gor] Conciſe Account of Tnland Navigation 83

that the locks were formed at Runcorn inſtead. of the Hemp- ſtones.

We cannot omit an anecdote of Mr. Brindly reſpe&ing the aqueduét at Barton. When the canal approached that place, it wag ſuppoſed the undertaking would end, as the paſſage of the river was regarded as impraticable, and Mr. Brindly himſelf wiſhed the Luke to take the opinion of ſome engincer of emi- nence.‘A gentleman was called in, who took a view of the ſpot, and éxclaimed“ That he had often heard of building caſtles in the air, but was never before ſhewn che place where one was to be ere&ed.’”’ This ſcvere ſarcaſm did not deter either the Duke or Mr. Brindly; they proceeded, and ſucceeded to their wih.

We cannot conclude this account of the Duke?s undertaking, without ob(erving, that it has a variety of good efes. The price of carriage ot goods of all kinds, and of coals for the manu- factories of Mancheſter, are very conſiderably reduced; the value of all-the eſtates contiguous to the canal is‘ conſiderably increaſed, and the Duke of Bridgwater has been recompenſed by a princely addition to his fortune.

As coal mines form the great encouragement to canals, we then alſo introduce a deſcription of the Dukc?s munes, by a perſon who has often viſited them, eſpecially as that deſcription will give an idea of thoſe mines in general:—

&« Y ou center with lighted candles the ſubterraneous paſſage in a boat, made for bringing out the coals, forty-ſeven feet long, four feet and a half broad, iacluding the gunwales, and two feet ſx inches deep. This boat, when loaded, carries about ſeven tons, and ſometimes eight. In this manner you proceed up the canal to the lake at the head of the mine, diſtant three quarters of a mile: the two folding doors at the mouth are immediately ſhut on your entrance, to keep out too much air, if the wind blows; and you then proceed by the light of your candles, which caſt 2 vivid gloom, ſerving only to make darkneſs viſible.

« But this diſmal gloum is rendered ſtill more awful by the ſolemn appearance of this ſubterraneous lake, which returns various and diſcordant ſounds. At oñe moment you are ſtruck with the grating noiſe of engines, which, by a curious con- trivance, let down the coals into the boats. At another you hear the ſhock of an exploſion, occaſioned by blowing up the hard rock, which will not yield to any other force than that of gun- powder; immediately after, perhaps, your ears are ſaluted by the ſongs of merriment from either ſex, who thus beguile their la- bours in the mine,

« When you have reached the head of the works a new ſcene opens to your view: there you behold men and women, almoſt in their primitive fate of nature, toiling in diferent capacities,