as no adventurer. There are many of the clauses of the convention to which I should have imagined that the English Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs would not have given an assent, although he might not be called on to express dissent. In the 26th Article it is stipulated that during the making of the canal—which if it were to be made at all would be protracted over many years— two French ships of war should lie in the Lake of Nicaragua; it having been stipulated by Art. 24 that no other ships of war should be admitted; thus giving to France a military occupation of the country. And by Art. 28 it is agreed that any political squabble relative to this convention should be referred to a tribunal of seven; two to be named by the company, and one each by France, England, the United States, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. It is I imagine hardly probable that the English government would send one member to such a tribunal, in which France would have three voices to her one, two of which would be wholly irresponsible.

Of course the letter does not bind Lord Malmesbury or any secretary for foreign affairs to the different articles of the convention; but if it be a genuine letter, I cannot but think it to have been imprudent.*

The assistance of Lord Malmesbury has been obtained by the easy progress of addressing a letter to him. But to seduce the presidents of Central America a greater effort has been made. They are told that they are the wisest of the earth's potentates. "Carrera, of Guatemala,

*M. Belly speaks of his convention as having been adopted by France, England, and the United States. "Adopted, as it already is, by the United States, by England, and by France, and as it soon will be by the contracting Powers of the Treaty of Paris, it will become "--the saviour of the world, &c. &c. What basis there is for this statement, as regards France and the United States, I do not know. As regards England, I presume Lord Malmesbury's letter affords that basis.

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though an Indian and uneducated, is a man of natural genius, and has governed for fifteen years with a wisdom which attracted to him the unanimous adherence of his colleagues." "Don Juan Mora, of Costa Rica, the hero of Rivas, has not had to spill a drop of blood in maintaining in his cities an order much more perfect than any to be found in Europe. He is a man, 'hors de ligne,' altogether out of the common, and although he counts scarcely forty years, but few political examples of old Europe can be compared to him." And as for General Martinez, President of Nicaragua, "since he has arrived at the direction of affairs there, he would have healed all the wounds of the country-had not the fatal influence of North American spirit paralyzed all his efforts." What wonder that Presidents so spoken of should sign away their lands and waters?

But presuming all political obstacles to be removed, and that as regards the possession of the land, and the right of making a canal through it, everything had been conceded, there remain two considerable difficulties. In the first place, the nature of the waters and land, which seems to prohibit the cutting of a canal, except at an expense much more enormous than any that has been ever named; and secondly, the amount of money to be collected, even if M. Belly's figures be correct. He states that he can complete the work for four million eight thousand pounds. From whence is that sum to be procured?

As regards the first difficulty, I, from my own knowledge, can say nothing, not being an engineer, and having seen only a small portion of the projected route. I must therefore refer to M. Belly's engineer, and those who hold views differing from M. Belly. M. Belly's engineer-inchief is M. Thomé de Gamond, who, in the pamphlet above

alluded to, puts forward his calculations, and sends in his demand for the work at four million eight hundred thousand pounds. The route is by the river San Juan, a portion of which is so shallow that canoes in their course are frequently grounded when the waters are low, and other parts of which consist of rapids. It then goes through the lake, a channel through which must be dredged or cleared with gunpowder before it can carry deep-sea ships, and then out to the Pacific by a canal which must be cut through the mountains. There is nothing in the mere sound of all this to make a man, who is ignorant on the subject as I and most men are, feel that the work could not be done for the sum named. But before investing cash in the plan, one would like to be sure of the engineer, and to know that he has made his survey very accurately.

Now it appears that M. Thomé de Gamond has never set foot in Central America; or, if he has done so now-. and I do not know whether he has or has not that he never had done so when he drew out his project. Nor, as it would appear, has he even done his work, trusting to the eyes and hands of others. As far as one can learn, no surveys whatsoever have been taken for this gigantic scheme.

The engineer tells us that he has used marine charts and hydrographical drawings made by officers of various nations, which enable him to regard his own knowledge as sufficiently exact as far as shores and levels of the rivers, &c., are concerned; and that with reference to the track of his canal, he has taken into his service-"utilisé" the works of various surveying engineers, among them Colonel Child, the American. They, to be sure, do leave him at a loss as to the interior plateau of the Mosquito country, and some regions to the east and south of

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the lake the canal must enter the lake by the southeast;—but this is a matter of no moment, seeing that all these countries are covered by virgin forests, and can therefore easily be arranged! Gentleman capitalists, will you on this showing take shares in the concern?

The best real survey executed with reference to any kindred project was that made by Colonel Child, an officer of engineers belonging to the United States. I believe I may say this without hesitation; and it is to Colonel Child's survey that M. Belly most frequently refers. But the facts, as stated by Colonel Child, prove the absolute absurdity of M. Belly's plan. He was employed in 1851 by an American company, which, as it went to the considerable expense of having such work absolutely done, was no doubt in earnest in its intentions with reference to a canal. Colonel Child did not actually report against the canal. He explained what could be done for a certain sum of money, leaving it to others to decide whether, in effecting so much, that sum of money would be well laid out. He showed that a canal seventeen feet deep might be made-taking the course of the San Juan and that of the lake, as suggested by M. Belly-for a sum of thirty-one millions of dollars, or six million two hundred thousand pounds.

But when the matter came to be considered by men versed in such concerns, it was seen that a canal with a depth of only seventeen feet of water would not admit of such vessels as those by which alone such a canal could be beneficially used. Passengers, treasure, and light goods can easily be transhipped and carried across by railway. The canal, if made at all, must be made for the passage of large vessels built for heavy goods. For such vessels a canal must hold not less than twenty-five feet of water. It was calculated that a cutting of such

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IMPRACTICABILITY OF THE SCHEME.

depth would cost more than double the sum needed for that intended to contain seventeen feet-more, that is, than twelve million four hundred thousand pounds. The matter was then abandoned, on the conviction that no ship canal made at such a cost could by any probability become remunerative. In point of time it could never Colonel Child had calculated

compete with the railway. that a delay of two days would take place in the locks; and even as regards heavy goods, no extreme freight could be levied, as saving of expense with them would be of much greater object than saving of time.

That this decision was reached on good grounds, and that the project, then, at any rate, was made bonâ fide there can, I believe, be no doubt. In opposition to such a decision, made on such grounds, and with no encouragement but that given by the calculations of an engineer who has himself made no surveys, I cannot think it likely that this new plan will ever be carried out. The eloquence even of M. Belly, backed by such arguments, will hardly collect four million eight hundred thousand pounds; and even if it did, the prudence of M. Belly would hardly throw such an amount of treasure into the San Juan river.

As I have before said, there appears to have been no company formed. M. Belly is the director, and he has a bureau of direction in the Rue de Provence. But though deficient as regards chairmen, directors, and shareholders, he is magnificently provided with highsounding officials. Then again there comes a blank. Though the corps of officers was complete when I was in Costa Rica, at any rate as regards their names, the workmen had not arrived; not even the skilled laborers who were to come in detachments of forty-five by each mail