The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1850-01-15
LFun The National fnfsIIssnca,
The IsfInmus Of Tefuanfepee.

should forward to you the result OF my recent IN
yestigatons concerning the EsthKns Of Tehuants-
pee. The SUBJECTS so vast that gwen superficial
outline Of its man features would far exceed the
limits Of letter. Besides under the pressure
of.other allengrossing- engagements, mg mind ~
scarcely at liberty to give it at this Present time the
Consideration it so well deserves must therefofe
conhue myself on this occasion within summary
view Of such leading points now occur 70 ng re- Z
collection. $esl4
Fsra. cannot help, while think of i, to 3D.
vert TO circumstahce which, although belonging
to the history Of the past ought not to be alloNzaq
pass without comment A number Of the 1aily
National IntelLigencer,n Of the 7th Of February
last, ieli, BY mere chance, into my hands short
nrne ago That paper, in its Feportoi the debates in
the senate, contains various attacks on our project,
which regret not to have had an opportunity Of
noticing before. First, there was humorous ac-
| count Of the etymology Of the word g Tehuante-
pee, which, 1t was sand, meant ~ he'll Of a blow"
er as the French would express it, sss poItf de
eonte de U0yageun The Mexican word tTehr-
/ antepecV is composed of Tehuan'' and s. Tepes,y
signifying in Spanish " TigTe-ceSyo; IN English,
| Tiger mountain. This is the Of a mouniain
which overhangs the town, and which, in The "a
| poteco language, IS called sguI-zI, words which
present an inverted translation of the Mexican APP
| peation viz Tigfe-cerro, or, in English, 9zoun-
tain tiger. So much for that pleasantly.
A more serious attack on our project was based
| on the reports Of two scientific gentlemen, who,
Il
the Isthmus themselves, addressed to the Hon.
| William L. Dayton, Senator from New Jersey
In the first Of these the writer frankly admits that
he has never visited the countries upon the merits
Of which he is called upon to report, but evinces,
nevertheless, strong partiaty in favor Of The Pa
| mama project, and an apparent prejudice against
that of Tehuantepec. Tins he discovers that the
! harbor of Panama, although in his opinion but
an open roadstead, may neverthsless be considered
ieeL-sheltered Har6oT. Again, after acknowledge
ing tlat, extreme L0zD tie s0rs Is shoak
foraboHt ttCo and half miles outside he discov-
that teIve miles to the westward there is
| the bay OF I" Vaea de 1onte,T which he does NOT
hesitate to qualify an ereeksgn Adybor5 forget
ting however to add that this excellent harbor ?
is-merey semi-circle OF about $50 yards in diam
| eter, which, to be rendered available as a port
would require improvements to the amount Of one
million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
On the northern side it is supposed that Limon
Bay, which is reported as healthy, might be used
| asa harbor; but allusion is made to the fact,
stated by all who have and examined it, that
to protect it against the northers the prevailing
winds in this locality il would be necessary t0efec2
breakwater, the construction Of which. together
with other indispensable works, would u the opin-
| ion of the engineer, Garella, involve an0tAer ex@
penditure of upwards of one million Of dollars
As regards Tehuantepec, cannot imagine upcR
what data is founded the conclusion that the RAILROAD
must pass by Chivela,n since survey has as yet
| been made for its construction. Nor can conceive
how the magnificent sheets Of water Of the Te-
huantepec can sink down into two insignificant
| "small lakes" Neither do | understand on what
ground it is stated that the navigation of the river
would cease at the lower end Of the island Of Ia
camchapa, where the terminus OF imaginary
road has been located, since the river may be aavi
gated at least as far the confluence of the Tai
tePec From this point to the upper lake there IL
a direct course Of but 60 miles, and not 155 miles,
j stated by one OF the scientific gentlemen above
referred to- Our port the Pacific side is in the
most unaccountabe manner, called I" an open road
= stsdd.n The truth is that the lower lake is peEs
> fecty sheltered to the north by ne5ahbofiug mounr
ains, while the numerous islands in the upper ba-
sins furnish adequate protection against other winds
In either Of these basins shipping would be as safe
as in the harbor OF New York. The distractions
| of the. BoccG Barra entrance bari is difficulty
: which, as have repeatedly stated, may be removed
3 in a few weeks by the application of the usual
I machinery.
= Mr.. Maury is still more severe in his remarks
a upon the Isthmus, though somewhat less courteous
The point which he chiefly dwells IS that in the
. soundings made by our commission at the Coatza-
coaleos bar, etc, have given twenty feet depth
OF water, instead of thirteen, found by the oticer'
: of Com. Perry's squadron. Upon this discrepancy
4 MIR. Maury POUNDS the deliberate opinion that my
j investigations are unworthy Of confidence"
= 1 Mr.. Maury, reading my report attentivelY
: could scarcely have failed to observe that the sound
: ngs of the Coatzacoalcos werenot the work of M
:, hands that they were executed by my associates
and that accident, which happened to the only
i boat at the disposalof the commission, prevented
from either continuing verifying their operations
II He might, moreover, have noticed that, feeling my
), self quite uncertain the accuracy of those
"a suits, published in my work merely the lite
- raj report OF those surveys; and that in order t
~ give the public every opportunity in my power L
~ Judge for themselves, coated all the data coul'
procure from the time Of the conquest to the pre-
I sent day.
80 On chart of so1ndings which Cramer declare
o so he made Gn 1774 with the greatest care, = W
~- y find ID Castilian feet of water the bar-a resu
~, which corresponds almost to fraction with ths
obtained by Com Perry, will be observed by re
dueing both measurements to a common unit
IA Castilan feet=3 ,962 meters.
= 13 English do=3,965 do.
the This perfect coincidence gives nalcuable valu
nlnl1fe snnnhnus nf Cramer cnnY ni NEhic