There are, however, some circumstances which, whilst they render the facility of communications throughout the United States an object of primary importance, naturally check the application of private capital and enterprise, to improvements on a large scale.

The price of labour is not considered as formidable obstacle, because whatever it may be, it equally affects the expense of transportation, which is saved by the improvement, and that of effecting the improvement itself. The want of practical knowledge is no longer felt: and the occasional influence of mistaken local interests, in sometimes thwarting or giving an improper direction to public improvements arises from the nature of man, and is common to all countries. The great demand for — capital in the United States, and the extent of territory compared with the population are, it is believed, the true causes which prevent new undertakings, and render those already accomplished less profitable than had been expected.

1. Notwithstanding the great increase of capital during the last fifteen years, the objects for which it is required continue to be more numerous, and its application is generally more profitable than in Europe. A small portion, therefore, is applied to objects which offer only the prospect of remote and moderate profit. And it also happens that a less sum being subscribed at first than is actually requisite for completing the work, this proceeds slowly; the capital applied remains unproductive for a much longer time than was necessary, and the interest accruing during that period becomes, in fact, an injurious addition to the real expense of the undertaking.

2. The present population of the United States compared with the extent of territory over which it is spread, does not, except in the vicinity of the seaports, admit that extensive commercial intercourse within short distances, which, in England and some other countries, forms the principal support of artificial roads and canals. With a few exceptions canals, particularly, cannot in America be undertaken with a view solely to the intercourse between the two extremes of. and along the intermediate ground which they occupy. It is necessary, in order to be productive, that the canal should open a communication with a natural extensive navigation which will flow through that new channel. It follows, that whenever that navigation requires to be improved, or when it might at some distance be connected by another canal to another navigation, the first canal will remain comparatively unproductive, until the Other improvements are effected—until the other canal is also completed. Thus the intended canal between the Chesapeake and Delaware will be deprived of the additional benefit arising from the intercourse between New-York and the Chesapeake, until an inland navigation shall have been opened between the Delaware and New-York. Thus the expensive canals completed around the falls of Potomac will become more and more productive, in proportion to the improvement, first of the navigation of the upper branches of the river, and then of its communication with the western waters. Some works already executed are unprofitable, many more remain unattempted, because their ultimate productiveness depends on other improvements, too extensive or too distant to be embraced by the same individuals.

The general government can alone remove these obstacles.

With resources amply sufficient for the completion of every practicable improvement, it will always supply the capital wanted for any work which it may undertake, as fast as the work itself can progress, avoiding thereby the ruinous loss of interest on a dormant capital, and reducing the real expense to its lowest rate. With these resources, and embracing the whole Union, it will complete, on any given line, all the improvements, however distant, which may be necessary to render the whole productive, and eminently beneficial.

The early arid efficient aid of the federal government is recommended by still more important considerations. The inconveniences, complaints, and perhaps dangers, which may result from a vast extent of territory, can no otherwise be radically removed, or prevented, than by opening speedy and easy communications through all its parts. Good roads and canals will shorten distances; facilitate commercial and personal intercourse; and unite, by a still more intimate community of interests, the most remote quarters of the United States. No other single operation within the power of government can more effectually tend to strengthen and perpetuate that union, which secures external independence, domestic peace, and internal liberty. With that view of the subject, the facts respecting canals, which have been collected in pursuance of the resolution of the senate, have been arranged under the following heads:

1. Great canals, from North to South, along the Atlantic sea coast.

2. Communications between the Atlantic and western waters.

3. Communications between the Atlantic waters and those of the great lakes, and river St. Lawrence.

4. Interior canals.

GREAT CANALS ALONG THE ATLANTIC SEA COAST.

The map of the United States will show that they possess a tide-water inland navigation, secure from storms and enemies; and which, from Massachusetts to the southern extremity of Georgia, is principally if not solely interrupted by four necks of land. These are the isthmus of Barnstable;. that part of New-Jersey which extends from the Rariton to the Delaware; the peninsula between the Delaware and the Chesapeake; and that low and marshy tract which divides the Chesapeake from Albermarle Sound. It is ascertained that a navigation for sea vessels, drawing eight feet of water, maybe effected across the three last; and a canal is also believed to be practicable, not perhaps across the isthmus of Barnstable, but from the harbour of Boston to that of Rhode-Island. The Massachusetts canal would be about twenty-six; the New-Jersey about twenty-eight; and each of the two southern about twenty-two miles in length; making, altogether, less than one hundred miles. Should this great work, the expense of which, as will hereafter be shown, is estimated at about three millions of dollars, be accomplished, a sea vessel, entering the first canal in the harbour of Boston, would, through the bay of Rhode-Island, Long Island Sound, and the harbour of New-York, reach Brunswick on the Rariton; thence pass through the second canal to Trenton on the Delaware, down that river to Christiana or New-Castle, and, through the third canal, to Elk River and the Chesapeake; whence, sailing down that bay and up Elizabeth River, it would, through the fourth canal, enter the Albermarle Sound, and, by Pamptico, Core, and Rogue Sounds, reach Beaufort and Swansborough in North-Carolina. From the last mentioned place the inland navigation, through Stumpy and Toomer's Sounds, is continued, with a diminished draft of water, and by cutting two low and narrow necks, not exceeding three miles together, to Cape Fear River; and thence, by an open but short and direct run along the coast, is reached that chain of islands between which and the main the inland navigation is continued to St. Mary's along the coast of South Carolina and Georgia. It is unnecessary to add any comments on the utility of the work, in peace or war, for the transportation of merchandise or the conveyance of persons. The several papers under the letter (A) herewith transmitted, contain the information which has been received on those several intended communications; The substance will now be stated:

I. Massachusetts Canal.

1. Sandwich isthmus, between Barnstable Bay on the north, and Buzzard's Bay on the south, had first attracted the public attention. Surveys and levels were taken for the purpose of ascertaining the practicability of opening a cross cut, to be sup Supplied by the sea itself, from the mouth of Back River, in Buzzard's Bay, to the mouth of Scusset River, in Barnstable Bay. The distance was found to exceed seven miles; the elevation of the highest intermediate ground is forty feet above low-watermark in Barnstable Bay; the depth of water at the mouth of Back River does not at low water exceed sevenfeet and a half; and the channel to that spot through Buzzard Bay is obstructed by shoals. The tide, which rises but three feet and a half in that bay, rises three hours and a half later and more than eighteen feet in that of Barnstable. The shore on which that formidable tide would operate is an open beach, without any harbour or shelter whatever. Independent of other obstacles, it was apprehended that the same natural causes which had formed the isthmus might fill the canal or make, a bar at its entrance, and the project seems to have been abandoned.

2. The ground was also examined between Barnstable harbour on the north, and Hyannis harbour on the south, at some distance east of Sandwich. The breadth of the peninsula does not exceed here four miles and a half, and there would be an harbour at each end of the canal. The same difference exists in the tides, which rise four feet in Hyannis, and sixteen feet in Barnstable harbour. The entrance of this is obstructed by shoals; but the great obstacle to a cross cut is the elevation of the intermediate ground, estimated at eighty feet above tide water. Navigable ponds on that high ground, might perhaps form part of a lock canal and supply the remainder with water. But a canal frozen in winter would not have effected the great object in view, which was to enable vessels from sea to proceed in winter from Matthias Vineyard to Boston, without sailing around Cape Cod. Although the difficulty of the navigation from Boston to Barnstable diminishes the utility of this communication, as one of the great links in this line of inland navigation, it may be resorted to should that which will be next mentioned prove impracticable for sea vessels.

3. The attention of the legislature of Massachusetts, under whose authority the grounds at Sandwich and Barnstable had been examined, has lately been turned to a direct communication between Weymouth landing, within the harbour of Boston and Taunton River, which empties into the bay of Rhode-Island. A favourable report has been made during the last session, of which a copy has lately been obtained. The distance from tide water to tide water is 26 miles by one route, and 231 miles by another. The highest intermediate ground is 133 feet above tide water, but may be reduced ten feet by digging to that depth the length of a mile. Two ponds, known by the name of Weymouth and Cramberry, the largest and least elevated of which covers five hundred acres, and is 14 feet higher than the summit of the proposed canal, will supply the upper locks with water by feeders four miles long. Whether the quantity of water contained in those ponds, and estimated equal to a daily supply of 450,000 cubic feet, will be sufficient for a sloop navigation; and whether any other ponds or streams may be brought in aid, does not seem to be fully ascertained. After descending twenty feet towards Weymouth and seventy towards Taunton, an ample supply for the lower locks will be derived from other large ponds, the principal of which are known by the names of Braintree and Nippinitic.

The expense may, on a supposition that the route is partly through a rocky soil, be estimated as follows:

Digging 26 miles at 30,000 dollars a mile, $780.000
Lockage 260 feet at 1,250 dollars a foot, $325,000
Feeders, purchase of land, &c. $145,000
Total: $ 250,000

II. New Jersey Canal

A company was incorporated some years ago, by the Legislature of New-Jersey, for opening a canal between the Rariton and the Delaware. Acting under the erroneous opinion, that the navigation of small rivers might be improved, and used as a canal, the company intended to have united, by a cross cut of one mile, the Assampink, or Trenton Creek, with Stoney Brook, a branch of Millstone River, and to have descended Trenton Creek, to the Delaware, and Stoney Brook, and Millstone River to the Rariton. The capital which was inadequate, was not paid; but their survey of the intended route has shewn the practicability of a canal for sea vessels, on a proper plan.

The distance from Brunswick, to Trenton, is twenty-six miles; and the only obstacle in \he way, is the "Sand Hills," some distance west of Brunswick; these may it is said be avoided by a deviation, which would not increase the distance more than two miles; and they may at all events be perforated, as has b§en done by the Turnpike Company, who have opened a road on a straight line between the two towns without having in any place an angle of ascent, of more than three degrees. The highest intermediate ground between Assampink, and Stoney Brook, is only fifty feet above tide water; and it is suggested, that the summit level may be taken seven feet lower, cutting seven miles though a level meadow, between the confluence of the Assampink, and Shippetankin Creeks, and Rowley's Mill, near the confluence of Stoney Brook, and Millstone River.

An adequate supply of water will be drawn by short feeders from Philipp's Springs, Trenton Creek, Stoney Brook, and Millstone River, all of which are more elevated, than the route of the canal, the " Sand Hills," excepted.

The depth of water at the two extremities of the canal taken at low water, are feet at Brunswick, and ten feet at Lamberton, one mile below Trenton.

The expenses may be estimated as followeth:

Digging 28 miles, at 20,000 dollars per mile, $560,090 00
Lockage 100 feet, (probably less,) at 1,250 dollars per foot, $125,000 00
Feeders, purchase of land, and water rights, $115,000 00
Total $ 800,000 00

III. Delaware, and Chesapeake Canal.

A company incorporated by the States of Delaware and Maryland, for opening this canal, has commenced its operations, now suspended for want of funds. . The canal will commence at Welsh Point on Elk River, an arm of the Chesapeake, and terminate at a distance of twenty-two miles on Christiana Creek, a branch of the Delaware. At low water, the depth of water in Christiana, is nine feet, and in Elk, twelve feet, within one hundred feet from the shore; the tide rises four feet in both rivers. The canal might, without increasing the distance, be conducted to New-Castle, on the Delaware itself, instead of ending at Christiana Creek. The highest intermediate ground, over which the canal" will be carried on a level of thirteen miles in length, is seventy-four feet above tide water; the descent being effected by nine locks on each side. The diggings generally easy; no expensive aqueducts or bridges, nor any other obstacles, but those which have already been overcome, in digging the feeder through a very rocky soil.

The supply of water drawn from Elk River, by a feeder six miles in length, already completed, which is itself a boat canal, three and a half feet deep, united by a lock of ten feet lift with the main canal, is calculated to fill daily one hundred and forty-four locks; a quantity sufficient on an average, for the daily passage of twenty-four vessels. A reservoir covering thirty, and which may be increased to one hundred and fifty acres, will supply occasional deficiencies; other reservoirs may be added, and Christiana, and White Clay Creeks, may hereafter be brought in aid of Elk River, if the supply should prove too scanty for an increased navigation.

The canal twenty-six feet wide at the bottom, and fifty at the top on the water line, being dug at the depth of eight feet, is intended for vessels of forty to seventy tons, drawing seven and a half feet water; but the banks twenty feet wide for towing paths, and one of which may be converted into a turnpike road, being raised three feet above the level of the water, will, by increasing the height of the lock gates one foot, admit a depth of nine feet of water in the canal, at which depth it would perhaps be eligible to dig at once. The locks eighty feet long, eighteen feet wide, and eight or nine feet deep, over the gate-sills, containing each 11,500 to 13,000 cubic feet of water, and with a lift of eight to nine feet each, will be constructed of hewn stone, laid in tarras. Those dimensions, both of the canal and locks recommended by Mr. Latrobe, the engineer of the canal, may be adopted in all the other canals for sea vessels, on this line of communication.

The present annual carriage across the peninsula, which would be drawn through the canal, is estimated at forty-two thousand tons, exclusively of passengers. This will be greatly increased by the facility which the canal itself will afford to the commercial intercourse between the two bays, and to the conveyance of articles now carried through other channels, or too heavy for transportation, at the expense of carriage. The coals wanted for Philadelphia, and which brought down from, the sources of the Susquehanna and Potomack, but principally from the vicinity of Richmond, would naturally pass through the canal, have been alone estimated at more than one hundred thousand tons a year. The annual carriage of all articles may, in the present state of population be fairly estimated at one hundred and fifty thousand tons, and the direct annual saving to the community, at 300,000 dollars, being at the rate of $Wo dollars a ton, for the difference between land and water carriage, across the peninsula, after paying tolls. These, at the rate of fifty cents a ton, will give to the undertakers a revenue of 75,000 dollars; leaving, after a deduction of 10,000 dollars for annual repairs, and of 10,000 dollars more for attendance and contingencies, a net income of 55,000 dollars.

The expenses of the whole work, are estimated as followeth:

Digging 22 miles, at 20,000 dollars a mile, . . . . % 444,000 00

18 locks, at 10,000 dollars each, $180,000 00
(The whole lockage being 148 feet, would at 1,250 dollars a foot, amount to $185,000 dollars.)

Feeder, (nearly completed,) reservoirs, lock at the feeder, purchase of water rights, and land, including a debt of dollars due by the company, . $226,000 00

Total: $850,000 00

The interest on which sum, at six per cent, is 51,000 dollars. The capital originally subscribed, amounted to four hundred thousand dollars, divided into two thousand shares, of two hundred dollars each. One half of these have been forfeited, after a small payment of five dollars on each share. One hundred thousand dollars paid by the other stockholders, have been expended in preparatory measures, in the purchase of water rights, and in digging the feeder, which was considered as the most difficult part of the work. Seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars are still wanted to complete the work; of which sum, one hundred thousand dollars is payable by the stockholders, and the deficiency of six hundred and fifty thousand dollars, must be drawn from other sources.

IV. Chesapeake and Albermarle.

1. The shortest communication between the Chesapeake and Albermarle sound is from North Landing, at the head of the tide of North-West River, which empties into Currituck Inlet, the easternmost arm of Albemarle, to either Kempsville of Great Bridge, at the head of the tide of two different branches of the south branch of Elizabeth River, which, passing by Norfolk, unites at Hampton Roads, with James River and the Chesapeake. The distance is stated at seven miles, and the levels said to be favourable. It is believed that the principal reason why this communication has not been attempted, is a bar in Currituck Inlet, which does not admit the passage of vessels drawing five feet Water.

2. A company incorporated by the States of Virginia and North-Carolina, for opening a canal through the Dismal Swamp, has made considerable progress in the work. The canal extends 22 miles in length from Deep Creek, a branch of the south branch of Elizabeth River, 7 miles above Norfolk, to Joyce's Creek, a branch of Pasquotank River, a northern arm of Albermarle Sound. Vessels drawing 8 to 9 feet water may ascend both creeks to each extremity of the canal. The intervening ground along the eastern margin of the Dismal Swamp is almost level, the rise towards the middle not exceeding two feet above the two extremities which are only 18 feet and 9 inches above tide water. The digging is very easy; the only obstacles arise from the stumps and roots of trees, and are nearly overcome; and a single aqueduct, or rather culvert, over a small run emptying into the North-West River is necessary. The swamp itself supplies, at the depth at which the canal is cut, the water which has heretofore been wanted; and a sufficient supply may be drawn by a feeder of 3 miles and a half in length, cut through a perfect level, from Lake Drummond, a natural reservoir in the centre of the swamp, of fifteen miles in circumference, and about six feet higher than the water in the canal.

The canal, as cut by the company, is 24 feet wide, and 6 feet deep, with one bank on the west side for a towing path, 18 feet broad. The whole digging, with the exception of 2 miles, which must be deepened 3 feet, and of 3 quarters of a mile in another place not entirely finished, has been completed. The locks at the two extremities of the canal are not built; but two have been erected at some distance from each extremity, probably in order to save some digging in the intervening space: they are made of square juniper logs, and have cost only three hundred dollars each.

The expense of digging has not exceeded 4,000 dollars a mile; the whole capital expended amounts to one hundred thousand dollars, of which the State of Virginia has furnished 17,500; and it is stated that the whole work may be completed in one year, and will" not, including the locks and the payment of some debts contracted by the company, exceed 25,000 dollars. But the canal, which, by the original act of incorporation, was to be 32 feet wide and 8 feet deep, can, on its present plan, be considered only as a local object, the principal utility of which consists" in bringing to market the otherwise useless lumber of the swamp. The only boats which navigate it are flats, forty feet long, six feet wide, drawing two feet of water, and carrying eight thousand shingles.

It must, in order to become a national object, be capable of receiving the vessels which navigate Albermarle Sound, and for that purpose be restored to its first intended dimensions, or rather be widened and deepened, on the plan adopted for the Chesapeake and Delaware canal. The expense would be as followeth:

Digging, deepening to 8 feet, preserving the same level the whole way, and widening to a proper breadth, 22 miles, at 8,000 dollars a mile, $176,000

Stone locks at $ 10,000, $40,000

Feeder to Lake Drummond, aqueduct and contingencies, $34,000

Total: $ 250,000

3. The last mentioned canal is in the most direct line of the communication through Albermarle to Pamilco Sound, and the adjacent southern Sounds. It has been objected, that the navigation of Pasquotank River was intricate, and that it would be more advantageous to open a communication with Chowan River, which, passing by Edenton, and then uniting with the Roanoke, forms Albermarle Sound.

A company was incorporated for that purpose; but the capital was not failed, and no other operation performed, but surveying the ground. The intended canal on that route, would commence at Suffolk, on Nansemond River, which empties into James River a few miles above and west of the mouth of Elizabeth River, and passing along the western margin of the Dismal Swamp, would reach, at a computed distance of 30 miles, Gates' court house, on Bennet's Creek, a branch of Chowan River, which vessels drawing ten feet of water may ascend to that spot.

The highest intermediate ground is 28 feet above tide water, and consequently higher than the surface of lake Drummond. But Bennet's Creek, and Curripeake Swamp, were considered as affording a sufficient supply of water. Should this prove adequate, the principal objection to this route will be, that the canal lands at Suffolk instead of Norfolk. This consideration and the capital already expended on the canal from Elizabeth River to Pasquotank, seem to give a preference to this course — To which may be added, that if it be preferable to strike the waters of Chowan River, a lateral canal may be hereafter opened, along the southern margin of the Dismal Swamp, from the southern extremity of the Elizabeth and Pasquotank canal, to Bennet's Creek or Edenton. Whatever route may, after a critical examination of the ground, be thought the most eligible, the opening of this communication will be more easy and less expensive, than either of the three northern canals.

The following table is a recapitulation of the distance to be cut on the whole line, and of the estimated expense:

Massachusetts: Weymouth to Taunton, 26 mi. long, 260 locking ft., $1,250,000

New-Jersey: Brunswick to Taunton, 28 mi. long, 100 locking ft., $800,000

Delaware and Chesapeake: Christiana to Elk, 22 mi. long, 48 locking ft., $750,000

Chesapeake and Abermarle: Eliz. River to Pasquotank, 22 mi. long, 40 locking ft., $250,000

Total- Distance: 98 mile; Locking Feet: 548; Cost: $3,050,000

COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE ATLANTIC TO WESTERN WATERS

The Appalachian Mountains, to use an ancient generic denomination, extend in a direction west of south from the 42d to 34th degree of north latitude, approaching the sea, and even washed by the tide in the State of New-York, and thence, in their southerly course, gradually receding from the sea shore. Viewed as a whole, their breadth may be estimated at 110 miles; they consist of a succession of parallel ridges, following nearly the direction of the sea coast, irregularly intersected by rivers and divided by narrow valleys. The ridge which divides the Atlantic rivers from the western waters, generally known by the name of Allegheny, preserves throughout a nearly equal distance of 250 miles form the Atlantic Ocean, and a nearly uniform elevation of 3000 feet above the level of the sea. Those mountains may however, be perhaps considered as consisting of two principal chains. Between these lies the fertile lime-stone valley, which, although occasionally interrupted by transversal ridges, and in one place by the dividing, or Allegheny ridge, mar be traced from Newburgh and Esopus on the Hudson River to Knoxville on the Tennessee.

The eastern and narrowest chain is the Blue Ridge of Virginia, which, in its northeast course, traverses, under various names, the States of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New-Jersey, forms the High Lands broken at West-Point by the tide of the Hudson, and then uniting with the Green Mountains, assumes a northerly direction and divides the waters of the Hudson and of Lake Champlain from those of Connecticut River. On the borders of Virginia and North-Carolina the Blue Ridge is united by an inferior mountain with the great western chain, and thence to its southern extremity becomes the principal or dividing mountain, discharging, eastwardly, the rivers Roanoke, Pedee, Santee, and Savannah, into the Atlantic Ocean; Southwardly, the Chatahouchee and the Alabania into the Gulf of Mexico; and, Westwardly, the New River and the Tennessee. The New River, taking a Northwardly course, breaks through all the ridges of the great western chain, and, at a short distance beyond it, unites, under the name of Kanhawa, with the Ohio. The Tennessee pursues at first a southwest direction between the two chains until having reached, and, in a Westwardly course, turned the southern extremity of the great western chain, it assume a Northwardly direction and joins its waters with those of the Ohio, a few miles above the confluence of that river with the Mississippi.

The western chain, much broader, and generally more elevated, is known under the name of Cumberland and Gauley Mountains, from its southern extremity, near the great bend of the Tennessee River, until it becomes, in Virginia, the principal or dividing mountain. Thence, in its northerly course, towards the State of New-York, it discharges Westwardly the Green Briar River, which, by its junction with the New River, forms the Kannawa, and the river Monongahela and Allegheny, which, from their confluence at Pittsburgh assume the name of Ohio. Eastwardly, it pours into the Atlantic Ocean, James River, the Potomack, and the Susquehanna the northernmost and less elevated spurs of the chain, the Gennessee flows into Lake Ontario; and in that quarter the northerly branches of the Susquehanna to take their source from amongst the interior ridges, and, in their course to the Chesapeake, to break through all the mountains. From the Susquehanna principal chain assumes a more Eastwardly direction, and, washed on the north by the lateral valley of the river Mohawk, whilst it gives rise, Southwardly, to the Delaware, it terminates, under the name of Catskill Mountain, in view of the tide water of the Hudson.

This description has been introduced for the double purpose of pointing out all the rivers which can afford the means of communication, and of showing the impracticability in the present state of science of effecting a canal navigation across the mountains.

The most elevated lock canal, of which a correct description has been given, is that of Languedoc; and the highest ground over which it is carried, is only six hundred feet above the sea. It is not believed that any canal has been undertaken, or at least completed, in England, of an elevation exceeding 430 feet above the waters united by it. The Allegheny mountain is generally, and from observations made in several places, about 3000 feet above the level of the sea. The precise height of the dividing ridge was ascertained by the commissioners who laid out the United States road from Cumberland on the Potomack to Brownsville on the Monongahela, at 2,260 feet above the first, and at 2,150 feet above the last river. Cumberland, from the levels taken by the Potomack company, is itself 735 feet above tide water. Although some more advantageous and less elevated places may be found, particularly amongst the ridges which divide some of the upper branches of the Susquehanna the corresponding streams emptying into the river Allegheny; there is none which is not of an elevation much beyond what has ever been overcome by canals in any other country. The impracticability arises from the principle of lock navigation, which, in order to effect the ascent, requires a greater supply of water in proportion to the height to be ascended, whilst the supply of water becomes less in the same proportion. Nor does the chain of mountains through the whole extent, where it divides the Atlantic from the western rivers, afford a single pond, lake, or natural reservoir. It may be added, as a general feature of American geography that, except in the swamps along the southern sea coast, no lake is to be found in the United States south of 41° north latitude; and that almost every river north of 42° issues from a lake or pond. The works necessary in order to facilitate the communications from the sea-ports across the mountains to the western waters, must therefore consist either of artificial roads extending the whole way from tide water, to the nearest and most convenient navigable western waters; or of improvements in the navigation of the leading Atlantic rivers, to the highest practicable points, connected by artificial roads across the mountains, with the nearest points from which a permanent navigation can be relied on, down the western rivers.

The principal considerations in selecting proper directions for those communications are, the distance from the navigable western waters, both to tide water, and to the nearest navigable Atlantic river; and the extent of navigation, either natural or susceptible of improvement, which may be afforded; by the rivers. Distance alone is mentioned so far as relates to roads, because the mountains, however insuperable for canals, offer no important impediment to land communications. So far from being an unsurmountable barrier to commercial intercourse between the two great sections of the Union, it is now ascertained that those mountains may, almost in every direction,be crossed by artificial roads, as permanent, as easy, and less expensive, than similar works in the lower country. For congress having, contrary to current opinion, directed that the road from Cumberland to Brownsville should be laid out so that its ascent should not in any place exceed an angle of five degrees with the horizon, no difficulty has been experienced in effecting the object without cutting through hills, and although the road thus laid out, be, in a distance of 72 miles, two or three miles shorter than that heretofore in use.

Although the distance from the sea to the principal dividing mountain, through its whole length, between the western sources of the Susquehanna those of the Savannah, be nearly the same, yet the Atlantic bays, penetrating the coast at different depths and in different directions, the distances from the sea-ports to the nearest western navigable waters, varies considerably. Taken in straight lines from each port to the nearest branch, beyond all the mountains, of each of the four great western rivers, they may be stated as follows:

From Philadelphia to the confluence of the Conemaugh and Loyalhannon, branches of the Allegheny, . .220

From the city of Washington to the confluence of the rivers Monongahela and Cheat, . . 150

From Richmond to Morris', on the Kanhawa, below all the falls of that river, . . 210

From Savannah or Charleston to any navigable branch of Tennessee, the distance exceeds . . 300

The distance from the same western points to the upper navigation of the corresponding Atlantic rivers cannot be stated with precision, as the upper points to which the navigation of those rivers may be improved is not yet ascertained. The shortest portage between the waters of the Potomack and those of the Monongahela, in their natural state, from West Port, on the Potomack, to Cheat River, below the falls, is about fifty miles in a straight line. But in order to secure a tolerable navigation, particularly on the Potomack, the route from Cumberland to Brownsville, (Red Stone old fort,) has been preferred, and the distance, by the road lately laid out, is 72 miles. The portage between the north fork of the Juniata, a branch of the Susquehanna the corresponding waters of the river Allegheny, is somewhat shorter. That between Pattonborough, on James River, and the falls of the Kanhawa, exceeds one hundred miles.

The most prominent, though not, perhaps, the most insuperable obstacle in the navigation of the Atlantic rivers, consists in their lower falls, which are ascribed to presumed continuous granite ridge, rising about 130 feet above tide water. That ridge, from New-York to James River inclusively, arrests the ascent of the tide, the falls of every river within that space being precisely at the head of the tide. Pursuing thence Southwardly a direction nearly parallel to the mountains, it recedes from the sea, leaving in each southern river an extent of good navigation between the tide and the falls, other falls of less magnitude are found at the gaps of the Blue Ridge, through which the rivers have forced their passage. Higher up, the rapidity of the northern rivers, which penetrate through the inferior ridges of the great western chain, increases as they approach the dividing, or Allegheny mountain; and their sources being nearly at the same elevation, their rapidity increases in proportion to the shortness of their course. For that reason the navigation of the Susquehanna the Blue Ridge is better than that of the Potomack, which affords, as has been stated, the shortest communication from tide water to the nearest western river. The levels of the last-mentioned river having been taken by the Potomack company, the general result is annexed, as giving a more correct idea of the navigation of the Atlantic rivers, than could be conveyed in any other manner.

Distance/Miles; Fall/ Feet; Rate of Fall/mile

From the mouth of the Savage River, down to Cumberland, 31 – 445 – 14.2

Thence to the Blue Ridge, 4

Harper's Ferry of Shenandoah Falls, --

Thence to Great Falls, 1

Great and Little Falls to tide water. 12 – 143- ?

The papers marked (C) contain the information which has been collected respecting the works executed or contemplated on the great rivers already enumerated. It has not been understood that any improvements of importance have been yet attempted on the Savannah and Pedee, nor on any of the tributary streams of the Ohio; and the communications received under this head relate only to the Santee, Roanoke, James River, Potomack, Susquehanna and Ohio.

I. THE SANTEE

The Santee, or Catawba, is said to be occasionally navigable for near 300 miles, as high up as Morgantown, in North-Carolina. Two companies have been incorporated by that State, and that of South Carolina, for the purpose of improving its navigation. The lower falls are above Camden, and not far from the arsenal of the United States at Mount Rock. A canal had been commenced there, but either from want of success in the commencement, or from want of funds, the work appears to be suspended. The market for the produce brought down that river is Charleston; and the river boats were obliged at the mouth of the river to enter the sea, and to reach that port by a navigation along the sea shore, for which they were not calculated. To remedy that inconvenience, and to insure a permanent navigation, a canal has been opened by another company, uniting the Santee with Cooper River, which empties into the harbour of Charleston. The distance between the points united is 22 miles: the highest intervening ground was 52 feet above Santee, and 85 feet above the river Cooper; but it has been reduced 17 feet by digging; the descent to Santee being 35 feet, effected by four locks, and that to Cooper 68 feet, effected by nine locks. The principal supply of water is afforded by springs arising from the marshy ground at the bottom of the canal, and by several drains which collect and bring from an adjacent swamp sources of the river Cooper. The quantity is said to be seldom deficient; yet a steam engine has been contemplated, as perhaps necessary in order to raise from the Santee an adequate supply.

The canal was carried over some small streams by means of aqueducts; inconsiderable ravines have been filled, and the ground was dug in some places to the depth of sixteen feet, in order to preserve the level. But it appears that the roots of trees were the greatest obstacle encountered in digging the canal. Its breadth is 20 feet at the bottom and 35 feet at top; the depth of water is 4 feet, and it admits boats of 20 tons. The locks, made of brick faced with marble, are 60 feet long and 10 feet wide.

The capital expended is stated at 650,667 dollars, including sixty negroes and some tracts of land belonging to the company. The canal has been completed six years; the annual tolls had never exceeded 13,000 dollars before the year 1807, and the annual expenses are stated at 7,000 dollars. The want of success in this undertaking which, though completed, is very unprofitable, may be ascribed to several causes. The expense, compared with the work, is much greater than might lave been expected, and probably than was necessary. The locks are too small for large boats, which are therefore obliged to pursue the former route down the Santee, and by sea to Charleston; and want of water is alleged as a sufficient reason for the size of the locks. But a canal in that situation cannot, in America, be profitable, unless the navigation of the main river with which it communicates is rendered safe and permanent; and whenever that of the Santee itself shall have been improved, the utility and profits of the canal will be considerably increased.

II. THE LOWER OR GREAT FALLS OF THE ROANOKE

The lower or great falls of Roanoke, consist in a succession of rapids, which, in a distance of 15 miles, have a fall of 93 feet. This obstruction is such, that almost all the tobacco of that river is transported by land to Petersburgh, on the Appomatox Appomattox James River. A canal has been contemplated from the upper end of the falls to Murfreesborough, situated on the tide water of a branch of Chowan River, 25 miles above the mouth of Bennet's Creek, which has been before mentioned as one of the lines of communication between Albermarle Sound and the Chesapeake. The level is 6aid to be favourable without any obstructions or valleys in the way. The distance is 38 miles, a miles expense of a small canal for boats drawing two feet and a half of water, may be estimated as followeth:

Digging 38 miles, at $6000 a mile, $ 228,000

Lockage, 93 feet, at $ 800 a foot, $74,400

Feeder, land, &c. $47,600

Total: $350,000

The capital for this canal has never been subscribed, and it has been suggested that it would be practicable to open one to Petersburgh. It is not believed that any hills intervene in that course; and the greatest obstacle will be found in crossing the branches of Chowan River.

III. JAMES RIVER.

A company, incorporated by the State of Virginia, for the improvement of the navigation of the river generally, has removed some obstructions in the upper part of the river, and is bound by the charter to render it so far navigable that there may never be less than 12 inches of water over any of the shoals or rapids, from the upper end of the Lower or Great Falls to Pattonborough, a distance of 220 miles. The natural navigation of the river through that extent, is considered as better than that of any other Atlantic river above the falls. . A communication has been opened by the company, at the upper end of the Great Falls, to Shockoe Hill, in the city of Richmond, in the following manner. The water is drawn at Westham from the river into a canal 200 yards in length, at the end of which boats, descending 34 feet through three locks, re-enter the river; and after using its natural navigation three miles, are brought by a canal three miles and a half in length to a basin on Shockoe Hill, where the navigation terminates.

That bason is about 80 feet above tide water, and one mile and a half from Rockets, the port of Richmond. The whole fall from the upper end of the canal at Westham to the basin, may be stated at 48 feet, and the distance at six miles and a half. The canal is 25 feet wide, and admits boats of eight tons, drawing three feet of water. The locks, 80 feet long and 16 feet wide, are of solid masonry, but the cement is defective. Three aqueducts have been thrown across valleys intervening in the course of the canal; and some difficult digging was necessary on the side of hills and through ledges of rocks.

The canal, according to the charter, was intended to have been brought down to tide water. The performance of that condition is now suspended by an act of the legislature of Virginia, and there seems to be a considerable diversity of opinion on that subject. In a national point of view, the plan which will at the least expense put coals on board vessels lying at Rockets, deserves the preference. For coal is in no other part of the United States found in abundance in the vicinity of tide water. At present the expense of transportation by the canal is already reduced to one third of the land carriage.

The original capital of the company amounted to 140,000 dollars, of which the State of Virginia owns fifty thousand; and ninety-one thousand dollars arising from the proceeds of tolls had, before the first of January, 1805, been applied to the work, making, together, an expenditure of 231,000 dollars. The annual tolls, raised on fourteen thousand tons of country produce, and on two thousand coal boats, have amounted to 16,750 dollars; and the annual repairs and expenses are estimated at 5,000 dollars. But as the company draw also a revenue from the rent of water, applied to mills and other water works erected along the canal, they have been able in some years to make dividends of 16,800 dollars, being at the rate of twelve per cent, on the original capital; but of only about seven per cent, if calculated on the sum of 244,000 dollars, the amount of capital expended, and interest accrued before any dividend was made.

IV. POTOMACK

The company incorporated by the States of Maryland and Virginia, for improving the navigation of that river, has executed the following works:

1. At a distance of twelve miles above the head of the tide, which ascends about three miles above the city of Washington, the river is 143 feet higher than tide water. At that place, designated by the name of Great Falls, the boats, passing through a canal one mile in length, six feet deep and twenty-five feet wide, descend seventy-six feet by five locks one hundred feet long and twelve feet wide, each, and, reentering the river, follow its natural bed eight mile and a half. Another canal of the same dimensions, and two miles and a half in length, brings them then through three locks, and, by a descent of thirty-seven feet, to tide water. This last fall is distinguished by the name of Little Falls. The two lower locks of the Great Falls, excavated out of the solid rock, have each a lift of eighteen feet; the three upper locks of solid masonry are of unequal height, and have, together, a lift of forty feet. The three locks of the Little Falls are each one hundred feet in length and eighteen feet wide. That breadth is unnecessary and consumes too much water, a defect which will be remedied when stone locks will be substituted to those now in use, which, being of wood, will soon be decayed.

Three other canals, without locks, have been opened around three distinct falls; the principal, at the Shenandoah Falls, below Harper's Ferry, and at the place where the Potomack breaks through the Blue Ridge is one mile in length around a fall of fifteen feet. Between this and the Great Falls, another canal, three fourths of a mile in length, is opened around the Seneca Falls. The third, fifty yards in length, has been cut around Houre's Falls, five miles above the Shenandoah Falls. Above this place the navigation has been improved by deepening occasionally the channel, raising the water in shallow places by small dams, and opening sluices along the shore. It is believed that by multiplying the number of those low dams, by throwing the channel along the shore, and, when necessary, opening canals with or without locks around the principal rapids, the navigation may be improved, perhaps, as nigh up as Cumberland, 188 miles above tide water, to such a degree as to render the river passable for boats," the greater part of the year,. And if this be found practicable on the Potomack, which is the most rapid of the great Atlantic rivers, the same improvements may, with greater facility, be effected on any of the others. It will be indispensable, in order to attain that object on the Potomack, that additional canals, with locks, should be Opened at the Shenandoah, or Blue Ridge Falls which, as has already been stated, fall 43 feet in the distance of five miles.

2. The Shenandoah, a river nearly as large as the Potomack itself, after a course of 250 miles through the great Limestone Valley, unites its waters with those of the Potomac, at Harper's Ferry, just above the Blue Ridge. From Port Republic, till within eight miles of the Potomack, a distance of near 200 miles, it affords a good navigation, the fall of the river being at the rate of less than two feet a mile.. In the last eight miles, it falls eighty feet, and was impassable before the improvements completed last year by the Potomack Company. Six different canals 20 feet wide, four feet and a half deep, and extending altogether, 2,400 yards, have been opened around the most difficult falls. Through those, and five stone locks, 100 feet long, and twelve feet wide each, and effecting together, a descent of near fifty feet, the communication is now opened, and will render the undertaking much more productive than heretofore. The water in all those canals and locks, as well as in those executed on the Potomack, is uniformly supplied by the river itself.

The capital originally subscribed, amounted to 311,560 dollars, divided into 701 shares; of which the State of Maryland owns 220, and the State of Virginia, seventy. The total amount expended, including an additional payment received from late subscribers, 38,000 dollars arising from tolls, which have been applied to the work, and a debt of about 67,000 dollars contracted by the company, amounts to 444,652 dollars. The annual tolls raised on eight thousand tons of sundry articles, valued at more than half a million of dollars, have not, before the opening of the Shenandoah, exceeded 15,000 dollars; and the annual expenses and repairs are stated at 5,000 dollars.

One hundred shares of one hundred and forty-five pounds sterling each, remain open for subscription.

V. SUSQUEHANNA

This river has no perpendicular, or altogether impassable falls; but from the head of the tide, up to the Pennsylvania line, a distance of ten miles, the navigation is impeded by a succession of dangerous rapids; and these, though occasionally separated by sheets of smooth water, continue 40 miles higher up, at least as far as Columbia; the whole fall from this place to the head of the tide, being estimated at about 140 feet. The navigation through that distance, at all times dangerous, is practicable only during the high freshets, when rafts and flat bottomed boats 80 feet long, and 17 feet wide, may descend, from the several widely extended upper branches of the river. Less dangerous falls are found at the place where it breaks through through the Blue Ridge; above which, the natural navigation from Middletown upwards, whether up the Juniata, the West-Branch, or the East-Branch, is much better than that of the Potomack, and has been improved in several places, at the expense of the State of Pennsylvania. A canal one mile long, and four feet deep, with two brick locks, has also been opened around the Conewago Falls, in the gap of the Blue Ridge; fourteen thousand dollars having been paid for that object, by the same State. It's entrance is difficult, and it is used for water works, being free for navigation, though private property From Columbia, down to the Maryland line, considerable improvements in the bed of the river have also been made, at the expense of the two States, and the descending navigation has, on the whole, been improved; but few boats ever attempt to ascend. Nor is it believed that the natural advantages of the most considerable Atlantic river, will ever be fully enjoyed, until a canal shall have been opened the whole way from Columbia, either to tidewater, or to the Delaware and Chesapeake canal.

A company, incorporated by the State of Maryland, for opening a canal around the falls, in that part of the river which extends from the Pennsylvania line, to tide water, has completed that part of the work, the utility of which is but very partially felt, whilst the bed of the river remains the only communication from its upper extremity up to Columbia.

The canal, 30 feet wide, three feet deep, and admitting boats of 20 tons, is nine miles in length, with a fall of 59 feet. The descent is effected by eight stone locks, each of which is 100 feet in length, and twelve feet wide. The water is supplied by the river itself; and in order to cross the rivers, Conawingo, and Octorara, these, by means of dams, have been raised ten and twelve feet to the level of the canal.

Its defects consist in the want of sufficient breadth of the locks, which do not admit the rafts, and wide flat bottomed boats generally used in bringing down the country produce, and in want of water at the lower end of the canal. This last defect, may be remedied, by extending the canal 700 yards lower down, along the edge of the river; and it is probable, that as timber will become more scarce and valuable in the upper branches of the Susquehanna a different construction will be used. In the mean while the annual tolls have not yet amount to one thousand, whilst the annual expenses are stated at twelve hundred dollars, and the capital expended at 250,000 dollars.

The attempts made to open a communication from|Middletown, in the Limestone Valley, to Philadelphia, partly by canals, and partly by means of the Schuylkill, will be noticed under the head of "Interior Canals."

V. OHIO.

The navigation of the Kanhawa, and of the eastern branches of the Tennessee, Monongahela, and Allegany, in their course through the mountains, may at a future period be improved. But from the foot of the mountains, all those rivers, and particularly the Ohio, flow with a much gentler current than the Atlantic rivers: a circumstance easily accounted for, when it is recollected that Brownsville, on the Monongahela, and at a distance of two thousand miles, by water, from the sea, is only 115 feet more elevated than Cumberland, on the Potomack; whilst this river, with all its meanders, reaches tide water within less than two hundred miles. All those rivers, at the annual melting of the snows, rise to the height of more than forty feet, affording, from the upper points to which they are navigable, a safe navigation to the sea for any ship that can pass over the bar at the mouth of the Mississippi. As early as the year 1793, a schooner built on the Monongahela, between Brownsville and Pittsburgh, reached New-Orleans by that extraordinary inland navigation, and arrived safe at Philadelphia. This first essay stimulated the spirit of enterprise, so conspicuous in the American character; and numerous vessels, from one hundred to three hundred and fifty tons burthen, are now annually built at several shipyards on the Ohio, even as high up as Pittsburgh,' and bringing down to New-Orleans the produce of the upper country consumed there, carry to Europe, and to the Atlantic ports of the United States, the cotton, the sugar, and the tobacco of Louisiana, and of the States of Tennessee and Kentucky.

That branch of national industry gives value to the immense forests of the Ohio and of its numerous branches, will soon make a considerable, and, perhaps, necessary accession to the shipping of the United States, and has a tendency to diminish the price of freights from New-Orleans to the other American, and to foreign ports. The importance of this last consideration will be duly felt, if the magnitude of the exports, of which New-Orleans is destined to be the emporium, be contrasted with the probable amount of its importations. For such are the labour, time, and expense necessary to ascend the rapid stream of the Mississippi, and the nature of its banks, annually overflowed on a breadth of several miles, precludes the possibility of towing paths; that whilst the greater part of the produce of the immense country watered by that river and its tributary streams, must necessarily be exported through its channel, the importations of a considerable portion of that country will continue to be supplied from the Atlantic sea ports, by water and land communications, susceptible of considerable improvement. And thus, unless another outlet be found for a portion of the exports, or unless the upper country can supply vessels, those export! must necessarily pay a double freight.

The only impediments to that navigation, are on the Tennessee, " the Muscle Shoals," of which no particular account has been received, and, on the Ohio, the falls of Louisville. Ordinary boats can with difficulty pass these in summer, and the navigation is, even during the freshets, dangerous for the large vessels. The attention of the legislature of Kentucky, and of the inhabitants of the western country generally, has therefore been particularly drawn to the opening of a canal at that place. A company has been lately incorporated by the State of Kentucky for that purpose, with a capital which may amount to 500,000 dollars, but a small portion of which has yet been subscribed. The expense, however, is estimated at a sum less than the nominal capital.

The proposed canal would be near two miles in length, and must be dug, in some places, to a depth of 27, but generally of about 16 feet; the breadth at the bottom being 20 feet, with the necessary slope, would make it generally 68 feet wide at top, and in particular places not less than one hundred. The fall, at low water, is about 22 feet, and would require three locks, of dimensions sufficient to pass ships of 400 tons, and drawing 14 feet of water. The greatest expense will be that of digging and removing the earth, which may be estimated at 400,000 cubic yards, and according to the representation made of the nature of the ground, will not probably cost more than 200,000 dollars. To this may be added 100,000 dollars for the locks and other necessary works, making altogether three hundred thousand dollars. The greatest difficulty seems to be the protection of the locks and canals against the rise of the river, which sometimes Overflows the whole ground through which the canal must be opened.

The expense of the improvements suggested in the communications between the Atlantic and western waters, may be stated as followeth:

1st. Four artificial roads from the four great western rivers, the Allegheny, Monongahela, Kanhawa, and Tennessee, to the nearest corresponding Atlantic rivers, the Susquehanna, the Potomack. James River, and either the Santee, or Savannah, leaving to the several States the continuation of those roads eastwardly to the nearest sea-ports. Those roads should unite on each river, points from which a permanent and safe navigation downwards could, except during the driest seasons, be relied on, and will therefore on each route, be estimated at one hundred miles, making altogether 400 miles, which at 7000 dollars a mile, the materials being generally on the spot, would cost $2,800,000

2dly. The improvement of the navigation of the four Atlantic rivers from tide water to the highest practicable point, effected principally by canals around the falls wherever practicable, and by locks whenever necessary.— The most expensive of these would be the proposed canal from Columbia on the Susquehanna to tide water, or to the Delaware and Chesapeake canal. And considering how much has been effected already, and may still be done on the other rivers, by the several incorporated companies, it is believed that every useful improvement might be completed by a public expenditure not exceeding 1,500,000 3dly. The canal at the falls of Ohio, estimated at, $300,000

Making altogether, $ 4,600,000

Although a canal navigation uniting the Atlantic and western waters, in a direct course across the mountains, appears impracticable, yet those mountains may be turned either on the north, by means of the Mohawk valley and of Lake Ontario, or on the south, through Georgia and the Mississippi Territory. The first communication will be noticed under the head of " the river St. Lawrence and great Lakes." Of the second, it will be sufficient to observe, that the country lying between the sources of the rivers Chatahouchee and Mobile, and the gulf of Mexico, is an inclined plane, regularly descending towards the sea, and that by following the proper levels, it presents no natural obstacle to the opening of a canal, fed by the waters of the two last-mentioned rivers, and extending from the tide water on the coast of Georgia, to the Mississippi. The distance in a direct line about 5 or 10 miles; and to be overcome, requires only time, perseverance, and labour. When it is recollected that such an undertaking would discharge the Mississippi into the Atlantic, the remarks already made on the trade of that river, and other obvious considerations, will sufficiently point out its immense importance. Nor should the plan, on account of its magnitude, be thought chimerical, for the elevation and other natural obstacles of intervening ground, or want of a sufficient supply of water, and not distance, are the only insuperable impediments to an artificial navigation.

This work, which is presented not as an immediate, but as a distant object, worthy of consideration, would probably require ten millions of dollars and thirty years for its completion. The annual sales of the public lands in the Mississippi Territory, which are estimated at fifty millions of acres, would, after paying the debt due to the State of Georgia, afford sufficient funds; and the increased value of the residue, would alone more than compensate the expense.

It is proper to add, that an inland navigation, even for open boats, already exists from New Orleans by the canal Carondelet, to the lake Pontchartrain, thence between the coast and the adjacent islands to the bay of Mobile, and up its two principal rivers, the Alabama and the Tombigbee, to the lead of the tide, within the acknowledged boundaries of the United States. The current of these two rivers being much less rapid than that of the Mississippi, they have long been contemplated, particularly the Tombigbee, as affording a better communication to the ascending or returning trade from New Orleans to the waters of the Tennessee^ from which they are separated by short portages.

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