CHAP. V. THE LINCOLN FENS. 159 



He thought it would ; and with this leading idea in his 

 mind he proceeded to design his plan of a great " catch- 

 water drain," extending along the southern edge of the 

 Lincolnshire wolds. 



But there were also the waters of the Fens themselves 

 to be got rid of, and how was this to be accomplished ? 

 To ascertain the actual levels of the drowned land, and 

 the depth to which it would be necessary to carry the 

 outfall of his drains into the sea, he made two surveys 

 of the district, the first in October, 1799, and the second 

 in March, 1800, thus observing the actual condition of 

 the lands both before and after the winter's rains. At 

 the same time he took levels down to the sea outfalls of the 

 existing drains and rivers. He observed that the Wash, 

 into which the Fen waters ran, was shallow and full of 

 shifting sands and silt. He saw that during winter the 

 rivers were loaded with alluvial matter held in suspen- 

 sion, and that at a certain distance from their mouths 

 the force of the inland fresh and the tidal sea waters 

 neutralized each other, and there a sort of stagnant 

 point was formed, at which the alluvium was no longer 

 held in suspension by the force of the current. Hence 

 it became precipitated in the channels of the rivers, 

 and formed banks or bars in the Wash outside their 

 mouths, which proved alike obstructive to drainage and 

 navigation. 



It required but little examination to detect the utter 

 inadequacy of the existing outfalls to admit of the dis- 

 charge of the surplus waters of so extensive a district. 

 The few sluices which had been provided had been badly 

 designed and imperfectly constructed. The levels of 

 the outfalls were too high, and the gowts and sluices 

 too narrow, to accommodate the drainage in flood-times. 

 These outfalls were also liable, in dry summers, to 

 become choked up by the silt settling in the Washes ; and 

 when a heavy rain fell, down came the waters from the 

 high lands of the interior, and, unable to find an outlet, 



