1838] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



413 



is now, or is proposed to be, — feet broad, by 6 to 

 7 feet deep. It is to be borne in mind, also, that 

 Ocracoiv-e had then about 4 to G feet in its channels 

 over the siioals in the bay, and that there existed 

 a naviiialiie communicaUoii between Currituck 

 sound and the ocean. 



I subjoin the Ibllowins; statement to enable you 

 to form'some estimate of the value of the inland 

 trade connected with the sounds which lie between 

 Beaufort and the Chesapeake. 

 Amount of ccrfaiii art!clcfi transported throiiixh 

 tttc Dismul Swamp canal during the years 1833, 

 1S34, 1835, and 1836. 



Quarter casks wine 



Barrels spirits _ - - 



Barrels pork 



Barrels flour - - - 



Barrels fish - - - • 



Barrels tar . . - 



Hogsheads sugar - 



Hogsheads molasses - 



Bushels salt - - - ■ 



Bushels corn _ . _ 



Bushels wheat and flaxseed 



639 

 13,707 



- 5.540 

 30,232 



- 24,522 

 69,421 



890 



1,601 



. 150,905 



663,535 



- 31,004 



Bales cotton . - . - 24,091 

 Cubic feet scantling, plank, & lumber 960,672 



Staves 23,450,211 



Shingles, . - . . 100,154,475 



Cords wood - . - - 8,495 



Sundries, dollars . - - - 17,800 



It should be remarked, that during the year 



1835 the navigation of ihe canal was obstructed for 



ten weeks, and in 1836 it was totally suspended 



for seventy days. 



The accompanying statement, prepared for me 

 by the collector at Ocracoke, shows that 1,149 

 vessels, averaging 100 tons, passed throuirh that 

 inlet during the year ending October 1, 1836; of 

 which 893 were bound coastwise, and 256 to fo- 

 reign ports. In these last the expense of lighter- 

 age at Ocracoke was estimated at $100 per ves- 

 sel. 



It is known that, because of the difficulty of 

 getting directly to sea from the northern ports of 

 North Carolina, much produce finds its way to 

 market indirectly through the three commercial 

 cities of Virginia, I have not yet taken measures 

 for estimating how much was the value of the fo- 

 reign or other goods which enter the state through 

 lliose cities. 



1 am of opinion that the improvement of the 

 sounds of North Carolina, as a general channel of 

 communication for the coasting trade, should not 

 extend to the westward of Beaufort. These 

 sounds are very shallow, and beyond Swansbo- 

 rough they are generally filled with marshes, 

 through which wind narrow tortuous creeks, in 

 which we find occasional shoals, incapable of 

 floating at low tide a whale-boat with her crew 

 on board. Besides which, some of them are very 

 narrow, and the sand-banks which separate them 

 from the sea are so low that they are equally 

 exposed to the inroads of the elements or of the 

 enemy. 



It is along this line of coast tliat we find New 

 river inlet, as well as Bogue, the inlet of Whi- 

 tock river, on which Swansborough is situated 

 Th 



ion of that river with the interior, and thev mea- 

 surably apply also to Whitock river. Should, 

 however, a naviijable canal be made, uniting the 

 waters of Neuse river wiih the north-east branch 

 of Cape Fear river (and my surveys of the past 

 season have satisfied me of its praciicability) ilien 

 the importance, not only of New river and Whi- 

 tock, but of Beaulbrt also, may be ffreatly en- 

 hanced by establishing a connexion between them 

 and the canal — a connexion which their position 

 in relation to it would invite, and one also which 

 might be formed at an expense much below the 

 value of the improvement to the coasting trade, 

 and to the general commerce of the country, es- 

 pecially in time of war. 



3femorandum of distances roughly estimated in 

 statute miles. 



Statute miles. 

 Norfolk to Bogue point, Beaufort harbor 

 via the Dismal Swamp canal and Core 

 sounds, _----- 

 Norfolk, via Core sound and Beaufort, to 



the main bar of Cape Fear river, 

 Norfolk to Wilmington, Dismal Swamp 

 canal, Albemarle, Croatan, and Pamlico 

 ' sound, Neuse river, Slocum's creek, and 

 experimental line of canal surveyed last 

 year (57^ miles) to north-east branch of 

 Cape Fear river, and thence to Wil- 

 mington, _ _ _ - - 

 Norfolk, ij/ffl Chesapeake bay and the ocean 



to Beaufort harbor, about 

 Wilmington to main bar Cape Fear river. 



An error appears to have been fallen into respect- 

 ing the authority under which the surveys were 

 made ; that authority is altogether distinct from 

 that for executing the work. But it was necessary 



206 

 35a 



103 

 260 



e remarks which the gentlemen have made ^ . . 



respecting New river are undoubtedly very sound, i timate the cost of executing it, at least so 

 if their views are limited to the existing connex- ' the excavation of the channel is concerned 



hat a survey should be made, and a plan of im- 

 provement be adopted, before the work was under- 

 taken. It so happened that the appropriation for 

 the special work on Core sound was made before 

 the appropriation and authority for the general sur- 

 vey and plans for an inland communication be- 

 tween the Chesapeake and Charleston. The two^ 

 duties were assigned to separate branches of the 

 service ; the execution of the work on Core sound, 

 in the first instance, to the engineers of fortifica- 

 tions, as was likewise the special survey and im- 

 provement of New river ; after which, and before 

 the engineers charged with thesp ecial improve- 

 ment had commenced operations in the field, came 

 the authority and means for making the general 

 survey &c., the execution of which was given in 

 charge to the topographical engineers. 



It would seem that New river (viz. : the obstruc- 

 tions to its navigation,) has been surveyed under 

 the authority granted for its improvement; but 

 that Core sound has not been, and that the work 

 of improvement has not been commenced at either 

 place, but that preparations have been made to- 

 wards it, and that the work of Core sound halts 

 for lack of a survey and plans. 



Both Core sound and New river faU within the 

 lineol' operations of the officer charged with inves- 

 tiiiating the treneral question of an inland coastwise 

 communication to Charleston ; and the sound has 

 been surveyed, and ihe work has been for some 

 lime past in a state of preparation, to enable him 

 o form a general plan of improvement, and to es- 



fur as 



