Within recent years, the advocates of water transport in Great Britain and other countries, have been accustomed to point to France as a notable example of the advantages of improving and extending the internal navigations of a country. It is true that no nation has done more with this end in view. From first to last, France has expended a larger sum on canal navigation than any other nation. Her system of water transport is also in some respects more complete than that of any other country, having been designed and carried out upon a systematic plan, which permits of the ways of water communication being connected with each other, and with the chief centres of population and industry. The waterways of France, are, moreover, mainly owned by, or under the control of the State, which has instituted elaborate inquiries from time to time into the subject of their development and utilisation. It cannot, nevertheless, be claimed for the canals of France, as a rule, that they present any unusual economic or engineering features, although they provide for a low cost of transport, of which we shall have more to say when we come to deal especially with that branch of our subject.

A glance at a canal and river map of France, is sufficient to show that in the more important parts of the country, there is a very excellent system of communication by water. Between Dunkerque, Gravelines, and Paris, there is a large traffic carried to the latter city, through an elaborate system of main and lateral canals. The river Seine connects Paris with the ports of Havre and Rouen. From the Belgian frontier, quite a network of canals connect with Paris; and on the German frontier, near Nancy, the Canal de la Marne au de Rhin gives access to the capital, both by the Marne river to the Seine, and by the Oise, through the Aisne canal.

On the Mediterranean seaboard, the Canal du Midi connects with the Canal des Etangs and the Canal de Beaucaire, and thence by the Rhone and Saône, the Canal du Centre, the Canal de Briare, the Canal de Loing, and the Seine to Paris, taking Lyons, Chalons, Dijon, Nivers, and other important towns en route. In the south of France, the only important canal is that of the Midi, which connects Bordeaux with Cette; and on the west, the ports of Brest and St. Nazaire are connected with the main line of communication already described—the former by the Canal de Nantes à Brest, and the latter by the Loire river, the Canal Noyers du Berry, and the Canal d’Orleans. It is, however, on the north that the canal system has its greatest development, and especially on the Belgian frontier. The system has been contrived to meet the requirements of all the populous places on the line of route, so that it is very far from having been arranged to save time and distance. This, however, is no disadvantage in cases where density of traffic was the point to be kept in view. Some of the canals have at one end no outlet or through communication. The Canal du Berry, for example, terminates abruptly at Montluçon, the Canal de Roanne à Dijon at Roanne, and the Canal de l’Ourcq at Port-aux-Perches, but this is very exceptional. The system is generally designed to enable one waterway to give immediate access to another, so that through routes are the most characteristic and valuable feature which it presents.

The very elaborate statistics which the French people make it their business to collect relative to all their mundane affairs enable us to obtain information as to the character of the traffic on French waterways, and the conditions of its movement, that are not accessible for most other countries. In order that some light may be thrown upon the problem of “how they manage these things in France,” we have been at some pains to get together the most important data bearing on the subject.

Imprimis, then, it appears that the total tonnage carried on the canals of France in 1887—there are no returns yet issued for a later year—was 21,050,180 tons. As this traffic was carried for a total distance of 1762 millions of miles, it follows that the average distance over which each ton was carried was 84 miles.

It is interesting to compare these returns with the corresponding returns for the French railways, which carried 80,360,000 tons for a total distance of 6801 millions of miles, giving an average transport or lead of 84½ miles per ton.

There are no detailed returns at command of the amount of expenditure at which the traffic on the waterways of France has been carried on. In the nature of the case, indeed, there could hardly be such information, seeing that the rivers, and to a large extent the canals as well, are free of tolls, and the expenses of haulage will vary in every case, according to the means employed, and other determining circumstances. On the French railway system, however, the average rate charged for the transport of goods per ton per mile amounted in 1887 to less than 0·9d., taking the eight great companies as a whole.[60]

Roughly, therefore, the average distance over which each ton was transported on the waterways and railways of France was almost exactly the same, but the railways carried almost four times as much traffic as the waterways. This difference applied almost as much to heavy as to light traffic. The total quantity of coal and coke carried on the waterways was 5,964,000 tons, while on the railways it amounted to 22,395,000 tons, being again nearly four times as much.

The total length of the canals of France in 1887 was 4759 kilometres, or 2998 miles. The average number of tons carried for each mile of canal constructed was, therefore, 4005. The railways of France had, at the same time, a length of 28,922 kilometres, or 18,095 miles, and the average number of tons carried per mile was about 4400. The French waterways, therefore, had a somewhat less density of traffic than the railways.

Many of the canals of France, however, have almost ceased to be used, and their traffic has become so small that it is hardly worth reckoning.

In the case of Paris, the second largest city in Europe, the total quantity of traffic brought within the municipal bounds for the use of the inhabitants amounted, in 1886, to 9,412,589 tons, of which 60 per cent. was received by railway and 40 per cent. by waterways. Of the traffic sent out from Paris, amounting to 2,989,000 tons, 80 per cent. was despatched by rail, and 20 per cent. by water.[61] In reference to the traffic entering Paris, it would seem as if the waterways competed with some measure of success with the railways, but as regards the traffic sent out from Paris, the railway is by no means so successful.

The waterways that give access to Paris are mainly the High Seine, the Low Seine, and the Canal de l’Ourcq. The Seine carried 1,979,000 tons to Paris in 1886, as compared with 1,791,000 tons carried on the canals as a whole.

These are the broad general facts of the situation in which Paris is placed as regards her supplies of food, fuel, and other requirements. The details of the movement of this traffic are equally interesting, but we have no space to devote to them here. We may, however, remark that from every part of the empire, from Belgium and the Ardennes, from the north and the east, from Marseilles on the one hand and from Rouen and Havre on the other, the traffic on which Paris is dependent from day to day is carried as well by waterways as by railways. From the coal basins of the Nord and of the Pas-de-Calais the waterways carry almost as much fuel to Paris as the railways; from the basins of the Loire and of the Centre they carry much more. Belgium, again, sends a large proportion of the total quantity of coal that she supplies to Paris by water, but German and English coal is received mainly by rail.[62]

It would be interesting to compare the quantities of merchandise and food supplies of all kinds received by water and by rail in different large centres of population, but the materials do not exist for a very exact comparison over a wide area. In no English city can such materials be obtained, inasmuch as no record is available of the different quantities that constitute the transit trade; but in several German cities there are more accurate materials at command, and the following figures show how the import traffic of Paris compares with that of some German towns for the year 1887:—

During the year 1886 the traffic of the port of Paris amounted to a total of 5,455,000 tons, which was transported in 35,291 boats. The boats thus carried an average of about 155 tons.[63] This, however, was composed of a considerable range of variations, the boats from the Sambre, on the canal of that name, carrying an average of 216 tons, while those on the canals of the Aisne and the Ardennes only carried about 55 tons. On the Seine, from Oise to Paris, the average size of the boats was 166 tons.

More than a fourth of the water-traffic entering Paris belongs to the Ourcq Canal, which is connected with the Marne and with the Seine, both above and below Paris, by means of the St. Martin and the St. Denis Canals. These and the Ourcq Canals belong to the Municipality of Paris, which has recently increased the width of the swing bridge across the canal from 25½ to 50 feet, and has provided an uniform depth of 10½ feet

According to an interesting statement issued by the French Minister of Public Works in 1880,[64] the length of the canals then constructed in France was 2882 miles, of which 2248 miles were described as principal lines, and cost about 10,300l. per mile, while 634 miles were secondary lines, and cost 7200l. per mile. The total amount expended on canals of both categories was about thirty-three millions sterling.

There were besides, 4598 miles of rivers which had been adapted, by canalisation or otherwise, for purposes of navigation, at a total cost of about 11½ millions sterling. About 1398 miles of river routes were classed as principal lines, and upon these an expenditure of 7,918,000l. had been undertaken, or about 5700l. per mile. About 3200 miles more were classed as secondary lines, and had been improved for navigation at a total cost of 3,561,000l., or 1113l. per mile. On both canals and rivers the total amount expended had been over 44 millions sterling. Besides this, however, 190 miles of additional waterways had, up to 1880, been constructed and improved, at an additional cost of 3,400,000l., and were described as new waterways; and it may be added that, up to the same date, about 19¾ millions sterling had been expended on the ports of France, especially those of Havre (3,300,000l.), Marseilles (2,800,000l.), St. Nazaire (1,100,000l.), and Bordeaux (960,000l.).

These figures appear large, but while it may very well be that the amount expended upon canals pur et simple has been greater in France than in our own and other countries, the expenditure upon the rivers of France and upon the improvement of ports and harbours is very greatly below that incurred in our own country. At Liverpool alone the sums expended in this direction from first to last will probably exceed the total amount expended upon the harbours of France up to the present time. France is, however, so fully aware of the importance of providing good shipping facilities, that she has quite recently undertaken a large expenditure in improving the harbours of Havre and Calais, canalising the Seine, and other similar works.

At the end of 1886, there were thirty-one chief canals in operation in France having a total length of 3267 kilometres, and 1446 kilometres of smaller canals, making a total of 4713 kilometres. The canals varied in their volume of annual traffic from over 3½ millions of tons each on the Deûle (Haute) canal, 63 kilometres in length, and on the St. Quentin canal, 93 kilometres in length, to 243,700 tons on the Latéral à la Garonne, 204 kilometres in length. The total traffic carried on the canals from year to year has been remarkably constant.[65] The canals have, moreover, carried a considerably larger quantity of traffic than the rivers of France, notwithstanding that the latter have a total length of 7825 kilometres, or 66 per cent. more, and that one or two of them, especially the Aisne and the Oise have been specially canalised.[66]

The waterways of France are classified by basins, and according to the statistics published for 1886, the number of waterways in each basin with the number of vessels of all kinds making use of them, and the number of tons transported were as under:—

We may now appropriately follow up the more general information already afforded by some details as to the history and topography of the chief canals and river works in France.

Some French Canals.

Briare, &c.—The canal of Briare was begun in the time of Henry IV. and the Duke of Sully, and was completed under Louis XIII. and Cardinal Richelieu. Its length is eleven French leagues, and it forms a communication between the Loire and the Loing, which is one of the tributaries of the Seine. Under Louis XIV. another canal was drawn from the Loire, near Orleans, which flowed to meet the first canal of Briare, near Montargis; and as in summer there was an insufficiency of water in the Loing to supply a considerable navigation, under the minority of Louis XV. they determined to run another canal along the banks of the river to the vicinity of the Seine, which is, properly speaking, the continuation of the old canal of Briare. In this canal there are, in all, forty-two sluices; and in that of Orleans, twenty. In the reign of Louis XV., and under the inspection of the celebrated Belidor, the canal of Picardie was carried out, forming a junction between the Somme and the Oise, which afterwards enters the Seine about five leagues from Paris.

Languedoc.—The famous canal of Languedoc, better known as the Canal du Midi, which forms a communication from the Mediterranean Sea to the Garonne and the Ocean is one of the best known in France. By this canal, for many years, boats have passed in a few days from the one sea to the other, traversing valleys and hills, and ascending to the height of 600 feet above the level of the two seas. The harbours of Bordeaux and Marseilles formerly avoided, by this means, a circuitous route of communication of several hundred miles. This great undertaking, projected under three other kings, was at last perfected in the reign of Louis XIV., after a labour of fourteen years, at an expense of eleven millions of livres, without reckoning the additional expense of two millions more, incurred in re-establishing the harbour of Cette. Andressi first suggested the plan, and Riquet directed almost the whole of its execution. He began the work in 1666. The canal begins at a lake nearly four miles in circumference, which, collecting the waters of Mont Noir, conveys them at Naurose into a reservoir, of very considerable extent, whence the waters are distributed to the right until they meet the Garonne near Toulouse, and to the left as far as the Lake of Tau, which is near the port of Cette. The breadth of the canal is 30 feet, its length is rather over 125 miles, which equals 50½ French leagues. Nearly a sixth part of the canal is carried over mountains deeply excavated; and, at a spot called the Mal Pas, it crosses a rock cut into the form of an arch, eighty toises in length, four toises in width, and four and a half in height. It has one hundred sluices, and a great number of aqueducts and bridges.

Admiral Lord Clarence Paget undertook, in 1881, a canal voyage through this Canal, of which he has supplied some interesting particulars. The yacht, the Miranda, was 85 feet over all, 11 feet beam, and 4 feet 8 inches draught of water. She carried 6½ tons of coal, equal to about eight days’ consumption, at full speed.

“Originally,” writes Lord Clarence, “the canal, which immortalised its constructor, P. P. Riquet, was only intended to connect the head waters of the Garonne at Toulouse with the Mediterranean, and it was opened with great pomp and ceremony by Louis XIV. in 1681, but it was soon found inadequate to the purposes required, as the Garonne was subject to all sorts of vicissitudes of drought and floods.

“It was not, however, till our own times that the ‘Canal Latéral,’ between Toulouse and near Bordeaux, has been completed, and, curiously enough, just at the moment when the railway between Bordeaux and Cette has almost entirely absorbed the traffic. So here is this magnificent canal, with its 99 locks and its viaducts and bridges comparatively unused, save by an occasional barge loaded with wine. Nevertheless, it is kept in admirable order, and the passage can be made, with certain precautions, without any difficulty.

“A pleasant, though not very picturesque voyage of thirty miles of river, brought us to the entrance of the canal. It was necessary to put on our canal screw before entering, so we laid the vessel on the ground, and entered on the following tide, through the lock, which is double, or rather twin, so that two vessels can pass at the same time. The dimensions of this, and indeed all the locks, are as follows:—Length, 28 metres; breadth, 5·80 metres; depth, 1·60 metres. The height of the bridges varies, but no vessel is allowed to pass which is higher above the level of the canal than 2·72 metres.

“Thus, it will be seen that we had about six feet of length, and five feet of width, to spare, one foot of height, and one foot under our bottom; nor is this by any means too large a margin, since, however well a vessel may be steered, and however quickly stopped, it is impossible at all times, particularly if there be a strong breeze, to ensure her entry into the locks with exactly sufficient speed. Moreover it is quite necessary that a boat should be afloat, to make a rope fast to the shore, where the canal has very sharp curves, as is the case in the old part of it, between Toulouse and Cette; and inasmuch as the boat cannot be hoisted up to davits or inboards, it will be manifest that room must be left for her in the lock. We had just room under the stern for one 13 feet boat athwart. The safe passage through the first lock and under the first bridge caused us pleasant anticipations.

“We were satisfied to have accomplished our first lock, and made fast opposite the house of the ‘Chef du Section,’ of which there are seven on the canal. He and his lady paid us a visit, as did the curé and principal inhabitants of La Reole. Next morning, the 28th, we fairly tackled the business, and accomplished that day eleven locks, stopping at Buzet. It would be tedious to describe our daily routine, and I need only remark that we took advantage of all the daylight—at this season only about 8½ hours—and accomplished some 35 to 40 miles per day, always ascending, till we arrived at Toulouse on the sixth day. This ‘Canal Latéral’ follows much the course of the Garonne. It is a splendid work, and is kept in beautiful order. The grand features are the bridges which carry the canal across the Garonne and other rivers. There are three, but by far the grandest and most interesting is that at Agen, where we found ourselves in mid-air, with the river, the railway, the high road, and part of the town far beneath us. The centre arch is a hundred feet high. After leaving Agen, the scenery became picturesque, and sometimes grand; but to really enjoy this trip it should be taken before the fall of the leaf. The whole length of the canal is lined on either side by poplar, plane, and other trees, many of them of great height, so as almost to shade the vessels passing. The locks are admirably managed, and it is surprising how little delay they cause—always supposing that there is no vessel to take precedence; but whether by chance, or that orders had been sent on to keep the road clear, we were rarely detained, and the average time in passing through was about five minutes. As we approached Toulouse, the air became keen and the nights frosty. Our ‘Chef du Section,’ who always accompanied us, informed me that some years since the canal was frozen up in the middle of December, and we consequently delayed as little as possible, and only spent a couple of days at Toulouse, which I regretted, as, besides being a pretty town, it is especially interesting as being the grand central depot of the canal, and the junction with the old ‘Canal du Midi,’ a name which has outlived the original title of Louis XIV., who christened it ‘Canal de Languedoc.’ Here, or rather a few miles to the eastward, are the numerous reservoirs and alimentary canals which bring the waters from the ‘Montagnes Noires.’ We could not stop to see them in detail, but could trace their outline far away in the distance.

“When the celebrated engineer, Vauban, came to inspect these works, he was astonished, and exclaimed that one thing was wanting only, namely, a monument and statue to the founder. This has since been rectified, and a grand obelisk is visible at the source of the canal. The story of Pierre Paul Riquet is that of many, nay, of most, great patriots. He met with scant assistance from the Government, and strenuous opposition from his countrymen; he was treated as a madman, and died of a broken heart before the great work was finished. His career seems to have been very similar to that of an illustrious man of our own day—Lesseps—save and except that the latter, happily, has been spared to see the final achievement of his splendid work.[67] He had, however, one attribute which is not common among inventors—he knew how to strike a bargain; and his contract still enriches several families, his descendants, especially the Caramans.

“On December 5th, we arrived at the summit of the canal, and it was interesting to observe the alimentation going both ways. Here the whole character and structure of the works change; instead of many miles of straight reaches of uniform width of about 100 feet, the canal becomes tortuous to a degree which is almost absurd, but which is accounted for by the fact that, in Riquet’s day there was no law ‘d’expropriation,’ and he had to make a bargain with every little landowner for permission to pass through his grounds, and being in many cases refused, he had to cut away in another, and often opposite direction. The locks here are also peculiar, being oval-shaped, to admit of two abreast; the effect of this is, that although on the map, Toulouse is at least two-thirds of the distance from Bordeaux to Cette, it is, by the canal, not quite half-way.

“These sharp curves are inconvenient, as it is necessary to turn the comers very slowly, for fear of running into vessels coming in the opposite direction, and often they are so very acute as to necessitate stopping the engines and using poles, and sometimes ropes, to get round the comers.

“Another peculiar feature of this part of the canal is the constant recurrence of multiple locks. On the first approach to double, treble, quadruple, and even quintuple locks, one feels somewhat like going over a precipice, but this soon wears off, and in reality, the ground is got over quicker than with single locks.

“The famous octuple lock at Béziers only required half-an-hour to accomplish, and it is one of the most wonderful features of this canal, it is like going down a steep ladder from the top of a cliff to the valley below. Our passage must have been a source of amusement to the natives, judging by the crowds which met us at each stopping place. I never could quite understand the exact cause of this. I asked M. Moffre, to whom I have already alluded as the obliging and amiable chief, but he did not satisfy me by saying, ‘It is the first steam yacht we have had, except one which belongs to the Emperor of Austria, and which passed through five years ago.’ ...

“From Carcassone we descended rapidly by multiple locks to the plain of Agde, having always as a grand background to the south the range of the Pyrenees, but this plain is anything but picturesque, being rocky and barren. Here we pass what the ignorant and misguided people of Riquet’s days thought would be a barrier to his great work. A sharp spur of the ‘Montagnes Noires’ here juts out into the plain, which looks like ‘thus far, no farther,’ but he was equal to the task, and set to work to tunnel an imitation of the only tunnel existing in those days, the grotto of Pausillipo at Naples, which he visited on purpose, and it is exactly similar and about the same length. Who does not remember the odd mysterious passage, high enough to pass a line-of-battle ship through? A part, unfortunately, has given way, and necessitated arching the roof, which has somewhat marred the effect, but it is still interesting and imposing. From here, a sharp descent through several multiple locks, brings us to the level of the Mediterranean, whose blue waters are seen in the distance; and on Saturday, the 10th of December, being our fourteenth day since leaving Bordeaux, we emerged from the canal into the Etang du Thau, at the mouth of which is Cette, giving access to the Mediterranean.”

The Crapponne Canal.—The authority to construct this canal was conceded to Adam de Crapponne, an eminent engineer in the year 1554. It takes its water through sluices, from the river Durance, near St. Estève-Ianson, at an altitude of 492 feet above sea level. There the river varies from 600 to 6500 feet in width, and the bed consists of a succession of sand and gravel banks, and alluvial deposits, intersected by numerous branches, which shift at every flood. Such a state of things cannot be considered as constituting the bed of the river, in the ordinary acceptation of the term, and to have constructed a permanent and fixed barrage across the river, to lead the water through the sluices, would not only have been a costly work at that time, but also one of considerable difficulty. Crapponne constructed, therefore, what are termed “barrages volants” across the river. These are formed where the depth of the water is about two feet, by stakes with fascines, and filled in with stones. In the deeper parts of the river, which may be sometimes 12 to 15 feet, “chevalets” are driven in place of stakes. These consist generally of trunks of trees cut near the point of the bifurcation of the principal branches, and which are placed closer together in proportion to the depth. The “chevalets” are bound by cross-pieces and supported by fascines. These “barrages volants” are always placed obliquely to the current of the river, for the purpose of causing the fascines to press against the stones or the “chevalets.” Such “barrages volants” need continual repair, but their cost is comparatively trifling. It is mostly a question of labour, as the material employed is cheap.

The average cost of maintenance of the barrage for the Crapponne canal is about 500l. per annum. This system, adopted by Crapponne more than 300 years ago, has never been changed, and has been found by experience to answer its purpose of diverting the Durance waters through the sluices into the canal in all seasons, and the same system is adopted for some other irrigation canals. The Crapponne Canal, is the main canal from the river Durance to Lamanon, and is 14¼ miles in length. At Lamanon the canal has two main branches, one flowing south towards Salon and St Chanas, and the other to the west towards Arles. The total length of the canal is about 77 miles, not comprising the whole development of the branch to Arles, which is a special property, independent of the original canal.

The quantity of water supplied by the canal, is as follows:-The main canal is 26 feet wide, and 6·5 feet deep; the mean velocity is 5 feet per second. The branch to Salon is 10 feet wide, and 6·5 feet deep; the mean velocity is 6·5 feet per second. The branch to Arles is 16·5 feet wide, and 3·28 feet deep; the mean velocity is 5·3 feet per second. The branch to Istres is 6·6 feet wide, and 3·3 feet deep; the mean velocity is 6·6 feet per second.

The Alpines Canal.—This canal, which was commenced in 1773, takes its water, for the main channel, from the Durance at Mallemort, and for the west branches, near Chateaurenard. The main canal is considered one of the best in Europe as regards its utility. The system consists of more than 194 miles of canal, disposing of 770 cubic feet of water per second, which, with the west branches of the canal, irrigates more than 20,000 acres. The branches to Carascon and Barbentane, have generally an inclination of 1 in 2000. In some portions of the former branch, the inclination is 1 in 4500; in other portions 1 in 1250, while over some of the aqueducts it is as much as 1 in 154. The widths at the bottom of the west branch canal vary from 7·8 to 9·2 feet, and for a branch to Barbentane, between 5·2 and 6·2 feet. The inclinations of the slopes varies from 1 to 1, to 1½ to 1, in ordinary cuttings and embankments. The west branches of the canal have passed through considerable financial difficulties, and are now managed by an independent company.

In order to develop irrigation, numerous syndicates have been formed, as some of the land was held in small parcels by proprietors and farmers who had neither the funds nor the power, in opposition to intervening landowners, to obtain branches to conduct the water from the main irrigating canal to their properties. The price charged for the water is regulated by the price charged for corn on the basis of 1·66 bushel per acre irrigated. The quantity of water given at the above rate, is fixed about 0·57 gallon per acre per second, supposed to flow continuously during the irrigation season, commencing on the 1st of April and terminating on the 1st October of each year, which is equal to covering the ground for the total number of irrigations to a depth of 66½ inches, and with 22,130 cubic yards of water. In 1874, the cost of irrigation was equivalent to about 11s. 6d. per acre, being the price of 1·66 bushel of corn. The price has recently been reduced to about 8s. per acre, for three irrigations required during the season for such crops as corn and olive orchards. The same reduced price per acre is also charged for inundating vineyards during the autumn, as a preventive to the phylloxera.

Lens la Deûle Canal.—Lens, a town of 11,800 inhabitants, and the capital of the coalfields of the Pas-de-Calais, has recently been connected with the existing system of navigable waterways by a canal, which passes near a great number of pits belonging to the companies of Lens and of Courriéres, the most important of the district, and serves the Liévin mines, which previously possessed no water communication. The probable traffic on this canal has been estimated at 290,000 tons, with a prospect of future increase. The canal starts a little beyond Lens, and passes close to the town; and after a course of 4 miles 7 furlongs it joins the Souchez Canal at Harnes. This canal, about 2 miles 1 furlong in length, was constructed about 1862, and connects the Lens Canal with the Deûle Canal a little beyond Courriéres. The total fall of the Lens Canal is 31 feet 10 inches, which is effected by three locks, the first by a fall of 8¼ feet and the other two of 11 feet 9½ inches. It has a bottom width of 17¾ feet in the straight portions, and in the curved portions the width at the bottom is regulated according to the formula (17¾ × ¹²⁴⁶⁄_R) feet; and its depth is 7¼ feet for an available draught of 6½ feet. Crossing places, 31 feet wide at the bottom and 360 feet long, have been formed about every 5 furlongs; and places for barges to wait in have been constructed of the same width, at the commencement and end of the canal, 2300 and 1800 feet long respectively. Above the third lock the canal traverses fissured chalk for a distance of 1640 feet, and has accordingly been lined with concrete up to 1 foot above the water level at a cost of 2l. per yard; and where the canal passes over a marsh, filled up with stones from the pits, for about 330 feet, it has been cut off from the marsh by a puddle-trench carried down into a substratum of clay 13¾ feet below the water-level. The locks are of the ordinary type, 17 feet wide, 126⅓ feet available length, and 8¼ feet in depth, with sluices in the gates; and the gates have iron ribs and a wooden skin, and cost on the average 4l. per square yard. The canal is fed by the river Souchez only 620 feet from its commencement. The discharge of the river during the long drought of the summer of 1886 did not fall below 4·6 cubic feet per second, whilst the traffic on the canal only required 2½ cubic feet per second, allowing for losses from evaporation and leakage. There is, therefore, an ample supply for other purposes, and for increased demands for traffic. The canal was begun on the 1st of February, 1885, and was opened for traffic on the 30th of October, 1886. The works, including land, cost 74,000l., or 15,206l. per mile.

The Marne Canal.—The original canal was constructed between the years 1838 and 1853. It commences by a junction with the Upper Marne Canal at Vitry le Français, and terminates by a junction with the river Ill and the Rhine Canal, near Strasburg, thus connecting the valleys of the Seine and the Rhine, and also the intervening rivers, which include the Maas, Moselle, Soar, &c. Its length between Vitry and Strasburg is 193½ miles, and it crosses the four watersheds dividing the catchment basins of the Marne, Maas, Moselle, Soar, and Rhine; there are, however, only two summit reaches, as the divides between the Maas and Moselle, and the Soar and the Rhine, are tunnelled through at Fory and Arzweiler, respectively. There are altogether five tunnels, with a total length of 5½ miles.

The level of the water above the sea is, at Vitry, 332·62 feet; at the Mauvages summit tunnel, through the Marne-Maas divide, 922·75 feet; at Nancy, 648·10 feet; at the Vosges summit level, 873·93 feet; and at Strasburg, 444·18 feet. There are 177 locks on the canal, and the mean rise of each is 8·60 feet.

Some years since it was contemplated to increase the water supply, but the improvements were delayed by the Franco-German war, which resulted in a transfer to Germany of the Alsatian portion of the canal, and also of one of the most important sources of supply, viz. the river Soar. To render the system independent of this latter portion, in 1874 the construction of the East Canal was authorised. This commences at Givet, on the Belgian frontier, joins the Rhine-Marne Canal at Troussey, and again leaving the latter canal at Toul, follows the course of the Upper Moselle to Epinal, where it branches off in a south-westerly direction to its termination at Port-sur-Saône. The depth of water in this canal was fixed at 6 feet 6 inches.

The Rhine-Marne Canal had originally a depth of 5 feet 3 inches, a bottom breadth of 32 feet 10 inches, and sides sloped at 1½ to 1. This depth has been increased to 6 feet 6 inches, the canal bed has been cleaned and lined with concrete 6½ inches to 8½ inches thick, where necessary, and the headways of the bridges and tunnels has been raised to 12 feet 2 inches above the new water-level. Through the Mauvages tunnel a chain has been laid, and all the traffic is worked by two chain steam-tugs with fireless boilers (Francq’s patent).

The most important of the new works are those for the additional supply of water. They comprise pumping-stations at Pierre-la-Treiche and Valcourt, near Toul, at both of which the pumps are actuated by turbines, and a steam-pumping station at Vacon, as well as ducts for conveying the water from the pumping-stations to the canal, and an impounding reservoir at Paroy.

Besides the above artificial sources, the canals are fed by springs at Vacon, and by the Moselle, &c.

The arrangements at Pierre-la-Treiche and at Valcourt are nearly similar. There are two turbines, actuating force pumps, capable of raising from 143 to 198 gallons per second to a height of 131 feet 3 inches, through a line of cast-iron pipes of 2 feet 7½ inches diameter, delivering into an open duct connecting with the east end of the Pagny Reach of the canal. This duct commences at Pierre-la-Treiche, and is 8¼ miles long, and feeds both canals.

The steam pumping-station at Vacon is near the west end of the Pagny Reach. The pumps are 250 H.P., and capable of lifting 8,804,000 gallons per twenty-four hours to a height of 121 feet 4 inches, or 110 gallons per second. The water is conveyed into a duct, which also carries the water from the Vacon springs, and empties into the Pagny Reach. The reservoir at Paroy has an area of 180 acres, and contains 376,371,000 gallons. The dam is 1378 feet long, and 18 feet 3 inches high; the cost of construction was 20,800l. The canal traffic in 1884 amounted to 634,936 tons.[68]

The Canalisation of the Moselle.—The French Government, in the period from 1836 to 1860, undertook the regulation of this river from Frouard to the Prussian frontier by means of works parallel to the existing river-bed, and by embankments; but sandbanks and shoals were nevertheless deposited which impeded the navigation, and led to the proposal, in 1860, to erect a series of sluices and movable weirs extending from Frouard to Thionville, which would, if constructed, entail an estimated outlay of 11½ millions of francs, the total distance being 92 kilometres, and the minimum depth of water to be maintained being set down as 1·6 metre. Owing to the opposition of some of the Communes, who dreaded the injury to their land by the alterations in the water-level, the plans were modified, and only certain reaches of the river, where the riparian conditions were favourable, were kept up by weirs and locks, side-channels fed from the main stream being constructed to connect these deepened sections.

The Proposed Mediterranean and Biscay Canal.—The project for connecting the Mediterranean and the Bay of Biscay by a ship canal has often been under discussion, and would, no doubt, if carried out, prove of considerable utility. Not only would such a canal shorten by several days the distance between the principal ports on the North Sea and the eastern basin of the Mediterranean—thereby bringing England into closer contact with the far Orient—but there would be a greater security to shipping, as a result of avoiding the stormy coasts of Spain and Portugal during the winter months. The proposed canal has been variously named the “Canal de deux Mers,” the “Canal du Midi,” &c., but it would practically be identical with the Languedoc Canal already described, and by means of which boats of small size are even now passed between the two seas.[69]

The route proposed for the Mediterranean and Bay of Biscay Ship Canal is from Bordeaux to Cette by Agen, Montauban, Toulouse, Carcassonne, and Béziers. The canal, after following largely the course of the Garonne, from Bordeaux, would tap the Dorpt, the Lot, the Aveyron, and the Tarn, whence it would draw its water supply. From Toulouse, the canal would follow the course of the South Canal, and would thence proceed by Béziers, to the Lake of Thau, which would be transformed into an inland port. The financial and other difficulties in the way of the project have, however, proved insurmountable up to the present time. Both the City of Bordeaux, which is the port chiefly interested, and the Government of France have declined to aid in the realisation of the project; and the State has even refused to grant the necessary concession for its construction, on the ground that its cost would be quite out of proportion to its utility, that it would isolate a large portion of French territory, and that costly works would have, in any case, to be provided by the Government at both ends of the canal.

It is pointed out,[70] on the other hand, and with some force, that in the case of a maritime war between France and England, the proposed Atlantic and Mediterranean Canal would allow of vessels reaching the former sea without passing Gibraltar. Brest and Toulon could also be brought into more rapid activity, and the concentration of troops could be more readily effected. A plan and profile of the proposed route appears at p. 101.

The Rhone Canals.—At the mouth of the Rhone artificial waterways of considerable importance have been provided for navigation purposes, the chief of which, the St. Louis Canal, has a draught of water of 19⅔ feet at low sea-level; its width is 100 feet at the bottom, and 207 feet at the surface of the water.

The channel into the sea is 200 feet wide, at the bottom, from the shore out to the 4-metre (13 feet) line, and 656 feet wide from the 4-metre (13 feet) line to the 6-metre (20 feet) line. The canal is separated from the Rhone by a lock having a depth of water of 24½ feet, a depth of 72 feet, and an available length of 525 feet. Below the lock, at the commencement of the canal, a basin has been excavated, 30 acres in area, and with 20 feet depth of water. The works were begun in 1863, and finished in 1873.

The St. Louis Canal is a work of far greater importance, as regards navigation, than the results anticipated from the improvement of the mouth of the Rhone, to vessels finding a sufficient depth to get up to Arles. This depth was restricted to 6½ feet at low-water level. The St. Louis Canal Works afford access to the Rhone for vessels up to 20 feet draught, and provide these vessels with a harbour, opening into a sheltered bay, in which they are able with ease to load and discharge their cargoes.

The project of the St Louis Canal was from the first assailed by the partisans of the embankment works, as well as by those who considered that the proper expedient was to enlarge the canal from Arles to Bouc. It was urged that the canal would soon be silted up by deposits from the Rhone, both at the sea end and also at the lock. The canal from Arles to Bouc was constructed in 1802, but as it has only a depth of 6½ feet and a width of 26¼ feet on the locks, it has not been available for the craft usually navigating the Rhone since steam navigation was established.

General Features of French Canals.—The general characteristics of the principal canals of France will be understood from the following table, which gives the number of locks, the length of the locks, and their average width and depth on fifteen of the principal canals in the country, as recorded in the Government Reports on the French Waterways:—

Statement showing the number of Locks, with their length, width.
and average depth, on the chief Canals in France.

The French Assembly adopted, in August 1879, a law which decreed that the principal lines of canal communication ought to have a depth of 2 metres, and locks not less than 38 metres 50 long, by 5 metres 20 wide. In the South of France the only canals that conform to these requirements are those of the Midi and the Aulize; in Central France, the Canal du Centre, the Canal Roanne à Dijon, the Canal du Berry, and the Canal du Rhone au Rhin. The Canal de Bourgogne, the Canal de Briare, and the Canal d’Orleans, are also up to these requirements. In the north of France, and on the Belgian frontier, it may be said that all the waterways are of the required minimum dimensions.

Paris is the natural centre of the French canals. Barges find their way there from the ports of Dunkirk, Gravelines, Calais, and Havre, large quantities of coal, iron, and wheat being carried, and in the fall of the year the cargoes of numerous timber vessels are made into rafts and floated to their destination. Of late years, however, the increasing quantities of planks and deals sawn in the north, are loaded into the barges. The important coal and iron districts of Belgium, at Mons and Charleroi, provide a good deal of freight for Paris, which goes viâ Condé from the former, and viâ Landrecies from the latter, the two routes uniting at La Fere, whence the Seine, at Conflans, is reached by descending the river l’Oise. The river Rhine is communicated with at Saarbruck and Strasburg; Switzerland at Bâle, and the important ports of Marseilles and Cette by the Yonne, the Burgundy Canal, and the rivers Saône and Rhone. The western ports of Nantes, Brest, and Bordeaux have also canal communication with Paris.

The large péniches of 270 tons, which are about 116 feet long, 16 feet beam, bluff at bow and stem, and almost flat bottomed, draw 1·80 metres when loaded. They are usually worked by two men and the wife of the captain. The value of these craft, with their equipments, is from 10,000 to 15,000 francs, and they are always insured against damage or loss. In all rivers and places with the slightest risk, the use of pilots is compulsory.

During the latter part of 1888, the French Chambers had under consideration a proposal to reimpose the tolls that were formerly levied on canals and navigable rivers, but which, within recent years, have been removed. It was contended that the waterways, exempt from tolls, were likely to be dangerous rivals to the railways. The railway interest clamoured accordingly for what they called fair play. The Budget Commission, however, refused to entertain the idea of resuming the canal tolls, holding, as expressed by their spokesman, that “by developing the waterways, and thereby serving industry in the cheap transport of raw materials which were incapable of bearing a high charge for carriage, production would be increased, and the traffic of the railways in manufactured goods would be proportionately augmented.”

A considerable amount of light has been thrown upon the circumstances of the internal navigation of France by a census that was recently taken of the boats employed upon the navigable rivers and canals. This census showed that, at the end of 1887, there were employed on the national waterways no fewer than 15,730 vessels, having a total tonnage capacity of 2,724,000 metrical tons, or an average of 173 metrical tons per vessel. Of these boats, 933, with a total tonnage of 342,933, or an average of 370 tons per vessel, had a length of 38 metres 50 and over; 4863 boats, having a total tonnage of 1,415,904 metrical tons, or an average of rather under 300 tons each, had a length of 33 metres to 38 metres 50; while 9934, with a total tonnage of 965,000 tons, or an average of 96 tons, were less than 33 metres in length. Of the 15,730 vessels employed in the inland navigation of France, 14,252 were found to have been constructed in the country, 1017 in Belgium, 339 in Germany, and 122 in other countries. It would thus appear that France retains in her own hands the shipbuilding involved in the navigation of her own waterways. Finally, it appears that 8537 boats, with a total tonnage of 1,632,000 tons, were employed on the canals, and 7203 boats, with a tonnage of 1,092,000 tons, on the rivers.

It would take up far too much of our time and space if we were to attempt to speak of the resources of the principal rivers of France, and of the means that have been taken by the State to maintain and improve them. Much has been done in this direction within recent years, and more is proposed in the near future. Until quite recently, if not actually up to the present time, the cost of transporting a ton of coal from Cardiff or Newcastle to Paris has been about 16 francs, being 9 francs to Rouen, and 6 francs from Rouen to Paris, with 1 or 1½ francs for unloading into river boats at Rouen. The consumption of coal in Paris is from 2½ to 3 million tons a year, and it has been argued that the cost of this coal could be reduced to the consumers by some 6 francs if Paris were converted into a seaport by improving the Seine. One objection offered to this proposal is that it would interfere with the French collieries in the Nord and the Pas-de-Calais, if so obvious an advantage were given to English coal; and to meet this difficulty it has been proposed to have another special canal from those districts, which would start from St. Denis or Creil, and would communicate by two branches with Antin and Lens. It is argued that the cost of conveying coal from the north to Paris by this means would not exceed 2 to 2½ francs, or 4 francs less than at the present time.