[32] 
56 
and Little Connemau.i^h, to the west of the ridge, and Juniatti and 
Susqiiehannali to its cast, to a point above Harrisburg, and from thence 
to PhiUtdelphia, tbj-ough the county of Lancaster. 
The Board has examined this route in co operation with Messrs, 
Col. Jacob Hojgate, James Clarke, and Charles Tresingburg, Penn- 
sylvania «'anal Commissioners. It would unite the Western waters 
with tlie Atlantic. The Board began by reconnitering the general 
features of tiie country tfirough which it would pass; and tiie Commis- 
sioneis then executed, as far as tlie advanced season would allow it, 
the levels and surveys required to ascertain the total heights of lock- 
age and the length of its several sections. 
From Pittsburg to the mouth of the Kiskimanitas, the valley of 
the Alleghany offers no dilHrulties in the way of a canal; the river 
has from 9 inches to 1 foot of water at its lowest stage, and rises from 
20 to 22 feet in its gieatest floods at Freeport. 
From the moutii of the Kiskimanitas to the forks of the Loyalhana 
and Connemaugh, the river presents the same depth as the Alleghany 
at its lowest stage, but its greatest floods do not rise above 16 or 18 
feet. 
The banks of the valley offer a succession of flats and bluffs; the 
first affording a most favoiable ground for the canal, and the latter 
sloping so gently as to oppuse no serious obstacles to it. 
The Connemaugh to Blairsville, where it is joined on its right sliore, 
by Blacklick creek, oifers precisely the same features as the Kiski- 
manitas, of which it is only a continuation. In descending from Johns- 
town to Blairsville, it Hows with a rnore rapid coui'se than below 
Blairsville, and forces its passage successively through Laurel Uill 
and the Chesnut ridge. Tiie banks of these gaps offer no serious 
obstacles to a canal. 
The gap of Laurel Hill is about 21 miles in length, its right bank 
is rugged and perpendicular, but the left has a slope of 20 or 30 de- 
grees. Some rapids are found above the gap, but on its whole length 
the water is deep and the current slow. The gap in Chesnut ri(ig« 
is about 2 miles long, and is very narrow in some |)laces; it offers 
two or three rajjids, of which the most considerable is Richards* 
falls; its banks do not slope beyond them 30 or S5 degi-ees. Tins 
floods of the Connemaugh at Laurel Hill gap, rise to 7 or 8 feet. 
Stony creek and the Little Connemaugh join at Johnstown, an 
may be considered as the upper forks of the Connemaugh; the canal 
should proceed up the valley of the Little Connemaugh, to the point 
where it receives Bear Rock run. Its valley in all that space offering 
no serious obstacle to it. From Pittsburg to this point, the bottom 
of all these valleys is stony, and offi'rs a firm and easy ground for 
the works which may be run through them. Their banks are foimed 
of sandstone, stratified, or in heavy blocks. Coal is abundant; and 
salt welis have been bored with success through the whole valley of 
the Connemaugh. These sak works are now in operation, and their 
number is multiplying very fast at the present moment. 
This section from Pittsburg to the forks of the Little Connetnaugh 
and Bear rock Run, may be considered as the western section of the 
