270 



REVIEWS. 



in number, as shewn by tbe annexed table, extracted from Mr. 

 Kiugsford'a book : — 



1. The Lachine Canal . . . . 



2. The Beauharnois Canal . 



3. The Cornwall Canal. . . 

 m'^ ^ Farren's Point 



Rapide Plat 



^ 03 



^ 



O -{ Iroquois 

 Junction 

 Gallops 



Number of 

 Locks. 



Mean Rise, 

 in feet. 



44| 

 82J 

 48 

 4 

 111 



153 



Lenpth, 

 iu miles. 



Hi 



Hi 



1^- 



The annual revenue of these canals, from their opening in 1861, 

 appears to have generally exceeded the cost of their maintenance and 

 management. The net revenue in 1863 is stated at $49,232 — thus 

 yielding, according to Mr. Kingsford's estimate, a dividend of about 

 three-fourths of a per cent, on their construction cost. 



Ail Upper Canadians must be familiar with the position of the 

 "Welland Canal. Constructed to form a navigable channel between 

 Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, rendered necessary by the great Falls 

 and other obstructions of the Niagara Eiver, this important work 

 is 28 miles in length, with a summit level of 330 feet, and 27 locks. 

 Three of these latter, or those between Port Dalhousie and Saint 

 Catharines, present dimensions of 200 feet by 45 feet. The others, 

 with the exception of the lock at Port Colborne which is 240 feet 

 by 45 feet, measure 150 feet by 26*6 feet. The depth of water on 

 the sills, originally 9 feet, was raised an additional foot in 1853. 

 The history of public works too frequently reveals instances of 

 extreme mismanagement, of want of foresight, and reckless expen- 

 diture ; but few, we think, can compare in these respects with that 

 of the "Welland Canal. The chapter in Mr. Kingsford's book, which 

 records the history of this canal, is so replete with suggestion, and 

 so interesting, moreover, in itself, that we are induced, at the risk of 

 a somewhat long quotation, to extract from it the following account 

 of the origin and general progress of the work in question : — 



" The history of this important work* is so marvellous and so little known, to 

 some extent even so misrepresented, that a consecutive narrative is indispensable, 

 correctly to understand the vicissitudes through which it has passed. So far as 

 the writer knows, no connected account of it exists, and it has to be traced out 



