64 KELLEir. [April 28, 1856. 



These expeditions confirmed the observations of Mr. Trantwine, and 

 proved that no ship canal could be constructed from the head-waters of 

 the Atrato to the Pacific ; but the information acquired, induced Mr. 

 Kelley to despatch Mr.Lane on a fourth expedition, to survey theTruando. 

 Mr. Lane ascended that river and reported favourably, but sickness pre- 

 vented him from crossing to the Pacific. Mr. Kelley, therefore, sent a 

 fifth expedition, under Captain Kennish, an English engineer, accom- 

 panied by Mr. Rude and Dr. Jameson, with others, to proceed to the 

 Pacific, and trace the coast from the Bay of Panama southward to 7° north 

 latitude. If a harbour could be found, the interior was to be explored ; 

 and if the mountain range presented sufficient depression for a canal, the 

 expedition was to carry its surveys through to the Atrato. Captain 

 Kennish found a harbour in the bay, terminated on the south by Cape 

 Marzo ; and here, also, he observed the Cordillera to be diminished in 

 height from thousands to, only, hundreds of feet. On crossing the water 

 parting he struck the Nerqua, a tributary of the Truando, and from thence 

 the party descended in boats to the Atrato. His survey and levellings 

 have resulted in a plan for a ship canal, without a lock or any other im- 

 pediment. After crossing the bar, which must be removed, the Atrato 

 maintains a depth of 47 feet up to the Truando, and a width of 750 to 

 1000 feet. The Truando is navigable for thirty-eight miles from the 

 confluence; and the remaining twenty-five miles to the Pacific will 

 require cutting and a tunnel of three-and-a-quarter miles. Mr. Kelley 

 regards the connection of the two oceans as a work of too great import- 

 ance to be undertaken without full and authoritative investigation of an 

 international character. Having carried the investigation thus far, he 

 is now desirous that the question of uniting the two oceans, which has 

 been discussed ever since the Spanish occupation of America, should be 

 settled. The immense increase of commerce between the Atlantic and 

 Pacific, following the discovery of gold, renders the subject now of 

 pressing importance. The United States Government is willing alone 

 to proceed with the survey ; but European 'interests ought also to be 

 represented. The English Government is not unwilling toco-operate; 

 and all that is required, to insure the national survey of the practicable 

 routes between the oceans, is the establishment of cordial relations 

 between the Governments of the United States and Great Britain. 



The President, in inviting discussion on this paper, observed that several 

 plans had been proposed to establish lines of traiSc between the two great- 

 oceans, but that all had as yet been found too difficult of execution, with 

 the single exception of the Panama Pailway. The route for a ship canal, which 

 Mr. Kelley had proposed, appeared to possess so many advantages, that that 

 gentleman had come over from America in order to make it known. There 

 were three questions which the subject naturally suggested: — the financial; 

 the engineering ; and the hydraulic, as to whether a sufficient depth of water 

 could be obtained for ships to pass from the Pacific, down the Atrato, into 

 the Atlantic Ocean ; and he would call especial attention to the last point. 



