C A 
©f forty miles in the province of A ft ra can ; and the two 
rmilets Ilofla and Camafhinfka, the former of which falls 
into the Don, and the latter into the Wolga, are only fe- 
parated by an interval of land of about five miles. The 
fame Captain Perry was employed to unite tliefe two ri¬ 
vulets, and make them navigable; but, after cutting a 
mile and'an half, the fciieme was relinquifned. It was 
again revived by the late emprefs ; but, the Don being 
only forty miles from the Wolga, and land carriage ex¬ 
tremely cheap and eafy, it was imagined that the advan¬ 
tages refulting from tire projected canal would be fcarcely 
equivalent to the ex pence of making it. 
Owing to the difficulty of failing againft the ffreams 
eaflward, the Ruffian commodities exported to China 
are conveyed by land from Peterlbtirg and Mofcew' to 
Tobolfk : from w hence the merchants go in fledges 
during winter to Kiatka. But on their return they de- 
Icend by the rivers Selenga, Angara, Tungufka, Ket, 
and Oby, to the junction of the latter with the Irtifii ; 
they afeend that river to Tobolfk, and go up the To- 
bollk into the Ifet; at the head of which is a fmall 
lake, whence a canal is cut into the river Tchufovaia, 
which falls into the Kama, which unites with the Wolga 
near Kafan, and conveys them by the lake Ladoga back 
again to Peterfburg. Guffavus Vafa was the firft fovereign 
ot Sweden, who perceived the utility of uniting the Baltic 
and the German Ocean by an inland navigation. Eric 
XIV. was defirous to carry his father’s defigns into exe¬ 
cution ; bill this great fciieme was fruftrated by the turbu¬ 
lence and misfortunes of his reign. Several fucceeding fo- 
vereigns had likewife this great objedt in view. Charles 
IX. promoted it by the Carlfgraf canal, and Charles XI. 
by that of Arboga. The projedt of forming a communi¬ 
cation by water through the whole country, was about this 
time declared to be impracticable, on account of the falls 
from the lakes between Wenner, and Hielmar. But diffi¬ 
culties, however infurmountable they might appear to 
foir.e, were no obftacle to the genius of Charles XII. The 
celebrated engineer Polhcm laid before that king a pro- 
pofal for rendering the cataracts of Trolhaetta navigable; 
and for opening a communication, not only between Go- 
thenborg and Stockholm, but alfo with the Wenner, the 
Vetter, and Nordkioping. Polhem’s plan was begun by 
Charles; and, though it was interrupted for fome time by 
the king’s death, it was again revived under Adolphus 
Frederick. 
This plan may be divided into three principal parts, viz. 
the junction of the JTielmar with the Maeler ; that of the 
Hielmar with the Wenner ; and that of the Wenner with 
German ocean. The two firft lakes ate united by the fmall 
river Ulvifon, and the canal of Arboga; which laft is cut 
from the Hielmar, and continued to the Ulvifon, about half 
a mile to,,the eaft of the town. It was begun in the reign of 
Chriftina; but, being only calculated for fmall veffels, was 
widened and deepened by order of Charles XI. and com¬ 
pleted under his fucceflor Charles XII. It belonged to the 
crown until 1769, at which period it had been fo much 
neglected, as fcarcely to be of any ufe ; but a-company of 
I'even merchants of Orebro undertook to cleanfe and repair 
it at their own expence, upon condition of receiving the 
toll of all veffels which fhould pafs through it. The canal 
is, excepting in a few parts, fufficiently broad to receive 
two veffels a-breafl ; and is chiefly fupplied with water 
from the lakeTIielmar, the furface of which is eighty feet 
perpendicular higher than its level. It confifts of eight 
fluices or locks. The veffels it admits are the fame w Inch 
navigate the lakes ; they are decked and (ingle mafled, 
feventy-ftx feet long, about forty-three tons burden, and 
draw between fix and feven feet water when they have 
taken in their lading. 
In order to join the Hielmar and Wenner, it vvas-pro- 
pofed to open the navigation of the Swart-anp which falls 
into the weftern extremity of the Hielmar at Orebro ; to 
make a canal from that river to the lake Morken , from 
thence by the Leton to the Skager 5 and from the Skagcr, 
Vol. HI. No. 155, 
N A L. 673 
by the Cullfpang, to the Wenner. On account of fome in- 
fupcrable difficulties attending this plan, another W'as pro- 
'jedled, to form an inland navigation from the eaftern coaft of 
Sweden, fotith of the Mader, by means of the Wetter, to 
tlie Wenner ; and in 1774 a plan was publifhed, with a view 
to flievv the fciieme to be practicable. With regard to the 
j undtion of the Wennerwith the German Ocean, tiiis might 
be accomplifhed by the river Gotha, which i flues front the 
fouthern extremity of the lake near Wennefliorg, and after 
a courfe of feventy miles falls into the fea near Gothen- 
berg; but as, on account of fitoals and cataracts, its 
Bream is greatly impeded, the communication has been 
attempted by the Carlfgraf canal, the canal of Trolhaetta, 
and the fluices of Akerftroem and Edet. 
In Denmark there is a canal, which commences about 
three miles north of Kiel, at the mouth of the rivulet Le- 
vven-fawe, which heretofore feparated HolfteLn from Slef- 
Yvick, and forms a new boundary between thefe two duchies. 
'File diftance from its beginning to the lad lluice at Rend- 
fburg, is twenty- feven Englifh miles; but, as the river Eyder 
is navigable about fix miles and three quarters above Rend- 
fbttrg, the cut neceffary for uniting the two feas is only 
twenty miles and an half. This canal was begun in July 
1777, and the utility of this important undertaking will be 
evident, from a mere infpedtion of the map of Denmark, 
It will enable veffels, not exceeding 120 tons, or not draw¬ 
ing above ten feet water, to pafs immediately front the Baltic 
into the German Ocean, and proceed without unloading to 
Hamburg; 6r fail to Holland, England, or other parts, 
which in times of war receive fuppliesfrom Denmark. 
The United Provinces are interfered with innumerable 
canals, by which a prodigious inland trade is carried on 
between Holland and every part of France, Flanders, and 
Germany. The yearly profits produced by thefe canals are 
almoff beyond belief; but it is certain that they amount to 
more than 250,000b for about forty miles of inland navi¬ 
gation, which is 625I. permile, thefauare furface of which 
mile does not exceed two acres of ground; a profit fo ama¬ 
zing, that it is no wonder other nations lliould attempt to 
imitate what has been found fo highly advantageous. The 
canals of Offend, Ghent, Antwerp, Bruffels, &c. cannot 
however, at prefent, claim fo much celebrity. Holland on 
one fide, and France on the other, have not only encroached 
on their territories, but diminifhed their trade. The city of 
Amfterdam rofe to opulence on their decline. A fpacious 
canal, a work of the (ixteenth century, extends from Bruf¬ 
fels to the Scheld ; which, though not open to veffels of 
thefe provinces where it enters the fea, yet affords a com¬ 
munication with Holland, and, by the canals of Flanders, 
with the ocean. By this navigation the city Hill carries on 
fome traffic ; and we find, at a diftance from the ocean, and. 
where there is no navigable river, a port filled with veffels 
of every kind, adapted to all the purpofes of trade and plea- 
fure. On the northern banks of the Scheld, in the county 
of Wafs, below Ghent, the prince of Parma, during tins 
memorable fiege of Antwerp, cut a canal which (till remains. 
The canals of Holland are generally fixty feet wide, and 
fix feet deep; they are cleanled from time to time; and the 
mud produces a great profit for manure. The canals are 
generally upon a level, where locks or fluices are not ne¬ 
ceffary. From Rotterdam to Delft, the Hague, and Ley¬ 
den, the canal is abfolutely level; but is liable to, and 
fometitnes aftedted by, ftrong winds. For the moll part the 
canals are more elevated than the fields or country, to the 
end that they may be able to carry off the water which 
every winter inundates the land. To drain the water from 
Delftland, a province not more than fixty miles long, they 
employ 200 wind-mills in fpring time. All the canals of 
Holland are bordered with dams or banks, and on thefe de¬ 
pends the fecurity of the country from inundation. 
France furnilhes us with numerous inftances of induftrp 
and ingenuity, in the conftrudtion of canals. The firft in 
that country was projected by Lucius Verus, who com¬ 
manded the Roman army in Gaul under the emperor Nero, 
to join the river Mofellc with the Rhine. The canal of 
8 1 Briare. 
