Dr. Cullen justly claims to have recalled public attention to the merits of this route. The fine harbors of San Miguel on the Pacific, and of Caledonia Bay and Port Escocés on the Atlantic, taken in connection with the narrowness of the Isthmus, would attract a casual observer. The favorable opinion of Humboldt has led many to look hopefully to this region. The advantageous situation of the Savana River was pointed out by Dr. Cullen, who claims to have “crossed, and recrossed, between Caledonia Bay, and Port Escocés alone, during the rainy season, cutting and marking his way with a machete. From the head of the Savana,” he continues, “a ravine, three leagues in length, extends to Caledonia Bay, and there a canal might be cut with less difficulty than elsewhere, if it were not for the opposition of the natives. From the sea shore (at Caledonia) a plain extends to the base of a ridge, which runs parallel to the coast, and whose summit is 350 feet. This ridge is not quite continuous and unbroken, but is divided by transverse valleys, through which the Aglasenique and Aglatomente, and other rivers have their course, and whose highest elevations do not exceed 150 feet.” Impressed by these favorable representations, and believing Dr. Cullen’s statement of the existence of large gold deposits near Esperitu Santu, and in the diggings of Veraguas, the distinguished capitalists, Sir Charles Fox, John Henderson, and Thomas Brassy, uniting with Dr. Cullen, obtained, by a decree of the Granadian Congress, dated Bogotá, June 1st, 1852, the concession of the exclusive privilege of cutting a ship canal across the Isthmus of Darien, between the Gulf of San Miguel on the Pacific, and the Bay of Caledonia on the Atlantic, with the liberty of selecting any other point on the Atlantic coast between Puerto de Mosquitoes, and the west mouth of the Atrato, for the entrance of the canal; and were granted, besides the lands necessary for the canal and its works, 2,000,000 acres of land, to be selected in any part of the Republic. All the ports of Darien were declared free and neutral. Notwithstanding these favorable conditions, it was deemed prudent, by the distinguished capitalists above mentioned, to send out a competent engineer to verify the statements of Dr. Cullen. Mr. Lionel Gisborne was selected for the purpose, and was accompanied by Dr. Cullen, to point out the way. Before arriving in South America Mr. Gisborne, assuming the data supplied by Dr. Cullen to be correct, enters into some interesting speculations. “Let us suppose,” he observes, “the summit level to be 150 feet above the level of the sea. The Atlantic rise of tide is only 3 feet (1′ 5″); that of the Pacific is 25 feet (22 to 23), therefore, the difference in the level, at high and low tide is 11 feet (this, although suppositious, will, I anticipate, not be far from the truth). In such a case I would propose to cut a canal through from ocean to ocean without any locks,” etc.