The obstacles encountered at the West end of the Tunnel, which had been foreseen and understood from the beginning, by the friends of the enterprise, appear to have first engaged the observation of our inspector, and are represented as a startling and recent discovery. The well known effect of water upon the soft material in this locality is described as "rock demoralized" into "porridge," and this "porridge" is represented as a difficulty of such serious nature that "the managers are at their wits' ends." Mr. James Laurie, an eminent civil engineer, employed by the commissioners to make a survey, in his able report in January of 1863, says "the portions of the Hoosac Tunnel embraced between the Western entrance and the present shaft, a distance of 3008 feet, will, from all indications, be the most troublesome and expensive. The material consists of gravel, clay, sand, detached beds of quartzose sandstone, some of which is partly decomposed, and limestone. The whole formation is full of springs. _However bad the material may prove_, this part, under proper management, can be completed long before the rest of the Tunnel." Mr. Bird says, "Common men, and some uncommon men, too, look upon these difficulties as insuperable." Those who can, for a moment, weigh the opinion of the accomplished and experienced engineer, Mr. Laurie, with that of Mr. F. W. Bird, of Walpole, may relieve their doubts by referring to Mr. Storrow's report on the European tunnels, in a very large proportion of which the most formidable kind of "porridge" was encountered and subdued. Mr. Bird observed the Western shaft. The work at the Western face of this shaft was suspended on account of imminent danger of "porridge" and our observer's most important criticism here, is that they were, at the time of his visit, advancing on the Eastern face of the shaft, at the rate of only "thirteen feet weekly," that is fifty-two _feet per month_. Mr. Storrow says the average progress in the European tunnels was about thirty _feet per month_. The Central shaft was visited, and Mr. Bird does not appear to have observed anything which demanded an expression of his disapproval. The work was progressing at the rate of twenty-two feet a month, and the pumps gave a gallon and a half of water per minute. In constructing the Kilsey Tunnel, in England, Mr. Storrow says that during a considerable portion of nine months, the water pumped out was two thousand gallons a minute. Mr. Bird's report of progress at the East end was certainly very encouraging the heading having been advanced successfully during the two months preceding his visit, at the rate of sixty-five feet per month, and the work was being pushed with vigor and activity.