couloirs' or spouts, into which water was pumped, and by this means the
stuff brought up by the dredgers was carried to the sides of the canal,
and there deposited. The great width of the St. Petersburg Canal was too
much for the long couloirs, hence some other plan had to be found. The
plan adopted was that invented by Mr. James Burt, and which had been
used with the greatest success on the New Amsterdam Canal. Instead of
the couloir, floating pipes, made of wood, are in this system employed;
the earth or mud brought up has a copious stream of water poured on it,
which mixes in the process of descending, and the whole becomes a thick
liquid. This, by means of a centrifugal pump, is propelled through the
floating pipes to any point required, where it can be deposited. The
couloir can only run the output a comparatively short distance, while
this system can send it a quarter of a mile, or even further, if
necessary. Its power is not limited to the level surface of the water.
I saw on my visit to the canal one of the dredgers at work, and the
floating pipes lay on the water like a veritable sea-serpent, extending
to a long distance where the stuff had to be carried. At that point the
pipe emerged from the water, and what looked very much like a vertebra
or two of the serpent crossed the embankment, went down the other side,
and there the muddy deposit was pouring out in a steady flow. Mr. Burt
pointed out to me one part of the works where his pump had sent the
stuff nearly half a mile away, and over undulating ground. This system
will not suit all soils. Hard clay, for instance, will not mix with the
water; but where the matter brought up is soft and easily diluted, this
plan possesses many advantages, and its success here affords ample
evidence of its merits.

"About five miles below St. Petersburg, a basin had been already
finished, with landing quays, sheds, and offices; and there is an
embankment connecting it with the railways of St. Petersburg, all ready