4t: CANAL BETWEEN THE 



and fathcrlcfs children have too long pafled unre- 

 garded, as matters of trivi.il moment; and mankind, 

 centrally bufied in fcltifh purfuits, ha 

 .deigned to carry the tidings to a quarter which feels 

 for diftrefs, and is ever difpofed to relieve it. 



Another inconvenience attending this navigation 

 remains to be mentioned. It hath already been ob- 

 ferved, that though the arrival of the herrings be 

 ; m, yet the particular lake or bay of their ren- 

 dezvous remains doubtful, until difcovercd by the 

 fowls which attend the fhoals. Sometimes the her- 

 rings are difcovered in Lochfine, and other lochs on 

 this fide of Cantire ; at other times, in Loch Broom, 

 or amidft the I K bride i Hands, on the other fide. In 

 either cafe, the people of the one fide mult fail round 

 that peninfula, before they can avail thcmlelvcs of 

 the tifhery on the oppofitc fide, and every boat, 

 however fmall, mufl make a circuit of more than 

 l oo miles, before (he arrives at fhores which lie pa- 

 rallel to the place from whence fhe fct out. There- 

 fore, when all thcfe circumilances are combined, and 

 duly confidered, the expediency of a friorter navi- 

 gation between the Atlantic and the Clyde, mult 

 appear obvious to every obferver. It is a matter 

 not only of national utility, but of moral obligation. 

 It touches the feelings of humanity, and calls loudly 

 for immediate redr 



A ftrangerfrom China, France, or Holland, would 

 imagine that a work of fuch importance to a com- 

 mercial nation, prefented difficulties in the execu- 

 tion, which could not be removed at a lefs expence 

 than feveral millions fterlin^i but, how great would 

 his furprize be, when informed, that nature had 

 alinoft completed the bufintfs, leaving only an ifth- 

 mus of five miles between the two feas; that the fur- 

 face was almoft level, and that the expence of join- 

 ing thtfe waters upon a large fcale, would amount 

 to no more than 6o,cool ! 



A notion 



