LOCKAGE OF THE CANAL. 



413 



aragua to the Pacific is fifteen and two third miles. 

 According to the plan, in the first eight miles from the 

 lake but one lock is necessfiry. In the next mile sixty- 

 four feet of lockage are required. In the next three 

 miles there are about two of deep cutting and one of 

 tunnel, and then a descent of two hundred feet in three 

 miles by lockage, to the Pacific. 



Thus far of the canal across the isthmus. The Lake 

 of Nicaragua is navigable for ships of the largest class 

 down to the mouth of the River San Juan. This river 

 has an average fall of one and six sevenths feet per 

 mile to the Atlantic. If the bed of the river cannot be 

 cleared out, a communication can be made either by 

 lock and dam, or by a canal along the bank of the riv- 

 er. The latter would be more expensive, but, on ac- 

 count of the heavy floods of the rainy season, it is pref- 

 erable. 



I am authorized to state that the physical obstruc- 

 tions of the country present no impediment to the ac- 

 complishment of this work. A canal large enough 

 for the passage of boats of the usual size could be 

 made at a trifling expense. A tunnel of the length 

 required is not considered a great work in the United 

 States. According to the plan of the Chesapeake and 

 Ohio Canal, a tunnel is contemplated upward of four 

 miles in length. The sole difficulty is the same which 

 would exist in any route in any other region of coun- 

 try, viz., the great dimensions of the excavation re- 

 quired for a ship canal. 



The data here given are, of course, insufficient for 

 great accuracy ; but I present a rough estimate of the 

 cost of this work, furnished me with the plan. It is 

 predicated upon the usual contract prices in the United 

 States, and I think I am safe in saying that the cheap- 



