364 DOTTINGS ON THE ROADSIDE. [Chap. XXII.-B. P. 
however, been too severe, and the application re¬ 
sulted in a response to the extent of only about one- 
fourth of the amount required. But certain overtures 
having in the meantime been received from New 
York capitalists, largely interested in Nicaraguan 
transit, I determined to go over to the United States, 
and see if the remaining capital could be obtained there. 
On Christmas Eve, 1866, I sailed for New York, but 
found there no solution of the financial difficulty. I 
was therefore compelled to advise my friends in Eng¬ 
land to that effect, so that the money subscribed might 
be returned in full, and the company wound up. 
Thus, after repeated disappointments, during seven 
years of infinite toil, hardship, and constant outlay, 
cheerfully undertaken in the hope of both increasing 
the facilities of transit, and adding to our commerce 
and progress, my transit project fell through, and the 
Nicaraguan Bailway Company, Limited, ceased to 
exist in July, 1868. 
Most assuredly, had the route been adopted, the 
Panama, New Zealand, and Australian Boyal Mail 
Company would not now have been a thing of the 
past; nor would the future prospects of the Boyal 
Mail Company itself have assumed so cheerless an 
aspect. These two instances alone out of many will 
serve to give a practical idea of the value and import¬ 
ance of the proposed route. 
Although unsuccessful with the capitalists alluded 
to above, I found others in New York interested in 
the question, and apparently as reluctant as myself to 
allow the concession to lapse. With the President of 
