The Boy Travellers in South America. Thomas Wallace Knox
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At the suggestion of Mr. Colné the party entered a boat, and spent a half-hour or more in an excursion around the harbor. While they were being propelled by the strong arms of six negro boatmen from the West Indies, their entertainer told them about the history of the canal enterprise. Frank and Fred listened eagerly to the narration, and the former made notes of its most important points. With the aid of these memoranda we will endeavor to repeat the story.
Note.—This book was written and in the hands of the publishers previous to the burning of Aspinwall by insurgents, in March, 1885.
CHAPTER II.
FIRST DAY ON THE ISTHMUS.—THE PANAMA CANAL.—HISTORY OF THE CANAL ENTERPRISE.—PLANS OF BALBOA AND OTHERS.—THE VARIOUS ROUTES PROPOSED.—STRAIN'S SURVEY OF DARIEN.—VISITING THE WORKS AT PANAMA.
"The idea of a waterway across the narrowest part of the American Continent, or, rather, of the isthmus connecting North and South America," said Dr. Bronson, "is almost as old as the discovery of the New World."
"Quite right," replied their host. "In 1513, or twenty-one years after the discovery of America by Columbus, Vasco Nunez de Balboa, having taken possession of the Pacific Ocean, proposed making a passage through the rivers of Darien, but his death shortly afterwards caused the project to be dropped.
"Ten years afterwards, or in 1523, Fernando Cortez had conquered Mexico, and proposed a waterway through the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. He employed Gonzalo Sandoval to make a very careful survey of the route, and continued to urge his proposition after the Emperor Charles V. had removed the government of Mexico from his control. But the emperor was not favorably impressed with the scheme, which contemplated the expenditure of a vast amount of money, and, besides, he was more interested in obtaining a revenue from Mexico than in doing exactly the reverse. The proposal of Cortez was rejected as emphatically as was that of Balboa, but it is a remarkable circumstance that these two routes are the northern and southern extremes of the lines proposed for inter-oceanic canals.
"By reference to a book by a celebrated Portuguese navigator of the sixteenth century, Antonio Galvao, it appears that, up to the year 1550, four routes had been discovered and examined, though none of them had been surveyed with care. Galvao states in his book that a maritime canal can be cut in four different places: First, between the Gulf of Uraba and the Gulf of San Juan; second, through the Isthmus of Panama; third, along the San Juan River, and through Lake Nicaragua; and, fourth, through the Mexican Isthmus. Several explorers were sent to examine these routes, but they encountered many difficulties, and none of them brought back any exact information. So, you perceive, the principal routes for an inter-oceanic canal were known to the geographical world three hundred years ago."
There was a pause to enable Frank and Fred to examine the map which was spread before them, showing the routes which Mr. Colné had mentioned. When the examination was completed their entertainer continued:
"Very little attention was given to the subject for about two hundred years from the time I have mentioned. In the latter part of the eighteenth century the idea was revived again; England thought it would be of great value to her if she could obtain control of a passage from ocean to ocean, and in 1778 she sent an expedition against Nicaragua in order to obtain possession of the country. The enterprise was unsuccessful, and the commander, Lord Nelson, narrowly escaped with his life.
"In 1780 and '81 surveys were made of the Panama and Nicaragua routes, the former by order of King Charles III. of Spain, and the latter by Antonio de Bucareli, Viceroy of Mexico. These were the first technical surveys of the routes, all previous examinations having been made without the aid of engineering instruments, and unaccompanied by calculations as to the amount of earth to be removed, and the probable cost of the work.
"In 1804, Alexander Von Humboldt and Admiral Fitzroy, the former having made a personal examination of the Darien route, declared in its favor. This route has had many adherents, and a large amount of money has been expended in its examination. I will not weary you with the names of all the explorers and engineers who have examined the various Isthmus routes. The catalogue is a long one; many valuable lives have been sacrificed in this work, and the most of those who returned alive were able to present only unsatisfactory reports. The climate was fearfully unhealthy; the natives were either hostile to the enterprise or indifferent, and would rarely give assistance; and though the governments through whose territory the routes lay were generally well disposed, they could not always control their subjects."
"Probably the most thorough explorations," remarked Dr. Bronson, "were those ordered by the government of the United States in 1870. Several ships were fitted out, and the Darien, Nicaragua, Tehuantepec, and Panama routes were examined. Commodore Shufeldt went to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec; Commanders Hatfield and Lull went to Nicaragua, the latter visiting Panama, to complete the exploration of that route. Commander Selfridge and Lieutenant Collins examined the Darien route, and also some of the rivers entering the ocean a little farther to the north. The whole exploration occupied about three years, and the reports are very voluminous. They are more interesting to the engineer than to the general reader, and I did not bring them along as part of my baggage."
"I have read," said Fred, "about the expedition of Lieutenant Strain. Please tell us what route he examined."
"Strain's expedition was to survey the Darien route," replied the Doctor. "It ended disastrously, as the party lost its way, and also its instruments and provisions, and wandered for many days in a dense forest where the men were obliged to cut their path at nearly every step. More than half the party perished in the wilderness, and Lieutenant Strain died soon after his return to the United States.
"The misfortunes of Strain's expedition were due in great measure to information which proved to have been almost entirely false. An English engineer, named Gisborne, had published a book containing a pretended survey of the country, which he claimed to have surveyed; in consequence of this report the governments of England, France, New Granada, and the United States of America sent expeditions, all of which failed disastrously. Strain's was the only one of the number that succeeded in crossing from ocean to ocean, the rest having turned back on account of the many unexpected difficulties, and the hostility of the Indians, who attacked them repeatedly. It turned out that Gisborne had never crossed the Isthmus, and his map of the Darien region was almost wholly imaginary.
"Several companies have been formed at different times," the Doctor continued, "for the construction of a canal from the Atlantic to the Pacific, but the most of them have existed only on paper. The first of these companies was based on Gisborne's imaginary surveys, and was organized in England, with a capital of seventy-five million dollars. Sir Charles Fox and other heavy capitalists were the promoters of this company, and they confidently expected to complete their work before the year 1860. The preliminary operations showed that the canal, if built at all, would cost several times that amount, and the enterprise was abandoned.
"Concessions have also been granted on other routes, but no serious work has been performed; the concessions were limited in the time of commencing and completing the work, and one after another the limit of time expired without anything having been accomplished. The Panama route