distance the stream winds tortuously through an alluvial region lined on either side with a nearly continuous fringe of timber.

The banks are generally sufficiently elevated, but in many places lined with overhanging trees. At one or two places small ledges of rock cross the stream, but the bed is generally sandy. Subjected to freshets, which attain a considerable elevation, the bed has by them been widened to such an extent that the volume of water in the river at low stage is insufficient to maintain a useful depth with the present width. In addition, the freshets annually sweep from the banks large numbers of trees, which are deposited along the river-bed, forming nucleuses for bars, rafts, &c. The peculiar succession of pools and shallows found throughout this section, without any apparent change in the nature of the bed, its hardness, width, and declivity, may be accounted for by the supposition that the gradual accumulation of sunken logs have formed dams, which are now covered with sand and gravel.

The length of the line requiring improvement, and its consequent cost under any plan, render it essential that the depth of water attempted to be maintained should be no more than is necessary to afford a continuous navigation from Weldon to Norfolk, Baltimore, &c. When it was proposed, in 1822, to improve this river, under the authority of the State of North Carolina, the engineer, Mr. Fulton, decided that 5 feet at low stages was enough. Mr. Elliott estimates that to give a low-water channel-way in the river, below Weldon, 60 feet in width and 5 feet deep, would require an expenditure of about $80,000. This sum should be increased by at least 75 per cent., or made $140,000, to include the improvement (by the same methods) of those bars, &c., which Mr. Elliott was unable to examine carefully, but whose general character is the same as of those he did examine. We may properly deduct from the sum last mentioned, viz, $140,000, the amount of the appropriation for this river under the act of March 3, 1871, $20,000, leaving $120,000 to be still provided.

It is, however, my belief that, owing to the causes mentioned already in this report, viz, the prevalence of frequent high freshets, and their effects on the bed of the stream, such an improvement as is contem plated by Mr. Elliott's estimate would not be permanent. The circumstances of the case seem to require a resort to the use of training-dikes, (of piles wattled with saplings,) in order to a contraction of the lowwater width of the stream. By this expedient it is highly probable a low-water depth of 5 feet may be obtained and maintained without resort to dredging. The positions of the dikes, as proposed, are indicated on the maps herewith. An estimate is presented below for this method of improvement:

From which deduct amount yet unpledged of the appropriation of 1871, leaving to be still appropriated $259,000.

It has been suggested that the interests involved justify and demand the maintenance in this river, below Weldon, of a depth at all seasons at not less than 8 feet. To do so would probably require an additional expenditure of not less than $250,000. It is by no means certain that to obtain and maintain a depth of 8 feet is possible. To settle this ques

tion would require a very careful gauging of the stream, at all seasons, by observations extending over a long time.

If money is appropriated to maintain a depth of not less than 5 feet at all stages of water, it will be time enough, while that operation is in progress, for a careful collection of the data necessary to decide as to the propriety of attempting a greater depth.

The Roanoke River is situated in the collection-district of Albemarle, North Carolina, above Edenton, the port of entry, which is nearly opposite the mouth of the Roanoke River.

At the port of Edenton, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1871, the revenue collected from all sources is stated by the collector to have amounted to $1,018.

Edenton is the only port of entry for its collection-district, but the following ports of delivery are situated on the Roanoke River, viz, Plymouth and Wilmington. Freight is shipped by steamer from and landed at Jamesville, Hamilton, Hill's Ferry, and other landings, including Weldon.

Collector Manning, in an interesting communication, says:

The foreign import and export trade of this collection-district is small, but the coastwise trade is of considerable importance, as nearly all our products are shipped to the northern markets, and large freights of merchandise are constantly being transported to merchants, planters, and others doing business at various places on the Roanoke River.

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It may safely be computed that the value of products carried out of the section of country bordering on the Roanoke River and its tributaries will annually amount to over $2,000,000, and the amount of merchandise purchased at the North and brought to that portion of this district will amount to over $1,500,000.

Papers are transmitted herewith, as follows, viz: Report of Mr. George H. Elliott, dated April 28, 1871; map of his survey, in six sheets; communication from Mr. C. G. Manning, collector at Edenton, North Carolina, dated August 7, 1871.

Respectfully submitted.

Brigadier-General A. A. HUMPHREYS,

WM. P. CRAIGHILL,

Major of Engineers.

Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., Washington, D. C.

UNITED STATES ENGINEER OFFICE, Baltimore, Maryland, April 28, 1871. COLONEL: In compliance with your instructions I have the honor to subinit report on the survey of the Roanoke River, from Weldon to Plymouth, North Carolina, niade under your direction during the months of November and December, 1870, and January and February, 1871.

The survey was commenced at Weldon, and followed the course of the stream to a short distance below Plymouth, or some six miles from the mouth of the river, where it empties into Albemarle Sound. From the commencement to the termination of the survey, freshets in the river were quite frequent, which not only interrupted and retarded operations, but rendered the survey incomplete at various points where critical examination was necessary, but could not be made owing to the high water.

The towns on the river below Weldon are Halifax, the county-seat of Halifax County, Palmyra, at Hill's Ferry Landing, Hamilton, Williamston, the county-seat of Martin County, Jamesville, and Plymouth, and are respectively distant from Weldon, following the course of the river, ten, fifty, sixty-eight, ninety-two, one hundred and ten, and one hundred and twenty-two miles. In addition to these towns there are numerous intermediate landings. With the exception of Weldon and Halifax, none of these places have any railroad communication, except at such distances as to make freights too expensive, and they are consequently dependent for their supplies upon the steamers running up and down the river. A railroad has been partially constructed to connect Williamston with Tarborough, distant thirty-eight miles, the terminus of a branch of

the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, but judging from the progress made in the past, it is not likely to be completed for some time.

Weldon, from the rocks and rapids in the river, is the limit of navigation from Albemarle Sound; it is situated in the county of Halifax, eighty miles distant from Norfolk, with which place it is connected by a railroad, and is chiefly important as being the common center of four railroads, viz, the Seaboard and Roanoke, Petersburgh and Weldon, Wilmington and Weldon, and Raleigh and Gaston. It has a grist-mill and an iron-foundery; the latter is almost exclusively devoted to the manufacture of plows and other agricultural implements, which are much used in the country adjacent to the Roanoke. These works derive their power from a canal, originally constructed to boat produce from above the falls; but as it is to a considerable extent filled up, it has not been used for this purpose of late years.

The falls afford a fine water-power, and the position of Weldon, within a short distance of and with easy access to the sea-board, in a country producing large quantities of cotton, where fuel is abundant and provisions can be readily procured, points it out as an admirable site for manufacturing purposes.

When the stage of water will permit, the steamer Silver Wave (load-draught 42 inches) makes regular trips twice or thrice a week down the river, from Weldon to Norfleet's Ferry, a distance of thirty-two miles, carrying supplies and bringing up the products of the country, to be shipped from Weldon, principally to the sea-board.

Below Weldon the Roanoke flows along the borders of the counties of Halifax, Northampton, Bertie, and Martin, and, near its month, Washington, a section of country of great fertility, which, previous to the war, produced large quantities of grain and meat. One planter alone shipped more than one hundred thousand bushels of corn annually, and several thousand hogs were every year driven and shipped from the country immediately on the river in Halifax County alone, principally to Virginia.

Since the war, owing to the almost entire destruction of the dams built to prevent the lowlands from inundation, only the highlands have been cultivated, and these almost exclusively in cotton, the quantity of cereals at present produced being inadequate to the wants of the inhabitants. In the lower country, extending some thirtyfive to forty miles above the mouth of the river, the manufacture of shingles is carried on very extensively; it is estimated that from fifteen to twenty millions are made and shipped annually. Large quantities of timber are also gotten out and transported North to be manufactured into lumber.

Halifax, the county-seat of that name, is situated a short distance from the river on the west bank, ten miles below Weldon, and on the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, over which most of the freight to and from Halifax is forwarded; it has no manufactories.

Five miles back from the river, at Smith's Landing, is the small town of Scotland Neck, where considerable business is done, which receives and forwards nearly all its freight by the river-steamers, it being twenty miles distant from the nearest railroad depot. Halifax.

Palmyra, one mile back from Hill's Ferry Landing, is situated on the boundary of Halifax and Martin Counties, on the west bank of the river, fifty miles below Weldon. The produce of a considerable portion of the back country is collected here for shipment to Norfolk by steamers, of which three to five leave weekly, except during the low-water stages, when they cannot come up as high as this point.

Hamilton, situated about one mile from the river, on the west bank, is a small town, where the inhabitants of the surrounding country purchase their supplies and bring their produce for shipment.

Williamston, the county-seat of Martin County, is situated on the west bank of the river, distant about one mile. It is the largest town on the river, and has a population of about 900. A railroad to Tarborough has been partially constructed, but it is doubtful if it will be completed for a long time. The shipments from Williamston are principally shingles, although some cotton is shipped. Previous to the late war large quantities of tar were manufactured in this vicinity, but this branch is now entirely abandoned. Several lumbermen from the North make this their headquarters, and during the dry season have large quantities of logs cut in the adjacent swamps, which are floated ont during freshets and rafted or shipped North, to be manufactured into lumber.

Jamesville, twelve miles above Plymouth, is the initial point of a railroad built by the Jamesville and Washington Lumber Company, extending some eight miles into their swamps. They propose continuing this road to Washington, on the Pamlico River, so as to have two points from which to ship their lumber and shingles. This company have already expended upward of $200,000 on this road, in building their mills, and in other improvements looking to the development of their swamp property, of which they have over 60,000 acres.

From Jamesville to the mouth of the river, fishing is extensively carried on, giving employment during the season to a considerable number of men, and in which much capital is invested.

Plymouth is situated on the west bank of the river, about seven miles from its mouth

and is its lowest shipping-point. A large trade is done at Plymouth, as the surrounding country for several miles obtains all needed supplies there. Large quantities of shingles are shipped to Norfolk and Baltimore, and some cotton. A considerable portion of the freight to and from Plymouth is carried by the steamer Ella up the Chowan and Blackwater Rivers to Franklin depot on the Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad, and thence to Portsmouth over the railroad.

The Roanoke is subject to freshets, which rise with great rapidity and overflow the banks at many points. These freshets ordinarily rise about 12 to 15 feet at Weldon, and during a rainy season are almost continuous. At other times they only last a few days, after which the river falls almost as rapidly as it had previously risen. Generally twice in each year, spring and autumn, there is a freshet which rises to a height of 25 to 30 feet at Weldon, and occasionally much higher; in 1865 the river rose at Weldon to a height of 50 feet above ordinary low water. The banks are generally of a sandy loam, and are fringed with trees to the water's edge for the greater portion of its length. In the neighborhood of Weldon, and for sixty or seventy miles below, they are from 20 to 50 feet above ordinary low water; farther down they become gradually lower, until, for fifteen or twenty miles above the mouth, they are not more than from 1 to 3 feet above the level of ordinary low water, with few exceptions; one of these exceptions is at Jamesville, where the bank for a short distance on one side of the river is about 30 feet high. At a few places there are outcroppings of rock-at Halifax, Edwards's Ferry, Hill's Ferry, and a short distance below Hamilton-the rock rising precipitously for 30 or 50 feet, and at the latter place, which is known as Fort Branch, having been the site of a fort of that name during the late war, near 100 feet.

The bed of the river, except in a few places where there are rocks, is of sand. Near the banks there is generally an alluvial deposit over the sand.

The Roanoke is navigable from its mouth to Hamilton, a distance of sixty miles, at all stages of water, for vessels of a draught not exceeding 10 feet, which is as much as can be carried through Albemarle Sound.

The great majority of the vessels which navigate the Roanoke come by way of Norfolk through the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal, where a draught of water of 6 feet is barely obtainable. The Dismal Swamp Canal, which was another means of communication between Norfolk and Albemarle Sound, is not now open for navigation. The obstructions in this portion of the river are enumerated below in inverse order from that in which the survey was prosecuted.

The side-wheel steamer Southfield, 260 feet long, originally a ferry-boat, converted during the war into a river gun-boat, sunk by the ram Albemarle three-fourths of a mile below Plymouth, in 25 feet of water, and near the middle of the river, thus obliging vessels to pass on either side of it, is not dangerous except at night or in thick weather, as there is a channel sufliciently wide for any vessel to pass, but as several of the steamers pass up and down this portion of the river at night, it should be removed. Above this point there is a good channel past Plymouth for a distance of two miles, where the river is obstructed by three rows of piles driven during the war. A portion of them have been removed, but quite a number in the deepest water still remain, and should be taken out, as should also a row of piles across another channel of the river at the mouth of what is known as Middle River, a short distance higher up. The number of piles in both these channels is about three hundred. The channel above remains unobstructed for four miles, to the mouth of Broad Creek, where a number of schooners, said to be seven, loaded with stone, were sunk during the war.

These vessels were sunk in 27 feet water, and extend nearly across the river, the only available channel now being very narrow, and on the opposite side of the river from the original one. The greatest injury, however, likely to result from the presence of these schooners is the formation of a large bar or shoal immediately below them, where there is and has been for many years a small mud-flat, which, so long as the river-current remained unobstructed, did not increase, but is now by deposits of sand extending across the river; these vessels should therefore be removed. An additional reason for their removal is found in the fact that the Broad Creek Fishery, which before these vessels were sunk was considered one of the most valuable on the river, has, since the war, after one or two attempts to use it, been abandoned.

The channel is thence clear to Gray's Fishery, two and a half miles above, where the remains of a sunken battery are met with, consisting of a mass of timber bolted together, in 18 feet water. This obstruction, like the Southfield, is not dangerous in clear weather; but for the same reasous, and also that it is an injury to the fishery, should be removed. The locations of the sunken vessels and of the piles will be found on the map of the river herewith. There are no obstructions between Gray's Fishery to near Jamesville, where there are said to be portions of sunken vessels, a tug-boat, and the wheels of a double-ender gun-boat, which was sunk and has since been broken up near the shore. The place where these are said to be was pointed out to me, a faint ripple being perceptible on the surface of the water, but a careful sounding failed to indicate anything to obstruct navigation. It is possible that there may remain pieces which interfere with the fishery at this point, as the parties who have been engaged

in that business state that their nets have frequently been caught and torn. From Jamesville to Hamilton the only obstructions are trees which have fallen into the river; of these there are a great number, but the majority of them are too near the banks to interfere in any way with navigation. At some few points are, also, overhanging trees, which, during the freshet, when they are near a landing, sometimes trouble the vessels, but as it is generally only necessary for the parties on board to trim off a few small limbs, they are not considered worthy of particular mention. Of the other trees, only those which project a considerable distance into the river are proposed to be removed. Of these there are, in the portion of the river now under consideration, one bundred and thirty-three, which will be found at distances exceeding 30 feet from the banks, and in some instances have limbs projecting still farther under water. There is also a large tree standing nearly erect in Shad Island Bend, from its shape a very difficult portion of the river to navigate, and in consequence of the presence of this tree made still more so.

From Hamilton the channel is unobstructed to Indian, Highland Bar, about two and one-half miles above. This bar consists of loose rocks, varying in size from gravel to pieces of the size of large cobble-stones, which are probably only a covering to still larger pieces. The channel is very narrow and tortuous, and the difficulty of its navigation is increased by a small sand-bar adjoining it. A steamer, having a load-draught of 64 feet, which generally runs up the river about twenty-five miles above Hamilton, is compelled, during the low stages of water, to stop at that place, through inability to pass over this bar. It is believed that, with a moderate expenditure of money, a sufficient quantity of these loose rocks can be dredged out to permit the passage, at all stages of water, of any steamer plying on the river.

From this bar to Hill's Ferry, a distance of two and one-half miles, are several bars or shoals, which are said at times to interfere with navigation. An examination, however, failed to indicate any necessity for their present improvement. Their position may be found on the map; they are known as Williams's Bar, bar at Appletree Gut, and bar below Taylor's Ferry.

From Hill's Ferry to Clark's Landing, a distance of twelve and one-half miles, there is only one bar which obstructs navigation, known as Clark's Bar, and located near the landing of that name. Owing to a freshet in the river, no examination sufficiently reliable to be the basis of an estimate for its improvement could be made.

Between Clark's Landing and Smith's Landing, a distance of eight miles, and near Norfleet's Ferry, about three-fourths of a mile apart, are two rocky bars, known by the river-pilots as Little Rocky Bar and Big Rocky Bar. From the same cause as at Clark's Bar, no examination of these bars could be made. They are said, by persons well acquainted with the river, to consist of loose rocks, of various sizes, and are presumed to be somewhat similar in character to Indian Highland Bar, before described. One of the best-informed pilots on this portion of the river informed me that the principal obstruction at both these bars is the sand, which, after freshets, is found to have been shifted about and banked up in large masses in their immediate neighborhood. Supposing that these bars are similar to Indian Highland Bar, it is probable that they might be improved in the same way. An examination of them could readily be made at a low stage of water.

There is also a shoal a short distance below Smith's Landing, but when examined it did not seem to need present improvement.

The remaining portion of the river, from Smith's Landing to Weldon, is full of bars and shoals, with some rocks. These shoals consist of sand which is shifted about during each freshet, so that their appearance now may be entirely different from that presented at the time the examination of them was made, and although but few of them offered such obstacles to navigation as to require improvement when examined, there may be others since the last freshet which now need it. They will be described in detail, beginning at Weldon:

Between Weldon and a short distance below the old railroad-bridge, a distance of about one mile, are found all the rocks which obstruct navigation, with the exception of a ledge at Halifax. They prevent the steamer Silver Wave coming up to Weldon even when the water is considerably above the lowest stage, and as there is no suitable landing between them and Halifax, freight has to be carried by rail that additional distance, and over a road having no connection with the steamer. This operation increases the charges for freight very materially. These rocks, which are neither numerous nor large, are designated on the maps; those which require removal are numbered in red 2, 3, 4, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16, and are estimated to contain about 420 cubic yards to the bed of the river, below which it is not considered necessary to remove them. There is also a shoal extending nearly the whole of this distance, which will require the dredging out of 18,000 cubic yards of sand. Immediately below the old bridge is also a shoal which will require dredging to the extent of 16,000 yards. Between Weldon and Halifax is a shoal, marked No. 1, to improve the channel around which will require the dredging of 30,000 cubic yards of sand.

At Halifax is a ledge of rocks extending two-thirds of the width of the river, com