Page:Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Volume 1 (2nd edition).djvu/103

Rh miles from the sea. Its depth does not exceed from seven to ten feet, even at the mouth, shallowing down to four and even to one, a few miles up; and its navigation was further impeded, when Mr. Lloyd visited it, by a number of trees, which, having been undermined by its waters in the previous rainy season, had fallen across and still encumbered it. Its importance to the inland communication, however, consists in this—that canoes bound to Porto Bello from Chagres, and which, in stormy weather, when the coast is dangerous, would be altogether windbound, are enabled to ascend it as far as a village called Aqua Sucia, whence their cargoes are conveyed to and from Porto Bello on men's shoulders. Besides which, several quebradas enter it to right and to left along its course; and all contribute somewhat to facilitate access to the adjoining county. Some considerable lakes also exist in this direction, with which several of them communicate.

With the united assistance of all these rivers, the navigation of the Chagres, below the junction of the Trinidad, is easy, and even superior to many much larger streams. The depth below Gatun varies from twenty-six to thirty feet; above, it is twenty-four, and nowhere falls below twenty-two, unless on some few spots, where only sixteen are found, which, however, have deep water close to them. This depth, too, is not in a channel, but the whole breadth of the river, which is from two hundred to three hundred and eighty feet wide. The banks are precipitous, of trap and porphyritic formation, wooded to the very edges, and almost everywhere admit of vessels being brought close to them, and the current, as already noticed, is here very moderate.

The Rio Grande rises to the north-west of Panamà, near a mountain called Pedro Miguel: and after receiving several streams, becomes navigable for very large canoes two leagues above its mouth, which is about two miles from Panamà; and here a bar runs across it, on which, at low water, there is not more than two feet water. The tide rises, however, so high in the Bay of Panamà, (about 18 feet in spring tides,) that vessels easily enter the river, and within the bar have good anchorage. Much interest was at one time taken in this river from the near approach, in some places, of its course to that of the Obispo, which falls into the Chagres a little below Cruces; and from the idea consequently entertained, that a water communication across the isthmus might be obtained by cutting a canal between the two. The shallowness, however, of the Chagres thus high up, the short and broken course of the Obispo, and the much greater facilities offered elsewhere, for establishing a communication by rail-road, appear to Mr. Lloyd to be, for the present at least, insurmountable objections to this plan. Were a great traffic already