Steam Navigation to the Pacific, 6fc. 361 



will be produced by opening an intercourse westward from 

 Europe to Asia, and making America the stepping stone between 

 them. The isthmus of Panama is destined to become one of the 

 most interesting spots in the world : a ship canal will be formed, 

 and it will become the highway between the Pacific and Atlantic 

 oceans. I have been frequently on the isthmus, have passed 

 often between the two seas, have examined with much attention 

 the facilities and obstacles which it offers for the object proposed, 

 and have satisfied myself of the perfect feasibility of establishing 

 a communication between the two oceans. On leaving England 

 I was requested to report upon my journey over, and to examine 

 the isthmus with care, as well as the river Chagres. As it may, 

 perhaps, be acceptable, I extract from the report such parts as I 

 conceive may prove interesting to you. 



" Having prepared myself with the necessary apparatus. I com- 

 menced by sounding the Chagres bar, where I found at low tide 

 fourteen feet of water ; the river being then swollen eighteen 

 inches, left twelve and a half feet of water, from thence upwards 

 to the junction of the rivers Chagres and Trinidad, (which you 

 will find in the map in my pamphlet,) where there are four and 

 three fathoms close to bank, which vessels might use as a pier to 

 discharge goods. A little above the junction the water shoals to 

 seven or eight feet — the channel below is never less than three 

 hundred to four hundred feet, and often one thousand to twelve 

 hundred feet ; a steamer of five hundred tons, properly built, 

 might navigate as high up as the Trinidad, with perfect safety 

 and ease ; at this point it is also perfectly healthy ; from this 

 junction the distance is twenty-eight miles to the Rio Grande, 

 which empties into the Pacific about three quarters of a mile from 

 the city of Panama. Vessels of any size may enter this river, as 

 the tide rises in spring twenty-two feet ; the space between the 

 two points has but a very slight rise. I should say that it could not 

 exceed forty feet, for in passing over to Panama from Gorgona, I 

 found there was not a hill to ascend, and that a good carriage 

 road could be formed without making a single cut. While the 

 land to the left towards Cruces was mountainous and broken, that 

 to the right seemed to decline to an unbroken plane ; hence, it 

 appeared to me, that Lloyd's statement respecting that line was 

 strictly true. 



Vol. xLi, No. 2.— July-Sept. 1841. 4G 



