IIOAD ACROSS THE ISTHMUS. 



159 



be cut, under the most favourable circumstances, 

 while many of the advantages of a canal would at 

 once be gained by this road. The question of 

 opening a communication has been ably discussed 

 by Humboldt, in his New Spain, Vol. I., and 

 subsequently by Mr Robinson, in Chapter XIII. 

 of his excellent account of the Mexican Revolu- 

 tion ; but I had no opportunity of examining in 

 person any of the points alluded to by these writ- 

 ers, or of gaining any new information on the sub- 

 ject. 



During the morning it was much too hot to 

 move about with any comfort, but towards sunset, 

 all the world strolled about to enjoy the delight- 

 ful air of the brief twilight, along some charming 

 walks in the woods, beyond the suburbs, the 

 scenery about which was of the richest descrip- 

 tion of tropical beauty. The night closed in up- 

 on us with a precipitancy unknown in higher la- 

 titudes ; but before we reached the drawbridge at 

 the entrance of the town, the moon had risen, and 

 the landscape became even more beautiful than 

 before. It is in moonlight evenings that the cli- 

 mate of the tropics is most delightful. In the 



