The Nicaragua Canal

Abstract

THE author of this book, though originally an engineer by profession, has become a traveller, a newspaper correspondent in Africa, the Far East, and Central America, and a writer about Eastern countries and problems. The book, accordingly, somewhat naturally reflects the two-fold experiences of the writer. Nicaragua is regarded, on the one hand, as the probable site of a gigantic engineering undertaking for connecting the Atlantic and Pacific, rivalling in commercial importance the Suez Canal; and the feasibility and prospects of the proposed canal are considered from an engineering standpoint, in combination with its commercial and political aspects, which cannot be disassociated from the more purely engineering problems involved. On the other hand, Nicaragua is described, in four chapters in the middle of the book, from the traveller's point of view; and details are given of the manners and customs of the population, the means of communication and resources of the country, with descriptions of the principal towns and other matters of interest noticed in the author's tour through the country. This portion of the book will possess attractions for readers of books of travel; but it appears to have been introduced rather with the object of recording the facts casually collected by the author, than as having any special bearing on the important problem of interoceanic communication. The main object of the book is unquestionably the Nicaragua Canal; and the Suez Canal has demonstrated that it is quite possible to construct a highway for navigation in a country devoid of natural resources, and that the physical conditions of the site selected, and the climate, are the main points which determine the feasibility of isthmian canals.