Much, again, of the work done on the Continent has been a matter either of linking up great rivers or of canalising these for navigation purposes. We have in England no such rivers as the Rhine, the Weser, the Elbe, and the Oder, but the very essence of the German scheme of waterways is to connect these and other rivers by canals, a through route by water being thus provided from the North Sea to the borders of Russia. Further south there is already a small canal, the Ludwigs Canal, connecting the Rhine and the Danube, and this canal—as distinct from those in the northern plains—certainly does rise to an elevation of 600 feet from the River Main to its summit level. A scheme has now been projected for establishing a better connection between the Rhine and the Danube by a ship canal following the route either of the Main or of the Neckar. In describing these two powerful streams Professor Meiklejohn says, in his "New Geography":—
"The two greatest rivers of Europe—greatest from almost every point of view—are the Danube and the Rhine. The Danube is the largest river in Europe in respect of its volume of water; it is the only large European river that flows due east; and it is therefore the great highway to the East for South Germany, for Austria, for Hungary, and for the younger nations in its valley. It flows through more lands, races, and languages than any other European river. The Rhine is the great water-highway for Western Europe; and it carries the traffic and the travellers of many countries and peoples. Both streams give life to the whole Continent; they join many countries and the most varied interests; while the streams of France exist only for France itself. The Danube runs parallel with the mighty ranges of the Alps; the Rhine saws its way through the secondary highlands which lie between the Alps and the Netherlands."
The construction of this proposed link would give direct water communication between the North Sea and the Black Sea, a distance, as the crow flies, and not counting river windings, of about 1,300 miles. Such an achievement as this would put entirely in the shade even the present possible voyage, by canal and river, of 300 miles from Antwerp to Strasburg.
What are our conditions in Great Britain, as against all these?
In place of the "great lowland plain" in which most of the Continental canal work we hear so much about has been done, we possess an undulating country whose physical conditions are well indicated by the canal sections given opposite this page. Such differences of level as those that are there shown must be overcome by locks, lifts, or inclined planes, together with occasional tunnels or viaducts. In the result the construction of canals is necessarily much more costly in Great Britain than on the aforesaid "great lowland plain" of Continental Europe, and dimensions readily obtainable there become practically impossible here on account alike of the prohibitive cost of construction and the difficulties that would arise in respect to water supply. A canal connecting the Rhine, the Weser, and the Elbe, in Germany, is hardly likely to run short of water, and the same may be said of the canals in Holland, and of those in the lowlands of Belgium. This is a very different matter from having to pump water from low levels to high levels, to fill reservoirs for canal purposes, as must be done on the Birmingham and other canals, or from taking a fortnight to accomplish the journey from Hull to Nottingham as once happened owing to insufficiency of water.
SOME TYPICAL BRITISH CANALS.
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