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.
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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.
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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.
Every traveller who has passed over the plain of Leon, concurs in representing that the range of hills separating Lake Nicaragua from the Pacific are here wholly interrupted; and I can add my unqualified testimony in support of the fact. The city of Leon is situated in the midst of this plain, midway between the lake and sea; and, from the flat roof of its cathedral, the traveller may see the Pacific; and, were it not for the intervening forests, probably the lake. “A. G.,” quoted by Louis Napoleon, and whose observations are uniformly very accurate, states that the ground, between lake and ocean, at a distance of 2,725 yards from the former, attains its maximum height of 55 feet 6 inches, and from thence slopes to the sea. Other observers vary in their estimates of this maximum elevation, from 49 feet 6 inches to 51 feet. Of course, the precise elevation can only be determined by actual survey. The city of Leon is distant, in a direct line, about fifteen or eighteen miles from the lake. Captain Belcher determined its height, above the Pacific, to be 140 feet; which, deducted from the height of the lake, 156 feet, shows that the plain, where it is built, is sixteen feet below the level of the lake.
It is probable that the deepest cutting on this line, allowing thirty feet for the depth of the proposed canal, would not exceed eighty feet, and this only for a short distance. We have examples of much more serious undertakings of this character. In the canal from Arles to Bouc the table-land Lèque has been cut through to the extent of 2,289 yards, the extreme depth being from 130 to 162 feet. I need hardly add that the Lake of Managua must supply the water requisite for the use of the canal, from its shores to the sea, as there are no reservoirs or streams of magnitude upon this line.
3.—There is still another route, to which public attention has never been generally directed, but which, if feasible, offers greater advantages than either of the others just named, viz., from the northern point of Lake Managua _via_ the Estero Real to the Gulf of Fonseca or Conchagua. The upper part of Lake Managua is divided into two large bays by a vast promontory or peninsula, at the extreme point of which stands the giant volcano of Momotombo. Between this volcano and that of the Viejo, to the north-east of Realejo, running nearly east and west, is a chain of volcanoes, presenting, probably, in a short distance, a greater number of extinct craters, and more evidences of volcanic action, than any other equal extent of the continent. This chain is isolated. Upon the south is the magnificent plain of Leon, bounded only by the sea; and upon the north is also another great plain, the “_Llano del Conejo_,” bounded by the auriferous hills of Segovia. This plain extends from the northern bay of Lake Managua to the Gulf of Conchagua, which is equalled only by that of San Francisco, and may be described as a grand harbor, in which all the vessels of the world might ride in entire security. It much resembles that of San Francisco in position and form; the entrance from the sea is, however, broader. Its entire length within the land is not far from sixty miles, and its breadth thirty miles. The three States of San Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras, have ports upon it. All the adjacent coasts are of unbounded fertility, and possess an unlimited supply of timber. The bay embraces several islands of considerable size and beauty, surrounded by water of such depth as to enable vessels of the largest class to approach close in-shore. The most important of these, from the circumstance of its size, and the fact that it commands and is the key to the entire bay, is the island of Tigre, belonging to Honduras. This island was the head-quarters and dépôt of Drake, and other piratical adventurers, during their operations in the South Sea. On it is situated the free port of Amapala. Its possession, and the consequent control of the Gulf of Fonseca, by any great maritime power, would enable that power to exercise a command over the commerce of the western part of the continent, such as the possession of Gibraltar by the English gives them over that of Europe.
From the southern extremity of the Gulf of Fonseca extends a large estuary, or arm, called the Estero Real. Its course is precisely in the direction of the Lake of Managua; which it approaches to within fifteen or twenty miles, and between it and the lake is the Plain of Conejo, which is, in fact, a part of the plain of Leon. This Estero is as broad as the East River at New York, and has, for most of its extent, an ample depth of water. At thirty miles above the bay it has fifty feet. There is a narrow bar at its mouth, on which, at low tide, there are but about three fathoms. The tide rises, however, nearly ten feet; and with artificial aid the bar could, doubtless, be passed at all times. This Estero is one of the most beautiful natural channels that can be imagined; preserving, for a long distance, a very nearly uniform width of from three hundred to four hundred yards. Its banks are lined with mangroves, with a dense background of other trees.
Captain Belcher, who was here in 1838, went thirty miles up the Estero, in a vessel drawing ten feet of water. He says: “To-day we started with the Starling, and other boats, to explore the Estero Real, which, I had been given to understand, was navigable for sixty miles; in which case, from what I saw of its course in my visit to the Viejo, it must nearly communicate with the Lake of Managua. After considerable labor, we succeeded in carrying the Starling thirty miles from its mouth, and might easily have gone farther, had the wind permitted, but the prevailing strong winds rendered the toil of towing too heavy. We ascended a small hill, about a mile below our extreme position, from which angles were taken to all the commanding peaks. From that survey, added to what I remarked from the summit of the Viejo, I am satisfied that the stream could be followed many miles farther; and, I have not the slightest doubt it is fed very near the Lake Managua. I saw the mountains _beyond_ the lake on its eastern side, and _no land higher than the intervening trees occurred_. This, therefore, would be the most advantageous line for a canal, which, by entire lake navigation, might be connected with the interior of the States of San Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and extend to the Atlantic. Thirty navigable miles for vessels drawing ten feet we can vouch for, and the natives and residents assert _sixty_ [_thirty_?] more!”
From the course of the Estero, and the distance it is known to extend, it probably would not require a canal of more than twenty miles in length to connect its navigable waters with those of Lake Managua; in which case there would be a saving over the Realejo line, besides having the western terminus of the great work in the magnificent bay which I have just described. It may, therefore, be safely asserted that a passage from the Lake of Managua to the sea is entirely feasible, and it only remains to determine which of the routes here indicated offers the greatest advantages.
┌─────────────────────────┬─────────┬─────────┬─────────┬─────────┬─────────┬────────┬────────┬────────┐ │Routes from the Port of │Length of│Distance │From Lake│ Between │Distance │Between │ Actual │ Total │ │San Juan to the Pacific. │ the Rio │ on Lake │ Nica- │ Lakes │ on Lake │ Lake │Canal-ization.│Length. │ │ │San Juan.│ Nica- │ragua to │ Nica- │Managua. │Managua │ │ │ │ │ │ ragua. │Pacific. │ragua and│ │ and │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │Managua. │ │Pacific.│ │ │ ├─────────────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┤ │To Brito │ 119 │ 57 │ 18 │ .. │ .. │ .. │ 137 │ 194 │ │ ” Tamarinda │ 119 │ 120 │ .. │ 4 │ 50 │ 16 │ 139 │ 309 │ │ ” Realejo │ 119 │ 120 │ .. │ 4 │ 50 │ 45 │ 168 │ 338 │ │ ” Estero Real │ 119 │ 120 │ .. │ 4 │ 50 │ 20 │ 143 │ 313 │ └─────────────────────────┴─────────┴─────────┴─────────┴─────────┴─────────┴────────┴────────┴────────┘
The above table exhibits the estimated distances from sea to sea, on the various lines already described, as also the probable extent of actual canalization. It is assumed, throughout, that the river San Juan cannot be made navigable for ships, and that a lateral canal must be made, for its entire length. The length of the river, including its windings, is nearly one hundred and twenty miles; but it is probable that the distance, in a right line, between the lake and the Atlantic does not exceed ninety miles.
The length of the proposed line of communication from San Juan to Realejo is estimated by Louis Napoleon at 278 miles, as follows: Length of the San Juan, 104 miles; of Lake Nicaragua, 90 miles; River Tipitapa, 20 miles; Lake Leon, or Managua, 35 miles; and distance from the lake to Realejo, 29 miles. This is positively erroneous in some particulars; as, for instance, the distance from Lake Managua to Realejo, which, so far from being only 29 miles, is actually from 40 to 45 miles.
## CHAPTER III .
OUTLINE OF NEGOTIATIONS IN RESPECT TO THE PROPOSED CANAL.
In the preceding