May 24 , 1858 .] 
CENTRAL AMERICA. 
295 
round the island, which is quite uninhabited, except at the light- 
houses. The coast is intersected by numerous streams, and a great 
part of it has a belt of reefs dry at low water, the outer edge of 
which forms a cliff from 25 to 50 feet high, that evidently consti- 
tuted an old coast line when the land stood relatively to the sea at 
a higher level than at present. The south side of the island is 
generally low, but on the north it rises in a succession of ridge-like 
elevations to a height of from 200 to 500 feet above the sea. The 
country is covered with wood, chiefly spruce, varying from 8 to 18 
inches in diameter, and from 40 to 80 feet in length. Besides this, it 
is reputed to bear “ pines,” poplars, mountain ash, cranberries, a 
species of gooseberry-bush, red and black currants, strawberries, 
species of peas, &c. Potatoes have been cultivated successfully on 
the south side of the island, also Timothy grass and clover, and 
Mr. Richardson observes that he saw half an acre of barley 4 feet 
high with a strong straw and well-filled ear. The wild animals in 
the island are black bears, the red, black, and silver fox, and the 
marten. 
Canada may, indeed, well be proud of this survey, the great ex- 
plorations conducted under the direction of Sir William Logan 
having added almost as much to our knowledge of the topographical 
and natural history characteristics of the country as of its geological 
structure. 
Central America . — Reserving for our next Anniversary an account 
of the progress of geographical knowledge in the United States, let 
me now call your attention to a commercial enterprise which 
seems to afford a valuable opportunity for the extension of our 
acquaintance with a region hitherto imperfectly known. Of few 
portions of the world within the bounds of civilization is our know- 
ledge perhaps more circumscribed than of Central America. It 
is stated by a recent traveller (W. Y. Wells, ‘ Explorations and 
Adventures in Honduras ’) that even as respects the leading towns 
the true position of but few is given with any accuracy. A 
Company composed of influential persons, at the head of whom 
is that liberal merchant -prince Mr. W. Brown, m.p. (who muni- 
ficently bestowed a great free public library and school upon the 
town of Liverpool), is about to construct a railway across Honduras, 
to establish a commercial passage between the Atlantic and Pacific 
Oceans. For the last twelvemonths this Company has had a 
numerous staff of engineers upon the ground. Struck with the 
importance of the project (for the direct distance is only 1 60 miles, 
VOL. II. 2 A 
