[32] ^02 
Eeconnoissance in J^etv Jersey. 
In pursuance of the orders of the Honorable the Secretary of War, 
the Board proceeded to noeet the canal Commissioners of the state 
of New Jersey, and viewed the ground contemplated as the route of 
a canal between the Delaware and the Raritan. 
The Board proceeded with them to the examination of the depth 
of water in the creek at Bordentown, and then to a point on the De- 
laware, twenty-six miles above Trenton, ascertained to be at an ele- 
vation correspondent with the summit level of the canal as proposed to 
be located to Brunswick. 
The length of this feeder must, however, be considerably greater 
than that distance, as it must several times recede from the river, 
pass around the valley, and return to be carried along the spurs, 
which rise steep and rocky, not far from the shore. 
The Board, on gauging the mill streams which cross the canal line, 
were satisfied that a feeder, from the Delaware, would be indispensa- 
ble to a lock navigation, and to a canal of dimensions correspondent 
to those which are in process of execution to connect the bays of 
Delaware and Chesapeake, and the latter with the Albemarle Sound. 
The tide nf the Raritan is rapid — its channel is crooked: vessels 
navigating the tide waters will generally be impelled by the wind. 
To give them access and avoid delay, this canal, if a national work, 
should be extended as far as possible, and with as low a snn»mit level 
as may be possible, that the dilhculty and extent of the feeder may be 
less. 
In passing through New Jersey, at a later period, it seemed proba- 
ble that a direct line between Ainboy and Bordentown, might be 
found practicable^ with a deeper excavation of the summit? requir- 
ing, consequently, a less expensive feeder from the Delaware. 
This route might not interfere with the existing project under 
the authority of the state Legislature, and an opportunity be found 
of making a canal of the width and depth of the others parallel to 
the seacoast. 
The Board have already agreed in expressing an opinion that a 
survey would be useful to determine how far the canal may be ex- 
tended down along the Raritan. It is further my own conviction, 
that the ground between South River and the creek at Bordentown, 
should be investigated, as the shortness of the feeder and favorable 
ground towards the east, may warrant the reduction of the summit. 
The following division of this communication is on the canal 
routes examined in Massachusetts, also submitted by 
J NO. L. SULLIVAN, 
Member Board Internal Improvements, 
