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Excerpt from The Nicaragua Canal: Its Design, Final Location, and Work Accomplished; 1890 The idea of establishing a water-way across the American Isthmus dates back from the beginning of the Sixteenth Century, when the early navigators, perceiving the narrow neck of land separating the two oceans, were forcibly impressed by the advantages to be derived by cutting a canal through it. The Isthmus of Panama, being the narrowest part of that strip of land, and Nicaragua, on account of the evident natural facilities presented by the Lake and its outlet, the river San Juan, have always been the main points of attraction as possessing the most favorable features for doing the work, and as early as 1550 the Portugese navigator, Antonio Galvao, proposed four routes; one of which was by way of Lake Nicaragua and the San Juan River, and another through the Isthmus of Panama. As the configuration of the Isthmus became better known, the belief in the practicability of joining the two oceans by a canal gradually increased; but it was not until the beginning of the present century, when, through the endorsement of Humboldt, who had studied the problem on the ground, and, later on, through the united efforts of the Central American Republics, that the question commenced to assume a well-defined shape. But, while these States and the Republic of New Granada were anxiously soliciting the co-operation of other nations and of capitalists in favor of the undertaking, no regular surveys had been made of any portion of the Isthmus, the routes proposed, and claimed to have been discovered, being the result of imperfect reconnoissances, or of the imagination. It was evident, moreover, that the work would require the expenditure of large sums of money; and, while it was universally admitted that the canal would be of great advantage to the world at large, it was not equally clear that the probable traffic seeking it would be sufficient to pay interest on the capital invested. But the gold discoveries following the acquisition of California by the United States, and the subsequent rapid development of the vast commercial and agricultural interests of the territories lying on the Pacific Slope, exerted a powerful influence in attracting attention to the commercial and political importance of the Canal. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.