WESTERN CANAL. 13 



which can, as I understand, be easily effected by 

 the first of December, 1823. Indeed, it is confi- 

 dently said, that with adequate funds, 100 miles 

 of tiiis canal can be annually made. In the work 

 to be finished, there are more locks in proportion 

 to the distance, than in the middle section ; — while 

 the latter only has 9 locks, there will be 25 in the 

 western, and 56 in the eastern section. From 

 Lake Erie to the Seneca river is a fall of 194 feet, 

 and from Utica to Hudson river, a fall of 41? 

 feet. But there is no magic in erecting a lock', 

 either as to time or skill. The great pressure of 

 water demands strength, and the massy weight of 

 the superstructure requires a solid foundation. 

 The larger the stones the better. In the locks 

 near Salina 1 saw sand stones which weighed four 

 tons ; they were moved by cranes and placed on 

 the walls with as much ease as a man would 

 handle a brick; and the lock at Montezuma was 

 constructed last year in ?\x weeks. 



The average expense of the middle section is 

 .^11,792 per mile. The cost of the western is es- 

 timated at $10,944; and of the eastern, at 

 $2 1, 090 per mile. Never lias so much work been 

 done in so short a time, at so small an expense. 



Twenty miles west of the Genesee river, the 



canal will strike the navigable waters of the To- 



nawanta creek, which discharges itself into Lake 



B 2 



