reducing his expenses at one period to the modest sum of £400 per annum. Before his death, the Duke, for taxation purposes, estimated his income at £110,000 per annum. Before the railway system was fully established a network of canals had united the most populous places in England, the total length of the waterways being not much less than two thousand miles. With the rise of railways the importance of canals as channels for the conveyance of merchandise declined. But, nevertheless, in consequence of the continued increase of traffic and the great cheapness with which goods can be carried by water, canals are often able to compete with railways in the carriage of bulky or heavy goods when speed of transit is not an object. The English canals have, therefore, never been disused or abandoned, notwithstanding the ubiquitous ramifications of the railway lines. Nay, the value of the Bridgewater Canal system, about to be superseded so far as concerns the communication between Liverpool and Manchester by the greater scheme we have presently to describe, is such that £1,710,000 is now required for its purchase; and that is the value in spite of four lines of railway connecting those great towns, and all competing for the carriage of goods. In these canals, designed for inland communication only, the navigation is confined to boats or barges of very insignificant dimensions compared with the sea-going ships that some great modern canals are constructed to receive. To the present century belongs the famous “Caledonian Canal,” as the waterway is often called that extends in a straight line for more than 60 miles across Scotland, in north-east and south-west directions. The canal work here was commenced in 1802, under the direction of Telford, and though it was opened for traffic in 1822, the work as it now exists was not completed until 1847. But the length of the actual canal construction in this case did not much exceed 23 miles, for a natural waterway, navigable for ships of any burden, is formed by the series of narrow lakes that fill what is called the “Great Glen of the Highlands.” This glen has many of the characteristics of a great artificial ditch: its highest point is only 90 feet above the tide level in Loch Linnhe; a circumstance not a little remarkable in so mountainous a country. What is also remarkable is the great depth of these lakes, which in some places exceeds 900 feet. The banks also are generally very steep, and indeed at one time it was impracticable to pass along the shores of Loch Ness, the longest of the lakes. But there are now good roads along both banks. Although the ground traversed by the artificial channels of the Caledonian Canal is chiefly alluvial, the cost of the undertaking proved to be great, amounting, it is said, to about one and a quarter million pounds sterling. Indeed, had it not been for the introduction of steam navigation before the completion of the work, and the consequent