THE DARIEN CANAL.

Westport Times, Volume V, Issue 834, 6 July 1871, Page 3

THE DARIEN CANAL.

The American papers publish an important letter from Commander Selfridge, the chief of the Darien Expedition, in which he announces his belief that he has found a practical route for a canal across the isthmus, whieh will permit vessels of all sizes 10 pass from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, and vice versa. The commander writes:—" The Atrato is navigable for the largest ships. So is the Cacurien for twelve miles, which reduces the length of the line to less thau fifty miles.' I crossed the watershed at a height, I am confident, of not more than 300 feet. It was correctly measured by my pocket compass ; at 170 feet it more than ten feet wide at the crest, and the base not over a mile and a half. The heigbt of the base above the level of the sea I have only estimated, and I may be in error. There is plenty of water for a lock canal, though my preference is for a through cut, of course unless our estimates reach too high a figure. The foundation of the hiils is soft earth very easily worked; indeed nothing better could be asked. I have completed all my arrangements for the Atlantic slope, and am now on my way to the Grulf of San Miguel, to start the work from the Pacific side. I hope and pray I may be successful. The harbour off the mouth of the Atrato is perfect, and, after examination, I consider the work of deepening one of the mouths a£ the Atrato but a small affair. I intend to examine another route from Simon Bay, which is a short distance below Caspian Bay, across the dividing ridge, following the Napipi Biver, to the Atrato. Natives assure me that they go in two and half days from the Atrato to the Pacific. They take but five hours in the transit from the head by canoe navigation to the Pacific, and the hills are not higher than our topsailyard. Trantwine's line crosses below this river—the one he estimates to cost 350,000,000 dollars."

The bombardment of portions of Paris is said to have played havoc with the lamp-posts. The .Russian Government is actively pushing on the fortifications of Cronstadt, Sebastopol, Odessa, and Kertch. The census returns give the population of Glasgow (approximately) at 480,000; Duudee, 122,000 j and Aberdeen, 88,000, Au American has committed suicide by leaping from the top of one of the Pyramids. The new barricades in Paris were regular earthworks, and are described as very formidable.