When the

prise those resources with which the Pacific abounds. severance of the Spanish colonies had been completed, and the rights of the natives to the advantages of self-government acknowledged by the most powerful European States, the trading classes anxiously looked forward to the accomplishment of this great and useful design, and when it was known that Bolivar had taken the lead in it, they fondly indulged the hope-the expectation, that no further delay would intervene. Years, however, have elapsed since the eventful period of separation, but nothing effective has been done either by Americans or Europeans. The local governments, unable to perform the task on their own account, were repeatedly misled by the professions of foreign adventurers, who went over and represented themselves to be in the possession of sufficient means, or at least in a situation to raise them, and privileges were accordingly conferred upon them; but still, even then, no regular survey of the locality followed. At length, wearied out with delays, the Congress of New Granada, to whom the territory belongs, issued a decree, peremptorily declaring that all the privileges granted to foreigners for the purpose of opening a canal or railroad across the Isthmus of Panama should be forfeited, and the project for connecting the two seas laid open for general competition.

In 1842 an event occurred indicating that France was not indifferent to the advantages which Great Britain derives from her extensive system of colonization in and near the Pacific. The French took possession of the Marquesas and Society Islands, evidently with an intention of retaining them. In pursuance of this determination, the Minister of Marine, in April, 1843, presented to the Chamber the project of a law, asking for an extraordinary grant of money, specially to defray the expenses of the new Pacific establishments, in the preamble of which he introduced the following remarkable words :—

Polynesia is an extensive field, open to the conquests of commerce and civilization. It belongs to France, standing as she does in the first rank among civilized and maritime nations, to take a share in the efforts making to redeem the inhabitants of that part of the globe from their present state of barbarism. The development which our intercourse with these distant islands will require, is an interest which cannot fail to strike you. Over an extent of more than 4,000 leagues, our ships of war found no station belonging to France-none where they could obtain supplies, or repair their damages. Another special motive rendered an establishment upon some of these islands necessary. The whale-fishery is principally carried on in the Polynesian Archipelago. These operations are of long duration, and while they lasted our ships were obliged to remain exposed to the violence and exactions of the natives. The advantages of our new settlements, even now incontestable, will, however, hereafter acquire much higher importance. They will be very great if a plan, which at present fixes the attention of all maritime powers, should be carried into execution. It consists in opening between Europe and the Pacific, through the Isthmus of Panama, a track much shorter than that round Cape Horn. Whenever this grand result, in

which all naval powers are interested, shall have been obtained, the Society Islands and the Marquesas, by being nearer to France, will rank among the most important stations in the globe. The facility of this communication will necessarily give a new impetus to navigation in the Pacific Ocean, and this track being a line of communication with the Indian and China seas, if not shorter at least safer, will be one of considerable commercial interest. Our new possessions, happily situated as a store-house in these long voyages, will be used as a place of resort for the navigators of all countries," &c.

These avowals were welcomed by the Chamber, and to them the French public enthusiastically responded. Subsequent demonstrations, on the part of M. Guizot and other influential members, induced a belief that the opening alluded to was under the immediate auspices of the government, and specially patronized by the King. In consequence, capitalists offered to lend any sum of money required for the enterprise, and so decided was the consistency which the project immediately assumed, that a "Provisional Committee for the intended canalization of the Isthmus of Panama" was formed. Shortly afterwards, the government sent out M. Garilla, ingénieur en chef des Mines, and M. Courtines, of the Ponts et Chaussées, with a suitable establishment and well provided with instruments, avowedly for the purpose of surveying the Isthmus. About the same time the venerable Humboldt forwarded to Paris a paper, read before the Institute, in which he called to mind his own past labours on the subject, urging the accomplishment of the works. The professional commissioners arrived at their destination and commenced the survey, as is presumable, in virtue of some understanding with the local authorities. The government at home, as it were to satisfy public curiosity, occasionally announced the progress made by them. One of their earliest notices was inserted in the Debats, towards the middle of March 1844, to this effect:-That the government had received advices from the commissioners, whereby it appeared that the land on the Isthmus does not lie so low as had been represented, but, at the same time, that the elevation is not so great as to prevent the accomplishment of the proposed undertaking.

Subsequently, the public were told that the commissioners had completed their survey, and found the ground suitable for a canal from Chorrera to Trinidad river, but recommended the line to proceed thence to Limon Bay, in order to avoid Chagre. It was even added that two locks only would be requisite. This notice appeared about the same time that the paragraph of a letter, dated July 7th, and written by M. Garilla, a few days before his departure for Europe, to the Governor of Panama, found its way into the Paris papers. It is in these words:"I am, nevertheless, partly enabled to satisfy your just and natural impatience, by announcing to you that a canal across the Isthmus, between the river Chagre and a point on the coast of the Pacific, in the environs of Panama, is a work of very feasible execution, and even easier than that of many canals which have been formed in Europe."

Finally, at the end of last September, the subjoined was ostensibly

inserted in the columns of the Courrier Francais :-"We learn, from a source upon which we can confidently rely, that the hopes which have been entertained relative to the cutting of the Isthmus of Panama cannot be realized. M. Garilla is returned from making his survey, and the result of it is, that the Isthmus rises between the two oceans, not merely ten yards, as stated by the Franco-Granadine Company,* but in reality to 125 yards; so that, instead of a single trench, or canal, with only one lock,-which, in fact, would have been equal to an artificial strait, (as by that Company's engineers we had been given to expect,)-nothing can be thought of less than a canal with 60 locks, divided between its two sides." This astounding and contradictory information was read with mingled feelings of regret and disappointment, while the silence of the Government, coupled with that of M. L'Ingénieur en chef, apparently confirmed the truth of the Courrier's statement. At length, on the 14th of October, with the sanction of his government, M. Garilla, assailed on all sides, caused the subjoined explanatory paper to be inserted in the Moniteur :—

"Some public prints, in announcing the return of M. Garilla to Paris, have asserted that the surveys made by that engineer on the Isthmus of Panama, have led him to conclude that the formation of a canal, in that part of the country, which should unite the two oceans, was impracticable. This assertion is completely erroneous. The report, which this engineer proposes to lay before ministers, is not yet completed; but the principal results of his voyage are already known, and which, far from establishing any impossibility in the execution of the projected works, on the contrary, prove that the position of the land on the Isthmus is not such as to threaten serious obstructions to the performance of an undertaking of this kind.

"The line which has been explored by M. Garilla seems to be about 75 kilo-metres (46 miles) in length. Its point of termination on the Atlantic side is in the Bay of Limon (otherwise called Puerto de

This was a company formed of Frenchmen and New Granadians, for the purpose of cutting a canal. In the sitting, held by the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris, on the 26th Dec., 1843, Baron Humboldt reported that, agreeably o advices which he had received, the preparatory labours of the Company, assisted by those of commissioners appointed by the Santa Fe government, in a survey of the Isthmus, had terminated; adding, that it appeared that all parties had arrived at a result as fortunate as it was unexpected The Baron then proceeded to state that, according to the advices before him, the Cordilleras do not extend, as it was supposed, in an unbroken chain across the Isthmus. A valley, favourable to the operations in question, had been discovered, and could be used. The natural position and course of the rivers, it was also ascertained, were propitious, as three streams only occur within the space required, over the waters of which an easy control might be established; indee, some of them, it was further believed, could be made partially navigable, and thus be connected with the canal, by which means the central and inland excavations would not exceed 12 miles. The Baron concluded by remarking that, as far as his information went, the ascent and fall upon the high ground might be regulated by four double locks; and that the total length of the canal, terminating on the Atlantic at Limon Bay, would be 49 miles, with a width of 136 feet at the surface, 56 at the base, and 20 in depth, thus rendering it navigable for vessels of from 1000 to 1400 tons burden. M. Morel, a French engineer, estimated the cost of works, undertaken in conformity with the dimensions above set down, at fourteen millions of francs. The grant to the Franco-Granadine Company was afterwards cancelled, and, according to report, a large sum of money asked for its renewal.

Asiat. Journ.N.S. VOL. IV.No.24.

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Naos), situated a little to the eastward of the mouth of the river Chagre, and five years ago pointed out by Mr. Lloyd, where there is a depth of water equal to 10 metres (35 feet), and where it will be easy to form an excellent port at a small expense. By this means the town of Chagre would be avoided, the unhealthiness of which has been so much exaggerated as to create an unfounded alarm among too many travellers. On the Pacific Ocean the canal should terminate at a little bay, named Ensenada de Vaca de Monte, situated between Panama and the mouth of the Caimito river, where there is 4 metres (13 feet) depth of water at low tide, which, with 3 metres and 20 centimetres (10 feet) representing the height of the rise, when the tide has flowed in, gives a sufficiency of water for the largest vessels.

"The rigidly exact levellings which have been taken by M. Garilla, establish the fact, that the land, here bordering upon the Pacific, is 8 metres 8 centimetres (9 yards) higher than that on the Atlantic, and that the minimum point of the intervening chain to be overcome, and consequently the most elevated part along the line, is 120 metres (130 yards) above the level of the sea at Panama. The places surveyed at the same time prove that this elevation may be reduced to 90 metres (97) yards) by a trench from 4 to 5 kilometres (3 to 4 miles) in length, which, although considerable, has nothing discouraging in it, considering the power which modern science places at the disposal of the engineer. This great elevation will nevertheless render it necessary to construct 30 locks on each of the declivities.

"M. Garilla is convinced, as much by his own observations as by the information which he has been able to obtain upon the spot, that all that has been said of the unhealthiness of the Isthmus has been exaggerated. Panama is of all the towns situated upon the coast of South America, under the tropics, the most healthy, and perhaps the only town where the yellow fever has never made its appearance. The interior of the Isthmus, through which water-courses find a rapid passage, is equally healthy, and inhabited by a robust and hospitable population, which, although thinly spread over a large tract of country (the same as in all those of Central and South America), by being joined by people from the neighbouring states, might amply supply labourers for the works, in case they are carried into execution. Chagre is the only point where the climate has any degree of unhealthiness in it, and this is owing solely to local circumstances; but this point would be avoided by the line contemplated by M. Garilla, and, in that case, there is nothing to be apprehended from it by the masons and carpenters whom it might be necessary to send over from Europe. In another point of view, it may be said that the soil is amazingly fertile, and cattle, far from being scarce, are extremely abundant, especially in the district of Chirigui, situated on the Pacific, a little to the west of Panama. The means of provisioning a large number of workmen will, consequently, be readily found within the country."

It is more than presumable that the professional report, promised by the engineer in the outset of his paper, was in due course submitted to

Louis Philippe's ministers; but as it has not been made public, individuals are not in possession of details, or estimates of the probable expense. On the appearance of the above explanatory statement, emanating, as it avowedly did, from competent authority, parties interested in the canal scheme endeavoured to keep alive the expectations of the capitalists, both in France and England, who had evinced a disposition to join in it, by laying before them a sketch of the advantages which would result from the achievement, with a view to the formation of a company. In this sketch they argued that every vessel, bound to China, Australia, New Zealand, and the Polynesian Islands, as well as to the Western coast of North and South America, would thereby shorten its passage by nearly two months, and at the same time effect a saving of about 2507. per month for a vessel of 300 tons burden, besides avoiding the dangers of a voyage round the two southern continents. In the absence of official data, and as a guidance, the same parties hazarded some calculations on the expenses likely to be incurred, amounting to this, that the most costly canal, undertaken in Europe, was the Caledonian, principally owing to the great number of locks required, and the amount paid for the land through which it passes; but that one of these items would not form part of the outlay for the Panama cut, as the ground is granted by the local government.* The rate of expense was nevertheless taken at the same average as that incurred in the construction of the Caledonian, viz. 16,8007. per mile, whence it was concluded that the Panama project would require 695,000l. but, to guard against contingencies, it was deemed expedient to raise one million-and-a-half sterling.

From the cautious silence observed by the French Government, and the unaccountable apathy which seemingly still prevails upon the subject in Paris, it is now thought that the canal project has been abandoned, at least for the present. Whether this state of things has been induced by a dread of the physical difficulties and expense attendant upon the execution, or the obstacles to overcome in obtaining a satisfactory title to the ground, as well as to the privileges which such an undertaking would call for, as a security and compensation to the contributors, can only be surmised. The general impression, however, is, that some unforeseen disappointment has occurred, probably of such a nature as to require the tedious process of diplomatic negotiations. These may again have been delayed through the want of unanimity, if not cordiality, between the local parties, most interested, one would think, in the opening of a communication of one kind or the other. At present, Panama is a distant dependency upon the Santa Fé Government, and held rather by a slender thread. Hence it would appear that, for so large an undertaking, the formal sanction of the latter is ab

* In 1840, the Bogota government gave orders for the ground required for a canal, to be placed at the disposal of the French, but the Panama authorities evaded, rather than refused the execution of these orders. On the 28th September, 1843, the consent of the latter was however obtained.