Page:Vol 6 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/585

Rh During the war of independence this work called the Nochistongo cutting — El Tajo de Nochistongo — was greatly neglected, and the passage of the water was obstructed by accumulations of earth and detritus. No attention, however, was given to the canal until the capital was again threatened with inundation in 1830, when work was resumed. But when completed, the canal did not answer the purpose, and the city of Mexico was periodically in danger of being flooded. The consequence was, that an entirely different system, comprehending the general drainage of the valley, was adopted, and in 1856 a board for the drainage and canalization of the valley was appointed, an award of $12,000 being offered for the best project. The plans sent in by engineers were numerous, but for novelty that of J. A. Poumaréde was unsurpassed. He proposed to drain the valley by a system of huge siphons. The prize was finally awarded to Francisco de Garay; but political strife and the war of the French intervention long prevented his plans from being acted upon. In April 1868, however, work was commenced. The plan was to construct a grand canal, which from a terminus at the garita de San Lázaro should pass through Lake Texcuco at the