Page:Vol 6 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/585

During the war of independence this work called the Nochistongo cutting — El Tajo de Nochistongo — was greatly neglected, and the passage of the water was obstructed by accumulations of earth and detritus. No attention, however, was given to the canal until the capital was again threatened with inundation in 1830, when work was resumed.^[1] But when completed, the canal did not answer the purpose, and the city of Mexico was periodically in danger of being flooded. The consequence was, that an entirely different system, comprehending the general drainage of the valley, was adopted,^[2] and in 1856 a board for the drainage and canalization of the valley was appointed, an award of $12,000 being offered for the best project.^[3] The plans sent in by engineers were numerous, but for novelty that of J. A. Poumaréde was unsurpassed. He proposed to drain the valley by a system of huge siphons.^[4] The prize was finally awarded to Francisco de Garay; but political strife and the war of the French intervention long prevented his plans from being acted upon. In April 1868, however, work was commenced. The plan was to construct a grand canal, which from a terminus at the garita de San Lázaro should pass through Lake Texcuco at the

distance of 11,483 feet, the depth is from 98 to 164 feet. The width of the channel at the bottom in Humboldt's it's time varied from 9 to 13 feet, and the slope of the sides from 49° to 45°, though in a large portion of the cutting the incline was less, the result of which was that frequent slides occurred.

1. In 1832, an act was passed setting apart $50,000 annually for the drainage of the valley. Arrillaga, Recop., 1832-3, p. 86.
2. This project of general drainage, abandoned since the time of Enrico Martinez, had been revived by Oidor Mier in 1775, but it was not until 1804 that it was definitely adopted. Iturrigaray passed a decree that year for the construction of a canal from Lake Tezcuco to the cutting of Nochistongo, the expense of which was estimated at $1,600,000. Work was vigorously commenced at several points, but ceased with the fall of that viceroy. Orozco y Berra, in Soc. Mex. Geog., ix. 461; Diario Mex., ii. 163.
3. To the projector of the second best plan, an award of $2,000 was to be given. Mex., Legis. Mej., July-Dec. 1856, 29-31. During this year an experimented attempt was made to effect the drainage by subterranean absorption. Wells were sunk in the hope of cutting into a porous stratum which would carry away the waters of the lakes. The contract was given to Sebastian Paule. Id., Jan. June 1856, 14-15, 26-9.
4. J. A. Poumaréde — Desagüe de Valle de Mexico, Nuevo sistema de impedir las inundaciones de la Ciudad y del Valle de Mexico, y hacer desaparecer en parte las causas de insalubridad que ofrecen uno y otro. Mexico, 1860. 12no, pp. 167, 2 plans.