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be attended to the highlands of Scotland in particular, and to the nation in general. The executive government, swayed probably by the same considerations which led to the grant of public money for the construction of roads and bridges in the highlands, and partly by the expected beneficial consequences to the commerce and manufactures of the country, was at length persuaded to listen to the design, and to take some steps towards carrying it into effect. In or about the years 1802 or 1803, some mercantile and seafaring people, at the naval stations of Leith, Aberdeen, and Peterhead, on the east, and Greenock, Dublin, Liverpool, and Bristol, on the west, were consulted respecting the navigation of the Pentland firth, and the practicability and utility of establishing an inland navigation from sea to sea by the proposed canal. As to the dangers of the Pentland firth, and the advantage of a safer course, there could hardly be a question; and it was agreed that a canal in this line, if large and easily navigable, would be very useful, especially in the winter season, and in time of war. But as to the possibility of establishing a more secure navigation through the great glen, there was a considerable difference of opinion; some of these opinions however, whether for or against the scheme, being of no

very great weight, either from want in those who gave them of experience in general navigation, or of acquaintance with the localities of this particular situation.

The next step was to have the facilities and difficulties of the work, and the nature of the navigation, ascertained by a particular examination of the whole line of the proposed canal, and this was done by the civil engineers, Messrs. Jessopp and Telford, with the assistance, it is understood, of Mr. Downie, a ship master from Aberdeen, and Mr. Gwynne, master of the government galley at Fort Augustus. On the north-east of the line, the Murray firth stretches inland for about twenty miles from Cromarty to Inverness and the loch of Beauly, and on the south-west of it, Loch Linne occupies the valley for thirty-two miles, from the sound of Mull to Inverlochy. Of the 112 miles in this tract, between the Atlantic and German Oceans, fiftytwo are thus covered by these arms of the sea, and thus far a navigable canal was formed in this line by nature. It was thought, upon survey, most convenient that the cut of the canal should join the Murray firth at the village of Clach-na-hary, near Inverness, where the head of that firth, called the loch, or firth of Beauly, diverges from the line of the great glen towards

the north-west, and that it should join Loch Linne, or the firth of Lochaber, at the village of Corpach, where the head of that firth, called Locheil, diverges from the glen likewise towards the north-west. The towns of Inverness and Inverlochy are situate on the south-eastern side of the great glen, where the rivers Ness and Lochy enter their respective firths, and the villages and points of junction are almost directly opposite on the north-west side; the breadth of the level of the valley being however, at Inverness, only about a mile, while at Inverlochy it is from two to three miles, as already mentioned. The bottom of the loch of Beauly was found to be blue clay, or mud, arising from the decomposition of parts of the neighbouring mountains, and at 350 yards from the high water mark, it is fifty-four deep. Below this is the white clay, which forms the base of the hill* at Clach-na-hary. This is the situation of the sea loch at the east end of the canal. From this point south-west to Loch Ness, the general description of the ground is loose sandy gravel above, with clay or hard sandy gravel, water tight, below. This loose sandy gravel occurs particularly at the small loch of Doughfour,

* Craig Phadruie, noted for the vestiges of a vitrified fort on its top.

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which is formed by the spreading out of the river a little to the north-east of Loch Ness. But the gravel over almost the whole of this part of the line is mixed with earth, sufficient to exclude water. Between Loch Ness and Loch Oich, the ground is sandy or red loam above, and strong earthy gravel below. The summit, or most elevated part of the valley, between Loch Oich and Loch Lochy, is loam and gravel above, and hard indurated sand below; and from Loch Lochy to Loch Linne, the ground of Lochaber moor is moss or clayey sand above, and strong hard gravel below. In one or two places it was found to be necessary to cut into solid rock below, and that it would be difficult to deal with the loose sand and gravel, so as to make that part of the ground fit for the purpose. But upon the whole, the state of the ground presented no insurmountable obstacle to the work.

The next step was, to examine the state and situation of the fresh water lakes, and ascertain how far they were adapted for the intended navigation. The largest of these is Loch Ness, which is twenty-two miles long, and from one mile to two and a half miles broad; and in the middle, from 60 to 135 fathoms deep. On each side rises a wall of lofty rugged mountains, irregularly cut into deep gullies, with tremen

dous precipices, and raging torrents. In the western wall, there are two openings, glen Urqhuart on the north-east, and Glenmorriston at the south-west end. In the eastern wall, there are no considerable openings; but the hill of Foyers, near the celebrated water-fall, about eight miles from the north-east end, sends out a large promontory into the lake. From the nature of this situation, apprehensions were reasonably enough entertained, that the bottom of the lake at the sides was rocky, that there was no good anchoring ground, that the lake was subject to furious squalls from the gullies at the sides, and to violent agitations, and that vessels would therefore always be in imminent danger of being dashed to pieces against the rocks; or that the course of the winds would be almost invariably from north-east or south-west, and that vessels, even although they might escape shipwreck, would be frequently wind-bound for a month or more at a time, in these lakes; and that the dangers and inconveniences would on the whole be as great and as many as those of the Pentland firth. It was also objected, that the navigation of the canal might be often interrupted in winter by frost and snow. Upon examination, it appeared, that except in a very few places, where the rocks rose perpendicularly

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