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 404 Documents. commercial nation. This ti'ade we could control, to a great extent, by the occupation of the Oregon. From the time that the Portuguese discovered the passage around the Cape of Good Hope, and European nations saw the great wealth flowing into Lisbon, from a monopoly of the trade of the East, every one sought to find some mode of rivaling that enterprising people. The voyage of Columbus to the New World was never, at first, intended to discover a new and wild country, but to discover a passage to the East Indies. When he first landed in America, he supposed he was on the territory of the rich eastern empire, and hence he called the country by the name of India, which subsequently took the name of West Indies, in contradistinction to East Indies. This opinion prevailed for a long time among those who discovered this continent. Finding, ultimately, that the lands which had been discovered formed no part of the East Indies, the next step was to find a passage through the land into the great South seas, or Pacific ocean. It was not until thirty years after the discovery of America that Magellan sailed into the Pacific, through the straits that still bear his name, and went to the East Indies across that new and unknown ocean. He returned to Europe by the Cape of Good Hope ; thus circumnavigating the globe in his voyage. Balboa had previously dis- covered the great Pacific at the Isthmus of Panama. From that time forward the Spaniards, as well as all the commercial nations of Europe, were constantly engaged in endeavoring to find a passage to the East Indies. Even up to this day, after all the habitable pari:s of this continent have been explored, we find many attempts making to discover a northwest passage, through which ships may sail to the coast of China, and by this means save the great distance around Cape Horn or Cape of Good Hope. Not only has a passage been for three hundred years diligently sought, but from the time that Balboa first crossed the Isthmus of Panama, in 1513, to the present time, has the attention of the whole commercial world been turned towards the project of cutting a ship-canal across the Isthmus, for the purpose of facilitating trade with the East Indies. The Spaniards long contemplated this great work, but they never commenced it. They, however, for many years, carried on an extensive trade with the East Indies, landing the goods at Panama and Acapulco, transporting them on mules across the country, and thence shipping them to Europe. This trade was found to be very profitable, and continued to increase for many years, until the English, becoming powerful, at sea, sent a fleet into the Pacific^ and destroyed both the commerce and the ships in which it was carried on. Since tlie independence of Mexico, Guatamala, and Colombia, many projects have been set on foot, and numerous attempts made to complete what has been so long considered of so great importance — a canal across the Isthmus. Several routes have been proposed, and partial surveys made, in order to ascertain the practicability of such a communication, and to select the best route. Three principal ones, and those most generally spoken of are : 1st, across the Isthmus of Panama, in Colombia ; 2d, through the Lake of Nicaraugua, in Guatamala ; and 3d, from the Bay of Tehuantepec through the Rio Huasicualco to the Gulf of Mexico. Hum- boldt adds two others in his speculations on this subject : the one is through the river Atrato, in the Gulf of Darien, and the other is by a canal con- necting the waters of the Missouri with the Columbia river. This last, the most costly, the most circuitous, and passing the widest part of the conti- nent, I verily believe, will be the first completed, and that goods will be brought from China, through the Columbia river, before sixteen miles of canal will be cut through the Isthmus of Panama.