270 



narrow ridge to pass over ; for, if the Rio San 

 Juan in a great part of its course is from 30 to 

 40 feet deep, as is asserted, it would only re- 

 quire to be rendered navigable in some parts by 

 means of wears or lateral channels *. 



With respect to the depth of the oceanic 



* This point, near the openings of the wood of Campeche, 

 (Cortes de Madera) had attracted the attention of the com- 

 mercial world long before the publication of the excellent work 

 on Jamaica, by Mr. Bryan Edwards. See La Bastide, Mem. 

 sur le passage de la mer du Sud a la Mer du Nord, p. 7. There 

 is a triple possibility of forming the canal of Nicaragua (as 

 1 have already stated in the Political Essay) either from the 

 lake of Nicaragua to the gulf of Papagayo, or from that lake 

 to the gulf of Nicoya, or from the lake de Leon, or Mana- 

 gua, to the mouth of the Rio de Tosta (and not from the 

 lake de Leon to the gulf of Nicoya, as is asserted by the 

 usually well-informed editor of the Biblioteca Americana, 

 1823, Jgosto, p. 120.) Does there exist a river that flows 

 from the lake of Leon to the Pacific Ocean ? Of this I doubt, 

 although ancient maps mark the communications between the 

 lakes and the sea (Political Essay, Vol. i, p. 25). The dis- 

 tance from the south-east extremity of the lake of Nicaragua 

 to the gulf of Nicoya, is very differently indicated (from 25 

 to 48 miles) in Arrowsmith's map of South America, and in 

 the fine map of the depot of Madrid, bearing the title of Mar 

 de las Antillas, 1819. The breadth of the isthmus between 

 the eastern shore of the lake of Nicaragua, and the gulf of 

 Popagayo is from 4 to 5 marine leagues. The Rio San Juan 

 has three mouths, of which the two smallest are called Taure 

 and Cano Colorado. In one of the isles of the lake of Nica- 

 ragua, that of Ometep, there is a volcano, said to be still 

 burning. 



