238 



NEW YORK. 



One of the aqueducts crosses the Gene- 

 see River at Rochester, and is 804 feet 

 in length. Another aqueduct crosses 

 the Moiiawk at Little Falls, on three 

 arches of 50 and 70 feet span ; two others 

 cross the same river, one 748 feet, and 

 the other 1,188 feet in length. The sides 

 of the canal are sometimes paved with 

 stone, and sometimes covered with thick 

 grass, to hinder the soil from washing 

 away. A tow-path 4 feet above the 

 surface of the water, and 10 feet wide, 

 runs the whole length of the canal. A 

 number of side cuts branch oft' from the 

 canal to different places ; one of these, 

 from Syracuse to Oswego, is 38 miles 

 long ; anotiier, from Montezuma to Ca- 

 yuga and Seneca Lake, 20 miles. The 

 Crooked Lake Canal, 8 miles in length, and the Chemung Canal., 23 miles, connect Lake 

 Seneca with Crooked Lake and the Susquehanna. 



The canal boats for the conveyance of passengers are generally 80 feet in length and 14 in 

 width, drawing from 1 to 2 feet of water. The cabin occupies nearly the whole length of the 

 deck, and is 8 feet in height, with single berths on each side for 30 persons. They are drawn 

 by 3 horses, and proceed day and night 4 miles an hour ; relays are furnished every 8 or 10 

 miles. Boats with mercliandise go about 55 miles in 24 hours ; the passage boats make, 

 including delays, 85 miles' progress in the same time. The navigation upon this great 

 canal is prodigious, and the work does honor to the sagacity and enterprise of those who 

 planned it. 



The Chenango CanaU begun in 1833 and completed in 1837, extends from the Erie Canal 

 at Utica up the valleys of the Saquoit and Oriskany Creeks, and down that of the Chenango 

 to the Susquehanna at Binghampton, 97 miles ; rise from Erie Canal to summit level, 706 feet, 

 fall thence to the Susquehanna, 303; total lockage 1,009 feet by 116 locks; there are 19 

 aqueducts, 12 dams, 7 reservoirs, and 17^ miles of feeders ; cost 2,270,605 dollars. The 

 Champlain Canal extends from the Erie Canal in Watervliet, on the south side of the Mohawk, 

 up the valley of the Hudson, crossing that river m Saratoga, leaving it at Fort Edward, and 

 passing down the valley of Wood Creek to Lake Champlain at Wiiitehall ; length 64 miles, 

 with a navigable feeder of 12 miles from the Hudson above Glenn's Falls ; lockage 188 feet, 

 by 21 locks. It was begun in October, 1817, and completed at the close of 1819 ; cost 

 1,257,604 dollars. Two other lateral canals are now in progress ; one of these is the Genesee 

 and Alleghany Canal, which extends from Bochester up the valley of the Genesee, and thence 

 by that of Oil Creek to the Alleghany, at Olean, 107 miles, with a branch from Mount Morris 

 to Danville, 15 miles ; the summit level at Portage is 979 feet above the Erie Canal at Roch- 

 ester, and 78 feet above Olean ; total lockage 1,057 feet, by 132 locks ; estimated cost 2,002,285 

 dollars. The northern branch or Black River Canal will extend from the main trunk at Roine 

 to the foot of the High Falls in Ijcyden on Black River, 35 miles, with a navigable feeder of 

 1 1 miles from near Boonville to the upper streams of Black River ; total lockage 1 ,083 feet, 

 by 135 locks ; estimated cost, including 20,000 dollars for improving the river navigation below, 

 1,068,437 dollars. The river is navigable 40 miles below Leyden to Carthage, whence its 

 course is broken by falls and rapids. 



The only work executed by individuals, with the exception of some local excavations, is the 

 Delaware and Hudson Canal, which, beginning at Eddyville on the Roiindout Creek, 3 

 miles from the Hudson, ascends the valley of the creek, and passing into that of the Nevisink, 

 follows it down to the Delaware ; it then runs up along the latter to the mouth of the Lackawaxen, 

 and up this river to Honesdale in Pennsylvania ; length 109 miles, depth 4 feet, width at sur- 

 face 32 to 36 feet, locks 76 feet in length ; lockage 950 feet, by 106 locks ; cost 2,249,895 

 dollars ; the chief object of this canal is the transportation of coal, and a railroad from Hones- 

 dale to Carbondale, 16 miles, affords access to the Wyoming coal-field ; about 350 coal-boats 

 are employed on the canal, bringing down upwards of 100,500 tons of coal annually ; a good 



Aqxieduct, Eric Canal. 



