Over Darien by a ship canal : reports of the mismanaged Darien expedition of 1854, with suggestions for a survey by competent engineers, and an exploration by parties with compasses.
- Cullen, Dr.
- Date:
- 1856
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Over Darien by a ship canal : reports of the mismanaged Darien expedition of 1854, with suggestions for a survey by competent engineers, and an exploration by parties with compasses. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
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![orsyth, senior lieutenant; Mr. Henry Hills, acting ]oaymaster volunteer) ; Dr. William Ross, assistant surgeon; Mr. G. Parsons, ^■uuuer; William Polling, captain of the forecastle; William Ajjhcroft, William Jeffery, William Duusford, Thomas Aiken- lead, William Chandler, William Hockey, Robert Blake, William Bebenna, Richard Kingswell, John Walsh, John Tower and ?rallagher, able seamen, with George Julier, Thomas Orrall, R.M.A. The object of this expedition is to search for a missing party of wenty-seven officers and men who left the U. S. ship Cyane, in 'ort Escoces, Caledonia Bay, Atlantic, on the 19tli Januaiy last, vith the intention of exploring the Isthmus in a S. westerly lirection to Darien harbour. They have not since been, heard of, )ut are said to have been traced to the left bank of the Chu- luanaqua by Indians, who carried the intelligence to Port Escoces. t is presumed that, mistaking this liver for the Savana, they are low wandering on its banks in a state of starvation, as it is cuown they only took eight days' provisions with them; or that hey have been destroyed by the same hostile Indians who way- ;iid and murdered our own men. The former supposition is •orne out with some degree of probability by the fact, that the ourse of the latter river is only twenty miles from the former, Inhere it is a considerable stream ; and near which, con)ing from lie Atlantic, it is likely they would strike it; and that the Ihuquanaqua, after a very winding course along the centre of the sthmus, it is said of above a hundred and fifty miles, termiiiates i the Tuyra, wliich empties itself into Darien harbour, within a lile of the mouth of the Savana. As remarked on the 7th anuary, in the description of this river, it opens into Darien. arbour after nearly a straight course of between twenty-five nd tliirty miles. The latter supposition is not probable, as the aiiy was well armed, and not likely, from what is known of udian character, to have been faced by treble their number of □perfectly armed savages. The American exploring party had »r its object the examination of the Isthmus, and reporting to ioverument as to the possibility of cutting a Ship Canal from to sea. The searching expedition returned at 1 a.m. of the Uth March, after the absence of a fortnight. The following is u account of oui- proceedings, taken from a daily journal kept y me:— We left the ship at anchor in Darien liarbom*, and embarking I one of the paddlebox-boats, we took advantage of the flood ide, and ascended the river Tuyra, a distance of about twenty »des, anchoring, when the ebb commenced, at 8 a,m. By noon 'e tide turned, and again getting under weigh, we arrived at he village of Yavisa at 9 p.m. ; this place is forty-five miles from Janen harbour, and is spoken of as the capital of the Isthmus of >anen ; it is simply a collection of bamboo houses or huts covered 'itli palm-leaves irregularly ari-anged, or rather strewed, about a 'vel piece of ground on the right banlc of the river. Its popula-](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22283249_0025.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
