109 f 32 ] 
otiier property affectwl hy the proposed work, and the dispositions 
of the owners. 
5. A survey of Herring Pond and its outlet, with all the local cir- 
cumstances connected with it, and its value, or history of its state 
within the memory of the neigliboring people. 
6. An inquiry whether any other sources of supply exist in this vi- 
cinity, and if so, lines of level run, to determine the practicabi 
lity of their accession. 
Remarks on the Barnstable Harbor route. 
The inquiry whether Barnstable Harbor, and Hiannis' roads, 
might not afford a preferable route of communication, having here- 
tofore received some share of attention, the Board conceived it would 
be in accordance with the spirit of their commission to view this 
line. They accordingly visited Barnstable, and, accompanied by 
several gentlemen of that place, crossed the Dividing Ridge, about 
eighty feet above tide, and found the plain to tiie south beyond it, 
four miles to Hiannis' Harbor, apparently thirty feet above tide; 
returning by the line of ponds, which occupy a considerable part 
of the distance, they were not found to have any visible outlet, and 
would afford no supply for lockage; the circumstance of the exist- 
ance of such high ground, and the more eastward situation of these 
places, considering the object of the two Governments, were con- 
clusive. But while at Hiannis, some improvement in it as an an- 
chorage, was pointed out, and may be \\ orthy the attention of the 
Government at some future day. 
It was suggested that the ground was low and favorable between 
Barnstable Harbor and Yarmouth Hai'bor; but the circumstance of 
the former being at the bottom of the bay, and it being, therefore, 
subject to the inconvenience of vessels having to beat out against a 
northwest wind, precluded further investigation, under the discre- 
tionary orders, and the limited time in our power to command, at the 
season of these remarks. 
Massachusetts second route between J^arragansett Bay and Boston 
Harbor. 
The general import of the order of the Secretary of War, in re- 
gard to other routes than that of tlie bays already described, was 
understood to refer to one which had received tbe sanction of the 
Legislature, so far as a survey, at public expense, could designate 
it. Public opinion had, indeed, long held in view the connection of 
Boston Harbor with Narragansett Bay. 
