Interoceanic Canal Research Articles

An Inter-Oceanic Canal

TO-DAY the long-talked-of International Congress on the subject of a canal across the Central American Isthmus meets in Paris under the presidency of M. De Lesseps. This question is a very old one, but the movement which has led up to the present Congress commenced only in 1875, at the instigation of Lieut. Lucien N. B. Wyse, of the French Navy. At the International Congress of Geography of that year the subject of the piercing of the American isthmus was seriously discussed. Under the presidency of M. De Lesseps an international jury was appointed to decide upon the best track and to give its opinion on the financial and economical possibility of the execution of the scheme. It was resolved to postpone the meeting of the grand jury until after the exploration of the Paya-Caquirri line. In less than a year a society of exploration was constituted, the capital subscribed, the concession of a canal obtained from the Government of Columbia, and towards the end of 1876 an expedition set out from France for the Isthmus of Darien under the command of Lieut. Wyse. From that time till a few months ago, Lieut. Wyse, with the aid of Lieut. Reclus, M. Sosa, and a staff of engineers, surveyors, &c., has been carrying on his explorations in various parts of the isthmus, so that now a vast quantity of data has been collected, and will be brought before the Congress which meets to-day. Whatever decision the Congress may come to on the immediate subject under discussion, the value of these, as well as previous explorations in connection with an inter-oceanic canal, are very great so far as our knowledge of Central America is concerned. They have added much to the scanty information we had on the physical geography, hydrography, fauna and flora of the region explored.

Map of the Isthmus of Darien

Panama is an elongated strip of land. In the west are the foothills of the Talamanca mountain range (known as the Tasabara mountains in Panama), where very active volcanoes such as the Baru volcano have emerged. Panama forms part of a tectonic microplate resting on the Caribbean and Nazca plates. The center of the country, where the interoceanic canal was built, is also the most depressed, sunken part of the country. From this point to the east, Panama forms an arc ending with the Darien province, which connects the isthmus of Central America to the continent of South America.

On the reported Current in the Suez Canal

IT is stated on excellent authority that a constant current runs through the central portion of the Suez Canal, from the side of the Mediterranean to that of the Red Sea, and a good deal of surprise has been excited by this apparently anomalous phenomenon. A little consideration will, however, suffice to establish a theory, that constant currents are almost necessary conditions of inter-oceanic canals, and that their absence, not their presence, would be contrary to just expectation. My reason is based on the improbability that a long canal, A B, could be constructed across strata that are almost necessarily inclined in one direction more than another, which should not resist the flow of tidal water from, say, A towards B, more than from B towards A. Wherever this differential aspect is established, a quasi-valvular action is called into existence, and a current along the middle of the canal, in a constant direction, is the necessary consequence.

Inter-oceanic ship canal via the atrato and Truando Rivers

Inter-oceanic ship canal via the atrato and Truando Rivers

Rough notes of an exploration for an inter-oceanic canal route by way rivers Atrato and San Juan, in New Granada, South America

Rough notes of an exploration for an inter-oceanic canal route by way rivers Atrato and San Juan, in New Granada, South America