67 L 32^ J 
in^ of navigation. But further investi/ration can alone decide to vvha!; 
height tliey miglit be raised above tlieir actual lc\c!, and thus ascer- 
tain whether the canal is practicable. The imjjortancc of such a 
"work, and particularly of this route, deserves the expense of 8ucii re- 
searches. 
Another pond lies partly in Bridgewater, partly in Raynham town; 
it is the largest of :tll those which are found in this route. Its area 
is valued at abou^lOOO acres, and its surface is 49 feet 1 inch above 
tidewater. It is thus, 83 feet 9 iiiclies below the summit ground. 
To drop the level of the line of water on Ujis summit, to a level with 
the pond, a deep cut of 7 or 8 miles would perhaps be rorjuired. Elias 
pond, as well as those of Furnace and Forge, cannot, theiefore, sup- 
ply thesummit level, but may be made use of for feeding the lowci* 
levels of the canal. 
The depth is 12 feet at Weymouth landing, in high tides, and 4 feet 
ill low tides; the canal should ojien at a suUicient distance below this 
place, to reach a depth, which, at low water, may equal its own. By 
sea, the distance between Weymouth and Boston, is only 12 niiles. 
As to its termination in the Taunton, that river is navigable at high 
water to one mile above Taunton; but at low water it ceases to be 
navigable 6 miles below the town. At Taunton the tide iises 3 feet, 
and the river has there from 6 to 7 feet in depth. The termination of 
the canal must be directed in consequence, and a tide lock provided at 
each of its extremities. 
As in following this route, the streams which we meet have all a gen- 
eral direction to the east; another route more to the eastward has 
been surveyed and levelled by commissioncis above mentioned. It 
begins at Weymouth hack landing, and directs itself on Titicut 
bridge, on tlie principal branch of theTauntoii. its length would be 
only 231 rniles to the spot where it would bi'gin, to descend the 
valley of the Taunton. Its summit ground at Curtis* meadow is 131 
feet 10 inches above tide water. Weymouth Great pond and Cran- 
berry pond might supply this summit level witli their wjiteis; the for- 
mer is only 5i miles distant from it. These other ponds might also 
feed the canal along this route: Whitman's pond, in Weymouth 
town, three-fourths of a mile from Back river landing; i^s surface is 54 
feet 10 inches above tide water. Barretts mill j>ond, to the nortli of the 
summit ground; its furface is ninety feet two iriclics above tide water.— 
Nark's mill pond, to the north of the summit ground; its surface is 
eighty-two feet five inches above tide water. By a deep cut of 
forty-nine feet five inches, independent of the inelination of the feed- 
ers, and depth of the canal, all these ponds, exccj)t Whitnum's jjond, 
might convey their waters to the summit level. V^e siiould add tiiat 
in Middleborough, there are three ponds wiilch connnunicate to- 
gether, and whose waters may be led to the nortii in the cisief branch 
of the Taunton; these are x\ssuinset, Long Vond, and Ivintiruts. 
Exact surveys can alone decide w Inch of these routes affords the 
most favorable ground; but as to the practicability of either, it rests 
entirely on the sulliciency of their supply of vvatei-, and on the elevation 
which might be given to them, so as not to require too consideraable 
