Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1870-02-04
TIE DARIEN SHIP CANAL.
The Surveying Expedition.

TIE DARIEN SHIP CANAL.
The Surveying Expedition.
The New York Herald has the following.
TIE EXPEDITION
will be under the exclusive control of Lieu
tenant Commander Thomas O. Selfridge,
Of the United States Navy. The total num-
Der of men who will take part in the affair
will number about 2S7, and the gunboat
Nipsic will be the flagship of the expedition
and the Guard the storeship. The former
is now lying off the Battery and the latter
is at the Navy Yard completing her prepa-
rations for her eventful mission. The ex.
pedition would have set sail several weeks
ago but for the fact that the Guard was de-
tained longer than was expected and could
not be got in readiness as soon as the naval
authorities had desired.
THE SCIENTIFIC COMPLEMENT.
Besines the officers of the two ships, who
have all been selected for the expedition on
account of their particular fitness for the
duties which they will be called upon to
perform during its progress, a geologist, a
botanist, telegraph operator, a photo
grapher and draughtsman, all civilians, have
been especially employed for the occasion.
J. A. Sullivan, NJ 0. Leman and Messrs.
Ogden, Merriden and Karcher, officers of
the Coast Survey, will also accompany the
EXPEDITION and act asassistants to Comman
der Selfridge The telegraph operator has
been furnished with about eighty miles of
wire, seventy. five miles of which are of the
ordinary Office wire and the remainder Of
the same kind Of insulated wire used in the
army during the late war
He has also forty cups of Gross battery.
the strength of which he considers quite
sufficient to knock all the monkeys who may
presume to occupy the wires for gymnastic
purposes, into the lands where the spirits of
all dead monkeys 90. A full set of the reg
ular army signals has also been furnished
the ships, and these will be made use of
whenever they can be of good service. The
flags will be used in day time and the liant
erns the lights at night. Every scientific
instrument necessary for the proper carry
ing out of the plans of the explorers has
been secured and safely packed away.
PRESENTS FOR THE INDIANS.
A large quantities of beads, trinkels and
various cheap articles, held in high esteem
by the Indians, form part Of the treaty"
cargo Of the ships, and these it is the inten,
ton of the commanding officer to scatter
among the savages with lavish hand, in
order to secure their friendship, and thus
enable the expedition to make use of them
in various ways in which their services will
be of great importance to the success of the
undertaking.
THE OBJECT OF THE EXPEDITION.
The primary object of the expedition is
to make thorough survey of the isthmus
and to discover if there be any, the breaks
in the mountain through which canal
might be cut. The Nipsic will call at As
pinwall on her way to the general rendez.
vous to make certain arrangements with the
Columbia authorities in reference to the ex-
peditiou, and the Guard will 60 directly to
Caledonia Bay, which is about $50 miles
beyond Aspinwal, where the Nipsic will
join her. In this bay the two vessels will
remain as base of supplies while the ex-
ploring parties dive into the wilds of the
isthmus After all the preliminary prepa-
rations in the bay will have been completed
two parties will start out from Sasardi and
another from the southern portion of Gale
donia Bay to discover, if possible, the de-
pressions in the mountains and to reach a
pass which DR.. Cullen contends exists in
the mountains and which has not as yet been
discovered. Two lines of level viii be es-
tablished from these points to wherever de-
preston may be found. thence to tie Sayan-
ma river at the mouth Of the Lara. In the
meantime whatever natives can be induced
to work viii be organized into regular gangs
as laborers, and they win accompany the
exploring parties and be made serviceable
in clearing away the underground and ren
dering the passage Of the explorers as easy
as possible Aid is also expected from the
alcaldes, and the Columbian Government
viii DO its best to help the expedition in va
rious ways. On the 21st inst, two gentle
men will proceed to Aspinwall to ascertain
the correct astronomical position of Aspin-
wall and Panama, and the result of their in
vestigation viii of course determine the base
of operations of the expedition After the
explorers shall have made thorough sur
vey and reconnaissance of the country, the
vessels viii proceed to the Gulf of San Bias,
and thence exploring parties viii set out to
establish line of levels and ascertain if that
portion of the country is better adapted to
the passage Of canal than that between
Caledonia Bay and the Bay Of Darien. The
expedition viii be occupied for about siz
months, and Commander Selfridge, without
wishing to say for certain that the ultimate
object the discovery Of the depression ii
the mountains-will be attained, expressel
himself confdant that a line of levels viii b
! established on the Tsthmus, thing which