Page:Remarks on the Present System of Road Making (1823).djvu/201

 repair of that road, with the material at present in use; for the nature of which, as well as for the exclusion of air and sun by buildings, proper allowance ought to be made in judging of the state of the roads near London, and when this is done, and the great wear considered, we may find that in very many cases, there is but little cause to find fault, and much room for commendation. The traffic upon the Mile End road is however too much for a gravelled road, and the expanse for repair for the first three miles is consequently very great. The same remarks as to conduct and attention, are merited by the commissioners of other districts, and their gratuitous services entitle them to the thanks of the public; while in some parts of the kingdom, including Scotland, where the material is the very best, the roads are often in the worst condition, and the most unpleasant to travel upon. The stone is put in large pieces upon the road, without any covering or mixture of smaller material, and is left to take the chance of being broke and formed into a solid, or of tumbling loose upon the road. When a track is once formed in this stone-heap, it is not to be expected that the horses will be easily made to move out of it; and unless the thoroughfare is considerable, the road in use consists sometimes for a long period, of the two deep wheel tracks, which are always filled with water during the winter, and of the horse's path between them, the other parts being covered with a body of loose stones, and rendered absolutely useless. These observations apply to some lengths of the most frequented highways, but are more particularly applicable to the cross roads and the parish roads. I had the opportunity of seeing the roads in the West Highlands last autumn; they are formed with judgement, and kept in good repair.

When the highways in a county are under the manage