1825.] 
quake; but no peculiar smell was ob- 
served. ¢ 
A chemical analysis of a fragment of 
the meteoric stone which fell at Maine, 
Massachusetts, August 1823, has been 
made by Dr. J.W. Webster, of Boston, 
its capital ; whence it appears that the 
composition of this stone was, 
» Sulphur........ ...18'3| Magnesia........« 24°8 
Silex s.t0cee.. 2.2975, Chrome’.......... 4-0 
Alumijna..... wee 4°7| Tron........ nes a3 ie 149 
Lime........--.a trace | Nickel ..........++ 2°3 
30th Aug. » Your's, &c. R, 
——_ 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
THE INQUIRER.—No. 2. 
Union of the Paciric and ATLantic 
rare Oceans. 
F all the daring projects which the 
genius ef commercial enterprize 
has suggested, in modern times, we 
know of none more big with compre- 
hensive influence upon the future des- 
tiny of nations—the future growth and 
direction of commerce, and the pros- 
perity of generations unborn, than that 
of uniting the Pacific and Atlantic 
Oceans. The attempt of the. Ptolo- 
mies of Egypt to cut a canal through 
the Isthmus of Suez was of much less 
consequente, either in a general or a 
national point of view. Some timid 
reasoners have surmised, that it may 
produce consequences injurious. to Eng- 
lish maritime supremacy, drawing their 
analogy from the effect produced on 
the commerce of the world, by Gama’s 
discovery of the passage to the Kast- 
Indies, round the Cape of Good Hope, 
That discovery, in fact, transferred the 
s¢éeptre of commercial dominion to 
Portugal, from the hands of Venice; 
although the latter power was then in 
the zenith of her prosperity. But the po- 
sition of England is very different ; the 
columns of her prosperity are too 
deeply embedded benéath the founda- 
tions of the world’s social structure — 
too firmly incorporated with its moral 
opinion—too closely rivetted with the 
nius, character and position of her in- 
ibitants, and too strongly rorroborated 
by the lapse of ages, to. be so shaken 
or subverted. ‘The ultimate results of 
the undertaking are likely to be very 
distant ; but, whether distant or near, 
it is quite obvious, and it has been prac- 
tically proved, that England cannot do 
otherwise than profit by all that im- 
parts facility or impetus to commer- 
cial intercommunication. ‘The strength 
and wealth of other nations constitute 
Mon‘tuty Mac. No, 416. mF, 
Union of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. 
- 
313 
the legitimate sources of her strength 
and wealth, Rasibsp 
Many different spots. have, been, sug- 
gested _ by, Humboldt and, others,..in,, 
which the desired communication might. 
be most advantageously. effected ; and: 
many more might be referred .to, with) | 
equal claims to attention. One pro-. 
ject has been to descend, the Rio del 
Norte from the Gulf of Mexico, and 
to unite it with the head of the Rio, 
Colorado, by a cut across the moun- 
tains. This is far too. circuitous ,;to 
combine advantage with practicability, 
The scheme of uniting the head of the 
river Huafualeo, which falls into the 
Gulf of Mexico, in about 18° 307 fat., 
with the head of the river Chimalapor, 
which falls inte the bay of Tehuantepec, 
at about 16° 30’ by a canal of about 
twenty miles, is more feasible: but the 
great difficulty is the rocky central bar- 
rier through which this canal must be 
cut. .The same advantage and the 
same objection apply to many places in 
the provinces of Costa Rica and Vira- 
gua, in Guatimala, where, as far as the. 
Isthmus of Panama, a central ridge of 
rocky moyntains intersects the entire _ 
country; from which ridge a regular 
series of rivers, whose heads are not 
more distant from each other than the 
above-named, fall in parallel lines into 
the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, The 
Isthmus of Panama, however, has been 
the favourite spot selected for the pro- 
ject of the canal, on account of the nar- 
rowness of the Isthmus in that quarter; 
but the mountainous and unproductive 
character of the country, and the little 
knowledge which is possessed of its 
topographical detail, has always con- 
tributed to thwart the views of the 
projectors. There is, at present, a more 
practicable design on foot, and which 
we have little doubt will be carried into 
speedy execution, viz., to effect the de- 
sired communication in the direction of 
Lake Nicaragua. A glance.at the map 
will show the facilities which are Beat 
by that portion of the terra jirma o 
Guatimala, Onthe east, the lake com- 
municates with the Atlantic by means 
of the river St. Juan, which is sixty- 
four miles in length, and although not 
at present navigable, except for flat- 
bottomed vessels, is capable of being 
rendered navigable for ships of lat; 
burden, throughout its whole extent. 
It is proposed, we understand, to nets 
a cut in the south side of the lake, 
about fourteen miles in length (? sit is 
calculated), and navigable for ships’ of 
s 2 Ss ? Pe wa PICs 
ane 
