1 74. RECOLLECTIONS OF FORTY YEARS. 



I. 



The writings of the Spanish conquerors had, for 

 more than two centuries, been consigned to the oblivion 

 of the archives at Madrid, when the project of pierc- 

 ing the isthmus was revived. As soon as the impetus 

 was given, there was a general outburst of enthusiasm 

 among the hardy mariners and explorers who were 

 eager to open a new route to the world's commerce. 

 I should occupy too much space were I to quote all 

 the names attached to this wonderful enterprise, but 

 I cannot pass on without saluting the most famous 

 among them, including Nelson, Childs, Lloyd, and 

 our fellow-countryman Garella, and, above all, Thome 

 de Gam on d, who was the first to propose the making 

 of a tunnel between France and England, and he lived 

 long enough to see it at all events begun. There can 

 be no higher reward for those who devote their lives 

 to the pursuance of useful truths than to witness the 

 commencement of the enterprise upon which their 

 hearts are set. From the year 1780 down to the 

 present day a host of projects have been put forward 

 for piercing the isthmus, some of them very carefully 

 thought out and others purely fancy schemes. But 

 the last few years have produced more than the whole 

 of the previous period. The opening of the Suez 

 Canal in 1869 produced a complete revolution in the 

 commercial relations of the whole world, and I have 

 no doubt that this event had a considerable influence 



