INTEROCEANIC CANAL ROUTES. 385 



Nature herself had wished to get ready foi' man's work, the soil, as at 

 Darien, has for a long time been free from earthquakes. The study 

 for a lock-canal was made in 1845 by Garella, Engineer-in-Chief of 

 Mines, sent there on a mission by the French Government. I desire 

 to bring to your attention this name, which has been too much forgot- 

 ten, because this mission, courageously and conscientiously performed, 

 honors not only the man who carried it out, but also the administration 

 which confided it to him, and because his splendid studies seem still 

 to be the best that have been made there, and which should now be 

 taken, in part at least, if it should be desirable to connect the two 

 oceans by a lock-canal. 



Condensing this too long expose of the situation, I conclude by 

 saying that, of all the lock-canals studied or proposed, the least ob- 

 jectionable is that which would go from the Bay of Limon to the 

 Gulf of Panama.* 



Comparison of the Tide-level Canals. — Let us now examine 

 the different plans for level-water canals which have been presented to 

 our consideration. 



The one which is called Atrato-Napipi would have our entire sym- 

 pathy if we could thus adequately express our appreciation of the 

 devotion of Commander Selfridge, who for several years has been 

 exploring that part of the country, so wild and difficult of access ; and 

 yet, interesting as this plan seems to be, we must absolutely refuse to 

 accept it. 



The Atrato is neither the Mississippi nor the Amazon, but it is, 

 nevertheless, a very powerful river, with heavy, overflows, which bring 

 to its mouth immense deposits, forming a great bar. To make arti- 

 ficially across this bar, and to keep it always open, a channel wide 

 enough and deep enough for the largest vessels, is a very great under- 

 taking, the success of which, however, should not be regarded as im- 

 possible or even as improbable. But still there is no instance of a 

 work of such importance, and we find ourselves facing a problem the 

 solution of which — a very laborious and very expensive matter — is by 

 no means certain. 



With such an obstacle before us, and with no certainty of over- 

 coming it, would it be prudent to undertake a canal, the expense of 

 which is estimated at more than eleven hundred million francs ? 



On the other hand, the canal, properly considered, would be on the 

 Pacific side a branch of the Atrato, and, to a great degree, unless it 

 was entirely shut off by a sluice-gate, subjected to the variations of the 

 Atrato. Would it be, moreover, easy to keep up, where it branches 

 from the river, a channel with a depth always assured of eight and a 

 half metres ? Would not the point of branching, under any circum- 

 stances, be liable to be filled up with sand, which doubtless it would 

 be difficult and expensive to keep continually removed ? 

 * This also is the plan recommended by General Tottcn. 

 VOL. XTI. — 25 



