1838] 



FARMERS- REGISTER 



409 



structed the entrineer in cluirfje oftlie party tlicre, 

 to tako rapidly some lines ol" souiidinirs on the bar 

 ofOlil 'I'opsail inlet, the entrance to Beaufort har- 

 bor, lor the pnrposie ofascertaininif the correctnes^< 

 of an o|)inion ailvanced by the pilots, that shicc 

 my snrvey of 18:22 the depth of water on the bar 

 had materially increased. 



These operations being effected, and the sickly 

 season at hand, the engineers were withdrawn 

 from the field to plot their work, and arrange the 

 facts which they had collected, pre|)aratory to 

 their resuming the surveys proposed to be made 

 farther inland during the latter part of the fall and 

 the beginning of the winter. We had, in a com- 

 paratively short time, collected much inlbrmation; 

 our work had extended itsell'to a distance of about 

 220 miles; and, faking into consideration the sur- 

 veys heretolbre made under the direction of the 

 officers of the corps whom I have named, with 

 the observations, the result of various prolessional 

 visits to the coast, we are enabled to take general 

 views of the character and extent of the improve- 

 ments of which the sounds, at least as iar west- 

 ward as Cape Fear river, are susceptible; they 

 enable us to lorra opinions on the question of their 

 probable permanency; the advantages to result to 

 the commerce of the country; and, ibr a great part 

 of the distance, we have the means of estimating 

 their probable cost. Especially is this the case 

 with respect to the line from the Dismal Swamp 

 canal to Swansborouijh. To the westward ol 

 that place, the very close reconnoissance which, 

 in the year 1822, I made of the sounds lying to- 

 wards Cape Fear river, enables us to appreciate 

 their value with reference as iveli to commerce as 

 to military defiance. 



The memorandum which 1 had the honor to 

 submit to your consideration as the basis of a re- 

 ply to the letter of the honorable C. Shepard and 

 other members of congress from North Carolina, 

 will have made you acquainted with ray opinion 

 upon the question of the improvement of Core 

 sound, the value of such improvement to the 

 coasting trade and to foreign commerce, and it 

 will have shown tlie connexion of that sound 

 with the navigable waters of the state and with 

 the waters of Chesapeake bay. A copy of that 

 memorandum is herewith transmitted, and I have 

 to ask your attention to it in connexion with this 

 report. 



The practicability and importaiice of a naviga- 

 ble communication inland, between the Chesa- 

 peake bay and Beaufort harbor, viz. : by Eliza- 

 beth river, the Dismal Swamp canal, Pasquotank 

 river, and Albemarle, Croatan, Pamlico, and Core 

 sounds, are unquestionable. It would be out of 

 place in this preliminary report to enter into a mi- 

 nute description of the sounds and rivers embraced 

 by the surveys of the past season; nevertheless, 

 we may state that west of Beaufort, the sounds, 

 generally, are much narrower, and with a greater 

 number of shoals than are those I have enume- 

 rated. Bogue sound, though broad, is very shal- 

 low. Those lying between it and Cape Fear ri- 

 ver are, for the most part, full of marshes, through 

 which we find the passage to be by narrow and 

 tortuous creeks, with extremely "shallow bars, 

 wherever the tides meet in their passage from the 

 numerous small inlets with which the hne of coast 

 is indented. The only barriers between these 

 sounds, generally, and the ocean, are low and nar- 

 VoL. VT.— 52 



row sand-banks; over which, in many places, the 

 waves are swept by the hurricanes; the sands arc 

 carried by the sea and the wind into the sounds; 

 shoals are formed, and become the bases of salt 

 marshes; the accumulation of matter over their 

 whole area and in their channe's is thus progres- 

 sive. The communication between them is some- 

 limes closed by the silt carried forward by the tides 

 and by the encroachment of the marshes, and it 

 becomes necessary to open small canals ibr the 

 passage of lighters and canoes at high tide. To 

 this description, which is very extensively appli- 

 cable to the sounds west of Bogue, there are ex- 

 ceptions, which it is unnecessary for our present 

 purpose to enumerate, unless it be required in the 

 case of the portion of the sound lying near New- 

 river, to which I have referred in the memoran- 

 dum already alluded to. 



It is apparent h-om these facts, I think, that the 

 question of the practicability and cost of opening 

 a channel for steamboats west of Beaufort, or cer^ 

 tainly of Swansborough, yields, in point of impor- 

 tance to the consideration of the practicability and 

 expense of defi^nding it against the inroads of the 

 sea and the encroachments of the sands. The ex- 

 posure, too, of this part of the route to the enter- 

 prises of an enemy, during periods when it would 

 be most required for the security and accommoda- 

 tion of trade, became so apparent from the facta 

 developed during our examination, that it was 

 deemed ttdvisable to inquire whether a route might 

 not be found farther inland by which to connect 

 the sounds and navigable waters east of Beaufort 

 with some branch of Cape Fear river. Subse- 

 quent inquiiy, supported by our previous know- 

 ledge of the country, led to the opinion that pro- 

 bably a canal might be construc'ed of the requi- 

 site capacity, and with a sufficient supply of water, 

 from Neuse river to the north-east "branch of 

 Cape Fear river. The iiicts and reasoning upon 

 which this opinion rested were verbally communi- 

 cated to you; and as they received the sanction of 

 yourlavorable opinion, one of the parties of engi- 

 neers was instructed to make such surveys and 

 examinations of the country, near the presumed 

 line of communication, as would enable us to ar- 

 rive at more accurate and distinct ideas of the 

 adaptation of the ground to the project. On re- 

 suming the field operations, therefore, I organized 

 a party for that purpose, in the stead of the one 

 which had surveyed Pasquotardt river and the 

 sounds east of Harbor island, which had been 

 broken up by circumstances unconnected with the 

 service, Tliis 1 placed under charge ol' an expe- 

 rienced and intelliiient principal assistant, who 

 had already served under my orders, and who per- 

 formed the duty entirely to my satisfaction. 



The survey conmienced at a point on the north- 

 east branch of Ca[)e Fear river, 47 miles above 

 Wilmington, and 5 nules below the head of navi- 

 gation — 8 it;et water. The point of beginning 

 was within a few yards of the mouth of Holly- 

 shelter creek; thence it was traced nearly parallel 

 with that creek, crossing in its course Shaking 

 creek and several of the minor streams which is- 

 sue fi-om Hollyshelter swamp, ft crossed Holly- 

 shelter creek at Outen or Little lake, and thence 

 followed the course of Big Sandy run to a loca- 

 tion, the source of some of the tributaries of Cape 

 Fear river on the one hand, and of New river 

 on the other; thence it pursued nearly a direct 



