17 
arrangement might be respectively the mail and passenger 
steam boats on the Atlantic and the Pacific ; but would not 
be of the least utililty to the general trade of the world. 
A railroad would at first sight appear to offer facilities for 
the transit of goods across the Isthmus, but it at once involves 
the necessity of every cargo requiring two vessels before it 
could be delivered at its port of destination, one for the Pacific, 
the other for the Atlantic. Next, even were that thought 
no difficulty, these two vessels must be so exactly timed as 
to be on the respective sides of the Isthmus on the same day 
and that would be out of the question to combine for China or 
New Zealand voyages; nor could such a railway be of the 
slightest use to the vessels destined for the Fisheries and other 
traffic over the immense Pacific ocean. Warehouse-room for 
goods would have to be provided for an indefinite time on both 
sides the Isthmus; passengers would run the risk of fever dur¬ 
ing this delay; and although it may be said the mail boat steam¬ 
ers might almost calculate to an hour their respective arrivals 
yet even this only takes place once in the month, and how is 
such a limited traffic to pay the cost of maintaining the rail¬ 
way the whole year round ? and what is to be the fate of all 
the officers and workmen who must remain at their posts every 
day in the year in the deadly marshes of Panama ? 
Even for the full security of passengers, mails, and treasure, 
costly harbours must be formed on both coasts which will 
greatly add to the extravagant expenses; so that with all these 
accumulations of charges, difficulties, and dangers, with the 
tolls of transit, and duties to the government superadded, there 
would be less expense and risk after all by the old route of Cape 
Horn! therefore Mr. Garella is quite right in asserting that 
the present mode of transit across the Isthmns of Panama by 
mules and horses, or perhaps common carriages on a macadam¬ 
ized road, is all that can be done even for the sole advantage of 
the mail steam-boats that visit this Isthmus 12 times in the 
year. 
Mr. Garella next proceeds to investigate the possibility of 
forming a Ship Canal across the Isthmus of Panama, and with¬ 
out detailing all his plans and calculations, we extract the fol- 
B 
