DIFFICULTIES OF SURVEY IN CENTRAL AMERICA.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 2005, 3 June 1868, Page 6

DIFFICULTIES OF SURVEY IN CENTRAL AMERICA.

C»illiiii:»m n.trrab-s :—" Our camp -was " pitched ihnt nielli a' out 200 yarda " from Ilio river, in a thick bamboo " brake, imd during the evening wu " were <list.m-l.tid Hovoral times, by " licaring wild bef>H'« walking very clone " to us ; 'however, iihout 10 o'clock, well " worn out with I'uc fati^neri of the day, " Oliver and T Ml ash-op, though not bo " PeM-iii'/. Ah UHti.-il. *>nr liammocks " wen! H-.vnn^ in i>iral!"l line:» «ndur_tho " tfnt- Tniiio, in tho c.-uti-e. Deerinjf. " tho diilv oiKi iiwako, fiinvivd he heard " footHtorii unvleiwantly chiso to our " camp, wis jti;sr, on the point of awaking " mis, v.'i.Mi ;l Itr.'ineh cracked as if an " anininl lui-l trod on it, Rome heavy body " i'unpiid over htm, just striking his " iiainmoc.k'a «-d</<> ; tho snnio moment 1 " was Htnick it tre-.nwidouii blow on the " hip, ca'iHii'Aid out of the hammock, and " found lnvMili i-.-llin-; on the ground, " trvbi'c to ixtroi-.U* nivsi-lf from my " l>l:uik*-t, with tjvt-rvl'ody awako and. " hi'llooii-',' r,u!, "I'i'fcr !' The noise " friijht'Mied tho VutensT: »«' had, eyi- " dimtly tn.-i'it! ■■- iiii'.c:i.'c'i]ii.sinn, luckily " for uif), ;i:id in-itctid of iilii,d»tin','on top "of in./with his <-I;ih-s, jumped a little *' low v.rA s:rnok nm with his head. " V.'c h ivd Ihi! Lrnti!, and aoino " com^nnif«ti», s iftlv Widkin-'i raund us all " nLdir. :t:id wn^ nn-.-'uiiDciily irlnd when " dayli,:ht appynrod.1' A'.'ain, Mr CollinRon rehitc-s th-t; "In tho afternoon, Mr " Oliver h;>d :i very nr.rr<>-.v o.x-.ipc from " a Pnnn. (W'\ix o-'uscoi.u-), v.hieh sprang

" at him •■vlicn jumping nvsrosn a stream, " from behind a. true overhead. Though j " his was only ]u;vl<'il with TJ U shot, ' " forlnn:iMy tho" two cli-ir^c-3 settled tho " hruto, ."'>::in <>f irlio nhoi f.oiictralin^ hin " ljraiti : hiss:;m was ?«on peclo'.i off and ti p lvH orvctl as a trophy," Tho rosult of this oxpodifion demonstratea tho practicnbilitv of constructing .1 Railway ivo\n Luke Nicir:i«na to the Atlantic, and gives reliable «lnta fixed ly bench mark* on the ground for fuhtro operations Mr Collinann sayn, " Tho ponotra- " tion across from tho Lake to tho "Atlantic, with a summit level ot only 619 SO feet abovo tho former, doo3 away with all &•*» that previously existed of thcro being inaccessible and

" lofty mountain ranges to bar the con- " struction of a Railway. Taken as a " broad fact, thconiy range of importance, *' tho Cordilleras, which, in other parts of " Isthmus, forms so impassable an ob- " ataclo to railway construction, has here, " by a freak of nature, with the exeption " of a few of its highest peaks, been " obliterated and covered up by Lakes " Managua and Nicaragua, down which " its central lino runs. Before, however, " reaching the northernmost lake, the " Cordilleras shoot out two subsidiary " ranges, one on each aide, which enclose " and form the watersheds of the two " lakes. Jn tho range running down " between these lakes and tho Pacific " Ocean, a pass, at tho height of 615 feet, " has been discovered; while in the other " range, an almost eimilar altitude of " 020 feet, has been disclosed by my " recent surveys. Another point of int- " portance, tho question of impassable " swamps, has been set at rest—absolutely " none exist."