Steamboats were now running on the Great Lakes and on all the important rivers of the West. 此时，汽船运行在五大湖及西部所有重要的河流上，

　　The first result of this new mode of transport was the separation of the West from the East. 这种新型交通方式的使用首先导致东西部的分离。

　　Steamboats could carry passengers and goods up and down the Mississippi  汽船可以载着人、物在密西西比河及其支流上上下下，

　　and its branches more cheaply and more comfortably than people and goods could be carried over the Alleghanies. 而且比奥利哈尼地区人与货物的运送相比要更为便宜和更为舒服。

　　Many persons therefore advised the building of a good wagon road to connect the Potomac with the Ohio. 因此，许多人修建好的马路连通波托马克与俄亥俄。

　　The eastern end of this great road was at Cumberland on the Potomac in Maryland. 这条大路的西部起点是在马里兰州波托马克的坎伯兰，

　　It is generally called, therefore, the Cumberland Road. 因此一般把这条路叫做"坎伯兰路"。

　　It was begun at the national expense in 1811. 1811年国家开始投资修建这条路，

　　By 1820 the road was built as far as Wheeling on the Ohio River. 1820年这条路已经修到俄亥俄河上的威灵。

　　From that point steamboats could steam to Pittsburg, Cincinnati, St. Louis, or New Orleans. 从这里汽船可以直达匹兹堡、辛辛那提、圣路易斯或者新奥尔良。

　　Later on, the road was built farther west, as far as Illinois. 后来，这条路被修得更远，到达伊利诺斯州，

　　Then the coming of the railroad made further building unnecessary. 后来，出现了铁路，就没有进一步修建这条路的必要了。

　　296. The Erie Canal. 296．伊利运河

　　The best way to connect one steamboat route with another was to dig a canal. 连通两条汽船路线的最好的方法是开挖一条运河，

　　The most famous of all these canals was the one connecting the Hudson River with Lake Erie, and called the Erie Canal. 这些运河中最著名的是一条连接哈得孙河与伊利湖的运河，人们把它叫做伊利运河。

　　It was begun in 1817 and was completed so that a boat could pass through it in 1825. 1817年开始挖掘这条运河，到挖通通航已经是1825年。

　　It was De Witt Clinton who argued that such a canal would benefit New York City by bringing to it the produce of the Northwest and of western New York. 德o维特o克林顿主张这样的一条运河会让纽约市受益，他认为，这条河会给纽约市带来纽约西部及西北部的物产，