OP THE RIVER SAINT LAWRENCE. 



285 



late, and to offer in one view a statement, with all the leading features which are likely to 

 render this paper of interest and value; and a broadside sheet marked 12, was prepared, in- 

 tended to give under the head of details of construction, first the name and object of each 

 work, the dates of its commencement and completion, the total cost up to January, 1861, 

 the nature of the supply of water, the length with a diagram of the cross section of the 

 canal, as constructed, the number, the length, the cross section and the lift of all the locks, 

 with particulars of minimum structure. Under the next head was shown the working 

 capabilities of the canal, with the limits of the length, beam, and draft of vessels that can 

 pass the locks, the time of transit at each lock, and for the entire passage of the canal, 

 and the number of working days on the average in the year. And under the head of 

 traffic was given the number of vessels up and down ; the number of tons carried up and 

 down ; the particulars of the haulage, how performed, and the cost ; the total revenue of 

 the canals, and the expenses of repairs and maintenance ; the tolls per ton, and the total 

 amount of tolls charged. 



The first of these great improvements was commenced about the year 1819, by a private 

 company, wbich undertook the construction and completion of the Lachine Canal, which 

 proposed to overcome the Rapids from Lake St. Louis down to Montreal, the total length 

 of fall being four thousand three hundred and seventy-five feet. 



This canal commenced in the St. Lawrence River, at a place called Windmill Point, 

 and near the upper end of the present harbor, at Montreal. One of the original locks 

 still remains at this point, and the dimensions are one hundred and twenty-six feet by 

 twenty-four. 



The line proceeds across a marsh for about four miles, and eventually passes into more 

 solid ground, and terminates in a rock of the Trenton group at Lake St. Louis. The 

 number of locks originally was nine. 



Following this great improvement, which at once overcame the most considerable diffi- 

 culties in the inland navigation, some improvements were commenced on the River 

 Ottawa, consisting first, of the St. Anne's lock and dam, to overcome the Rapids of St. 

 Anne, at the entrance to the Ottawa River, about twenty-four miles west of Montreal. 



The length of the entire work is about half a mile, and the fall, which is on the average 

 about three and a half feet, is overcome by one lock one hundred and ninety feet long 

 and forty-four feet wide. At Carillon there is a small lockage, consisting of two combined 

 locks rising twenty-three feet to pass over a small summit (the cost to cut through which 

 was considered too expensive), and one single descending lock 12.93 feet; so that the 

 actual fall surmounted at this point is only about ten feet. The length of the canal is 

 about 2 T \j miles. The Chute a Blondeau is the next canal, and closely contiguous to the 

 former one; its length being about one-sixth of a mile, overcome by one lock surmounting 



