24 Canal between Seneca lake and Tioga creek. 



village of Newtown : no part of this stream is naviga- 

 ble, it is not so swift a stream as the Seneca inlet, and 

 is equally free from falls or rapids. I have no doubt 

 but that the waters of these creeks, together with what 

 could be obtained from the swamp, out of which they 

 flow, would be more than sufficient to feed a canal. 



*' This information will convince you that no obstacle 

 exists to prevent the opening the proposed canal ; in- 

 deed nature has permitted it to be more easily accom- 

 plished than the most sanguine person could have ex- 

 pected. What the cost of making it would be, a per- 

 sonal survey by a scientific person can alone deter- 

 mine ; it may, however, be safely asserted, that the 

 expense, when compared with the magnitude of the 

 object, will not only be moderate but trifling. 



'' If the members of your legislature intend to benefit 

 Pennsylvania, by obtaining, to any considerable extent, 

 the trade of the Gennessee country, or by retaining 

 the small portion of it which you now possess, I should 

 suppose, that the undertaking, which would first natu- 

 rally present itself, would be the complete improve- 

 ment of the navigation of the Susquehanna, from that 

 part of it, which can be most advantageously connect- 

 ed, by roads or canals, with the Delaware and its wa- 

 ters, as far up the river as the point where the Tioga 

 branch crosses your state line. This, although of pri- 

 mary importance, is not the only necessary under- 

 taking : it is essential, for reasons which will be here- 

 after mentioned, that a good turnpike road should be 

 made from the w^estern bank of the Susquehanna 

 (opposite to the place, which may be deemed most eli- 

 gible to connect with the Delaware) to that part of the 



