1855.] 



ON THE PORMATION OF A CANAL BETWEEN LAKES ST. CLAIR AND ERIE. 



305 



oblivion in that "Tomb of all the Capulcts " the shelves of a 

 Secretary's Office, — though not without a last effort to shield 

 it from premature condemnation, from either any blundi'rs on 

 my part, or any misapprehension or misapplication of my 

 meaning, as will be found noticed in its proper jjlace. 



Such however would doubtless have continued to be tbe fate 

 of my long cherished disinterested exertions, but for the 

 onward march of mind having at length given birth to a more 

 satisfixctory, because independent public arbiter, through whom 

 the merits of all scientific and useful projects can now be 

 investigated and duly appreciated, — though it may not have 

 the power of carrying them into effect. — Need I add that I 

 allude to the auspicious institution of the Canadian Institute of 

 Toronto. — At all events, I can sincerely state that feeling- 

 persuaded that such would be the guiding motive of that associa- 

 tion, and seeing it exemplified in more than one instance, 

 besides its laudable movement in behalf of the Harbour of 

 Toronto, all my old feelings on the subject of my long 

 dormant patriotic project i-evived, and led to an endeavour 

 to recover a copy of my letter to Mr. Higgenson ; and having 

 succeeded, I was at one time inclined to place that document 

 at the disposal of the Institute, "without note or comment," 

 but on second thoughts I deemed it more advisable to alter the 

 form of my statements so far as, by a few modifications and addi- 

 tions, to make them assumesomethingof the shape of a regular 

 paper, though still partaking more of the character of a simple 

 narrative of facts than an elaborate Essay : — and accordingly in 

 that desultory form are the following particulars respectfully 

 submitted. Feeling however that something more was wanting, 

 I have taken the trouble of preparing and prefixing thereto a 

 large scaled sketch map of the Southern portion of the Western 

 District, as likely to prove of assistance in correctly compre- 

 hending the different bearings of the subject, but more especially, 

 ■ as regards the drainage of the Township of Colchester. And I 

 am also willing to confess that in taking that step at this par- 

 ticular time, I was not without hope of thereby drawing the atten- 

 tion of " Tlie General Drainage Societij of Upper Canada." 

 about to be incorporated, towards a part of the Province fur- 

 nishing so attractive and profitable a field for their patriotic 

 operations. 



Trusting that these introductory remarks will not be deemed 

 altogether misapplied, I now proceed to state, — as observed 

 in the letter above alluded to, and from which I am about to 

 quote almost verbatim, that my attention having (in 1845) been 

 unexpectedly drawn to a petition from the Municipal Council 

 of the Western District to the Governor General, praying for 

 a Sarcci/, to ascertain the practicability of forming a harbour 

 at the mouth of " Two Creeks," in the Township of Romncy, 

 and at the same time opening a communication from thence 

 either by Conal or Road, to some point on the River Thames, 

 but without furnishing any specific data from which Govern- 

 ment might be encouraged to give a favourable answer to their 

 prayer, and having observed the same project strongly advocated 

 by a well-informed though rather over-sanguine corrc.spondcnt 

 of " the Pulriot," from Chatham, I was induced to throw 

 whatever might be the weight of my humble advocacy of so 

 patriotic a proposal into the scale, in the hope that the additional 

 information which I happened to be ablcfo furnish would ensure 

 the matter being not only brought pointedly before the Governor 

 General, but patronised to an extent beyond the hopes of cither 

 the Municipal I'ctitioncrs or the writer alluded to. 



Impressed with these feelings I to(jk the liberty of stating 

 that it so happened that the undertaking in question had been 

 regarded by me as a great desideratum, ever since my arrival 

 2 



in the Country, and that my progressive enquiries on the 

 subject, in connection with a plan for the genera drainage of 

 a large and valuable portion of the Lake-shore Townships, 

 (which I proposed to form the basis of another communica- 

 tion)'^ rendered me not altogether unqualified for giving a 

 well-grounded opinion as to the feasibility of the project, as well 

 as to the prospective public benefits derivable therefrom. In 

 stating thus much, however, I did not wish it to be inferred 

 that I laid any claim to being the originator of the idea, the 

 trath being that I had noticed it broached some 8 or 9 years 

 before in some publication on Canada, in a letter written by 

 Mr. William Elliott of Sandwich, (then I believe member for 

 the County of Essex), when I was so struck with it, that I was, 

 from time to time, induced to make memoranda on the subject, 

 for future reference, — of one of which the following is the 

 substance. 



" Mr. Elliott of Sandwich observes that much advantage to 

 the Western District would be derived, could a Canal be made 

 from the first fork of the Thanvs to Lake Erie, near the 

 Romney Township line ; and is of opinion, from information 

 obtained from others, and his own observation, that this would 

 be practicable at an expense truly tifiing, compared with its 

 advantages, and the quantity of fine land that would be thereby 

 reclaimed, amounting to at least a million of acres ! Were the 

 waters once made to take this course, it would of itself soon 

 wear it to a level with Lake Erie, and thereby lower the waters 

 of Lake St. Clair, ' if not reduce it to a river.f Were this 

 effected, much of the Governmentand Canada Company's lands 

 in Harwich, Raleigh, Tilbury, Rochester, and Maidston, would 

 be drained by it, besides much other land, which, without 

 something of the kind being done, must remain a Marsh, par- 

 ticularly the fine plains at the mouths of the rivers St. Clair 

 aud Thames." 



My attention having been thus attracted towards a project 

 pregnant with such great public benefits, it had ever since been 

 more or less kept in view during my visits to the various 

 localities alluded to ; and, though unable to keep pace with 

 Mr. Elliott's sweeping conclusions and sanguine expectations, 

 I had thereby become so satisfied of, not only it feasibility, but 

 its certain utility and value as a public work, that I made 

 up my mind to publish a few desultory observations in its favor, 

 but was long deterred from attempting it by the unsettled state 

 of the political horizon. The matter having however been at 

 length unexpectedly mooted by the Municipal Council of the 

 District, I determined not to run the risk of its merits not 

 being properly appreciated, for want of either sufficient prelim- 

 inary data (such as I happened to possess) or my own humble 

 testimony in its behalf. 



Having thus introduced the .subject, I next proceeded to refer 

 to the letter^ alluded to, (a copy of which is here annexed), 



* It m.iy be necessary to note that the reception which my letter met 

 witli completely extinguished any desire to fulfil the intention men- 

 tioned. 



\ The level of Lake St. Clair is a little more than 5 feet above that 

 of Lake Erie. 



I The excellent letter above alluded to, was as follows: "Sir, 

 Through the medium of your Journal, I beg leave to call the attention 

 of Merohants and Traders to a subject of tho greatest importance to 

 their interests, — a subject which was mooted at the last Session of 

 the Municipal Council of tho Western District, and which has for its 

 object tlio uniting of the waters of Lakes Erie and St. Clair, by means 

 of a Canal-between tho month of the River Thames and what is called 

 " Two Creeks," in the Township of Romney, on Lake Erie. The whole 

 distance across in this direction is lo miles, and 23 chains and 45 



