SCOTLAND. ,2-65 



Casals. ...A canal forming a junction between the rivers Forth and 

 Clyde, was begun in 1768, and - finished in 1790 ; when, on the 28th of 

 July a hogshead of the water of the Forth was poured into the Clyde, 

 as a symbol of their junction. This canal, in its dimensions, is much 

 superior to any work of the same nature in England. It is 35 miles in 

 length ; in the course of which navigation the vessels are raised by 

 means of 20 locks, to the height of 155 feet above the level of the sea. 

 Proceeding afterwards on the summit of the country, for 18 miles, it 

 then descends by 19 other locks into the Clyde. It is carried over 

 56 rivers and rivulets, and two great roads, by 38 aqueducts of hewn 

 stone. By one of these, 400 feet in length, it passes the Kelvin, near 

 Glasgow, at the height of 70 feet above the bed of the river in the 

 valley below. It crosses the great road from Edinburgh to Glasgow, 

 by a line aqueduct bridge; and is carried over the water of Logic by 

 another aqueduct bridge, the arch of which is 90 feet broad. The 

 great utility of this communication between the eastern and western 

 seas to the trade of Great Britain and Ireland must be evident, from 

 the consideration that it shortens the distance between them by the 

 shortest passage, that of the Pentland Firth, nearly 600 miles. 



Other canals are executing and projecting in Scotland. The canal 

 of Crinan, which will save a circuitous and difficult navigation round. 

 Can tire, is begun, and in a considerable state of forwardness ; and in 

 Apri , 18o4, a bill was brought into parliament for making an inland 

 navigation from Inverness to Fort William, through Loch-Ness, and 

 Loch-Lochie, to Loch-Linney. 



Metals and minerals... .Though Scotland does not at present 

 boast of its gold mines, yet it formerly afforded a considerable quan- 

 tity of that metal for its coinage. James V. and his father contracted 

 with certain Germans for working the mines of Crawford-Moor : and 

 when the former married the French king's daughter, a number of 

 covered dishes, filled with coins of Scotch gold, were presented to 

 the guests by way of desert. The civil wars and troubles which fol- 

 lowed, under his daughter, in the minority of his grandson, drove 

 those foreigners, the chief of whom was called Cornelius, from their 

 works, which since that time have never been resumed. Some small 

 pieces of gold have been found in those parts, washed down by the 

 floods. It likewise appears by the public records, that those beauti- 

 ful coins, struck by James V, called bonnet pieces, were fabricated of 

 gold found in Scotland, as were other medals of the same melal. 



The lead mines of Scotland are very productive and profitable, and, 

 it is said, contain great quantities of silver; but there are no silver 

 mines that are worked at present. Some copper mines have been 

 found near Edinburgh'; and many parts of Scotland, in the east, west 

 and northern counties, produce excellent coal of various kinds, large 

 lilies of which are exported. Lime-stone is found here in great 

 plenty, as are also free stone and several kinds of marble. 



pis lazuli is dug up in Lanarkshire ; alum mines have been found 

 in Banffshire ; crystal variegated pebbles, and other transparent 

 s, which admit of the finest polish for seals, are found in various 

 parts ; as are laic, potter's clay, and fuller's earth. The new earth of 

 the modem mineralogists and chemists, called strontian, is found in 

 Argyleshiie. No country produces greater plenty of iron ore, both 

 in mines and stones, than Scotland ; of which the proprietors now be- 

 gin to reap the profits, in their founderics, as at Carron and other me- 

 talline manufactures, 



VOL I. Mm 



