[32] 50 
iiienccs. But the Board have already formed the conclusion, that a 
canal iioin Pittsburg to Lake Erie is not only practicable, but offers 
MO (lillicultics fiom tiie nature of the soil, and will be amply provided 
with w atcr for its navigation. As to the materials fur its construc- 
tion, stone and lime must be brought from a distance; but may be 
conveyed by water, by the Ohio or Lake. Brick of the best quality 
will be amply supplied on the sjwt. 
We will now give a I'apid I'eview of the several routes which the 
canal might follow, and of the oj)ei'ations to perform on the ground, to 
dctei-miiie which of Iheni we should adopt. 
First route. It may follow the right bank of the Ohio, from Pitts- 
burg to the mouth of Big Beaver, ascend the valleys of Big Beaver, 
Shenango, and Pymatuning, and descend to Lake Erie at the mouth 
of the Ashtabula. Tlie summit level of this route would run to the E 
of I'yniatuning Swamp, and be supplied by a feeder led from French 
creek through Conneaut Lake. Its northern section would descend 
from tlie lowest spot between the sources of the Pymatuning and Ash- 
tabula, following the most favorable ground, to the mouth of that lat- 
ter stream. When it reaches Ashtabula, surveys must determine 
\\hetlier the canal should follow either bank of the river, or run en- 
tiiely outside of the valley. In either case, all the facts relative t» 
the establishment of a port at the mouths of the Ashtabula, in Lake 
Erie, must be determined. A feeder must be led from Conneaut Lake 
to tiic summit level. 
The southern section of the canal, on this route, would descend, 
successively, the valleys of Pymatuning, Shenango, and Big Beaver, 
to the Ohio. Levels on both sides of these valleys must determine 
which is most favorable. The location of the locks and dimensions of 
the aqueducts must be fixed, as well as those of the dams to four re- 
servoirs, the streams destined to supply it gauged at the points where 
they are dammed; and the same labor must be performed on all the 
other routes \\ hich we shall designate. 
AYhen this route reaches the falls of Big Beaver, surveys mnst de- 
termine whether the directing line of the canal can be run on a height 
sulficient to turn lound the bluff whicli lies to the east of its conflu- 
ence in ti:e Oliio, or CAcn to reach Pittsburg at the close of its de- 
scent. But if tlie bluff opposes too many diiiiculties, and if it be im- 
possible to (juit the valley at a height sufficient to reach Pittsburg by 
successive descent of levels, instead of a section of canal descending 
from the Big P>eaver falls to Pittsburg, we should run one descending 
fiom Pittsburg to the mouth of Big Beaver. For this purpose, run- 
niugfrom Pittsburg up the valley of Alleghany river aline of 6 inch- 
es ascent jser miie, to the first spot where a dam might be thrown 
across that valley, we would form a reservoir. This line would 
trace the feeder which should supply the canal from Pittsburg to the 
moutii of the Big Beaver, and this canal run til! it met the other, 
crossing on the right side of the Big Beaver, to avoid the bluff on its 
left. This arrangement would increase the total lockage of the canal 
as much as would be required in the descent from Pittsburg to the 
snoiitli of Ria* Beaver. 
