Jan. 10,1859.] SQUIER'S ACCOUNT OF LAKE YOJOA. 107 



would "be under one government, namely, that of Honduras. He would be 

 glad to know from Mr. Squier what was the greatest elevation that the rail- 

 way would have to go over ? That might be a serious matter in the successful 

 working of the railway. 



Mr. Squier replied that the steepest gradient would be 1 in 60. 



Colonel Sykes said the formation then was • only a question of expense, 

 and the railway would be exceedingly valuable for international as well as com- 

 mercial purposes. 



Mr. Squier said the gradients, would be quite trifling compared with 

 those on several of the American lines. The Ohio line, one of the best 

 paying in the country, had to ascend elevations of 160 feet to the mile, 

 and 140 and 130 were not uncommon. It was simply a question of engines — 

 of mechanical power, which was quite within human control. 



Mr.W. J. Hamilton, f.r.g.s., asked whether the waters of the lake were ever 

 observed to diminish or to run off at certain periods by subterranean channels ? 

 Such a phenomenon was not unusual with lakes in a limestone region, where 

 there was no apparent outlet. He observed that he was acquainted with 

 several lakes in Asia Minor which were entirely drained every four or five 

 years, by the water escaping through subterranean channels. He also asked, 

 whether any observation had been made respecting the rainfall in tliis- region, 

 and how the lake was supplied with water ? 



Mr. Moore thought it might be interesting to mention, that a survey 

 had been made by competent engineers, and had been reviewed by Colonel 

 Stanton, r.e., and a detachment of Royal Engineers, sent out by Her Majesty's 

 Government, of the route across which Mr. Squier proposed the construction 

 of a railway ; and the report of the surveyors, recently made, was to the effect 

 that the making of a railway is perfectly practicablej with no steeper gradients 

 or sharper curves than exist on the lines- successfully in operation both in 

 Europe and America. The project moreover would possess this great and 

 unique advantage, that at either end of the line there existed a first-class 

 harbour. The Governments of England and France had entered into treaties 

 with Honduras, guaranteeing the route, and it now only remained for British 

 enterprise to assist in working it out. 



Mr. Moore fully concurred in the remarks of the President, and pronounced 

 a high eulogium upon the talent and perseverance of Mr. Squier, the import- 

 ance of whose endeavours could not be over-estimated ; for to him mainly 

 would have to be attributed, on the completion of the line, the achievement 

 of one of the greatest enterprises of the age. 



The President said that this was a subject which claimed their special 

 attention. The phenomenon of the escape of water by undergi-ound passages, 

 on which Mr. Squier had particularly dwelt, was curious, and though not un- 

 known in other limestone countries, had perhaps never been observed on 

 such an extensive scale aa in the- case under consideration; in which while 

 there were ten channels of exit from the lake, one only of these was by an 

 open river course^ The chief object which Mr. Squier had had in view in his 

 arduous researches in Central America was to prove the practicability of a 

 railway across the- territory of Honduras ; and if this great work were com- 

 pleted, it would certainly be a line of transit highly useful both to the United 

 States and to England, and also one of the most important undertakings. 



The President would not have it forgotten that Mr. Squier was the gentle- 

 man to whom the world would be indebted for the origin of the project, and for 

 calling the attention of his own countrymen and the European governments 

 to the great value of such a line of railroad. 



