UNCLE IN ENGLAND. 211 



every part of the carpet manufactory; but the 

 chief interest of the day has been a magnificent 

 inclined plane on the Shropshire canal, which my 

 uncle was so good as to go out of the direct road 

 to shew us. It is a slope of 350 yards in length, 

 with a fall of 70 yards, connecting the canal on 

 the high ground with the canal on the lower level ; 

 and the boats, being placed in a kind of cradle 

 upon wheels, are allowed to roll gently down 

 the inclined plane, or are drawn up by the power 

 of a small steam engine. By this contrivance 

 three great savings are effected, he said. First, 

 the prodigious expense of building twenty-one 

 locks, which would be required for that height; 

 secondly, the time occupied in passing through all 

 those locks ; and, thirdly, the quantity of water 

 which is wasted every time a lock is opened, and 

 which, in some parts of the country, it is very 

 difficult to replace in a dry summer. 



Wood Lodge. 



16th. So far our journey has been most 

 agreeable in every way. My uncle and aunt not 

 only stop wherever there is any thing to see, but 

 they tell me what to observe, because they know 

 that, through ignorance, I might overlook the 

 things which deserve the most attention. Only 

 think, mamma, of their having actually come into 

 Cheshire, in order to shew me a salt-mine. My 

 uncle promised it many months ago, and he never 



