Ancizar to Legation of the United States , Bogotá , June 3, 1876 . The foregoing is a correct translation from Spanish to English of an original contract between Colombia and Senor Gogorza, and which I have seen. WILLIAM L. SCRUGGS, May 28, 1876

Contract celebrated with Anthoine de Gogorza for opening an interoceanic canal.

The undersigned, to wit, Manuel Ancizar, secretary of state for the department of interior and foreign relations of the Colombian government, duly authorized by the President of the union, and Anthoine de Gogorza, for himself and General Stephen Turr, according to sufficient authority exhibited, have agreed to the following:

• Article I. Anthoine de Gogorza, in his own behalf and that of his client, General Stephen Turr, accepts in all its parts, and as part of this agreement, the Colombian law, No. 33, of the 26th of May, 1876, “authorizing the executive power to negotiate for opening canal-communication between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans,” and submits to the provisions and conditions therein made. And in reciprocation the Colombian government hereby concedes to and puts them in possession of the franchises granted in section one, of Article II of the above-cited laws, counting the ninety-nine years of privilege from the date hereof.
• Art. II. The Colombian government authorizes General Turr and Sr. Gogorza, putting themselves in accord with the minister of the republic in Great Britain or France, and with Sr. Joaquin Sarmiento, should he be in Paris, to whom sufficient authority will be given, to associate with themselves two persons whom they may deem competent, and proceed to form an international commission of engineers to survey the Isthmus at Darien, and at the expense of the grantees to make the exploration mentioned in condition three, Article II of the law above cited, and within the time therein allowed; within twelve months thereafter to make report to the Colombian government of the result of said exploration in the manner provided in the above-cited condition three of the law: Provided, That should unforeseen accident, such as earthquake, inundation, or armed resistance of the natives cause delay, a reasonable extension of time be granted.
• Art. III. The tracing and fixing of the line of the canal in all its length, as also that of any auxiliary railway that may be projected from ocean to ocean, must be wholly beyond and to the east of a straight line connecting the Cape of Tiburon with the headland of Garachine, whose exact situation will be determined by the exploring engineers.
• Art. IV. Should the river Atrato be selected by the engineers as one of the entries to the canal, its mouth through which such entrance is proposed must be channeled and adapted to the ingress and egress of vessels of six hundred tons, and be considered part of the line of the canal. But the navigation of the Atrato, in so far as its channel may not constitute part of the canal, shall remain free and unincumbered.
• Art. V. Should the preliminary survey referred to (in Article III) show the practicability of a canal without locks or tunnels, the grantees, General Turr and A. de Gogorza and their associates, will, under the immediate patronage of the Colombian government, be authorized to form, within the eighteen months specified by the law, a company for the execution of the work.
• Art. VI. The deposit mentioned in Article III of the law cited, shall be made in such bank as the national executive may designate, the receipt of the bank being evidence of the fulfillment of said obligation. Said deposit may be in bonds of the Colombian foreign debt, at the market-price at the time of the deposit. It is understood that, in case the grantees should forfeit this deposit under provision of section two of Article XXIII of the cited law, the same, with the accumulated interest, will pass, without any reduction, to the Colombian government.
• Art. VII. The wild lands ceded by Article IV of the cited law, shall be adjudged to the grantees as soon as the deposit shall have been made. Those situated on the banks of the canal, rivers, or maritime coasts shall be divided into lots alternating with those of equal size reserved to the government, and fronting those reserved to the government on the opposite sides of the canal, rivers, or coasts. None of said lots shall measure less than three nor more than four thousand metros of front on said canal, rivers, or coasts, thus forming an area of, say, one thousand hectares, more or less. Within a belt of six and a half miles (1,000 miriametros) on either side of the canal, the government can concede no lands (to other parties) until the expiration of the ten years from the time of the commencement of the work, or until after the present grantees shall have received the entire quantity ceded them by the Article IV of the law above cited.
• Art. VIII. The number of fiscal agents which, under provisions of Article IV, may be placed at the termini of the canal, shall not exceed twice the number in the custom-house at Barranquilla; and their salaries, so far as the same may become chargeable to the company, shall not exceed those allotted to employés of the same class in said custom-house.
• Art. IX. Until the contingency mentioned in Article XIX (Article XVII?) of the law above cited, the tonnage of vessels shall be stated in their charters or registers, and that of their cargo shall be set forth in their manifests and bills of lading.
• Art. X. The grantees obligate themselves to constitute an agent in Bogotá, duly authorized to represent them in the adjustment of debts and disputes that may arise from adverse construction of contract; and for a like purpose, the government shall name an agent to reside near the domicile of the company. In every case where irreconcilable differences may arise, they shall be submitted to the decision of the federal supreme court.
• Art. XI. The term “Colombian dollars,” employed in the law and in this contract, signifies silver pieces of 25 grains of 900 each, being equivalent to 5 francs, or 100 cents each.
• Art. XII. By the “formal commencement of the work of the canal,” mentioned in section 2 of Article XXII of the law, is understood that work upon the line should be continuously executed for three months, by at least one thousand operatives under their respective chiefs, with the necessary machinery, implements, &c., for the excavation of the canal.
• Art. XIII. It is understood, and is hereby specifically stipulated, that vessels in the exclusive service of the canal, shall traverse the same free of all tax or duty.
• Art. XIV. Five years before the expiration of the ninety-nine of privilege, the national executive shall, with the concurrence of the company, name a commission to examine the canal and its appurtenances, and note what repairs, if any, shall be made before the canal and other property is turned over to the government when the grantees’ privilege shall expire.
• Art. XV. The nation grants permission to the grantees to establish, at their own expense, any telegraphic lines they may deem necessary to the construction and operation of the canal.