With such a multiplicity of lines, it might well be imagined that railway communication between nearly all parts of the county would be well-nigh perfect. As a matter of fact, this is by no means the case; and the journey by rail from the western to the eastern side, owing to changes and delays, is so slow and tedious, that it is frequently found convenient to hold important Hertfordshire meetings, like those of the County Council, in London. As regards water-communication, the western side of the county is served by the Grand Junction Canal, which, after leaving Leighton Buzzard, enters the county near Tring, and thence runs by way of Berkhampstead, Boxmoor, Hemel Hempstead, Runton Bridge, Watford and Rickmansworth in a south-easterly and southerly direction to London. A considerable amount of barge-traffic is still carried on this canal, although nothing approaching that in pre-railway times. In those days the whole of the coal-supply for north-western Herts came by canal to Boxmoor, whence it had to be carted for long distances--some 14 miles to Harpenden, for instance. As there are at least two very steep hills--which become impossible for heavily laden teams when the roads are slippery--between Boxmoor and Harpenden, the inhabitants of the latter picturesque village were apt to run short of firing at Christmas. [Illustration: The Grand Junction Canal near Hemel Hempstead] On the other side of the county the Lea is navigable for barges as far up as Ware and Hertford; and here too a considerable amount of heavy traffic is still carried on by water. [Illustration: Haileybury College] In this place mention may conveniently be made of the New River, running from the valley of the Lea near the Rye House, at a gradually increasing distance from that river, to the metropolis. The New River, or Middleton’s Waters, as it used also to be called, was constructed in the reign of James I, at first almost entirely by Sir Hugh Middleton, but later on by a company with a special charter, for the purpose of supplying north London with drinking-water. The chief sources of the New River are the springs at Chadwell and Amwell. At the present time an original £100 share in the New River Company is worth an almost fabulous price. 20. Administration and Divisions--Ancient and Modern.