58 FORTH AND CLYDE CANAL. PART VL 



James Watt, then carrying 011 a small business as a 

 mathematical instrument maker in Glasgow, had been 

 employed to survey a " ditch canal," of a very limited 

 capacity, by a round-about route, through the Perthshire 

 lochs ; but his genius being as yet unrecognised, the 

 projectors thought it desirable to call in an engineer of 

 higher standing, and Smeaton was consulted by them in 

 1764. He had before been employed to examine the 

 Grand Trunk line, as surveyed by Brindley, and his 

 report on the subject was regarded as a very able one. 

 Brindley was also advised with respecting the Forth and 

 Clyde scheme, but his time was so much occupied by the 

 projects which he was engaged in carrying out in the 

 western counties of England, that he could not under- 

 take the working survey ; and it was accordingly placed 

 in the hands of Mr. Smeaton. As early as the year 

 1764, we find him reporting upon the several schemes 

 which had been proposed for connecting the Forth with 

 the Clyde, and advocating the plan which in his judg- 

 ment was the best calculated to carry out the intentions 

 of the projectors. He declared himself strongly in 

 favour of forming the most direct line across the country 

 between the two Friths, of such a capacity as to accom- 

 modate vessels of large burden. Lord Duiidas, the 

 leading promoter of the scheme, adopting the view put 

 forward by Mr. Smeaton, took the requisite steps to 

 obtain an Act authorizing the construction of the Forth 

 and Clyde Canal, which passed accordingly, and the 

 works were commenced in 1768. The canal runs almost 

 parallel with the line of the wall of Antoninus, built by 

 the Eomans to restrain the incursions of the Caledonian 

 tribes, some vestiges of which are said to be still trace- 

 able near Port Dundas, the point at which the main 

 canal joins the Clyde, a few miles below Glasgow. It 

 is about 38 miles in length, and includes 39 locks, with 

 a rise of 156 feet from the sea to the summit level. It 

 was one of the most difficult works of the kind which 



