Doc. No. 15. 



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is not allowed any part of the pecuniary profits arising from the enterprise^ 

 nor is she allowed to take or to have, at any future time, any right to^ or 

 property in, the whole or any part thereof- and the United States have the 

 right, according to their discretion, to make such charter, conferring just 

 such privileges on a company as may be demed necessary and proper to 

 etfect the purpose designed. Now, if Nicaragua can get another treaty^ 

 b}^ which is secured to the State a large portion of the profits of such en- 

 terprise, and by which it shall be provided that the right of property to a 

 part or the whole thereof shall revert and pass to that Stale at the end of 

 thirty, forty, or fifty years, in such case, no doubt, Nicaragua would refuse 

 to ratify this treaty; but if terms more favorable are not offered^ then this 

 treaty will be ratified, in order to have the benefit of the protection as 

 granted in the twelfth article thereof. 



As to the important question of practicability— the question, Can a ship 

 canal be made in Nicaragua?— my nund has long been satisfied upon this 

 subject. Upon an inspection of the map herewitli submitted^ it will be 

 perceived that in the midst of the country, and occupying a large portion 

 of the whole area of the State, is the large, deep, navigable lake of Nica- 

 ragua, sending its waters, by the channel of the Rio San Juan de Nica- 

 ragua, into the Caribbean sea — the distance between the lake and the sea 

 being not more than twenty-five leagues, the river being wide;, and of an 

 average depth of four fathoms, except where there are, on account of rocks 

 and shoals, several obstructions to its navigation. There is also another 

 navigable lake, situated to the northwest of Lake Nicaragua, and commu- 

 nicating with it by a deep but short river. These two lakes, with the 

 two rivers above named, extend from the Atlantic to within a distance of 

 about twelve leagues of the excellent port of Real ejo, on the Pacific ocean: 

 so that, by building a canal from the said port of Realejo lo the lake of 

 Managua, through a level country, (as I am well informed,) for a distance 

 of not more than thirty- six miles, and by overcoming and removing the 

 existing obstacles to the navigation of the rivers above named, you have a 

 connected water-communication for the passage of ships through the con- 

 tinent from ocean to ocean. 



All the means and sources of information on the cpiestion of the practi- 

 cability of tliis route are more accessible to the State Department than to 

 myself; and that information will, no doubt, be collected, consulted, and 

 furnished to the Senate of the United States, if deemed necessary and 

 proper by the President. As two years tire allowed for the exchange of 

 the ratifications of this treaty, there will be ample time to procure such in- 

 formation and evidence on the question of practicability: so that the gov- 

 ernment may have the means of deciding that important question with 

 wisdom and certainty. 



1 am, with'profound respect, your obedient servant, 



ELIJAH HISE, 



Hon. John M. Clayton, 



Secietary of State of the United States, 



