APPENDIX. 
277 
borers, and it shall keep a public and authentic register of all its transac- 
tions in respect to all matters of colonization. 
Art. 15.— The waters of all rivers and streams which empty into the 
canal, and serve to feed it, shall not be disturbed nor turned away in any 
part of their course, nor in their sources, so as to deprive the enterprise 
of the use of them. In case any person has a right to the use of the said 
waters at the present time, the enterprise shall indemnify such parties in 
the manner prescribed by the existing laws which regulate the appropria- 
tion of private property for public uses. 
30th Congress, [SENATE.] Miscellaneous. 
2d Session. No. 50. 
PETITION OF P. A. HARGOUS, 
Offering to the consideration of Congress the advantages of a Railroad 
across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and praying that Congress, before 
its final action on the subject, will allow time for establishing the facts 
therein stated. 
[February 6, 1849. — Ordered to be printed.] 
To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States in Congress assembled : 
The petition of Peter A. Hargous, of the city of New York, for himself 
and in behalf of others interested with him, respectfully represents, that 
they are invested with full authority from the Mexican Republic, under 
the most solemn guarantees from that Government, to open a communica- 
tion between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, across the Isth- 
mus of Tehuantepec. 
Your petitioner respectfully represents the following facts, which he 
has derived from the authentic and published report of the engineer who 
made the surveys in relation to this route, in order that your honorable 
body may possess all the necessary information on this highly important 
subject. 
The grant from the Mexican Government, by which the privilege is se- 
cured to your petitioner of opening a communication across the Isthmus, 
is of the most liberal character, and offers the strongest inducements for 
undertaking the enterprise. The privileges of the grant are secured to 
your petitioner and those associated with him for the period of fifty years ; 
and during this time the Government of Mexico has pledged itself " not 
to impose any contributions or taxes upon travellers or their effects in 
