New-York tribune., 1871-04-01
THE DARIEN SURVEY.

,uy sHIr CANAL PRACIlCALmOliE ~ p,RAN
thH 'pSRs STILL INVESTIGATING THE fAhAN,
,Tro poUTH-MR. DUVOLL PROCEEDING u
nv CHE VALLEY TO MEET TIE DAhNN'
1aPTY on TIE OTHER SIDE
,o,x, TuyRA RIVER, :. A., March u
=. % tho practcability Of constructing snip
'ss the Isthmus Of DaTien nave oeeh oisP
-~avs made from the Pacific coast uuiine 'no l
r,b have proved the Aua'o-Iu!fa rOu'o W " -, pJ
IL teasibe and viii venture 10 saS 'ii"' - -,
tNo limits Of NewYork state, snI anu ."ot h,oh
' .s-o,cb n country precisely similar 10 tn"' @ ""i0"
Vu n. or the IstbInus of Darien, II Wouiu po ole"
,,ion ,n less than eight years since 'he uaVe
~ los, letter from the Atrato RIVER e'o s'Dns i~
80 co,nr ON well In the Guf OF pa'ion, AHo 80
.,u ,cs at her old anchorage near 'ue en ~ ~
81, and the Nipsic makes oecaSiohai u'p' " A'P'i'
Nu ~ A., lila or provisions Good progress is
wan ioi 'no Lie surveys, and the final chart
IN io a valuable contribution TO the Bureau
=. n',.o % chief Engineer Barnes is stin In the In
u , on As rapidly possible over the Paran-
ch,to route toward the "u'iuc'
eN''O srpvErs FROM THE PACIFIC sIDE
. -, the attention Of Commander Selfridge is
,d particulary to the surveys on the Faeihc SIDE
@ vo,rarv sth party joined the United States
-, pessea. Nathaniel Greene Lout.-Commander,
h had been detailed by the Navy Department 10 join
On, Da-ien Expedition in place Of the Saginaw, recently
ecked on her voyage 10 Panama The voyage down the
coast was an exceedingly interesting one the scenery
houcb not grand very picturesque and beautiful In
course were the Pearl Islands, which in former years
,elJcd vast quantities Of the gems from which they de-
rive their name but disease has lately attacked the
ear oysters and In consequence diving for them has
almost entirely ceased. We entered the Tuyra River
fbroueh the Gulf Of San Miguel which in many ways Is
admirably suited 20 the Pacific terminus Of the Canal
The River TuyTa ia upward of mile in width, and In
s waters the largest ships may float up to point about
ei1 miles above Chepgans; the Resaca anchored about
int tboc ~ 4 arfsa
On the day Of arrival, Friday, February II, Com
mander sefridge left In whale-bOat with four days
Yroyisons to make reconnaissance up the river Dur
1pc his prOvisioncamp established in the
woods on the nothery shore Of the stream observa
tory erected, and tdegauge placed in position. The
tide here has and fan of from Is 10 20 feet and the
current the river from three to four miles per
hour The banks are formed Of n Shiny clay with bowl
ders and shnGle Of quartz and flint.
After absence of three days Commander selfridge
returned to the ship having explored the river as far as
Pinogana. He found that it did not narrow down
until he passed Alligator Island, Is miles from the ship;
thence upward its is winding that while the
distance from Chelana TO PnOgana, travelling by boat
s. about IS miles, astronomical observations show that
straight line connecting the two points would be only
abo II % miles long. From ChepGana 10 the Junction OF
the Iuyra and Chuqnanaqua Rivers there Is not settle
inent OF any hu fheNal iOiests are on elIuer uahK
Of the river and these at night fequented by vast
RUNNERS OF MONKEYS, Whlch MI the ar Nlth the most
piercing shileks Inc o5 s&hS OF ne OF cay are 1he
slhgatoTs and herons- The former are always
water
mud-banlls, from which when disturbed, they glide
iRto the water with disteuded jaws, and sometimes
About two miles above the junction the town OF santa
Maria; miles further on is Mollineca, from which
whole the river runs between perpendicular banks
from 10 TO 20 feet in hight. Not hill OF any description
WITH notwithstanding the fact that the present
maps Of the country represent traversed by range
after range Of high mountains The country Is appa-
yeutlY perfectly level, but 70 undoubtedly slight
sry Good bnt owing 90 the ndaence of the natives
~ ia ed A few o
nander SefTidge he started with the first surveying
parfy which Is Undtr thc military command Of Master
Faton All work connected with the survey is under the
direction Of Assistant Engineer Duvo assisted by En-
slbn VIZ q , t' o., t,r,-cd on tiie stco,, IeuncI
which had in tow large dat-boat with one weeks pro
visions At Piudsina the launch could go 10 further
on account of sAoal water TIE party, with provisions
slowed away In three large canoes IN when they
made the ascent OF the river far junction with
the Cue. There II hut buiit in which to stow the
provisions, aud. after day or TWO f rest tne survey @
process The macbeta cat only about 5000 feet
po day aud they must Of course always feln III "u
OTHER RoUrEs UNDER EXAMINATION
M Duvol is instructed ~ proceed up the Cue Valley
Dtl he reaches the divide, meets the party on Mr.
Barnes from the other side Every night signals are 10
30 made and firearms discharged by both partes' 80
that il within hearing distance, they may come To-
eether In regard to the Cue route an able to state
IRON information received from Commander SelHdge
that IL is which white man has never passed.
Gorgoza wlO explored the lothnus some wears since
never crossed the divide He went only to the Indian
village Of Paya after winch nc reIGccd his steps 10 san
Miguel Bay Tic Cue River Is tributary OF the Tuyra,
and runs through valley which bears its name.
route up this valley, the divide. viii connect with
the Parauchilo, which, by Personal observation, is
known to he much lower than the Cacarica.
The two parties will probably meet in the
course Of TWO or three weeks, and the object
for which the Daien Expedition was organized, Will be
accomplished The length OF The proposed canal is less
than 80 miles. About 30 miles Of IL viii be through
country which is apparently dead level" Tie greatest
elevation IN the remaining 20 miles VIII not be over $50
feet and is believed that point IN the divide may be
hight report having reached us that It Is only six
hours walk IRON the Naipp River which nOws into the
AtratO range Of hills 400 feet high 70 the Cupca
River which emptico into Cupca Bay LimOn Bay, and
the Pacific Ocean, Commander SelfI1dge went in the
Resaca examine the No one has much faith in
the statements OF our native inOTmant5 and the eGami-
nation is made in order Settle tie thing way the
other Before leaving the Tuyra master Kelley sent
TO Pnogsna with six weeks provisions for the surveying
party In the interior. His Instructions 10 dispatch
COO pounds Of food weekly to the junction Of the Cue
River, thence II viii De carried in packs 70 the end OF
the line.