A further contribution to the possibilities of the Darien region in respect of a canal was the discovery in 1865, by M. de Lacharme, of a passage from the Rio Paya, an affluent of the Tuyra, to the Rio Caquiri, which flows into the Atrato; and his consequent survey of the rivers Tuyra and Paya. But it would be difficult even to mention the numerous surveys, plans, and projects that evidenced the eager desire which existed to gain the immense advantages that would accrue to the commercial world by the opening of ship canal communication between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In a report by Admiral Davis of the U.S. Navy, made in 1867, he enumerates no fewer than nineteen separate canal projects, besides seven proposed railroads, in the isthmus between Tehuantepec and the Atrato River. But the question of the location for a canal was most naturally settled by the construction of the Panama Railway, which, in spite of extreme difficulties, was completed in 1855 and opened for goods and passenger traffic between Colon and Panama. I have described elsewhere the construction of this line and the immediate causes which contributed thereto. The facilities for transit which it offers could not but render its route the most fitting one for the making of a canal across the isthmus; but the railway had been in operation for sixteen years before recent developments with regard to canal construction began with a series of international geographical congresses, the first of which was held in Antwerp in the year 1871. The question of a ship canal across the American isthmus was discussed at this congress, and the project recommended to the attention of the great maritime powers and of the scientific societies throughout the world. Four years later, at a second Congress in Paris, the question again came up for consideration. At the sittings of this Congress there was present Ferdinand de Lesseps, who was then at the height of his reputation, having a few years previously, in spite of difficulties and oppositions, fulfilled all his predictions and carried to a successful issue his scheme for a canal from Suez to Port Said. Little wonder that his eloquence had great weight! He told the Congress how all the authors of the various projects for connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific had, up to that time, made the mistake of committing themselves to a canal with locks of fresh water. [Illustration: THE OLD PANAMA RAILWAY TRACK.] Arguing from his triumph at Suez, he declared that none but a sea-level canal should be attempted, and that such a canal was alone likely to meet the wants of international commerce. Again a resolution was passed, urging that facilities should be given for the construction of a canal in this part of the world; but resolutions, being merely expressions of opinion, somewhat resemble good intentions in vagueness of destination. However, an active step forward was taken by the appointment of a committee to further the project.