The Sun.
London, England, 1851-12-19 00:00:00

THE ISTHMUS OF PANAMA.

SOUTHAMPTON, DEC. 17.—Captain Chappell, R.N.,
the Secretary of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Com-
pany, has furnished the subjoined extracts from an
official report made to that company upon the present
state of the Isthmus of Panama, and of the works on
the railway now constructing there. This communi-
cation will be found to contain information upon the
subject hitherto unknown in this country, and taken
in connexion with the certainty of the near comple-
tion of the railway, and the probability that, besides
being crossed by the Californian and west coast
traffic, the Panama route must at no distant day be
adopted as the main channel of European intercourse
with Australia, New Zealand, Polynesia, &c., any
authentic and reliable information from this quarter is
at the present moment most opportune :
" Panama, Nov. 17, 1851.

" I proceeded in the little steamer Gorgona to Limon
Bay. A strong breeze was blowing at the time from
N.W., and much sea running into the bay then and
during the two days I was on Manzanilla Island. It
afforded me, however, a favourable opportunity of
judging of the general eligibility of the position ;
far more so, in fact, than I should have had with the
wind at its usual quarter, N.E. With the breeze as
it generally blows there (except for three months in
the year) ships drawing twenty feet of water might
haul to the wharf, land or embark mails, passengers,
Flank., and merchandise. In the other months of
November, December, and January, however, the
north wind occasionally blows home and raises a
swell ; upon such occasions ships might make fast to
moorings, laid down for that purpose, two cables'
length from the wharf, and land and embark anything
and everything in boats with ease, facility, and
dispatch.
" There is a wharf already run out in Victor Bay,
with from 10 feet to 12 feet water alongside it,
and 19 feet at the end, but it is to be carried out
into four and a half fathoms of water, and the space
inside filled with earth, &c., that warehouses may be
built on the cite, and as near as possible to the land-
ing place.
" A lighthouse is to be built on Manzanillo, Island,
and although fresh water has not been met with there
as yet, it is intended to dig for it, and if none be found
tanks are to be erected to receive the rain water, as
is done at Bermuda and other places.
" On the afternoon of the 7th instant I left the
railway terminus on a sort of platform car propelled
by a locomotive, and travelled three miles to where
some trifling repair was being made, a portion of the
line traversing a swamp. At that spot we got into
hand cars, and were whirled along to Gatun at nearly
locomotive speed.
"As it was 5 a' M. when we reached Gatun, we
did not go beyond it that evening, there being only
another hour's daylight, but returned to Manzanilla
Island, where we slept.
" On the following dry I went over the line to a
point, 1/ mile beyond Gatun, and nine miles from
Manzanilla Island, which point in fact is the extent
to which rails have as yet been laid continuously.
" It might have suited the Panama Railroad Com-
pany to have made use of that part of the road which
is finished, but I think it, is better that they do not
use it as yet, for to have swarms of people on the line
before it is quite ready would occasion great incon-
venience. The company have decided, therefore,
that the road shall not be used until it is properly fit
for travel as far as Barbadoes (six miles below Gor-
gona, and where it is now intended to cross the
Chagres), which will probably be in April or May
next ; after which, although the river will not be
bridged by that time, it is expected that two months
more will take the line to Gorgona.
" I will now give you as faithful a description as I
can of that part of the railway which I myself ex-
amined, and state how much of the rest of the line I
believe to be made, the length of the intervening
spaces or breaks which must be finished before the
severed portions can be united into one continuous
line of railway, the physical features of the country
across which the unfinished road is to pass, the time
when it will be probably opened, and the opinion ge-
rally entertained of it in the neighbouring countries.
"The northern or Atlantic terminus of the Panama
Railroad rests on Maeanilla Island, of about 800 acres
area, on the eastern side of Limon or Navy Bay.
" On the north-western extremity (nearly) of the
island is a small cove named Victor Bay,' which
has been judiciously chosen for one of the termini of
the railway, and on the north-western confine of
which a wharf, as already observed, has been con-
atructed, near which, but a little in rear of it, the
line of railway runs.
" The formation of Manzanilla Island is coralla-
ceous, with sand and shell intermixed; the land is
low, and thickly wooded with large timber trees, a
portion of which have been cleared upon a space
twice as large as is necessary for the immediate re-
quirements of the railway.
" The eastern boundary of the island rests on Man-
zanilla Bay, where there is good shelter at all times

fur vessels of 400 tons burden and less. There are
many smaller Wands in time bay„ but I did not visit
them, as the sea was too heavy-to admit of my doing
so, and the narrow strait which divides the island of
Manzdnilla from the main could not be passed in a
boat, owing to its being crossed by the line of rail-
way, the piles of which are only about three feet from
each other; they are of a yellow pine, and driven in
from eight to ten feet water.
" The distance by railway from the northern
terminus to Gatun is 7i lam of which two-thirds
are piled and the rest' graded,' and the sleepers, rails,
&c., laid on the solid earth. Two small mounds of
earth are cut through in the line, which furnish the
red clay for the fillings, embankments, &c., 1k miles
of which are completed, and 3i yet to be done. I
saw the dirt carts, locornotivei, &c., at work filling
in, and as the soil is near the spot where they want it
they get on fast.
" Wherever the sleepers have been laid upon the
solid earth the railroad is firm and unyielding; it is
the same where the piles are filled in, for the red clay
has settled down and consolidated so thoroughly that
the rainssoleso m seems
of e ms
c'Eit, and the only inconvenience I
thatexperienced caused by the clay sticking to
the
boots. It should be borne in mind
that I am describing the condition of those parts of
the railway as Tto
have no effect upon it. I walked
found them after several months'
over some
s e
rain ; the rain, however, to my great surprise, did
not seem to have injured the road in any shape. •
parts
was
s.
.
" At present there are only 500 workmen employed
on the road. As the dry season commences at the
end of next month, the force of labourers is to be
largely increased, unless the remainder of the work is
done by contract,, which it is likely to be.
wherever it is necessary the railroad has been
effectually drained.
" Oa our way to Gatuu we crossed the river of
that nanwand the Mendic river, also on the cars;
both'of . streams are tributaries of the Cbagres.
Althou: 41U at Present, the Gatun is only 50 feet
span ti• mendic is much smaller and in the sum-

nier dry.
"They intend to bridge the river Gatun with the
hard Bullet tree of the country and form abutments
on either side of solid masonry, for which there is
plenty of stone in the neighbourhood.
4, The only part of the road which I noticed had
given way was a small portion, about 21 miles from
the terminus. Some of the supports had settled with
the weight of the locomotives, which rendered it ne-
cessary to lift the rails, cross ties, and sleepers, and
restore the level of the line by fixing additional pieces
of scantling under the cross ties.
"I should here remark that the swamps I crossed
are not quagmires—there is nothing of the sort, in-
deed, on the line—but puddles of water, which accu-
mulate in the rainy season, but in the dry season
evaporate and leave firm ground.
" The railway in such places is constructed after a
process which the Americans term 'cribbing'—the
structure being like that of a crib. It was on one of
these cribbed portions of the line that the supports had
sunk, owing to the broken brushwood under the lower
blocks of timber of the cribwork having become com-
pressed by the weight of the locomotives until it rested
firmly on the ground beneath, and with a consistency
enabling it to resist further pressure. The engineers
say they are not apprehensive that any more of their
work will settle.

" I have stated that I travelled on the railway a
mile and a halt beyond Gatun, the extent yet railed in
unbroken connexion with the Atlantic terminus.
That portion is piled, and the filling in parts will be
from 10 to 12 feet deep. What I am now about to
report, however, rests on the statements of the engi-
neers.
"From the extreme point visited by me to Aherca
Lagarto is a distance of 44 miles, of which 1i mile is
piled and one mile graded, leaving two miles yet to be
dealt with, and which consists chiefly, but not entirely,
of swamp. Half a mile of the piling in this tract has
been filled in.
"From Aherca Lagarto to Bujio de Soldado are
three miles of good ground, 21 miles of which are
graded and the rails laid, leaving only half a mile to
finish.
" From Bujio do Soldado to Frijol® Grande four
miles intervene, of which 21. miles are graded, but
rails for about one mile only. No filling is requisite
thereabouts.
" From Frijole Grande to Barbacoas, where it is
now intended to bridge the Chagres, is 21 miles, half
a mile of which is graded, but rails are not laid. The
ground thereabouts is firm and good.
"From Barbacoas to Gorgona consists of six miles
of firm, bard ground, which does not require piling—
light cutting and filling being all that is Recessary.
" Of the last six miles, 300 feet arc included in the
span of the iron bridge to be thrown across the
Chagres ; that bridge is to have two arches resting on
a stone pier on an island in the river.
"Until the bridge is built_ the river will be ferried
by boats.
" By reference ;to what I have :stated, it will be

seen that of the 29 miles between Manzanilla Bay and
Gorgona, 16 miles are made, with the exception of
filling for about 6 miles, and railing 11 mile. It fol-
lows, therefore, that 13 miles remain to be done ;
and I am told that except 2 miles of swamp, the rest
of the distance is over ground very favourable for
railway purposes.
"The steepest grades between Manzanilla Bay and
Gatun do not exceed 20 feet in the mile, and, from
what I learn, although some parts between the
island and Gorgona have cost 30,0001. per mile, a con-
siderable portion of the line will not exceed 10,0001.
per mile. Notwithstanding the extraordinary ob-
stacles which have beset the work we may reason-
ably expect, however, that henceforward physical
difficulties will diminish, and with them expense, for
not only does each successive yard of rail laid facili-
tate the work beyond it, but the further they go (say
the engineers) the better does the ground become
which they have to deal with.
" There are the necessary turns out' on the line ;
and should it hereafter be necessary a second set of
rails might be laid with comparative cheapness and
dispatch.
" The railway stands several feet (seven foot I am
told) above the line of the highest (known) overflow
of the Chagres.
" The Panama Railway Company have at Limon
Bay, according to their own calculation, more than
sufficient yellow pine piles and other timber to finish
the road to Gorgona, besides which they have all the
rails (601 b. rails), and a good deal of other material,
including cars for passengers and merchandise, three
locomotives on the spot, and three more constructing ;
buildings for the workmen, too, exist along the line
as far as Barbacoas ; several months' provisions are in
store at Manzanilla bland, and they have a small
steamer to assist them in transporting, although, as
the railway is now open to Gatun, it is probable that
the steamer will be sold.

" It seems to me that the chief expense in future
will be for labour.

" The line of railway from Gorgona to Panama is
to be 20 miles, the ground comprising which, although
more undulating than that between Gorgona and
Manzanilla Island, is looked upon as much easier to
deal with. There are two cuttings 50 feet deep for a
short distance, the earth from which will be required
to fill such parts as are below the general level ; the
other cuttings are not so extensive ; besides which
there is no tunnelling, but little cribbing, and no
piling.
" The grades, I learn, are worked out of a rise of
215 feet, extending over a distance of 14 miles. In
short, the engineers state that, with the experience
they have gained, and are gaining, they are confident
of being able to carry through this last portio❑ of the
railroad in two dry seasons from the time they break
ground between Gorgona and Panama.
"The state and progress of the Panama Railway
has never been properly represented ; on the contrary,
it has been grossly misrepresented by parties at Grey
Town, Chagres, and Panama even, possessing inter-
ests at those places which they fear will be seriously
compromised by the success of the railway.
" It will scarcely be credited that not one indivi-
dual from Panama, except the Governor, and but
few, even from Chagres, have had the curiosity to
visit and examine a work which must influence, to a
vast extent, their future fortunes either for good or
for evil.
" When I reflect on what I saw and heard on and
about the line of the Panama Railway, I cease to feel
surprised that so little has been done, as the dispa-
ragers of the work affirm, but rather wonder that so
much has been accomplished, even by the band of re-
solute men who have the work in hand, and whose
every onward movement has been made in the face of
hardship and privation.
" I should not omit to state that the Panama Rail-
way Company has undoubted right to the possession
of Mansanilla Island for the next 45 years."

BANK OF ENGLAND.
(From this night's Gazette.)
An Account, pursuant to the Act 7th and Bth of Victoria, cap. 32 for
the Week ending on Saturday, the 13th day of December, 1851.
1891:18 DEPAATBILENT.

Notes issued ........ 30,179,620

£30,279,620

Dated the 18th day of Decembe:

BANKING D.
Proprietors'capital • • 14,553,000
Rest . - .......... 3 (29 994
Public deposits (in-
eluding Exchequer,
Commissioners of
National Debt, Say-

Inge-banks, and D-
ividend accottn6s).. 8,534,018
Other deposits ...• .. 9,358,848
Seven day and other
8i115.........- .... 1,152,453

£36,725,213

Dated the 18th day of Deambei

COURSE OE EXCHA
........ 11 16%
Dltic,, three menthe.. 11 iri
,•)t.terclam .• • • •• •. 11 18 1:1
kntworp• ••••••••• •• •• 25 45
'ira3sels •.• • •• .• ..., 25 15
Cite burgh ..M.B. 13 10%
Altona•• •• •• •• •• •• •• '••••
Paris, 3 dayesight ...• 25 22%
Ditto, 3 months .... 25 45
Marseilles ............ 25 45
80urdeaux......." •
Trankforton Maine.... 121
... • • • ... • • ••
Vienna, enc. So ••• • •• 12 45
Trieste, ditto.... • • .... 12 45
Petersburgh, Bil.
'(adrid
•• •• •• •• •• •• •• 49%
Cadiz •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• 49%
Barcelona • • •• •• •• • • ••
Seville.. •• •• •• ••• •• ••

Government debt .. 11,015,100
Other securities • 2,984,900
Gold coin and bullion 16,24%245
Silver bullion • • • • • • 33,375

X 30.279,620
S. mARgrrAT.T., Chief Cashier.
', 1851.
EPA/TEEN T.

Government secnri-

ties (including Dead
Weight Annuity).. 13,241,768
Other securities .... 11,454,712
Notes .. •• •• •• •• •• 11,490,315
Gold and silver coin.. 641,368

436,723,213
M. MARSHALL, Chief Cashier.
-, 1851.

N GE.-(THIS DAY.)
Glhraltar..••..••.•.••.
1",000rn........•••••• 20 85

Imes .... •••••• •• •••• 25 60
1311~r... •••• •••• •• •• ••
Venice— •• •• •• ••
slaples •• •• •• •• •• •• ••
Palermo, peroz....
Messina • • • • • • • • • • •• •
Lisbon— .•

Oporto .... • • .. • •
Rio Janeiro
Buenos Ayres .. ••.. ••
New York, 60 daya'aight
Philadelphia .... • • ....

40!i
12q

120%
6234
62%

PZIOBB 07 BULLION, PEI 08.
Foreign Geld in bars.. X 8 17 9
Portugal Gold Coin .. 0 0 0
Spanish Doubloons .. 0 0 G

Yew Dollars 0 4 11
'lnver in bars 0 5 ON

THE MANCHESTER " GAROTTE" ROBBERIES.—A
young man, concerned in the perpetration of one of these
robberies, on Saturday night, has been committed by the
Manchester magistrates for trial at the Liverpool Assizes.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.
COURT OF BANKRUPTCY, Dec. 18.
IN RE E. CIIIIRTON.

The bankrupt was a bookseller in Holles-street,
Cavendish-square. This was a last examination meet-
ing. The bankrupt's accounts extended from July 1,
1849, to November, 1851. They contain the follow-
ing figures :—Dr.: Capital, 300/. ; creditors, 9,534/. ;
liabilities, 5,7301.; profits, 4,6211. Cr.: Good
debtors, 1,2861. ; property, 6,756/. ; cash given up,
72/. ; losses, 1,195/, ; bsd and doubtful debtors, 689/.;
trade expenses, 4,060/. ; domestic expenses, 973/. ;
liabilities per contra, 5,730/.
Mr. LINKLATER, for the assignees, said the bank.
rupt had prepared his own accounts. They were
very voluminous, and the assignees had no complaint
to make. A short adjournment was, however, desired,
in order that the bankrupt might make out his debtors'
accounts.
Mr. Churton concurred. If there were an adjourn-
ment he should be better able, at the next meeting, to
furnish information respecting some books that had
not been returned to bis library by the parties to
whom they had been lento—Adjournment ordered ac-
cordingly.

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.
NORTHERN CIRCUIT.—York, Dec. 16.
CROWN COURT.—(Before Mr. Justice MAULE )
William Graham, aged 29, was charged with night
poaching on certain lands in the occupation cf Wm.
R. C. Stanfield, Eiq., at Esholt.
It appeared that on the night of the 9th of Nov.
last Mr. Stanfield's gamekeeper, accompanied by
three watchers, were in a preserve at Esholt, and
whilst there, hearing the report of guns and men con-
versing, they went towards, them, and came upon
twenty men, who asked if they wanted to fight, to
which Holmes, the keeper, replied that if they
wanted to fight they should come out into the field,
and fight like men. A man then got over the wall,
whom the keeper stated he believed to be the prisoner,
and presented his gun at him, upon which he said,
" Don't shoot. There is no occasion to shoot." The
men in the preserve then cried out, "D—n him ;
shoot his dog ;" and then the prisoner shot at the
dog. The keeper and watchers then ran away, and
the prisoner and ten other men, with two lurcher
dogs, followed them. The keeper and his watchers
escaped. The prisoner was subsequently appre-
hended, together with seven other men on suspicion,
and one of the watchers spoke positively to the pri-
soner as being one of the poachers out on the night in
question.
In his defence the prisoner stated positively that, so
far from being out on the night mentioned, he was at
home in bed, laid up with asprained foot.

The jury returned a verdict of Not Guilty.
Emmanuel Hunt, 38, and William Johnson, 24, were
indicted for having, on the night of the 22d of Sep-
tember last, committed a burglary in the dwelling-
house of Mr. John Mason, a farmer, at Dishforth.
It appeared that on the night in question the dairy
window of Mr. Mason's house was broken open, and
the burglars having entered, took away a ham, a hare,
a brace of partridges, and a quantity of eggs, which
had been tied up in some stockings, in order that they
might be hung up, first by one end of the stockings
and then by the other, so that they might be turned
and kept fresh. The next day some men were
thatching some corn stacks belonging to a Mr. Gil-
ling, and at the foot of one of them they found four
stockings filled with eggs, which they took to Mr.
(lining, who informed the police, and by that- direc-
tions the eggs were taken back to the ricks, and two
officers placed to watch, and at about eight o'clock
at night the two prisoners came and took away the
eggs, upon which they were taken into custody ; the
stockings in which the eggs were were identified as
those taken from the prosecutor's house, and, upon
the prilice, going to thq prisxwre' home they f.);H;cl
there a red and while biwiiat to the one wilich
had been seen at Mr. Mason's house on the evening
of the robbery.
In their defence the prisoners said, that they went