LAKE OF MANAGUA. 



17 



scraped, in the sand. The fish were called sardinitos, 

 and at the door of the huts the men were building fires 

 to cook them. The beauty of this scene was enhanced 

 by the reflection that it underwent no change. Here 

 was perpetual summer ; no winter ever came to drive 

 the inhabitants shivering to their fires ; but still it may 

 be questioned whether, with the same scenery and cli- 

 mate, wants few and easily supplied, luxuriating in the 

 open air, and by the side of this lovely lake, even the 

 descendants of the Anglo-Saxon race would not lose 

 their energy and industry. 



This lake empties into the Lake of Nicaragua by means 

 of the River Tipitapa, and another communication be- 

 tween the two seas has been spoken of by means of a 

 canal from it to the Pacific at the port of Realejo. The 

 ground is perfectly level, and the port is perhaps the 

 best in Spanish America ; but the distance is sixty 

 miles, and there are other difficulties which it seems to 

 me are insuperable. The River Tipitapa has been rep- 

 resented as navigable the whole length for the largest 

 ships ; but no survey was ever made until Mr. Bailey's, 

 according to which it is thirty miles in length. Begin- 

 ing at the Lake of Nicaragua, for twenty-four miles the 

 water is from one to three fathoms in depth. Above 

 this there are rapids, and at the distance of four and a 

 half miles a fall of thirteen feet. The whole rise within 

 the six miles is twenty-eight feet eight inches. The 

 Lake of Managua, from observation and information 

 without survey, is about fifteen leagues long and thirty- 

 five in circumference, and averages ten fathoms of wa- 

 ter. There is not a single stream on the contemplated 

 line of canal from this lake to the Pacific, and it would 

 be necessary for this lake to furnish the whole supply 

 of water for communication with both oceans. 



Vol. II.— C 



