The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1851-04-05
- b. N.ILan.I -

4 aHIf CAsAL THHou0H THE lsTHHUs of I
pAgAt6.--" 40 the taking possession Of
considerable plu Of the West coast Of the /
ner continent by the United States Of NoHh /.
Amrrira, and Che rrpOH Of the abundance Of I
F1id iu Aew California (g0w called Upper .
california; have rendered more urgent than .
over thg formation OF communication be- |
tween thr Adantic sig.ss and the regions Of .
thr Wet, through the llthmus Of Panama ] .
ices 10 Wy luiy 10 cell attention once again 90
ll- c,rtumtlaurr HAT the shortest way a. the 1
fiiDr,s of ua iatiAe, which was shown ~
fhe natives 90 AlOuE0 Martin dc Don lieuitO, I
b. in the eastern part ct the lsthmus, aud led
90 lhu GulIo DC San Miguel, We know that
ColHmlus Vida del Amiranic por Don Fer /
nandl Colon, cap. 800 sought for an "estru- /
sho le Terra hrlne," agd in the Official dogu-
meats WAirh No poisess 81 the years 500 aud I
1904, and especially l5l4. mention Is made I
nj the desircd opening, tabduum, land Of the /
pass (paro) which should lead directly 10
he plulian land of Spices" Having for
p.0re lhan forty ycav BEEN occupied with
The subject of thc means Of communication /
between the two seas, have conaaully, both |
in nay printed works,and n tue different me- /
,noirs, which, with honorable confidence the |
frpu states Of spanish Amenpa have request |
IL iHu ~ furnish, uged that the lsthmus
shofl be- examined by psOmetrcally through
on, - entire lrnRth. and more especially
VhrTe, M DIicn and tho inbospitablo iormyF
l,oyiuua dc blrnquetc, u Joins the CONT
nrui vi South Amerira, aud where, between
b,c Aualo and the Bay Of Cupica, (on the
shore Of thc Faohc,) tie mounilin chain Of
IN Isthmus almost eaiirely disappears (See
in my Alias GcoRraphiquc ct Physique do Ia
Suu,elie Lspapue, vi. iNi Ia the Atlas ia Ia
Relation ilisiorque, PL AS'iii Voyage aus
Rrutuu- EttHiuuAiairs do NuuVrau Continent,
r. a. y. lii-l5l. aud Essai PoliIique sur le
itayanmc de Ia Nou,eIlc E.pagne I. !. "a
edit 1925, p. 2O2-2is)
.'Guu. Bolivar, a. my request, caused an
exact leseling OF the lsthmus, between Pana-
IA sud the mouth OF the Ito Chagrvs, 20 be
msde, IN 1913 and 1922 by Lloyd aud Fal-
ma. Philosophical Transaction Of the Roy
al Society OF London, ior the year 1880, PIP.
69--Gs Other measurements have since
been cxcrntrd los nc, omplishcd and expo
rirhrtd FrrDch engincorf, and projects have
been formed for canBls aud railways with
10. ~ aud tunnels, bot al ways Ia the direction
Of a meridian between PortobcllO aud PanA-
ma or more to the west, towards ChAgrcs
and Cruces Thus the most important points
Of the eastern aud southeastern part Of the
l-thmns have remained nneNAmincd on both
shores. So long As this part is not examined
geographically, by mCauE OF eXAcT bal easily
obtained determinations Of latitude and of
mctr,ally, in the conformation Of the surface,
ly harometric measurements of elevation, 90
long ! consider that the statement have re-
peliedly made aud which ! now repeat, Ia
ls49 will still bc true, viz that IL il as yet
improved aud quite premature, 10 pronounce
that fhc lSthmus does not admit Of the forma-
ton Of an o'eanic canal q, G., canal with
fewer lo.ks than the Caledonia Canal, } per.
uiittias At all seasons the passage of the same
10 I.F "a 1 "a.
etpool on the one hand. aud Chilli aud Cali.
bruia on the other,
con the Atlantic side, (according To OK
aminaiions which the Direction Of the Dcpos
IL hydrografco Of Madrid have entered OF
their maps since 1902 the Enscnada d,
Mandinga pcnetratcs so deeply towards tho
south, that il appears 10 be- only four or hy,
German geographical miles, fifteen 10 al e
qnaiorial degree, q. e. sixteen or twcnt,
Eaglish geographical miles,) from the coas
ct the Pacific, on the east OF Panama Or
the Pacific side, the lsthmus is almost equal
iy Indicated by the deep Gulfo dc San Miguel
into which the Rio Tuyra falls, with its trib
mary riyerthe Chuchunquo. This last nam
I'd stream in the upper part Of its course ap
proa-hcs within sixteen English gcoeraphi
cal miles Of the Atlantic side OF the lsthnu
20 ahe west OF Cape Tibaron For more tina
twenty years, have had inquiries made ftol
I'M. Of Panama. bY associations dasro,t--,-4
employing considerable pccunary means; bu
Tire .lnpc nlyiee Which / kaln gil -. ll.,
never been followed. Every scientifcall
educated engineer knows that, between III
tropics, (cvcn without corresponding ohsrl
va ion-.l good baromelric mcasurcmcpts Oh
holry VARIATIONS being taken into account
afford results which are well assured to L.,
than from seventy TO ninety French, or Sc,
onty.hve tonineysix English feet. Il woul,
besides, be easy to establish for few mouth
on the two shores two fixed corrcspondin
blromctric stations, and 20 compare repeated
" the portable instruments employed in pr,
limnnry dwellings with each other, and wit
those at the fixed stations. Let that part b
particularly examined where, near the cor
tinent OF South America, the scparariif
mountain ridge siuks into hills Seeing tn
importance of the subject TO the great CON
merce OF the world, the research ought no
~ hitherto, 10 be- restricted To q limited field
a great aud comprehensive work, whic
shall include the whole eastern part of III
Isthmus, and which will be equally useful 70
every possible kind of operation or constru,
ton for canal or for railway-can alone de
eide the much discussed problem, either al
trna,ivcly negatively. ifhat witt bc don
at last, which SHOULD, and had my ndvic
been takea,would have been done in the fin
instances ~ Aspects Of Nature, Vol. H.
STOPPAgr OF MuIg-It NAV lao ,cnn :;