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ADDITIONAL RATES GRANTED BY THIS ACT.
The same Rates for all Vessels, empty or loaded, as above, which pass the New Cut or Canal to be made at Eastwood.

Note - That if empty Vessels, which have paid the above Rate, should return laden with Lime-stone from the Parishes of Doncaster, Warmsworth, Conisbrough, or Sprotbrough, the Rate so levied shall be returned.

The two tolls of one penny each, which were levied for the purpose of keeping in repair the road from Tinsley to Sheffield, is, by an act of the 55th George III. entitled, An Act for making and maintaining a navigable Canal from Sheffield to Tinsley, in the West Riding of the county of York, vested in the company of proprietors of the Sheffield Canal.

By an act of 33rd George III. cap. 117, for making the Stainforth and Keadby Canal, it is enacted, that all vessels which turn out of the Dun Navigation Cut, and pass down this canal, shall pay to the Dun Company the same rates as though the vessel passed through the lock near the junction.

The Dun Navigation is of the utmost importance for exporting the produce of the extensive coal and iron works which abound at its western extremity; also the vast quantity of manufactured iron goods and cutlery which is annually produced in the populous town and neighbourhood of Sheffield. The trade of Rotherham, the limestone and plaster at Sprotbrough, and other places in the line, together with the agricultural produce of the neighbourhood of Doncaster, constitute a considerable branch of traffic on this navigation. The imports consist of every article requisite for the supply of an extensive, populous, and manufacturing district.

EDEN RIVER.
8 George I. Cap. 14, Royal Assent 12th February, 1721.

THIS river rises near Pendragon Castle, in Westmoreland, and among that range of hills on which Shunnor Fell stands conspicuous, at an elevation of 2,329 feet above the level of the sea. Its


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 course is northerly, by the town of Kirkby Stephen, and near to the town of Brough, and thence, in a north-westwardly direction by Appleby to Edenhall Hall, near which it is joined by the River Eamont, which flows from the beautiful lake of Ulles Water; and by Penrith, and at the same time, forms the division between the counties of Westmoreland and Cumberland. From the junction above-mentioned, it winds through a fine country, by the town of Kirkoswald, Armathwaite, and Corby Castle, to Warwick Hall, where it receives the waters of the Little River Irthing. From this place it runs westward, by a winding course, to the city of Carlisle, at the bridge of which place the navigation commences. From Carlisle its course is very circuitous, passing Grinsdale, Kirkandrews, Beaumont, and Rockcliff, to Burgh Marsh Point, where it falls into the Solway Firth. Its length is ten miles and a quarter; the tide flows the whole distance, and it was made navigable under authority of an act of 8th George I. entitled, An Act for making the River Eden navigable to Bank End, in the county of Cumberland.

This river was chiefly used for importing supplies to the city of Carlisle, and to export its various manufactures; but since the opening of the Carlisle Canal, the transit of merchandize has been principally through the latter channel; and, consequently, the navigation of the river has been nearly superseded.

EDINBURGH AND DALKEITH RAILWAY.
7 George IV. Cap. 98, Royal Assent 26th May, 1826.

10 George IV. Cap. 122, Royal Assent 4th June, 1829.

THIS railway commences on the south side of the city of Edinburgh, near Salisbury Craigs, from whence it proceeds in an eastwardly direction, skirting the King's Park; thence, on the south side of Duddingston House, and by the village of Hunters Hall, to Redrow, where it communicates with the Edmonstone Railway. It afterwards takes a southerly course by Miller Hill Row, to within half a mile of the west side of the town of Dalkeith, where it crosses the North Esk River; thence, to the banks

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 of South Esk River, at Dalhousie Mains, near Newbattle Abbey, from whence, the last act enables the company to extend it to Newton Grange.

There is a branch from Wanton Walls to Fisher Row Harbour, in the Firth of Forth; another from Cairney to the collieries situate on the east side of the Esk, at Cowpits, near Musselburgh; and another by a subsequent act, which extends to Leith Harbour.

The main line of this railroad, with the extension to Newton Grange, to be made under powers of the act of 10th George IV. is ten miles and three quarters; the first three furlongs of which, from the depot at Edinburgh, is level; it then descends 130 feet, by an inclined plane five furlongs in length, in which distance it passes through a tunnel of six hundred yards. From the end of the inclined plane, it continues level for three miles; when there is a rise of 150 feet to its termination, which is at an elevation of 280 feet above the level of the sea.

The branch to Cowpits is one mile and a half in length, and that to Fisher Row Harbour one mile and a quarter. Other branches to Duddingston, Salt Pans, and Portobello, were in contemplation before the first application to parliament, but were subsequently abandoned. Mr. James Jardine, of Edinburgh, projected this railway, and estimated the cost at £70,125; of which sum, £56,150 was subscribed at the time the act was obtained.

The first act relating to this railway received the royal assent on the 26th of May, 1826; it is entitled, An Act for making and maintaining a Railway from Edinburgh to the South Side of the River North Esk, near Dalkeith and Newbattle, with Branches therefrom, all in the county of Edinburgh. The subscribers to this undertaking, at the time the above act was obtained, were eighty-seven in number, amongst whom were the Duke of Buccleugh and Queensberry, Marquis of Lothian, Earl of Wemyss and March, Earl of Roseberry, Viscount Melville, Sir J. H. Dalrymple, Sir John Hope, Sir Hugh Innes, Sir Robert Keith Dick, Admiral Sir P. C. H. Durham, Baronets, the Lord Provost and Corporation of the city of Edinburgh, and the Magistrates of the town of Musselburgh. They were incorporated by the name of "The Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway Company," with power to raise among themselves the amount of the estimate, in shares of


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 £50 each; and they may borrow the additional sum of £20,000, if necessary, on the credit of the undertaking. The concerns of this company are to be managed by a committee of nine or more persons, possessed of ten shares each at the least, and of whom three is at all meetings to be a quorum.

ADDITIONAL RATES ON THE INCLINED PLANES.
Fractions to be paid as for a Quarter of a Mile, and as for a Quarter of a Ton.

PONTAGE RATES IN ADDITION.
Which Rate is to be levied only for the Purpose of repaying the original Cost, with Interest; and for the future Maintenance of the same.

For the Bridge to be erected over the Railway Branch, which crosses the Esk near Cowpits, the same Rate is to be levied as on that over the North Esk as above, and with the same Object.

WHARFAGE RATES.
Private wharfs may be erected by owners of lands, or by the company if they neglect to do so, and for which the following rates are allowed.

And One Half-penny per Ton for every further Day.


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Six years are allowed for the execution of this railway and branches, and if not then made, the power granted under this act will cease, except as to such part as may have been completed.

Among the clauses relative to private property, is one which compels the company to execute that part of the railway which is intended to pass over the estate of Sir Robert Keith Dick, Bart. within eighteen months from the commencement of the works on the estate, or suffer a penalty of £20 for every succeeding month which it may remain unfinished. And as a way-leave, an annual payment is to be made, (over and above the value of the land) of a sum not exceeding £990, nor less than £490, which payments are to be regulated by the average daily amount of tonnage passing along the railway through his estate.

And should the Company ever abandon the Railway through Sir Robert Keith Dick's Estate, they shall be quit of the above Obligation, on Payment of the Sum of £1,830.

For Compensation to Andrew Wauchope, of Niddrie Marischall, Esq. for passing through his Estate, (in addition to the Value of the Land so to be occupied,) the Company agree to pay One Half-penny per Ton for every Article passing over his Estate, except the Produce thereof; with the Privilege of enjoying the use of the Railway which passes over his Estate, free of Toll, for the Produce of his Estate, or for any other Articles intended for his own use, or that of his Tenants.

To John Wauchope, of Edmonstone, Esq. the Sum of £670 is directed to be paid (in addition to the Value of his Land,) for the Privilege of carrying the Railway across his Estate, together with the Rate of One Half-penny per Ton, under the Provisions and with the same Privileges as are enjoyed by Andrew Wauchope, Esq.

On the 4th of June, 1829, the royal assent was given to another act, entitled, An Act to enable the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway Company, to raise afurt her Sum of Money to make a Branch from the said Railway to Leith, and for other Purposes relating thereto. The extension here contemplated is from Niddrie North Mains, by Portobello, to Leith Harbour, the length being three miles, six furlongs and four chains, with a fall, to the Forth, of 130 feet.

The main line is also to be extended five furlongs, from Dalhousie Mains to Newton Grange.

Mr. Jardine also made the estimates for the Leith Branch and Extension. For the branch, if a double road, £29,628; but if


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 single, £22,260; and for the extension of the main line to Newton Grange, £7,815; towards which, the Marquis of Lothian subscribed £1,000.

By the second act, the branch to Fisher Row Harbour is, in future, to be accounted a portion of the main line; for the purpose of completing which, power is given to raise, in addition to the several sums of £57,695 and £4,136, which had already been expended, any sum not exceeding £54,875, which is directed to be raised by creating new shares of £50 each; and an additional sum of £10,000, over and above the £20,000 which they were empowered to borrow by the last-recited act. For the Leith Branch, a new list of subscriptions is to be raised by a company who may act independently of the shareholders on the main line, by appointing their own committee of management, as well as possessing the power to make separate dividends of the proceeds of this branch.

The subscribers are empowered to raise among themselves the sum of £25,700, in one thousand and twenty-eight shares of £25 each, (of which sum, £19,600 was subscribed before this act was obtained) and a further sum of £10,000, on assignment of the rates as a security.

This branch crosses the estate of the Marquis of Abercorn, who has the privilege of a way-leave for himself and tenants free of charge, and is entitled to make branch railways to connect with this.

William Miller, Esq. another considerable landed proprietor, has obtained the same power and privileges as the above-named nobleman, by obtaining the introduction of a similar clause.

With respect to the extension of the main line to Newton Grange, it is enacted, that, should the Marquis of Lothian think proper to do it at his own expense, the pontage rates which the company are authorized to demand for all articles crossing the North Esk Bridge, shall not be collected.

The principal object of this railway and branches, is to open more effectually, a better and cheaper communication between the city of Edinburgh and the port of Leith, with the valuable collieries and limestone quarries that abound in the rich mineral district to which they extend.


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EDINBURGH AND GLASGOW UNION CANAL.
57 Geo. III. C. 56, R. A. 27th June, 1817.

59 Geo. III. C. 29, R .A. 19th May, 1819.

1 & 2 Geo. IV. C. 122, R. A. 23rd June, 1821.

4 Geo. IV. C. 18, R.A. 12th May, 1823.

7 Geo. IV. C. 45, R. A. 5th May, 1826.

THE Edinburgh and Glasgow Union Canal commences from the sixteenth lock of the Forth and Clyde Navigation, about two miles west of Falkirk, in the county of Sterling, whence it takes an eastwardly course on the south side of the above-mentioned town, by some collieries; thence, through Black Hill Tunnel, and across the Glen Water, on which stream, at a short distance to the southward, is constructed a considerable reservoir. Its line hence is by Brighton Freestone Quarries, and about a mile north from Park Hill Colliery, to the Avon River, over which there is an aqueduct conveying the canal at an elevation of 80 feet above the surface of the river. The canal here enters the county of Linlithgow, and passes within a mile and a half on the south side of its capital, to Craighton House, where its course is more southerly and circuitous, to the River Almond, near Clifton House, where it crosses into Edinburghshire, by means of an aqueduct. Its course hence is by Ratho House, and across Leith River, to the city of Edinburgh, where it terminates by a basin at the Lothian Road, about half a mile south-west of the castle. The length of the canal is thirty miles, the depth of water 5 feet, and is on one level from Edinburgh to its western extremity, where it falls 110 feet, in one series of locks, into the Forth and Clyde Canal.

This navigation is supplied by feeders from all the streams it crosses, and from reservoirs constructed for that purpose; one of which is at Barbauchlay, in the parishes of Torphichan and Shotts, and in the counties of Linlithgow and Lanark; another at Loch Coat, in the parish of Torphichan, and another at Cobbinshaw, in the parish of West Calder. There is a feeder of more than three miles in length, taken from below the junction of the Linhouse and Almond Rivers, which crosses the latter river by a suspension aqueduct; and between which and the aqueduct over the Almond River there are three tunnels, one of which is more than half a mile in length; there is also another feeder from the Avon River.


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There are two other canal aqueducts besides those above-mentioned; one over the Gogar Burn, and another over the Murray Burn.

This undertaking was designed by Mr. Thomas Telford and Mr. Baird, who estimated the cost at £240,468, 17s. 2d.; of which sum £198,650 was subscribed before going to parliament. The first act of parliament, relative to this canal, passed in the 57th George III. and is entitled, An Act for making and maintaining a navigable Canal from the Lothian Road, near the city of Edinburgh, to join the Forth and Clyde Navigation near Falkirk, in the county of Stirling. The company of proprietors consisted, at the time the first act was obtained, of three hundred and eighty-four persons, amongst whom were the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Sir William Forbes, Sir John Hay, and Sir John Marjoribanks, who were incorporated by the name of "The Edinburgh and Glasgow Union Canal Company," with power to raise £240,500, in four thousand eight hundred and ten shares, of £50 each, and a further sum of £50,000, either among themselves, by the admission of new subscribers, or on mortgage of the undertaking.

TONNAGE RATES.
But if such Vessel return loaded within less than Fourteen Days, deduction will be made from the above Charge, in Proportion to the Distance they have carried the new lading.

Boats under Fifteen Tons not to pass Locks without consent, unless Tonnage to that Amount be paid.

Fractions to be taken as for a Quarter of a Mile, and as for a Quarter of a Ton.

WHARF AND BASIN DUES.
If Goods remain on the Wharfs more than Twenty-four Hours, such additional Rates to be paid as the Committee may deem reasonable.

The Company are directed to indemnify the Magistrates and Town Council of the Royal Burgh of Linlithgow for any Diminution of the Customs upon Cattle, Carriages, or Goods carried over the Avon at Torphichan Mill; also to secure to the Magistrates and Town Council of the City of Edinburgh the Rate of One Penny per Ton on all Goods, Wares, or other Things (except Manure,) shipped or unloaded at any of the Wharfs and Basins, in lieu of certain Rates, Dues, Causeway, Mail, and Petty Customs, which they are now entitled to; as it appears that, by a Charter or Gift of Charles the First, dated 17th May, 1636, the


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 Ministers of Edinburgh are entitled to a Duty or Custom of Thirteen Shillings and Four-pence Scots, upon each Ton or Pack of Goods imported to Edinburgh, Leith, or Newhaven. The Company are therefore directed to pay the same on all Goods which may be imported by this Navigation. They are also bound to indemnify the Edinburgh Road Trustees, the Bathgate, and another Trust, in any Diminution of Tolls arising from these Turnpike Roads, which may be affected by their Canal.

The act of the 59th George III. entitled, An Act for altering and amending an Act for making and maintaining a navigable Canal from the Lothian Road, near the city of Edinburgh, to join the Forth and Clyde Navigation near Falkirk, in the county of Stirling, was obtained chiefly for the purpose of making some alterations in the line in the parishes of Ratho, Kirkliston, and Falkirk. The company are, however, by this act enabled to anticipate two calls of ten per cent, each, by borrowing the sum, which amounts to £48,100, and which was rendered necessary by the works proceeding with greater rapidity than they were calculated to do at the outset.

The royal assent was given to a third act on the 23rd June, 1821, which is entitled, An Act for amending certain Acts for making and maintaining a navigable Canal from the Lothian Road, near the city of Edinburgh, to join the Forth and Clyde Navigation near Falkirk, in the county of Stirling, and giving Power to borrow a further Sum of Money on the Credit of the Tolls granted by the said Acts; by which power is given to raise the further sum of £50,000, either by the creation of new shares, or on the credit of the undertaking. In the preamble it is stated, that the whole of the monies they were authorized to raise under the preceding acts, had been expended, besides the sum of £50,000, which the Commissioners for issuing Exchequer Bills, under the authority of two acts of the 57th George III. and 1st George IV. had advanced to this company on the 1st of June, 1820.

In the preamble of an act of the 12th of May, 1823, entitled, An Act to enable the Edinburgh and Glasgow Union Canal Company to borrow a further Sum of Money, after reciting the previous acts, and stating that the whole of the sums granted had been expended on the works, it is stated, that a further sum was required in consequence of claims for extra work and awards of arbitrators, &c.; they are, therefore, empowered to raise a further sum of £60,000, either by the creation of new shares, or by


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 borrowing the same on security of the works. In this act power is given to the Exchequer Bill Commissioners to advance the further sum of £50,000, in part of the sum of £60,000 the company is authorized to borrow by this act.

The last act relating to this navigation received his Majesty's assent on the 5th of May, 1826; and it is entitled, An Act to alter and amend the Edinburgh and Glasgow Union Canal Acts, and to enable the Company to borrow a further Sum of Money; in the preamble of which it is stated, that they have opened the canal, but as the reservoirs, authorized by the first-recited act, are not yet entirely completed, and the restricted time for executing the above works being nearly expired, the acts are in consequence directed to be continued in force.

The power which was given in the act of 57th George III. to make a reservoir at Fannyside Loch, is hereby repealed, and authority given to make one in lieu of it, in the parishes of Torphichan and Slamanan; and the proprietors are allowed to raise the further sum of £60,000, either by the creation of new shares, or by borrowing on the credit of the funds and property of the company, who have power to allocate the whole debts of the company, by burthening each original share with its proportion of the debt; or they may divide the whole debt into new shares of £50 each; and it is enacted that no dividends shall be made until the debt be reduced to £100,000.

The primary object of this navigation was to effect an inland communication between the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow; to the former of which it must be essentially serviceable, in consequence of the increased facilities afforded to the transit of lime, coal, stone, &c. which abound in its course.

ELLESMERE AND CHESTER CANAL.
12 Geo. III. C.75, R. A. 1st Apr. 1772.

17 Geo. III. C. 67, R. A. 2nd June, 1777.

18 Geo. III. C. 21, R. A. 27th Mar, 1778.

33 Geo. III. C. 91, R. A. 30th Apr. 1793.

36 Geo.III. C. 71, R. A. 26th Apr. 1796.

36 Geo. III. C. 96, R. A. 14th May, 1796.

41 Geo. III. C. 70, R. A. 20th June, 1801.

42 Geo. III. C. 20, R. A. 15th Apr. 1802.

44 Geo. III. C. .54, R. A. 29th June, 1804.

50 Geo. III. C. 24, R. A. 6th Apr. 1810.

53 Geo. III. C. 80, R. A. 21st May, 1813.

7 & 8 Geo. IV. C. 102, R. A. 21st June, 1827.

11 Geo. IV. C. 51, R. A. 29th May, 1830.

THIS canal commences from the tideway of the River Mersey, at Ellesmere Port, about two miles east of Hooton Hall, the seat


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 of Sir Thomas S. Massey Stanley, Bart. and ten miles south-east of the port of Liverpool. Its course is south by Stoke, Wervin, and between Moston and Mollington Hall, to Chester, where there is a short branch which locks down into the River Dee. Hence its course is eastwardly, skirting the north wall of the city, by the shot manufactories; thence more southerly, passing Christleton, Waverton, Beeston Castle, to Wardle Green, from whence a branch proceeds to join a branch of the Trent and Mersey or Grand Trunk Canal at Middlewich. The main line proceeds for about one mile and a half from Wardle Green to near Hurleston, where another branch proceeds to near Darfold Hall, about three quarters of a mile west of Nantwich, where it connects with the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal, now in course of execution. From Hurleston the main line proceeds southward by Burland to Woodcot, and thence westward by Wrenbury and Tushingham, near Whitchurch, where the canal enters the county of Salop. Hence its course lies on the west side of the town of Whitchurch, to which there is a short branch; thence it skirts the boundary of a detached portion of the county of Flint to The Cottage, where there is a branch to a wharf near Edstaston. The main line proceeds in a westwardly direction, crossing a point of Flintshire, and by Welsh Hampton to the south side of Ellesmere, to which town there is a short branch; hence its course is more southerly, by Tetchill to Francton Common, where the Llanymynech Branch proceeds from it. The main line continues from the last-mentioned point in a westwardly direction, by Halston Hall and Belmont, and across the River Ceiriog, by a fine stone aqueduct; thence through Chirk Tunnel to the River Dee, over which it is carried by means of the famous cast iron aqueduct at Pont-y-Cysylte. From this aqueduct a navigable feeder is made along the north bank of the Dee to Llantysilio. There is also a railway from the same place to Ruabon Brook Collieries, which also belongs to the proprietors of this navigation.

The Lmanymynech Branch takes a south-westerly course from Francton Common by Wood House and Crickheath Hall, to near Llanymynech, where it forms a junction with the Montgomeryshire Canal, in the township of Careghofa, in the county of Salop.


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 Out of the last-mentioned branch, near the village of Hordley, a collateral cut proceeds by Bagley and Shire Oak, to Weston Wharf; near Weston Lullingfield, where it terminates. The total length of the main line from Ellesmere Port to the Montgomeryshire Canal, is sixty-one miles; viz, from the first-mentioned place, to the cut which connects with the Dee at the city of Chester, is eight miles and three quarters, with a rise, from low water mark in the Mersey at Liverpool, of 46 feet, which rise takes place at its commencement, from whence it is level to Chester. From Chester to the Hurleston Locks, and where the Nantwich Branch proceeds from it, is fifteen miles and three quarters, with a rise of 131 feet, by means of eleven locks, five of which are within a mile of Chester. The branch to meet the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal is two miles in length, and level. The main line from the Hurleston Locks to Francton Common is twenty-five miles, with a rise of 115 feet. The branch to Edstaston Wharf from The Cottage, upon this part of the main line, is nearly three miles in length. The branch towards the town of Ellesmere is about a furlong in length only. From Francton Common it is eleven miles and a half to its termination in the Montgomeryshire Canal, with a fall of 52 feet. The branch to the Ruabon Brook Railway, near the Pont-y-Cysylte Aqueduct is little more than eleven miles, with a rise of 13 feet.

The railway which proceeds from the end of the canal at Cysylte, through an extensive coal field to Ruabon Brook, in the county of Denbigh, is three miles and a quarter; and the navigable feeder, which comes from the Dee at Llantysilio, and falls into this canal at the aqueduct above-mentioned, is nearly six miles in length; and the branch from near Hordley to Weston Wharf, is five miles and a half in length. The branch from Wardle Green to join the Grand Trunk Canal at Middlewich, takes a westwardly course by Cholmondeston Hall, and across the River Weaver, near Wades Green; thence northwardly, and runs in a parallel course on the east side of that river, by Minshull Vernon and Lea Hall; thence eastwardly to the south side of the town of Middlewich, where it forms the junction above-mentioned. Its length is nearly ten miles, with a fall to the Grand Trunk of 44 feet 4 inches, by four locks.


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The necessary powers for making and perfecting this navigation are contained in thirteen acts of parliament, but as by the act of 7th and 8th George IV. all the former ones are repealed, we shall but briefly notice the chief provisions. The first act occurs in the 12th George III. and is entitled, An Act for making a navigable Cut or Canal from the River Dee, within the liberties of the city of Chester, to or near Middlewich and Nantwich, in the county of Chester, by which one hundred and nineteen subscribers, (amongst whom were the Honourable Wilbraham Tollemache,) are incorporated by the name of " The Company of Proprietors of the Chester Canal Navigation," with power to raise among themselves the sum of £42,000, in four hundred and twenty shares of £100 each; and an additional sum of £20,000, if necessary.

In the preamble of the act of 17th George III. entitled, An Act for varying and enlarging the Powers of an Act made in the Twelfth Year of the Reign of his present Majesty, for making a navigable Cut or Canal from the River Dee, within the liberties of the city of Chester, to or near Middlewich and Nantwich, in the county of Chester, it is stated, that considerable progress had been made in the works, and that the sums of £42,000, and £19,000 of the £20,000 authorized by the preceding act, had been expended; and as more money was required, the act enabled the company to raise the further sum of £25,200, by a call of sixty per cent, on the original stock of £42,000; and an additional sum of £30,000, on security of the rates and duties. This act enables the company to change the course of the Middlewich Branch; but, by a clause which is here introduced for the purpose of protecting the interests of the Duke of Bridgewater and the Grand Trunk Canal Company, they are restricted from approaching nearer than one hundred yards to the last-mentioned canal.

The third act, which was obtained in the year following the preceding act, was to enable the company to make a call of eighty per cent. on the original stock of £42,000, in consequence of having failed to raise the sums wanted, in the manner prescribed by the preceding act; it is entitled, 'An Act for the more effectually carrying into Execution the Powers contained in two several Acts of Parliament, the one made in the Twelfth Year of his present Majesty's Reign, for making a navigable Cut or Canal


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 from the River Dee, within the liberties of the city of Chester, to or near Middlewich and Nantwich, in the county of Chester; and the other made in the Seventeenth Year of his said Majesty's Reign, for varying and enlarging the Powers of the said former Act.

If the sum of £33,600, hereby authorized to be raised by the call above-recited, be insufficient for the purposes required, the company may borrow, on security of the tolls, the further sum of £10,000.

Under these several acts the canal from Chester to Nantwich was completed about 1780; but the branch to Middlewich, in consequence chiefly of the restrictive clause contained in the act of 17th George III. remained unexecuted until the present time, when the united companies of the Chester and Ellesmere Canals have, under new powers lately granted, commenced the undertaking under the skilful direction of Mr. Telford; and it is expected shortly to be opened. Mr. James Brindley was employed upon this canal as well as other engineers. So much was this concern depressed at the time it had no communication with other navigations, that it is said that shares were sold for one per cent. of their original value.

About fifteen years subsequent to the passing of the last-recited act, an act was obtained by a company consisting of twelve hundred and thirty-eight persons, (amongst whom were Sir Foster Cunliffe, Sir Richard Hill, and Sir Thomas Hanmer,) entitled, An Act for making and maintaining a navigable Canal from the River Severn, at Shrewsbury, in the county of Salop, to the River Mersey, at or near Netherpool, in the county of Chester; and also for making and maintaining certain collateral Cuts from the said intended Canal, by which they were incorporated by the name of "The Company of Proprietors of the Ellesmere Canal," and empowered to raise among themselves the sum of £400,000, and an additional sum of £50,000, if necessary; and, by mortgage of the tolls, the further sum of £50,000.

The line of this proposed navigation was from the Mersey along its present course to Chester, where it crosses the Dee, and thence by Wrexham and Poolmouth to the Pont-y-Cysylte Aqueduct, and thence along the present executed line by Francton Com-


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 mon, Hordley, and as far as Weston Wharf; thence through a tunnel to Shrewsbury, where it was intended to lock down into the Severn.

The length of the main line was fifty-six miles and three quarters, with a rise to Poolmouth of about 380 feet, and a fall to the Severn of 226 feet. The branches were to Llanymynech as at present; one to Brumbo, in the county of Denbigh, and another to Holt, in the same county; with one to Prees, in the county of Salop. Power is also given by this act to extend the Prees Collateral Cut from Fenshall to the Chester Canal, near Tattenhall, provided the land-owners' consent could be obtained; and another branch from the Llanymynech Branch to Morda Bridge, under the same conditions. Mr. William Jessop and Mr. Dadford were appointed the engineers to carry into execution the necessary operations.

In the preamble of an act of the 36th George III. cap. 71, entitled, An Act to explain and amend an Act, passed in the Thirty-third Year of the Reign of his present Majesty, entitled, An Act for making and maintaining a navigable Canal from the River Severn, at Shrewsbury, in the county of Salop, to the River Mersey, at or near Netherpool, in the county of Chester; and also for making and maintaining certain collateral Cuts from the said intended Canal; and for varying and altering certain Parts of the Whitchurch Line of the said Canal and collateral Cuts, and for extending the same from Francton Common to Sherryman's Bridge, in the parish of Whitchurch, in the said county of Salop; and for making and maintaining several other Branches and collateral Cuts to communicate therewith, it is stated, that a part of the canal has been already executed, but that it would be more beneficial to the public, if the company were authorized to abandon the Whitchurch Line; and, instead of it, to make a branch from Francton to Sherryman's Bridge, near Whitchurch; and out of this last-mentioned line of canal at Whixall Moss, a collateral cut to Prees Higher Heath; also a short cut to Blackwater's Barn, near Ellesmere; which is accordingly granted.

By this act the Ellesmere Company were required, within two years, to apply for an act to effect a junction with the Chester Canal; and directions were therefore given to Mr. J. Fletcher,


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 as engineer to the Chester Canal Company, and Mr. J. Duncombe for the Ellesmere Canal Company, to examine the country between the Whitchurch Branch of the Ellesmere Canal and the Chester Canal at Stoke, and report upon the practicability of forming a junction; they did so; and their estimate for this purpose amounted to £36,478.

Eighteen days after the passing of the last-recited act, another received the royal assent, on the 14th May, 1796, entitled, An Act to explain and amend an Act, entitled, An Act to explain and amend an Act, passed in the Thirty-third Year of the Reign of his present Majesty, entitled, An Act for making and maintaining a navigable Canal from the River Severn, at Shrewsbury, in the county of Salop, to the River Mersey, at or near Netherpool, in the county of Chester; and also for making and maintaining certain collateral Cuts from the said intended Canal; andfor varying and altering certain Parts of the Course of the said Canal and collateral Cuts, between Ruabon and Chester, and for making and maintaining several other Branches and collateral Cuts, to communicate therewith, by which, power is given to vary the original line, and make a new branch from near Pont-y-Cysylte, in the parish of Ruabon, to the parish of St. Mary on the Hill, in the city of Chester, with a collateral cut from the same on Cefn Common, to near Acrefair Coal Works, in the county of Denbigh; and another from the same branch, in the township of Gwersyllt, to Talwern Coal Works, in the parish of Mold and county of Flint; and one other collateral branch from the Broad Oak in the township of Burton, into the township of Allington.

It is by this act that the canal company are bound to make good any deficiency which may arise in the amount of tolls payable to the Dee Navigation Company, by reason of the Ellesmere Canal being made, in case the annual amount be less than £235. The discrepancy between the amount here stated and what appears in the account of the Dee Navigation, (page [PNRC0199.htm#PNRC193 193],) arose in consequence of the Dee Company having neglected to take into consideration the toll for and in respect of coal, which on the average amounted to £25 annually.

The act of the 41st George III. is entitled, 'An Act to authorize the Company of Proprietors of the Ellesmere Canal, to extend


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 the said Canal from the Whitchurch Branch thereof, at or near certain Water Corn Mills, called the New Mills, in the parish of Whitchurch, in the county of Salop, to, and to communicate with, the Chester Canal, in the township of Stoke, in the parish of Acton, in the county of Chester, and for altering and amending the several Acts passed for making and maintaining the said Ellesmere Canal; and under authority of which, this extension of the Whitchurch Branch, which is now part of the main line, was carried into execution.

In the year following the passing of the last-recited act, application was again made to parliament, when another was obtained, entitled, An Act for repealing so much of an Act passed in the Thirty-third Year of his present Majesty, entitled, An Act for making and maintaining a navigable Canal from the River Severn, at Shrewsbury, in the county of Salop, to the River Mersey, at or near Netherpool, in the county of Chester; and also for making and maintaining certain collateral Cuts from the said intended Canal, as restrains the Company of Proprietors of the said Canal from taking Tonnage on Coals, Coke, Culm, Lime, or Limestone, upon any Part of the said Canal; and for authorizing the said Company of Proprietors to raise a Sum of Money to make up the Amount of their original Subscriptions, and for further amending the several Acts passed relative to the making of the said Canal; in the preamble of which it is stated, that as a considerable portion of the shares which had been apportioned to the landholders had not been taken, and that as the present stock of the company was only £333,000, instead of £400,000, the proprietors were desirous of raising the deficiency among themselves, without having recourse to the powers contained in the 33rd George III. for raising two several sums of £50,000, which the company are permitted to do by the admission of new subscribers; or they may raise it on promissory notes under the common seal.

The act of the 44th George III. was obtained chiefly for the purpose of enabling the company to make the Ruabon Brook Railway, and the feeders from the Dee, at Llantysilio, and Bala Pool, in Merionethshire; it is entitled, 'An Act to enable the Company of Proprietors of the Ellesmere Canal, to make a Railway from Ruabon Brook, to the Ellesmere Canal, at or near the


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 Aqueduct at Pont-y-Cysylte, in the parish of Llangollen, in the county of Denbigh; and also to make several Cuts or Feeders for better supplying the said Canal with Water; and by which the company are restrained from taking more water from the Dee, by the feeder, than they can replace from Bala Pool. On the 6th of April, 1810, the royal assent was given to another act, for the purpose of making a short branch to the town of Whitchurch; it is entitled, An Act to enable the Company of Proprietors of the Ellesmere Canal, to extend the Whitchurch Line of the said Canal from Sherryman's Bridge to Castle Well, in the town of Whitchurch, in the county of Salop; and for amending the several Acts for making the said Canal. This branch, (which is very short) and the basin and quays at its termination, were designed by Mr. Telford, whose estimate amounted to the sum of £2,284.

The act of the 53rd George III. was obtained for the purpose of uniting and consolidating the interests of the Ellesmere with the Chester Canal Company; it is therefore entitled, An Act for uniting the Interests and Concerns of the Proprietors of the Chester Canal and Ellesmere Canal; and for amending the several Acts of his present Majesty, relating to the said Canals, in the preamble of which, after reciting the several acts relating to the two navigations, and another act of the 47th George III. cap. 3, entitled, An Act for continuing the Term and altering and enlarging the Powers of an Act of the Twenty-sixth Year of his present Majesty, for amending the Road from Flookersbrook Bridge to the South End of Wilderspool Causeway, and from the town of Frodsham to Ashton Lane End, in the county of Chester, so far as respects the Chester District of the said Roads; and for extendding the same from the present Termination thereof at Flookersbrook Bridge aforesaid, to the North End of Cow Lane Bridge, in the city of Chester, and for making a new Road from such proposed Extension of the said Road, to the North End of Queen Street in the same city, the two canal companies are incorporated by the name of" The United Company of Proprietors of the Ellesmere and Chester Canals." By this act the proprietors of each share of the Chester Canal were, after the 30th of June in this year, admitted to one fourth of a share in the united navigation, making in the whole fifty of such shares.


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Declassified per Executive Order 13526, Section 3.3 NND Project Number: NND 63316. By: NWD Date: 2011 TOP SECRET – Sensitive IV.A.3.


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Declassified per Executive Order 13526, Section 3.3 NND Project Number: NND 63316. By: NWD Date: 2011 TOP SECRET – Sensitive  {|
 * -valign="top"
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 * Deptel 610 to Paris, 18 Aug 54 (S).
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 * NSC 5429/2, 20 Aug 54 (TS). JCS arguments against dealing with the DRV are contained in the NSC Records of Meetings 210 and 211 (8 and 12 Aug 54). Saigon Msgs 336, 27 Jul 54 (S), 518, 10 Aug 54. (Ambassador Heath also argued against dealing with Hanoi because it would lead the South Vietnamese to think the US planned accommodation with the communists).
 * -valign="top"
 * Paris Msg 2080, 15 Nov 54 (S)
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 * NIE 63-5-54
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 * State Department Report, "A U.S. Policy for Post–Armistice Indochina", 12 Aug 54 (S).
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 * Paris Msg 481, 4 Aug 54 (S)
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 * Deptel 1023 to Saigon, 14 Sep 54 (S). State Department Report, "A U.S. Policy for Post–Armistice Indochina"; 12 Aug 54. State Department Report, "Other Major Political Questions", 27 Aug 54. President Eisenhower states: "On August 11, I directed that aid to Indochina henceforth be given directly to the Associated states rather than France", in (Doubleday, 1963), p. 361.
 * -valign="top"
 * NSC 5429/2
 * -valign="top"
 * NIE 63-5-54
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 * Memorandum for Record, Meeting of General Valluy and Admiral Radford 3 Jun 54 (TS). Chief MAAG IC Msg 2062A to Department of the Army, 271130ZJul54 (S).
 * -valign="top"
 * JCS Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense, Subject: "U.S. Assumption of Training Responsibilities in Indochina", 4 Aug 54 (TS)
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 * Letter, Secretary of State Dulles to Secretary of Defense Wilson, 18 Aug 54 (TS)
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 * JCS Memorandum for the SecDef, Subject: "U.S. Assumption of Training Responsibilities in Indochina", 22 Sep 54 (TS). State feared France and Britain would object to the JCS conditions and were loath to disclose them; Cambodia seemed unwilling to antagonize France by accepting them. JCS insistence was firm, however, and the establishment of a MAAG in Cambodia was stalled for several months until views finally prevailed. The matter of a unilateral agreement itself was at least an indirect affront to France because the US apparently agreed to French demands for a joint training venture in Cambodia
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The act of the 7th and 8th George IV. entitled, An Act to amend and enlarge the Provisions of the several Acts relating to the Ellesmere and Chester Canal Navigations; after reciting the works executed in the several acts of parliament relating to this navigation, states, that the branch from Wardle Green to Middlewich, which the acts of the 12th and 17th George III. empowered the Chester Canal Company to make, has not been done; this act, therefore, enables the united company to execute this branch with some deviations from the original line; and to form a junction with a short branch of one hundred yards in length, which the Trent and Mersey or Grand Trunk Canal Company are required to make, by virtue of an act passed this session of parliament, from their canal at or near the Brick Kiln Field Bridge, or Brooks Lane Bridge, situate on the south side of the town of Middlewich. The deviation on this branch occurs near the Middlewich end, and is fifteen hundred and sixty yards in length, which does not materially alter the length of the line. The estimate for this deviation line was made by Messrs. Telford and W. A. Provis, and amounts to £14,009, 3s. 1d. The locks upon this branch are directed to be 77 feet in length, 8 feet 4 inches in width at the top, and 7 feet 1 inch at the level of the bottom sill, and the rise of each 10 feet 4 inches.

Although this act repeals all the previous acts relating to the united navigation, yet the original contracts remain in force, and the present committee are to be continued in the same way as though the acts had not been repealed.

There are clauses for the protection of Tilstone Mills, Darnhall Mills, Tattenhall Mills, Stoke Mills, and the mills belonging to Earl Kilmorey, in the county of Chester. The water of the River Perrey above Platt Mill, situate in the township of Ruytun of the Eleven Towns, and some other streams, are not to be taken.

Upon all the canals, branches, and railroads, belonging to the united company of the Ellesmere and Chester Canal, the following tonnage rates are allowed.


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In addition to the above Rates, the Company are empowered to charge the Sum of Two Shillings per Ton upon the Cargo of any Boat which shall not have passed along the Canal the Distance of Twelve Miles, but which shall have passed through any Lock or Locks (except on Lime, Limestone, or Coal.)

For the Purposes of this Act, One Hundred and Twenty Pounds Avoirdupois, of Coal, Coke, Culm, Lime, Freestone, and Lime-stone - and One Hundred and Twelve Pounds of any other Commodity shall be deemed a Hundred Weight.

If any Vessel pass through a Lock with less than Thirty Tons, to pay for that Amount at the highest Rates; unless such Vessel he returning after having passed with more than Thirty Tons, or unless the Water be running over the Waste Weirs of the Locks;-if there is not sufficient Water for Thirty Tons of Lading, then the Rates are to be paid upon the Quantity carried.

Empty Vessels, or such as have less than Eighteen Tons lading, passing the Locks which are only adapted for Vessels of Seven Feet Beam, and have not passed through a Foorteen Feet Lock, shall pay a Tonnage equal to the highest Rates on Eighteen Tons, unless such Boat be returning after having passed with more than Eighteen Tons, or unless the Water is running over the Waste Weirs of every Lock such Boat passes through.

Fractions to be taken as for a Mile and as for a Quarter of a Ton.

EXEMPTION.
Paving-stones, Gravel, Sand, and all other Materials for Roads, also Dung, Soil, Marl, and Ashes to he used as Manure for the Improvement only of the Lands and Grounds through which the Canals or Railway passes.

Lords of manors and owners of lands may erect Wharfs; but if they refuse, the company may do it, and charge the following

WHARFAGE RATES.
The above Rates to be paid if the Articles do not remain more than Twenty-four Hours on the Wharf. .

And the like Sum of Three Half-pence or Two-pence, respectively, per Ton, for every further Seven Days which such Articles shall remain on Wharf or in Warehouse after the Expiration of the first Seven Days.

For the purpose of carrying into execution the Middlewich Branch of this canal, (which is estimated to cost £68,837, 18s. 3d.) the company are authorized to borrow the sum of £80,000 of the Exchequer Bill Commissioners, upon mortgage, or assignment of the rates and duties; or they may borrow the same of other persons; or by creating new or additional shares; but not more than four hundred and twenty-five, so that the total number of shares in this navigation may not be more than four thousand.


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This act also declares, that unless new shares are created, the consolidated stock of this navigation shall consist of the sum of £475,568, 15s. divided into three thousand five hundred and seventy-five shares, and three quarters of a share of £133 each; and the management is to be under the direction of a committee of twenty-five persons, possessing at least five shares each; and a sub-committee of six for the management of the Wirral Branch of this navigation, extending from Chester to the Mersey.

A fund for repairs may be created to the extent of £20,000, after all debts are paid, by deducting not more than one tenth of the dividends in each year. For the purpose of preventing injury to the navigation of the River Dee, by abstracting water from this river into the collateral cut or feeder at Llantysilio, it is enacted, that the united company shall, from their canal, supply the River Dee, at Chester, with as much water as is taken from it by the feeder, and which shall not have been previously restored to the Dee.

Of the canals and collateral branches authorized to be made, by powers granted under the respective acts of parliament relating to this navigation, the following have not been executed, and as the acts are repealed, they cannot now be done. That part of the original main line from the basin at Chester to the aqueduct at Pont-y-Cysylte being twenty miles in length, with 455 feet of lockage; another portion between Weston Wharf and the Severn at Shrewsbury, which was nine miles and a half in length, with 107 feet of lockage; together with a proposed tunnel at Weston Lullingfield, of four hundred and eighty-seven yards in length. A branch to Holt, of four miles in length; another to the Talwern Collieries; another from Gresford to Allington; and another from Pont-y-Cysylte to the collieries at Acrefair; a branch of seven miles to Prees Heath; and a collateral cut from that part of the main line formerly called the Llanymynech Branch, to the Montgomeryshire Canal, at Portywain Lime Works; and another to Morda Bridge, near Oswestry.

The objects contemplated by the proprietors of these navigations, in their recent application to parliament, are chiefly to enable them to establish a carrying trade from the port of Elles mere, on the banks of the River Mersey, across that river to the


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 different towns and navigations with which it communicates, and to construct a reservoir of about twenty-four acres near the Hurlestone Locks, between the canal and the turnpike-road leading from Chester to Nantwich, for the purpose of catching the surplus water of the Upper Pound Locks, and supplying the Lower Locks in time of scarcity. They had further intended to make a short extension of their canal of a mile in length, from Pont-y-Cysylte Basin to the road leading to Plas-Kynaston Hall, in the county of Denbigh; this, however, they ultimately abandoned, and their act is in consequence entitled, An Act to enable the united Company of Proprietors of the Ellesmere and Chester Canals to make a Reservoir, and to establish Vessels for the conveyance of Goods from Ellesmere Port across the River Mersey; and-also to amend and enlarge the Powers of the said Act relating to the said Canal.

The estimate for the several works contemplated, including £4,000 for the cut subsequently abandoned, was made by Mr. Thomas Stanton, amounting to £55,200, of which, the reservoir was calculated to cost £31,200; and for purchase of proper vessels for the carrying trade, an additional sum of £20,000 would be required; the company are, therefore, empowered to raise for these purposes, and for completing their branch canal from Wardle Green to Middlewich, a further sum of £70,000, by all or any of the means by which the said company are authorized to collect any sum of money by virtue of the preceding acts.

This act also enables the united proprietors to purchase Dee Mills, in the city of Chester, for the purpose of avoiding any dispute which might arise respecting the use of the water of the River Dee, which supplies both the canal and mills.

For the carriage of goods and merchandize across the Mersey, the company are empowered to collect the following

TONNAGE RATES.
Fractions to be taken as for a Quarter of a Ton.


text:
Author talk:C. Morfit

Possibly "campbell morfit 1820-1897"
 * Possible. See Campbell Morfit for more information.  American chemist during the appropriate period but not enough to confirm at the moment. - AdamBMorgan (talk) 02:46, 27 January 2013 (UTC)

title: Author talk:C. Morfit


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On some parts of this navigation some astonishing works have been constructed, but the limits to which our work is prescribed, precludes the possibility of enumerating them; however we must not omit to notice the well known aqueduct over the Dee at Pont-y-Cysylte. This stupendous work is carried over the river, at an elevation of 125 feet above its bed, on nineteen pairs of stone pillars, 52 feet asunder. The trough through which the vessels pass is 320 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 6 feet deep, and it is entirely composed of cast iron plates. There is also another very large aqueduct over the River Ceiriog, which is built of stone; it is two hundred yards in length, and is supported on ten arches, at an elevation of 65 feet above the river.

This navigation, from the immediate connection it has with the Rivers Mersey and Dee, and with the Montgomeryshire Canal, and the communication it has, by means of collateral cuts and the Ruabon Branch Railway, with the mineral districts to which they severally extend, and the fertile agricultural parts of North Salop and the county palatine of Chester, through which it winds its way, is of first rate importance; and it will doubtless increase in value when the desirable junction with the Grand Trunk Canal has been effected.

ENGLISH AND BRISTOL CHANNELS SHIP CANAL.
6 George IV. Cap. 199, Royal Assent 6th July, 1825.

THE parliamentary line of this intended ship canal, commences in the English Channel at Beer Roads, Seaton Bay, whence it takes a north-eastwardly course, skirting the shore, to the village of Seaton; thence, running parallel with the Axe River, to Colyford, where it crosses the River Coly, a mile south of the town of Colyton; thence continuing in the vale of the Axe, by Whitford, to the River Yarty, which it crosses by an aqueduct; thence half a mile west of the town of Axminster, and across the Little River Kilbridge to Hurtham, where it quits the valley and proceeds northwards a mile east of Chard, to its summit level. Hence its course is over a flat and uninteresting country for the space of


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 twelve miles and a half, without a lock; thence it passes Thorpe Falcon, and across the navigable River Tone by an aqueduct, about five miles east of Taunton. The line from the Tone runs parallel, for some miles, with the intended Bridgewater and Taunton Canal, and along the line of a part of it by St. Michael's and Huntworth, to the town of Bridgewater, which it passes on its west side, and thence north-westwardly by Wembdon, to the River Parrett, along the shore of which it continues to Combwich, where it leaves the river, and running direct to Stolford, locks down into Bridgewater Bay, in the Bristol Channel.

The canal will be forty-four miles and five furlongs in length; in the first eleven miles and three quarters, from Seaton Bay, it rises 245 feet, by twenty-nine locks, from low water in the English Channel; thence for twelve miles and a half it is level; and for the remaining twenty miles and three furlongs there is a fall of 267 feet 7 inches, by twenty-nine locks, to low water in the Bristol Channel. By the section here described, it would seem as though the levels had been mis-stated by us, or that an error had been committed in taking them; but the apparent discrepancy is to be accounted for by the different rise of the tides in the two channels. At Bridgewater Bay in the Bristol Channel, the ordinary spring tides are 36 feet 6 inches, and the high spring tides rise 40 feet; while in Seaton Bay, in the English Channel, the ordinary spring tides are but 12 feet, and the high spring tides seldom exceed 15 feet 6 inches, so that the latter in the Bristol Channel are higher by 2 feet than in the English Channel; whilst the low water line is 22 feet 7 inches below it.

This canal is to be made 15 feet deep, 90 feet wide, and capable of being navigated by ships of two hundred tons register. It is to be supplied with water from reservoirs; viz, one in the Axe Valley, near Seaborough, Covering a surface of two hundred and seventeen acres and three roods; and another in the same valley, in the parish of Winshem. The third is at the upper end of the valley of the Yarty, near Hilhaven Bridge, in the parishes of Yarcombe and Membury; and the other at Ridge, on the Kilbridge River, in the parish of Chardstock, in the county of Dorset. The Hilhaven Bridge Reservoir is to be to the extent of one hundred and five acres, and that at Ridge sixteen and a half.


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 Between the two last-mentioned reservoirs there is a cut of communication six miles and a half in length; and from the Ridge Reservoir to the canal, the feeder is three miles and a half.

The feeder from the Seaborough Reservoir follows the north bank of the Axe by Ford Abbey, thence it turns northward, and enters the canal near Chard, being eight miles and a half in length. Mr. Telford's estimate for this magnificent undertaking was made in 1824, and amounted to the sum of £1,712,844.

The act for carrying this great work into execution, was obtained in 1825. It is entitled, An Act for making and maintaining a Canal for Ships and other Vessels, to commence at or near Seaton Bay, in the county of Devon, and terminating in the Bristol Channel, at or near Stolford or Bridgewater Bay, in the county of Somerset, with several collateral Branches to communicate therewith. The subscribers, consisting of two hundred and seventy-one persons, (amongst whom were the Earl of Cork and Orrery, the Dean of York, and Major-General Sir James Kempt,) were incorporated by the name of "The Company of Proprietors of the English and Bristol Channels Ship Canal," with power to contribute among themselves the sum of £1,750,000, in seventeen thousand five hundred shares of £100 each, the whole of which is to be subscribed before the work is commenced. The company may also borrow the further sum of £750,000 on mortgage of the rates, or by granting annuities, or on promissory notes under the common seal. In obtaining supplies of lockage water for this canal, the company are prohibited from taking any from the Rivers Parrett or Tone, or any streams which flow into them; they are also restricted from taking any but the flood waters arising on the Rivers Axe and Yarty, and Wambrook. In this act is recited a very important agreement, bearing date 28th March, 1825, between this company and the Bridgewater and Taunton Navigation Company, by which the former company agree to give the latter, for their interest in the new canal, between Bridgewater and Taunton, together with the machines and materials used in carrying on the work, the sum of £90,000, together with the sum of £7,307, 1s. 10d. owing to the Bridgewater and Taunton Canal Company, by virtue of the purchases made from the proprietors of shares in the debt due on the River Tone.


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The Bridgewater and Taunton Canal Company are to continue their works, but the expenses are to be reimbursed by the English and Bristol Channels Ship Canal Company. The purchase money to be paid by three equal instalments; the last of which is to be paid at the end of nine months from the passing of the above-recited act, or within three months afterwards; in default of which, the agreement to be void. And, in case it is paid, the monies are to be applied to carrying into execution what remains to be executed of the Bridgewater and Taunton Canal; and after the residue, if any, is distributed among the shareholders, they are to be dissolved, and be no longer a corporate body; and are henceforward released from all obligation to maintain the said canal, which is by this act transferred to the English and Bristol Channels Ship Canal Company.

TONNAGE RATES.
Fractions to be taken as for a Quarter of a Mile, and as for a Quarter of a Ton.

For the Purposes of this Act Forty Cubic Feet of Oak, Ash, Elm, Beech. Larch, Mahogany, and other heavy Timber or Wood; and Fifty Cubic Feet of Pine, Fir, Deal, Poplar, and other light Wood; and Forty Cubic Feet of Goods which shall not weigh Twenty Hundred Weight, of One Hundred and Twelve Pounds each, shall be deemed a Ton.

If any Vessel pass along this Canal for any less Distance than Ten Miles, and shall pass through any Lock, shall pay, in Addition to the above Rates, One Penny per Ton upon One Hundred and Fifty Tons at the least, upon passing the first Lock upon the Canal, and One-half of such Amount at every succeeding Lock.

For every Vessel, whether Laden, Unladen, or in Ballast, passing the Tide Locks at either Extremity, and which shall not have passed the whole Length of the Canal, there shall be paid Two-pence per Ton upon the Registered Tonnage of such Ship; and in no case shall less be paid than for One Hundred and Fifty Tons.

For Vessels Unladen or in Ballast, (except such as are used for Agricultural Purposes,) which shall navigate a Distance of Ten Miles or upwards, One Penny per Ton per Mile, as upon One Hundred and Fifty Tons at the least; if less than Ten Miles, and shall pass any Lock, (except the Tide Locks,) One Penny per Ton per Mile; and also a Rate of One Penny per Ton for passing such Lock, upon One Hundred and Fifty Tons at the least, and One-half of such Amount for every succeeding Lock.

As the canal company intend to construct harbours, or ports, with piers, jetties, lights, and other works at the two extremities of the navigation, it is enacted, that they shall be entitled to the following harbour dues, to be paid by all ships or other vessels which may use the said harbours, &c. without navigating the said canal.


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HARBOUR DUES.
From the last-mentioned Rate all Vessels in his Majesty's Service are exempt.

TOWING PATH RATE.
Such Toll to be taken but once a Day.

Vessels (not being a Ship or Sea Vessel,) laden with Hay, Straw, or Corn in the Straw, or with any Material for the repair of Roads, or with any Kind of Manure, shall not pass through any Lock; but upon Payment of One Penny per Ton as upon One Hundred Tons at the first Lock they shall pass, and Half the Amount at every succeeding Lock. As many Barges as the Lock will receive, are to pass upon Payment together of the Rates above-mentioned.

Lords of manors, or land-owners, may make or erect wharfs or warehouses; but if they refuse, the company may do it, and charge the following rates.

WHARFAGE RATES.
There are many clauses in this act relating to private property, but more especially with regard to estates belonging to Lord Sidmouth, Sir William Oglander, Bart. and William Manning, Esq. situate where the reservoirs are intended to be made, by which the company are required to purchase the whole of these several estates, if any portion is taken under the authority of this act.

The chief object and advantages to be derived from the execution of this ship canal, is the shortening and rendering more certain and expeditious the passage of all vessels trading from the Bristol Channel, the ports of Ireland, and the western ports of England, to the English Channel. Indeed, if we take into consideration the danger and difficulty, at all times, of the navigation round the Land's End, and the detention, frequently amounting to six weeks, arising from the prevalence of south-westerly winds, the importance of having a passage in the line above described, cannot but be seen by every one who will for a moment consult the accompanying map. The distance saved, by means of this


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 canal, between Bridgewater Bay or the ports eastward of it, and any ports eastward of Beer Harbour, is upwards of two hundred and twenty miles.

In addition to the great advantage which must necessarily accrue to the shipping interest, the prospects held out to the speculator in this work, are sufficient to tempt the cupidity of the most sceptical, if reliance may be placed in the accuracy of the data from whence the projectors have derived the probable sources of revenue. In a prospectus, published by the committee on this navigation, it is stated, that the clear annual income applicable to a dividend among the proprietors, is calculated, by very low estimates, to amount to twelve per cent, or £210,846, 12s. 4d. But the reader must bear in mind that the latter end of 1824 was a time of high expectations. When this article was drawn up (1830) the work had not commenced.

EREWASH CANAL.
17 George III. Cap. 69, Royal Assent 30th April, 1777.

THE Erewash Canal commences in the River Trent, about a mile east of the village of Sawley, and nearly opposite the Soar River, or Loughborough Navigation; whence it takes a northerly course on the east side of Long Eaton, a mile and a half beyond which the Derby Canal Branch locks down into it. From this junction it runs parallel with and on the west side of the River Erewash, by Sandiacre, and across Nutbrook, by an aqueduct, at which place it is also joined by the Nutbrook Canal, about a mile and a half north of the last-mentioned village; hence it continues its course up the Erewash Vale, by Ilkeston and the Cotman Hay Collieries, to Newmanleys Mill, where it crosses the river into Nottinghamshire, and at about a mile beyond, it terminates in the Cromford Canal, near Langley Bridge. It is in length eleven miles and three quarters, viz, from the Trent to the Derby Canal, three miles and a quarter; from thence to the Nutbrook Canal, two miles and a half; and from thence to the Cromford Canal, Six miles, to which there is a total rise, from the Trent, of nearly 109 feet. The canal was made under the authority of an act of


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 the 17th George III. which is entitled, An Act for making and maintaining a navigable Cut or Canal from the River Trent, in the lordships of Sawley and Long Eaton, in the county of Derby, to or near Langley Bridge, in the counties of Derby and Nottingham. The proprietors, at the time the act was obtained, consisted of seventy-four persons, (amongst whom was the Duke of Rutland,) who were incorporated by the name of "The Company of Proprietors of the Erewash Canal, in the counties of Derby and Nottingham," with power to raise among themselves the sum of £15,400, in one hundred and fifty-four shares of £100 each; and a further sum of £7,700, if necessary, either among themselves, or by the admission of new subscribers, or they may borrow the same on assignment of the rates as a security.

TONNAGE RATES.
And so in Proportion for any greater or less Weight than a Ton.

One Hundred and Twenty Pounds Avoirdupois to be deemed a Hundred Weight.

Lords of manors or owners of lands may make wharfs or erect warehouses, and may charge the following rates.

WHARFAGE RATES.
In the Act of the 33rd George III. cap. 102, for making the Derby Canal, a Clause is introduced, whereby the Erewash Canal Company have agreed, in consideration of the Advantages they will derive from a Connection with the Derby Canal, to reduce the Rates upon all Coal or Coke navigated on the Erewash, and passing thence into the Derby Canal, to Five-pence per Ton.

And upon Lime, and all other Articles navigated on the Erewash, and afterwards on the Derby Canal, One-half only of the Rates they were previously entitled to.

The original Rates are however to be collected in case any other Canal or Railway be made between Derby and the Erewash.


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By the 34th George III. cap. 95, for improving the Trent Navigation, it is enacted, that the Annual Rent of £5, paid by the Erewash Canal Company, shall cease, and in Lieu of it, every Boat laden, and crossing the River between the Loughborough Navigation and the Erewash Canal, shall pay Sixpence.

This canal was designed and executed chiefly by the owners of the extensive collieries and other mines situate on its line and at its northern extremity, with a view of obtaining a more certain mode of transporting their heavy produce to distant markets; but it has, subsequently, by its connection with the Derby, Cromford and Nottingham Canals, and by the great improvements which have taken place in the Trent Navigation, become a part of the line of communication for general commercial purposes; and when the Cromford and Peak Forest Railway is completed, it will derive some additional revenue incident to a position on the line of communication between London and the northern manufacturing districts.

EXE RIVER AND EXETER CANAL.
31 Henry VIII Cap. 4, Royal Assent - - - - 1539.

10 Geo. IV. Cap. 47, Royal Assent 14th May, 1829.

THIS river has its source on Exmoor, at the westwardly termination of the Dunkerry Hills, in the county of Somerset, whence it pursues a south-eastwardly course, to within a mile of the town of Dulverton, and by Pixton Park, the seat of the Earl of Caernarvon, near which place it enters Devonshire. Its course, hence, is by Stuckbridge to Tiverton, to which place a branch of the intended Grand Western Canal extends; it then follows a southerly course, by Thorverton and Pynes, to the city of Exeter, near which place it is joined by the Creedy. From Exeter, the ancient course of the river is by Countess Wear Bridge, to the town of Topsham, where the river navigation commences. From the last-mentioned town to the sea, (into which it falls at Exmouth,) it is a considerable estuary, being in some places a mile and a half in width; and its length, by the low water channel, is nearly eight miles.

From the west side of the river, a little above the town of Topsham, a canal, above three miles in length, and running


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 parallel with the river, was made by the corporation of Exeter, to that city, so early as the reign of Henry VIII. under powers of an act granted in the thirty-first year of that reign, entitled, An Act concerning the amending of the River and Port of Exeter, but as this work was but very imperfectly constructed, and subject to the ebb and flow of the tide, which, at its entrance, rises 13 feet at the springs, the mayor, bailiffs and commonalty stopped up the entrance of this old canal, at the lower sluice, and extended it lower down, into a deeper part of the tideway, to a place called The Turf; considerable sums had been borrowed for carrying these works into execution and improving the old cut, and as more money was required for the purpose of completing the same and the additional works contemplated, an act was obtained during the last session, to enable the corporation to borrow a competent sum, on mortgage of the undertaking, or by granting annuities on lives, or by tontine.

This act is entitled, An Act for altering, extending, and improving the Exeter Canal; and when all is done which the act authorizes, the canal will be, by the extension from the old lower sluice to the esfuary of the Exe, (two miles lower down,) five miles in length, with a basin and entrance tide lock at The Turf, and another commodious basin near the King's Arms Sluice, in the city, where there is a public wharf 500 feet in length. Another entrance into this canal, with a lock, will also be placed above the old sluice, near the town of Topsham, to facilitate the communication between that town and Exeter. The depth of the canal will be 15 feet. Within a mile and a half from Exeter, there is a double lock, with a fall of 6 feet; and at The Turf, a tide lock, with a fall of 4 feet to high water, spring tides, which here rise 14 feet. Mr. James Green projected these improvements in 1829, and estimated the cost at £10,000, the whole of which sum is to be advanced by the corporation of Exeter.


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In ascertaining the admeasurement of ships entering this port, the party whose duty it is, shall be guided by the directions contained in an act of the 6th of George IV. cap. 110, entitled,  'An Act for the Registering of British Vessels.'

This act is not to prejudice the right which Edward and Robert Trood, as proprietors and occupiers of Matford Limekilns, have heretofore exercised, of passing along the canal to and from the lower sluice and the above works, at all times, free of toll; nor is it to affect the persons who have hitherto enjoyed, (in right of their estates,) the privilege of landing articles for their private use; nor any rights, privileges, tolls, petty customs, duties, powers, or authorities of the mayor, bailiff, and commonalty of the city of Exeter, or any of their accustomed rights and privileges.

In addition to the duties before-mentioned, the following tonnage rates are payable for wares and merchandize, &c.


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SCHEDULE OR TABLE OF TOLLS CONTINUED.
All Goods not herein specified to pay Two Shillings and Sixpence per Ton of Twenty Hundred Weight, or Measurement of Forty solid Feet. All empty Packages to pay One Penny each. No single Package, full or empty, to pay less than Two-pence.

It is to be understood, that the payment of the above tolls does not free the owners of vessels from the petty customs and town dues payable to the corporation, in respect of all goods entering the port of Exeter.

Some idea may be formed of the traffic on this navigation, by stating, that in the year 1824, sixty-nine British and five Foreign vessels entered the port of Exeter.

It may here be remarked, that several attempts have been made to extend the navigation from Exeter; one in 1769,, when Mr. John Brindley designed a canal to commence at that city, thence by the towns of Tiverton, Wellington, Taunton, and Glastonbury, to the Bristol Channel at Uphill Bay. It was to be called the Exeter and Uphill Canal; but the act was never obtained.

Another attempt was made by a company of twenty-two persons (amongst whom was Sir Lawrence Palk, Bart) to form a navigation from the Exeter Canal to the town of Crediton, by widening and deepening the Rivers Exe and Creedy, and making cuts for the purpose of passing the mill weirs, &c.; an act was obtained for this purpose on the 20th June, 1801, entitled, An Act for improving and extending the Navigation of the River Exe, from the public Quay at Exeter, to the public Road adjoining Four Mills, near Crediton, in the county of Devon, by making a navigable Canal or Cuts, and deepening and widening such Parts of the Rivers Exe and Credy, as shall be necessary for that Purpose. The subscribers were incorporated by the


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Declassified per Executive Order 13526, Section 3.3 NND Project Number: NND 63316. By: NWD Date: 2011 TOP SECRET – Sensitive  {|
 * -valign="top"
 * during the Washington Conference of late September 1954. The agreement was loosely worded; U.S. and French interpretations differed — but the U.S. Version prevailed. Chief of Naval Operations Memorandum for Record, "U.S.–French Talks Regarding Indochina," 27 Sep 54, 10 Oct 54 (TS); State Msg 99 to Phnom Penh, 13 Oct 54 (TS); State Msg 2213 to Saigon, 1 Dec 54 (S).
 * -valign="top"
 * In a study of June 1951, the JCS had estimated that some 2250 advisors would be required to train the Vietnamese military forces. MAAG Indochina was limited to 342 men.
 * -valign="top"
 * JCS Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense, Subject: "Development and Retention of Forces in Indochina", 22 Sep 54 (TS).
 * -valign="top"
 * Letter, Secretary of State to Secretary of Defense, 11 Oct 54 (TS).
 * -valign="top"
 * JCS Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense, Subject "Development and Training of Indigenous Forces in Indochina", 19 Oct 54 (TS).
 * -valign="top"
 * Record of Action, 218th Meeting, 22 Oct 54 (TS); Deptel 1679 to Saigon, 22 Oct 54 (S).
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 * NSC Action 1250; cited in Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense from H. Streuve Hensel (AD/ISA), Subject: "Development of Indigenous Forces in Indochina", 30 Oct 54 (TS).
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 * JCS Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense, Subject: "Development of Indigenous Forces in Indochina", 17 Nov 54 (TS).
 * -valign="top"
 * Memorandum for the President from Dulles; Subject: "General Collins' Recommendations Regarding Military Force Levels in Vietnam", 17 Nov 54 (TS).
 * -valign="top"
 * NIE 63-5-54
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 * Saigon Msgs 971, 11 Sep 54 (TS); 1036, 16 Sep 54 (TS); 1076, 17 Sep 54 (TS); 1204, 24 Sep 54 (TS); 933, 9 Sep 54 (S): 953, 954, 10 Sep 54 (S).
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 * Saigon Msgs 1330, 5 Oct 54 (S); 1382, 8 Oct 54 (S); 1397, 10 Oct 54 (S); 1434, 13 Oct 54 (S); 1487, 18 Oct 54 (S); 1493, 19 Oct 54 (S).
 * -valign="top"
 * Report of the Saigon Military Mission (SMM), 1954–1955 (S).
 * -valign="top"
 * Paris Msgs 1927, 5 Nov 54 (S); 2036, 12 Nov 54 (S); 2211, 25 Nov 54 (S); 2240, 28 Nov 54 (S); 2272, 30 Nov 54 (C); 2290, 1 Dec 54 (C); Saigon Msg 1807, 12 Nov 54 (S).
 * -valign="top"
 * Saigon Msgs 1036, 16 Sep 54 (TS); 1204, 24 Sep 54 (TS).
 * -valign="top"
 * Saigon Msg 794, 29 Aug 54 (S).
 * -valign="top"
 * Saigon Msgs 1150, 1154, 21 Sep 54 (TS); 1162, 22 Sep 54 (TS); 1185,
 * } Rh
 * } Rh


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 name of "The Company of Proprietors of the Exeter and Crediton Navigation," with power to raise £21,400, in two hundred and fourteen shares of £100 each, and an additional sum of £10,700, if necessary.

At the two extremities of this proposed navigation, basins were to be made, with the necessary accommodation of warehouses, wharfs, weighing beams, cranes, &c. Very heavy rates were allowed by this act, viz. for timber, 1s. per ton per mile, and all other articles, except manure and lime for manure, 6d. per ton per mile. An additional rate of 2d. per ton was also to be paid for entering any basin belonging to this navigation.

Notwithstanding these demonstrations, and the encouragement given by the legislature to the projectors by this favourable act, no further steps appear to have been taken for carrying its powers into execution; nor is there now much prospect of it.

FAL OR VALE RIVER.
30 Charles II. Cap. 11, Royal Assent 15th July, 1678.

THIS river has its source on the high grounds three miles east of the town of St. Columb Major, in Cornwall, whence it flows southwardly by the stream works on Tregoss Moor, and by other tin mines, to Grampound; thence through Golden Vale, and by Tregony to Trewarthenick, where it becomes of considerable width; and, after winding through the extensive woods and plantations belonging to Tregothnan, the elegant seat of the Earl of Falmouth, it opens into a considerable estuary, sometimes called the Mopus, which conducts through Garreg Roads to Falmouth Harbour, and thence into the sea at Falmouth Bay.

This is a tideway river; and an act was obtained in the reign of Charles the Second to improve it; but, in consequence of Tregony declining in the exact ratio with the growing importance of Truro, (which may be said to he the capital of Cornwall,) this navigation seems now to be of little consequence. The act is entitled, An Act for making navigable the River Fale or Vale, in the county of Cornwall.


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Truro is one of the principal markets for the sale of the produce of the Cornish Mines; and, from its being situate on a navigable branch of the Fal, called the River Mopus, and about eleven miles north from Falmouth, it possesses all the advantages required for the shipment of the vast quantity of copper and other valuable ores, which this rich mineral district continues to produce.

Falmouth, situate at the mouth of this river, is a sea-port, into which, in 1824, twenty-nine British and eight Foreign vessels entered. It possesses an excellent harbour; and a fine and spacious roadstead; but it derives its chief importance from being the regular station of the packet boats, which carry Foreign mails into all parts of the world.

FORTH RIVER.
THIS noble river has its source about two miles north of Ben Lomond, (that celebrated mountain in Scotland, which rears its giant form 3,262 feet above the level of the sea,) and proceeds south-easterly, passing the Clachan of Aberfoil by a very serpentine course, through a comparatively level district, (which in Scotland is denominated Carse Lands,) to a short distance above Stirling, where it is joined by the River Teth, which flows from the Lochs Catrine, Achray, Venacher, and others situate in the wild district of the Grampians.

About midway between the above junction and Stirling, it is joined by the River Allan. From Stirling the windings of the river are singularly intricate; and, in its meanderings to Alloa, (which is but six miles in a straight line,) it takes such strange peninsulating sweeps, that its course measures nearly twenty miles. However beautiful this part may appear, it is exceedingly troublesome to the navigator; for, though vessels of from sixty to seventy tons burthen have sufficient water to Stirling, yet if they trusted to sails alone, they would require wind from every point of the compass to bring them to their destination, and that more than once; on which account, this part of the river is little used as a navigation.


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About three miles west of Alloa, the navigable River Devon falls into the Forth; but between it and the town above-mentioned, a stratum of rock occupies the bed of the river, which constitutes a kind of bar, over which vessels of more than seventy tons seldom venture. This place is a little above the largest island in the river, and is designated the Thrask Shallows. From the Devon, the Forth gradually opens into an estuary, which, opposite the mouth of the Carron, is two miles in width; and a few miles further down, between Borrowstounness and Culross, it is full three miles; but again contracts to little more than one mile a short distance below Queen's Ferry. At Leith, which is seven miles and a half below the last-mentioned place, it is nearly six miles in width; and between Preston Pans and Kirkaldy, it is above twelve miles.

The length of this magnificent river and estuary, from Stirling to the Isle of May, where it may be said to enter the German Ocean, is about seventy English miles, viz. from Stirling to opposite the River Carron and Forth and Clyde Canal, twenty-four miles; thence to Leith twenty miles; and to the Isle of May it is twenty-six miles. Within the limits above described are five ports, viz. Leith, Alloa, Anstruther, Grangemouth and Preston Pans.

The tide flows up this river to Craigforth Mill, a short distance beyond Stirling; and at Cambus Quay, at the mouth of the Devon, (though above fifty miles from the sea,) it is frequently known to rise 20 feet at spring tides. Several attempts have been made to improve the navigation beyond Alloa; and in particular by Messrs. Watt and Morrison, in 1767. These gentlemen proposed to extend the navigation from Stirling to the lime and slate quarries at Aberfoil, and, by four cuts, to shorten the course from Stirling to Alloa seven miles. Mr. Smeaton's opinion was taken on these proposed improvements, and also as to the removal or avoiding the Thrask Shallows; and though all was proved quite practicable, they have been suffered, either from the want of spirit in the parties most interested, or from one cause or other, to remain in statu quo, with all their imperfections.

The River Forth is a free navigation; the only tolls paid on it being for the use, and towards the support of several ferries, for which an act was obtained in the 32nd of George III. cap. 93,


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 entitled, An Act for improving the Communication between the county of Edinburgh and the county of Fife, by the Passages or Ferries across the Firth of Forth, between Leith and Newhaven, in the county of Edinburgh, and Kinghorn and Bruntisland, in the county of Fife; and for rendering the Harbours and Landing Places more commodious.

It appears, by an act made in the parliament of Scotland in 1669, entitled, Act for repairing Highways and Bridges, and another in 1686, entitled, Additional Act anent Highways and Bridges, that justices of the peace, assisted by the commissioners of supply in the several shires, are empowered to manage and regulate the ferries of the Forth.

By the act of 32nd George III. above-recited, additional powers are granted for maintaining the ferries between Kinghorn and Newhaven, and Bruntisland and Leith and Newhaven, and the following tolls and duties are payable.

FERRY TOLLS.
These Duties are over and above what is paid to the Skipper or Boats Crew.

The trustees for the management of these ferries may borrow £3,000 on the credit of the duties; of which £600 was to be spent in improving the basin at Kinghorn, otherwise Pettycur; and an equal sum in improving the communication to this harbour from the east; £900 in building an inn at Pettycur, (of which £600 is to be repaid by the burgh of Kinghorn;) £50 towards keeping a light at Pettycur Harbour, and the like sum for another at Bruntisland; £500 in improving the communication between the turnpike road and the harbour of Bruntisland; and £1,000 in erecting a pier and landing at Newhaven.

On the River Forth a very extensive general trade is constantly maintained; for, independently of the vast quantity of merchandize


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 which must necessarily pass along it, to supply the richest and most populous parts of Scotland, it has, by means of the Forth and Clyde Canal, a communication with the extensive manufacturing districts around Glasgow and Paisley, and with the western parts of England and Scotland, and with Ireland. On its banks are eighteen market towns; and it washes the shores of eight of its counties.

Leith being the port of Edinburgh, and the principal rendezvous for shipping, considerable cost has been incurred in rendering the harbour proportionably commodious. In 1777 a new quay was constructed on the north side of the harbour. In 1806 a beautiful basin, 750 feet in length, and 300 in breadth, was opened, capable of containing forty ships of two hundred tons burthen. A second was finished in 1817; and these, together with three graving docks, occupy a site of eight acres, and have cost £250,000. Ships of very large burthen cannot enter this port; there being but 16 feet at spring tides, and 9 only at neaps.

A tolerable estimate of the extent of the trade which is carried on at this port, may be formed from parliamentary documents, by which it appears that custom duties were paid, in the year 1824, upon two hundred and twenty-two British, and one hundred and forty-six Foreign ships.

FORTH AND CLYDE CANAL.
8 Geo. III. C. 63, R. A. 8th Mar. 1768.

11 Geo. III. C. 62, R. A. 8th Mar. 1771.

13 Geo. III. C. 104, R. A. 10th May, 1773.

24 Geo. III. C. 59, R. A. 19th Aug. 1784.

27 Geo. III. C. 20, R. A. 21st May, 1787.

27 Geo. III. C. 55, R. A. 28th May, 1787.

30 Geo. III. C. 73, R. A. 9th June, 1790.

39 Geo. III. C. 71, R. A. 12th July, 1799.

46 Geo. III. C. 120, R. A. 12th July, 1806.

54 Geo. III. C. 195, R. A. 14th July, 1814.

1 Geo. IV. C. 48, R. A. 8th July, 1820.

THIS magnificent canal commences in the River Forth, in Grangemouth Harbour, and near to where the Carron empties itself into that river. Its course is parallel with the Carron, and in nearly a westwardly direction, passing to the north of the town of Falkirk, and thence to Red Bridge, where it quits the county of Stirling, and enters a detached portion of the shire of Dumbarton. Hence it passes to the south of Kilsyth, and runs along the south bank of the River Kelvin, and over the Logie Water, by a


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 fine stone aqueduct, at Kirkintilloch; it then approaches within little more than two miles of the north-west quarter of the city of Glasgow, to which there is a branch communicating with the Monkland Canal at Port Dundas, near that city. The remaining part of the line is in a westwardly direction, crossing the Kelvin River by a noble aqueduct, and thence to the Clyde, into which, after running parallel with it for some distance, it locks down at Bowling's Bay, near Dalmuir Burnfoot.

The canal is thirty-five miles in length, viz, from Grangemouth to the east end of the summit pool, is ten miles and three quarters, with a rise, from low water in the Forth, of 155 feet, by twenty locks. The summit level is sixteen miles in length, and in the remainder of its course, there is a fall to low water, in the Clyde, at Bowling's Bay, of 156 feet, by nineteen locks.

The branch to the Monkland Canal at Glasgow is two miles and three quarters; and there is another cut into the Carron River, at Carron Shore, in order to communicate with the Carron Iron Works.

Though this canal was originally constructed for vessels drawing 7 feet, yet by recent improvements, sea-borne craft of 10 feet draught may now pass through it, from the Irish Sea to the German Ocean. The locks are 74 feet long and 20 wide; and upon its course are thirty-three draw-bridges, ten large aqueducts and thirty-three smaller ones; that over the Kelvin being 429 feet long and 65 feet above the surface of the stream. It is supplied with water from reservoirs; one of which, at Kilmananmuir, is seventy acres, and 22 feet deep at the sluice; and that at Kilsyth is fifty acres in extent, with 24 feet. water at its head.

The first act of parliament relating to this canal, received the royal assent on the 8th of March, 1768, and it is entitled, An Act for making and maintaining a navigable Canal from the Firth or River of Forth, at or near the mouth of the River Carron, in the county of Stirling, to the Firth or River of Clyde, at or near a place called Dalmuir Burnfoot, in the county of Dumbarton; and also a collateral Cut from the same to the city of Glasgow; and for making a navigable Cut or Canal of Communication from the Port or Harbour of Borrowstounness, to join the said Canal at or near the place where it will fall into the Firth of Forth.


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The subscribers were incorporated by the name of "The Company of Proprietors of the Forth and Clyde Navigation," with power to raise among themselves the sum of £150,000, in fifteen hundred shares of £100 each, and an additional sum of £50,000, if necessary.

Although it was not until after the passing of the above act that this great work was commenced, yet the project of forming a communication between the eastern and western seas had been agitated a long time previous; and, even as early as the reign of Charles the Second, the design was thought to be one of so much utility, that that monarch took measures for cutting a canal, through which, not only ordinary vessels, but also small ships of war might pass between sea and sea, without the danger of coasting.

The estimated cost of this early project was £500,000; but a variety of circumstances, and particularly the difficulty of raising such a sum, caused the prosecution of the design to be neglected, and no further steps were taken till 1723. In that year a survey and estimate were made by Mr. Gordon, an engineer of repute; but his calculation of the expenses deterred the projectors, and nothing was done. Thirty-six years after, Lord Napier employed Mr. Machell to lay down the plan of a canal, which should begin at the Clyde, about four miles below Glasgow, and end in the Forth, near the mouth of the River Carron. Mr. Machell's report in 1764 placed the utility of the undertaking in so striking a point of view, that " The Honourable the Board of Trustees for encouraging Fisheries, Manufactures, and Improvements in Scotland," immediately employed Mr. Smeaton to make the necessary surveys, and to estimate thereon. This eminent engineer produced a design, which at first deterred the parties by whom he was employed, as well by the apparent difficulties to be encountered, as by the immense sum he deemed necessary for its completion; but, on the projection of a smaller canal, opening a communication between Glasgow and the Forth, Mr. Smeaton's plan was reconsidered; and, after he had convinced all parties of the practicability of it, and completely refuted the objections of Mr. Brindley and other engineers, the act above-recited was obtained, and the execution of the canal immediately commenced under his direction.


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Estimates were made by Mr. Smeaton, of the several lines and various dimensions proposed for this canal; but the one under which the work was commenced amounted to £147,337, but augmented to £149,244, 8s. by the additional expense incident to a change in the line, which was effected under powers of an act of 11th George III. entitled, An Act to explain, amend, and render more effectual, an Act made in the Eighth Year of his present Majesty's Reign, entitled, An Act for making and maintaining a navigable Cut or Canal from the Firth or River of Forth, at or near the mouth of the River of Carron, in the county of Stirling, to the Firth or River of Clyde, at or near a place called Dalmuir Burnfoot, in the county of Dumbarton; and also a collateral Cut from the same to the city of Glasgow; and for making a navigable Cut or Canal of Communication from the Port and Harbour of Borrowstounness, to join the said Canal at or near the place where it will fall into the River of Forth. Several other acts became necessary as the works proceeded; but as they have relation chiefly to the supply of the requisite funds for prosecuting the undertaking, we shall but briefly notice them.

The third act received the royal assent on the 10th May, 1773, and is entitled, An Act to enlarge the Powers of two Acts, made in the Eighth and Eleventh Years of the Reign of his present Majesty, for making and maintaining a navigable Cut or Canal from the Firth or River of Forth, at or near the mouth of the River of Carron, in the county of Stirling, to the Firth or River of Clyde, at or near a place called Dalmuir Burnfoot, in the county of Dumbarton; and also a collateral Cut from the same to the city of Glasgow; and for making a navigable Cut or Canal of Communication from the Port and Harbour of Borrowstounness, to join the said Canal, at or near the place where it will fall into the Firth of Forth; by which the company are authorized to borrow, on assignment of the tolls as a security, the sum of £70,000.

The execution of this canal proceeded with such rapidity, under the direction of Mr. Smeaton, that in two years and three quarters from the date of the first act, one half of the work was finished; when, in consequence of some misunderstanding between him and the proprietors, he declined any further connection with


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 the work, which was shortly afterwards let to contractors, who however failed, and the canal was again placed under the direction of its original projector, who brought it to within six miles of its proposed junction with the Clyde, when the work was stopped in 1775 for want of funds, and it continued at a stand for several years.

For the purpose, however, of opening a communication between the part already executed and the city of Glasgow, a subscription was entered into by the inhabitants of that place, to make a branch, so that by effecting a junction with the Forth, the part excavated might immediately be brought into useful operation.

After the lapse of nine years from the stoppage above alluded to, an act was obtained, entitled, An Act for extending, amending and altering the Powers of an Act made in the Eighth Year of his present Majesty, entitled, An Act for making and maintaining a navigable Canal from the Firth or River of Forth, at or near the mouth of the River Carron, in the county of Stirling, to the Firth or River of Clyde, at or near a place called Dalmuir Burnfoot, in the county of Dumbarton; and also a collateral Cut from the same to the city of Glasgow; and for making a navigable Cut or Canal of Communication from the Port or Harbour of Borrowstounness, to join the said Canal at or near the place where it will fall into the Firtl& of Forth, by which the Barons of the Court of Exchequer in Scotland, are, out of the money arising from the sale of forfeited estates, directed to lend the Forth and Clyde Navigation Company the sum of £50,000, by which they were enabled to resume their labours, under the direction of Mr. Robert Whitworth, an engineer possessing a well earned reputation, and by whom it was finished and opened on the 28th July, 1790. Previous, however, to this period, three other acts of parliament relating to this canal received the royal sanction; of which, one was on the 21st of May, in the 27th of George III. and another the week following, and the last on the 9th of June, in the 30th of that reign.

The first which passed into a law is entitled, An Act for varying and extending the Powers of the Company of Proprietors of the Forth and Clyde Navigation; and the other, 'An Act for altering and extending the Line of the Cut or Canal, authorized