Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 4.djvu/877

Rh seas, to which has to be added the problem of making and maintaining a deep-water channel from the ocean to the entrances to the canal. This bold scheme, first proposed in the 16th century, has at various intervals been the subject of many deputa tions and much correspondence between the American and European powers; and more recently, in 1845, when Louis Napoleon was confined as a state prisoner at Ham, he spent much of his exile in investigating its practicability, and in making arrangements for carrying out, under the name of the &quot; Napoleon luteroceanic Canal,&quot; a passage between the two seas from Port San Juan to Port Realejo. But we have not space to record the various early attempts to 793 realize this project, and must therefore confine our remarks to giving an idea of the present state of negotiations regard ing it. The recent enormous growth of Californian trade has led to the revived consideration of the scheme by the United States of America, who would be the greatest gainers by the work, and therefore are its most natural promoters ; and what we propose is to give a sketch of the present state of the question, as afforded by reports and documents recently issued by the Government of the United States, from which alone authentic information can be derived. It appears from these -documents that two routes have recently been investigated : First, that of the Isthmus of CALCUTTA INDIA BOMBAY ARCHIPELAGO om MADRAS ?w 11. Shewing Suez Canal and Proposed Canal at Ceylon. Darien, shown in fig. 1 2, under the direction of Commander Selfridge, U.S.N.; and second, that of Nicaragua, also shown in fig. 12, under the direction of Commander Lull, U.S.N. To both of these expeditions were attached a large staff, including naval officers, civil engineers, surveyors, mineralogists, etc., and their surveys appear to have ex tended over the years 1871, 1872, and 1873. The results of these surveys are thus summarized in the report of the Secretary to the Navy, submitted to the Government of the United States in 1873, from which we take the following information. Of the Darien route, it is said that it includes 100 miles of navigation of the River Atrato, which has been carefully sounded, and found to be fully capable of being navigated by the largest class of ocean-steamers. Between Atrato and the Pacific a canal or artificial cut must be formed of 28 miles in length. The canal for 22 miles of this distance passes through a plain having a gradual rise of 90 feet. There will then remain miles to the Pacific, three of which will be in moderate open cutting, and 3 miles will be tunneling. It is esti mated that the work will cost between 10,400,000 and .12,600,000, and that it can be completed in ten years. The tunnel, being for the passage of ships of the largest size, is proposed to be 112 feet high and GO feet wide, and is to have 87 feet of clear headway above the surface of the water. The canal is to be 25 feet in depth, with a bottom width of f&amp;gt;0 feet, and a surface width of 70 feet. The locks, twenty in number, are to be 427 feet long, 54 feet wide, with a lift of 10 feet. The water supply is to be derived from the Napipi river, and the gaugings and obser vations made on evaporation lead to the conclusion that there is a great excess of water above the supply required for the canal. Commander Selfridge gives two alternative schemes, by which the tunneling is increased in length and the number of the locks diminished, at an estimated cost of from 17,000,000 to 18,000,000 respectively. The exploration of the Nicaraguan route, under Com- p roposet ] mander Lull, the position of which is also shown in fig 12, Nicaraguan is said to have proved the existence of a practicable route, Canal, having Lake Nicaragua as its summit-level, being 107 feet above mean tide. It is proposed by this route to connect the lake with the Pacific by a canal 16 3 miles -in length, beginning at the mouth of the Rio del Medio and terminat ing at Brito. The first 7 5 miles will require an excavation averaging 54 feet in depth, and will be the most expensive part of the whole work. Ten locks and one tide-lock will be required between the lake and the sea. There will bo 50 miles of lake navigation. Slack-water navigation in the San Juan from its head to the mouth of San Carlos is considered perfectly feasible, and it is proposed to improve the river by four dams, at Castillo Rapids, Balas Rapids, Machuca Rapids, and at the mouth of the San Carlos River, at all of which places there are excellent sites for dams. A short section of canal with TV. TOO