INTRODUCTION. 
On inspectiiig the map of the American ist.hmus, the idea 
naturally suggests itself that the narrowest portions of it are 
those which would probably offer the greatest facilities for 
the opening of a communication from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific Ocean, and from this circumstance they have always 
attracted a greater share of attention. Repeated surveys 
having, however, proved that under these deceptive appear- 
ances were concealed difficulties almost insurmountable, the 
public mind has, at last, become accustomed to consider the 
enterprise as one of the most gigantic. 
The recent survey of the isthmus of Tehuantepec, ex- 
ecuted under the direction of the engineer Sr. Gaetano 
Moro, has proved beyond all doubt, the fallacy of this 
opinion. He was well aware, notwithstanding, that a deeply 
rooted prejudice is not easily eradicated, and he felt the more 
anxious, when the truth of the practicability of the work 
presented itself forcibly to his mind, after the most careful 
and oft repeated observations, to impart to others the intimate 
conviction which he felt upon the subject ; and in this spirit 
he penned his Reports which were published in 1844. His 
efforts have not been altogether fruitless — public feeling 
in favour of a work, anxiously looked for during three cen- 
turies, has been once more revived by the prospect of in- 
creased facilities for its attainment — men of science and prac- 
tical knowledge in various countries, both of the Old and the 
New world, have given their careful attention to the subject, 
and freely expressed their unqualified assent to his views 
through the medium of the public press — and the probabilities 
of success no longer rest on his bare assertion, unsupported by 
