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A

T R E A T I S E

ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF

C A N A L  N A V I G A T I O N
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C H A P. I.

OF THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESSIVE IMPROVEMENT OF CANALS.


	In contemplating the infinite operations of Art, and reflecting on their progressive improvement, it is an inexhaustible fund of amusement to trace them back to the time when genius called forth the mental powers of our species, and conducted humanity from the wilds of savage life to the cultivated plains of science and refinement.

	Ever anxious to dissipate the cloud which intercepts our view of remote times, we endeavor to discover the origin of the subjects we investigate, and to trace them through their various meandering; pleased, if we find improvement cheer the way, and industry disuse her blessings through society.

	Such deliberations have a happy tendency, by exhibiting our comparative situation with that of former ages to teach us the absurdity of presuming on present perfection, or of fixing a boundary to any pursuit, they contribute to obliterate the prejudices resulting  from established custom , and to open an unbounded field of the most luxuriant foil, gratefully productive to the hand of cultivation, and richly rewarding the toil of the laborer.
	
	For this purpose, I conceive it will not be interesting to take some notice of the infant operation of canals, and of their progress from Eastern to Western  climes, in which, we shall find, their importance did not escape the observation of some of the early improvers of society. 

	From the best historical accounts it appears, that in the Mediterranean sea navigation originated and flourished, that sea being the greatest inlet in the known world, and without tides, consequently seldomly excessively agitated; also, containing numerous islands, and shores within sight of each other, it was particularly favorable to the young adventurer. Time, with such advantages, having improved the navigator in knowledge, and the surrounding countries in cultivation, the mind began to seek, in streams of artificial direction, those conveniences it had enjoyed on the watery expanse of nature. 

	The first enterprise of this kind, of which we have any account, is related by Herodutos, of the Cnidians, a people of Caria, in Asia Minor, who designed to cut through the isthmus which joins that peninsula to the continent; but who were so superstitious as to relinquish the undertaking because of an interdiction by an oracle.

	It was also a favorite project with both the Greeks and Romans, to cut a canal through the Inthmus of Corinth; and open a communication between the Archipelago and the Ionian Sea, to accomplish which, Demetrius, Julius Cesar, Caligula, and Nero, made numerous, but unsuccessful attempts.
	
	The important junction of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, by a canal through the Isthmus of Suez, has at various times occupied the attention of several kings of Egypt; Pharaoh Necho attempted a canal from the Nill to the Red Sea, and 120,000 men perished in the attempt. In this great undertaking, it is also said, that, in the after ages, Solomon II. Emperor of the Turks, employed 50,000 men; and that after the work was completed under the caliphate of Omar; but afterwards was so entirely choked up by the shifting sands, and loose soil, as entirely to obliterate their immense labors.

	As it has been frequently questioned in Europe, whether such a canal was practicable, in order to open a route to India nearer than that by the Cape of Good Hope, I shall beg to leave to quote Mr. Volney, who made it a part of his inquiry during a residence at Cairo and Suez in 1782; and who, having a just sense of the subject, exhibits the impracticability of constructing a permanent canal;-for the following reasons:

	"First, It is certainly true, that the space which separates the two seas is not more than 18 or 19 ordinary leagues; it is true also, that this interval is not intersected by mountains; and that from the tops of the terraces at Suez we cannot discover with any telescopes a single obstacle in the naked and barren plain to the North West, it not, therefore, the difference of levels which presents the junction: but, the great difficulty arises from the nature of the corresponding coasts coasts of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, which are of a low and sandy soil , were the waters form lakes, shoals, and morasses, so that vessels cannot approach within a considerable distance. It will, therefore, be found scarcely possible to dig a permanent canal amid the shifting sands, not to mention that the shores are destitute of harbors, which must be entirely the work of art. The country, besides, has not a drop of fresh water; and to supply the inhabitants it must be brought as far as from the Nile.
 
	" The best, and only, method, therefore of effecting this junction, is, that which has been already successfully practiced at different times, which is, by making the river itself the medium of communication, for which the ground is perfectly well calculated for. Mount Mokattam suddenly terminating in the latitude of Cairo, forms only a low, and semicircular, mound, round which is a continued plain, from the banks of the Nile as far as the point of the Red Sea. The ancients who early understood the advantage to be derived from this situation, adopted the idea the two seas by a canal, connected with the river. Strabo, lib. 17, observes "that this first was executed under Srsostris, who reigned about the time of the Trojan war; and the work was so considerable, as to occasion it to be remarked, that it was a hundred cubits (or 170 feet) wide, and deep enough for large vessels."

	This work has been repeatedly choked up, and repeatedly repaired, and so sensible were the ancient Egyptians of the utility of canals, that, according to-Herodotus, Sesostris caused such numbers to be constructed, that they suspended the use of wheeled carriages, which had been in practice till that time. Those works are now buried beneath the wreck of government; are overwhelmed by drifting sands, and sediment deposited from the inundation’s of the Nile, inasmuch that no mark of their course is left.
 
	In times more modern, when , Europe ,was but emerging from  the gloom, of Gothic barbarity, the active genius of Charlemagne projected a plan of uniting the Rhine; and the Danube, by a canal, in, order to open a communication between the ocean, and the Black Sea, in this immense work  he employed numerous armies, but the extreme difficulties he had to encounter, after infinite labor and expense, obliged him to abandon the undertaking.

	Thus we see, in various periods of society, the most vigorous exertions to open water communications between distant provinces;  which works were ever under the particular guidance the most eminent characters, and prosecuted by such immense numbers of men that the labor is almost incredible; but as manual labor, unaided by mechanic ingenuity, is utterly inadequate to works of this kind, their various failures must be attribute to their ignorance of the genuine principles of science.

	The ancients were totally unacquainted locks, or any other mode of passing vessels from one level or pond of canal, to another; they, consequently, would be necessitated to pursue the level of that which it might; and this in a mountainous country would lead them into high grounds. It is also probable, they would attempt to navigate such vessels as  traversed the ocean; while perforating rocks, or making tunnels for those vessels, would never intrude on their imagination. . Such circumstances would consequently defeat every undertaking in am irregular country; it is therefore natural to conclude, that each Egyptian canal must have preserved one level;  particularly when we consider, that Lower Egypt (in which they were formed) is a flat and uniform country. 

	But although the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, were unacquainted with any mode of passing boats to, and from, different levels of water; there is great reason to believe the Chinese have long been familiar with an apparatus for this purpose. Their machine consists of an inclined plane, and a cradle to receive the boat; beneath the cradle are several rollers acting on gudgeons; into this the boat is floated, which fits it so exactly as to give equal pressure on all its parts; the whole is then raised to the next level, or pond of canal (or let down, as the case may be), by men at a capstan (others say, by a water wheel); but it Is probable both modes arc practiced, according to the abundance, or the scarcity, of water. The imperfect accounts of China, which have reached Europe, leave us much in the dark as to the specific operation and a European mechanic cannot conceive how the power obtained by a capstan, or any other apparatus where manual exertion is the acting force, can be sufficiently quick to accommodate a considerable trade, without incurring a prodigious expense by the number of men employed, as it would occupy at least thirty men during fifteen minutes, to raise a boat of twenty tons to the height of ten feet; the boat, cradle, and cargo, supposed to equal thirty tons; and a repetition of this operation, for instance, so often as necessary to mount a boat 200 feet, must not only be tedious but expensive; yet all writers agree as to the magnificence of these canals, and their astonishing length: the canal from Canton to Peking being 800 miles long through which an immense trade is conducted. Indeed, so vigilant are the Chinese over these works that they come under the immediate protection film of the executive power, and in the instructions given to governors of provinces, these objects are recommended to their particular care. In conformity to this principle, the opinion which the court forms of their conduct is greatly influenced by the attention which they appear to have paid to this part of their instructions: this branch of the police is, consequently, well attended to; and their canals have the reputation of being infinitely superior to any thing of  the kind in Europe. Hence, not notwithstanding the great extent of the empire of China, the vast multitude of its inhabitants, and variety of its climate, the consequent productions of all parts are transported to, and from, the different provinces, with  such facility as to open a home market sufficient to support extensive manufactures.

	Machines, similar to those of the Chinese, have been erected in Flanders, on river navigations, where interrupted by falls, or shoal water; while another mode adopted has been to erect a dam, or wear, across the river below the fall, in which was placed two strong buttresses of stone, with perpendicular grooves, which stopped the water till it rose to a sufficient height to enable the boats to pass; this apparatus, tedious in the process, profuse of water, and liable to injury from every flood, in all probability gave the first hint of locks. And this ingenious combination opened a new scene in canal navigation, in consequence of the facility of passing to and from the different levels. Since which, numerous important works have been executed in the Netherlands, and in different parts of Europe.

	Of  these, perhaps, the most considerable is the canal of Languedoc:  I mean, most considerable, not only from its length, and national importance; but In consequence of the capacity requisite to the construction of it. 

	It has in fact been the model for all canals down to the present day; in this work, locks, reservoirs, aqueducts, tunnels, and embankments, are plainly exhibited; and the system which has been pursued fully established. This canal, which opens a communication between the Mediterranean and the Bay of Biscay, is 192 miles long; it commences with a reservoir 4000  paces in circumference; and is furnished with 104. locks, each of 8 feet rise. It was begun (in l666) and finished under Louis XIV. by Frances Riquet, in little more than thirteen years; the expense amounting to upwards of thirteen millions of livres; which, at twenty-eight livres the mark of silver, the value of French money in the last century, amounts to upwards of 9000,000l. sterling. On finishing this great work, the tolls were given to M Riquet as a reward of merit, and an inducement to keep it in repair; and the emoluments have been so important as to produce great estates to different branches of that gentleman's family: while, as a public work, it is unquestionably the noblest monument of the monarch who patronized it. 

	Nor did those useful works escape the penetrating genius of the Czar Peter during his residence in Holland , who, immediately on his return home, procured engineers, and commenced a canal to open a communication between Moscow and Petersburg. It would be a very extensive undertaking to describe the numerous canals which had been formed in various parts of Europe, previous to their introduction into this island: but though England was the last to encourage canals, it is not the most active in promoting them; tenacious of established customs, Englishmen are difficult to set in motion, but their senses being awakened they are diligent and persevering.
 
	The first canal in England which deserves notice was constructed by the Duke of Bridgwater, and has not been completed 30 years , during the process, so unacquainted were the people with the use of canals, and so prejudiced in favor of the old custom of river navigation, that the undertaking was deemed chimerical, and ruin was predicted  as the inevitable result of his Grace’s labor; here tunnels, aqueducts, reservoirs and embankments, familiar to foreign nations, struck the astonished Englishmen with wonder; the apparent expense surpassed all calculation of an adequate return; particularly with a rival running by its side: yet it was not long finished when the eyes of the people began to open; the Duke could work on his cartel when floods,. or dry seasons, interrupted the navigation of the Mersey; this gave a certainty, and punctuality, in the carriage of merchandise, and inferred a preference to the canal; the emoluments arising to the Duke were too evident to be mistaken; and perseverance having vanquished prejudice, the fire of speculation was lighted, and canals became the subject of general conversation.

	But as local prejudices opposed the Duke’s canal, in the first instance, prejudice equally strong as firmly adhered to the principle on which it was constructed; and it was thought impossible to lead on through a country, or to work it to any advantage, unless by locks, and boats of at least twenty-five tons, till the genius of Mr. William Reynolds, of Ketley in Shropshlire, topped from the accustomed path, constructed the first inclined plane, and introduced boats of five tons. This, like the Duke's canal, was deemed a visionary project, and particularly by his Grace, who was partial to locks;  yet this is also introduced into practice, and will in many instances supersede lock canals. 

	Thus we find the majority of men adhere strongly to established customs; and prejudice the common enemy of every new work. Sensible of the power of such an opponent,  I shall seek alliance in the investigation of truth , requesting  those who take the trouble to peruse this work, to abide by the testimony of commonsense, to consider that, as science is progressive, there is yet room to improve, and that the infinite variety of applications to which science is competent, leaves ample opportunity for suggestions no less advantageous than those which have already stood the test of experiment, and received the sanction of success. 
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