showing Amount of original Estimate, Sums Expended, and Amount when completed. Probable Time of Completion. REMARK S. In consequence of the foundation turning out bad, constructing of drain, &c. See Report, 31st December 1829. In consequence of extra masonry required to the breastwork, from bad foundation constructing waste weirs, &c. This excess includes the masonry required to the breastworks of the lock at Hartwells, in consequence of the nature of the foundation; the waste weir at Hartwells, and the guard lock which it was deemed expedient to place at the Hog's Back. Vide Details. In consequence of increased height of dams, consequent increase of the volumes waste weirs to carry flood waters off, bad foundations, &c. &c.; pitching bottom of river with boulders; extra rock excavation for side walls, retaining walls for puddle. For further particulars, see detailed Reports, 31st December 1829. In consequence of increased embankment, for security from proximity to river; constructing waste weir, extra excavations. Vide Details. In consequence of dividing the lift, increased height of dam, construction of waste weir to prevent valuable land being drowned. In consequence of injury the dam sustained from flood, 1828, removal of old material, con August 1830struction of waste weir. August 1831 In consequence of deviation from original line in Timber Snie, extra grubbing, detached lock, extra sills, basin walls, deepening river, &c. &c. In consequence of extra pumping, extra rock excavations, &c. &c.; as also dry stone walling found requisite. £. 2,209. 13. 7. saving, in consequence of doing away with works at Phillips Bay, and putting whole lift on Edmonds. Vide Detail, 31st December. Extra clearing, extra rock excavations, straitening entrance, lining side of lock next river with ashlar, increased dimensions of dam, constructing a waste weir, &c. From impracticability of raising water to intended height, construction of detached lock, extra rock excavation. In consequence of extra clearing of land for free circulation of air, increased width of excavation in consequence of impracticability of raising water so high as intended by Smith's Falls Dam, thereby incurring more excavation. £. 100. saving. To save expense of a rock excavation at Isthmus; to have a head of water in reserve in Upper Rideau Lake, to scour muddy bottom below Narrows, &c. &c. In consequence of much greater proportion of excavation turning out rock, than could at first be ascertained, from want of boring rods; as also by construction of lock at this place, deemed advisable to save such expensive rock excavation. £. 6,245. 17. 54. caving (In consequence of throwing more water back by dam at Davis's Mills, saving rock excavation, doing away with guard lock, &c. &c. £. 501. 6. 6. saving In consequence of substituting a mound of rubbish, retaining walls and puddle in place of arch key'd work, there being no material at hand fit for such works. In consequence of avoiding most difficult lock excavation, bad foundation of river lock, angling lock to suit line of navigation down the marsh, as also extra height of dam, construction of waste weir. In consequence of its being found advisable to cut stumps two feet lower, securing White Fish dam, and for carriage of limestone, &c. for works at Jones Falls. £. 311. 1. 4. saving. £.650. 3.-. saving. In consequence of increased height of dam to save sickness and excavation; construction waste weir, &c. [Erecting barracks, stores, slaughter-house; drawing water; travelling expenses, canoes, solicitors' August 1831 fees; purchase of land, and damages; constructing of stone bridge, forming roads through the woods, &c. &c. Amount of Additional Works £. 123,866 18 £. 113,848 16 44 2 Correspondence relative to the Canal Communi cation in Canada. No. 122.-LETTER from Lieut.-Colonel By to Colonel Durnford, SIR, Royal Engineer Office, Rideau Canal, 15th March 1830. I HAVE the honour of transmitting the Progress Report of Works, detailing my disbursements from the commencement of the Rideau Canal, on the 21st September 1826 to the 31st December 1829, from which it appears that £. 349,264. 13. 2. has been expended, and that sum reported; but, on re-examining the accounts, the sum appears to be £.350,685. 12. 1. I have also the honour of transmitting Plans and Sections of some of the principal Works; also Plans showing the lands taken for the use of the Canal, and those that are supposed will be required for the military defence of the same; as also my letter to General Mann, stating the probable expense of erecting block-houses and bridges, and the purchase of land for the military defence of the Canal, amounting together to £. 69,230, which, added to the sum of £. 342,763. 19. 9. required to complete the Canal, as appears by the accompanying detailed Report (errors excepted), makes the total sum required £. 411,993. 19. 9. And I solicit your explaining to his Excellency Sir James Kempt, when you lay the Report and Plans before him, that although £. 411,993. 19. 9. is still required to complete the various services connected with the Rideau Canal, yet given to the Committee in June 1828, will only be exceeded by £. 30,134. 8. 9. which is a trifling sum, when compared with the magnitude of the works, and the uncertain value of workmanship and materials at the time the Estimate was formed: the remainder of the sum required, amounting to £. 83,714, is for works not provided for in the Estimate, nor could they have been foreseen at the time of forming the Estimate, they having been found, by experience, as the works progressed, indispensably necessary, as explained in the Report. To avoid the continnation of the expense of the Civil and Military Establishments I have recommended that the whole of these works be carried on at the same time; therefore, if this is approved of, and his Excellency recommends the purchase of the lands, there will, in all probability, be required for this year £. 200,000, and for the year 1831, £. 211,993. 19. 9., as appears by the detailed Report, and my letter to General Mann of this day's date. I further beg to observe, that about forty other Plans and Sections are required to show all the works in progress, but fear the works will be completed before I shall have it in my power to furnish you with a complete set to lay before his Excellency, as the superintendence of the various works fully occupies myself and officers. No. 123.-LETTER from Lieut.-Colonel By to General Mann, SIR, &c. &c. &c. Royal Engineers' Office, Rideau Canal, 15th March 1830. I HAVE the honour to transmit, for the information of his Lordship the Master General and Board, the Progress Report of Works on the Rideau Canal, from their commencement on the 21st September 1826 to the 31st December 1829, from which it appears that £. 349,264. 13. 2. has been expended; but, on examining the accounts, the sum appears £. 350,685. 12. 14. I have also the honour of transmitting Plans, showing the quantity of land taken for that service, distinguishing the quantity that will in all probability be required for the military defence of the said works; also a Plan showing the crown and clergy Canal Communication in Canada. clergy reserves in the vicinity of the Rideau Canal; and have coloured those lots Correspondence pink which I am respectfully of opinion should be held by Government, and leased relative to the at moderate rents to the emigrants. As these lots have been recently offered to me by one of the agents of the Canada Land Company at four dollars per acre, saying his instructions were to charge six dollars per acre to any other person, consequently this monopoly is keeping that part of the country which ought to be immediately settled, in a state of wilderness; and, as it appears, from the accompanying affidavits, as also from Dr. J. Dunlop's letter herewith enclosed, that these lots are of comparatively little value, I have no doubt but Government could obtain them on moderate terms. The Report and Plans of the works should have been sent with my letter of the 31st December 1829, but were unavoidably delayed in consequence of my not being able to collect some of the measurements and plans, owing to the impassable state of the roads, which continued until the 12th January, when I visited each work, and found the contractors making every arrangement to enable them to carry on the works with rapidity. I have marked on the accompanying Plans the places where I recommend the erection of block-houses similar to the enclosed Plan, as they would answer as dwellings for the lock-masters, and men required to attend the locks and to clear away drift timber, &c., which, as the settlement of the country on the line of Canal has already commenced, will require great attention for some years, it being impossible to prevent the settlers from throwing trees into the river, that being the cheapest mode of getting rid of those growing on the banks. The lower part of these blockhouses I propose building with stone, there being a sufficient quantity remaining at each station from the rock excavation to enable that part to be built of masonry, with walls four feet thick, at the same price as timber. These walls would support strong flooring beams, with a layer of masonry, to render the lower stories fire-proof and nearly bomb-proof, as shown by the Section. The roofs and timber-work I propose covering with tin, which will render these buildings very durable and difficult to destroy by fire, as tin remains free from rust in this climate upwards of sixty years. I am therefore most respectfully of opinion, that these block-houses would tend much to the general strength of that part of the country, and recommend the forming a square redoubt round each, which would add much to their formidable appearance, and serve as mustering-places for the militia of the surrounding country. Taking the twenty-two stations where I have proposed these works, one with another, I estimate each block-house and redoubt (the latter to be formed of the excavations necessary to sink the lower story) at £.1,500 each, consequently £. 33,000 will be required for that service, and shall delay building the lock-masters' houses until I am favoured with instructions from the Honourable Board on this subject. These block-houses are proposed on a large scale, that they may serve as secure depôts in time of war for provisions, ammunition and small arms, for the militia, as large villages are forming at every station where there are locks building. The magazine, in one corner of the ground-floor of the block-house, will contain 264 barrels of gunpowder, leaving an air passage round the walls; and the remainder of the said floor will form an excellent provision store for 600 barrels; the two upper floors would form a barrack for 150 men, but the building could be defended by twenty. The crest of the glacis I do not propose forming into a covert way until time of war, as earth works are difficult to keep in repair in this climate. The ports are proposed to be made five feet high by four feet wide, that they may be used as doors or windows until required as ports, when I recommend their being reduced to the proper size, by lining them with raw hides well salted and rolled tight, and jammed in whilst moist, which is an excellent mode of protecting the ports from being damaged by the discharge of their own guns. The Progress Report and Plans show the works as they are now completing; and although it will be seen, by examining the Plans, that many alterations have been made from the original design, formed when the country was covered with forest, and consequently the best positions for the works could not at that moment be seen, yet I have no doubt the whole will be finished in August 1831: and I beg to state, notwithstanding the excavations are carrying on at the lower lock at Kingston Mills, also the deepening and clearing Cataroque Creek, and cutting through the Isthmus between Mud and Rideau Lakes during the winter, which, Correspondence relative to the Canal Communication in Canada. * Which should be £.579,600. 15.7. owing to the intense frost, adds considerably to the expense, yet such is the dreadfully offensive smell arising from the decayed vegetable matter in these excavations, that I am apprehensive of the breaking out of the fever afresh, and have, as a matter of necessity, to lessen these expensive excavations, ordered the dam and locks at Kingston Mills to be raised, which lessens the excavations in Cataroque Creek: I have also increased the height of the dam and lock at Davis's Mill, to lessen the excavation necessary to form a good entrance into the lock at Chaffies; and I have ordered a lock at the Isthmus, between Mud and Rideau Lakes; these two latter works enable me to raise the Upper Rideau Lake four feet above the proposed summit level, and do away with the necessity of taking out the lower four feet of the cut across the Isthmus, which is about a mile and a half long. This is a great point gained; for such are the dreadful effects of the lake fever, that it is impossible to calculate the expense that would otherwise have been incurred in removing this four feet; and I trust that these alterations will be the means of great saving both in life and money. With reference to my letter of 31st December 1829, I beg to observe, that I omitted, in my statement of the sums required to complete the works, the expense of those not provided for on Estimate amounting to £.113,848. 16. 2., which, when added to the Estimate, of £.576,757. 12. 2.* given to the Committee, of which his Excellency Sir James Kempt was President, in June 1828, will make the sum of £. 693,449. 11. 10., as appears by the accompanying Report. At the same time I beg to be clearly understood, that these sums do not include the expense of building the proposed block-houses, or the purchase of the land necessary for the military defence of the Rideau Canal, or the forming the reservoir to supply the first eight locks, which is also intended to serve as a wet ditch to strengthen the position of the proposed works for the defence of the entrance of the Canal, and to prevent the erection of any building on the land that will be required for a glacis: the Provincial Act authorizes this land being taken for a reservoir; but if it had been taken for the military defence of the Canal, Mr. Sparks, the proprietor, informed me, he should ask £. 10,000 for the eighty-eight acres I have taken for the said reservoir, which in fact, being chiefly swamp, is worth very little. I therefore respectfully recommend, to prevent future litigation, that £.6,000 should be spent in forming this reservoir, and that £. 2,000 should be spent in carrying the earth to the spot where the ramparts of the said works will ultimately have to be placed, as this position is one of the strongest in Upper Canada: neither is included the expense of erecting bridges, which the Provincial Act for the Rideau Canal provides shall be erected wherever the Canal crosses a public road; and as the Canal is causing the country to settle rapidly, notwithstanding the high price charged by the Canada Land Company, as already noticed, the number of bridges required will in all probability increase yearly, until every concession road is supplied; but as the traffick on the Canal will be augmented by the number of roads leading to it, the expense of these bridges will soon be repaid. At present I suppose I shall be called upon to erect thirteen, and estimate them as follows,— I further beg to observe, that the whole of these works should be carried on simultaneously with the Rideau Canal, and be completed within the same period; so that the present establishment may be discharged at the close of the Canal works. And should the above-mentioned works be approved, there will be required £.200,000 for the present year, and £. 211,993. 19. 9. for the year 1831; and I beg to remark, that, with my present strength of officers, I fear the works will be completed before I have it in my power to lay before the Honourable Board a complete set of Plans of all the works of the Rideau Canal. N. B.-I beg to apologize for the slovenly state in which, to save time, I am obliged to send my Progress Roport; and have to observe, that it has been occasioned by the temporary insanity of my first clerk, Mr. H. H. Burgess, and the ill state of health to which the lake fever has reduced many of my other clerks and overseers; but, that the Report may be clearly understood, I have enclosed a Section, showing the lifts of each work, with the sum estimated, that expended, and that required to complete the same; from which it will appear the statement stands thus : |