Admiral Lord Clarence Paget undertook, in 1881, a canal voyage through this Canal, of which he has supplied some interesting particulars. The yacht, the _Miranda_, was 85 feet over all, 11 feet beam, and 4 feet 8 inches draught of water. She carried 6½ tons of coal, equal to about eight days’ consumption, at full speed. “Originally,” writes Lord Clarence, “the canal, which immortalised its constructor, P. P. Riquet, was only intended to connect the head waters of the Garonne at Toulouse with the Mediterranean, and it was opened with great pomp and ceremony by Louis XIV. in 1681, but it was soon found inadequate to the purposes required, as the Garonne was subject to all sorts of vicissitudes of drought and floods. “It was not, however, till our own times that the ‘Canal Latéral,’ between Toulouse and near Bordeaux, has been completed, and, curiously enough, just at the moment when the railway between Bordeaux and Cette has almost entirely absorbed the traffic. So here is this magnificent canal, with its 99 locks and its viaducts and bridges comparatively unused, save by an occasional barge loaded with wine. Nevertheless, it is kept in admirable order, and the passage can be made, with certain precautions, without any difficulty. “A pleasant, though not very picturesque voyage of thirty miles of river, brought us to the entrance of the canal. It was necessary to put on our canal screw before entering, so we laid the vessel on the ground, and entered on the following tide, through the lock, which is double, or rather twin, so that two vessels can pass at the same time. The dimensions of this, and indeed all the locks, are as follows:—Length, 28 metres; breadth, 5·80 metres; depth, 1·60 metres. The height of the bridges varies, but no vessel is allowed to pass which is higher above the level of the canal than 2·72 metres. “Thus, it will be seen that we had about six feet of length, and five feet of width, to spare, one foot of height, and one foot under our bottom; nor is this by any means too large a margin, since, however well a vessel may be steered, and however quickly stopped, it is impossible at all times, particularly if there be a strong breeze, to ensure her entry into the locks with exactly sufficient speed. Moreover it is quite necessary that a boat should be afloat, to make a rope fast to the shore, where the canal has very sharp curves, as is the case in the old part of it, between Toulouse and Cette; and inasmuch as the boat cannot be hoisted up to davits or inboards, it will be manifest that room must be left for her in the lock. We had just room under the stern for one 13 feet boat athwart. The safe passage through the first lock and under the first bridge caused us pleasant anticipations.