A much smaller breadth might have been thought to
suffice, and was at first intended; but it was found that the current
in a narrow channel, the outer sea being many inches higher than the
water of the gulf, would have been too rapid and violent for safety.
The work had occupied fifteen Martial years, and had been opened only
for some eight centuries. The water was not more than twenty feet in
depth; but the channel was so perfectly scoured by the current that no
obstacle had ever arisen and no expense had been incurred to keep it a
clear. We entered the Northern sea where a bay ran up some half dozen
miles towards the end of the gulf, shortening the canal by this
distance. The bay itself was shallow, the only channel being scarcely
wider than the canal, and created or preserved by the current setting
in to the latter; a current which offered a very perceptible
resistance to our course, and satisfied me that had the canal been no
wider than the convenience of navigation would have required in the
absence of such a stream, its force would have rendered the work
altogether useless.
Pages:
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431