Neptune'S Staircase

At the western end of the Caledonian canal in Scotland, there is a series of eight locks, called Neptune's Staircase; each step, or lock, is eight feet high, one hundred and seventy feet long, and forty feet broad. The Caledonian canal, of which this stairway forms a part, is the delight of tourists. It connects the Atlantic Ocean with the North Sea near Inverness, and passes through the centre of the Highlands, one of the most picturesque districts of Scotland; the whole length of the canal is sixty miles, thirty-seven miles of this distance being natural lake navigation. The summit level of the canal is 102 feet above sea level; this rapid descent requires an extensive system of locks; there is a descent of sixty-four feet in Neptune's Staircase, each of the eight locks being eight feet deep. From the writings of Herodotus, Aristotle, Pliny, and other ancient historians, we learn that canals existed in Egypt and China before the Christian era. These early canals, though destitute of locks, do not appear to have been built on a uniform level. The Imperial canal of China, one thousand miles in length and requiring forty days to navigate it, is provided with sluices; when a vessel arrives at one of these sluices, it is hoisted by machinery, whatever its size may be, and then let down on the other side into the water. This canal was opened in 1289, and is perhaps the longest in the world. But one of the most remarkable pieces of work which the engineering skill of modern times has accomplished is the Suez Canal, connecting the Red Sea with the Mediterranean. It is the only instance of a ship canal constructed without locks; the fact that the two seas are nearly on a level and that the rise of the tide is very small, made it possible to adopt this mode of construction; the length of the Suez Canal is one hundred miles. The first project, to connect these two seas is of very ancient origin, and its author is unknown. It is understood that a canal for small vessels was formed there as early as 500 years before Christ and existed for 1400 years, at the end of which time it fell into disuse. The idea of restoring and improving this old water course on a scale suited to modern times is attributed to Napoleon I., about the close of the last century; but it remained for M. de Lesseps to undertake and complete the work. The canal was opened for traffic November 17th, 1869, when all nations may be said to have assisted at the ceremony. The canal up to that time had cost about eighty-five million dollars.

The Panama Canal is of still more colossal proportions than the Suez, and has already cost twice as much. The company now engaged in it may become bankrupt, but the work is so far advanced that it is sure of completion. It will cut asunder our continent, and open a Pacific gateway to all the world. The whole of Neptune's Staircase is smaller than a single lock at our Sault St. Marie (abbreviated to "Soo,"), the only inlet and outlet to Lake Superior. Ten thousand vessels passed there last year, through the largest lock in the world, with a larger tonnage than was borne on the Suez Canal. But even the Soo lock is too small, and one many times larger is now in building, for giving free course to commerce with our unsalted sea. It will cost five million dollars.

The Erie canal, connecting Lake Erie with the Hudson river, or the city of Buffalo with the city of Albany, is an artificial water-course of three hundred and sixty-three miles in length, forty feet wide on the surface, twenty-eight at the bottom, and four feet deep.

On the 4th of July, 1817, the first spadeful of earth was removed from the surveyed route amid the acclamations of a large concourse of people; the last section was completed in 1825; the success of the undertaking being announced by the firing of cannon all along the route. The undertaking met with great opposition at first, but Governor Clinton, of New York, was its most devoted friend, and was so persistent in his efforts that the canal is still known by the alias of "Clinton's Ditch."

At Lockport the engineers met with almost insurmountable difficulties,--they had to cut through three miles of solid stone, and construct five immense locks of solid stone masonry, which gave the town its name, and by which the heaviest boats are lifted seventy-five feet in a few minutes. The difficulties overcome at Little Falls were still more formidable. In speaking of this section, the Canal Commissioners proudly assert that American skill overcame in eighty days what foreign engineers had estimated would occupy several years. The freight business of the canal is very great, and still on the increase. During the boating season 28,000 men and boys, and 16,000 horses, are employed.

"In their vessels they have their homes, their wives, and their children. While they are moving toward the seaboard or to the West, babies are born to them, children are schooled, and young men and women are married. A few own homes on the shore, and do not allow their wives to accompany them, but most of them have been brought up in a cabin less spacious than a tent. They are cleanly and moral; the common schools have had no uses for them; but in wandering from hamlet to hamlet and city to city, they have acquired singularly varied knowledge and habits at once creditable to themselves and interesting to the observer."