g2 WESTERN CANAt., 



LETTER V. 



My Dear Sik, 



In my voyage on the canal I met Vvitn severai 

 loaded boats and scows, ascending as well as de- 

 scending, and also rafts. The facility with which 

 boats pass each other without interruption or delay, 

 strikes one forcibly at the first view. This canal 

 will make a great revolution in the internal trade 

 of the country, and in the balance of political 

 power. 



One horse can draw a5 much on a canal, as 

 60 on a road. The expense of transportation will 

 be consequently greatly reduced, i saw an ad- 

 %'erti3ement of Mr* Henry B. Ely, of Uticfi, 

 wherein he oHers to forward goods on the canal 

 for 25 cents per Cwt. for 100 miles, including toll, 

 which is about five cents a ton per uiile, at least 

 nne quarter less than by land. But thig I ^-^.r/.ti-c" 

 hend is too high; the maxiniurn cost ought not to 

 exceed three cents a mile per ton. I saw at Utica 

 a raft of 440 tons of lumber, wiiich had been 

 rlcated on the canal for 20 miles, for about 5Q 

 dollars. It was drav.n by four horses at the rate 

 of two miles an hour. The conveyance of this 

 limber by land would have cost at least 16G0 dol- 

 lars. The price of wheat at Albany, is now about 



