CANALS. 



also, that of the Loire and Seine, because Its object 

 was to connect those two rivers. It was 37 years in 

 execution, being begun in 1605, during the reign of 

 Henry IV., ana completed in 1642. It is 34 miles 

 in length. From the Loire, about a mile from Briare, 

 it ascends along the river Frezee, by Ouzonne and 

 Rogny, where are 7 locks ; then by Chatillon and 

 Montargis, and, near Cepay, meets the river Loing, 

 which falls into the Seine. The locks of this canal, 



40 or 42 in number, were the first executed in France. 

 They vary from 124 to 164$ feet in length, and from 

 5 feet 4 inches to more than 13 feet in lift, and are, 

 according to some authorities, 14 feet 5 inches, or, 

 according to others, 15-j^y feet, in breadth. The 

 bottom of the canal is 25 T <y,j wide. It is supplied 

 with water principally by lakes ; one of the feeders, 

 that of Prive, is 12 miles in length. The cost of this 

 canal is estimated at 20,000,000 francs, or about 

 3,700,000 dollars, which, considering the difference 

 in the value of money, is nearly equal to that of the 

 Erie canal of New York. It is important for the 

 supply of provisions to Paris. The canal du Midi, 

 or Languedoc canal, makes a communication between 

 the Mediterranean at the city of Cette, and the At- 

 lantic ocean at the mouth of the Garonne, passing 

 through the province of Languedoc, and is supplied 

 by the rivers Garonne and Gironde, and their tribu- 

 taries. It was undertaken in 1664, 22 years after 

 that of Briare was completed, and finished in 1680 ; 

 being 148 English miles in length, from the coast of 

 the Mediterranean to Toulouse, where it meets the 

 Garonne ; 64 feet wide at the surface of the water, 

 and 34 or 35 feet at the bottom ; rising, at the sum- 

 mit, 200 metres, or about 640 feet above tide-water, 

 and having 114 locks, varying in lift from 4 to 12 

 feet, and navigated by boats 85 feet long, and from 

 17 to 19 broad, drawing' 5 feet 4 inches of water, and 

 of 100 tons burden. The reservoir of St Ferrol is 

 situated at the summit-level, where a body of water 

 more than five French leagues in length, is accumu- 

 lated, for the supply of the canal, from the streams 

 falling from the neighbouring mountains. This re- 

 servoir and the basins at Castelnaudary cover 595 

 acres. The canal passes under a mountain at Be- 

 riers, by a tunnel of 720 feet in length, lined through- 

 out with freestone a kind of construction novel at 

 the time when the canal was made, though now com- 

 mon. The canal is crossed by 92 road-bridges, 

 and has 55 aqueduct bridges. It was completed 

 under Louis XIV., under the direction of Frangois 

 Andreossi, as engineer. It is estimated to have cost 

 33,000,000 francs, or about 6,1 60,000 dollars ; in com- 

 paring which with the cost of similar works in Great 

 Britain and theUnited States, allowance must,as above 

 suggested, be made for the difference in the value of 

 money, the same nominal cost, in France, being a 

 much greater actual cost, in this comparison. The 

 canal of Orleans was the next in order of time, hav- 

 ing been begun in 1675, and completed in 1692, 12 

 years after that of Languedoc. It branches from 

 the Loire, near to Orleans, 36 miles below the place 

 where the canal of Briare meets that river, and joins 

 the canal of Briare at Montargis, being 45 miles 

 long. One object of its construction was to save 

 the difficult navigation on the Loire, between Orleans 

 and the, junction of the canal of Briare with that 

 river, and to open a shorter route of communication 

 between the Lower Loire and Paris. It has 28 

 locks, varying from 136^ to 177| feet in length, and 

 of lifts from 5 feet 4 inches to 12 feet 7 inches -^Frorn 

 the Loire to the summit, the ascent is 98 feet 2 

 inches. The breadth is from 25 feet 7 inches to 32 

 feet, at the surface of the water, and the depth from 



41 feet, when full, to 2 feet, when lowest. The boats 

 Rre from 96 to 102 feet long, and 13 feet 10 inches 



broad. The expense of Its construction Is stated at 

 8,000,000 francs, or about 1,500,000, dollars. The 

 canal of Lome is a continuation of the navigation 

 of that of Orleans, and the northern part of that 

 of Briare, commencing from the northern extremity 

 of that of Briare, and extending to the river Seine 

 terminating in the neighbourhood of Fontainebleau. 

 It was completed in 1723, is 33 miles long, 44 feet 

 broad at the surface, 34 at the bottom, and from 4 

 to 5 feet deep. The towing path, on each side, is 6 

 feet 5 inches broad, outside of which, on each side, is 

 an embankment, like the levees on the Mississippi, 

 or the dykes of Holland, 3 feet high, 19 feet broad 

 at the base, and 12 feet 9 inches at the top, to pre- 

 vent the waters from overflowing during floods. The 

 whole descent is 136 feet 8 inches, divided among 

 21 locks, which vary in lift from 4 to 7 feet, and in 

 breadth from 15 to 16. The cost is stated at 

 2,500,000 francs, or about 466,000 dollars. It was 

 constructed about the same time with the canal of 

 Orleans. The canal of the' centre, called, also, that 

 of Charolois, and likewise a branch of the " Grand 

 Navigation," completed in 1791, leaves the Loire at 

 Dijon, follows the banks of the Arran, then the left 

 bank of the Bourbonne, and passes by Parce, Gene- 

 lard, Aire, and Blauzey, to the lakes of Monschamin 

 and Long-pendu, which form the summit-level, the 

 rise being 240 feet, by 30 locks, in 6300 metres. 

 The summit-level is a distance of 3940 metres, whence 

 the canal descends, by the river Dheune, to St Julian, 

 where it crosses that river, and passes along the right 

 bank by St Benain, St Leger and St Gilles to Chagny, 

 leaves the valley of the Dheune, and crosses towards 

 the river Halia, which it follows to its junction with 

 the Saone at Chalons, the descent from the summit 

 being 400 feet by 50 locks, in a distance of 47,000 

 metres ; the whole length of the canal being about 71 

 miles, the breadth at the surface of the water, 48 

 feet, at the bottom 30 feet, the depth of the water 

 5| feet, the length of each lock 100 feet, and its 

 breadth 16. The cost of this canal is stated at 

 11,000,000 francs, or about 2,060,000. The canal of 

 St Quintin unites the Scheldt with the canal of Flan- 

 ders. It was projected, in 1727, by the military en- 

 gineer Devieq, but not constructed until 1810. The 

 original plan, which has been very nearly followed, 

 was to proceed from Maquincourt, near the Scheldt, 

 to mount St Martin, there pass through a tunnel 3440 

 toises, or a little more than 3| miles long ; then fol- 

 low the valley of Bellinglise and Haut Court to the 

 heights of Tronquoy ; mere pass through a tunnel 

 700 toises, a little more than J of a mile in length, 

 coming out at Ledin ; making the distance of the 

 summit-level 7090 toises, or a little over 8 miles, of 

 which 2950 are open, and 4140, or more than 4 

 miles, subterraneous. The length of this canal is 

 28 miles ; hi the rise from St Quintin to the summit- 

 level, there are 5 locks, and in the descent to Cam- 

 bray, 17. The cost is stated at 12,000,000 francs. 

 Besides the above canals, 42 others are enumerated 

 in the Encyclopedic Moderne, as completed, or in the 

 course of construction, in France. 



CAMALS OF GREAT BRITAIN. The English were a 

 century after the French in commencing the con- 

 struction of canals upon a large scale. The first 

 considerable work of this description was the Sankey 

 canal, for which an act of parliament was passed in 

 1755 ; the object of the act being the improvement 

 of the navigation of Sankey brook ; which plan was 

 afterwards changed to that of a separate canal of 12 

 miles in length. While the work on this canal was 

 in progress in 1758, the duke of Bridgewater obtained 

 an act of parliament for making Worsley brook na- 

 vigable from Worsley mill to the river Irwell, for the 

 purpose of facilitating the transportation of coalg 



