find maintainivg the Caledonian Canal. 41 



works, that a sum of eighteen thousand pounds should be ap- 

 {iropriated to this expenditure on iron castings in the next en- 

 suing twelvemonth from the date of this Report : nor will thi« 

 be doubted when we state, that sixteen pairs of lock gates of this 

 kind might at this time he hung in their respective places, if 

 readv, no more than two pairs being as yet in action ; thes« 

 however serve fo prove satisiactorilv the facility of their motior., 

 two men being able to open or to close them, although i:<i water 

 is in the lock to lighten their weight and pressure. We shall 

 postpone any particular description of these newly invented lock 

 gates, until their actual use shall have enabled us to state all the 

 details. 



Adding to the above eighteen thousand pounds, four thousan/i 

 pounds for the currerit expenditure on timber and machinery of 

 various kinds, and three thousand pounds for manngement and 

 miscellaneous e\pen';es, it will apjjear that no more than twentr- 

 five Thousand pounds will remain for expenditure on labour, and 

 that we should be compelled to dismiss many of our exjjerienceii 

 workmen, much to the detriment of the work, in case the quai:- 

 titv of labour should afterwards again be increased, as indeed 

 could not fail to happen. 



Estimate. We have endeavoured to ascertain the total ex- 

 penditiU'C which will be necessary before the Caledonian canal 

 can become navigable throngiiout ; and we are of opinion, that 

 the sum of one hundred and sixty or one hundred and seventv 

 thousand pounds vvill be sufficient; and as we have twenty- five 

 thousand pouiids remaining of the last year's grant, two grant* 

 of seventv-live thousand pounds each, or tinee grants of fiftv 

 thoLisaid pounds each, will amply cover the expenditure. 



Being aware that our present estimate is not conformable to 

 what might have been expected from our calculation founded 

 on Mr, Telford's estimate of October \SUi, we have called upou 

 \um to explain the ditference, no change of prices having been 

 alleged to have taken place since that time; and it appears 

 that to his estimate of two hundred and thirty- five thousand 

 pound's, not including payments for land and for management, 

 "I'e added for these purposes eighteen thousand pounds, which h 

 so short of the truth, that the payments for land and rpiarry 

 rents vvill probably exceed that sum : but it is ol)vious, that we 

 rould only venture to state the amount of valuations, and that 

 we could not control the opinion of a jury; much less could we 

 foresee that the intervention of any jury would become necessary, 

 the expense of v.hich in itself amounted to more than a thousand 

 pounds. In effect, twenty-sev^ii thousand pounds would not 

 have been too much to have added to Mr. Telford's estimate, 

 considering tliat the expense of management from that time may 



extend 



