[CHAPTER XVI.]
THE WATERWAYS OF CANADA.
“Heads the running springs and standing lakes, And bounding banks for winding rivers makes.” —Dryden.
It appears to be among the “things not generally known” that Canada has, relatively to the trade and population of the Dominion, one of the most extensive and perfect systems of canal communication in existence. The really important canals are few in number, and the traffic that they transport is by no means so considerable as that carried on many of the canals of the United States and some European countries. But, all the same, the Canadian people, always appreciative of the advantages of cheap water transport, and looking to that agency as a means for the development of their internal resources, have neglected no opportunity that offered for advancing their waterways, and utilising them to the utmost extent.
The principal canals in Canadian territory are the Welland, the Lachine, the Cornwall, the Galops, the Murray, the Quebec and Montreal, and the Sault Ste Marie, or St. Mary’s Falls, the latter being partly on United States and partly on Canadian territory. These canals have chiefly been constructed for the purpose of affording communication between the great lakes and the St. Lawrence river, whence vessels pass into the Atlantic.
The Welland Canal.—The waters of Lake Erie empty into Lake Ontario through the Niagara river and over the Niagara Falls. The difference in the levels of the two lakes cannot be stated with any exactness, as the influences which cause the variations in the height of water in the two lakes are not identical. It is, however, as nearly as can be ascertained, 326¾ feet. The course of the Niagara river is due north, and its current is swift and turbulent
The Welland river flows nearly at right angles with the Niagara river, and discharges into it at Chippewa, a village about 2 miles above Niagara Falls. It is navigable for deeply loaded vessels for a distance of 40 miles or more, and has scarcely any current. The Grand River flows south-easterly, and empties into Lake Erie. Port Maitland, one of the safest harbours on Lake Erie, is situated at the mouth of the Grand River. Port Colborne, another very secure harbour on the same lake, is about 18 miles west of the upper end of the Niagara river. Port Dalhousie, on Lake Ontario, is about 11 miles west of the mouth of the Niagara. The desirability of connecting the two lakes by navigable water was, very early in the history of the country, admitted by all who gave the matter attention; surveys were made from time to time, and various plans were proposed and discussed, but nothing definite was done until, in 1824, a company was incorporated under the name of the Welland Canal Company. Their first intention seems to have been to establish a line of communication between the two lakes by a combination of canal and railway, the canal to be of comparatively small capacity; but this plan was soon laid aside, and it was determined to secure water communication throughout the whole length, and to build a canal sufficiently large to admit schooners and sloops.
The plan thus adopted contemplated utilising the Niagara river from Lake Erie to the mouth of the Welland river, the Welland river being followed for a distance of 8¾ miles, and building a canal from Welland river to Lake Ontario. The water supply was to be obtained from the Welland river, and a high ridge of land in the line of the proposed canal was to be overcome by a deep cut. There were many objections to this plan, the chief of which were the circuitous course necessitated by the use of the Niagara and Welland rivers, the swift current of the Niagara, and its unsuitability for heavily loaded boats, and the constant danger of slides, because of the unstable character of the soil through which the deep cutting would have to be made. Notwithstanding these objections, and various other obstacles which were developed by close inquiry and examination, the company adhered to their plans, and in July 1825 entered into a contract for the prosecution of the work. But the undertaking dragged from lack of funds.
The Welland Canal, with Locks Open.