of convincing the world of its feasibility, and had he lived I am inclined to think that he would have carried out this great work.

THE NICARAGUA ROUTE.

In all the investigations undertaken of late years, both by officials and private individuals, the part taken by the United States has been most prominent. The American Government has from time to time despatched to the isthmus many exploring expeditions, the results of which have been duly presented in that admirable form so characteristic of the American "Memoirs of Surveys of States."

The canal follows what is known as the "Nicaragua route," which, according to the official report, submitted to the President of the United States on February 7th, 1876, "begins on the Atlantic side, at or near Greytown, runs by canal to the San Juan river, thence follows its left bank to the mouth of the San Carlos river, at which point navigation of the San Juan river begins, and by the aid of three short canals of the aggregate length of 3.5 miles, reaches Lake Nicaragua; from thence across the Lake and through the valleys of the Rio del Medio and the Rio Grande, to what is known as the port of Brito, on the Pacific coast. It possesses, both for the construction and maintenance of a canal, greater advantages, and offers fewer difficulties from engineering, commercial, and economic points of view, than any of the other routes shown to be practicable by surveys

sufficiently in detail to enable a judgment to be formed of their relative merits." This opinion, based upon a long and careful study of the several route-surveys across the continent, was signed by General Humphries (Chief of Engineers), Mr. Patterson (Superintendent of Coast Survey), and Commodore Ammen (Chief of Bureau of Navigation).'

1

Mr. Menocal's connection with the canal project has

In reply to a statement made by the "Railroad Gazette," that one unfavourable report seems to have been considered unsuitable for distribution, and the apparent reason for so considering it was the excess of some of the estimates over those made by the engineers of the promoters," Mr. Menocal replied:

"I have always tried to keep myself posted in matters relating to this project, but I must admit that on this point my information is deficient. I have no knowledge of such a document. . . .

"Major W. McFarland (of the Corps of Engineers), Prof. Henry Mitchell (of the Coast Survey), and General Jacob Ammen, all submitted reports to the International Canal Commissioner of the results of an examination made in 1874 of the Nicaragua and Darien routes, and these reports were transmitted to the President of the United States on the 7th of February, 1876, but none of the documents in question within my knowledge have ever been published. . . . The Senate has recently called upon the Secretary of War for a copy of the missing, or so-called 'suppressed' documents, and I trust they will be unearthed. I know that General Humphries and Admiral Ammen, both members of the Commission, made earnest efforts to procure a publication of all the manuscript inclosures, but while the original report of the Commission was in 1879 still preserved, none of the subordinate reports could be found, nor does a copy appear to have been filed in the Engineering Bureau. But none of these papers would have been of any special value. . . . The present is almost entirely a new project, and the estimates are made in the light of experience gained in twenty years, and through the expenditures for new surveys of nearly half a million. dollars, and in construction of several millions more."

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been very intimate for the past twenty-four years, and his name will for ever be associated with the enterprise. On each occasion that the United States Government, either directly or indirectly, have taken action in the matter, Mr. Menocal has been the engineer selected for the work. In 1871-73 the route was explored and reported on by Commander Lull, assisted by Mr. Menocal. Appointed civil engineer in the United States Navy in 1874, and next year chief engineer of an expedition to survey a canal route, in 1876 and 1877 Mr. Menocal was employed by the Government of Nicaragua with the consent of the Secretary of the United States Navy, in surveying the San Juan river and the harbour at Greytown, with a view to their improvement; in 1878, in conjunction with Admiral Ammen, he was appointed to attend the Inter-Oceanic Canal Congress, which assembled at Paris on the 15th of May, 1879, when Lesseps spoke well of the route and of Mr. Menocal's work. The records of that convention attest the fact that Mr. Menocal called special attention to the immense. floods of the Chagres river, and the damage these would do to the proposed tidal canal. In 1885 he executed a thorough examination and location of the entire canal

1 "Sept ou huit auteurs, et parmi eux MM. Lull, Menocal, Blanchet ont produit au Congrès des projets qui empruntaient la route du Nicaragua. Le point est, en effet, des plus favorables."-Vol. i., p. 462.

"Les Américains par l'organe de l'Amiral Ammen, se sont montrés particulièrement favorables à ce tracé. C'est d'ailleurs à l'un de leurs ingénieurs, M. Menocal, qu'on doit le projet, admirablement conçu et étudié, du canal éclusé."-LESSEPS, Souvenirs de Quarante Ans, vol. i., p. 464.