DEPARTURE FOR THE UNITED STATES—AN AMERICAN HOTEL IN GRANADA—LOS
COCOS—VOYAGE THROUGH THE LAKE—DESCENT OF THE RIVER—SAN
JUAN—CHAGRES—HOME—OUTLINE OF NICARAGUAN CONSTITUTION—CONCLUSION OF
NARRATIVE.
In the month of June succeeding the events detailed above, having
received leave of absence from my Government, I started from Leon on my
return to the United States. It was the commencement of the rainy
season, and already the vegetable world was putting on new robes of
green. I found, as I rode from one town to another, that a year had
wrought a wonderful change in the aspect of the country. The
intervention of the United States, and the probable speedy opening of
Californian transit, had contributed to restore public confidence, and
had given a new impulse to industry. I observed that fully one-third
more ground had been put under cultivation than the year previously, and
that in other respects considerable improvements had been made.
In Granada an American hotel had been established, and I found that my
old and excellent friend Dr. S. was no longer the sole representative of
the United States in that hospitable city. I need not add that I took up
my quarters at the “Fonda Americana.” But my stay was brief. The novelty
of a residence amongst orange and palm trees had quite worn off; life
had become tame and monotonous; and I longed for the action and bustle
of home. The _playa_ of Granada was not less cheerful than when I
landed; the tropical winds were as bland, and the sun as brilliant. The
Indians girls were not less arch, nor the languid Señoras less
beautiful; the Señorita Terisa sang operas quite as well as before; but
still there was a vacancy to be supplied. The essential element of
vitality was wanting; and however much I had been taken at the outset
with the primitive aspect of society, and the quiet, dreamy habits of
the people, I was now more than ever convinced that life, to be
relished, must be earnest, and that its highest and keenest enjoyments
are involved in what is often called its “warfare.”
Three days after my arrival in Granada, I embarked at “Los Cocos,” in a
bongo loaded with Brazil wood, for San Juan. We dawdled, day after day,
along the northern shore of the lake, after the immemorial fashion
amongst the marineros, stopped again at “El Pedernal,” and the Bahita de
San Miguel, and on the morning of the sixth day reached San Carlos. My
rotund friend, the Commandante, arrayed in a new uniform, and reinstated
in his old quarters, welcomed me with all the warmth of his genial
temper; and again I was installed, amongst the pigeons and chickens, in
his house on the promontory.
I was impatient to proceed, but we did not get away until the sun was
setting behind Solentenami, throwing a flood of radiance over the lake,
while the river flowed dark and silent beneath the shadows of the dense
forests on its banks. The descent of the San Juan is an easy matter
compared with the ascent. It is usually accomplished in two days; but on
the morning of our second day, our patron Antonio, in an attempt to
“shoot” the central channel of the Rapids of Machuca, ran us upon the
rocks, where we remained for thirty hours, until relieved by the united
crews of six bongos, which, in ascending and descending, had, in the
meantime, reached the rapids. Our situation during this time was
perilous in the extreme, and had not our boat been new and staunch, it
must inevitably have gone to pieces. After the first excitement was
over, I amused myself by shooting alligators, in their attempts to
ascend the rapids. A dozen of their ugly heads might be seen above the
water at the same moment. By keeping in the eddies, they contrive to get
up, but it is a long process for them, and requires an entire day.
San Juan had undergone very little change since my previous visit. My
friend, the Consul General, had gone home, and the supreme authority was
vested in a little man named Green, one of those who, in conjunction
with McDonald, Walker & Co., had invented the Mosquito Kingdom! The two
wan policemen were also gone; one had absconded with a quantity of the
Consul’s papers, and the other, I believe, had died. Their place was now
filled by a dozen negroes from Jamaica, not particularly prepossessing
in their exteriors, or agreeable in their manners. Captain Shepherd
still swung in his hammock, clinging tenaciously to his parchment
grants; and Monsieur Sigaud, upright, honest-hearted Frenchman, was my
host. His titled countryman, the Viscomte, oblivious of slaughtered
pigs, had made his peace with the English authorities, and in
conjunction with a German Jew, of doubtful antecedents, had now the
control of the Custom House.
There was a large party of Americans in San Juan. They had brought the
news of the ratification of the Clayton and Bulwer treaty, and the
people were ecstatic under the belief that they were thereby to be
relieved from British rule. But Dr. Green cooled their ardor by
producing a letter from the Foreign office, in which the treaty was
interpreted to be an implied if not an express recognition of the
British establishments on the coast, by the American Government.
The British steamer Dee arrived in port the morning after my arrival.
She stayed but a single day, and on the 26th of June, 1850, I bade
farewell to the shores of Nicaragua.[43] Twenty-four hours brought us in
sight of Chagres, where, beneath the old Castle of San Felipe, the
“Georgia” and “Philadelphia,” with steam already up, were taking on
board their last passengers, for the United States. I had barely time to
get my baggage on board the former, before the anchor was lifted, and we
were under way, “homeward bound.” A brief and pleasant passage of eight
days to New York, offered a striking contrast to our month’s
imprisonment in the little “Frances,” outward bound. The captain was
right; that voyage to San Juan was really her “thirty-seventh and last,”
she was condemned on her return, and has probably gone “where all good
vessels go.” Peace to her venerable timbers!
-----
Footnote 43:
I found in San Juan the crew of an American vessel, wrecked a short
time previously, in the vicinity of that port. They had barely escaped
with their lives. As there was no American Consul to provide for their
return home, I proposed some arrangement to the commander of the “Dee”
for conveying them to Chagres. But he cut the matter short by offering
them all a free passage. I have had but few opportunities, in this
narrative, of saying good things of our English cousins in Central
America; and I have therefore the more pleasure in mentioning this
incident, illustrating the honorable reputation for generosity enjoyed
by the British sailor.
-----
The preceding rapid narrative of incidents connected with my residence
in Nicaragua might be greatly extended; but so far as my principal
purpose of conveying some idea of the geography, scenery, resources, and
antiquities of the country, and of the character, habits, and actual
situation of its people, is concerned, it is probably unnecessary to add
anything to what I have already said. A few words in respect to the
Government and present constitution of the country may not be
unacceptable, and with these I shall close this portion of my work, and
pass to the consideration of other, but collateral, subjects.
The dissolution of the Federal Republic of Central America, in 1838,
left the various States which had composed it in a singular and
anomalous position. Some of them still adhered to the idea of
nationality, but could not disguise the fact that the Federation no
longer existed. Under those circumstances, they severally assumed the
powers and responsibilities of independent sovereignties. Their
respective constitutions, framed to conform to the federal system, now
required to be altered to suit their new conditions. The Government of
Nicaragua convened a Constituent Assembly for that specific purpose,
which, on the 12th of November 1838, proclaimed a new constitution. It
was accepted in due form by the people, and has since constituted the
fundamental law of the State.
This instrument is thoroughly republican in its provisions. It provides
that the Executive Power shall be vested in an officer styled the
“Supreme Director,” who is elected directly by popular vote, for the
term of two years, but is ineligible for two consecutive terms. He must
be a native of Central America, a resident for five years in the State,
and have attained the age of thirty years. The legislative power is
vested in an Assembly, composed of a Senate and House of
Representatives. The Senate consists of two members from each of the six
districts into which the State is divided; they must possess all the
qualifications of the Supreme Director, besides actual property to the
value of $1000. They hold their offices for four years, and are so
classified that the term of office of one-fourth of the number expires
annually. They are not eligible beyond two consecutive terms, nor can
any ecclesiastic be elected to their body. The Representatives are
apportioned on the basis of every twenty thousand inhabitants. They must
have attained twenty-five years of age, have resided one year in the
State, and may be either secular or ecclesiastic. They are eligible for
only two consecutive terms. No officer in the employ of the Government
can be elected to either branch of the Assembly; nor can any member
accept a public appointment. The acts of this Assembly require a vote of
two-thirds of each branch, and the approval of the Supreme Director, in
order to have the force of law. All males of the age of twenty years,
born in the country, are electors. Exceptions are made in favor of
married males and persons who have obtained a scientific degree or
acquired a liberal profession. These secure the privileges of electors
at the age of eighteen years. All persons convicted of criminal
offences, who traffic in slaves or are privy to such traffic, or who
accept employment, or titles, or pensions, from other Governments,
forfeit their citizenship. This right is also suspended in certain
cases, one of which is rather extraordinary. An individual who accepts
the position of personal servant to another, is incapable, for the time
being, of exercising his political privileges.
The rights of the citizen are defined to be “Liberty, Equality, Security
of Life and Property, all of which are inseparable and inalienable, and
inherent in the nature of man.” Their preservation is declared to be the
primary object of all society and government. “Every man is free, and
can neither sell himself nor be sold by others.” And although the
Catholic religion is recognized by the State, and protected by the
Government, yet all other religions are tolerated, and their free and
public exercise guarantied. Entire liberty of speech and the freedom of
the press are also guarantied, but individuals are subject to
arraignment for their abuse. The right of petition, the principle of the
inviolability of domicil, the security of seal, etc., etc., are
recognized in their full extent, and are placed beyond the reach of the
legislative or administrative powers.
END OF NARRATIVE.
APPENDIX.
[Illustration]
CHAPTER I.
NICARAGUA: BOUNDARIES, TOPOGRAPHY, LAKES, RIVERS, PORTS, CLIMATE,
POPULATION, PRODUCTIONS, MINES, ETC., ETC.
Nicaragua, while it remained under the Spanish crown, constituted one of
the provinces of the ancient Audiencia or Captain-Generalcy, sometimes
called the kingdom of Guatemala, in which were also included the
provinces of Costa Rica, Honduras, San Salvador, and Guatemala.[44]
These threw off their allegiance to Spain in 1821, and in 1823 united in
a confederation called the “Republic of Central America,” which,
however, in consequence of internal dissensions, was dissolved in 1839.
Since that time, the several States have asserted and exercised their
original sovereign powers as distinct republics. Several attempts have
been made, at brief intervals, to revive the confederation, in whole or
part, but without success, owing to the irreconcilable jealousies of the
different States. A kind of understanding, almost amounting to a union,
has nevertheless continued to exist between the three central States,
Nicaragua, San Salvador, and Honduras, which are distinguished as
Liberal and Republican, while Costa Rica and Guatemala, in the political
classifications of these countries, are denominated Servile or
Monarchical.
-----
Footnote 44:
The large province, now State of Chiapas, included in the Republic of
Mexico, also belonged to the old kingdom of Guatemala. After the
independence, it was appropriated by Mexico, which, under the rule of
Iturbide, endeavored to annex to itself the whole of Central America.
-----
The boundaries of Nicaragua are those which pertained to it as a
province, except in so far as they have been modified by subsequent
treaties and concessions. As now defined, they are as follows: on the
east, the Caribbean Sea, from Cape Gracias à Dios at the mouth of the
Rio Wanks or Segovia, in lat. 15° N., and lon. 83° 12′ W., southward to
the port of San Juan, at the mouth of the river of the same name.
On the south, the line of separation from Costa Rica, as fixed by a
convention dated April 15th, 1858, starts from Punta de Castilla, or
Punta Arenas, on the south shore of the harbor of San Juan, and thence
follows the right bank of the river San Juan to within three miles of
the old fort known as Castillo Viejo. At this point the line falls back
two miles from the river, preserving that distance from the stream to
the point whence it issues from Lake Nicaragua, following along the
southern shore of that lake, at an equal distance inland, until it
strikes the river Sapoa, flowing into the lake, and thence due west to
the Bay of Salinas, on the Pacific.
On the west, the Pacific ocean, from the centre of the Bay of Salinas to
the mouth of the Rio Negro, in the Bay of Fonseca, embracing about
one-third of the coast-line of the Bay.
On the north, separating it from Honduras, a line following the Rio
Negro from its mouth on the Bay of Fonseca, to its source in the
mountains of Nueva Segovia, following the crest of the dividing ridge of
the same to the head of the Rio de la Puerta; thence, due east, to the
Rio Coco, Wanks, or Segovia, and down that river to its mouth at Cape
Gracias à Dios.
The State is therefore embraced entirely between 83° 20′ and 87° 30′,
(6° 20′ and 10° 30′ from Washington,) west longitude, and between 10°
45′ and 15° of north latitude; and has an area of about 50,000 square
miles, or about an equal extent of territory with the New England
States, exclusive of Vermont and New Hampshire.
A claim to a considerable part of this territory, embracing the entire
Atlantic coast, and extending indefinitely inland, was set up, some
years ago, by Great Britain, on behalf of the suppositious “King of the
Mosquitos;” but there is now (1859) good reason for believing that the
fiction of a Mosquito sovereignty will soon be abandoned, and the
Mosquito Indians placed, by common consent, under the government of
Nicaragua, with the sole reservation of their proprietary rights, or
rights of occupation.[45]
-----
Footnote 45:
For an exposition of the nature and extent of British pretensions, as
also the political condition of the Mosquito Shore, and an account of
the country and its people, see Chapter “Mosquito Shore,” in “_States
of Central America_,” _etc._, pp. 628-663, and “_Adventures on the
Mosquito Shore_,” Note A.
-----
Placed on a narrow isthmus between the two oceans, its ports opening to
Europe on one hand, and to Asia on the other, midway between the
northern and southern continents of America, Nicaragua seems to realize
the ancient idea of the geographical centre of the world. These
geographical advantages are however, much heightened, and rendered
especially interesting and important, from the interior and
topographical features of the country, which are supposed to afford
facilities for water communication between the seas, superior to those
of any other part of the continent. These features are principally
determined by two ranges of mountains which traverse the State in a
direction nearly due north-west and south-east. One of these, which may
be called the volcanic or Pacific coast range, starts in the high lands
of Quesaltenango in Guatemala, and extending through San Salvador and
Nicaragua, terminates in the great mountain group or nucleus of Costa
Rica. It follows the general direction of the coast, sometimes rising in
lofty volcanic cones, but generally sustaining the character of a high
ridge, subsiding in places into low hills and plains of slight
elevation. It preserves a nearly uniform distance from the sea of from
ten to twenty miles; and, consequently, there are no considerable
streams falling from it into the Pacific. It seems to have been the
principal line of volcanic action, and in Nicaragua is marked by the
volcanoes of Coseguina, El Viejo, Santa Clara, Telica, Axusco, Las
Pilas, Orota, Momotombo, Masaya, Mombacho, Ometepec, and Madeira, and by
numerous extinct craters, surrounded by vast beds of lava and deposits
of scoriæ. The second, or principal mountain range, the great back-bone
of the continent and the true Cordilleras, enters the State from
Honduras, in the department of Nueva Segovia, and extends due
south-east, until it strikes the San Juan river at a point about fifty
miles above its mouth. It sends out numerous spurs or dependent ranges
towards the Atlantic, between which flow down the many considerable
streams that intersect what is called the Mosquito Shore.
Between these two ranges of mountains is formed a great interior basin,
not far from three hundred miles long by one hundred wide, in the centre
of which are the broad and beautiful lakes of Nicaragua and Managua—the
characteristic and most important physical features of the country.
These lakes receive the waters which flow down from the mountains on
either hand, and discharge them through a single outlet, the river San
Juan, flowing through a narrow break in the Cordilleras, into the
Atlantic. Some of the streams falling into these lakes from the north
are of considerable size, and furnish a supply of water, in excess of
evaporation, which could not be sensibly affected by drains for
artificial purposes.
Lake Managua is a beautiful sheet of water, not far from fifty miles
long, by from thirty to thirty-five wide, and with a depth of water over
the greater part of its area, varying from two to ten and fifteen, and
even forty fathoms in depth. It approaches at one point to within
fifteen miles of the Pacific, from which it is separated, on the south,
by the volcanic coast-range already described, which here takes the form
of detached hills, rising on a ridge of moderate elevation. But between
its northern extremity and the sea, there are only the magnificent
plains of Leon and El Conejo, separating which is a line of volcanoes,
rising from the plain with all the regularity of the pyramids. The
scenery which borders the lake is unsurpassed in beauty and grandeur.
Upon its northern and eastern shores, lifting their blue, rugged peaks
one above the other, are the mountains of Matagalpa, merging into those
of Segovia, rich in metallic veins. Upon the south and west are broad
and fertile slopes and level plains, covered with luxuriant verdure, and
of almost unlimited productiveness. The volcano of Momotombo, like a
giant warder, stands out boldly into the lake, its bare and blackened
summit, which no man has ever reached, covered with a light wreath of
smoke, attesting the continued existence of those internal fires which
have seamed its steep sides with burning floods, and which still send
forth hot and sulphurous springs at its base. Within the lake itself
rises the regular cone of Momotombita, so regular that it seems a work
of art, covered with a dense forest, under the shadows and within the
deep recesses of which, frayed by the storms of ages, stand the rude and
frowning statues of the gods of aboriginal superstition, raised there
long before European feet trod the soil of America, and to which the
mind of the Christianized Indian still reverts with a mysterious
reverence.
The town or city of Santiago de Managua, which gives its name to the
lake, and which is the place of meeting of the Legislative Chambers of
the State, is situated on the south-western shore of the lake. The city
of Leon was first built on the shore of the north-western extremity of
the lake, at a place now called Moabita, but it was subsequently
abandoned for the present site, in the midst of the great plain of
Marabios, or Leon. From this circumstance, the lake in question is
sometimes called Lake Leon. It was called by the aboriginal inhabitants
of the country, _Ayagualo_.
Lake Managua has an outlet at its south-eastern extremity, called Rio
Tipitapa, connecting it with Lake Nicaragua, through the Estero de
Panaloya. This outlet, during rainy seasons of severity, passes a
considerable body of water; but it is often completely dry, the
evaporation from the surface of the lake exceeding the supply of water
from its tributaries. The difference in level between the two lakes, at
average stages of water, is twenty-eight feet six inches.
Lake Nicaragua, the ancient _Cocibolca_, is nevertheless the great
feature of the country, and is unquestionably, in all respects, one of
the finest bodies of water in the world, and second to none in the
variety and beauty of its scenery. It is about one hundred and twenty
miles in greatest length, by sixty in greatest, and forty in average
breadth. On its southern shore, near the head of the lake, stands the
ancient city of Granada, lately the rival of Leon, and once the most
important commercial town in the republic. A few miles below Granada,
and projecting boldly into the lake, is the extinct volcano of Mombacho,
5,000 feet in height. Studding the lake, at its base, is a cluster of
innumerable small islands, called Los Corales, of volcanic origin,
rising in the form of cones to the height of from twenty to one hundred
feet, and covered with verdure. On the same shore with Granada, but
forty miles distant, is the town of Rivas or Nicaragua, the capital of a
large, fertile, and comparatively well-cultivated district. Flowing into
the lake, at its extreme southern extremity, nearly at the same point
where the Rio San Juan (the ancient _El Desasuadero_) commences its
course, is the considerable Rio Frio, which has its origin near the base
of the great volcano of Cartago, in Costa Rica. It flows through an
unexplored region, inhabited by an unconquered and savage tribe of
Indians, called _Guatusos_, of whose ferocity the most extraordinary
stories are related.
[Illustration: VOLCANO OF OMETEPEC, FROM VIRGIN BAY.]
The northern shore of the lake, called Chontales, for the most part is
undulating, abounding in broad savannahs, well adapted for grazing and
supporting large herds of cattle. There are a number of considerable
islands in the lake, the largest of which are El Zapatero, Solentenami,
and Ometepec. The former two are deserted, but the latter has a
considerable population of Indians, of the pure Mexican or Aztec stock.
This island is distinguished by two high, conical mountains or volcanic
peaks, called respectively Ometepec and Madeira, which are visible from
every part of the lake, and from a distance of many leagues on the
Pacific. The name of the island, in the Nahuatl or Mexican language,
signifies “two mountains,” from _ome_, two, and _tepec_, mountain. The
water of the lake, in most places, shoals very gradually, and it is only
at a few points that vessels of considerable size may approach the
shore. Still, its general depth, for all purposes of navigation, is
ample, except near its outlet, where, for some miles, it does not exceed
from five to ten feet. There are points, however, where the depth of
water is not less than forty fathoms. The prevailing winds on the lake,
as indeed of the whole State, are from the north-east; they are, in
fact, the Atlantic trades, which here sweep entirely across the
continent and encountering the conflicting currents of air on the
Pacific, form those baffling, revolving winds, detested by navigators,
under the name of _Papogayos_. When the winds are strong, the waves of
the lake become high, and roll in with all the majesty of the ocean. At
such times, the water is piled up, as it were, on the southern shore of
the lake, occasionally producing overflows of the low grounds. As the
trade winds are intermittent, blowing freshly in the evening, and
subsiding towards morning, the waters of the lake seem to rise and fall
accordingly; and this circumstance gave birth to the notion, entertained
and promulgated by the ancient chroniclers, that the lake had a regular
tide, like that of the sea. Some of them imagined, in consequence, that
it communicated with the ocean by a subterranean channel. As already
observed, the sole outlet of the great Nicaragua basin, and of the lakes
just described, is the river San Juan, debouching into the Caribbean
Sea, at the now well-known port of San Juan, or Greytown. This river is
a magnificent stream, but its capacities have been greatly exaggerated,
as will be seen in the paragraphs referring to the proposed ship-canal.
It flows from the south-eastern extremity of Lake Nicaragua, nearly due
east to the ocean. With its windings, it is one hundred and nineteen
miles long. The body of water which passes through it varies greatly at
different seasons of the year. It is, of course, greatest during what is
called the “rainy season,”—that is to say, from May to October. To this
variation, in some degree, may be ascribed the wide difference in the
statements of the depth and capacity of the river, made by different
observers. Several considerable streams enter the San Juan, the largest
of which are the San Carlos and Serapiqui, both rising in the high lands
of Costa Rica. The streams flowing in from the north are comparatively
small, indicating that the mountains are not far distant in that
direction, and that upon that side the valley is narrow. The Serapiqui
is ascended by canoes to a point about twenty miles above its mouth,
where commences the road, or rather mule-path, to San José, the capital
of Costa Rica. About one-third of the way from the lake to the ocean, on
the south bank of the river, are the ruins of the old fort or castle of
San Juan, captured by the English in 1780. The expedition against it was
commanded by Colonel Polson, with Captain, afterward Lord Nelson, as
second in command. Of two hundred men under Nelson, drawn from his
vessel, the Hinchenbrook, but ten returned to the coast. At one time,
besides this fort, another at the head of the river (San Carlos), and a
third at its mouth, the Spaniards kept up not less than twelve military
stations on its banks. The width of the river varies from one hundred to
four hundred yards, and its depth from two to twenty feet. It is
interrupted by five rapids, viz., Rapides del Toro, del Castillo, de los
Valos, del Mico, and Machuca. The Machuca rapids are the largest, and,
in many respects, the worst in the river. For the distance of nearly
half a mile, the stream is spread over a wide and crooked bed, full of
large rocks projecting above the surface, between which the water rushes
with the greatest violence. They are considered dangerous by the native
boatmen, who are only enabled to ascend them by keeping close to the
northern shore, where the current is weakest, and the bed of the river
least obstructed. Here the _bongos_, or native boats, are pushed up by
main force. The late Transit Company lost a number of their small
steamers on these rapids, which, without great artificial improvement,
must remain an insuperable obstacle to regular steam navigation on the
river. The rapids of El Castillo are short, and deserve rather the name
of falls. Here the water pours over an abrupt ledge of rocks, falling
eight feet in but little more than the same number of yards. _Bongos_
are unloaded here, and the empty boats trucked past by men stationed
here for the purpose. The steamers of the Transit Company did not
attempt to pass these rapids; the passengers and merchandize being
transferred by means of a tram-road to vessels above. The remaining
rapids, although formidable obstacles to navigation, do not require a
special description. The banks of the San Juan for twenty miles from the
lake, and for about the same distance above its mouth, are low and
swampy, lined with palms, canes, and a variety of long coarse grass
called _gamalote_. Elsewhere the banks are generally firm, in some
places rocky, from six to twenty feet high, and above the reach of
overflows. They are everywhere covered with a thick forest of large
trees, draped all over with _lianes_ or woodbines, which, with the
thousand varieties of tropical plants, form dense walls of verdure on
both sides of the stream. The soil of the river-valley seems uniformly
fertile, and capable of producing abundantly all tropical staples. Like
the Atrato, the San Juan river has formed a delta at its mouth, through
which it flows for eighteen miles, reaching the sea through several
channels. The largest of these is the Colorado channel, which opens
directly into the ocean; the next in size is that which bears the name
of the river, and flows into the harbor of San Juan. Between the two is
a smaller one called Tauro. This delta is a maze of low grounds, swamps,
creeks, and lagoons, the haunt of the manatus and alligator, and the
home of innumerable varieties of water-fowl. The port of San Juan
(Greytown) derives its principal importance from the fact that it is the
only possible eastern terminus for the proposed inter-oceanic canal, by
way of the river San Juan and the Nicaraguan lakes. It is small but well
protected, easy of entrance and exit, and has a depth of water varying
from three to five fathoms.[46] Upon the Pacific, the best port of the
republic is that of Ralejo, anciently _Possession_, which is capacious
and secure, but difficult of entrance. The little bay of San Juan del
Sur, which was used as the Pacific port of the late Transit Company, is
small and insecure, and scarcely deserves the name of harbor. The same
may be said of the so-called ports of Brito and Tamaranda. A good port
is said to exist on Salinas Bay.
-----
Footnote 46:
Late accounts represent that the sea has broken through the sand bank
or spit called “Punta Arenas,” which forms the outer protection of the
harbor, and that the entrance of the port is rapidly closing up. So
rapidly has this process gone on, that the United States war vessel
“Susquehanna,” lying in the harbor, was got out with difficulty, and
only after relieving herself of her guns. The British mail steamers,
it is also stated, now find it impossible to enter, and apprehensions
are entertained that the harbor is entirely ruined.
-----
[Illustration: PORT OF SAN JUAN DEL SUR—1854.]
The climate of Nicaragua, except among the mountains of Chontales and
Segovia, is essentially tropical, but nevertheless considerably modified
by a variety of circumstances. The absence of high mountains toward the
Atlantic, and the broad expanse of its lakes, permit the trade-winds
here to sweep entirely across the continent, and to give to the country
a degree of ventilation agreeable to the senses and favorable to health.
The region toward the Atlantic is unquestionably warmer, more humid, and
less salubrious than that of the interior, and of the country bordering
on the Pacific. The Nicaragua basin proper, and within which the bulk of
its population is concentrated, has two distinctly marked seasons, the
wet and the dry, the first of which is called summer, the latter winter.
The wet season commences in May, and lasts until November, during which
time, but usually near its commencement and its close, rains of some
days’ duration are of occasional occurrence, and showers are common. The
latter do not often happen except late in the afternoon, or during the
night. They are seldom of long continuance, and often days and weeks
elapse, during what is called the rainy season, without a cloud
obscuring the sky. Throughout this season, the verdure and the crops,
which, during the dry season, become sere and withered, appear in full
luxuriance. The temperature is very equable, differing a little
according to locality, but preserving a very nearly uniform range of
from 78° to 88° of Fahrenheit, occasionally sinking to 70° in the night
and rising to 90° in the afternoon. During the dry season, from November
to May, the temperature is less, the nights positively cool, and the
winds occasionally chilling. The sky is cloudless, and trifling showers
fall at rare intervals. The fields become parched and dry, and the
cattle are driven to the borders of the streams for pasturage, while in
the towns the dust becomes almost insufferable. It penetrates
everywhere, sifting through the crevices of the tiled roofs in showers,
and sweeping in clouds through the unglazed windows. This season is
esteemed the healthiest of the year. Its effect is practically that of a
northern winter, checking and destroying that rank and ephemeral
vegetation which, constantly renewed where the rains are constant as at
Panama, forms dense, dank jungles, the birth-places and homes of malaria
and death. For the year commencing September, 1850, and ending
September, 1851, the thermometer, at the town of Rivas gave the
following results:—Mean highest, 86° 45 of Fahrenheit; mean lowest, 71°
15; mean average for the year, 77° 42; mean range, 15° 3. The amount of
rain which fell from May to November inclusive, was 90.3 inches; from
December to April inclusive, 7.41 inches; total for the year, 97.7
inches. None fell in February, but 26.64 inches fell in July, and 17.86
inches in October.
Politically, Nicaragua is divided into five Departments, each of which
has one or more Judicial Districts, as follows:
┌───────────────────────────────────┬────────────┬─────────────┐
│DEPARTMENTS. │CAPITALS. │ POPULATION.│
├───────────────────────────────────┼────────────┼─────────────┤
│1. Meridional or Rivas │Rivas │ 20,000│
│2. Oriental or Granada │Granada │ 95,000│
│3. Occidental or Leon │Leon │ 90,000│
│4. Septentrional or Segovia │Segovia │ 12,000│
│5. Matagalpa │Matagalpa │ 40,000│
├───────────────────────────────────┴────────────┼─────────────┤
│ Total│ 257,000.│
└────────────────────────────────────────────────┴─────────────┘
The population here given is the result arrived at, in round numbers, of
a census attempted in 1846. It was only partially successful, as a large
part of the people supposed that it was preliminary to some military
conscription or tax levy. Making due allowances for deficiencies in the
census of that year, and for increase since, we may estimate the actual
population of the State, in round numbers, at 300,000, divided,
approximately, as follows:
Whites 30,000
Negroes 18,000
Indians 96,000
Mixed 156,000
———
Total 300,000. [47]
In the census above referred to, the following were given as the
approximate populations of the principal towns of the State:
Leon, including Subtiaba 30,000
Chinandega 11,000
Chinandega Viejo 3,000
Realejo 1,000
Chichigalpa 2,800
Posultega 900
Telica 1,000
Somotillo 2,000
Villa Nueva 1,000
Pueblo Nuevo 2,900
Nagarote 1,800
Souci 2,500
Managua 12,000
Masaya 15,000
Granada 10,000
Nicaragua 8,000
Segovia 8,000
Matagalpa 2,000
Acoyapa 500
-----
Footnote 47:
General Miguel Gonzalez Sarabia, governor of Nicaragua in 1823, wrote
a brief account of the province, which was published in Guatemala in
1824. He estimated the population of the province at that time, at
174,200, and gave it as his judgment that 70,000 were Indians, 70,000
Ladinos or mixed, and the remainder, or 34,200, whites. The latter he
considered to be diminishing in numbers, and such, he adds, “is their
general tendency.”—_Bosquejo Politico Estadistico de Nicaragua_, p. 8.
-----
It is a singular fact that the females greatly exceed the males in
number. In the Department Occidental, according to the census, the
proportions were as three to two. It is difficult to account for this
disparity, except by supposing it to have been the result of the civil
wars which, for some years previously, had afflicted that portion of the
State. It should nevertheless be observed, that throughout all parts of
Central America there is a considerable predominance of females over
males.
Most of the people of Nicaragua live in towns or villages, many of them
going two, four and six miles daily to labor in their fields, starting
before day and returning at night. Their plantations, _haciends_,
_hattos_, _huertas_, _ranchos_, and _chacras_ are scattered pretty
equally over the country, and are often reached by paths so obscure as
almost wholly to escape the notice of travelers, who, passing through
what appears to be a continuous forest from one town to another, are
liable to fall into the error of supposing the country to be almost
wholly without inhabitants. The dwellings of the greater part of the
people are simple huts of canes, thatched with grass or palm leaves;
many of them open at the sides, and with no floors except the bare
earth. These fragile structures, so equable and mild is the climate, are
adequate to afford such protection as the natives are accustomed to
regard as necessary. The dwellings of the middle classes are more
pretending; the canes are plastered over and white-washed, and they have
tiled roofs and other improvements, while those of the large proprietors
are often spacious and comfortable, not to say elegant, approaching
nearer to our ideas of habitations for human beings. A considerable
proportion of the dwellings in the towns and cities are of the ruder
character above described; the residences of the wealthier inhabitants,
however, are built of adobes, sometimes of two stories, inclosing large
courts, and entered under archways often imposing and beautiful. The
court yards are generally filled with shade trees, usually the orange,
making the corridors on which all the rooms open exceedingly pleasant
lounging places for the occupants and their visitors.
The natural resources of Nicaragua are immense, but they have been very
imperfectly developed. The portion of land brought under cultivation is
relatively small, but ample for the support of its population. There is
no difficulty in increasing the amount to an indefinite extent, for the
forests are easily removed, and genial nature yields rich harvests to
the husbandman. There are many cattle estates, particularly in
Chontales, Matagalpa, and Segovia, which cover wide tracts of country;
some of these have not less than 10,000 or 15,000 head of cattle each.
The cattle are generally fine, quite equal to those of the United
States.
Among the staples of the State, and which are produced in great
perfection, are cacao, sugar, cotton, coffee, indigo, tobacco, rice, and
maize or Indian corn.
_Sugar._ The sugar-cane grown in Nicaragua is indigenous, and very
different from the Asiatic cane cultivated in the West Indies and the
United States. It is said to be equally productive with the foreign
species; the canes are softer and more slender, and contain more and
stronger juice, in proportion to their size, than the Asiatic variety.
Two crops (under favorable circumstances three crops) are taken
annually, and the cane requires replanting but once in twelve or
fourteen years. The best kind of sugar produced from the sugar estates
is nearly as white as the refined sugar of commerce, the crystals being
large and hard. The greater part of the supply for ordinary consumption
is what is called _chancaca_, and is the juice of the cane merely boiled
till it crystallizes, without being cleared of the molasses. A
considerable quantity of this was formerly exported to Peru and
elsewhere in South America. It is stated that the _chancaca_ may be
produced, ready for sale, at $1 25 per quintal (101½ lbs. English). The
most profitable part of the sugar establishment is the manufacture of
“_aguardiente_,” a species of rum. It is impossible to say, in the
absence of data, what amount of sugar is manufactured in Nicaragua; it
is perhaps enough to know that it may be produced indefinitely. The
export has been estimated at 200,000 lbs.
_Cotton._ Cotton of a superior quality to that of Brazil may be produced
in any quantity in Nicaragua. “As many as 50,000 bales, of 300 pounds
each,” says Dunlop, “of clean pressed cotton have been exported from
this State in a single year; the cultivation is, however, at present
(1846) at a very low ebb.” Considerable quantities are nevertheless
raised, which are manufactured by the natives, but chiefly by the
Indians, into hammocks, sail-cloth, and ordinary clothing. The domestic
cloth is coarse, but compact, neat, and durable.
Mr. Baily observes of the cotton of Nicaragua, “that it has already a
high standard in the Manchester market, and offers a splendid
speculation to agriculturists, if a good port of export on the Atlantic
shall be established.”
_Coffee._ Coffee of an excellent quality, and probably equal to any in
the world, may also be produced indefinitely in this republic; but for
the reason that hitherto it has been exceedingly difficult to get it to
a market, it is not very extensively cultivated. The few plantations
which exist are very flourishing, and the proprietors find them
profitable. The limited cultivation is perhaps due to the circumstance
that chocolate is the common beverage of the people; and coffee, never
having become an article of trade or export, has consequently been
neglected. There is no reason why as good coffee may not be produced
here as in Costa Rica; and the Costa Rican coffee, when offered in good
condition in England, commands as high a price as any other. As,
however, it is usually shipped by way of Cape Horn, it often suffers
from the protracted voyage. It has, nevertheless, been the almost
exclusive source of wealth in Costa Rica. The crop of 1857 amounted to
10,000,000 pounds, which, at $9 per cwt., (the average price delivered
on the coast) gives $900,000 as the return—a considerable sum for a
State of 100,000 inhabitants, and where the culture has been introduced
but twenty years. The cost of production, per quintal (101½ pounds,) at
the present rate of wages, (twenty-five cents per day) is about $2 50.
If the attention of the people of Nicaragua should be seriously directed
to the production of coffee, it would prove a source of great profit.
_Cacao._ Cacao, only equalled by that of Soconosco, on the coast of
Guatemala, (which was once monopolized for the use of the royal
establishment of Spain,) is cultivated in considerable quantities. It
is, however, an article of general consumption among the inhabitants;
and consequently, commands so high a price that it will not bear
exportation, even though it could be obtained in requisite quantities.
About all that finds its way abroad goes in the form of presents from
one friend to another. There is no reason why cacao should not become an
article of large export, and a source of great wealth. The obvious cause
why its production is not greater is, the length of time and great
outlay required in getting a cacao plantation into paying operation. Few
have now the requisite capital; and these few are in too feverish a
state, in consequence of the distracted condition of public affairs, to
venture upon any investment. Under a stable condition of things, and by
the opening of a steady and adequate channel to market, the cultivation
of cacao will rise to be of the first importance. The trees give two
principal crops in the year. It is sold from $15 to $20 the quintal,
while the Guayaquil is worth but $5 or $6.
_Indigo._ Indigo was formerly cultivated to a considerable extent, but
has of late years much fallen off; and there are a number of fine indigo
estates in various parts of the republic which have been quite given up,
with all their appurtenances, by their respective proprietors. The plant
cultivated for the manufacture of indigo is the _jiquilite_ (_indigofera
disperma_) an indigenous plant which produces indigo of a very excellent
quality. The indigo of Nicaragua is of very superior quality, and its
export once came up to 5,000 bales of 150 lbs. each. It is impossible to
say what the export is at present; probably not more than 1,000 or 2,000
bales. Under the government of Spain, the State of San Salvador produced
from 8,000 to 10,000 bales annually. A piece of ground equal to two
acres generally produces about 100 to 120 pounds, at a cost of not far
from $30 to $40, including the cost of clearing the field and all other
expenses.
_Tobacco._ A large amount of tobacco is used in Nicaragua, all of which
is produced in the country. A considerable quantity is shipped to
California. It may be cultivated to any desirable extent, and is of a
very good quality, but is not equal to that of San Salvador and
Honduras.
_Maize_ flourishes luxuriantly, and three crops may be raised on the
same ground annually. It is essentially the “staff of life” in all
Central America, being the material of which the eternal _tortilla_ is
composed. The green stalks, _sacate_, constitute about the only fodder
for horses and cattle in the country, and is supplied daily in all the
principal towns. The abundance of this grain may be inferred from the
fact that a _fanega of Leon_ (equivalent to about five bushels English)
of shelled corn, in 1849, commanded in the capital but one dollar.
_Wheat_, and all other cereal grains, as well as the fruits of temperate
climates, flourish in the elevated districts of Segovia, in the northern
part of the republic, bordering on Honduras, where, it is said, except
in the absence of snow, little difference is to be observed, in respect
to climate, from the southern parts of the United States.
_Rice_ is abundant in Nicaragua, and is extensively used, and, like
maize, may be easily cultivated to any extent desirable. It is sold at
from $1 50 to $2 per cwt.
In short, nearly all the edibles and fruits of the tropics are produced
naturally, or may be cultivated in great perfection. Plantains, bananas,
beans, chile, tomatoes, bread-fruit, arrow-root, ocra, citrons, oranges,
limes, lemons, pine-apples (the delicious white Guayaquil, as well as
the yellow variety), mamays, anonas or chirimoyas, guavas, cocoa-nuts,
and a hundred other varieties of plants and fruits. Among the vegetable
productions of commerce may be mentioned sarsaparilla, anoto, aloes,
ipecacuanha, ginger, vanilla, cowhage, copal, gum arabic, copaiva,
caoutchouc, dragon’s blood, and vanglo, or oil-plant. Among the valuable
trees: mahogany, log-wood, Brazil-wood, lignum-vitæ, fustic, yellow
sanders, pine (on the heights), dragon’s blood tree, silk-cotton tree,
oak, copal tree, cedar, button-wood, iron-wood, rose-wood, Nicaragua
wood, calabash, etc., etc. Of these, Brazil-wood, cedar, and mahogany
are found in the forests, in what may be termed inexhaustible
quantities. The cedar is a large tree, like the red cedar of the North
in nothing except color and durability; in solidity, and other respects,
it closely resembles the black walnut. Five or six cargoes of
Brazil-wood were exported from Realejo yearly, and a larger quantity
from San Juan. A quantity of cedar plank is also exported to South
America.
The raising of cattle and the production of cheese is a most important
item in the actual resources of Nicaragua. The cheese is for common
consumption, and great quantities are used. Large droves of cattle are
annually sent to the other States, where they command fair prices. About
35,000 or 40,000 hides are exported annually.
The northern districts of Nicaragua, Segovia, Matagalpa, and Chontales,
adjoin the great metalliferous mountain region of Honduras, with which
they correspond in climate, and with which they are geologically
connected. They are rich in gold, silver, copper, iron, and lead, the
ores of which are abundant and readily worked. Under the crown, the
mines of these districts yielded large returns, but they have now
greatly diminished; and, unless taken up by foreign enterprise, capital,
and intelligence, are likely to fall into insignificance. No data exist
for estimating the present value of their produce, but it probably does
not exceed $250,000 annually.
The mines most celebrated are those in the vicinity of the towns of
Depilto and Maqueliso, in Segovia. There are here more than a hundred
_vetas_ or veins, bearing different names. Most of them yield their ores
in the form of sulphurets, bromides, and chlorides. One, “El Coquimbo,”
gives argentiferous sulphuret of antimony—a rare occurrence. The yield
varies greatly, ranging from 40 to 1300 ounces to the ton. This mineral
district is very well watered, abounds in pine and oak timber, produces
readily wheat, potatoes, and many other of the fruits and grains of
higher latitudes, and is moreover cool and salubrious. Nearly all of the
streams to the eastward of the town of Nueva Segovia, falling from the
mountains of Honduras into the Rio Coco, or Wanks, carry gold in their
sands, in greater or less quantities. The Indians, and a few adventurers
from other parts of the State, carry on washings in a small and rude
way, and consequently, without any great aggregate result. In the
neighborhood of Matagalpa, on the head waters of the Rio Escondido,
there are also gold washings, worked in like manner by the Indians.
Here, too, are mines of silver, and several rich veins of copper ore,
yielding, it is said, 35 per cent. of the metal, with a fair percentage
of silver in combination.[48]
-----
Footnote 48:
An English traveller, named Byam, who seems to have visited Nicaragua
for mining purposes, states that the silver mines which he observed
“were fine, broad, but rather irregular veins, the ore combined with
sulphur and lead. The ore is hard, but clean.” The copper ores, he
informs us, “are almost all uncombined with sulphur, or any other
combination which requires calcining to be got rid of. They may all be
smelted in a common blast furnace, with the aid of equal quantities of
iron-stone, which lies in large quantities on the surface of all the
hilly country. They are what the Spanish miners call ‘metal de color,’
red and blue oxides and green carbonates, with now and then the brown
or pigeon-breasted. They cut easily and smoothly with the knife, and
yield from twenty-five to sixty per cent. The copper veins are
generally vertical, and the larger ones run east and west.” This
writer has the following references to the gold washings of the
country:
“Some adventurers, generally of the very lowest class, both in manners
and morals, proceed to the auriferous streams, that run through the
south part of the Honduras nearest to Segovia, for two or three months
during the driest part of the year, and when the rains have entirely
subsided. Their baggage is very light, and easily carried on a donkey
or half-starved mule, for they only provide each for himself and his
female helpmate a small load of Indian corn, barely enough for the
pair, some tobacco, a small stone for grinding the corn, an earthen
pan or two, a hatchet, and a small leathern bag to put the gold in
_when found_. They also take a few half gourds dried, to wash the
earth in, and a grass hammock to sleep in, and away they start,
driving their animals before them, each man carrying his machete or
short heavy broad-sword, and some, bows and arrows. The part of the
country is almost uninhabited, and on their arrival at the different
streams, they generally separate, and each pair chooses a spot often
miles apart, where they commence operations. The first thing is to
build a ‘Ramada,’ or hut of branches, as the name signifies; but they
always select a place where two good-sized trees are near enough
together, to enable them to swing their hammocks between them. With a
few poles and branches with the leaf on, a hut is made in two or three
hours; the man then makes a pile of dry wood near at hand, and leaves
the entire care of the household to the woman, who grinds the corn,
and every day makes a few cakes, looking like thin pancakes, which are
toasted on a flat earthen pan over the wood ashes. Their drink is a
little maize meal and cacao nut ground together, mixed with water and
stirred up in a gourd; and thus the pair vegetate for two or three
months, supported by the hopes of living well for the remainder of the
year. The man is always within sight of the hut, in case assistance be
wanted in such a wild spot; and he digs holes into the ground near the
stream, and after having piled up a heap of earth close to the water,
washes it in the half gourds, when, after repeated changes of water,
and the spot chosen having proved a good one, a little fine gold dust
is often visible in the gourd. It requires a great deal of nicety to
balance the gourd backwards and forwards, up and down, and round
about, so as to get rid of the earth; and it is still more difficult,
at the last washing, to manage to leave the gold altogether, at the
very end of the remaining deposit, which is generally of a black or
dark grey color. The grains of gold are often large enough to be
picked out after one or two washings, and often of a size to be
discerned whilst digging, and a man in good luck may find enough gold
in a week to keep him comfortably the whole year; but money easily got
generally soon goes; and on the return of the lucky pair to their
town, it is too often quickly spent in gambling and low debauchery.”
-----
In the district of Chontales, among the mountains separating the waters
flowing into Lake Nicaragua from those falling into the Rio Escondido,
the ores of gold are found in abundance. There are numerous evidences
that the mines were largely worked by the aborigines. The metal occurs
chiefly in quartz veins. Attempts were made in 1856-’57 to introduce
proper machinery for crushing the rock and extracting the metal, but the
political condition of the country has been such as to break up and
discourage all enterprises of this kind. Whenever order shall be
permanently established, Chontales will no doubt command increasing
attention. Its accessibility from the shores of Lake Nicaragua, and
through the navigable waters of the Rio Escondido, point it out as the
region most favorable for mining establishments in Nicaragua. That
portion bordering on the lake is chiefly undulating prairie ground, now
only occupied by scattered cattle estates, but capable of supporting a
large population, and furnishing unbounded supplies. It is stated that
deposits of coal resembling anthracite have been found in Chontales, but
the evidence upon that point is not conclusive.[49]
-----
Footnote 49:
“The mines of Chontales lie about fifty miles from the sea-coast, one
hundred and fourteen north-east of the town of Granada, and thirty-six
from Lake Nicaragua, and extend over an area of about eighty miles.
The district is fifteen hundred feet above the Atlantic, and
surrounded by mountains one or two thousand feet higher. The metal is
found in quartz, red sandstone and slate. In 1854 there were about
three hundred men at work here, who had come from the mines of
Honduras in the hope of higher wages. Here was also a motley crowd of
American, Irish, French, and German vagabonds, who went digging one
day here, and next day there, consuming in the evening what they had
earned during the day. Altogether not above six hundred persons were
attracted to this lonely region; while the province of Chontales has
an Indian population of ten thousand, supporting themselves by hunting
and fishing. Up to 1854 no gold from Chontales had found its way into
commerce, nor had any proper analysis been made of the ores. Specimens
of the latter were nevertheless brought to Granada of extraordinary
richness. It was calculated that every 100 lbs. of the ore would yield
three and a half ounces of pure gold. Subsequent results, however, did
not bear out these anticipations. The great hindrance to the
profitable working of the mines of Chontales, is the want of
instructed miners, good roads, and sufficient capital.”—_Scherzer._
-----
Some explorations of “Indian River,” flowing into the Caribbean Sea on
the Mosquito Shore, a short distance above the port of San Juan,
disclosed the fact that gold exists in that stream, as it does
unquestionably in all the rivers falling from the mountains of Honduras
into the Atlantic. It may be questioned, however, if the gold, except in
peculiar localities, can be obtained in sufficient quantities to repay
the cost and labor of obtaining it.[50]
-----
Footnote 50:
“In Central America, _lignite_, including _amber_, occasionally occurs
from Costa Rica to San Salvador, and in all probability further south
as well as north. Pieces of amber, some with insects in them, derived
from the tertiary coal formations of the Bay of Tamarinda, I saw at
Leon, where I saw also some samples of coal from the neighborhood of
that city. They were of a greyish black color, rather hard, with the
texture of wood clearly visible. On being burnt, a considerable
quantity of ashes were left, in some cases of a white, in others of a
red color.”—_Frœbel’s Seven Years in Central America_, p. 68.
-----
The methods of mining in Nicaragua, as in every other part of Central
America, are exceedingly rude, and it is not surprising that the results
are so often unsatisfactory. The silver and gold ores are crushed in a
basin of masonry, in which rises a vertical shaft, driven generally by a
horizontal water-wheel. This shaft has two arms, to each of which is
suspended a large stone or boulder. These are the crushers. After the
ore is reduced to sufficient fineness, the metal is separated by
amalgam; a long and expensive process, which is now beginning to be
facilitated and cheapened by the introduction of the German or “barrel
process.” The machines for crushing the ores have, however, as yet,
undergone but slight improvement. Some of the mines in San Salvador,
Honduras, and Costa Rica have European machinery, and are worked to good
advantage.
The trade and commerce of Nicaragua is at an extremely low ebb. The
advance which the country made in these respects, from the opening of
the California transit in 1850-51, has been followed by more than a
corresponding retrogression—the consequence of domestic dissensions, and
foreign invasion. The merchants of the country are impoverished and
bankrupt, the revenues of the government merely nominal, and the little
foreign commerce that remains, hardly worth the trouble of estimating,
is in the hands of two or three English and French traders, whose
governments are able and willing to protect them in their lives and
property. American enterprise and influence in the country may be
considered as extinct, and likely to remain so until a different class
of men shall identify themselves with the country.
CHAPTER II.
THE PROPOSED INTER-OCEANIC CANAL: EARLY EXPLORATIONS; SURVEY OF COLONEL
CHILDS IN 1851; VARIOUS LINES FROM LAKE NICARAGUA TO THE PACIFIC;
ETC., ETC.
From what has been said in the preceding chapters, it sufficiently
appears that Nicaragua is a country of great beauty of scenery,
fertility of soil, and variety and richness of products. But she has
attracted the attention of the world less on these accounts than because
she is believed to possess within her borders the best and most feasible
route for a canal between the two great oceans. The project of opening
such a communication through her territories began to be entertained as
soon as it was found that there existed no natural water communication
between the seas. As early as 1551, the historian Gomara had indicated
the four lines which have since been regarded as offering the greatest
facilities for the purpose, viz.: at Darien, Panama, Nicaragua, and
Tehuantepec. There were difficulties, he said, “and even mountains in
the way, but,” he added, “there are likewise hands; let only the resolve
be formed to make the passage, and it can be made. If inclination be not
wanting, there will be no want of means; the Indies, to which the
passage is to be made, will supply them. To a king of Spain, with the
wealth of the Indies at his command, when the object is the spice trade,
that which is possible is also easy.”
But, although occupying so large a share of the attention of all
maritime nations, and furnishing a subject for innumerable essays in
every language of Europe, yet it was not until after the discovery of
gold in California, and the organization of an Anglo-American State on
the shores of the Pacific, that the question of a canal assumed a
practical form, or that of its feasibility was accurately determined.
In 1851, a complete survey was made of the river San Juan, Lake
Nicaragua, and the isthmus intervening between the lake and the Pacific,
by Colonel Childs, under the direction of the late “Atlantic and Pacific
Ship-Canal Company.” Until then, it had always been assumed that the
river San Juan, as well as Lake Nicaragua, could easily be made
navigable for ships, and that the only obstacle to be overcome was the
narrow strip of land between the lake and the ocean. Hence, all of the
so-called surveys were confined to that point. One of these was made
under orders of the Spanish government, in 1781, by Don Manuel Galisteo.
Another, and that best known, by Mr. John Baily, under the direction of
the government of Central America, in 1838. An intermediate examination
seems to have been made early in the present century, the results of
which are given in Thompson’s Guatemala. The following table shows the
distances, elevations, etc., on the various lines followed by these
explorers:
───────────────┬─────────────────┬────────────────┬────────────────
│ Distance from │ Greatest │ Greatest
│ Lake to Ocean. │Elevation above │Elevation<span>
Authorities │ │ Ocean. │ above Lake.
│──────── ────────│────────────────│────────────────
│ Miles. Feet. │ Feet. │ Feet.
───────────────┼─────────────────┼────────────────┼────────────────
Galisteo, 1781 │ 17 200 │ 272 │ 134.
Quoted by │ │ │
Thompson │ 17 330 │ 296 │ 154.
Baily, 1838 │ 16 730 │ 615 │ 487.
Childs, 1851 │ 18 588 │ 159 │ 47½
───────────────┴─────────────────┴────────────────┴────────────────
As the survey of Colonel Childs is the only one which can be accepted as
conforming to modern engineering requirements, it will be enough to
present the detailed results at which he arrived. The line proposed by
him, and on which all his calculations and estimates were based,
commences at the little port of Brito on the Pacific, and passes across
the isthmus between the ocean and the lake, to the mouth of a small
stream called the Rio Lajas, flowing into the latter; thence across Lake
Nicaragua to its outlet, and down the valley of the Rio San Juan to the
port of the same name, on the Atlantic. The length of this line was
found to be 194⅓ miles, as follows:—
MILES.
WESTERN DIVISION:—Canal from the port of Brito on the Pacific,
through the valleys of the Rio Grande and Rio Lajas, flowing
into Lake Nicaragua 18.588
MIDDLE DIVISION:—Through Lake Nicaragua, from the mouth of Rio
Lajas to San Carlos, at the head of the San Juan river 56.500
EASTERN DIVISION—_First Section_:—Slack water navigation on
San Juan River, from San Carlos to a point on the river
nearly opposite the mouth of the Rio Serapiqui 90.800
_Second Section_:—Canal from point last named to port of San
Juan del Norte 28.505
————
Total, as above 194.393
The dimensions of the canal were designed to be—depth, 17 feet;
excavations in earth, 50 feet wide at bottom, 86 feet wide at nine feet
above bottom, and 118 feet wide at surface of water; excavations in
rock, 50 feet wide at bottom, 77 feet wide at nine feet above bottom,
and 78-1/3 feet wide at surface of water.
The construction of the canal on this plan contemplates supplying the
western division, from the lake to the sea, with water from the lake. It
would, therefore, be necessary to commence the work on the lake at a
point where the water is seventeen feet deep, at mean level. This point
is opposite the mouth of a little stream called Rio Lajas, and
twenty-five chains from the shore. From this point, for one and a half
miles, partly along the Rio Lajas, the excavation will be principally in
earth, but beyond this, for a distance of five and a half miles, which
carries the line beyond the summit, three-fourths of the excavations
would be in trap-rock; that is to say, the deepest excavation or open
cut would be 64½ feet (summit, 47½ feet + depth of canal, 17 feet = 64½
feet), and involve the removal of 1,800,000 cubic yards of earth, and
3,378,000 cubic yards of rock. The excavation and construction on this
five and a half miles alone was estimated to cost upwards of $6,250,000.
After passing the summit, and reaching the valley of a little stream
called Rio Grande, the excavation, as a general rule, would be only the
depth of the canal. Col. Childs found that the lake, at ordinary high
water, is 102 feet 10 inches above the Pacific at high, and 111 feet 5
inches at low tide, instead of 128 feet, as calculated by Mr. Baily. He
proposed to accomplish the descent to Brito by means of fourteen locks,
each of eight feet lift. The harbor of Brito, as it is called, at the
point where the Rio Grande enters the sea, is, in fact, only a small
angular indentation of the land, partially protected by a low ledge of
rocks, entirely inadequate for the terminus of a great work like the
proposed canal, and incapable of answering the commonest requirements of
a port. To remedy this deficiency, it was proposed to construct an
artificial harbor of thirty-four acres area, by means of moles and
jetties in the sea, and extensive excavations in the land. If, as
supposed, the excavations here would be in sand, it would be obviously
almost impossible to secure proper foundations for the immense sea-walls
and piers which the work would require. If in rock, as seems most
likely, the cost and labor would almost surpass computation. Assuming
the excavations to be in earth and sand, Col. Childs estimated the cost
of these improvements at upwards of $2,700,000.
Returning now to the lake, and proceeding from seventeen feet depth of
water, opposite the mouth of the Rio Lajas,[51] in the direction of the
outlet of the lake at San Carlos, there is ample depth of water for
vessels of all sizes for a distance of about fifty-one miles, to a point
half a mile south of the Boacas Islands, where the water shoals rapidly
to fourteen feet; for the remaining five and a half miles to San Carlos,
the depth averages only nine feet at low, and fourteen feet at high
water. For this distance, therefore, an average under-water excavation
of eight feet in depth would be required, to carry out the plan of a
canal of seventeen feet deep. But if the lake were kept at high level,
the under-water excavation would have an average of only about three
feet. Colonel Childs proposed to protect this portion of the canal by
rows of piles driven on each side, and supposed that when the excavation
should be completed, there would be a sufficient current between them to
keep the channel clear.
-----
Footnote 51:
No one should be deceived by the use of the term _Rio_ as applied in
Spanish America. It may mean anything from a mere rill upwards to the
largest river. Thus, the Rio Lajas is a running stream for only part
of the year. During the dry season it is simply a long, narrow lagoon,
of sluggish Lethean water, without current, and the bar at its mouth
is dry, cutting off all connection with the lake. The lake along this
part of the coast is very shallow, the bottom rock. The engraving
shows its appearance in the month of December.
-----
[Illustration: MOUTH OF THE RIO LAJAS. VOLCANO OF OMETEPEC.]
We come now to the division between Lake Nicaragua and the Atlantic,
through or along the Rio San Juan. Colonel Childs carried a line of
levels from the lake at San Carlos to the port of San Juan, and found
the distance between those points to be a hundred nineteen and a third
miles, and the total fall from the level of high-water in the lake to
that of high-tide in the harbor, one hundred seven and a half feet. From
San Carlos to a point half a mile below the Serapiqui river, a distance
of 91 miles, Col. Childs proposed to make the river navigable by
excavating its bed, and by constructing dams, to be passed by means of
locks and short canals; the remaining twenty-eight miles to be
constructed through the alluvial delta of the San Juan, inland, and
independently of the river. Of the whole fall, sixty-two and a half feet
occur on that portion of the river which he proposed to improve by dams,
and on which there were to be eight locks, and the remaining forty-five
feet on the inland portion of the works, by means of six locks—fourteen
locks in all, each with an average lift of nearly eight feet. It was
proposed to place the first dam, descending the river, at the Castillo
rapids, thirty-seven miles from the lake, and to pass the rapids by
means of a short lateral canal. By means of this dam the river was to be
raised, at that point, twenty-one and a half feet, and the level of Lake
Nicaragua five feet above its lowest stage; or, in other words, kept at
high-water mark, to avoid the extensive submarine excavations which
would be necessary to enable vessels to enter the river. The fall, at
this dam, would be sixteen feet. The other dams were to be four of eight
feet fall, and one of thirteen and a half feet, and another of fourteen
and a half feet. Between all these it was found there would be required
more or less excavation in the bed of the stream, often in rock. Col.
Childs also proposed to improve the harbor of San Juan by means of
moles, etc., and also to construct an artificial harbor or basin, in
connection with it, of thirteen acres area. As regards the amount of
water passing through the San Juan, it was found that at its lowest
level, June 4, 1851, the discharge from the lake was 11,930 cubic feet
per second. The greatest rise in the lake is five feet. When it stood
3.43 feet above its lowest level, the flow of water in the river, at San
Carlos, was 18,059 cubic feet per second, being an increase of upwards
of fifty per cent. Supposing the same ratio of increase, the discharge
from the lake, at extreme high-water, would be upwards of 23,000 cubic
feet per second. The river receives large accessions from its
tributaries, which, at the point of divergence of the Colorado channel,
swell the flow of water to 54,380 cubic feet per second, of which,
42,056 cubic feet pass through the Colorado channel, and 12,324 cubic
feet into the harbor of San Juan.
The cost of the work was estimated by Col. Childs as follows:
Eastern Division (from Port of San Juan to lake) $13,023,275
Central Division (through lake) 1,068,410
Western Division from lake to Pacific 14,475,630
——————————
$28,567,315
Add for contingencies 15 per cent. 4,285,095
——————————
Total estimated cost $32,852,410
The charter of the Company, under the auspices of which Col. Childs was
sent to Nicaragua, stipulated that the canal should be of dimensions
sufficient “to admit vessels of all sizes.” A canal therefore, such as
that proposed, but seventeen feet deep, and one hundred and eighteen
feet wide at the surface of the water, could not meet the requirements
of the charter, nor be adequate to the wants of commerce. To pass freely
large merchantmen and vessels of war, a canal would require to be at
least thirty feet deep, with locks and other works in proportion, which
would involve at least three times the amount of excavation, etc., of
the work proposed above, and a corresponding augmentation of cost. A
canal so small as to render necessary the transhipment of merchandise
and passengers is manifestly inferior to a railway, both as involving,
in the first instance, greater cost of construction, and, in the second
place, greater expense in working, with less speed.
The surveys and estimates of Col. Childs were submitted to the British
government, and by it referred for report to Mr. James Walker, civil
engineer, and Captain Edward Aldrich, Royal Engineers. The report of
this commission, proceeding on the assumption that the plans,
measurements, etc., of Col. Childs were correct, was, on the whole,
favorable. It however suggested that the item of “contingencies” in the
estimate should be increased from fifteen to twenty-five per cent. Of
all the works of the proposed navigation it pronounces the Brito or
Pacific harbor as least satisfactory. “Presuming the statements and
conclusions of Col. Childs to be correct, the Brito harbor is, in shape
and size, unworthy of this great ship navigation, even supposing the
Pacific, to which it is quite open, to be a much quieter ocean than any
we have seen or have information of.” Subsequently, the plans and
reports were laid before a committee of English capitalists, with a view
to procure the means for the actual construction of the work. This
committee, after a patient investigation, declined to embark in the
work, or to recommend it to public support, on the ground;—1st. That the
dimensions of the proposed work were not such as, in their opinion,
would meet the requirements of commerce; 2d. That these dimensions were
not conformable to the provisions of the Company’s charter; 3d. That
supposing the work not to exceed the estimated cost of $32,800,000, the
returns, to meet the simple interest on the investment, at six per
cent,, would require to be at least $1,950,000 over and above its
current expenses; or, to meet this interest, and the percentage to be
paid to Nicaragua, not less than $2,365,000 over and above expenses; or
allowing $1,000,000 per annum for repairs, superintendence, cost of
transportation, etc., then the gross earnings would require to be
$3,400,000; 4th. Putting the toll at $3 per ton, the collection of this
revenue would involve the passage of upwards of 1,000,000 tons of
shipping per annum; 5th. That not more than one-third of the vessels
engaged in the oriental trade could pass through a canal of the proposed
dimensions, even if the route which it would open were shorter than that
by way of Cape of Good Hope, instead of being more than 1000 miles
longer to Calcutta, Singapore, and other leading ports of British India;
6th. That the heavy toll of $3 per ton on ships would generally prevent
such vessels as could do so from passing the canal, inasmuch as on a
vessel of 1000 tons the aggregate toll would be $3000, or more than the
average earnings of such vessels per voyage; 7th. That a work of the
dimensions proposed, under the present condition of commerce, would not
attract sufficient support to defray the cost of repairs and working,
and could not therefore be safely undertaken by capitalists. Upon the
publication of this report the canal company obtained the privilege of
opening a transit by steamers and carriages through Nicaragua, and the
project of a canal seems to have been definitely abandoned—unless we
regard the fantastic proceedings of certain adventurers from Europe, as
directed seriously toward the execution of the enterprise.
The construction of a ship-canal between the oceans through Nicaragua is
unquestionably within the range of engineering feasibilities, but it can
be as safely affirmed that, with the present requirements of commerce,
and under the laws which govern the use of capital, it is not likely to
be seriously undertaken. The assumption upon which most of the
speculations regarding the utility of such a work are founded, viz.,
that it would shorten the distance between the ports of Europe, and
those of Asia in general, is erroneous as will appear from the following
table:
┌──────────────────────────────┬────────────┬────────────┬────────┬────────┐
│ │Via Cape of │Via proposed│ Net │ Net │
│ │ Good Hope. │ Canal. │ Loss. │ Gain. │
├──────────────────────────────┼────────────┼────────────┼────────┼────────┤
│ From ENGLAND │ MILES. │ MILES. │ MILES. │ MILES. │
│To Canton │ 12,900 │ 13,800 │ 900 │ .. │
│ ” Calcutta │ 11,440 │ 15,480 │ 4040 │ .. │
│ ” Singapore │ 11,880 │ 15,120 │ 4240 │ .. │
│ “ Sidney via Torres Straits │ 14,980 │ 12,550 │ │ 2430 │
│ From NEW YORK │ │ │ │ │
│To Canton │ 14,100 │ 11,820 │ │ 3280 │
│ ” Calcutta │ 12,360 │ 13,680 │ 1320 │ .. │
│ ” Singapore │ 12,700 │ 11,420 │ │ 1280 │
│ ” Sidney │ 15,720 │ 9,480 │ │ 6240 │
└──────────────────────────────┴────────────┴────────────┴────────┴────────┘
It will be observed that the sole advantage which the canal would afford
to Great Britain, as regards the East, would be a saving in distance
(equally attainable by a railway across the isthmus) of 2430 miles in
communicating with Australia. As regards the Sandwich Islands, and the
western coast of America, the gain in distance, both to England and the
United States, would be considerable, as shown in the subjoined table:
┌──────────────────────────────┬────────────┬────────────┬────────┐
│ │ Via Cape │Via proposed│ Gain. │
│ │ Horn. │ Canal. │ │
├──────────────────────────────┼────────────┼────────────┼────────┤
│ From ENGLAND │ MILES. │ MILES. │ MILES. │
│To Valparaiso │ 8,700 │ 7,500 │ 1,200 │
│ ” Callao │ 10,020 │ 6,800 │ 3,220 │
│ ” Sandwich Islands │ 13,500 │ 8,640 │ 4,860 │
│ From NEW YORK │ │ │ │
│To Valparaiso │ 8,580 │ 4,860 │ 3,720 │
│ ” Callao │ 9,900 │ 3,540 │ 6,360 │
│ ” Sandwich Islands │ 13,200 │ 6,300 │ 6,900 │
└──────────────────────────────┴────────────┴────────────┴────────┘
It must not be supposed that the investigations of Col. Childs were
confined to the single line described in the foregoing paragraphs. He
examined that also by way of the Rio Sapoa to the bay of Salinas, but
found that to pass the summit, a cut of 119 feet in depth would be
requisite, an up-lockage from the lake of 350 feet, and a down-lockage
to the Pacific of 432 feet. Water to supply the upper locks, it was
ascertained, could only be got with difficulty, and at great cost; and,
furthermore, a rock-cut of three-fourths of a mile long would be
necessary, from low-tide mark in the bay of Salinas to deep water. In
short, the physical difficulties of this line, if not of a nature to
make the construction of a canal impossible, were nevertheless such as
to make it impracticable.
It seems that Col. Childs was limited by his instructions to an
examination of the direct line between Lake Nicaragua and the Pacific,
provided that any of the routes proposed should prove feasible. As a
consequence, finding a route which, in his opinion, was practicable, he
made no surveys of the various lines which had been indicated by myself
and others, from the superior lake of Managua to the ports of Tamarinda,
Realejo, and the Bay of Fonseca. This is a source of regret, especially
in view of the deficiency on the surveyed line of a reasonably good
harbor on the Pacific—Brito, as already said, being utterly inadequate
for a work of the kind proposed, while Realejo and the Bay of Fonseca
are all that can be desired as ports.
A line, however, extending to any of the ports here named, would require
not only to pass through the entire length of Lake Nicaragua, but also
to overcome the obstacles which intervene between that body of water and
Lake Managua. Much of the confusion and misapprehension, as to the
connection between these lakes, has been set right in Chapter XV. of the
preceding narrative. The distance between the two is about sixteen
miles, of which twelve miles is overcome by a broad, shallow arm of Lake
Nicaragua, called the _Estero de Panaloya_. It varies from six to
fifteen feet in depth, with low banks, and generally a muddy bottom.
Strictly speaking, this _Estero_ is part of Lake Nicaragua, and the
actual distance between the lakes does not, therefore, exceed four
miles.
The estate of _Pasquiel_, at the head of this estuary, is the limit of
navigation. Above, for a mile and a half, to _Paso Chico_, the bed of
the river is full of large and isolated rocks, resting upon a bed of
volcanic breccia. Beyond _Paso Chico_, the bed, or rather the former bed
of the river, (for except in rainy seasons there is no water here beyond
what flows from springs,) is the same solid breccia, worn into basins
and fantastic “pot-holes” by the water. Within one mile of the lake of
Managua is the fall of Tipitapa, opposite the little village of that
name. It is a ledge of the rock above described, and is from twelve to
fifteen feet in height. The bed of the stream is here not less than 400
feet in width. From the falls to the lake, the bed is wide but shallow,
covered with grass and bushes, resembling a neglected pasture. At the
time of my visit (1849), no water flowed through it, nor, so far as I
could learn, had any flowed there for years. I can, however, readily
believe that in an extremely wet season a small quantity may find its
way through this channel, and over the falls. It is, nevertheless, very
evident that no considerable body of water ever passed here.[52] There
is an arm of Lake Managua which projects down the channel for three or
four hundred yards, but the water is only two or three feet deep, with
an equal depth of soft, gray mud, the dwelling-place of numerous
alligators, with reedy shores, thronged with every variety of
water-birds. The water of Lake Managua, near the so-called outlet, is
not deep, and the channel, in order to admit of the passage of large
vessels, would probably require to be well dredged, if not protected by
parallel piers. At the distance of about three-fourths of a mile from
the shore, I found, by actual measurement, that the water did not exceed
two fathoms in depth. No great obstruction to building the proposed
canal exists in the section between the two lakes. The rock is so soft
and friable that a channel can easily be opened from Lake Managua to the
falls. Beyond this the banks are high for three miles, forming a natural
canal which only needs to be properly dammed, at its lower extremity, to
furnish a body of water adequate to every purpose of navigation. Locks
would then be required to reach the estuary of Panaloya. From this point
to the lake, I conceive, may prove the most difficult part of this
section, although apparently the easiest. Where the bottom is earth or
mud, the desirable depth of water may be secured by dredging; but where
it is rock, as it certainly is near its upper extremity, some difficult
excavation will be required. The banks downward to Lake Nicaragua are so
low as to prohibit assistance from dams, except by diking the shores.
-----
Footnote 52:
It is said that the river Tipitapa was a considerable stream up to
1844, but that, in consequence of an earthquake in that year, it
ceased to flow. Hence, it has been inferred that some subterranean
channel was then opened, sufficiently large to pass the water which
had previously flowed through the Tipitapa channel. This statement
lacks confirmation. Oviedo tells us that in his time (1527) the amount
of water in the river underwent great variations with the change of
seasons. That the level of water in the lake is subject to great
changes, I can personally bear witness. In 1849, the road from
Matearas to Nagarote ran, for a long distance, along the shores of the
lake, over a beach varying from one hundred to three hundred yards in
width. In 1853, I found the water entirely covering this beach, as
well as the old mule-path along the shore, to the depth of from five
to ten feet. The low stage of water in the lake in 1849, and its
absence in the channel of Tipitapa, were doubtless due to a succession
of comparatively light rainy seasons, or of dry years. I have no doubt
that in 1853, there was a considerable flow of water through the
channel of Tipitapa. At any rate, I am not inclined to ascribe any
marked change in the hydrographic system of the country, to the
earthquake of 1844.
-----
Lake Managua may thus be said virtually to have no outlet. The streams
which come in from the Pacific side are insignificant; and though, as
already stated, the Rio Grande and other streams of considerable size
flow into it from the direction of Segovia, yet they vary much with the
season of the year, and seldom furnish a greater quantity of water than
is requisite to supply the evaporation from so large a surface, in a
tropical climate. Nevertheless, a reservoir like that of Managua, with
1,200 square miles of surface, would be adequate to supply all the water
required for a ship canal at this point, without any sensible diminution
of its volume.
The country between Lake Managua and the Pacific is much more favorable
for the construction of a canal than that between Lake Nicaragua and the
same ocean. The dividing ridge, to which I have alluded in a previous
chapter, as separating the waters of the latter lake from the sea, also
extends along the intervening isthmus, very nearly to the head of Lake
Managua. Here it is wholly interrupted, or rather subsides into broad
plains, rising but a few feet above the lake, and thence descending in a
gentle slope to the ocean. Three lines across these plains have been
suggested; 1st, by the left shore of the lake to the small port of
Tamarinda; 2d, by the same shore to the well-known port of Realejo; and
3d, by the upper shore of the lake to the Gulf of Fonseca, or Conchagua.
It is probable that all of these lines are feasible, but a minute survey
can only determine which is best.
1.—The first line suggested, to the port of Tamarinda, is considerably
shorter than either of the others, not exceeding fifteen or eighteen
miles in length. But the water of the lake upon its north-western shore,
in the bay of Moabita, is shallow. I sounded it in July, 1849. It
deepened regularly from the shore to the distance of one mile, when it
attained five fathoms. After that it deepened rapidly to ten and fifteen
fathoms. The country between the lake and Tamarinda, so far as can be
ascertained, (it being covered with forests) is nearly level, and offers
no insuperable obstacle to a canal. There is no town or village near the
port, and it seems to have escaped general notice. Nor is it known that
it has ever been entered by vessels, except in one or two instances for
the purpose of loading Brazil wood. It is small, and tolerably well
protected; but is not a proper termination for a work like the proposed
canal.
2.—The second line is that to the well known and excellent port of
Realejo, formed by the junction of the Telica or Doña Paula and Realejo
rivers, and protected on the side of the sea by the islands of Cardon
and Asserradores, and a bluff of the main-land. It is safe and
commodious, and the water is good, ranging from three and four to eight
and nine fathoms. The volcano of El Viejo, lifting its cone upwards of
6,000 feet above the sea, to the north-eastward of the port, forms an
unmistakable landmark for the mariner, long before any other part of the
coast is visible. This line, starting from the nearest practicable point
of Lake Managua, cannot fall short of forty-five miles in length. It is
said that the Estero of Doña Paula, which is only that part of the
Telica river up which the tide flows, might be made use of for a
considerable distance; but that can only be determined by actual survey.
I can discover no reason why this route could not be advantageously
pursued. It has the present advantage of passing through the most
populous and best cultivated part of the country, and terminating at a
point already well known. There is no stream upon this line which, as
has been supposed by Louis Napoleon and some other writers on this
subject, can be made available for supplying this section of the
proposed canal with water. The “Rio Tosta,” of which they speak, (by
which, from its described position, it is supposed the _Rio Telica_ is
meant, for no stream known as the Rio Tosta exists), is a stream of some
size, but never furnished a quantity of water sufficient to supply an
ordinary canal. The local geography of the plain of Leon is little known
to its inhabitants; and, as the roads are hemmed in by impenetrable
forests, it is impossible for the traveller to inform himself of the
minor topographical features of the country. The Rio Telica empties into
the Estero Doña Paula, and it may possibly be made to answer a useful
purpose. I have crossed it at many points where it has (as it has for
nearly its entire length) the character of a huge natural canal, from
sixty to eighty feet deep by perhaps one hundred and fifty or two
hundred yards wide at the top, with steep banks, for the most part of a
friable substratum of rock or compact earth. And as, at its source, it
is not more than fifteen miles distant from Lake Managua, it is not
improbable that, by proper cuttings, the waters of the lake might be
brought into it, and, after the requisite level is attained, the bed of
the stream might be used from that point to the sea, securing the
necessary depth of water by locks or dams. If this suggestion is well
founded, the principal part of the estimated excavation of this section
of the canal may be avoided. In any event, the cutting would not, with
the aids furnished by this mechanical age, be an object to deter the
engineer.