THE PROGRESS OF THE PANAMA CANAL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 204, 27 August 1881, Page 4

THE PROGRESS OF THE PANAMA CANAL.

A correspondent of the Journal des Debate, writing from Panama, gives an interesting account of the progress made thus far with the great project of M. de Lesseps. The first practical work of any importance yet completed is the construction of a grand pathway from Colon to Panama, which has been cleared of trees and other obstructions to a width varying from 30 to 60 feet. Now that this clearance has been effected, it is possible for the first time to &«t a clear idea of the work which is before the company. Hitherto, it has only been by rather vague guesses that the lie of the surface could be conjectured, inasmucn •« th& thick foliage of the trees, spreading in dense larches over the valleys and ravinea, often make it difficult to see that these ex^ isted^ If it was assumed, as the Debats thinks, that in these cases the ground was as flat as the tops of the trees, then the discovery of deep depression so arched over will, of course, be a great gain in estimating the extent of the excavation works. There is, however, another point in which the most recent explorations are regarded as unexpectedly favorable. It was assumed, whed the plan was made, that all along the route of the projected canal a stratum of hard rock would be found underlying the soil at about a depth of twelve feet. But at Emperador, where the principal borings have been made, it is stated that on March 31 the instrument had reached a depth of thirty-seven feet without finding any rock. And even the rock which appeared was only a layer about six feet thick, succeeded underneath by a mixture of clay and soft stone, which went down to a depth of sixty-four feet, where the bore was still working lately without again encountering any rock. It is now said that the excavation works will be begun about October next, after the rainy season, and in the meantime the preparatory operations are being carried on by companies of workmen, recruited from amongst the inhabitants, and from Carthagena, whence they have been opportunely driven by an invasion of locusts.