234 NICARAGUA. 



junction of the Atlantic and Pacific by a canal 

 for large ships. 



The first of these projects is to connect the 

 port of Realejo^ on the Pacific^ with the lake of 

 Leon, This distance is fourteen leagues over 

 a completely level territory. A good road has 

 been long used from Guatemala, which passes 

 over this flat to the town of Leon, and from 

 thence through the town of Granada to that of 

 Nicaragua, not far from the lake, upon which 

 there is a communication by water to the town 

 of St. Juan, by means of a river of the same 

 name flowing into the Atlantic. The harbour 

 of Realejo is capable of holding vessels of any 

 size : the ship I sailed in from Valparaiso was 

 bound to that port ; and line-of-battle ships 

 might anchor there with safety. 



The lake of Leon is about thirty-five miles 

 long and fifteen broad in its widest part. All 

 the best Spanish maps represent it as con- 

 nected with the lake of Nicaragua by a river 



