Pittsſburgh, there are only eighteen miles portage between the Juniata and Conemaugh . . and only the addition of fifteen miles and an half more at the portage from Le Bœuf to Preſqu'Iſle, which portage is, likewiſe, included in both the other communications. In this ſtatement of portages, it is ſuppoſed that the canal or lock navigation between the heads of Tulpehocken and Quitipahilla, is to be compleated; but if that work ſhould be thought too great to begin with, it will be only the addition of four miles portage, by an excellent and level road."
For many years the problem of the navigation of this westward waterway was the subject of discussion and legislation. In no case does any state seem to have profited by the experience of any other. New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland each boldly attacked the problem of the improvement of their rivers, the Mohawk, Juniata, and Potomac, without in the least profiting by the experience of the others. It was New York which first broke away from the old ideas, upon which millions of dollars had been squandered,
