Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1815-11-08


but they have all tailed for he want Of en-
terprlze and do not believe, that any o.
ther Will be made, until we can either open
direct communication with the sea, or I.
| much better one than we seem likely 70
Fave soon with your state +; for, should the
navigation Of the river be made as gooc a.
bove 1t is below the falls. the valuable
! produce Of the Upper Country would, not
withStanding, seek a market in your state,
| as we cannot expect 70 have any that will
| rival them, whilst our Outlet to the Sea re-
mains so choaked up { T., should the Ca
nal, which has been cut from Pasquo-
| tank to Elizabeth, even be made as c5-
| tensivc as the nature of the case would re-
| qure, still It is questionable, whether it
/ would affect the trade ofRolnoke as the
| voyage from the Upper Country to Norfolk
| would be very tedious aud hazardous, unless
| we could use Steam Machinery, for which
| the boats of the river would be too small,
as they would also be for navigating Abe
marie Sound, which they would have to
| descend for 40 miles, where the water is
wide and not little dangerous at times tor
large vessels, the wind having sweep up
it for 60 or 20 miles. There must then be
a re-shipmcrt at Plymouth, near the mouth
| of the River, and another at the Canal, un-
less that should be SO decpcnci and widen
ed as to admit boats which could safely na-
vgate the Sound which is not the case at
present for. there is not only great def
cheney OF water, owing TO the Canal having
been dug too shallow in the first instance.
its having fl ed up from the earth hav-
ing been careless,y thrown on the banks, or
from the want Ola proper reservoir. which
hear they have lately supplied by digging
a can from Lake Drumrlond, but to whct
extent have nos heard but the G anal is
also too narrow, being only about 10 feet,
whereas the Law, which Incorporates the
Company. requires, that it shall be IS feet
wide b. fore any tolls shall! be demand q
VIII ch will prob bly, never b. done Ger, the
trouble of widening'now would be very great:
and should even this be done, still think
that the canal would NOT be used, except
for the lumber, Sl-. OF the adjacent com
try. But. if we couid open good Inlet
directly from the Sea, which / have no
doubt isquite practicable, the waole trade
of tile Upper Country would Soon be divert
ell down the Roanoke, and its 70 ks an
Catara is woul 81 k before it. as the Aims
did Def re Hannibal From the mou' h
OF the River to the Sea, is about so niles
down the AlbemarieS und, which runs al
most directly east, until il @ is within less
than halfa mile of the Ocean. where it IS
hemmed out by a body of sand, c-,ilel the
Banks, which run all along our coasts, and
are separated frrm the main land by TO
dy OF Shoaly Water, called the Scum, of
about mile in width. These Banks are
cut through at several places, and form In
lets which are more or less used. 1t is
understood, that there was one at the foot
OF Albemarle Sound near a place called
Nays Head. where it is supposed that Sir
w. Raleigh's slips came in, which is now
filed up by the sand from the Banks, aid
by the foods Of the Roanoke having bro
ken through and partly washed away
marshy point OF Land winch separated Al
bemarle frsm Pamptico Sound, so that now
the trade of Roanoke, ChOwan, Mcherrin,
&c. is obliged to get to Sea through this
wash or Swaah, as it is called, the Chan
mel or which is very crooked, frequent
~ shifts, and is surrounded on all sides by
Shoals, which make the navigation ex-
ceedlngly critical, and TO vessel drawing
over eight feet water, can pass at ALL
Where's, fthe old Inlet could be opened,
vessel of almost any size might come I'D
in short time to the mouth of the Roam
oSe, or ascend the Chowan to ies head
for, that is fine bold stream. An attemDt
to open this Inlet was made more than 20
years ago by the people of EdeIton. They
went down i'll their boats with their hands.
and their spades and mattocks, and a
plentiful supply of grog; and actually cut
canal IN, think, about week, down lc-
vel with the water, and then they returned
home, fully expecting that the Elements
would do the rest for them but, they neg
iccted to propitiate old Neptune by po-r-
ing out some of Their grog for him, and he
proved to be unkiad, for, in a short time
there came storm which blew coastyavs
and completely filled up their ditch Since
tnen, no further attempt has been made, it
oemg considered that it will be impossible
to keep the Inlet from filling up, and our
hopes have been since turned towards YOUR
state, and Canals TO lead our trade th,her |
from v'rious points have oeen cnntemvla-
ted by wise men Of both States, very fool |
ishiy on the part of ours but wisely bv
yours, especially if the thing was as pr c. |
tic.be as they would have US to believe But |
am well convinced, that they are greatly |
mistaken, as it would require more than |
double the time and eSpence to make Ell |
ther OF the Canals, which have been spoken |
OF, than it would effectually to open the |
Inlet. am no Engineer, and have bu; lit |
tie, very tile knowledge of such things |
but these are positions which all will as |
sent to. 1t will be a trilng Job to open the |
lnlet because the distance is quite shori, |
and every one agrees, that if the SWISH l
can be filed up, the Inlet can easily b. |
kept open + then, the foods If the |
River would keep it open, as they could I
find passage to me Sea in no other WAY. /
This Sws sh may be filed up, as the people !
OF France hlled up like space at Cher |