and mud is not less than 40 or 50 feet deep. The width of the river is more than a mile across, and whether a dam of sufficient solidity and strength can be erected in a river of this width, and with a current running at the rate of the Hudson, and capable of withstanding the pressure of the immense body of water that would be behind it when the tide is down, are questions the Commissioners are not prepared to answer.

5th.Mr. Seymour is of opinion that no injury will be done to the land on the banks of the Hudson by the rise of water within the dam but, the Commissioners think, the ;

rising of the water permanently, two feet above its ordinary level, together with the occasional freshets which occur, must cause a covering with water, on some of the low lands lying on the margin of the river, for several miles above the city. Whe.ther the damming the river at the place proposed, will be the means of removing the alluvial bars below Troy and Albany, or permitting vessels of a large class to proceed to Albany and Troy, without obstruction, as contended by Mr. Seymour, the Commissioners have no means of deciding. 6th. If the river, as low down as the proposeds ite for the dam, will be closed by a

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covering of ice for three months in the year, we should think the cutting off so much of the navigation would produce more injury than the privilege of proceeding to Albany on the ice, or of procuring a supply of that article for the use of those who require it, would produce benefits. 7th. The shad fishery on the Hudson is considered of much importance to those who follow the business, as well as to those who consume the article, and we should presume the erecting of the contemplated dam would totally destroy the fisheries, and ruin the business of those who depend on it for a living.