474 FOURTH REPORT — 1834. 



and the various contrivances which were subsequently invented 

 to supersede their use. Until the invention of the lock, therefore, 

 Aery little could be done in the way of inland navigation, ex- 

 cept in the fens, when connected with drainage ; accordingly 

 the most ancient attempts of this kind are to be found in the 

 Carr and Foss Dykes * by the Romans, — the former skirting 

 the uplands and fens from the river Nene at Peterborough to the 

 river Witham near Lincoln, by a canal of forty miles in length, 

 and the latter, which connects the Witham at Lincoln with the 

 Trent above Gainsborough, by a level cut of eleven miles in 

 length. 



The works also undertaken by the Church in the great level 

 of the fens, such as the cut from Peterborough to Guyhern by 

 Bishop Morton in the year 1478, and afterwards perfected by 

 Charles the First, conjointly with the Bedford Level adventui'ers, 

 may also be mentioned. 



Superficial Content of the Fens adjoining the Wash. 



Between the high lands on the south and south-east,"] 



and the Great Ouse and Cam rivers, the superficial > 138,880 acres 



content is 217 square miles, or J 



Between Great Ouse and Cam rivers and river Nene, ) „,„ icn j 

 nnA -1 i 252,160 do. 



394 square miles, or J ' 



Between river Nene and Glen river, 389 square ) 24a ofio A 



miles, or J ' 



Between Glen river and Old Witham river, 414"! 2fi4 060 d 



square miles, or J ' 



Between Old Witham river and Tetney drain, 201 \ jgs b4o do 



square miles, or / ' 



Making a total of 1613 square miles, 1,033,360 acres. 



The rivers that drain this immense district are, — 



The Setch, or Nar, Holbeach river, 



Great Ouse and its tributaries, Old Welland, 



Little Ouse, or Brandon river, Glen river, 



The Cam, Old Witham river, 



Welney, Old river, 



Nene and its tributaries, Louth river. 



• The late Mr. Rennie, in his Report to the Commissioners of the First Di- 

 strict of the North Level of the Fens, dated 17th June, 1809, speaking of the 

 Caerr or Carr Dyke, saj's, " The Carr Dyke acts as a catch-water drain to 

 the whole North Level ; and if it were in good condition, and had a good 

 outlet, it would intercept the water falling on 12,000 acres of high land, and 

 would greatly relieve the whole level. 



" This great Roman work extended originally from the river Nene below 

 Peterborough to the city of Lincoln, and perhaps the river Trent at Torksey. I 



