This report may be considered as having determined the long mooted question of the source of supply, and through all variations of opinion afterwards, Major Douglass adhered unfalteringly to the conviction, that the Croton, and the Croton only, should be looked to and relied on.Like the Roman Marcius, of whom we have spoken in the Preliminary Essay, who, when the Decemvirs and Sybils indicated the Anio, as the stream which the Gods preferred for the supply of his aqueduct, still adhered to the cold, pure, and abundant springs from the mountains of Tivoli, so Mr. Douglass, disregarding difficulties, real and imaginary, and heeding not at all the efforts still to cause the Bronx to be preferred, stood fast for the Croton. The instructions of the Commissioners to the Engineers were, to make " examinations of the Croton, Sawmill, and Bronx rivers, in the counties of Westchester and Putnam, together with their several tributariesand to furnish the Commissioners with a ;

map and profile of the country, and their opinion of the quality of the water, the supply that might be depended on in all seasons, and the practicability of conveying it to the city at an elevation of sufficient height to preclude the use of machinery, and answer all the purposes contemplated.

The Engineers were also instructed to designate the best and most feasible route for conducting the water, the most fit and proper manner for constructing the conduits and reservoirs, the probable amount of damage that would be sustained by the proprietors of the water to be taken, and of the land it might be necessary to occupy in constructing the required conduits and reservoirs, together with the total amount of cost to the city for