
what they would become hereafter. At the present
moment, for instance, the calculations would be
based on the existing tonnages of the various mari-
time Powers, and the present position of the chan-
nels of general commerce ; but when we consider
that the shipping of the United States doubles itself
every 15 years, and that of England still increases
rapidly, the prospects of the changes to be wrought
by the undertaking will appear still farther
beyond the grasp of any of the common concep-
tions of past experience." The field for enterprise
which will open itself, once there is a passage for
the ships of all nations through the narrow strip
which divides the two oceans, appears almost un-
limited. This cosmopolitan work once completed

will endure for all ages a monument of man's enter,

prise and ability, surpassing all ever accomplished
In the words of the Times—"lt is the grandest

physical work the world can witness ; the past has
seen nothing hke it, and any similar fame must be
denied to the future, since there will be
no more hemispheres to j An:, As ?he Sun
has said, "Ere long Darien will become
the great interoceanic portal, the door of
the seas, the entrepot of the world, the store-
house of nations, the grand highway of commerce ;
and the execution of the Darien Canal will confer
upon mankind greater blessings than mere mone-
tary ones. All the commercial nations in the
world will subscribe to it, The Bulwer and Clay-
ton treaty will be made to embrace the route and
its approaches on both oceans. The coasts will be-
come common ground, where war shall not ap-
proach. This is the way to secure universal
peace. The Greeks had their games, so that they
might meet on common ground once a year. The
Isthmus of Darien will be common ground every
day in every year—the place where all the nations
of the earth will meet in peace.—The Isthmus of
Darien, by Dr. Cullen.

SO APPROPRIATE !—Mr Whalley, M.P., of a
men in the world, has been commissioned to go out to
Caprera, to present to Garibaldi the yacht which has been
purchased by public subscription.
THE GOLDFIELDS OF NEW ZEALAND.—The New
Zealand papers give accounts of an exploring ex-
pedition consisting of three miners (two Frenchmen and
one Englishman), undertaken about three months pre-
viously, from Queenstown, Otago, to the West Coast, in
search of a goldfield. The party were supposed to have
perished, but were rescued by a yacht on the Dart river,
which they had reached on their return, and on the bank
of which they were lying to die, being too weak to cross it
by swimming. S•ehj iined is an abstract of the account
said to have been gathered from them :—" They state
that they have explored the whole of the tract of country
marked on the mats unknown,' a portion of which is is
the province of 0 tago and a portion in that of Canterbury.
They leached Jackson's Bay and then set back homeward.
The country is generally well timbered, and the pine and
rutu trees are often 25ft in diameter. They found gold in
payable quantities in several places, the furthest about SO
miles inland from Jackson's Bay, and at this spot they are
confident a payable goldfield exists. They further declare
that the belt of country through which they passed is aurifer-
ous nearly throughout. 'I he country soon after leaving Lake
W akatip changes. It becomes less rocky. and the hills assume
the appearance of made hills. Some of them are composed of
cement, and the terraces, which they believe to be aurifer-
ous, are of immense extent. They found innumerable quartz
reefs, and gold in several of them. They have some speci-
mens with them. In some of the creeks the gold could be
plainly seen, and every trial proved the existence of gold in
them, They were unable to thoroughly prospect the coun-
try, as they desired, having to hunt so much after game,
and being very weak. They also found various other mine-
rals, and copper in several places. They are satisfied it is as
fine a gold country as ever was opened. The winter set in un-
expectedly ; they were mewed in their tent for nearly three
weeke,and gave up hopes of reaching theWakatip alive again.
They christened this place 'Linger and Die Lake.' They now
abandoned their tools, &c., and made an effort to reach the
head of Wakatip, and they were six weeks arriving at the
place where they were rescued from. As soon as they are
recovered they aro willing to lead the way again, In the
meantime they intend to throw themselves upon the gene-
rosity of the Otago and Canterbury Gevernments, confident
that they have found a rich and new tract of habitable
country of immense extent, posseseirg lakes, rivers, gold,
minerals, copper, timber, and last, but not least, agricul-