Report concerning the route for the Nicaragua Canal, 1871.
Mr. President of the Republic of Nicaragua:
In your inaugural address you expressed a desire to receive some information with regard to the route of the Nicaragua Canal. This I now have the honor to offer.
The route of the Nicaragua Canal by water, is the river San Juan and Lake Nicaragua; thence across the isthmus from Lake Nicaragua to the Pacific Ocean. We find two feasible routes: the one through the plain of Jocote, via the river of Las Lajas, which flows into Lake Nicaragua, and the river Brito, which flows into the Pacific; the other through the plain of Ochomogo, via the Ochomogo River, which flows into Lake Nicaragua, and the Escalante River, which flows into the Pacific Ocean.
We will now show the situation of the proposed routes for the Nicaragua Canal from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
The world has already been informed by the reports of explorations made at various times of the American isthmus, that a canal through it is nowhere positively feasible, save in Nicaragua. Many celebrated authors have written upon this subject, whose works are so well known that I think it unnecessary to quote from them.
But what has corroborated this opinion, already so well founded, has been the recent exploration made under the auspices of the Government of the United States of America in the territory of Colombia.
Captain Selfridge, accompanied by very skillful engineers and a complete personnel of the various branches of science, after a careful examination, lasting more than five months, declared that it was not possible to open a canal by any of the routes proposed in that territory.
In like manner Commander Shufeldt, on the Tehuantepec route, did not find a practical line for the canal.
Thus it is that, as I said at the beginning, it is only through Nicaragua that this enterprise, the accomplishment of which is so anxiously desired by the friends of human progress, can be carried out.
The most important surveys which have been made by this route are three, which have indicated three points at which the excavation of a canal has seemed possible. I shall treat of these as briefly as possible, in order to pass on to the consideration of a route which, in my opinion, is the easiest of all that have been proposed; and this is the only object of my correspondence.
Commencing in chronological order, we find that the first survey was the one made by Mr. Bailey, an English engineer, for the Central American federation, in the year 1827.
In the first place, I think it will be understood, as a matter of course, that all the surveys which have been made in this country have had for their bases the San Juan River and Lake Nicaragua, which, on account of the abundance of their waters, offer great facilities for a work of this kind; so that, in speaking of the three surveys which I have just mentioned, I shall omit the river and the lake, and shall confine myself to the land portion, where the excavation, properly so called, is to be made.
[Page 674]Returning, then, to the survey of Mr. Bailey; this engineer proposes the line from La Virgin (a port lying to the southeast of Lake Nicaragua in the department of Rivas) to San Juan del Sur, (a port of Nicaragua on the Pacific,) a distance of twelve English miles.
This line does, indeed, pass through the narrowest portion of the Isthmus of Nicaragua; but there is an elevation on it, which, at its highest point, is not less than 364 feet above the level of Lake Nicaragua, the latter being 128 feet above the level of the Pacific. It is readily seen that such an elevation would render any excavation, with the lock system, well-nigh impossible, unless by means of a tunnel; and what a vast amount of labor and money would be necessary to dig a tunnel at such a height, for a distance of three miles! This line, therefore, is not to be considered.
In the second place, we find the line proposed by Colonel Childs, in consequence of the survey made by this experienced engineer in the year 1851.
The press of the country has recently directed attention to the labors of this gentleman, reproducing an able letter from Mr. Body to the New York Herald. The remarks therein made concerning this route are, indeed, very judicious.
He proposes that the digging of the canal commence at the river Las Lajas, which empties into Lake Nicaragua, passing through the plain of Jocote to the river Brito, which flows into the Pacific. The length of the cut is nineteen English miles, and its greatest height 46 feet, that is to say, 318 less than the cut proposed by Mr. Bailey, so that this line would really be very easy, so far as the digging of the canal is concerned. But here we find two very serious difficulties, to overcome which a vast sum of money would be required, which would enormously augment the total cost of the work. These difficulties are the two ports in Lake Nicaragua and the Pacific Ocean.
The first, at the mouth of the river Las Lajas, has only from one to five feet of water for a distance of three-quarters of a mile, on a formation of very hard rocks, which it would be necessary to blast by means of mines, with great labor and outlay of money, and on an entirely open coast. The second, the bocana of the river Brito, in the Pacific, presents the same difficulties. Its depth, at high tide, is from nine to eleven feet; at low tide, from three to four, likewise on the formation of living rocks. It is, therefore, evident that this line, although it offers many advantages, presents, at the same time, difficulties which, if not insurmountable, are at least of such a character as to merit very serious attention. The estimated cost of this line, according to the report of Colonel Childs, is $32,000,000.
In the third place we have to consider the surveys made by Mr. Bailey. It was really believed, for some time, that this gentleman would succeed in accomplishing the object for which he labored so long and so earnestly, so great was the enthusiasm with which his project was embraced by the governments of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, the result of which enthusiasm was the contract of 1858; but we were doomed again to suffer a sad disappointment. The line proposed by Mr. Bailey has fallen, like so many others, into almost total oblivion. His opinion is, that the best line is that of the river Sapoá, (which empties into Lake Nicaragua to the south of the port of La Virgin, already referred to,) to the bay of Salinas, in the Pacific. The distance from one point to the other is about seventeen miles; its greatest elevation, 360 feet.
In this line we meet, as is seen, with the same difficulties as in that of Mr. Bailey’s, in regard to elevation; there being, moreover, an objection in the port of the lake—the bocana of the Sapoá—which is entirely closed for ten months in the year, and which would require a complete artificial port, that it might be rendered serviceable even for vessels of light draught.
Beside the three surveys of which I have just spoken there is a fourth plan, which has never, to my knowledge, become the object of a regular survey. I mean the plan of Prince Napoleon.
This project has attracted the attention of the world, more, perhaps, on account of its author than of its real importance and possible realization. It also awakened considerable enthusiasm in Nicaragua, since the prisoner of Ham offered a line which, crossing the country nearly at its widest extent, would disseminate the benefits of human progress and of incalculable wealth throughout the length and breadth of the land.
But the commence of the world needs a line presenting, as far as possible, the conditions of facility and economy, and these are by no means offered by the Napoleonic project. This commences at the port of San Juan del Norte and the San Juan River, as do all the rest, and, passing through Lake Nicaragua, continues via the Tipitapa River as far as Lake Managua; and the digging of the canal would commence at some point to the west of this lake, and continue as far as the Frith of Realejo, which now forms the port of Corinth, or the Estero Real, which empties into the Bay of Fonseca.
The extent of the digging—properly so called—of both lines, would be from fifty to fifty-two English miles, with a height of 290 feet on the Realejo route, on the Asososca estate, and on the Estero Real route on the Loma Tiesa estate.
As is seen, so extensive an excavation would, in itself, cost much time and not a few millions. Besides this, however, there is an insurmountable difficulty, which renders this line impracticable. I refer to Lake Managua.
[Page 675]This body of water would have to supply both of the cuts to which we have referred, and likewise the Tipitapa River as far as Lake Nicaragua, since it is 28 feet higher than this latter. But the soundings which have been taken at various times in Lake Managua have clearly shown that it does not contain sufficient water to supply even one of the two excavations. This plan is therefore even more impracticable than the others.
The impracticability of the existing projects having been demonstrated, I pass on to speak of the line which, as I stated at the outset, seems to me the only one which is in every respect easy of construction, and which I believe to have been hitherto unknown to the scientific world. It begins at the mouth of the Ochomogo River, to the east of Lake Nicaragua, in 11° 20? north latitude, and 86° longitude from Greenwich; it crosses this river four miles higher up, passes through the estates San Rafael and Los Camarones, which are the property of Mr. Vicente Quadra, passes through Camarones Creek and enters the Escalante River, the latter flowing into the Pacific at the port of Escalante. The entire extent of this distance is 24 geographical miles. Its greatest height, on the estate Camarones, is 36 feet; that is 10 feet less than the greatest height on the line via the river Las Lajas, proposed by Colonel Childs, which we consider the most practicable of the three which have been proposed through Nicaragua.
In order to show that my examination of this route has been carefully made, I will state, with the greatest exactness, the measurements of the whole line, beginning with the port of San Juan del Norte and extending as far as the port of Escalante.
Before beginning the description of the route of the canal from ocean to ocean, it seems to me necessary to say something with regard to the great body of water called Lake Nicaragua. The chief advantage of the Nicaragua route for a canal is its inexhaustible supply of water precisely at its greatest height. The lake is, on an average, eighteen miles long and twenty-five miles wide; its area is therefore more than two thousand square miles, and it receives all the waters of the rains for more than two hundred miles in length, and for eighty and even a hundred miles in width. In a word, it is the great receptacle of the waters of Central America, and this unquestionable fact clearly points to this as the line for an interoceanic canal. The amount of water discharged by Lake Nicaragua is, on an average, 2,846,340 cubic feet per minute. Supposing the locks to be 200 feet long, 100 wide, and 20 deep, a volume of water is required of 400,000 cubic feet, which for the two sides makes 800,000 cubic feet for each passage of a vessel. These figures prove that the discharge of water from Lake Nicaragua is many times greater than the navigation of the canal would require, supposing four vessels to pass per hour.
SAN JUAN RIVER TO LAKE NICARAGUA.
| Places. | Distance in geographical miles from San Juandel Norte upward | Elevation in feet. |
| Port of San Joan del Norte to the Colorado River | 20 | 25 |
| From the Colorado to the Sarapiqué | 29 | 92 |
| San Carlos River | 53¾ | 48 |
| Machuca, (head) | 64½ | 86½ |
| Castillo Viejo | 80 | 108 |
| Toro Rapids | 90½ | 120 |
| San Carlos | 120 | 128 |
Lake Nicaragua. From San Carlos to Zapatera Island, seventy-six miles.
EXCAVATION THROUGH THE ISTHMUS.
From the mouth of the Ochomogo River (which empties into Lake Nicaragua) to the port of Escalante, a distance of twenty-four miles, greatest elevation 36 feet.
The entire length of the canal by this route is two hundred and twenty miles, one hundred and ninety-six of which are by water, and twenty-four through the excavation of the isthmus.
The line which I propose is more practicable than any other, for, even in the cut across the isthmus, there is a river, the Ochomogo, which has a good deal of water throughout the year, and the greatest elevation on the line is not above 36 feet, which is less than that of any other that has been proposed.
The port of Zapatera, in Lake Nicaragua, in the driest season, has from 15 to 16 feet of water, forming a magnificent harbor, protected from the north wind by Zapatera [Page 676] Island, and that of Escalante, in the Pacific, for a distance of 50 varas from the coast, has not less than 45 or 46 feet of water at all times, being protected by very high ground.
I have here set forth as succinctly as possible the result of my long examination of this country.
I hope that experts in these matters and capitalists will give their attention to this plan; my desire that this channel for the commerce of the world may be opened through Nicaragua will then, in all probability, be realized.
PORT OF SAN JUAN DEL NORTE.
This port is at present but one square-mile in extent, and its greatest depth is 23 feet. Its mouth, in the Atlantic Ocean, is closed in the summer and open in the winter, its depth being from 9 to 10 feet.
In order to make a regular port for the canal, it would be necessary to make an excavation which would cost not less than four millions of dollars.
The second section of the port of San Juan del Norte, which extends to the Colorado River, is simply a work of excavation.
At the end of this article I will place a statement of the estimated cost of this as well as of the other works.
BANKS AND BOTTOM OF THE SAN JUAN RIVER.
From the confluence of the Sarapiqué River with the San Juan to the right bank of the river San Carlos the river has high banks and a sandy bottom, except in some places where there are eddies both large and small.
From the confluence of the river San Carlos with the San Juan, to the extremity of the Machuca Rapids, this distance presents very little difficulty, as there is a channel from 17 to 18 feet deep, with high banks. From the foot of the Machuca Rapids to the head of the rapids of Castillo Viejo, there are many difficulties, because the river is full of hard rocks. This will, therefore, be the most costly portion of the route via the San Juan River. From the head of the rapids of Costillo Viejo to the foot of the Toro Rapids there are no obstacles, the depth being sufficient and the banks high.
The Toro Rapids will require a great deal of labor, because they are half a mile in length, and here the dam is to be made for the purpose of raising Lake Nicaragua.
The head of the rapids require a dam constructed on a large scale, so as to raise not only the river above, but also Lake Nicaragua during prevalence of a drought.
That portion of the San Juan River which extends from the Toro Rapids to the port of San Carlos has low banks and a muddy bed.
Here I might conclude my description of the course of the San Juan River from the port of San Juan del Norte to the port of San Carlos, but it is proper to add a few explanations.
As I have stated, not only is the port of San Juan entirely artificial, but also the whole distance from this port up the San Juan River, even beyond the Colorado River, or Punta Gigante. The first distance is twenty miles, and the second twenty-eight.
From these places to the entrance of the Sarapiqué River (right bank) the river is pretty wide, shallow, and has many sand-banks.
From the confluence of the Sarapiqué River with the San Juan to the San Carlos River the banks are low and the bottom sandy. There are, moreover, some very deep eddies.
From the San Carlos (right bank) to the foot of the Machuca Rapids the river is a natural canal, from 16 to 18 feet deep throughout the year, with high banks.
From the foot of the Machuca Rapids to the head of the Castillo Rapids we have the most costly portion in the whole San Juan River, because the entire bed of the river is formed of hard rocks, it being necessary to cut the great Machuca Rapids, together with those of Las Valias and del Mico, as far as the Great Castillo Rapids.
The cost of construction between the head of Castillo Rapids and the foot of Toro Rapids will not be great, the bed of the river being deep and its banks high.
The length of the Toro Rapids is about one-half mile, the bed being formed of solid rocks. At the head of these rapids it will be necessary to construct a very large dam to raise the waters of Lake Nicaragua.
From Toro Rapids to the port of San Carlos the condition of the river is favorable; but it has low banks and a muddy bottom, and is only 18 feet deep.
From the port of San Carlos to Lake Nicaragua the depth of the river is only 5 or 6 feet, with a muddy bottom. It is five or six miles before we find sufficient water for any kind of steam or sail vessels.
Across Lake Nicarauga to the island of Zapatera, or rather to the port of Charco Muerto, we have a line of from 40 to 120 feet in depth.
This is the end of the water line.
[Page 677]DIGGING OF THE CANAL THROUGH THE ISTHMUS.
I now proceed to treat of the most interesting point, which is the digging of the canal through the isthmus. This begins at the port of Zapatera or Charco Muerto, and terminates at the mouth of the Escalante River, in the Pacific.
The length of the land line is twenty-four miles; its greatest height is between Los Camarones and the Ochomogo River, 36 feet above the level of Lake Nicaragua during the rainy season. From Los Camarones a wide creek flows into the Escalante River, which latter empties into the Pacific.
The artificial canal from Lake Nicaragua to the Pacific will require an excavation of ten miles and a half, the greatest elevation being 36 feet.
THE PORT OF ESCALANTE,
on the coast, is an open sea, with a depth of from 45 to 46 feet for a distance of thirty varas from land, protected by high grounds to the north and northeast.
The southwest coast enters the sea to an extent of from 150 to 160 varas. On account of these natural circumstances, the construction of a good port for vessels entering the canal would be very easy.
Considering the situation of the Nicaragua Canal, it seems to me necessary to offer a few more explanations.
In my opinion large ports in the Atlantic and Pacific are unnecessary, because Lake Nicaragua is the largest port in the world.
From Punta Ometepec to the Maderas volcano the distance is six miles, the depth of the water being 72 feet. There are, moreover, the islands of Solentiname and Joho, which have ports suitable for any kind of vessels to the south.
Estimate of the cost of construction of the Nicaragua Canal, commencing at San Juan del Norte, via the river San Juan, through Lake Nicaragua, thence across the plain of Ochomogo to the point where the Escalante River flows into the Pacific, including excavation, locks, machinery, buildings, telegraphs, steamers, &c., &c., &c.
| Places. | Distance in geographical miles. | Cost. |
| PORT AND RIVER SAN JUAN. | ||
| Port of San Juan del Norte | $4,000,000 | |
| From San Juan del Norte to Colorado River | 20 | 10,000,000 |
| From Colorado River to Sarapiqué River | 29 | 2,000,000 |
| From Sarapiqué River to San Carlos River | 53¾ | 8,000,000 |
| From San Carlos River to Machuca Rapids | 64½ | 4,000,000 |
| From Machuca Rapids to Castillo Viejo Rapids | 80 | 12,000,000 |
| From Castillo Viejo Rapids to Toro Rapids | 90½ | 4,000,000 |
| From Toro Rapids to the port of San Carlos | 120 | 6,000,000 |
| LAKE NICARAGUA. | ||
| Excavation of the port of San Carlos, in Lake Nicaragua, and of the port of the island of Zapatera | 76 | 6,600,000 |
| DIGGING THROUGH THE PLAIN OF OCHOMOGO. | ||
| From the mouth of the river Ochomogo, in Lake Nicaragua, to the mouth of the river Escalante, in the Pacific | 24 | 42,000,000 |
| PORT OF ESCALANTE. | ||
| For machinery of all kinds, telegraphs, steamers, lighters, buildings for laborers, &c. | 10,000,000 | |
| Extra expenses | 5,000,000 | |
| For engineer and superintendence | 2,000,000 | |
| Sum total | 115,600,000 |
In conclusion, I think it highly important to quote some of the observations of Colonel Childs, chief engineer of the American canal in the years 1850 and 1851. This engineer measured the line from San Juan del Norte, on the Atlantic, via the San Juan River, through Lake Nicaragua, and across the isthmus to the port of Brito. The greatest elevation of this portion of the isthmus is only 46 feet above the highest grade of the level of Lake Nicaragua. The surroundings are, generally speaking, level and uniform. Colonel Childs estimates the supply of water necessary for the navigation of [Page 678] the canal, including evaporation, infiltration, and escape at the locks, at 800,000 cubic feet; and this eminent professor demonstrates, by his observations, that the discharge of water from Lake Nicaragua is 2,000,899 cubic feet per minute. These observations were made from the 23d of December, 1850, to the 27th of April, 1851. They were commenced when the lake was three and a half feet above its lowest level, or at about its average height, and they showed that, during that period of about one hundred and twenty-five days, the amount of water was 143,022,600,000 cubic feet in excess of what was required for the navigation of the canal, allowing the passage of three vessels per hour. The great increase of water caused by the autumn rains had diminished by about half when Colonel Childs made his observations. An increase in the lake is small when it does not exceed five or six, or perhaps seven feet. In the area of this inland sea the volume of water increases; from the lowest grade it may be fixed at 400,000,000,000 of cubic feet, without counting the immense quantity which must be discharged from the lake when the increase takes place. The rain, which is the most abundant known in the world, having been repeatedly measured, was 98 inches per annum, or a volume of water 8 feet in depth on a surface four times as great as that of Lake Nicaragua.
Colonel Childs, with his officers, says: “We think ourselves justified in saying that there are no conditions on the continent of America so favorable as those which are offered by Nicaragua;” and this opinion is that of very many men distinguished in science, whose views are found stated in public documents; these drew our attention to this plan, and resulted in the formation of the American company for the construction of the canal, based on the report of the surveys for the canal in 1850 and 1851. This opinion has been before the public for nearly twenty years; it has not been contradicted, but has received the approbation of the engineers appointed by the British government to examine it, likewise that of a committee of topographical engineers of the United States of America, whose opinion was submitted, in 1852, to the President of said States. The committee, in making its report through Colonel Abert and Lieutenant Colonel Turnbull, its members, said, among other things: “We think that the plan proposed by Mr. Childs is practicable, since there is a large supply of water in the lake itself, without counting the other supplies which exist below its level, and that there is no other route so well provided with water; and that the outlay of money and labor estimated by Mr. Childs would be sufficient for the accomplishment of the work.” The great interest which we have in the Nicaragua route has rendered all plans for the discovery of new lines of communication between the two oceans very important to us, and they should receive our serious consideration; but we must declare, as the result of twenty years’ attention to this matter, that, so far as we can judge, no passage has been discovered that was not known to the ancient Spaniards and other exploring expeditions, whence it may be reasonably inferred that no new route will be discovered.
The country bordering on the entire route of the Nicaragua canal is healthy, and is rendered comparatively temperate by the constant breezes; its beauty is proverbial, and nature has provided it with abundant means of subsistence in cattle and many other products, mines, timber, &c.
It cannot be doubted that these must interest the commerce of the world, and particularly the Government of the United States, which has recently sent exploring expeditions to different parts of this continent, at great expense, but without having as yet obtained any result. We earnestly hope that the Government and people of the United States of America will direct their attention to the sure and important route of an interoceanic canal through Nicaragua; if this has not yet been finally declared to be the only practicable one, it is undoubtedly because very powerful private interests have been arrayed against it. The Nicaragua route, however, has nature in its favor, which seems to have prepared for human intelligence the only way possible in order to unite the two largest bodies of water in the universe, and nature will triumph.