RECAPITULATION

Of the estimates of cost of procuring a navigable Channel throughout the whole of the Rapids of the River St. Lawrence from Prescott to the head of the Lachine Canal, by removing the obstructions, that Channel to be 200 feet wide and between 12 and 13 feet deep at low summer water.

It results from the examination made by the undersigned, and upon which they have the honor of reporting above:

1st. That the River St. Lawrence in its present condition may be considered navigable during low summer water from Prescott to the foot of Lake St. Francis for vessels drawing 8 feet, also through Lake St. Louis for vessels drawing 8 feet or even 10 feet, and between Lakes St. Francis and St. Louis for vessels drawing 6 feet, and during the higher stages of water by vessels respectively of a somewhat heavier draft, however not exceeding respectively 8 1/2 and 6 1/2 feet.

2nd. That to make it perfectly navigable throughout, from Prescott to the head of the Lachine Canal, for vessels drawing 10 feet, will require the removal of obstructions in the Galoppe Rapids, the North Channel of the Long Sault, the Coteau, Cedars, and Cascades Rapids.

3rd. That the practicability of removing those obstructions by means of sub-marine blasting, &c., has been ascertained by actual experiment in different portions of the Coteau Rapids; and

4th. That the cost of the whole improvement will not exceed £180,000.

In submitting the above Report and accompanying Maps, which are the result of nearly six months of uninterrupted labor on the River, the undersigned beg leave respectfully to remark that, in the pursuance of their work in the field, as well as in framing their Report, they have been governed throughout by the desire of collecting and conveying as much information as possible, but at the same time of keeping strictly within the limits assigned by their instructions. That for this reason they have refrained from discussing in the present Report the importance of the improvement contemplated, and the different plans for making the St. Lawrence navigable, which have been proposed by others; that, however, at the same time they have at no moment lost sight of the magnitude of the object in view, and the importance of the investigation with which they have been entrusted, that they have spared no effort to make their Report correct and reliable, and shun no danger where, to obtain information, it was deemed necessary to encounter it. They beg leave also gratefully to acknowledge the ability and cheerfulness with which they have been sustained throughout by their different assistants, whom even serious accidents could not dishearten, and in concluding, would express the hope that, in judging of their labors, the Honorable the Commissioners of Public Works will be pleased to take into consideration the peculiar difficulties with which operations of this kind are necessarily attended.

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