CHAPTER II
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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.
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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.
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[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