PACIFIC POETS. 109 
There cannot be a shadow of a doubt resting on the fact that 
the route of the Tehuantepec Road, going through a beautiful 
country, perfectly healthy, possessing mineral wealth, offering, 
with a great variety of sites and climates, immense agricultural 
resources by the superior quality of its soil, will one day attract 
to the Isthmus considerable immigration. Moreover, the ad- 
vantageous position of the Coatzacoalcos on the Atlantic, and 
of Yentosa on the Pacific, two excellent ports of the shortest 
route between Europe and Asia, will make it the central point 
of the great commerce of the world. The merchandise and 
passengers, either in Europe, in Asia, or in the isles of the 
Pacific Ocean, can reach their destination by the safest and 
most economical route, and without those stoppages which al- 
ways occasion great loss of time and money ; and, though the 
remark may perhaps be deemed out of place, this great work 
is one whose influence will tend to bind together the Northern, 
Middle, and Southern States, and by making them all interested 
in one and the same enterprise, and common participators in 
the interest and advantages resulting therefrom, the Union will 
thus become more and more indissoluble. 
The foregoing remarks naturally lead me into an examination 
of the nature of the port required by the exigencies of the 
moment, leaving to the future inhabitants of the city that will 
spring up at Yentosa, the duty of executing the work and con- 
structions in harmony with wants at present unknown. 
There are few localities where maritime works are not neces- 
sary for the protection of vessels against the sea and winds, and 
to facilitate the approach to the coast ; and a port is not merely 
a basin where vessels may sojourn, sheltered from the wind 
and agitation of the waters, but also, according to the maritime 
and commercial importance of the place, a safe spot, where the 
operations of repairing, freighting, &c, may be executed." 
Here follows a detailed description of Mr. Trastour's mode of 
improving the harbor, the cost of which he estimates at $300,000 ; 
also a description of Boca Barra, which he proves entirely im- 
practicable for the purposes of a harbor. 
In reference to the temperature of the Isthmus he says : 
