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Doc. No. 75. 



considerable size, and furnish a supply of water which could not be 

 sensibly aflected by drains for artificial purposes. 



The lake Managua approaches, at the nearest point, to within four or 

 five leagues of the Pacific, from which it is separated on the south by the 

 range ot hills already described, but between its northern extremity and 

 the sea there is only the broad and magnificent plain of Leon, gradually 

 rising, for a distance of two thousand seven hundred and twenty-five 

 yards, to an elevation of fifty-five feet six inches, and then subsiding 

 gradually to the ocean.* 



There is every reason to believe that this statement is not far from 

 correct; and, if so, it must be obvious that it will be entirely practicable 

 to carry a canal from the lake, which will form the summit level, to the 

 ocean, especially as the earth at a short depth is sufficiently firm to sus- 

 tain itself without the usual guards. This is shown from the fact that 

 the wells on the plain of Leon, which have often a depth of from eighty 

 to one hundred feet, do not require the use of artificial means to prevent 

 the earth from falling inwards. 



Section from Pacific to Lake Managua — Tamarinda line, — The first 

 line from the lake of Managua to the sea, at the port of the Tamarinda^ 

 is considerably shorter than any other, not exceeding fifteen miles in 

 length. But the water of the lake, upon its northwestern shore, is 

 shallow. It was sounded by myself and Dr. Livingston, in July, 1849. 

 It deepened regularly from the shore to the distance of one mile and a 

 quarter, where it attained five fathoms ; after that it deepened rapidly to ten 

 and fifteen fathoms, which is, as I was informed by the boatmen, the 

 average depth of the central portion of the lake. The country between 

 these points, so far as could be ascertained, (it being covered with forests,) 

 offers no insuperable obstacle to a canal. The port itself is small, but 

 well protected, with a considerable stream of fresh water flowing into it. 

 Vessels of 160 tons have frequently entered to load Brazil wood. There 

 is no town or village upon it, and it seems to have escaped general notice. 

 It is said to have all requisite depth for large vessels. 



Section from Pacific to Lake Managua — Realejo line. — The second' 

 hne is that to the well-known and excellent port of Realejo, which is prop- 

 erly an estero, formed by the junction of the Dona Paula and Realejo, 

 rivers, and protected on the side of the sea by the islands of Garden and 

 Asserradores, and a bluff of the main land. It is safe and commodious, 

 and the water is good, ranging from three and four to eight and nine 

 fathoms.f The volcano of the Viejo, lifting its cone upwards of 600 feet 



* Mr. A G., whose personal investigations are extensively quoted by Prince Louis Napoleon 

 Bonaparte, in his pamphlet on the JNicaragua canal route, printed privately in London in 1846 — 

 p. 22, 



t Sir Edward Belcher, who surveyed it in 1808, says: "It has two entrances, both of 

 which are safe, under proper precautions, in all weathers. Good and safe anchorage extends 

 for several miles. The rise and fail of the tide is eleven feet, full and change 3 h. 6 m. 

 Docks or slips, therefore, may easily be constructed, and timber is readily to be procured of 

 any dimensions; wood, water, and immediate necessaries are plentiful and cheap. The 

 village of Realejo is about nine miles from the sea, and has a population of about one thou- 

 sand souls." — ( Voyage round the World, vol. ii, p. 307.) 



" I may confidently say," observes Dunlap, " that Realf jo is as good a port as any in the 

 known world. I have seen Portsmouth, Rio Janeiro, Port Jackson, Talcujano, Callrio, and 

 Guayaquil, and to all of these 1 consider it decidedly superior, [t is a salt water creek, into 

 which several small streams of w?»ter empty themselves. The entrance is protected by an 

 island about two miles long, which leaves at each end a channel where ships can enter the 



