Boat Journey up the San Juan ae 
at Greytown have entertained the project of dredging out 
the channel again, but now that the river has found a nearer 
way to the sea by the Colorado this would be a herculean 
task, and it would cost much less money to move the whole 
town to the Colorado, where by dredging the bar a fine 
harbour might easily be made, but unfortunately the Colorado 
is in Costa Rica, the Greytown branch in Nicaragua, and 
there are constant bickerings between the two states respect- 
ing the outlet of this fine river, which make any well-con- 
sidered scheme for the improvement of it impracticable at 
present. A sensible solution of the difficulty would be a 
federation of the two small republics. The heads of the 
political parties in the two countries see, however, in this a 
danger to their petty ambitions, and will not risk the step, 
and so the boundary question remains an open one, threaten- 
ing at any moment to plunge the two countries into an 
impoverishing war. 
If the Colorado were not to be interfered with by man, it 
would, in the course of ages, carry down great quantities 
of mud, sand, and trunks of trees, and gradually form sand- 
banks at its mouth, pushing out the delta further and further 
at this point, until it was greatly in advance of the rest of 
the coast; the river would then break through again by some 
nearer channel, and the Colorado would be silted up as the 
Lower San Juan is being at present. The numerous half 
filled-up channels and long lagoons throughout the delta 
show the various courses the river has at different times 
taken. 
Our boatmen paddled on until nine o’clock, when we 
anchored in the middle of the stream, which was here about 
one hundred yards wide. Distant as we were from the shore, 
we were not too far for the mosquitoes, which came off in 
myriads to the banquet upon our blood. Sleep for me was 
impossible, and to add to the discomfort, the rain came 
down in torrents. We had an old tarpaulin with us, but it 
was full of holes, and let in the water in little streams, so that 
I was soon soaked to the skin. Altogether, with the stream- 
ing wet and the mosquitoes, it was one of the most uncom- 
fortable nights I have ever passed. 
The waning moon was sufficiently high at four o’clock to 
allow us to bring the long dreary night to an end, and to 
