Jan. 23, I860.] PROPOSED KAILWAY KOUTE ACROSS THE ANDES. 47 



Las Llamas plains. In order to give rise from one plain to the other, heavy- 

 works and rather abrupt gradients would be needed; but an instrumental 

 survey would be necessary to determine the character of this work. From 

 this point we fall gradually to the * Barancas Blancas,' and then rise again to 

 ' Laguna Verde,' the level of which I have assumed at 14,921 feet above the 

 sea. Although the road just described is perfectly practicable, yet a preferable 

 location for gradients, though a more expensive one, could be obtained by 

 keeping more to the north, and skirting the base of the volcanic range, with a 

 gradually ascending gradient, and thus overcome part of the rise of the pass 

 of ' San Francisco.' 



" But assuming that it is necessary to pass the level of 'Laguna Verde,' 

 we then have an average rise to the summit of the Pass of but 66 feet per mile 

 for 16^ miles. The descending gradient from here to the ' Sunto del Fran- 

 cisco ' is 180 feet to the mile, but, as the location of the railway would be to 

 the north, keeping up along the base of the mountain, an average gradient of 

 140 feet per mile would be sufficient ; while the extreme gradient for over- 

 coming this pass on a straight line, or, in other words, the natural rise of the 

 ground is in no place over 300 feet per mile. From the great width of the pass 

 it is but reasonable to suppose that the gradient could be much reduced by 

 location. 



" From ' El Sunto del San Francisco' to Fiambala we find no impediment, 

 with the exception of the Angostura of the ' Las Losas ' river, where the stream 

 descends rather abruptly for 5 miles. But I am led to think that a more 

 thorough examination of the country would endorse the opinion that a better 

 line could be found by leaving the valley of Las Losas at Chouchonil and 

 following another valley that joins the Fiambala valley a short distance above 

 the Copacabana, at a town called Suesto." 



The Chaikmait, in returning thanks to Mr. Wheelwright, observed that the 

 author was well known as having devoted many years of his life to the promo- 

 tion of commerce in South America. He was the first person to establish steam- 

 navigation in the Pacific, and also to point out and realise the advantages of 

 the transit across the isthmus of Panama. These facts would satisfy them that 

 his paper was not the production of a mere'speculator, but contained the project 

 of a man thoroughly acquainted with the material interests of the South- 

 American continent. He proposed to carry a railroad over an altitude equal to 

 the summit of Mont Blanc, by taking advantage of a depression or low passage 

 in that gigantic range of mountains, the Andes. He left it, of course, to prac- 

 tical engineers to speak upon the practicability of such a railroad. 



Admiral R. FitzRoy, f.e.g.s., had known Mr. Wheelwright for more than 

 a, quarter of a century, and he believed there was not a more reliable, discreet, 

 and enterprising person in whom scientific or commercial men might repose 

 confidence. It was in 1834 that Admiral FitzRoy first became acquainted with 

 him in Chile, when he was collecting information with the view of establishing 

 steam communication along the shores of Chile and Peru, and eventually 

 crossing the isthmus of Panama and connecting that isthmus, by steam, with 

 England. At that time Mr. Wheelwright was thought a visionary speculator. 

 A few years passed, and by his own perseverance he gradually established that 

 Pacific coast communication, which, it was well known, had succeeded, and 

 which in the sequel had led to the present communication by steam between 

 the West Indies and the isthmus of Central America with Europe. After 

 establishing steam communication along the coasts of Chile and Peru, he per- 

 suaded the Chilian government, assisted by British merchants chiefly, to 

 undertake a railway communication between Valparaiso and Santiago de Chile ; 

 and that, too, had succeeded. Since then he had been engaged in establishing 

 railway communication from the harbour of Caldera to the city of Copiapo, and 



