CANADIAN CANALS. The outstanding feature of water transportation in Canada is the Saint Lawrence system of rivers and lakes stretching from the Strait of Belle Isle to the head of Lake Superior —a distance of 2,340 miles. The shoals of the Saint Lawrence River in Lake Saint Peter between Quebec and Montreal have been dredged to give a waterway with a minimum of 30 feet in depth. Above Montreal the difficulties to navigation begin, and here begin a, series of canals which over come rapids and other obstacles. This work of canalizing the Saint Lawrence was not ef fectively begun till about 60 years after the British occupation. The canal system then embarked upon has been subsequently improved and enlarged, and in 1875 it was decided to increase their depths to a minimum of 14 feet. There is a difference in level between Lake Superior and tidewater of 600 feet, the total length of the canalization at different points being 73 miles. The following gives a summary of traffic during the past five years: 1911, 38, 030,353 tons, of which 20.5 per cent was freight of Canadian origin, and the balance American; 1912, 47,587,245 tons (19.7 Canadian) • 1913, 52,053,913 tons (21.3 Canadian) ; 1914, 37,023,237 tons (25.3 Canadian); 1915, 15,198,803 tons (44.7 Canadian). It will be Observed that 1915 shows the extraordinary decrease of 21,824,434 tons, or 58.9 per cent, over the figures of 1914. Of that decrease 91 per cent occurred at Sault Sainte Marie (see p. 477, Sault Sainte Marie Canal). The canals of Canada, like those of the United States, are free of toll or restric tions of any kind, and there is thus absolute reciprocity in the use made of them by the vessels of each nation. The following is a brief summary of the principal canals of Canada: Saint Lawrence Saint Law rence canals, Lachine, Soulanges, Cornwall and Williamsburg, had a total traffic of 3,409,467 tons in 1915, a decrease of 982,026 tons over the figures of 1914.
Lachine canal was built across a portion of the island of Montreal in order to avoid the Lachine Rapids. It was
opened in 1824, and has been subsequently enlarged three times. The present canal has five locks 275 feet long, of which two have a depth of 18 feet of water on the sills.
Soulanges Canal.-- Between Lake Saint Louis and Lake Saint Francis three rapids are passed— the Cascades, the Cedars and the Coteau. In order to avoid these rapids the Beauharnois Canal was built on the south shore of the river and completed in 1845. It was 11Y2 miles in length, with nine locks. The Soulanges Canal, completed in 1899, and built on the north shore, has now superseded the Beauharnois Canal. Its length is 14 miles, and it has a depth of 15 feet of water available on the sills.
Cornwall Canal.— The Cornwall Canal was built to overcome the Long Sault Rapids at the head of Lake Saint Francis. It extends from Cornwall to Dickinson's Landing, and was opened for navigation in 1843.
Williamsburg These begin with the Farran's Point Canal, five miles above the Cornwall Canal, and are continued by the canals at Rapide Plat and the Galops. They were completed and opened for navigation in 1846-47, and have been recently deepened and enlarged.
Chambly The Chambly Canal at one time formed an important link in the chain of communication between the Saint Lawrence and the Hudson River via Lake Chainplain. A lock at Saint Ours, 14 miles above Sorel, was finished in 1839. The Chambly Canal was opened in 1843, but was improved in 1850, giv ing a navigable depth of. about seven feet of water. The canal is 12 miles long, the connec tion from Lake Champlain being by the Cham plain Canal, built in 1822. The Chambly Canal, owing to the building of railways and the in creased draught of vessels, is now of little commercial importance, and is chiefly used by barges carrying lumber from the Ottawa River to New York. In 1915 478,707 tons passed through, an increase of 41,802 tons over the preceding year.