The next to be considered, and perhaps the last and the best channel by which a communication between the Atlantic and the Pacific could be opened up, and safely carried on, is through central America, or the Republic of Guatemala, by means of the River St. Juan and the Lakes Nicaragua and Managua, or, as the latter is more generally called, (p. 096) Leon. These lakes are connected with each other by a river, and are navigable for ships; Nicaragua for ships of the line. The River St. Juan forms the outlet of both into the Atlantic Ocean, and is, according to Estella, navigable throughout its course for ships of large burden. The mouth of the St. Juan, according to the late survey by Capt. Owen, lays in 10 deg.53' N. lat. and in 83 deg.40' W. long. Leon, the capital of the province in which Lake Managua is situated, and from which the name of Leon is generally given to the latter, stands, according to the best Spanish authorities, in 12 deg.20' N. lat. and 86 deg.45' W. long.; and its port, Rialejo, on the Pacific, in 12 deg.29'50" N. lat., and 87 deg.6' W. long. From the mouth of the River St. Juan to Rialejo, in a bearing of N. 66 deg. W. the distance is 235 miles; and this bearing runs nearly through the centre of the lakes and the course of the River St. Juan. From the point where the River St. Juan issues from the Lake Nicaragua to the point where the River Lapita, which issues from Lake Managua, falls into the former, the distance, taken on the best maps, is about 95 miles. Rialejo is situated on a river of the same name, which is deep, and capable of holding in the harbour 200 sail of the largest ships. The harbour is well protected from the force of the Pacific, and from storms, by an island stretching out before it, with two channels between it and the main land; the one opening to the south-east, and the other to the north-west. The adjacent country is very fertile, but the place itself is reckoned unhealthy, owing to some swamps in the vicinity and to the southward; but which, it is believed, might be drained and cleared, which would render the climate salubrious, or, at least, as much so as any tropical climate can be to Europeans.