WARPING. 55 



with an exuberant vegetation. Three thousand six hundred 

 acres have already been recovered, with a prospect of a consid 

 erable accession. These are certainly among the most beautiful 

 triumphs of human art, and compel one to reverence that intel 

 lectual power which lies at the basis of such improvements. 



The River Humber, formed by the contributions of the Ouse 

 and Trent, and several smaller rivers, opens into a large bay at 

 its mouth. At its junction with the sea, its waters are said to 

 be quite clear ; but within they are quite turbid, and a large 

 quantity of fine silt, siliceous and aluminous matter, is held in 

 suspension by them. Extensive tracts of low bog, and other 

 lands, lie above on the river or rivers emptying into the Hum 

 ber; and the object has been to introduce this muddy water upon 

 these lands, and there keep it long enough to give time for it to 

 deposit a considerable portion of this floating substance. 



In order to approach these lands, a deep canal, in one case, was 

 cut, at first for a distance of three miles, and since that time ex 

 tended to six miles. The dimensions of the canal were 30 feet 

 wide at bottom, 90 feet wide at top, and 11 J feet deep; and a 

 sluice-way built of stone, with two openings of 16 feet each, and 

 four strong opening doors, was made at the entrance of this 

 canal, to admit and control the tides. Most substantial banks 

 were made on the edges of this main drain, and it answers the 

 purpose of a canal for the admission of vessels of 70 and 80 tons 

 burden, which ascend it for the purpose of bringing down the 

 produce of the country to be conveyed to market. The lands 

 now intended to be flooded are banked in by strong embank 

 ments, and a sluice-way is cut to the main drain, so that, when 

 the water is admitted to the main drain, it may flow into these 

 enclosed spaces. Here it remains in a stagnant state for a time, 

 and at ebb tide is let off again, preparatory to the reintroduction, 

 at another tide, of a fresh supply. When the deposit has become 

 sufficient, the sluice-way is filled up, and the embankment ren 

 dered complete and efficient against the irruption of the tide, and 

 the land placed under a course of cultivation. A good deal of 

 ingenuity is required, in order to give the water a proper direc 

 tion, and enclosures are made within other enclosures; and great 

 care is requisite to prevent a too sudden irruption of the water, 

 and to avoid opposing currents meeting each other, which is apt 

 to occasion irregularities of surface and sand-banks; and skill is 



