REPORTS ON TORONTO HARBOUR. 



23 



The prejudicial effect of the Don on the depth of the Harbour ma}' 

 also be destroyed by closing its present outlet, and forming an opening 

 of sufficient capacity in the beach separating the main Lake from Ash- 

 bridge's Bay. 



All proposed works relative to the improvement of the Harbour 

 should be carefully considered before any be proceeded with, lest some 

 of them'may interfere with preservative measures, or the general im- 

 provement of the whole. It may not be out of place, therefore, to 

 consider briefly another proposition, which, for many years past, has 

 engaged public attention perhaps more than any other in connexion 

 with the Harbour, viz., the forming of an eastern entrance. 



Judging from the following paragraph extracted from the Courier 



newspaper, dated 5th March 1835, the project was seriously talked of 



fifteen years ago : 



" Cut across the Peninsula. — A respectable meeting of the friends to this measure 

 was held on Thursday evening at the Commercial Hotel, when a Select Comraitee was 

 appointed to request the Governor to name an Engineer, and also to request the Mayor 

 and Corporation to name another, to meet him for the purpose of reporting on the pro- 

 bable result of the cut. The Committee waited on his Excellency this morning, who 

 very readily named Captain Bonnycastle, at the same time expressing a hope that a 

 measure so adapted to promote the health of the city would be carried into effect. His 

 Excellency also promised to do all in his power to put the entire Marsh at the disposal 

 of a company, with a view to its being reclaimed as iar as it is possible to do so. There 

 is every reason to expect that the Corporation will take the same view of the case ; and 

 if the report of the Engineers shall be favourable, a number of wealthy merchants and 

 others in the city have expressed their intention to take up a sufficient quantity of 

 stock to complete the undertaking." 



A few months thereafter the following was gazetted amongst the 

 Notices of Public Improvement: — 



"TAKE NOTICE.— The Inhabitants of the City of Toronto will make application to 

 the next session of the Provincial Parliament to incorporate them into a company for 

 the purpose of opening a Ship Navigation through the neck of the Peninsula between 

 the Lake aud the Bay of Toronto. 



" Toronto, August 1st, 1S35." 



It is unnecessary to say that the contemplated improvement has not 

 been carried out. The spirits of the projectors were probably damped, 

 and their stock-book laid aside, after the opinions of the engineers 

 appointed to examine were made public. I have only been able to 

 obtain the perusal of one of these documents, but am informed that 

 the report of the gentleman appointed by the Corporation was even 

 less favourable. 



Captain Bonnycastle says, relative to cutting a navigable canal 

 through the Peninsula: — 



" If this should be done without due consideration, the barrier 

 which nature has interposed for the preservation of a Harbour formed 

 probably by the cutting action of the Don when it was a larger river, 

 which it only requires to look at its banks to convince one's self that 

 it anciently was, will be thrown down, and the Harbour entirely des- 

 troyed. 



"The reasons to be assigned for this opinion are as follows : — 



" The southern face the of Peninsula, a low ridge of sand, is bor- 

 dered to some distance out, excepting near the Narrows, by large and 

 fluctuating shoals, well known to the fishermen, who have so recently 

 established a profitable trade on them. 



" The force of the easterly and westerly gales on these shoals and 

 the bounding shore is tremendous, as every person in Toronto has 

 frequent opportunities of hearing, even at the great distance which 

 the city,is from them. 



" Should a navigable canal, without due restrictions, be cut through 

 the slender belt which divides the waters of the Lake from the basin, 

 all the millions of tons of large shingle, small rounded and angular 

 fragments of granite and other hard rocks which line the beach will 

 be put in motion ! — will break down by their erosive power any barrier 

 opposed to them ! — will carry before them the whole extent of the 

 Narrows, and perhaps penetrate through the ponds, fill the basin, and 

 convert it into a fresh sand bank." This he goes on to show might be 

 produced by a current through the canal, and further states, "It 

 might in fact tear away all the strip of beach along the western or 

 bay shore of the great Marsh, and let the whole of that body of the 

 mud of ages into the basin. 



" It is argued that all this maybe avoided by running out extensive 

 piers into the Lake, and forming a strong embankment along the 

 Ontario face of the Narrows. These, if placed in such situations as to 

 break off the strength of the easterly or westerly swells, will do much 

 towards it, but it will be also necessary to make the canal of stone, to 

 puddle its sides to a considerable thickness or extent, to make it 

 narrow, and to place gates both at its entrance and exit. 



" With these precautions there can be no harm in trying the experi- 

 ment." 



Although entirely concurring with Captain Bonnycastle in the expe- 

 diency of closing up the present outlets of the Don, and of conveying 

 the whole sewage of the city to the Marsh ; yet having already, with 

 all due respect, expressed my reasons for differing from the view he 

 takes of the formation of the Harbour, and since conclusions on this 

 point affect directly and very materially the consideration of all works 

 of improvement immediately connected with the Peninsula, I may also 

 be permitted to entertain opinions not altogether coinciding with his 

 as to the probable effects of the proposed south-eastern entrance, and 

 its mode of construction. 



Knowing the nature of the action of the beach at the proposed site 

 of the canal, and I think it is established beyond a doubt, there can 

 be no possible danger of any part of the Peninsula beiug torn away, 

 or the basin within being filled up with sand, if proper steps be taken 

 to counteract such action. This action is chiefly the progressive 

 motion of the beach, which would effectually be suspended for many 

 years by the piers of the canal themselves, constructed with crib work 

 in the ordinary manner. The canal need neither be narrow, as sug- 

 gested, nor provided with gates, since the former would increase the 

 danger in entering, while the latter would add to the cost and incon- 

 venience, and no benefit could result from either. 



Fig. 22 shows the proposed position of the canal Its extreme length 

 from 13 feet water in the Bay to 17 feet in the Lake, is 1600 feet, with 

 a width of 300 feet. The eastern pier presenting an obstruction to the 

 motion of the beach westward, would, acting as a groyne, retain it per- 

 manently at its eastern side ; the western pier, on the other hand, would 

 be exercised to a similar result in' suspending the retrograde motion. 

 The sand gradually accumulating in the space north of the lines A B 

 and D C would thus strengthen the Peninsula at its weakest point, and 

 remove any danger which may be feared from the destruction of the 

 narrow separating ridge between the Lake and the Harbour. The en- 

 tire destruction of the Isthmus, although hypothetical, is nevertheless 

 a contingency advisable to guard agains't. Openings have repeatedly 

 been forced through the ridge bounding Ashbridge's Bay by gales 

 point blank on the beach : these, having a destructive action only, 

 might produce a similar result here. If at the same period the base of 

 the Scarboro' Heights became partially protected from the fury of the 

 waves by the lodgment of an unusual number of trees, or the fallino- of 

 boulders from the cliffs above, the supply of sand from the east would 

 for a time be diminished, the gap would remain open, and liable to be 

 widened by every southerly wind. The Peninsula would thus be con- 

 verted into an island, resembling its kindred formation " Long Point " 

 on Lake Erie. 



Through course of time (roughly estimated at about 20 years) the 

 sand accumulating east of the canal would reach the line A B and ulti- 

 mately round the piers. Then it would be necessary to make another 

 provision for its retention. A groyne on the line G F would effect this 

 object, and retain the sand for another period, until it reached as far 

 as the line E F. The canal might thus be kept open by repeating the 

 construction of groynes like E F and H E, ad infinitum, from time to 

 time as necessity required ; or the same purpose may be affected by 

 simply extending the eastern pier as the sand accumulated outward 

 along its eastern side. 



