, then, is by no means so eligible a spot as the isthmus of Panama.
From its situation, the Tehuantepec route would, nevertheless, be
extremely valuable to the North Americans; and it must not be forgotten
that, in this stirring age, there is scarcely an undertaking that baffles
the ingenuity of man. Owing to their position, the North Americans would
gain more by shortening the passage to the Pacific than ourselves; and
Tehuantepec being the nearest point to them suited for that object, and
also the one which they could most effectually control, it is more than
probable that, at some future period, they will use every effort to have
it opened. The country through which the line would pass is confessedly
richer, healthier, and more populous, than that contiguous to the Lake of
Nicaragua, or across the isthmus of Panama; but should the work projected
ever be carried into execution, eventually this route must become an
American monopoly.

The citizens of the United States, it will therefore readily be believed,
are keenly alive to the subject, and calculate thus:--A steamer leaving
the Mississippi can reach Guassacualco in six days; in seven, her cargo
might be transferred across the isthmus of Tehuantepec to the Pacific, and
in fifty more reach China--total, sixty-three days. As an elucidation, let
us suppose that the usual route to the same destination, round Gape Horn,
from a more central part of the Union--Philadelphia, for example--is 16,
150 miles; in that case the distance saved, independent of less sea risk,
would be as follows:--From the Delaware to Guassacualco, 2100 miles;
across Tehuantepec to the Pacific, 120; to the Sandwich Islands, 3835; to
the Ladrone do., 3900; and to Canton, 2080--total, 12,035 miles; whereby
the saving would be 4115, besides affording greater facilities for the
application of steam. Their estimate of the saving to the Columbia river
is still more encouraging. From one of their central ports the distance
round Cape Horn is estimated at 18,261 miles; whereas by the Mexican route
it would be, to Guassacualco and overland to the Pacific, 2220 miles, and
thence to the Columbia river, 2760--total, 4980; thus leaving the enormous
difference of 13, 281 miles--two-thirds of the distance, besides the
advantage of a safer navigation. By the new route, and the aid of steam, a
voyage to the destination above named may be performed in thirty instead
of a hundred and forty days; and as the population ex