The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1877-02-21

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Balfour, gentleman connected with the Press,
officially appointed by His Excellency Senior
Aiaresis, President of Panama State, to &C
company the Commission to the scene of their
exploratory labours, between the Cuffs of San
Miguel and Atrato, OH the Pacific and Atlantic
shores Of the Isthmus respectively, where
they are at present actively engaged. The
report of the Exploration Commission in
! question will hereafter be published in Paris.
and cannot fail to prove highly interesting. 1t
may be stated that the famous Hungarian Pa
t-iot, General Turr, is the main promoter of
this Exploration Scheme, in which Mr.. Lesseps
is also engaged, being President of the socie-
ty founded at Paris, with the object of form
ing and sending out this expedition to the
Isthmus
While the labors of this Exploration Com
mission merit consideration, glance at the
present route over the Isthmus traversed by the
iron horse, may prove interesting, especially
as many people think that the best plan would
be TO cut the proposed canal along side of the
actually existing railroad between Colon (As-
pinwall) and Panama. The Atlantic termi-
nus of this railroad is situated, as is generally
known, on Munzanlla Island, at Colon, in
North Latitude sc 2l' 23'', and West Longi-
tude IS So 52'', seven miles to the east of
the mouth of Chagres River. From the Colon
terminus, the road crosses the shallow waters
of Victor Bay, skirts the western shore of
Manzanilla Island q of mile, passes on
bridge over the channel between the island
and mainland. and proceeds till it touches at
Chagres River, the aldea Of Jatun, Z Z miles,
from the Colon terminus Then following the
direction of the River Chagres, the railroad
passes by the villages of Ahorca Lagarto,
Beyio Soldado, Frejol, Barbacoas, beyond
which it crosses over the Chagres River on a
bridge $50 feet long, after which it uses by
the villages and stations of San Pablo Baila
Mona, Gorgona and Malachn. Near the last
mentioned place is the confluence of the Obs
pc River with the Chagres River, 81 miles
from the Atlantic. Here the railroad enters
into the obispo Valley, twice crosses river
bends, and follows to the river head in the
and 10 and one-ffth niles, from the Pacific
The cut on the summit range is d mile long,
and "a feet deep. This position forms the d.
viding line of the two watersheds of the At
lantic and Pacific.
From this place, the railroad strikes the
head waters Of the Rio Grande, which flow
into the Pacific below the city of Panama,
then it follows the left bank of the Rio Grande
crossing on bridges over three of its tributa-
ries-the Pedro Miguel, Caimitillo, and Car
denas; and subsequently stretches across the
Savannas of Corasol, and the Swamps of Coren-
da, until finally, through a spur of Ancon
Hill, it reaches the Pacific at Playa Pricta, |
the northern suburb of Panama. The whole I
length of the railroad is AZ miles 1920 feet f;
the maximum grade is go feet per mile; the
summit grade is 25s and sixty-four one hun
dredth feet above the assumed grade at the At
lantic, and 242 and one-tenth feet above the as
sumed grade at the Pacific terminus. The high
est point of the summit ridge is 2s7 feet above
the level of the sea. The highest spring tide
of the Pacific is 60 feet above the highest
spring tide of the Atlantic.
A canal uniting the Chagres' tributary
obspo and Rio Grande, and the sinking,
widening and embanking of those rivers,
would perhaps be the best plan of canaliza
ton.
Another scheme os canalization of the Pa
mama Isthmus is advocated by a British Adj
miral, who assembled the River Chesso, from
its mouth in the Pacific to the farm of Jesus
Maria, 10 miles inland in a steam pinnace
some time ago. The tide rose still some
miles beyond that place, but the Admiral
could not proceed farther for other reasons
than the want of depth in the river. From
Jesus Maria, the distance, the Admiral states,
was only nineteen miles to the Gulf of San
Bias, on the Atlantic coast of the Isthmus
But the dividing range was much higher than
at the summit ridge Of the railroad, being
at least over one thousand feet high; yet the
Admiral had some reason to think that
much lower pass could be found, by ex-
ploring the Sierras. BE also thought that
some one of the rivers flowing down to the
Gulf of San Bias might be assembled five or six
miles inland, so that only Is or l6 miles of
canal would be necessary; and tunnel
through the dividing range be the best plan.
The AGmirals scheme has the advantage of
being traced across the very narrowest spot
of re whole Isthmus, and, in the long run, it
may be adopted in preference to all the others.
In these remarks no reference is made to
IL
the writer being merely to notice the present
projects for the canalization of the Panama
Isthmus, and, Simultaneously, to give some
description of the elevation of the ground over
which the existing lsthmus Railroad has been
carried by United States engineering skill
The total cost of the railroad was S7,4O7 ,552,
according to the report of the chief engineer,
g. NJ. Totten, given at New York, May 18TH,
1855.