Personal Narrative Of Travels To The Equinoctial Regions Of America During The Years 1799-1804 - Volume 3 - By Alexander Von Humboldt And Aime Bonpland.
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The Apprehension Excited By The Proximity Of The Boca Grande To The
Town Determined The Court Of Madrid, After The English Expedition, To
Shut Up The Entrance Along A Distance Of 2640 Varas.
From two and a
half to three fathoms of water were found; and a wall, or rather a
dyke,
In stone, from fifteen to twenty feet high, was raised on piles.
The slope on the side of the water is unequal, and seldom 45 degrees.
This immense work was completed under the Viceroy Espeleta in 1795.
But art could not vanquish nature; the sea is unceasingly though
gradually silting up the Boca Chica, while it labours unceasingly to
open and enlarge the Boca Grande. The currents which, during a great
part of the year, especially when the bendavales blow with violence,
ascend from south-west to north-east, throw sand into the Boca Chica,
and even into the bay itself. The passage, which is from seventeen to
eighteen fathoms deep, becomes more and more narrow,* and if a regular
cleansing be not established by dredging machines, vessels will not be
able to enter without risk. (* At the foot of the two forts San Jose
and San Fernando, constructed for the defence of the Boca Chica, it
may be seen how much the land has gained upon the sea. Necks of land
are formed on both sides, and also before the Castillo del Angel
which, northward, commands the fort of San Fernando.) It is this small
entrance which should have been closed; its opening is only 250
toises, and the passage or navigable channel is 110 toises.
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