Canal betzveen Stneca lake and Tioga creek, 31 



'* I consider Montreal, and not New York, as your 

 great rival in the trade of our western country, which 

 has within these two years commenced, and must ra- 

 pidly continue, to be diverted from the latter to the 

 former city. The merchants of Montreal have, with- 

 in a few months, established stores at the mouth of 

 of the Genessee river, at Sodus bay, and at Otsego, 

 and are giving notice in all our papers that they will 

 not only purchase produce, but advance money on 

 produce deposited with them for transportation to 

 Montreal. They are even extending their views still 

 further, and are making diligent enquiries as to the 

 practicability of rendering the Genessee river naviga- 

 ble, whereby they hope to be enabled to send mer- 

 chandize up that river, and thence crossing to the Alle- 

 gheny (a distance of but twenty-five miles) be able to 

 supply the western part of Pennsylvania, the state of 

 Ohio &c. with goods at a cheaper rate than they can 

 be furnished from any of the ports of the United 

 States. From the number of very high and perpen- 

 dicular falls in the Genessee, many may deem such an 

 undertaking not only as utterly impracticable, but vi- 

 sionary ; yet who shall say what it is impossible, for 

 enterprize, aided by capital, and stimulated by a suffi- 

 cient motive, to effect ? who, that is acquainted with 

 the history of the internal improvement of Great Bri- 

 tain, the hills that have been surmounted, the moun- 

 tains that have been bored through, the rivers over 

 which canals have been thrown, shall assert that Nia- 

 gara itself will not yield to their exertions ? who, that 

 contemplates the assiduity and perseverance, with 

 which her merchants and manufacturers, aided bv 



