132 National Geographic Magazine. 



This is stated to be only a temporary expedient to secure the 

 opening of the canal at an early date, and that eventually the 

 work will be completed on the original plan of a " through cut." 

 It seems evident from the latest reports that work will be con- 

 tinued as long as money is forthcoming to meet the expenses, and 

 as the modified scheme to overcome the high land by locks instead 

 of a through cut, greatly simplifies the engineering problems, there 

 is a probability of the canal becoming an accomplished fact. A 

 second route by way of the San Juan River and Lake Nicaragua, 

 that has also been under discussion for many years, has recently 

 been energetically advocated by American engineers, with the 

 result of the actual location of a line and careful cross-section- 

 ing during the past year. A company has been formed and ob- 

 tained a charter from the State of Vermont, and as it is repre- 

 sented to be backed by abundant capital, we may, ere many years, 

 have the gratification of seeing an interoceanic canal opened 

 under American auspices. 



Many speculations have been indulged in as to the probable 

 effect of a canal through this Isthmus on the carrying trade of 

 the world, the impetus it might give to the opening up of new 

 commercial relations, and even the effect it may have in advanc- 

 ing our civilization to distant nations. Such speculations are 

 hardly pertinent to this report, but we may well reflect upon the 

 changes that have been wrought since the opening of the canal 

 through the Isthmus of Suez, and conceive, if we can, the level- 

 ing up that may accrue to the political divisions of the western 

 world from the same influences that will cut the channel through 

 her Isthmus. 



South America has been free from serious agitation until a 

 recent date ; although some of the States have not failed to show 

 the usual internal dissensions in political affairs. Late advices 

 intimate a possible difiiculty between Venezuela and England 

 relative to the control of a large territory embracing the mouth 

 of the Orinoco River, which, should it result in the permanent 

 occupation of the disputed territory by the European power, 

 may wield a marked influence in the development of this section 

 of the continent. 



A project that has long been agitated, to construct a continen- 

 tal railway that would give direct rail communication with the 

 northern continent, has recently been resumed, and we can but 

 hope with an earnestness that will lead to its accomplishment. 



