298 On the Inland Navigation 



and very accurate information *, it appears, that within the 

 state of Pennsylvania there are about three hundred miles of 

 canal actually completed, about one hundred and twenty miles 

 of improved river navigation, and eighteen miles of railway ; 

 while the legislature has authorized the construction, in all, of one 

 thousand two hundred miles of canal, the improvement of two 

 hundred and twenty miles of river, and the formation of nearly 

 six hundred miles of railway. Of the canals thus authorized^ 

 seven hundred and fifty miles more are actually in progress, 

 and reasonable expectations may be entertained, that they will 

 be finished in less than three years from the publication of this 

 paper. The extent, therefore, of the internal navigation of 

 Pennsylvania will probably soon exceed that of any state in 

 the Union. 



Among the more important of these canals is one from the 

 tide waters of the Delaware, along its western shore, as far as 

 the boundary of the state of New York. This will be pro- 

 ductive of much advantage, for there is a large district of 

 country in that direction, which has lain so far from any ac- 

 cessible route, as to have remained in a state of wilderness, 

 although much of it is capable of being rendered fertile. The 

 Lehigh river, which, as we have before stated, joins the De- 

 laware at Easton, has for several years engaged the attention 

 of a company formed for working the coal mines that lie a few 

 miles from its channel. This river carries a large body of water, 

 but is so rapid as to be dangerous for a descending, and im- 

 practicable for an ascending navigation. The first attempt at 

 a navigation was a simple improvement in the channel itself, 

 by weirs, sluices and wing-dams ; and the object was limited to 

 obtaining a safe descending navigation for arks. Although the 

 transport of coal by means of these rude vessels was not found 

 too expensive, still it furnished a supply far too limited for the 

 demand ; and a canal, for the whole distance, with locks, has 

 been undertaken, and will soon be finished. It will commu- 

 nicate by the Morris Canal with the city of New York, and by 

 the Delaware canal with the tide waters of that river. It has, 

 however, been constructed upon a scale much greater than 



• Furnished the writer by Mr. G. W. Smith of Philadelphia, a high 

 authority in all questions of internal improvement. 



