1745. This canal joined the Havel with the Elbe at Parcy. It is about

twenty English miles in length, 40 to 50 feet in width, and has three sluices. It reduces by more than one half the length of the navigation between the Oder and the Elbe. About the same time the canal of Finow was constructed to connect the same rivers by the Finow and the Havel. There are thirteen sluices on this canal. Another canal, called the Frederick William, joins the Oder and the Spree above Frankfort, and, uniting with the Havel near Brandenburg, connects the latter with the Elbe. It is fifteen English miles long, and has ten sluices. _The Holstein Canal_ was begun in 1777, and was completed on the 4th of May, 1785, but was opened in 1784. The cost of the undertaking was 2,512,432 rix dollars. There are six sluices, which cost 70,000 rix dollars each. This canal, on the side of the Baltic, commences about three English miles north of Kiel, at a place called Holtenau, where there is a sluice, another at Knoop, and a third at Rathmansdorf, till it comes to the Flemhude Lake, which is the highest point; and from this lake, on the side of Rendsburg, there are three other sluices—one at Königsford, another at Kluvensiek, and the last at Rendsburg. These are on what is called the Upper Eyder, and the Lower Eyder is from Rendsburg to its mouth, running by Tonningen, below which place it falls into the sea between Eyderstadt and Dithmarschen. The distance is about 100 English miles, and vessels must either sail or tide it, or both; whilst from Rendsburg to Holtenau, nearly at the mouth of Kiel Bay, upon the Baltic, it is only about 25 English miles, which can be navigated in all weathers, except during a strong frost, as horses can be had, if required, at fixed rates. The vessels are let through a sluice in little more than eight or ten minutes each. For each sluice they pay only 4 schillings Danish, or about so many pence English. The surface breadth of this canal is 100 feet, and at the bottom 54 feet Danish measure, and the depth is at least 10 feet throughout. Vessels can pass through the sluices 100 feet in length, 26 feet in breadth, and 9 feet 4 inches draught of water, Danish measure, and which, for the regulation of the British merchant and shipowner, as well as the master, it may be observed, corresponds in English measure to vessels of 95 feet 4 inches length; 24 feet 9 inches breadth; and 9 feet depth. An increase and improvement of the waterways of Germany is looked upon as a pressing present necessity by many, and provision has been made for the commencement of three great canals—the connection of the Baltic with the North Sea, of the Spree with the Oder, and of the Ems with the Rhine. The first mentioned is to be built chiefly from military considerations, so that the German ironclads can get from Kiel to the Atlantic. The two others are to be constructed for commercial purposes. In connection with these there will also be canals built from the Rhine to the Elbe, and from the Oder to the Silesian Mountains. The agricultural interest very strongly opposed the Spree-Oder and Ems-Rhine Canal, because they feared the foreign grain would be more plentifully brought into the empire thereby, but their opposition was not successful. Besides these works the river Weser is being deepened, and a new channel has been constructed between Bremen and the sea—a distance of about 50 miles. _The North Sea and Baltic Ship Canal._—This new ship canal is to be international as well as national in its character. It will reduce the sea passage, as compared to the Sound route, by 237 sea miles, shorten the journey of sailing vessels by at least three days, and that of steamers by about twenty-two hours in normal weather, and these advantages are to cost the shipowners 9_d._ per registered ton when the canal is navigable. About 35,000 vessels pass through the Sound annually. It is, moreover, intended to strengthen the offensive and defensive power of Germany. It may, however, be remarked that Count Moltke never from the first gave the plan his cordial support from a strategical point of view, maintaining then, as now, that the money which the canal is to cost would have been more judiciously spent if employed to strengthen the national navy. The Baltic Ship Canal begins at Holtenau, a small village just north of the royal dockyard of Kiel, on the Baltic, and enters the Elbe 15 miles above the North Sea, near Brunsbütte. It will have a total length of 75 to 80 kilometres, as seen on the sketch-map at page 125. Its width is to be, on the water surface, 60 metres; on the bottom, 26 metres; its depth is to be 8½ metres, and its total cost 156 million marks, as estimated. The canal may be looked upon as a mere cutting, in which the water-level is to be that of the Baltic Sea, and there will only be flood-gates or sluices where it enters the river Eider and at its termination in the Elbe; these will be, as a matter of fact, open all the year round. For the convenience of the Royal Marine, rather extensive works will be carried out at the Elbe embouchure, consisting of large and small locks, and eventually a floating basin for at least four large armour-clads, besides coaling stations at either end of the canal. The four railways crossing the canal, as well as the two main post roads, will be carried over it by means of iron swing-bridges; and steam and manual pontoons will serve for the other various crossing-points of the canal. There are no engineering difficulties to contend with, excepting perhaps a boggy portion not very remote from the Elbe. The highest point of cutting is about 24 kilometres distant from the Elbe, and here it will be 30 metres distant from the bottom level of the canal, otherwise the ground to be removed is mostly sand or sandy loam. This canal will unite the Gulf of Kiel with the mouth of the Elbe, and will run by way of Rendsburg to a point midway between Brunsbüttel and St. Margarethen, a few miles below Hamburg. It will, when completed, be 61 miles long, 196 feet broad at the water level, 85 feet broad at the bottom, and 28 feet deep, and it will have but two locks—one at each end. The canal will take in the largest warship that has been or will be constructed in Germany, and will, moreover, take her at all states of the tide and in less than eight hours it will be possible for her to proceed by it from Kiel to the Elbe, or _vice versâ_. The canal, therefore, will enable Germany to regard with some degree of indifference the possession of the mouths of the Baltic. She will always have her own entrance into that sea, and will be in a position at very short notice either to reinforce her squadrons there with ships from the North Sea, or to draw ships thence to reinforce Kiel and the Elbe. It is proposed to supplement this strategical waterway by means of a further canal, which shall traverse Hanover from Neuhaus, on the Elbe, opposite Brunsbüttel, to Bremerhaven, at the mouth of the Weser. It will then be possible for the whole voyage between Kiel and Wilhelmshaven to be performed in what are practically inland waters. This last section of canal is, indeed, necessary for the thorough completion of the scheme of coast defence; for the position of Great Britain at Heligoland renders a blockade by her of the mouths of the Elbe and Weser comparatively easy, unless provision be made for the safe concentration at will, either at Brunsbüttel or at Wilhelmshaven, of a fairly formidable fleet. The Eyder, which divides Schleswig from Holstein, flows through territory to be regarded as permanently German into the North Sea at Tönning. From Rendsburg, to which place the Eyder is navigable, the Eyder or Schleswig-Holstein canal was dug towards the close of the last century to Kiel Bay, on the Baltic. It is from 10 to 11 feet deep, and has locks. Vessels, though of no great burden, can thus at present pass from the one sea to the other. As soon as Prussia occupied the Danish Duchies, proposals were entertained by it for an increase of the depth and width of this canal. Its maintenance, as it is necessitates a large expenditure on dykes, and the contemplated improvements, of which the charge would fall wholly or mainly on Prussia, must inevitably be exceedingly costly. When they were fully carried out, they might not answer the commercial needs of the chief centres of German trade, and might even divert custom from them. Hamburg wants a canal nearer to its end of the peninsula. It will be likely to attain its wish by the measure which has now been sanctioned by the Imperial Parliament. By this scheme the two German seas will be united at points most convenient for the accommodation of the entire Empire. In addition to the Eyder Canal, a second but more indirect water communication between the Baltic and North Seas has existed for five hundred years in the Steckenitz Canal, by which the Hanse city of Lübeck connected the Steckenitz and Delvenau with the Elbe. But this is not the route which wins engineering or political favour. The line most strongly supported is from Kiel, south-westwards to Brunsbüttel, at the mouth of the Elbe, opposite Cuxhaven. It would satisfy the demands of Hamburg, which, though it seems to be jealous of Altona, practically embraces within the limits of its port the whole Elbe estuary. Kiel has a rising commerce which is likely to be greatly expanded by the undertaking. In the eyes of German statesmen, the plan has commended itself as giving the principal war harbour of the Empire an independent outlet to the North Sea. The Northern Powers might, as things now are, if hostile, seal up the German Navy in the Baltic. They hold the keys, and could convert the sea into a lake. Whatever the German naval strength at Bremerhaven, on the Elbe, and at Kiel, it could be cut in half, and prevented from co-operating at the discretion of Scandinavia. This is, as we have seen, a reason of the highest State for undertaking the new waterway. German ships, unprovided with a waterway between the German Ocean and the Baltic, have been exposed to extraordinary risks. This fact alone is, in the eyes of Germany, a sufficient reason for such an enterprise. But there are also the equally cogent reasons of trade, and the preservation of shipping and human life. [Illustration: MAP SHOWING THE ROUTE OF THE NORTH SEA AND BALTIC CANAL.] The Kattegat and Skager Rack are computed to cost Germany a yearly loss of five hundred lives by wreck, and half a million sterling. The pecuniary damage through the trade which is turned back, and does not dare to defy the peril, must be much more considerable. Germany at large has finally to defray the major part of these charges, positive and negative. The saving of them is likely to yield very ample interest on the seven or eight millions to be spent. Venerable Lübeck would alone have cause to murmur at a work which threatens it with more grievous competition than even now it has to meet from the competition of Kiel for the Baltic trade. A writer in the _Times_ has, however, pointed out that Lübeck, though it has fallen behind in the race with Hamburg, has its own intrinsic sources of prosperity, and is not likely to let them slip. The one real drawback to the attractions of the project is the unaccommodating character of a North German winter. Ice, which seriously obstructs the navigation of the tidal rivers, would be harsher still to the sluggish surface of a fresh-water canal in Holstein. The North Sea and Baltic Canal will be of the following dimensions:—Breadth at surface 200 feet; at bottom 85 feet. Depth 27 feet 10 inches. This size will allow the heaviest ships in the German navy to make use of the waterway, and it is estimated that 18,000 ships out of the 35,000 that annually pass the Sound, will use the canal, which will shorten the distance between the Baltic and London by 22 hours; Hull by 15 hours; Hartlepool by 8 hours; Newcastle-on-Tyne by 6 hours; and Leith by 4 hours. It is expected to affect the English coal trade with Baltic ports, by giving readier access to German coal ports, and in addition to saving time in transit, it will relieve vessels from the danger of doubling the Skaw. The work is likely to be completed in 1893 or 1894. The cost of the canal is estimated at between seven and eight millions sterling, of which 2½ millions are to be provided by Prussia. It is the inevitable result of every new addition to the transportation facilities of a country to benefit more or less some places at the expense of others. The North Sea Canal is likely to prove disadvantageous, as we have seen, to the ancient city of Lübeck, in consequence of a diversion of its traffic. To meet this drawback, it has been proposed to construct a new canal through Holstein, connecting the Trave with the Elbe. Negotiations have been carried on between Lübeck and Prussia, with this end in view. The canal would be 72 kilometres in length, and is estimated to cost 18 millions of marks (900,000_l._). With this canal, Lübeck is expected to retain its considerable trade with North-eastern Europe. _The Rhine-Ems Canal._—The proposed Rhine-Ems Canal is expected, by bringing the Rhine and the Ems into more direct connection with the Westphalian coalfield, to bring German into very close competition with English coal at the North Sea and Baltic ports. The plan is a very old one, and was resuscitated some thirty years ago, but nothing came of the project till three sessions ago, when the Chambers voted a large sum to carry it out under Government, provided the interested country districts through which the canal was to pass, beginning at Dortmund, would acquire the requisite land through which the canal was to be cut, and hand it over for the common good. The money has been coming in since by driblets, slowly and reluctantly, from one township and the other, but at last it seems probable that it will ultimately be subscribed, and for this eventuality English coalowners must be prepared. A glance at a map will show that from Dortmund to Emden, and thence through the North Sea and Baltic Canal, a direct route to the East seaports will be opened up; and as the Westphalian coal can then be placed at Emden at the same price as the English at one of the east coast shipping ports, and the distance from Emden to the Baltic by the new ship canal is twenty-three hours less than from Hull, twenty-seven from Hartlepool, thirty from Newcastle, and thirty-six from Leith, it is evident that a sharper rivalry may be established. If the ship canal be not used, the difference in time between Emden and the Baltic will be less by thirty-eight hours from Hull, thirty-six from Newcastle, thirty-five from Hartlepool, and forty from Leith. No steps have yet been taken with regard to the continuation of the canal from Dortmund to the Rhine, which would then open up a new and shorter waterway from South Germany and Switzerland to the Baltic. _The Dortmund and Emden Canal_ is designed to develop the communication between the Westphalian coalfield and the harbour at the mouth of the Ems, and comprises (1) the completion of the canal direct from the collieries, and joining the Ems at Papenburg, and (2) the improvement of the navigation at Emden harbour. The canal follows, at the outset, the Emscher valley to Henrichenburg, whence it is intended to construct a branch of about 5 miles to the Rhine; the length of this section being about 9¼ miles, with a fall of about 45·3 feet. The section of 38 miles past Münster, is unbroken by locks, but falls of 50 feet to Bevergern, whence the previously existing Haulken Canal is followed as far as Meppen. The fall from Bevergern to Papenburg is 130·9 feet: and the distance 68 miles; the total fall from Dortmund to Emden being 226·2 feet, with twenty-six locks. From Papenburg the Ems is navigable for the largest barges; but at Oldersum, about 6 miles from the mouth of the river, the channel becomes exposed to northerly storms, and from this point, therefore, a new cut, closed from the river by a lock, joins the new harbour, which, however, is yet unfinished, and is capable of considerable extension. The dimensions of the work are:— _Canal._ │ _Locks._ ft. in. │ ft. in. Width of bed 52 0 │ Length 220 0 ” at water level 78 0 │ Clear width of gates 28 3 Depth 6 6 │ Depth on sill 8 3 SECTIONS AND DETAILS OF COST OF THE DORTMUND AND EMDEN CANAL. ───────────────────────────┬──────┬─────────────────┬──────────────── │ │ │ Total Cost │Length│ Cost of Works. │ (including Section. │ in │ │ land). │Miles.├───────┬─────────┼──────┬───────── │ │ Per │ Total. │ Per │ Total. │ │ Mile. │ │ Mile.│ ───────────────────────────┼──────┼───────┼─────────┼──────┼───────── │ │ £ │ £ │ £ │ £ Dortmund to Henrichenburg │ 9¼ │ 26,082│ 243,000│34,373│ 320,500 │ │ │ │ │ Branch to Herne (5 miles) │ .. │ 17,468│ 84,500│21,574│ 104,500 │ │ │ │ │ Henrichenburg to Bevergern │ 59½ │ 18,354│1,092,500│20,608│1,228,500 │ │ .. │ 37,500│ .. │ 37,500 │ │ │ │ │ Bevergern to Papenburg │ 68 │ 14,973│1,019,500│15,939│1,093,000 │ │ │ │ │ River (Ems) from Papenburg │ │ │ │ │ to Oldersum │ 19½ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Eldersum to Emden │ 5¾ │ 25,760│ 147,000│28,738│ 164,000 │ │ │ │ │ Emden Harbour │ ¾ │ .. │ 295,000│ .. │ 295,000 ├──────┼───────┼─────────┼──────┼───────── Total distance, Dortmund │ │ │ │ │ to Emden Harbour │ 162¾ │ .. │2,919,000│ .. │3,233,000 ───────────────────────────┴──────┴───────┴─────────┴──────┴───────── The aqueducts, by which the canal is carried over the Lippe and Stever valleys, having also a depth of 8 feet 3 inches, the canal can at any time be dredged to this depth throughout. The navigation can be worked by steam-power, and when the harbour is completed, so that the coal can be brought direct from the collieries, the freight charges will probably be reduced to 2_s._ 3_d._ or 2_s._ 6_d._ per ton, as against 3_s._ 6_d._, the lowest now charged. The preceding table is a statement of the details of this undertaking. _Scheldt and Rhine Canal._—For a considerable time past, a canal has been in course of construction between the Scheldt and the Rhine. The undertaking has been jointly promoted by Holland, Belgium, and Germany. The two former countries are said to have completed their part of the new waterway, but the German section of the work has been allowed to stagnate for lack of support, and in 1887 the Frankfort Chamber of Commerce applied to the German Government for assistance, with a view to its completion. At the present time, the Rhine is one of the most important waterways in Europe in reference to the extent of its traffic. The port of Rotterdam is, however, the only one open by this route, while the new canal would give access to the magnificent port of Antwerp, whence cheaper freights are obtained to North America than from any other European port. _Oder and Upper Spree Navigation._—The old Friedrich-Wilhelm Canal, constructed over two hundred years since, was till recently the only means of water communication through this district; but the dimensions of the channel, as well as the locks, were too small for present requirements, and in preference to reconstructing the whole work, it was decided to cut another channel, joining the Oder a few miles further from Frankfurt. The country traversed is easier than in the case of the Ems, and as the Oder does not take such large vessels as the Ems, the dimensions of the canal are smaller; the limit being for 400 ton barges:— _Canal._ │ _Locks._ ft. in. │ ft. in. Width of bed 46 0 │ Length 180 0 ” at water level 76 0 │ Clear width of gates 28 3 Depth 6 6 │ Depth of sill 8 3 The total length of this navigation is stated at 54½ miles, and the cost is estimated at 11,592_l._ per mile. It is now proposed to connect the North Sea at Hamburg with Vienna, and thence, by the Danube, with the Black Sea and the Orient generally, by a canal from Kosel to the Danube. The Prussian canal system now allows of water transport all the way from Hamburg to Breig, whence the canalisation of the Oder to Kosel, now being carried out, will be completed in 1894. Prussia would continue the canal thence to the Austrian frontier if it was completed to the Danube, 273 kilometres further, by others, and efforts have recently been made to bring this about. This navigation improvement will bring the coalfields of Eastern Silesia into direct communication with Berlin. In 1885, a project was brought forward in Prussia for the construction of a canal that would join the Rhine, the Ems, the Weser, and the Elbe. The length of this waterway was estimated at 181¼ miles, the depth at 6 feet, 8 inches, and the width at 53 feet, 4 inches at the bottom, and 80 feet on the water-line. The canal is intended to accommodate vessels not exceeding 500 tons burden. The outlay proposed for this and collateral canals was estimated at 4,050,000_l_. TRAFFIC ON GERMAN WATERWAYS. The quantity of traffic carried on the waterways of Germany has been calculated at 11,797,000 tons, of which North Germany furnished 11,249,000 tons, and Southern Germany 548,000 tons.[72] This, however, does not include the Rhine and the Main, which would raise the figures for North Germany to about 16½ millions of tons, while other waterways in Southern Germany bring up the traffic in that division of the empire to about three millions of tons, being a total for both divisions of about twenty millions of tons in round figures, or approximately the same traffic as the waterways of France in the same year. Dealing only with those waterways of Germany, in which the transportation of traffic is regularly carried on, and disregarding the streams or canals that are practically unused for this purpose, it appears that the total length of internal navigation in Germany is about 3384 miles,[73] but it is important to remark that about 18 millions of the 20 millions of tons of traffic carried annually on these waterways make use of only 2360 miles, or 69 per cent. of the whole, leaving a million and a half to two millions of tons for the remaining 31 per cent. The latest returns at command appear to show that the waterways of Germany were used by 17,885 sailing ships, of a total tonnage of 1,625,000 tons, or an average of 90 tons each; and by 830 steam ships, of a total tonnage of about 33,000, being an average of 53 tons per vessel. The total number of vessels employed in carrying merchandise, on the waterways of Germany, in the form of tugs, kedges, and steamers, in addition to the above, is given as 483, having an indicated horse-power per boat varying from an average of 280 on the Rhine to one of only 53 on the Oder. It is clear from these returns that the waterways of Germany employ a large number of very small craft. It is equally clear that under these circumstances, the cost of transport cannot be so cheap as it otherwise would be. If the average tonnage of all the vessels employed under steam is only 53 tons, there must be a number of very small craft indeed employed on the other waterways, in order to make up for the considerably larger average of the vessels employed on the Rhine. In Germany, as in France and Belgium, it is chiefly traffic of the heavy kind that makes use of the waterways. About 28 per cent. of the total traffic carried on the canals and rivers of the Empire takes the form of coal and coke. On the Rhine, almost one-half of the total traffic carried is mineral, but on the Elbe, mineral traffic only constitutes 18 per cent. of the whole. But on this, and the other waterways as well, timber, stone, clay, and lime, are carried in considerable quantities, as well as vegetables and leguminous plants.[74] It is estimated that eight millions of tons of traffic in Germany use both waterways and railways, and on the Rhine alone over five millions of tons are carried in this way. The average traffic carried per mile on the Rhine is not less than 7400 tons. On the 2484 miles of waterways that are regularly navigated in Germany, the density of traffic is about 7200 tons per mile. On the railways of Germany, however, the density of goods traffic only amounts to about 4864 tons per mile. The French waterways have a density of 7246 tons per mile, as against a density of 4500 tons on their railways. It is impossible to speak of the density of the traffic on English waterways, inasmuch as no regular returns are collected of the canal business of Great Britain; but as the canals have for the most part been allowed to get very much out of repair, it is safe to assume that the existing water transport will not compare favourably with the traffic carried by railway. An interesting statement has recently been compiled, showing the quantities of traffic carried on the railways and waterways of Germany, to and from the principal centres of population. It appears from this return that the total quantity of traffic carried by water to and from Berlin, Hamburg, Magdeburg, Mannheim, and one or two other cities of importance, compares not unfavourably with rail transport. The particulars are given in the table on the following page. It is the practice in Germany for the Government to maintain the inland navigations, charging only 6_s._ for lockage. This allows of very cheap transport—so much so, indeed, that it is stated that between Hamburg and Berlin, notwithstanding that the railway rates are extremely low, all heavy traffic is carried by barges or steamers. On the fourteen principal waterways in Germany, including the Oder, the Spree, the Elbe, the Rhine, and the chief canals, the 17½ million tons of traffic carried in 1887 was transported in 132,863 boats that were full and 35,989 boats that were not full. The average tonnage carried on the same waterways between 1881 and 1885 was 14,318,000 tons. As compared with the vessels employed, and the tonnage carried, in preceding years, there was an advance of 15·4 per cent. in the number of the boats, and of 22·7 per cent. in the amount of traffic carried. TRAFFIC ON THE RAILWAYS AND WATERWAYS OF GERMANY. ────────────────┬─────────┬─────────────────────────────┬────────── │ Number │ Tons of Goods Carried. │ Number of Cities. │ of ├─────────┬─────────┬─────────┤ Tons per │ Inhabi- │ By │ By │ Total. │ Head of │ tants.│ Rail. │ Water. │ │ Population ────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼────────── │ │ │ │ │ Berlin │1,200,000│3,504,000│3,348,000│6,852,000│ 5·71 │ │ │ │ │ Breslau │ 270,000│1,237,000│ 350,000│1,587,000│ 5·88 │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ [75]│ │ Hamburg │ 410,000│1,191,000│3,221,000│4,442,000│ 10·7 │ │ │ │ │ Magdeburg │ │ │ │ │ (including │ │ │ │ │ Buckau and │ 165,000│1,650,000│1,118,000│2,768,000│ 16·7 Neustadt) │ │ │ │ │ │ │ [76]│ │ │ Dresden │ 220,000│1,411,000│ 534,000│1,945,000│ 8·8 │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ [77]│ │ Bremen │ 112,000│ 776,000│ 184,000│ 960,000│ 8·5 │ │ │ │ │ Ports of │ │ │ │ │ Rhine— │ │ │ │ │ (Rhurort, │ │ │ │ │ Duisburg, │ 70,000│5,427,000│4,107,000│9,554,000│ 136·0 and Hochfeld) │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Cologne │ │ │ │ │ (including │ 160,000│1,132,000│ 314,000│1,634,000│ 10·0 Deutz) │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Mannheim and │ │ │ │ │ Ludwigshafen │ 75,000│1,776,000│2,041,000│3,817,000│ 50·0 ────────────────┴─────────┴─────────┴─────────┴─────────┴────────── In the year 1878 it was announced that over 1045 miles of new canal navigation had been ordered throughout Germany, in addition to the 1289 miles then open, and the 4925 miles of navigable rivers available.[78] This fact sufficiently indicates the great importance that is attached in Germany to adequate water communication, and it is all the more notable that very few countries are possessed of equally cheap railway transport. FOOTNOTES: [71] Those who are interested in perusing this Report will find it contained in a volume of pamphlets in the Library of the Royal Statistical Society. [72] The different river basins contributed the following proportions:— Basins. Tons. The Elbe 7,767,000 The Vistula, Niemen, &c. 2,227,000 The Oder 861,000 The Weser and Ems 394,000 Lake of Constance 338,000 The Danube 210,000 ────────── Total 11,797,000 [73] The distribution of this navigation is as follows, according to basins:— Basin. Miles of Navigation. The Rhine 931 The Elbe 870 The Oder 497 The Weser 280 The Danube 248 The Ems 196 Other waterways 372 ———— Total 3384 [74] On the railways of Germany in 1886 coal traffic was 48·5 per cent. of the whole; timber, 5·8 per cent.; stone, 7·5 per cent.; and grain 6·2 per cent. About 84·7 per cent. of the whole was heavy traffic. The total railway traffic was about 5½ times that of the total water traffic of the empire. [75] Not including sea tonnage. [76] Exclusive of arrivals and departures by rail from Dresden and Breslau. [77] Exclusive of arrivals and departures by rail from Dresden and Breslau. [78] Report of Messrs. Meyer and Werneigh.