Chap. VI.

FRANCE.

245

supply of oil, which by means of machinery was made to overflow the wicks continually,ami a sufficient quantity of air was obtained through the aperture of a lofty chimney ; theoil of colza, which is produced by the seed of the wild cabbage, is made use of, and insome instances coal gas has been employed.

Navigable Canals in France _Among the first formed since the Roman a?ra was that of

the Centre or of Charolais , which extended from the Saone to the Loire : its utility willbe seen at a glance on the map ; the great facility of execution it presented, and con-sequently its small expense, compared with that of other canals, had long attracted theattention of the government, and it was begun at the commencement of the reign ofFrantjois I., the epoch of great undertakings. In 1555, Adam de Crapone, who executed thefirst canals used for irrigation in France , proposed to Henry 11. the cutting that of Charolais ,and some portion of the work was probably done by f this engineer. Under Henry IV. in 1605, it was continued, and the canal of Briare, executed to form a junction of two greatrivers, was commenced, when Sully perceived that, if the latter was united to that of Charo­ lais , it would form an important line of communication: the most ancient account of thiswork in detail is by Charles Bernard, printed in 1613, and dedicated to Jeannin, Ministerof Finance under Henry IV . It is there stated, that those who have examined the dif-ferent projects proposed for joining the two seas in the centre of the kingdom, are agreedthat the Lake of Longpendu, equidistant from the Loire and the Saone , which are only17 or 18 leagues from each other, should be the point of junction ; that from this lake issuedtwo rivers, one called Bourbince, which flows into the Loire at Digoin , and the other calledthe Dhcune, which runs into the Saone near Verdun ; that the country is sufficiently level;that there are several other lakes and rivulets, by which the two rivers may be abundantlysupplied, and that with locks and gates they might be made navigable: but he adds thatthe Bourbince has 69 feet fall, and the Dheune 75 feet, by which it appears they had nottaken the falls, or not accurately, since that of the Bourbince is four times greater, andthat of the Dhcune nearly six times, than what is stated. He makes from six to sevenmillions cube metres of earth to be removed, which is nearly the truth. The president Jeanninalso caused a detailed examination to be made of the different projects which had been pro-posed for the canals of Burgundy , and it was determined to execute that of Charolais , inpreference to one passing through Dijon ; and in 1605, the canal of Briare, which forms aportion of it, was began. In 1612, Descures, Intendant of the river Loire , was sent bythe king to examine the project for the junction of the Saone and the Loire , by the meansof the rivers Bourbince and Dheune. In his report he shows the possibility of unitingthem, and in 1613, the order was given for its commencement, the contract being for800,000 livres ; this was probably for only a portion of it; the project was, however, thenabandoned ; the Marquis Effiat made a new attempt in 1627 ; a proccs verbal was drawnup in 1632 by Gerard, Lieutenant-general of the Charolais , commending its utility ; thecanal of Briare begun in 1605 had been discontinued; it was re-undertaken in 1638 byorder of Cardinal de Richelieu by a number of contractors, who finished it in 1642.

As this canal only united two rivers which flowed into the same sea, and the principalobject in view was their junction with the Saone , which flows into the Mediterranean , afterhaving united with the Rhone , the minister in the same year undertook this last project,and appropriated for its cost 950,000 livres ; the execution, however, was delayed,probably from the cardinal dying that year; it was renewed in 1655 under Colbert;the intendant and members for Burgundy were charged to examine the project inconjunction with Franchim, a skilful engineer, then employed in the water-works atVersailles . The Sieur Chamois, architect of the king, also assisted. They thought thatby rendering the rivers Dheune and Bourbince navigable by means of locks, the purposewould be answered; and they made a design which was approved. In 1665 the kingdemanded of the States of Burgundy a contribution to defray one-half the expenses of thiscanal ; 600,000 livres was granted, payable in four years, on condition that the king con-tributed the remainder, without the province being called upon to furnish a larger sum, andthat the 600,000 livres should be specially employed to re-imburse the proprietors. Theking, at their request, established a duty on salt; the act was published in 1666, in thetowns of Dijon , Chalons, Beaune ; at the same time Riquet was superintendant for the pro-jected canal of Languedoc ; he had already made experiments for bringing water to it,which decided the government on the subject; in 1666, a design was made, and its com-mencement took place in the same year : the 19th of February, 1667, an order in councilwas issued, by which the king postponed for a time the canal of Charolais , and authorised Ithe members for Burgundy to employ the sum of 600,000 livres, which had been grantedby the states, in establishing manufactories, and partly in liquidating various debts:the canal of Languedoc was completed in 1682. Louis XI \. was desirous to bring theriver Eure to Versailles , and commanded the aqueduct of Maintenon to be constructed,which was afterwards abandoned ; the expenses incurred by various fortifications preventingthis monarch from employing any money in civil improvements, \auban. however, studiedthe commercial interests of the kingdom, and seeing that the junction of the Saone and

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