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“ of part of the beds of the rivers which run towards the two 
“ opposite seas from Tarifa. 
“ 3. Both the length of the trenches and the section of their 
“ excavation may be greatly diminished by constructing some 
“ dike across the valley of the Chicapa, and taking advantage 
“ of the favourable shape of the brow of the Sierra in some 
“ parts. 
“ 4. In the Caledonian canal it was found necessary to 
“ build a considerable number of bridges, whilst none are re- 
“ quired in our case, therefore it is evident that the average 
“ cost for each mile of canal which I have adopted is exces- 
“ sive. 
“ 5. It must have been observed that I do not pretend to 
“ attach any importance to the traditional notion of the exis- 
“ tence of a lake, which gives origin to the rivers Ostuta and 
“ Chicapa; but if this were true (and it must be admitted that 
“ there is nothing impossible in the assertion) the union of the 
“ two rivers might probably be accomplished at their source, 
“ causing thereby an economy of many thousand pounds. 
“ 6. Among the expenses of the Caledonian canal there was 
“ a sum of £47,956 paid for the acquisition of the grounds 
“ occupied. In the Isthmus those which are not lay or waste 
“ lands, and therefore the only portions that do not belong by 
“ right to the Projector, are in their present state insignifi- 
“ cant as to their value : and 1 will only say that if it were de- 
“ sirable to turn into a lake the valleys of Chicapa, Monetza, 
“ and even that of the village of San Miguel itself, the amount 
“ of indemnifications to be paid would be considerably under 
“ any supposition that might be made in Europe, however un- 
“ derrated it might appear. 
“ From all the circumstances just mentioned, and from the 
“ knowledge I have of the localities, I am authorised to infer 
“ that the preceding estimate may be considerably modified, 
“ and the valuable produce of the country which from this 
“ moment might be turned to account, would procure annu- 
“ ally no small portion of the funds requisite for the work. 
“ Neither would it be necessary to wait until its completion to 
