effectually opened up for navigation, and a convenient transit

afforded for coals and other articles of consumption. Wisbeach
became accessible to vessels of much larger burden, and in the

course of a few years after the construction of the Nene Outfall,
the trade of the port had more than doubled. Mr. Telford himself,

towards the close of his life, spoke with natural pride of the
improvements which he had thus been in so great a measure

instrumental in carrying out, and which had so materially promoted
the comfort, prosperity, and welfare of a very extensive

district.*[3]
We may mention, as a remarkable effect of the opening of the new

outfall, that in a few hours the lowering of the waters was felt
throughout the whole of the Fen level. The sluggish and stagnant

drains, cuts, and leams in far distant places, began actually to
flow; and the sensation created was such, that at Thorney, near

Peterborough, some fifteen miles from the sea, the intelligence
penetrated even to the congregation then sitting in church--for it

was Sunday morning--that "the waters were running!" when
immediately the whole flocked out, parson and all, to see the great

sight, and acknowledge the blessings of science. A humble Fen poet
of the last century thus quaintly predicted the moral results

likely to arise from the improved drainage of his native district:-
"With a change of elements suddenly

There shall a change of men and manners be;
Hearts thick and tough as hides shall feel remorse,

And souls of sedge shall understand discourse;
New hands shall learn to work, forget to steal,

New legs shall go to church, new knees to kneel."
The prophecy has indeed been fulfilled. The barbarous race of

Fen-men has disappeared before the skill of the engineer. As the
land has been drained, the half-starved fowlers and fen-roamers

have subsided into the ranks of steady industry--become farmers,
traders, and labourers. The plough has passed over the bed of

Holland Fen, and the agriculturist reaps his increase more than a
hundred fold.. Wide watery wastes, formerly abounding in fish,

are now covered with waving crops of corn every summer. Sheep graze
on the dry bottom of Whittlesea Mere, and kine low where not many

years since the silence of the waste was only disturbed by the
croaking of frogs and the screaming of wild fowl. All this has been

the result of the science of the engineer, the enterprise of the
landowner, and the industry of our peaceful army of skilled

labourers.*[4]
Footnotes for Chapter XIII.

*[1] Telford's Life, p261
*[2] The piers are built internally with hollow compartments, as at

the Menai Bridge, the side walls being 3 feet thick and the cross
walls 2 feet. Projecting from the piers and abutments are pilasters

of solid masonry. The main arches have their springing 70 feet from
the foundations and rise 30 feet; and at 20 feet higher, other

arches, of 96 feet span and 10 feet rise, are constructed; the face
of these, projecting before the main arches and spandrels,

producing a distinctexternal soffit of 5 feet in breadth.
This, with the peculiar piers, constitutes the principaldistinctive

feature in the, bridge.
*[3] "The Nene Outfall channel," says Mr. Tycho Wing,

"was projected by the late Mr. Rennie in 1814, and executed jointly
by Mr. Telford and the present Sir John Rennie. But the scheme of

the North Level Drainage was eminently the work of Mr. Telford,
and was undertaken upon his advice and responsibility, when only a

few persons engaged in the Nene Outfall believed that the latter
could be made, or if made, that it could be maintained. Mr. Telford

distinguished himself by his foresight and judicious counsels at
the most critical periods of that great measure, by his unfailing

confidence in its success, and by the boldness and sagacity which
prompted him to advise the making of the North Level drainage, in

full expectation of the results for the sake of which the Nene
Outfall was undertaken, and which are now realised to the extent of

the most sanguine hopes."
*[4] Now that the land actually won has been made so richly

productive, the engineer is at work with magnificentschemes of
reclamation of lands at present submerged by the sea. The Norfolk

Estuary Company have a scheme for reclaiming 50,000 acres; the
Lincolnshire Estuary Company, 30,000 acres; and the Victoria Level

Company, 150,000 acres--all from the estuary of the Wash. By the
process called warping, the land is steadily advancing upon the

ocean, and before many years have passed, thousands of acres of the
Victoria Level will have been reclaimed for purposes of

agriculture.
CHAPTER XIV.

SOUTHEY'S TOUR IN THE HIGHLANDS.
While Telford's Highland works were in full progress, he persuaded

his friend Southey, the Poet Laureate, to accompany him on one of
his visits of inspection, as far north as the county of Sutherland,

in the autumn of 1819. Mr. Southey, as was his custom, made careful
notes of the tour, which have been preserved,*[1] and consist in a

great measure of an interesting resume of the engineer's operations
in harbour-making, road-making, and canal-making north of the Tweed.

Southey reached Edinburgh by the Carlisle mail about the middle of
August, and was there joined by Mr. Telford, and Mr. and Mrs.

Rickman,*[2] who were to accompany him on the journey. They first
proceeded to Linlithgow, Bannockburn,*[3] Stirling, Callendar, the

Trosachs, and round by the head of Loch Earn to Killin, Kenmore,
and by Aberfeldy to Dunkeld. At the latter place, the poet admired

Telford's beautiful bridge, which forms a fine feature in the
foreground of the incomparable picture which the scenery of Dunkeld

always presents in whateveraspect it is viewed.
From Dunkeld the party proceeded to Dundee, along the left bank of

the Firth of Tay. The works connected with the new harbour were in
active progress, and the engineer lost no time in taking his friend

to see them. Southey's account is as follows:--
"Before breakfast I went with Mr. Telford to the harbour, to look

at his works, which are of great magnitude and importance: a huge
floating dock, and the finest graving dock I ever saw. The town

expends 70,000L. on these improvements, which will be completed in
another year. What they take from the excavations serves to raise

ground which was formerly covered by the tide, but will now be of
the greatest value for wharfs, yards, &c. The local authorities

originally proposed to build fifteen piers, but Telford assured
them that three would be sufficient; and, in telling me this, he

said the creation of fifteen new Scotch peers was too strong a
measure....

"Telford's is a happy life; everywhere making roads, building
bridges, forming canals, and creating harbours--works of sure,

solid, permanentutility; everywhere employing a great number of
persons, selecting the most meritorious, and putting them forward

in the world in his own way."
After the inspection at Dundee was over, the party proceeded on

their journey northward, along the east coast:--
"Near Gourdon or Bervie harbour, which is about a mile and a half

on this side the town, we met Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Gibbs, two of
Mr. Telford's aides-de-camp, who had come thus far to meet him. The

former he calls his 'Tartar,' from his cast of countenance, which
is very much like a Tartar's, as well as from his Tartar-like mode

of life; for, in his office of overseer of the roads, which are
under the management of the Commissioners, he travels on horseback

not less than 6000 miles a year. Mr. Telford found him in the
situation of a working mason, who could scarcely read or write; but

noticing him for his good conduct, his activity, and his firm
steady character, he, has brought him forward; and Mitchell now

holds a post of respectability and importance, and performs his