NICARAGUA. 



615 



try, and as further work was im- 

 possible, it was decided that the 

 aid of the United States Gov- 

 ernment should he invoked. 

 Accordingly, mi Nov. 5, 1869, 

 the company made a formal re- 

 quest to President Grant for in- 

 tervention. Claims against Nica- 

 ragua for the amount of proper- 

 ty seized and destroyed and the 

 damages incurred, were filed 

 with the Secretary of State. 



In March. 1887, a contract 

 was signed with Nicaragua, se- 

 curing to the Xew York Asso- 

 ciation exclusive right of way 

 through the territory of the re- 

 public, for the construction of 

 a ship-canal between the Atlan- 

 tic and the Pacific Ocean. The 

 route chosen has been surveyed 

 several times twice by expe- 

 ditions sent out by the United 

 States Navy Department. Dur- 

 ing Gen. Grant's presidency it 

 was approved as the most prac- 

 ticable and feasible route for a 

 ship-canal through the Ameri- 

 can Isthmus, by a Government 

 commission consisting of the 

 Chief of Engineers of the Army, 

 the Chief of the Bureau of Nav- 

 igation, and the Superintendent 

 of the Coast Survey, after a 

 technical examination, extend- 

 ing over several years, of the 

 whole subject of interoceanic 

 communication. The detailed 

 estimates of the cost of construc- 

 tion, amounting to $65,000,000, 

 were examined and accepted by 

 eminent engineers in this coun- 

 try and Europe. Engineers and 

 surveyors were sent to Nica- 

 ragua in 1887, and the work of 

 survey has been carried on un- 

 til the present time. The route 

 is 169-8 miles in lencth, but 

 only 28-9 miles can really be 

 called a canal. It begins at 

 Greytown, on the eastern side, 

 follows the course of the San 

 Juan river above Ochoa, through 

 Lake Nicaragua, a distance of 

 129 miles, and thence to the 

 harbor of Brito, the Pacific ter- 

 minus. The surface of the lake, 

 110 feet above the sea, is the 

 summit level. At the eastern 

 end of the lake the San Juan 

 river will be backed up and kept 

 at the lake level by a dam for 

 a distance of 64" miles, thus 

 forming an extension of the 

 lake, which will have a width of 

 1,000 feet and a depth of from 



It.S.Carto. 



RioLqjoa 



WESTERN DrviDE 

 152 feet 



.'i 



; I 



Locks 4 and s 



lack e 



PACIFIC OCEAfT 



Lock If, 



DE8EAOO BASIN f 

 lock* 

 Lock 3> 



EASTERN OiVJOE 1 ' 



Oc/iaZtam, 



