WESTERN CANAL. 27 



were familiar to my mind. Actual inspection has 

 exceeded the most sanguine anticipation. Some- 

 times I think that I am in the region of enchant- 

 ment, and that the magical operations of eastern 

 fiction are acted over again in this country. Two 

 canals of 124 miles, uniting to a certain extent 

 the great fresh water seas of the interior, with the 

 ocean; and all this done without noise, and as it 

 were without effort, in less than two years and a 

 half, must shut the mouth of scepticism, and excite 

 universal astonishment. ( The more I examine 

 ?into this subject, the more important consequen- 

 ces do I observe. The men who are the prlmum 

 mobile of this scheme, appear to understand the 

 genuine sources of national wealth, and tl;e ortho- 

 dox principles of political economy. Internal 

 trade is the great substratum of riches. It excites 

 all kinds of industry, sharpens the faculties, and 

 multiplies the exertions of man ; and inland navi- 

 gation is the lever of Archimedes, which will set 

 in motion this world of occupation and exertion. 



Both sides of the canal are in fence. This is 

 necessary in order to protect the bank from cattle, 

 and the farms from depredations. I was shewn 

 at Whitesborough, a fence, the materials of which 

 were conveyed from Canasaraga last fall, on the 

 canal. Twenty-two hundred cedar rails were 

 transported with one horse, two men, and a boy ; 



