PAET I. 
ENGINEERING REPORTS. 
On the 25th of December, 1850, the steamer Alabama, hav- 
ing on board the corps of Engineers destined for the survey of 
a route for a railroad across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, entered 
the Coatzacoalcos River, and on the same day arrived at Mina- 
titlan, a town situated at the head of present ship navigation, 
twenty miles from the mouth of the river. The engineering 
party consisted of fifty-four persons, placed under the immedi- 
ate direction of Major J. G. Barnard, of the U. S. Engineers. 
Another party, under Mr. P. E. Trastour, had previously been 
sent down by the company, for the purpose of exploring the 
harbors on the Pacific coast, and were at that time employed in 
making a survey of the harbor of Ventosa. 
On arriving at Mina-titlan, the parties were immediately 
organized for the commencement of active operations in the 
field ; and pursuant to Major Barnard's instructions, a party 
under Mr. W. G. Temple, U. S. N"., commenced a survey of the 
Coatzacoalcos River, at Mina-titlan ;* and another under Mr. J. 
C. Avery was directed to make a reconnaissance to Mt. Encan- 
tada, situated on the west bank of the Coatzacoalcos, about 
forty miles southwesterly from Mina-titlan, on the route of the 
proposed survey. At the same time I received Major Bar- 
nard's instructions, from which the following is an extract : 
" You will get your party through as rapidly as possible to some cen- 
* Between this point and the Bar, a survey had been made by Com. Perry, in 1847, 
the maps of which accompany this Report. 
