44 



An cxccivatioii beginning iiml unuing vv-itliin a distance of 

 t3(?vcn hundred ioet, and of a depth in the middle of about ten 

 feet, containing less than five tliousand cubic yards of rock, 

 will establisli tlie grade of four in one hundred as a maximum 

 in the bed oi' Little Eiver, and give it a minimum width of 

 thirty feet. Tiiis will coincide with the present bottom of 

 the transverse fissure to he crossed obliciuely, and vrhich would 

 then only rcfiuire the rock from the excavation to he placed 

 on each side to retain the water there, and to conduct it into 

 the cleft in the ledge below, Vv^hose bottom with a width of 

 about forty feet descends from there gradually to the main 

 channel, at a point eight hundred feet further down where it 

 is a,bout one hundred feet wide, and Hows with a gentle velo- 

 city. One dollar per cubic yard v/ould be a full price for this 

 excavation, and five thousand dollars would be an ample 

 allowance for all the expenses in making the fish-way com- 

 })lcte, making a total estimate often thousand dollars. 



At periods of vci'v high Vvater, ot' course, the effect of the 

 artificial cha'.iuel would be greatly diminished; but I imagine 

 that although the fish may he started in their migration by 

 the Spring freshets penetrating far doAvn into the salt water; 

 yet, that by the time they have reached the Great Falls, the 

 river wiil Ijave .subsided to its ordinary stage, when a gill-net 

 stretched across just above the fish-way may serve the double 

 purpose of making a remunerative catch, and of diverting the 

 rest into the ascendable channel. The supplying of the pro- 

 posed ncvv' course with the requisite volume of water, depends 

 upon the Government's completing the dam of the Water 

 Works, and providing a sufficient waste-way near the Mary- 

 land end. 



If, however, that period may be deemed too reuiote, an ad- 

 ditional expense of about four tliousand dollars will connect 

 tiie channel of Little River with the main body of vvater, by 

 r.:cans of an excavation across tl)e upper end of Falls Island, 

 v/b.ich would make the total cost of this route fourteen thou- 

 sand dollars. 



If yo'.i sliouid ada])t Jas. D. Bi-ewer's patent iish-way to 

 the main chsinnel, located as you have suggested, on the west 

 side of Falls Island and alongside of the falls, it will be 



