64 On the Anthracite Region, &c. of Pennsylvania. 
It is contemplated to render a western branch of e 
Schuylkill navigable, which will give easy access to a | 
body of coal, the property of the New-York company, As 
uated five miles from Pottsville. 
Coal at the head of the canal is sold for ten cents the 
bushel. The raising costs about three, and cartage a 
cent a mile; the canal tolls amount to about 54 cents, 
and freight near four, making the whole , expense 
the mine to Philadelphia from 4 dollars to 4 yoo the ton, ac- 
cording to the location of the coal bed, or economy used. 
A considerable saving in the item of cartage would be cf- 
fected by the formation of rail-ways to the principal mines. 
They are generally situated considerably above the landing, 
and present a descent most of the way to the coal yards. It 
is probable that there willbe a further-exteysion of the canal 
into the coal region, whiely with the formation of rail-ways, 
will give access to coal beds s otherwise too remote for profi- 
Should it be finnd necessary, to enable the proprietors of 
coal beds at Pottsville to come in competition in the market 
with coal from other localities delivered at a cheaper rate, 
the canal company will find it for their interest to lower the 
vate of toll, and would be Sampemseted by an increased 
quantity shipped. 
From Pottsville to Philadelphia, a etinzs of 132 miles, 
the descent is 588 feet. The navigation of the Schuylkill is 
improved by alternate dams and canals. Between the coal 
mountains and the Blue Ridge, the canal passes through a 
wide, extensive, elevated, iad: very broken valley, of a gene- 
rally poor soil, partially cultivated, and thinly occupied by 
inhabitants of German descent, who speak the language of 
their ancestors. __It was represented that not one in ten 
converse in English. There is a narrow range of limestone 
in parts of this valley, adjacent to the Blue Ridge. 
The passage of the Schuylkill and canal thiounlt sini Blue 
Ridge is interesting. ‘The mountains. bordering 
are lofty and precipitous, presenting ledges of old. red sand 
stone, with coarse and fine siliclous gray wac wacke. The turn- 
pike wae aeshe mountain’ s side at a considerable one : 
above the si ie navigation through the pass is ef- 
fected by stone aie: of —— and permanent construc. 
tion; one of them is of thirty feet altitude. Groups of locks, 
water falls, and broad sheets of water, were frequent. The 
