Page:Narrative of an Official Visit to Guatemala.djvu/223

CH. XIV.] heights of the bodies of water which it is wished to communicate. It shews that the lake is forty-four yards, Spanish, and a fraction, above the level of the South Sea.

That the San Juan is navigable from the port to the interior of the lake for craft drawing three or four feet water, at all times of the year, there can be no reason to doubt. It also appears clear that it can be ascended in two or three days more than is occupied in descending it. For thirty to thirty-five leagues up, it is navigable for vessels, drawing from ten to twelve feet water. It is near the fort of San Juan that the difficulties arise, on account of the cataracts, and here it is that the skill of the Dutch engineer may be exercised in making collateral cuts or canals to provide the depth of water, at all seasons, that may be required for the regular navigation: in the lake itself, there is depth of water for vessels of any class. In the map will be seen the exact spot where it was intended to