EARLY EFFORTS. 
359 
Chap. XXII.—B. P.] 
land between the oceans with the iron-road; and on 
founding a commercial entrepot on the Caribbean Sea; 
with what success will he seen in the following pages. 
A descriptive account of my original transit project 
will he found in the ‘ Grate of the Pacificand, there¬ 
fore, it now remains only to draw the attention of 
those curious in these matters to my subsequent pro¬ 
ceedings in furtherance of the enterprise. 
The concession from the King of Mosquito was 
obtained in December, 1859, and formed the basis of 
future operations: at the same time the freehold of 
Pirn’s Bay and of the cays was purchased, so as to se¬ 
cure the Atlantic terminus. 
In 1860, I made the first journey into the interior ; 
and, though my explorations were necessarily limited, 
the general result was confirmatory of the feasibility 
of the plan proposed. Aided by the experience gained 
on this expedition, and that acquired by many years’ 
previous service on the coast of Central America, I 
wrote my book, 1 The Gate of the Pacific,’ which was 
ready for publication at the end of 1862. By means 
of this book, the matter was introduced to the public 
early in 1863, and the transit through Mosquito and 
Nicaragua brought before the Emperor Napoleon. 
The subject was a favourite one with his Majesty; 
and I can safely say that I received from him, even in 
the then embryonic state of my project, more encou¬ 
ragement (in spite of the well-known French predilec¬ 
tion for canals) than from any one else. I was ac¬ 
corded a most flattering reception, and found the Em¬ 
peror thoroughly well informed on even minute details; 
