398 



The National Geographic Magazine 



tion with the early explorations of the 

 Isthmus, although his work consisted 

 mainly of hydrographic surveys and a 

 verification of the data made by other 

 hands. 



At the present time we have the dis- 

 tinguished naval officer, Rear Admiral 

 John G. Walker, U. S. N., who followed 

 Admiral Ammen in office as well as in 

 his zealous advocacy of the scheme, as 

 President of the Isthmian Canal Com- 

 mission, which is to bring this wonder- 

 ful undertaking to a final completion. 



Of the fully organized surveying 

 parties to enter the field for canal ex- 

 ploration the first was the Darien Expe- 

 dition, under the command of Com- 

 mander T. O. Selfridge, U. S. N. This 

 expedition examined the Caledonia, 

 Morti, and San Bias routes. The 

 same expedition the next year (1871) 

 surveyed the Atrato-Peranchita-Tuyra 

 route. These surveys eliminated and. 

 settled many questions touching the 

 practicability of building a canal. 



Captain R. W. Shufeldt, U. S. N., in 

 1870, ran a level and transit line between 

 Salina Cruz, on the Pacific, to the junc- 

 tion of the Blanco and Corte rivers, to 

 develop the Tehuantepec route, but with 

 his limited force it was not found possi- 

 ble to continue the line to the Atlantic. 

 The information obtained, however, in 

 connection with the results of the desul- 

 tory examinations previously made, 

 gave a very good idea of what the route 

 was to be. 



The Lake Nicaragua route, which was 

 for a long time a favorite field for study, 

 was given a thorough examination by 

 several parties, the first being in charge 

 of Commander A. F.Crossman.U. S. N., 

 whose untimely death by drowning in 

 the surf on the bar at Grey to wn disturbed 

 for a time the progress of the work . Com- 

 mander Chester Hatfield, his successor 

 in command, then made an incomplete 

 survev of Lake Nicaragua, which was 

 stopped by the lateness of the season 

 during which he operated. 



The next year, 1 872-' 73, Captain 



B. P. Lull, U. S. N., who had been Sel- 

 fridge's assistant in the Darien Expedi- 

 tion, completed the work of surveying 

 this important route with such success 

 as to give, as he said, a " close approxi- 

 mation to the best line which was to be 

 found. ' ' Followed in command by Lieu- 

 tenant F. W. Collins, U. S. N., further 

 critical examinations were made, and a 

 most exhaustive study begun by nearly 

 all the officers who had been engaged 

 upon the field work . They were assisted 

 by that indefatigable expert, Civil Engi- 

 neer Menocal, U. S. N., whose name 

 will ever be linked with that of Nica- 

 ragua. Captain Lull soon after went to 

 Panama for the purpose of making a 

 close instrumental examination in the 

 vicinity of the Panama Railroad. 



His expedition practically completed 

 the series of explorations undertaken by 

 the United States, which furnished data 

 covering the whole Isthmus as far as it 

 is applicable to ship-canal purposes. 



But by no means did this end the study 

 of the field of possibilities, which has at 

 last by a process of elimination culmi- 

 nated in the final plan to build the 

 American canal at Panama, thus solving 

 the world's greatest problem. 



EXPLORATIONS IN CALIFORNIA 



To another naval officer, Lieutenant 

 Edward Fitzgerald Beale, U. S. N., 

 America is indebted for many impor- 

 tant explorations in the Far West, which 

 followed his services in the navy on the 

 California coast. He was the first who 

 brought to notice the discovery of gold in 

 that then distant state, which resulted in 

 accumulating vast wealth for his coun- 

 trymen and a great expansion of its 

 domains. Beale became one of the 

 first superintendents of Indian affairs 

 in California. 



HYDROGRAPHIC WORK IN THE AT- 

 LANTIC BY LIEUTENANT LEE 



Before the advent of submarine cables 

 gave rise to the necessity for an accu- 

 rate knowledge of the bed of the ocean, 



