146 Internal Navigation, 



right, if man did but understand them, and would but 

 apply a little necessary labour, to remove the rocks and 

 obstructions out of their natural channels ; then there 

 would be safe, easy, level roads through all the steep, 

 rugged mountains ; such as cannot be made by land ; 

 for the loads will journey on, without the expense of 

 teams. Thtse rivers they run under like the an- 

 cient Roman acqueducts, that are to accommodate more 

 territory, and give the streams a more gradual descent; 

 for if the face of the country had not been created de- 

 scending, the waters would stagnate, and the air become 



putrid. 



But, it may be objected to this mode of transporta- 

 tion, that, in the summer, these rivers are too shoal for 

 want of water ; and, in times of high freshes, too rapid 

 and tough to be navigated with safety. This I admit ; 

 and every person, well acquainted with navigating the 

 Delaware and Susquehanna, must readily admit, that 

 more water runs down these two rivers, every year in 

 times of high freshes, than necessary to render them 

 completely navigable all summer, if the stream were 

 uniform. Therefore, taking it for granted that the quan- 

 tity of water is more than amply sufficient for all the 

 desired purposes, it remains for me to shew, that Provi- 

 dence has amply provided cheap and ready means for 

 man to regulate the quantity of water, that annually 

 flows down these rivers, in any uniform proportion or 

 time he pleases. 



Where I live we call it a complete safe raft fresh, if the 

 river rises 4 or five feet perpendicularly above low water 

 mark. What we call high freshes, too high to run the 

 rough falls, is from 10, 12, 14 to 16 feet perpendicular; 



