The capital at first deemed necessary was 100,000. Yet, within four years, nearly four times that amount was expended a fact more or less true of each of the other companies an'd " whether it be an upon which Matthews, in his Hydraulia, thus remarks : insurmountable difficulty to form a statement, which in the first instance shall approximate to the real cost of a great undertaking, is a problem that yet remains to be solved."

The water for this company was drawn from the river Lea. Four reservoirs were constructed on its banks, two on the east side, about 10 feet deep, so that their bottoms were on a level with the bed of the river, two on the west side sunk 5 feet below the bed, and therefore 15 feet below the surface of the water at medium tide. The water flows into these reservoirs from the Lea, through eight channels, averaging 7 feet in width, but differing in depth, two being 4.6 feet deep, three 4 feet, and three 3.6 feet. An aqueduct under the river connects the reservoirs. In 1829, desiring to increase their supply of water, the company obtained an act of Parliament, granting them authority to draw water from Lea Bridge Mills, and to add 120,000 to their capital. The water supplied by these various works, is conveyed to the height of seventy feet by steam engines. About 45,000 houses are supplied with 170,000 barrels daily by this company, which has laid down between 2 and 300 miles of iron pipes, some of which cost 7