The Isthmus of Tehuantepec - being the results of a survey for a railroad to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, made by the scientific commission under the direction of Major J.G. Barnard - with (14780184583)

Identifier: isthmusoftehuant00will (find matches)
Title: The Isthmus of Tehuantepec : being the results of a survey for a railroad to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, made by the scientific commission under the direction of Major J.G. Barnard ... : with a résumé of the geology, climate, local geography, productive industry, fauna and flora, of that region : illustrated with numerous maps and engravings
Year: 1852 (1850s)
Authors: Williams, John Jay, 1818-1904 Tehuantepec Railroad Company United States Naval Observatory, former owner. DSI
Subjects: Railroads
Publisher: New York : D. Appleton & Company ...
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library



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with plantationsof maize and tobacco, the stalks of the former standing, not un-frequently, fourteen feet high, and the ground yielding annuallytwo crops. Of the richness of the soil in the river-bottoms, it-is difficult to find terms which might convey an adequate idea.Yet the inhabitants are deplorably ignorant, and cultivate onlythe cleared portions of the land, where the maize and tobacco(for the sake of economizing room) are planted in the same field;but even under these circumstances, the exportations to othertowns, as El Barrio, Petapa, &c, are very considerable; whilethe cotton raised here, though small in point of quantity, is notinferior to that of Louisiana or Mississippi. At Santa Maria Chimalapa the ixtle is by far the finest onthe Isthmus, and the yield very great. Much attention is alsopaid to the raising of oranges, which form an important part ofthe trade of the town. These, with a small quantity of cacao,constitute the chief products. On both sides of the Rio del
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HYDROGRAPHIC REPORTS. Corte, the forests are very similar to those which skirt the mar-gins of the Chicapa, and present a reeking mass of vegetationin endless variety. The chief object of your instructions having reference to anexploration of the Rio del Corte, I obtained a balsa, with properguides, and on the morning of £he 15th of April reached a pointa short distance below the Chimalapilla, beyond which I didnot deem it necessary to explore. Between this point and theplace of setting out, called the Paraca Nicolas, one and a halfleagues N. 33° W. from the puebla, the river is exceedingly tor-tuous and narrow, with frequent strong rapids, and a depth va-rying from two to twenty-seven feet—the bottom alternatingbetween granite, slate, and limestone, with pebbles of quartzand jasper, and large boulders of conglomerate rock. The Riodel Pinal, at its junction with the main stream, forms an angleof 22°, and has a general direction of M. E. by j$V Its entrance,however, is blocked by