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<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 55596 ***</div>
<div class="transnote covernote">
<p class="center">Transcriber’s Note<br />
Cover created by Transcriber and placed in the Public Domain.</p></div>
<h1 class="gesperrt0">LIFE OF ROBERT STEVENSON.</h1>
<hr />
<p class="newpage p4 center vspace small"><span class="bold">Edinburgh University Press:</span><br />
THOMAS AND ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE, PRINTERS TO HER MAJESTY.</p>
<hr />
<div id="i_frontis" class="newpage p4 figcenter" style="max-width: 29.4375em;">
<img src="images/i_000.jpg" width="471" height="600" alt="" />
<div class="caption"><p class="floatl small">J. SYME DELINEAVIT.</p>
<p class="floatr small">J. HORSBURGH SCULPSIT.</p></div>
<div class="caption"><p class="floatc">ROBERT STEVENSON F.R.S.E.<br />
<span class="subhead">CIVIL ENGINEER.</span><br />
<span class="subhead"><i>From a bust by Joseph, placed in the Library
of the Bell Rock Lighthouse by the Commissioners of the Northern
Lighthouses</i></span></p></div></div>
<hr />
<p class="newpage p4 center vspace2 xxlarge wspace">
LIFE<br />
<span class="xxsmall">OF</span><br />
ROBERT STEVENSON</p>
<p class="center">CIVIL ENGINEER</p>
<p class="p1 center small vspace">FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH; FELLOW OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON;<br />
FELLOW OF THE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON; MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY<br />
OF SCOTTISH ANTIQUARIES, OF THE WERNERIAN NATURAL HISTORY<br />
SOCIETY, AND OF THE INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.<br />
<br />
ENGINEER TO THE COMMISSIONERS OF NORTHERN LIGHTHOUSES AND TO<br />
THE CONVENTION OF ROYAL BURGHS OF SCOTLAND, ETC.</p>
<p class="p2 center vspace wspace larger"><span class="small">BY</span><br />
DAVID STEVENSON</p>
<p class="p1 center">CIVIL ENGINEER</p>
<p class="p1 center small vspace">VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH;<br />
MEMBER OF COUNCIL OF THE INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS, ETC.</p>
<p class="p2 center vspace wspace">ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK, EDINBURGH<br />
E. AND F. N. SPON, LONDON AND NEW YORK<br />
<span class="gesperrt">1878.</span>
</p>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_v">v</span></p>
<div class="chapter">
<h2><a id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE</h2>
</div>
<p class="in0"><span class="smcap">The</span> addresses made to the Royal Society of Edinburgh,
and the Institution of Civil Engineers, at the opening
meetings of the session—1851, contained obituary notices
of Robert Stevenson. The late Alan Stevenson, his
eldest son, also wrote a short Memoir of his father,
which was printed for private circulation.</p>
<p>But Robert Stevenson’s long practice as a Civil
Engineer—the important works he executed—and the
valuable contributions he made to Engineering and
Scientific literature, seem to me to require a fuller notice
of his life than has hitherto been given.</p>
<p>This has been attempted in the following Memoir,
which will be found to consist of extracts from Mr.
Stevenson’s Professional Reports—of notes from his
Diary—and of communications to Scientific Journals and
Societies, between the years 1798 and 1843, when he
retired from active practice.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_vi">vi</span>
These papers embrace a wide field of Engineering,
including Lighthouses, Harbours, Rivers, Roads, Railways,
Ferries, Bridges, and other cognate subjects.</p>
<p>Some of them describe Engineering practice which is
now obsolete, but not on that account, I think, uninteresting
to such modern Engineers as have regard for the
antiquities of their Profession.</p>
<p>Some of them, I am aware, can only be appreciated
by those who are specially interested in the city of
Edinburgh.</p>
<p>All of them will, I venture to think, be found
worthy of preservation as interesting Engineering records
of an era that has passed away. It formed no part of my
duty to criticise them, in the light of modern Engineering,
and, unaltered in form of expression or statement of
opinion, they are now reproduced as they came from my
father’s pen.</p>
<p>I offer no apology for presenting these Extracts as
the outlines of the life of one who occupied a prominent
place among the Civil Engineers who practised during
the beginning of the present, and end of the last century,
shortly after British Engineering, with Smeaton as its
founder, may be said to have had its origin.</p>
<p class="sigright">D. S.</p>
<p class="p0 smaller"><span class="smcap">Edinburgh</span>, <span class="smcap">July 1878</span>.</p>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_vii">vii</span></p>
<div class="chapter">
<h2><a id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS.</h2>
</div>
<table id="toc" summary="Contents">
<tr>
<td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">CHAPTER I.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc chapsub" colspan="2">EARLY LIFE.</td></tr>
<tr class="small">
<td> </td>
<td class="tdr">PAGE</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Birth—Mr. Smith’s improvements in Lighthouse illumination—Origin of the Scottish Lighthouse Board—Acts as Assistant to their Engineer—Student at Andersonian Institution, Glasgow, and University of Edinburgh—Succeeds Mr. Smith as Engineer to the Northern Lighthouse Board—Tour of inspection of English lights in 1801—Is taken for a French spy</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">1</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">CHAPTER II.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc chapsub" colspan="2">BELL ROCK LIGHTHOUSE.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Resolves to practise as a Civil Engineer—Journals—Reports—Design for the Bell Rock Lighthouse—Improvements on Smeaton’s design—Application to Parliament for Act in 1802—Act of Parliament passed in 1806—Works begun in 1807—Tender breaks adrift—Life in the floating light—Boating between the lightship and the rock—Anxiety for workmen—Sunday work—Life in the Barrack or Beacon—Visits the Eddystone in 1813 and 1818—Sir Walter Scott’s visit to the Bell Rock</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">12</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">CHAPTER III.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc chapsub" colspan="2">LIGHTHOUSE ILLUMINATION.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Early modes of illumination—Facet reflectors and lamps—Silvered copper reflectors and Argand lamps—Isle of May coal light—Improvements <span class="pagenum" id="Page_viii">viii</span>in catoptric lights—Distinctions for lighthouses invented by Mr. Stevenson, viz., flashing, intermittent, and double lights—Floating light lantern—Lighting of stage of Covent Garden Theatre—Dioptric system of lighthouse illumination</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">48</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">CHAPTER IV.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc chapsub" colspan="2">ROADS.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Early roads and road-making—Edgeworth and M’Adam’s systems of roads—Stevenson’s system of roads—Cast iron and stone tracks</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">64</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">CHAPTER V.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc chapsub" colspan="2">IMPROVEMENT OF EDINBURGH.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Design for approaches to Edinburgh from the East by Regent and London Roads, and opening up access to the Calton Hill—Sites for the new Jail and Court of Justiciary, and buildings in Waterloo Place—Regent Bridge—Feuing Plan for Eastern District of Edinburgh—Improvement of accesses to Edinburgh from the West and North, and from Granton—Removal of old “Tolbooth” Prison—Removal of University Buildings</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">74</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">CHAPTER VI.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc chapsub" colspan="2">FERRIES.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Ferry Engineering—Extracts from Report on the Tay Ferries—Reports on various Ferries—Orkney and Shetland Ferry, etc.</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">101</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">CHAPTER VII.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc chapsub" colspan="2">RAILWAYS.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Canals and Railways on one level—Haulage on Railways—Railways in Scotland—Edinburgh and Midlothian, Stockton and Darlington, and Edinburgh and London Railways—Uniform gauge proposed—Notes on Railways for the Highland and Agricultural Society—Letter from George Stephenson</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">111</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">CHAPTER VIII.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_ix">ix</span></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl chapname">HARBOURS AND RIVERS</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">130</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">CHAPTER IX.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl chapname">PRESERVATION OF TIMBER</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">155</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">CHAPTER X.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc chapsub" colspan="2">BRIDGES.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Marykirk, Annan, Stirling, and Hutcheson stone bridges—High-level bridge for Newcastle—Timber bridge of built planks—Winch Chain Bridge—American bridges of suspension—Runcorn Bridge—Menai Chain Bridge—New form of suspension bridge</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">160</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XI.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl chapname">WOLF ROCK LIGHTHOUSE</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">168</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XII.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl chapname">CARR ROCK BEACON</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">177</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XIII.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl chapname">CRANES</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">181</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XIV.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl chapname">FISHERIES</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">184</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XV.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl chapname">MARINE SURVEYING</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">196</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XVI.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_x">x</span></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc chapsub" colspan="2">CONTRIBUTIONS ON ENGINEERING AND SCIENTIFIC SUBJECTS.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Contributions to <cite>Encyclopædia Britannica</cite> and <em>Edinburgh Encyclopædia</em>—The alveus or bed of the German ocean—Sectio planography—Wasting effects of the sea at the Mersey and Dee—Density of fresh and salt water—The Hydrophore</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">203</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XVII.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc chapsub" colspan="2">EXTRACTS FROM EARLY REPORTS.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Wide range of subjects on which Mr. Stevenson gave advice—Reports on ruins of Aberbrothock Abbey—St. Magnus Cathedral, and Earl’s Palace, Kirkwall—St. Andrews Cathedral—Montrose Church Spire—Melville Monument, Edinburgh—Lipping of joints of masonry with cement—Provision for flood waters in bridges—Hydraulic mortar—Protection of foreshores—Cycloidal sea wall—Checking drift sand—Night signal lamps—Cause of heavy seas in Irish Channel—Sea routes across Irish Channel—Build of Ships—Prospective increase of population—Tidal scour—Unscrewing of bolts by the waves—Cement Rubble cofferdams—Buoyage system—Observations on fog signals—Regulations for steam vessels—Notes on shipwrecks</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">236</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XVIII.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl chapname">RETROSPECT OF MR. STEVENSON’S LIFE</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">264</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl chapname">APPENDIX</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#APPENDIX">274</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl chapname">INDEX</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#INDEX">277</a></td></tr>
</table>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xi">xi</span></p>
<div class="chapter">
<h2><a id="LIST_OF_PLATES"></a>LIST OF PLATES.</h2>
</div>
<table id="loi" summary="List of Plates">
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td class="tdl">FRONTISPIECE,</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#i_frontis"><i>To face Title-page.</i></a></td></tr>
<tr class="nobpad">
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td class="tdr"><i>To face page</i></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdr top">I.</td>
<td class="tdl">ELEVATION OF BELL ROCK LIGHTHOUSE,</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#PLATE_I">25</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdr top">II.</td>
<td class="tdl">SECTION OF BELL ROCK LIGHTHOUSE,</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#PLATE_II">25</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdr top">III.</td>
<td class="tdl">VIGNETTE OF BELL ROCK LIGHTHOUSE, WITH FACSIMILE OF LINES WRITTEN IN BELL ROCK ALBUM BY SIR WALTER SCOTT,</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#PLATE_III">47</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdr top">IV.</td>
<td class="tdl">PLAN OF APPROACHES TO EDINBURGH BY REGENT AND LONDON ROADS, 1814,</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#PLATE_IV">77</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdr top">V.</td>
<td class="tdl">DESIGN FOR BUILDING ON THE CALTON HILL, EDINBURGH,</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#PLATE_V">90</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdr top">VI.</td>
<td class="tdl">ELEVATIONS OF ANNAN AND MARYKIRK BRIDGES,</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#PLATE_VI">160</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdr top">VII.</td>
<td class="tdl">ELEVATIONS OF HUTCHESON AND STIRLING BRIDGES,</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#PLATE_VII">160</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdr top">VIII.</td>
<td class="tdl">DESIGN FOR HIGH LEVEL ROAD BRIDGE AT NEWCASTLE ON TYNE,</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#PLATE_VIII">161</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdr top">IX.</td>
<td class="tdl">DESIGN FOR WOLF ROCK LIGHTHOUSE,</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#PLATE_IX">174</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdr top">X.</td>
<td class="tdl">CARR ROCK BEACON,</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#PLATE_X">179</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdr top">XI.</td>
<td class="tdl">MOVEABLE JIB AND BALANCE CRANES,</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#PLATE_XI">182</a></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdr top">XII.</td>
<td class="tdl">CHART OF THE NORTH SEA OR GERMAN OCEAN, WITH SECTIONS OF THE DEPTHS OF WATER, 1820,</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#PLATE_XII">207</a></td></tr>
</table>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">1</span></p>
<div class="chapter">
<h2><a id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.<br />
<span class="subhead">EARLY LIFE.<br />
<span class="subhead">1772–1798.</span></span></h2>
</div>
<blockquote>
<p class="hang">Birth—Mr. Smith’s improvements in Lighthouse illumination—Origin of the
Scottish Lighthouse Board—Acts as Assistant to their Engineer—Student
at Andersonian Institution, Glasgow, and University of Edinburgh—Succeeds
Mr. Smith as Engineer to the Northern Lighthouse Board—Tour of inspection
of English lights in 1801—Is taken for a French spy.</p></blockquote>
<p class="in0"><span class="smcap">Robert Stevenson</span>, maltster in Glasgow, was born in
1720, and, as stated on his tombstone, in the burial-ground
of the Cathedral, died in 1764.</p>
<p>His fourth son, Alan, was partner in a West India
house in Glasgow, and died of fever in the island of
St. Christopher, in 1774, while on a visit to his brother,
who managed the foreign business of the house at that
place.</p>
<p>The only son of Alan Stevenson was Robert, the
subject of this Memoir, who was born at Glasgow on
the 8th of June 1772.</p>
<p>When his father died, Robert Stevenson, then an
infant, was left in circumstances of difficulty, for the
same epidemic fever which deprived him of his father
carried off his uncle also, at a time when their loss
operated most disadvantageously on the business which
they conducted; and, strange to say, on account of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">2</span>
legal difficulties, nearly half a century elapsed before
any patrimonial funds in which my father had an
interest were realised.</p>
<p>Under these circumstances his mother (Jean Lillie,
daughter of David Lillie, builder in Glasgow, who died,
as stated on his tombstone, in the Cathedral burying-ground,
in 1774) resolved to go to Edinburgh to reside
with a married sister, and when her son reached the
age of being able for school she wisely took advantage
of one of the hospitals in that city for his
education; and the spirit of the man is well brought
out by the fact that he devoted his first earnings in life,
at the Cumbrae Lighthouse, to making a <em>contribution</em>
to the funds of the Orphan Hospital in payment of what
he regarded as a <em>debt</em>.</p>
<p>It appears from “Memoranda” left by my father
for the information of his family, that his mother was
a woman of great prudence and remarkable fortitude,
based on deep convictions of religion; and, even in their
time of trial, which lasted over his school days, he says,—“My
mother’s ingenuous and gentle spirit amidst all
her difficulties never failed her. She still relied on the
providence of God, though sometimes, in the recollection
of her father’s house and her younger days, she remarked
that the ways of Providence were often dark to us.
The Bible, and attendance on the ministrations, chiefly
of Mr. Randall of Lady Yester’s Church, afterwards
Dr. Davidson of the Tolbooth,<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">1</a> and at other churches,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">3</span>
where I was almost always her constant attendant, were
the great sources of her comfort.</p>
<p>“Her intention was that I should be trained for the
ministry, with a view to which I had been sent, after
leaving my first school, to Mr. Macintyre, a famous
linguist of his day, where I made the acquaintance of
Patrick Neill, afterwards the well-known printer, and
still better known naturalist, who remained my most
intimate friend through life, and of William Blackwood,
the no less celebrated publisher.”</p>
<div class="tb">* <span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">*</span></div>
<p>Circumstances, however, occurred which entirely
changed my father’s prospects and pursuits. Soon after
he had attained his fifteenth year his mother was married
to Mr. Thomas Smith—son of a shipowner, and member
of the Trinity House of Dundee,—who himself was, my
father says, a “furnishing iron-merchant, shipowner, and
underwriter” in Edinburgh, and who being also a lamp-maker
and an ingenious mechanician, appears at a very
early date to have directed his attention to the subject
of lighthouses, and endeavoured to improve the mode of
illumination then in use, by substituting lamps with
mirrors, for the open coal-fires which were at that early
time the only beacons to guide the mariner.</p>
<p>Mr. Smith’s improvements attracted the notice of
Professor Robison, Sir David Hunter Blair, and Mr.
Creech, the publisher and honorary secretary to the
Chamber of Commerce. I find from the minutes of that
body, that in 1786, a complaint was made to them by
shipmasters as to the defective state of the coal light on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">4</span>
the Isle of May, which was a “private light” belonging
to the family of the Duke of Portland.</p>
<p>The Chamber sent a deputation of their number to
inquire into the truth of the objections that had been
made, who fully confirmed the justice of the complaints.</p>
<p>When the result of the examination was reported
to the Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Smith submitted to
them “a plan for improving the light by dispensing
with the coal-fire,” and after fully considering his suggestions,
the Chamber, at their meeting of 24th May 1786,
resolved “that while they allowed much ingenuity to
Mr. Smith’s plan of reflectors, they were of opinion that
a coal light should be continued.”</p>
<div class="tb">* <span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">*</span></div>
<p>The Board of Northern Lighthouses was constituted
by Act of Parliament in 1786; its members were the
Lord Advocate and Solicitor-General, the chief magistrates
of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness, and
Campbeltown, and the Sheriffs of the maritime counties
of Scotland. These Commissioners, happily for the
interests of navigation, took a more enlightened view
of their duties than the Chamber of Commerce of Edinburgh,
and after hearing and considering Mr. Smith’s
proposals, formally appointed him their Engineer.</p>
<p>The preamble of the Act constituting the Northern
Lighthouse Board, states that it would greatly conduce to
the security of navigation and the fisheries if <em>four</em> lighthouses
were erected in the north part of Great Britain.
Such, it would seem, was the limited state of trade in
Scotland, that the erection of these four lighthouses was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">5</span>
all that was contemplated, on a coast, extending to
about 2000 miles, of perhaps the most dangerous navigation
in Europe. It is now marked by sixty lighthouse
stations for the guidance of the sailor, but new claims
continue to be made, and new lighthouses are still
admitted to be required.</p>
<p>The newly established Lighthouse Board at once
entered on its important duties, and the first light they
exhibited was Kinnaird Head, which was designed by
Mr. Smith and lighted in 1787.</p>
<div class="tb">* <span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">*</span></div>
<p>These pursuits being very congenial to my father’s
mechanical turn of mind, he had rendered himself useful
to Mr. Smith in carrying them out, and was intrusted,
at the early age of nineteen, to superintend the erection
of a lighthouse on the island of Little Cumbrae, in the
river Clyde, according to a design which Mr. Smith had
furnished to the Cumbrae Light Trustees. This connection
soon led to his adoption as Mr. Smith’s partner in
business, and, in 1799, to his union with his eldest
daughter by a former marriage.</p>
<p>During the cessation of the works at Cumbrae
in winter, my father, who had determined to follow
the profession of a Civil Engineer, applied himself, as
appears from class note-books in my possession, with
great zeal to the practice of surveying and architectural
drawing, and to the study of mathematics at the
Andersonian Institution at Glasgow. Of the kindness of
Dr. Anderson, who presided over that Institution, he
ever entertained a most grateful remembrance, and often<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">6</span>
spoke of him as one of his best advisers and kindest
friends, and in the Memoranda already noticed he
records his obligations to him in the following words:—“It
was the practice of Professor Anderson kindly to
befriend and forward the views of his pupils; and his
attention to me during the few years I had the pleasure
of being known to him was of a very marked kind, for
he directed my attention to various pursuits, with the
view to my coming forward as an engineer.”</p>
<p>After completing the Cumbrae Lighthouse he was
further engaged, under Mr. Smith, in erecting two lighthouses
on the Pentland Skerries in Orkney, where, in
view of what lay before him at the Bell Rock, he had
the useful experience of living four months in a tent
on an uninhabited island, and arranging the landing of
the whole of the materials of the lighthouses in the
difficult navigation of the Pentland Firth. But here
also he had a personal experience of God’s overruling Providence,
which clung to him through life, and, as we shall
find, proved his stay in times of danger, when personal
resources had ceased to prove availing. In returning
from the Pentland Skerries, in 1794, he embarked in the
sloop ‘Elizabeth’ of Stromness, and proceeded as far
as Kinnaird Head, when the vessel was becalmed about
three miles from the shore. The captain kindly landed
my father, who continued his journey to Edinburgh by
land. A very different fate, however, awaited his unfortunate
shipmates. A violent gale came on, which drove
the ‘Elizabeth’ back to Orkney, where she was totally
wrecked, and all on board unhappily perished.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">7</span>
Notwithstanding my father’s active duties in summer,
he was so zealous in the pursuit of knowledge that he
contrived, during several successive winters, on his return
from his practical work, to avail himself of the Philosophical
classes at the University of Edinburgh. In this manner
he attended Professor Playfair’s second and third Mathematical
courses, two sessions of Robison’s Natural Philosophy,
two courses of Chemistry under Dr. Hope, and
two of Natural History under Professor Jameson. To
these he added a course of Moral Philosophy under
Dugald Stewart, a course of Logic under Dr. Ritchie,
and one of Agriculture under Professor Low. “I was
prevented, however,” he remarks, in the Memoranda,
“from following my friend Dr. Neill for my degree of
M.A. by my slender knowledge of Latin, in which my
highest book was the Orations of Cicero, and by my total
want of Greek.” Such zeal in the pursuit of knowledge,
and views so enlarged of the benefits and value of a
liberal education, were characteristics of a mind of no
ordinary vigour; so that, early trained to practical work,
and inspired with a true love of his profession, it was not
unnatural that on the resignation of Mr. Smith the Board
should have appointed Mr. Stevenson to succeed him as
their Engineer.</p>
<p>The first annual report made by him to the Board is
dated June 1798, and he continued annually to prepare
one up to the time of his resignation in 1843.</p>
<p>The first occasion on which he was sent by the Board
on a special mission was in 1801, when he was deputed
by the Commissioners to visit and report on the Lighthouses<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">8</span>
on the coasts of England, Wales, and the Isle
of Man. The report he submitted to the Board is a
most elaborate and valuable document. After describing
upwards of twenty Public, Private, and Harbour
lights which he had examined, he proceeds fully to
discuss the different systems of management in use,
and particularly to compare the system adopted by the
Scotch Board with that practised in England by the
Trinity House, most readily advising the adoption of
what seemed improvements in the administration of the
Southern Board. In reporting as to the Isle of Man
he takes occasion to suggest that the lighting of that
island should be taken up by the Northern Commissioners—a
proposal which was acted on in 1815. He
<span class="locked">says:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I had several communications with William Scott, Esq.,
Receiver-General of the Customs, upon the subject of Lighthouses.
At his request I went to the Point of Langness, and to the Calf
of Man; the former a very dangerous point of land, the latter a
situation that seems every way answerable to the general purposes
of a site for a lighthouse.</p>
<p>“As this island occupies a middle situation between Great
Britain and Ireland, and is not included in any of these Acts of
Parliament which relate to the erecting or maintaining of Lights,
on either side of the Channel, perhaps it might answer to
include the Isle of Man under the same Act which refers to the
Northern Lighthouses; and by extending your powers this island
might no longer stand a monument of darkness, and a great
obstruction to the navigation of St. George’s Channel, particularly
from the want of a light upon the Calf of Man.</p>
<p>“Such a light, together with the late improvement of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">9</span>
Copeland light, and the erection of the Kilwarlin light upon the
Irish coast, would in an eminent degree improve the navigation
of the Irish Channel. From the central situation of the Isle
of Man, a light would soon pay itself, by serving the trade of
Maryport, Workington, Whitehaven, Lancaster and Liverpool, on
the one side of the Channel, with Dublin and Newry on the
other.”</p></blockquote>
<p>With reference to this suggestion the Commissioners,
in January 1802, adopted the following <span class="locked">resolution:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“In the above report Mr. Stevenson has stated very strongly
the great utility of a lighthouse upon the Calf of Man; but not
being within the jurisdiction either of the Trinity House of London,
or of the Commissioners for the Northern Lighthouses, both of
them are thereby prevented from accomplishing an object so
much wished for by mariners, as it would prove a great additional
security to the navigation between a great number of the ports
on the west of England, and Dublin, and other ports in Ireland.
In order therefore that this circumstance may not be overlooked,
the Commissioners directed this notice to be taken of it in their
Minutes, in order that if any application to Parliament shall at a
future period be deemed necessary, the Commissioners may judge
how far it may not be proper to apply for power and liberty to
erect a lighthouse upon a situation so very eligible as the Calf of
Man, being the southmost point of that island.”</p></blockquote>
<p>The report was illustrated with plans of Douglas,
Milford, Longships, and Portland Lighthouses. The
somewhat formidable journey he had undertaken, involving
2500 miles of travelling, occupied eight weeks in its
performance, and the following amusing incident shows
what peaceful travellers, in those troubled times, had
sometimes to <span class="locked">encounter:—</span></p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">10</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I left the Scilly Islands considerably instructed by the
examination of the machinery and apparatus of this lighthouse,
and very much gratified. I took my passage in a vessel bound
for Penzance, where, however, I had not been long landed, when
I met with a circumstance which, while it lasted, was highly disagreeable,
and as it is somewhat connected with the object of the
journey, I beg your indulgence while I lay it before you.</p>
<p>“Finding that I could not get any convenient mode of conveyance
from Penzance to the Lizard Lights, I set off on foot for
Marazion, a town at the head of Mounts Bay, where I was in
hopes of getting a boat to freight. I had just got that length,
and was making the necessary inquiry, when a young man, accompanied
by several idle-looking fellows, came up to me, and in a
hasty tone said, ‘Sir, in the King’s name I seize your person and
papers.’ To which I replied that I should be glad to see his
authority, and know the reason of an address so abrupt. He
told me the want of time prevented his taking regular steps,
but that it would be necessary for me to return to Penzance, and
there undergo an examination, as I was suspected of being a
French spy. Had I not been extremely anxious to get on my
journey, I would not have objected to this. I therefore proposed
to submit my papers to the examination of the nearest Justice of
Peace, who was immediately applied to and came to the inn
where I was. He seemed to be greatly agitated, and quite at a
loss how to proceed. The complaint preferred against me was,
‘That I had examined the Longships Lighthouse with the most
minute attention, and was no less particular in my inquiries at
the keepers of the lighthouse regarding the sunk rocks lying off
the Land’s End, with the sets of the currents and tides along the
coast: that I seemed particularly to regret the situation of the
rocks called the Seven Stones, and the loss of a beacon which
the Trinity Board had caused to be fixed upon the Wolf Rock:
that I had taken notes of the bearings of several sunk rocks, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">11</span>
a drawing of the lighthouse and of Cape Cornwall: further,
that I had refused the honour of Lord Edgecombe’s invitation
to dinner, who happened to be at the Land’s End with a party of
pleasure, offering as an apology that I had some particular
business on hand, upon which I immediately set off for the Scilly
Islands. These circumstances concurring with a report that a
schooner had been seen off the Land taking soundings, it was
presumed that I was connected with her, and had some evil
intention in making these remarks.’</p>
<p>“In order to clear myself of this suspicion, I laid before the
Justice your letter directing me to make the journey, which was
signed by Mr. Gray (Secretary to the Board), as also several
letters he had procured for me to some of the members of the
Trinity House, London, together with a letter from the Trinity
House, Leith, to the Marquis of Titchfield. I produced also
my letter of credit from Sir William Forbes and Company, and,
after perusing these letters, the Justice of Peace very gravely
observed that they were ‘merely bits of paper,’ and was of opinion
that I should be kept in custody till the matter should be laid
before Lord Edgecombe, the Lord-Lieutenant of the county, and
added, that he would most likely order me to be <em>sent</em> to Plymouth.</p>
<p>“I no sooner heard the opinion of this gentleman than I
ordered a chaise and immediately returned to Penzance, where I
laid my papers before the Justices of Peace, and waited their
decision with much anxiety. They no sooner looked them over
than in the most polite manner they cleared me of the suspicions
I laboured under, and left me at liberty to pursue my journey,
which I did with so much eagerness that I gave the two coal
lights upon the Lizard Point only a very transient look, and passed
on to Plymouth.”</p></blockquote>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">12</span></p>
<div class="chapter">
<h2><a id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.<br />
<span class="subhead">BELL ROCK LIGHTHOUSE.<br />
<span class="subhead">1798–1811.</span></span></h2>
</div>
<blockquote>
<p class="hang">Resolves to practise as a Civil Engineer—Journals—Reports—Design for the Bell
Rock Lighthouse—Improvements on Smeaton’s design—Application to
Parliament for Act in 1802—Act of Parliament passed in 1806—Works
begun in 1807—Tender breaks adrift—Life in the floating light—Boating
between the lightship and the rock—Anxiety for workmen—Sunday work—Life
in the Barrack or Beacon—Visits the Eddystone in 1813 and 1818—Sir
Walter Scott’s visit to the Bell Rock.</p></blockquote>
<p class="in0"><span class="smcap">From</span> what has been said in the preceding chapter,
it will be seen that Mr. Stevenson, from an early period,
evinced a decided liking for general Engineering, and I
find that almost simultaneously with his appointment
under the Lighthouse Board, for whose peculiar duties
he had qualified himself by a pretty large and hard-earned
experience, he resolved to prosecute the practice
of Civil Engineering, in all its branches.</p>
<p>I find also that coincident with this start in life, he
commenced a systematic “Journal,” beginning in 1801,
of the various travels made in the prosecution of his
profession, which occupies nineteen octavo and quarto
manuscript books.</p>
<p>His Reports, many of them on subjects of great
interest, occupy fourteen folio manuscript volumes, and
his printed reports occupy four thick quarto volumes.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">13</span>
These books, together with relative plans, the number
of which I fear to mention, are the documents I had to
consult in obtaining the records of my father’s professional
life. The Journals, Reports, and Plans extend over a
period of nearly fifty years, and the selection of topics
from such a mass of matter has been no easy task. But
as the duty I have undertaken is to convey to the reader
a sketch of my father as a Civil Engineer, I have been
content, passing over many interesting subjects, to select
from the documents before me only so much as should
be useful in carrying out that object; and even in this I
encountered the difficulty of determining the best order
in which the selections I have made should be given.
To do so according to any chronological arrangement I
find to be impossible, and having resolved to give them
not as a consecutive narrative, but in the form of detached
notices, I think it will be most appropriate that I should
commence the story of Mr. Stevenson’s professional life
with his great work—the Bell Rock Lighthouse,—which
extended over a period of twelve years, commencing with
his early conception of its structure in 1799, and terminating
with its completion in 1811.</p>
<div class="tb">* <span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">*</span></div>
<p>The Inchcape or Bell Rock lies off the east coast of
Scotland, nearly abreast of the entrance to the Firth of
Tay, at a distance of eleven miles from Arbroath, the
nearest point of the mainland. The name of “Bell” has
its origin in the legend respecting the good intention of a
pious Abbot of Aberbrothock being frustrated by the
notorious pirate, Sir Ralph the Rover, as related in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">14</span>
Southey’s well-known lines, which I have given in an
<a href="#APPENDIX">Appendix</a>.</p>
<p>Of the origin, progress, and completion of the lighthouse
Mr. Stevenson has left a lasting memorial and
most interesting narrative in his quarto volume of upwards
of 500 pages, a great part of which was written to his
dictation by his only daughter, and was published in 1824.<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">2</a></p>
<p>But there are some circumstances connected with the
early history of the Bell Rock, which, while they could
not properly have found a place in his narrative, have
been noticed in his Memoranda, from which I shall
transcribe a few paragraphs detailing his early efforts
and disappointments while engaged in designing and
arranging for the prosecution of that great <span class="locked">work:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“All knew the difficulties of the erection of the Eddystone
Lighthouse, and the casualties to which that edifice had been
liable; and in comparing the two situations, it was generally
remarked that the Eddystone was barely covered by the tide at
<em>high water</em>, while the Bell Rock was barely uncovered at <em>low water</em>.</p>
<p>“I had much to contend with in the then limited state of my
experience; and I had in various ways to bear up against public
opinion as well as against interested parties. I was in this state
of things, however, greatly supported, and I would even say often
comforted, by Mr. Clerk of Eldin, author of the System of
Breaking the Line in Naval Tactics. Mr. Clerk took great interest
in my models, and spoke much of them in scientific circles. He
carried men of science and eminent strangers to the model-room
which I had provided in Merchants Hall, of which he sometimes
carried the key, both when I was at home and while I was abroad.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">15</span>
He introduced me to Lord Webb Seymour, to Admiral Lord
Duncan, and to Professors Robison and Playfair, and others. Mr.
Clerk had been personally known to Smeaton, and used occasionally
to speak of him to me.”</p></blockquote>
<p>It is impossible to read this little narrative without
feeling a respect for Mr. Clerk’s hearty enthusiasm, and
perceiving the beneficial influence which a kindly disposition
may produce on the pursuits of a young man, by
stimulating an honourable emulation and discouraging a
desponding spirit.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“But at length,” the memorandum continues, “all difficulties
with the public, as well as with the better informed few, were
dispelled by the fatal effects of a dreadful storm from the <span class="smcap smaller">N.E.</span>,
which occurred in December 1799, when it was ascertained that
no fewer than seventy sail of vessels were stranded or lost, with
many of their crews, upon the coast of Scotland alone! Many
of them, it was not doubted, might have found a safe asylum in
the Firth of Forth, had there been a lighthouse upon the Bell
Rock, on which, indeed, it was generally believed the ‘York,’ of
74 guns, with all hands, perished, none being left to tell the tale!
The coast for many miles exhibited portions of that fine ship.
There was now, therefore, but one voice,—‘There must be a lighthouse
erected on the Bell Rock.’</p>
<p>“Previous to this dreadful storm I had prepared my pillar-formed
model, a section of which is shown in Plate <span class="smcap smaller">VII.</span> of
the ‘Account of the Bell Rock Lighthouse.’ Early in the year
1800, I, for the first time, landed on the rock to see the application
of my pillar-formed model to the situation for which it
was designed and made.</p>
<p>“On this occasion I was accompanied by my friend Mr.
James Haldane, architect, whose pupil I had been for architectural<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">16</span>
drawing. Our landing was at low water of a spring-tide,
when a good <em>space</em> of rock was above water, and then the
realities of its danger were amply exemplified by the numerous
relics which were found in its crevices, such as a ship’s marking-iron,
a piece of a kedge-anchor, and a cabin stove, a bayonet,
cannon-ball, silver shoe-buckle, crowbars, pieces of money, and
other evidences of recent shipwreck.</p>
<p>“I had no sooner set foot upon the rock than I laid aside
all idea of a pillar-formed structure, fully convinced that a
building on similar principles with the Eddystone would be
found practicable.</p>
<p>“On my return from this visit to the rock, I immediately
set to work in good earnest, with a design of a stone lighthouse,
and modelled it. I accompanied this design with a
report or memorial to the Lighthouse Board. The abandoned
pillar-formed plan I estimated at £15,000, and the stone building
at £42,685, 8s. But still I found that I had not made much
impression on the Board on the score of expense, for they
feared it would cost much more than forty or fifty thousand
pounds.”</p></blockquote>
<p class="p1">It was as to some of the details of this stone design
that my father asked Professor Playfair to give his
opinion, and received the following reply, which was not
a little encouraging to the young engineer attempting to
improve on the design of the great <span class="locked">Smeaton:—</span></p>
<p>“Mr. Playfair is very sorry that he has scarce had
any time to look more particularly over the plans which
Mr. Stevenson has been so good as to send him. Mr.
Playfair is too little acquainted with practical mechanics
to make his opinion of much weight on such a subject
as the construction of a lighthouse. But so far as he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">17</span>
can presume to judge, the method of connecting the
stones proposed by Mr. Stevenson is likely to prove
perfectly secure, and has the advantage of being more
easily constructed than Mr. Smeaton’s.”</p>
<p>“<i>9th August 1802.</i>”</p>
<div class="tb">* <span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">*</span></div>
<p>The Lord Advocate Hope, one of the Commissioners
of Northern Lighthouses, and Member of Parliament for
the city of Edinburgh, who had interested himself much
in the Bell Rock question, and often conferred with
Mr. Stevenson on his design for the work, determined
that the matter should not be allowed to rest, and
introduced a Bill into Parliament in 1802–1803 to
empower the Board to carry it out.</p>
<p>This Bill passed the House of Commons. The Committee
to which it was referred report—“That it appears
that a sufficient foundation might be prepared on the north
end of the rock, where the surface is highest and of greatest
dimensions: That artificers could work five hours at the
times of each low-water in the day-time of the summer
months, and that if the building should be made of
masonry the stones to form it might be prepared on shore,
marked and numbered, and carried off to the rock and
properly placed: That as the present duties may not for
a long time enable the Commissioners to defray the
expense of erecting and maintaining a lighthouse on the
Bell or Cape Rock, it will be expedient to authorise the
Commissioners to levy and take further duties for that
purpose, with power to borrow a further sum on the
credit of said duties.”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">18</span>
At that early date there was no “standing order” of
the House requiring the promoters of a Bill to lodge plans
of their proposed works, and my father in his Memoranda
says:—“The only plans in Mr. Hope’s hands were those
which, in 1800, I submitted to the Lighthouse Board.”</p>
<p>In the House of Lords the Bill met with opposition
from the Corporation of the City of London, as including
too great a range of coast in the collection of duties,
and such alterations and amendments were introduced in
the Upper House as rendered it necessary for the Lord
Advocate to withdraw the Bill.</p>
<div class="tb">* <span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">*</span></div>
<p>In order to fortify Mr. Stevenson’s views as to the
practicability of building a stone tower in such a situation,
which was apparently the chief difficulty in all the
early negotiations, the Board resolved to take the advice
of Mr. Telford, then employed by Government in reporting
on the Highland Roads and Bridges and the Caledonian
Canal, who, however, was unable to overtake the duty,
and thereafter, on Mr. Stevenson’s suggestion, they
applied to Mr. John Rennie, Mr. Stevenson’s senior by
eleven years, who had, like himself, at the early age of
twenty-one, commenced the practice of his profession, and
was then settled in London as a civil engineer. Rennie
having concurred with Stevenson as to the practicability
and expediency of adopting a stone tower, the Lighthouse
Board resolved to make another application to Parliament.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">19</span>
The second application was made in 1806, in a Bill
introduced by Lord Advocate Erskine, and proceeded on
the same design and estimate of £42,685, 8s., prepared by
Mr. Stevenson, in 1800; and the following is an extract
from the Report of the Committee of the House of
Commons to whom was referred the petition of the Commissioners
of the Northern <span class="locked">Lighthouses:—</span></p>
<p>“Proceeded to examine Mr. Robert Stevenson, Civil
Engineer, who, in his capacity of Engineer for the
Northern Lighthouses, has erected six lighthouses in the
northern parts of the kingdom, and has made the erection
of a lighthouse on the Cape or Bell Rock more
particularly his study,—especially since the loss of about
seventy sail of vessels in a storm which happened upon the
coast in the month of December 1799, by which numerous
ships were driven from their course along the shore, and
from their moorings in Yarmouth Roads, and other places
of anchorage, southward of the Firth of Forth, and
wrecked upon the eastern coast of Scotland, as referred
to in the report made to this House in the month of July
1803; the particulars of which he also confirms: That
the Bell Rock is most dangerously situated, lying in a
track which is annually navigated by no less than about
700,000 tons of shipping, besides his Majesty’s ships of
war and revenue cutters: That its place is not easily
ascertained, even by persons well acquainted with the
coast, being covered by the sea about half-flood, and the
landmarks, by which its position is ascertained, being from
twelve to twenty miles distant from the site of danger.</p>
<p>“That from the inquiries he made at the time the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">20</span>
‘York’ man-of-war was lost, and pieces of her wreck having
drifted ashore upon the opposite and neighbouring coast,
and from an attentive consideration of the circumstances
which attend the wreck of ships of such dimensions, he
thinks it probable that the ‘York’ must have struck upon
the Bell Rock, drifted off, and afterwards sunk in deep
water: That he is well acquainted with the situation of
the Bell Rock, the yacht belonging to the Lighthouse
service having, on one occasion, been anchored near it for
five days, when he had an opportunity of landing upon it
every tide: That he has visited most of the lighthouses
on the coast of England, Wales, and Ireland, particularly
those of the Eddystone, the Smalls, and the Kilwarlin, or
South Rock, which are built in situations somewhat similar
to the Bell Rock: That at high water there is a
greater depth on the Bell Rock than on any of these, by
several feet; and he is therefore fully of opinion, that a
building of stone, upon the principles of the Eddystone
Lighthouse, is alone suitable to the peculiar circumstances
which attend this rock, and has reported his opinion
accordingly to the Commissioners of the Northern Lighthouses
as far back as the year 1800; and having given
the subject all the attention in his power, he has estimated
the expense of erecting a building of stone upon
it at the sum of £42,685, 8s.</p>
<p>“Your Committee likewise examined Mr. John
Rennie, Civil Engineer, who, since the report made to
this House in 1803, has visited the Bell Rock, who confirms
the particulars in said report, and entertains no
doubt of the practicability of erecting a lighthouse on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">21</span>
that rock, is decidedly of opinion that a stone lighthouse
will be the most durable and effectual, and indeed the
only kind of building that is suited to this situation:
That he has computed the expense of such a building,
and after making every allowance for contingencies,
from his own experience of works in the sea, it appears
to him that the estimate or expense will amount to
£41,843, 15s.”</p>
<p>This application was fortunately successful, the Act
having obtained the royal assent in July 1806, when the
Commissioners at once determined to commence the
work.</p>
<p>Mr. Stevenson now began to feel the full stress of
his responsibility. He accordingly says in his <span class="locked">notes:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The erection of a lighthouse on a rock about twelve miles
from land, and so low in the water that the foundation-course
must be at least on a level with the lowest tide, was an enterprise
so full of uncertainty and hazard that it could not fail to
press on my mind. I felt regret that I had not had the opportunity
of a greater range of practice to fit me for such an undertaking.
But I was fortified by an expression of my friend Mr.
Clerk, in one of our conversations upon its difficulties. ‘This
work,’ said he, ‘is unique, and can be little forwarded by experience
of ordinary masonic operations. In this case Smeaton’s Narrative
must be the text-book, and energy and perseverance <em>the pratique</em>.’”</p></blockquote>
<p>Mr. Rennie also, who had supported the Bill of 1806
in Parliament, and afterwards was appointed by the Commissioners
as an advising Engineer to whom Mr. Stevenson
could refer in case of emergency, and who had
suggested some alterations on Mr. Stevenson’s design<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">22</span>
of the lighthouse in which he did not see his way to
acquiesce, nevertheless continued to take a kind interest
in the work, and they continued to correspond frequently
during its progress. “Poor old fellow,” Rennie says
in one letter, alluding to the name of Smeaton, “I hope
he will now and then take a peep of us, and inspire you
with fortitude and courage to brave all difficulties and
all dangers, to accomplish a work which will, if successful,
immortalise you in the annals of fame.”<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">3</a></p>
<p>How well Mr. Stevenson met the demands which, in
the course of his great enterprise, were made on his
perseverance, fortitude, and self-denial, the history of the
operations, and their successful completion, abundantly
show. The work was indeed, in all respects, peculiarly
suited to his tastes and habits; and Mr. Clerk truly—although
perhaps unconsciously—characterised the man,
in his terse statement of what would be required of him:
“The work is unique—ordinary experience can do little
for it—all must depend on energy and perseverance.” No
one can read Mr. Stevenson’s “Account of the Bell Rock
Lighthouse” without perceiving the justness of this
estimate of the difficulties that lay before him, and his
ability to overcome them.</p>
<p>Though ever maintaining the highest respect for
Smeaton and his noble work, Mr. Stevenson was led, in
his original design of 1800, as we have already seen,
and further in his actual execution of the Bell Rock
tower, to deviate to a considerable extent from the
design of the Eddystone. Mr. Stevenson adopted a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">23</span>
height of one hundred feet instead of sixty-eight for
the height of the masonry, and he carried the level of the
solid part of the tower to the height of twenty-one feet
above high water, instead of eleven feet as at the Eddystone.
In addition to these deviations in the general
dimensions of the tower, he increased the thickness of
the walls, and he also introduced some changes of importance
in its interior structure, whereby he secured a
greater continuity, and therefore greater strength of the
masonry of the walls and floors, which he describes in
his book as <span class="locked">follows:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Each floor stone forms part of the outward walls, extending
inwards to a centre stone, independently of which they are connected
by means of copper bats, with a view to preserve their
square form at the extremity, instead of dovetailing. These
stones are also modelled with joggles, sidewise, upon the principles
of the common floor, termed feathering in carpentry, and also with
dovetailed joggles across the joints, where they form part of the
outward wall.... The floors of the Eddystone Lighthouse, on the
contrary, were constructed of an arch form, and the haunches of
the arches bound with chains to prevent their pressing outward, to
the injury of the walls. In this, Mr. Smeaton followed the construction
of the Dome of St Paul’s; and this mode might also be
found necessary at the Eddystone, from the want of stones in one
length, to form the outward wall and floor, in the then state of the
granite quarries of Cornwall. At Mylnefield Quarry, however,
there was no difficulty in procuring stones of the requisite dimensions;
and the writer foresaw many advantages that would arise
from having the stones of the floors to form part of the outward
walls, without introducing the system of arching.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Smeaton in fact adopted an arched form for the floors<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">24</span>
of his building, which rendered it necessary, in order to
counteract the outward thrust, to insert chains, embedded
in grooves, cut in the masonry; but Mr. Stevenson,
in designing the Bell Rock Lighthouse, improved on
Smeaton’s plan, not only by a better general arrangement
of the masonry, but by converting the floors into
effective bonds, so that, instead of exerting an outward
thrust, they actually tie or bind the walls together.
This is at once apparent from <a href="#Fig_1">Figs. 1</a> and <a href="#Fig_2">2</a>, which show
the floor-courses of the Eddystone and Bell Rock in
section.</p>
<div id="Fig_1" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 26em;">
<img src="images/i_024.jpg" width="416" height="76" alt="" />
<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 1.</span>—Eddystone.</div></div>
<div id="Fig_2" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 26em;">
<img src="images/i_024b.jpg" width="416" height="89" alt="" />
<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 2.</span>—Bell Rock.</div></div>
<p>The engineer of the Bell Rock had all the advantage
of Smeaton’s earlier experience, which he ever
thankfully acknowledged; but there can be no doubt
whatever that the Bell Rock presented peculiar engineering
difficulties. The Eddystone Rock is barely <em>covered</em>
by the tide at high water, while the Bell Rock is barely
<em>uncovered at</em> <span class="smcap smaller">LOW WATER</span>, rendering the time of working
on it, as we shall afterwards find, extremely limited; and
the proposal to erect a stone tower on this low-lying
isolated reef, at a distance of twelve miles from land,
was no less remarkable for its novelty than for its boldness.</p>
<div id="ip_24c" class="newpage figcenter" style="max-width: 27.125em;">
<p id="PLATE_I" class="plate"><i>PLATE I.</i></p>
<img src="images/i_025a.jpg" width="434" height="600" alt="" />
<div class="caption">
<p><i>BELL ROCK LIGHT HOUSE.</i></p>
<p class="floatl"><i>W. & A. K. Johnston, Edinburgh.</i></p></div></div>
<div id="ip_24d" class="newpage figcenter" style="max-width: 26.25em;">
<p id="PLATE_II" class="plate"><i>PLATE II.</i></p>
<img src="images/i_025b.jpg" width="420" height="600" alt="" />
<div class="caption">
<p><i>SECTION <span class="smcap smaller">OF THE</span> BELL ROCK LIGHT HOUSE.</i></p>
<p class="floatl"><i>W. & A. K. Johnston, Edinburgh.</i></p></div></div>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">25</span>
<a href="#PLATE_I">Plate <span class="smcap smaller">I.</span></a> is an elevation of the Bell Rock Lighthouse,
and <a href="#PLATE_II">Plate <span class="smcap smaller">II.</span></a> is a section showing the manner in which the
interior is laid out, and, so far as the size of scale admits,
the peculiar arrangements of the masonry, to which reference
has been made.</p>
<p>The following is a brief statement of the progress of
the <span class="locked">work:—</span></p>
<p>The spring of 1807 was occupied in preparing a floating
lightship to be moored off the rock, erecting the
timber framework which was to support the barrack to
be occupied as a temporary dwelling by the workmen,
and in carrying out other preliminary arrangements.
During this first season the aggregate time of low-water
work, caught by snatches of an hour or two at a tide,
amounted to no more than thirteen and a half days’ work
of ten hours each.</p>
<p>In 1808 the foundation-pit was excavated in the solid
rock, and the building was brought up to the level of the
surrounding surface, the aggregate time of low-water
work amounting to twenty-two days of ten hours, so that
little more than a month’s work was obtained during the
first two years.</p>
<p>In 1809 the barrack for the workmen was completed,
and the building of the tower brought to the height of
seventeen feet above high water of spring-tides.</p>
<p>In 1810 the masonry of the tower was finished and
the lantern erected in its place, and the light was
exhibited on 1st February 1811. The light is of the
description known as revolving <em>red</em> and <em>white</em>, and hence
Sir Walter Scott’s “gem of changeful light” (see page <a href="#Page_47">47</a>).</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">26</span>
These weary years of toil and peril were also years of
great professional responsibility for the Engineer, and of
constant anxiety for the safety of his devoted band of
associates, including shipmasters, landing-masters, foremen,
and workmen, in all of whom Mr. Stevenson took a
cordial and ever friendly interest, and in whom he invariably
placed implicit confidence when he found that their
several duties were faithfully discharged. To form strong
attachments to trustworthy fellow-workmen was ever a
marked feature in my father’s character, and after a
lapse of nearly half a century many who joined in his
labours at the Bell Rock were still associated with
him in the business of his office, or as Inspectors of
works.</p>
<p>His daily cheerful participation in all the toils and
hazards which were, for two seasons, endured in the
floating lightship, and afterwards in the timber house or
barrack, over which the waves broke with very great
force, and caused a most alarming <em>twisting</em> movement of
its main supports, were proofs not merely of calm and
enduring courage, but of great self-denial and enthusiastic
devotion to his calling. On some occasions his
fortitude and presence of mind were most severely tried,
and well they stood the test.</p>
<p>The record of this great work is, as I have already
said, fully given in the “Account of the Bell Rock Lighthouse,”
to which I must refer professional readers; but as
this volume is out of print, and is not easily accessible, I
shall give a few extracts from it, which I feel sure will
be read with deep interest, and convey to the reader at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">27</span>
least some idea of the difficulties with which this undertaking
was <span class="locked">beset:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Soon after the artificers landed on the rock they commenced
work; but the wind coming to blow hard, the Smeaton’s<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">4</a> boat and
crew, who had brought their complement of eight men to the rock,
went off to examine her riding-ropes, and see that they were in
proper order. The boat had no sooner reached the vessel than she
went adrift, carrying the boat along with her; and both had even
got to a considerable distance before this situation of things
was observed, every one being so intent upon his own particular
duty that the boat had not been seen leaving the rock. As it
blew hard, the crew, with much difficulty, set the mainsail
upon the Smeaton, with a view to work her up to the buoy,
and again lay hold of the moorings. By the time that she was
got round to make a tack towards the rock, she had drifted at
least three miles to leeward, with the praam boat astern; and
having both the wind and tide against her, the writer perceived,
with no little anxiety, that she could not possibly return to the
rock till long after its being overflowed; for, owing to the anomaly
of the tides, formerly noticed, the Bell Rock is completely under
water before the ebb abates to the offing.</p>
<p>“In this perilous predicament, indeed, he found himself
placed between hope and despair; but certainly the latter was
by much the most predominant feeling of his mind,—situate
upon a sunken rock, in the middle of the ocean, which, in the
progress of the flood-tide, was to be laid under water to the
depth of at least twelve feet in a stormy sea. There were this
morning in all thirty-two persons on the rock, with only two
boats, whose complement, even in good weather, did not exceed
twenty-four sitters; but to row to the floating light with so much
wind, and in so heavy a sea, a complement of eight men for each<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">28</span>
boat was as much as could with propriety be attempted, so that
in this way about one-half of our number was unprovided for.
Under these circumstances, had the writer ventured to despatch
one of the boats, in expectation of either working the Smeaton
sooner up towards the rock, or in hopes of getting her boat
brought to our assistance, this must have given an immediate
alarm to the artificers, each of whom would have insisted upon
taking to his own boat, and leaving the eight artificers belonging
to the Smeaton to their chance. Of course, a scuffle might have
ensued, and it is hard to say, in the ardour of men contending
for life, where it might have ended. It has even been hinted to
the writer that a party of the <em>pickmen</em> were determined to keep
exclusively to their own boat against all hazards.</p>
<p>“The unfortunate circumstance of the Smeaton and her boat
having drifted was, for a considerable time, only known to the
writer, and to the landing-master, who removed to the further
point of the rock, where he kept his eye steadily upon the progress
of the vessel. While the artificers were at work, chiefly in sitting
or kneeling postures, excavating the rock, or boring with the
jumpers, and while their numerous hammers, and the sound of
the smith’s anvil, continued, the situation of things did not appear
so awful. In this state of suspense, with almost certain destruction
at hand, the water began to rise upon those who were at
work on the lower parts of the sites of the beacon and lighthouse.
From the run of sea upon the rock, the forge-fire was also sooner
extinguished this morning than usual, and the volumes of smoke
having ceased, objects in every direction became visible from
all parts of the rock. After having had about three hours’ work,
the men began, pretty generally, to make towards their respective
boats for their jackets and stockings, when to their astonishment,
instead of three they found only two boats, the third being adrift
with the Smeaton. Not a word was uttered by any one, but all
appeared to be silently calculating their numbers, and looking to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">29</span>
each other with evident marks of perplexity depicted in their
countenances. The landing-master, conceiving that blame might
be attached to him for allowing the boat to leave the rock, still
kept at a distance. At this critical moment the author was
standing upon an elevated part of Smith’s Ledge, where he endeavoured
to mark the progress of the Smeaton, not a little surprised
that the crew did not cut the praam adrift, which greatly
retarded her way, and amazed that some effort was not making to
bring at least the boat, and attempt our relief. The workmen
looked steadfastly upon the writer, and turned occasionally towards
the vessel, still far to leeward. All this passed in the most
perfect silence, and the melancholy solemnity of the group made
an impression never to be effaced from his mind.</p>
<p>“The writer had all along been considering various schemes—providing
the men could be kept under command—which might
be put in practice for the general safety, in hopes that the Smeaton
might be able to pick up the boats to leeward, when they were
obliged to leave the rock. He was, accordingly, about to address
the artificers on the perilous nature of their circumstances, and to
propose that all hands should unstrip their upper clothing when
the higher parts of the rock were laid under water; that the seamen
should remove every unnecessary weight and encumbrance
from the boats; that a specified number of men should go into
each boat, and that the remainder should hang by the gunwales,
while the boats were to be rowed gently towards the Smeaton, as
the course to the Pharos or floating light lay rather to windward
of the rock. But when he attempted to speak, his mouth was so
parched that his tongue refused utterance, and he now learned by
experience that the saliva is as necessary as the tongue itself for
speech. He then turned to one of the pools on the rock and
lapped a little water, which produced an immediate relief. But
what was his happiness when, on rising from this unpleasant
beverage, some one called out ‘A boat! a boat!’ and on looking<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">30</span>
around, at no great distance, a large boat was seen through the
haze making towards the rock. This at once enlivened and
rejoiced every heart. The timeous visitor proved to be James
Spink, the Bell Rock pilot, who had come express from Arbroath
with letters. Spink had for some time seen the Smeaton, and had
even supposed, from the state of the weather, that all hands were
on board of her, till he approached more nearly and observed
people upon the rock. Upon this fortunate change of circumstances
sixteen of the artificers were sent at two trips in one of
the boats, with instructions for Spink to proceed with them to the
floating light.<a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">5</a> This being accomplished, the remaining sixteen
followed in the two boats belonging to the service of the rock.
Every one felt the most perfect happiness at leaving the Bell Rock
this morning, though a very hard and even dangerous passage to
the floating light still awaited us, as the wind by this time had increased
to a pretty hard gale, accompanied with a considerable
swell of sea. The boats left the rock about nine, but did not reach
the vessel till twelve o’clock noon, after a most disagreeable and
fatiguing passage of three hours. Every one was as completely
drenched in water as if he had been dragged astern of the boats.”</p></blockquote>
<p>After this accident difficulty was experienced in getting
the men to turn out next morning, as related in the
following <span class="locked">extract:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The bell rung this morning at five o’clock, but the writer
must acknowledge, from the circumstances of yesterday, that
its sound was extremely unwelcome. This appears also to have
been the feeling of the artificers, for when they came to be
mustered, out of twenty-six, only eight, besides the foreman and
seamen, appeared upon deck, to accompany the writer to the
rock. Such are the baneful effects of anything like misfortune<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">31</span>
or accident connected with a work of this description. The use
of argument to persuade the men to embark, in cases of this kind,
would have been out of place, as it is not only discomfort, or even
the risk of the loss of a limb, but life itself, that becomes the
question. The boats, notwithstanding the thinness of our ranks,
left the vessel at half-past five. The rough weather of yesterday
having proved but a summer’s gale, the wind came to-day in
gentle breezes, yet the atmosphere being cloudy, it had not a very
favourable appearance. The boats reached the rock at six <span class="smcap smaller">A.M.</span>,
and the eight artificers who landed were employed in clearing out
the bat-holes for the beacon-house, and had a prosperous tide
of four hours’ work, being the longest yet experienced by half an
hour.</p>
<p>“The boats left the rock again at ten o’clock, and the weather
having cleared up, as we drew near the vessel, the eighteen
artificers who remained on board were observed upon deck, but
as the boats approached they sought their way below, being quite
ashamed of their conduct. This was the only instance of refusal
to go to the rock which occurred during the whole progress of the
work.”</p></blockquote>
<p>The state of suffering and discomfort, as well as danger,
on board the floating light, which lay moored off the
rock during the first two seasons of the work, before
the timber beacon was used as a habitation, is described,
in the following passage, which presents a striking illustration
of the continual anxiety that must have existed
in the minds of those engaged in the work, and of the
frequent calls for energetic and courageous <span class="locked">exertion:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Although the weather would have admitted of a landing this
evening, yet the swell of the sea, observable in the morning, still
continued to increase. It was so far fortunate that a landing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">32</span>
was not attempted, for at eight o’clock the wind shifted to <span class="smcap smaller">E.S.E.</span>,
and at ten it had become a hard gale, when fifty fathoms of the
floating-light’s hempen cable were veered out. The gale still
increasing, the ship rolled and laboured excessively, and at midnight
eighty fathoms of cable were veered out; while the sea
continued to strike the vessel with a degree of force which had
not before been experienced.</p>
<p>“During the last night there was little rest on board of the
Pharos, and daylight, though anxiously wished for, brought no
relief, as the gale continued with unabated violence. The sea
struck so hard upon the vessel’s bows that it rose in great
quantities, or in ‘green seas’ as the sailors termed it, which were
carried by the wind as far aft as the quarter-deck, and not unfrequently
over the stern of the ship altogether. It fell occasionally
so heavily on the skylight of the writer’s cabin, though so far aft
as to be within five feet of the helm, that the glass was broken to
pieces before the dead-light could be got into its place, so that
the water poured down in great quantities. In shutting out the
water, the admission of light was prevented, and in the morning
all continued in the most comfortless state of darkness. About
ten o’clock <span class="smcap smaller">A.M.</span> the wind shifted to <span class="smcap smaller">N.E.</span>, and blew, if possible,
harder than before, and it was accompanied by a much heavier
swell of sea; when it was judged advisable to give the ship more
cable. In the course of the gale the part of the cable in the
hause-hole had been so often shifted that nearly the whole length
of one of her hempen cables, of 120 fathoms, had been veered out
besides the chain-moorings. The cable, for its preservation, was
also carefully “served” or wattled with pieces of canvas round the
windlass, and with leather well greased in the hause-hole. In
this state things remained during the whole day,—every sea which
struck the vessel—and the seas followed each other in close
succession—causing her to shake, and all on board occasionally
to tremble. At each of these strokes of the sea the rolling and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">33</span>
pitching of the vessel ceased for a time, and her motion was felt
as if she had either broke adrift before the wind, or were in the
act of sinking; but when another sea came, she ranged up against
it with great force, and this became the regular intimation of our
being still riding at anchor.</p>
<p>“About eleven o’clock, the writer, with some difficulty, got
out of bed, but, in attempting to dress, he was thrown twice upon
the floor, at the opposite side of the cabin. In an undressed state
he made shift to get about half-way up the companion-stairs, with
an intention to observe the state of the sea and of the ship upon
deck, but he no sooner looked over the companion than a heavy
sea struck the vessel, which fell on the quarter-deck, and rushed
down-stairs into the officer’s cabin, in so considerable a quantity
that it was found necessary to lift one of the scuttles in the floor
to let the water into the limbers of the ship, as it dashed from
side to side in such a manner as to run into the lower tier of
beds. Having been foiled in this attempt, and being completely
wetted, he again got below and went to bed. In this state of
the weather the seamen had to move about the necessary or
indispensable duties of the ship, with the most cautious use both
of hands and feet, while it required all the art of the landsman
to keep within the precincts of his bed. The writer even found
himself so much tossed about that it became necessary, in some
measure, to shut himself in bed, in order to avoid being thrown to
the floor. Indeed, such was the motion of the ship, that it seemed
wholly impracticable to remain in any other than a lying posture.
On deck the most stormy aspect presented itself, while below all
was wet and comfortless.</p>
<p>“About two o’clock <span class="smcap smaller">P.M.</span> a great alarm was given throughout the
ship, from the effects of a very heavy sea which struck her, and
almost filled the waist, pouring down into the berths below,
through every chink and crevice of the hatches and skylights.
From the motion of the vessel being thus suddenly deadened or<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">34</span>
checked, and from the flowing in of the water above, it is believed
there was not an individual on board who did not think, at the
moment, that the vessel had foundered and was in the act of
sinking. The writer could withstand this no longer, and as soon
as she again began to range to the sea, he determined to make
another effort to get upon deck.</p>
<p>“It being impossible to open any of the hatches in the fore
part of the ship in communicating with the deck, the watch was
changed by passing through the several berths to the companion-stair
leading to the quarter-deck. The writer, therefore, made the
best of his way aft, and on a second attempt to look out, he
succeeded, and saw indeed an astonishing sight. The seas or
waves appeared to be ten or fifteen feet in height of unbroken
water, and every approaching billow seemed as if it would overwhelm
our vessel, but she continued to rise upon the waves, and
to fall between the seas in a very wonderful manner. It seemed
to be only those seas which caught her in the act of rising which
struck her with so much violence, and threw such quantities of
water aft. On deck there was only one solitary individual looking
out, to give the alarm in the event of the ship breaking from
her moorings. The seaman on watch continued only two hours; he
had no greatcoat nor overall of any kind, but was simply dressed
in his ordinary jacket and trousers; his hat was tied under his
chin with a napkin, and he stood aft the foremast, to which he
had lashed himself with a gasket or small rope round his waist,
to prevent his falling upon deck or being washed overboard.
Upon deck everything that was moveable was out of sight, having
either been stowed below previous to the gale, or been washed
overboard. Some trifling parts of the quarter-boards were damaged
by the breach of the sea, and one of the boats upon deck
was about one-third full of water, the oyle-hole or drain having
been accidentally stopped up, and part of the gunwale had received
considerable injury. Although the previous night had been a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">35</span>
very restless one, it had not the effect of inducing sleep in the
writer’s berth on the succeeding one; for having been so much
tossed about in bed during the last thirty hours, he found no easy
spot to turn to, and his body was all sore to the touch, which ill
accorded with the unyielding materials with which his bed-place
was surrounded.</p>
<p>“This morning about eight o’clock the writer was agreeably
surprised to see the scuttle of his cabin skylight removed, and
the bright rays of the sun admitted. Although the ship continued
to roll excessively, and the sea was still running very high, yet
the ordinary business on board seemed to be going forward on
deck. It was impossible to steady a telescope so as to look minutely
at the progress of the waves, and trace their breach upon the
Bell Rock, but the height to which the cross-running waves rose
in sprays, when they met each other, was truly grand, and the
continued roar and noise of the sea was very perceptible to the
ear. To estimate the height of the sprays at forty or fifty feet
would surely be within the mark. Those of the workmen who
were not much afflicted with sea-sickness came upon deck, and
the wetness below being dried up, the cabins were again brought
into a habitable state. Every one seemed to meet as if after a
long absence, congratulating his neighbour upon the return of
good weather. Little could be said as to the comfort of the
vessel; but after riding out such a gale, no one felt the least
doubt or hesitation as to the safety and good condition of her
moorings. The master and mate were extremely anxious, however,
to heave in the hempen cable, and see the state of the clinch or
iron ring of the chain cable. But the vessel rolled at such a rate
that the seamen could not possibly keep their feet at the windlass,
nor work the handspokes, though it had been several times
attempted since the gale took off.</p>
<p>“About twelve noon, however, the vessel’s motion was observed
to be considerably less, and the sailors were enabled to walk upon<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">36</span>
deck with some degree of freedom. But to the astonishment of
every one it was soon discovered that the floating light was adrift!
The windlass was instantly manned, and the men soon gave out
that there was no strain upon the cable. The mizzen-sail, which
was bent for the occasional purpose of making the vessel ride
more easily to the tide, was immediately set, and the other sails
were also hoisted in a short time, when, in no small consternation,
we bore away about one mile to the south-westward of the former
station, and there let go the best bower-anchor and cable, in
twenty fathoms water, to ride until the swell of the sea should
fall, when it might be practicable to grapple for the moorings, and
find a better anchorage for the ship.</p>
<p>“As soon as the deck could be cleared the cable end was hove
up, which had parted at the distance of about fifty fathoms from
the chain moorings. On examining the cable, it was found to
be considerably chafed, but where the separation took place, it
appeared to be worn through, or cut shortly off. How to account
for this would be difficult, as the ground, though rough and
gravelly, did not, after much sounding, appear to contain any
irregular parts. It was therefore conjectured that the cable must
have hooked some piece of wreck, as it did not appear from the
state of the wind and tide that the vessel could have <em>fouled</em> her
anchor when she veered round with the wind, which had shifted
in the course of the night from <span class="smcap smaller">N.E.</span> to <span class="smcap smaller">N.N.W.</span></p>
<p>“Be this as it may, it was a circumstance quite out of the
power of man to prevent, as, until the ship drifted, it was found
impossible to heave up the cable. But what ought to have been
the feeling of thankfulness to that Providence which regulates and
appoints the lot of man, when it is considered that if this accident
had happened during the storm, or in the night after the wind had
shifted, the floating light must inevitably have gone ashore upon
the Bell Rock. In short, it is hardly possible to conceive any
case more awfully distressing than our situation would have been,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">37</span>
or one more disastrous to the important undertaking in which we
were engaged.”</p></blockquote>
<p>The distance at which the floating light was moored
from the rock was about three miles, and the passage of
the men to and from their work, and boarding the vessel
in rough weather, was a source of great anxiety and
danger, and is described in the following <span class="locked">paragraphs:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“When the tide-bell rung on board the floating light, the boats
were hoisted out, and two active seamen were employed to keep
them from receiving damage alongside. The floating light being
very buoyant, was so quick in her motions, that when those who
were about to step from her gunwale into a boat, placed themselves
upon a “cleat” or step on the ship’s side with the man or rail-ropes
in their hands, they had often to wait for some time till a favourable
opportunity occurred for stepping into the boat. While in this
situation, with the vessel rolling from side to side, watching the
proper time for letting go the man-ropes, it required the greatest
dexterity and presence of mind to leap into the boat. One who
was rather awkward would often wait a considerable period in this
position: at one time his side of the ship would be so depressed
that he would touch the boat to which he belonged, while the next
sea would elevate him so much that he would see his comrades in
the boat on the opposite side of the ship, his friends in the one
boat calling to him to ‘jump,’ while those in the boat on the other
side, as he came again and again into their view, would jocosely
say—‘Are you there yet? You seem to enjoy a swing.’ In this
situation it was common to see a person upon each side of the ship
for a length of time, waiting to quit his hold. A stranger to this
sort of motion was both alarmed for the safety, and delighted with
the agility, of persons leaping into the boat under those perilous
circumstances. No sooner had one quitted his station on the gunwale<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">38</span>
than another occupied his place, until the whole were safely
shipped.”</p></blockquote>
<p>On their return trips from the rock to the floating
light, the men had a no less hazardous and trying ordeal
to undergo, for Mr. Stevenson records the following as an
example of the risks to which they were <span class="locked">exposed:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Just as we were about to leave the rock, the wind shifted to
the <span class="smcap smaller">S.W.</span>, and from a fresh gale it became what seamen term a
hard gale, or such as would have required the fisherman to take in
two or three reefs in his sail. The boats being rather in a crowded
state for this sort of weather, they were pulled with difficulty
towards the floating light. Though the boats were handsomely
built, and presented little obstruction to the wind, as those who
were not pulling sat low, yet having the ebb-tide to contend with
the passage was so very tedious that it required two hours of hard
work before we reached the vessel.</p>
<p>“It is a curious fact, that the respective tides of ebb and flood
are apparent upon the shore about an hour and a half sooner than
at the distance of three or four miles in the offing. But what
seems chiefly interesting here is, that the tides around this small
sunken rock should follow exactly the same laws as on the extensive
shores of the mainland. When the boats left the Bell Rock
to-day, it was overflowed by the flood-tide, but the floating light
did not swing round to the flood-tide for more than an hour afterwards.
Under this disadvantage the boats had to struggle with the
ebb-tide and a hard gale of wind, so that it was with the greatest
difficulty they reached the floating light. Had this gale happened
in spring-tides, when the current was strong, we must have been
driven to sea in a very helpless condition.</p>
<p>“The boat which the writer steered was considerably behind
the other, one of the masons having unluckily broken his oar.
Our prospect of getting on board, of course, became doubtful, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">39</span>
our situation was rather perilous, as the boat shipped so much sea
that it occupied two of the artificers to bale and clear her of water.
When the oar gave way we were about half-a-mile from the ship,
but, being fortunately to windward, we got into the wake of the
floating light at about 250 fathoms astern, just as the landing-master’s
boat reached the vessel. He immediately <em>streamed</em> or
floated a life-buoy astern, with a line which was in readiness, and
by means of this useful implement, the boat was towed alongside
of the floating light, where, from the rolling motion, it required no
small management to get safely on board, as the men were much
worn out with their exertions in pulling from the rock. On the
present occasion, the crews of both boats were completely drenched
with spray, and those who sat upon the bottom of the boats to bale
them were sometimes pretty deep in the water, before it could be
cleared out. After getting on board, all hands were allowed an
extra dram, and having shifted, and got a warm and comfortable
dinner, the affair, it is believed, was little more thought of.”</p></blockquote>
<p>An interesting incident, showing the constant anxiety
of the chief for his men, is given in the following <span class="locked">passage:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The boats left the ship at a quarter before six this morning,
and landed upon the rock at seven. The water had gone off the
rock sooner than was expected, for as yet the seamen were but
imperfectly acquainted with its periodic appearance, and the
landing-master being rather late with his signal this morning, the
artificers were enabled to proceed to work without a moment’s
delay. The boat which the writer steered happened to be the last
which approached the rock at this tide; and, in standing up in the
stern, while at some distance, to see how the leading boat entered
the creek, he was astonished to observe something in the form of a
human figure in a reclining posture upon one of the ledges of the
rock. He immediately steered the boat through a narrow entrance<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">40</span>
to the eastern harbour, with a thousand unpleasant sensations in
his mind. He thought a vessel or boat must have been wrecked
upon the rock during the night; and it seemed probable that the
rock might be strewed with dead bodies—a spectacle which could
not fail to deter the artificers from returning so freely to their work.
Even one individual found in this situation would naturally cast a
damp upon their minds, and, at all events, make them much more
timid in their future operations. In the midst of those reveries,
the boat took the ground at an improper landing-place; but, without
waiting to push her off, he leapt upon the rock, and making
his way hastily to the spot which had privately given him alarm,
he had the satisfaction to ascertain that he had only been deceived
by the peculiar situation and aspect of the smith’s anvil and block,
which very completely represented the appearance of a lifeless
body upon the rock. The writer carefully suppressed his feelings,
the simple mention of which might have had a bad effect upon
the artificers, and his haste passed for an anxiety to examine the
apparatus of the smith’s forge, left in an unfinished state at the
evening tide.”</p></blockquote>
<p>In the following words Mr. Stevenson explains his
resolution to regard the operations at the Bell Rock as a
work of mercy, and to continue them, when weather permitted,
throughout all the seven days of the <span class="locked">week:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“To some it may require an apology, or at least call for an
explanation, why the writer took upon himself to step aside from
the established rules of society by carrying on the works of this
undertaking during Sundays. Such practices are not uncommon
in the dockyards and arsenals, when it is conceived that the public
service requires extraordinary exertions. Surely if, under any
circumstances, it is allowable to go about the ordinary labours of
mankind on Sundays, that of the erection of a lighthouse upon the
Bell Rock seems to be one of the most pressing calls which could<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">41</span>
in any case occur, and carries along with it the imperious language
of necessity. When we take into consideration that, in its effects,
this work was to operate in a direct manner for the safety of many
valuable lives and much property, the beautiful and simple parables
of the Holy Scriptures, inculcating works of necessity and mercy,
must present themselves to every mind unbiassed by the trammels
of form or the influence of a distorted imagination. In this perilous
work, to give up every seventh day would just have been to
protract the time a seventh part. Now, as it was generally supposed,
after taking all advantages into view, that the work would
probably require seven years for its execution, such an arrangement
must have extended the operation to at least eight years, and
have exposed it to additional risk and danger in all its stages. The
writer, therefore, felt little scruple in continuing the Bell Rock
works in all favourable states of the weather.”</p></blockquote>
<p>He however conducted a regular Sunday service, as
noticed in the following <span class="locked">paragraph:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Having, on the previous evening, arranged matters with the
landing-master as to the business of the day, the signal was rung
for all hands at half-past seven this morning. In the early state
of the spring-tides, the artificers went to the rock before breakfast,
but as the tides fell later in the day, it became necessary to
take this meal before leaving the ship. At eight o’clock all hands
were assembled on the quarter-deck for prayers, a solemnity which
was gone through in as orderly a manner as circumstances would
admit. Round the quarter-deck, when the weather permitted, the
flags of the ship were hung up as an awning or screen, forming the
quarter-deck into a distinct compartment with colours; the pendant
was also hoisted at the main-mast, and a large ensign flag was
displayed over the stern; and, lastly, the ship’s companion, or top
of the staircase, was covered with the <em>flag proper</em> of the Lighthouse
Service, on which the Bible was laid. A particular toll of the bell
called all hands to the quarter-deck, when the writer read a chapter<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">42</span>
of the Bible, and, the whole ship’s company being uncovered, he
also read the impressive prayer composed by the Reverend Dr.
Brunton, one of the ministers of Edinburgh.”</p></blockquote>
<div id="iFig_3" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 23.1875em;">
<img src="images/i_042.jpg" width="371" height="281" alt="" />
<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 3.</span>—The Beacon or Barrack.</div></div>
<p>So soon as a barrack of timber-work could be erected
on the rock as a substitute for the floating light, it was
inhabited by Mr. Stevenson and twenty-eight men. This
barrack was a singular habitation, perched on a strong
framework of timber, carefully designed with a view to
strength, and no less carefully put together in its place,
and fixed to the rock with every appliance necessary to
secure stability. The tide rose sixteen feet on it in calm
weather, and in heavy seas it was exposed to the assault
of every wave. Of the perils and discomforts of such a
habitation the following passages give a lively <span class="locked">picture:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“This scene” (the sublime appearance of the waves) “he greatly
enjoyed while sitting at his window. Each wave approached the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">43</span>
Beacon like a vast scroll unfolding, and in passing discharged a
quantity of air which he not only distinctly felt, but was even
sufficient to lift the leaves of a book which lay before him....</p>
<p>“The gale continues with unabated violence to-day, and the
sprays rise to a still greater height, having been carried over the
masonry of the building, or about 90 feet above the level of the
sea. At four o’clock this morning it was breaking into the cook’s
berth (on the Beacon), when he rang the alarm-bell, and all hands
turned out to attend to their personal safety. The floor of the
smith’s or mortar gallery was now completely burst up by the force
of the sea, when the whole of the deals and the remaining articles
upon the floor were swept away, such as the cast-iron mortar-tubs,
the iron hearth of the forge, the smith’s bellows, and even his
anvil, were thrown down upon the rock. The boarding of the cook-house,
or story above the smith’s gallery, was also partly carried
away, and the brick and plaster work of the fireplace shaken and
loosened. It was observed during this gale that the Beacon-house
had a good deal of tremor, but none of that ‘twisting motion’
occasionally felt and complained of before the additional wooden
struts were set up for the security of the principal beams; but this
effect had more especially disappeared ever since the attachment
of the great horizontal iron bars in connection with these supports.
Before the tide rose to its full height to-day, some of the artificers
passed along the bridge into the lighthouse, to observe the effects
of the sea upon it, and they reported that they had felt a slight
tremulous motion in the building when great seas struck it in a
certain direction about high-water mark. On this occasion the
sprays were again observed to wet the balcony, and even to come
over the parapet wall into the interior of the light-room. In this
state of the weather, Captain Wilson and the crew of the ‘Floating
Light’ were much alarmed for the safety of the artificers upon the
rock, especially when they observed with a telescope that the floor
of the smith’s gallery had been carried away, and that the triangular
cast-iron sheer-crane was broken down. It was quite<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">44</span>
impossible, however, to do anything for their relief until the gale
should take off....</p>
<p>“The writer’s cabin measured not more than 4 feet 3 inches in
breadth on the floor; and though, from the oblique direction of the
beams of the Beacon, it widened towards the top, yet it did not
admit of the full extension of his arms when he stood on the floor;
while its length was little more than sufficient for suspending a
cot-bed during the night, calculated for being triced up to the roof
during the day, which left free room for the admission of occasional
visitants. His folding-table was attached with hinges immediately
under the small window of the apartment; and his books, barometer,
thermometer, portmanteau, and two or three camp-stools,
formed the bulk of his moveables. His diet being plain, the paraphernalia
of the table were proportionally simple; though everything
had the appearance of comfort, and even of neatness, the
walls being covered with green cloth, formed into panels with red
tape, and his bed festooned with curtains of yellow cotton stuff.
If, on speculating on the abstract wants of man, in such a state of
exclusion, one were reduced to a single book, the sacred volume,
whether considered for the striking diversity of its story, the
morality of its doctrine, or the important truths of its Gospel,
would have proved by far the greatest treasure.”</p></blockquote>
<p>The Barrack was not removed immediately on the
completion of the tower, and on Mr. Stevenson’s first
visit to the rock after the light had been established, it
was with feelings of emotion that he viewed his old
quarters. His Journal says—“I went up the trap and
entered my own cabin with mingled thoughts of reflection
upon the many anxious hours I had spent within the
narrow precincts of its little walls, and here offered up
thanks to God for the happy termination of this work.”</p>
<p>Mr. Stevenson’s merit as Engineer of the Bell Rock<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">45</span>
Lighthouse does not rest in his bold conception of, and
confident unshaken belief in, the possibility of executing
a tower of masonry on that submerged reef, or even in
his personal courage and discretion in carrying out so
difficult a work, in the face of so many dangers, when he
had neither “steamboat” nor “steam-crane” to call to
his aid. But his mechanical skill in all the arrangements
of the work was pre-eminent in bringing his labours to a
successful issue. Not only did he conceive the plan of
the moveable <em>jib</em> and <em>balance cranes</em>, described in a subsequent
chapter—which he applied with much advantage
in the erection of the tower, and the former of which
is now in universal use,—but his inventive skill, ever
alive to the possibility of improving on the conceptions
of his great master, Smeaton, led him to introduce all
those advantageous changes in the arrangements of the
masonry of the tower, which have been already described,
as distinguishing it from the Eddystone.</p>
<p>The Commissioners entertained a high sense of Stevenson’s
services at the Bell Rock Lighthouse; and, as many
of them took a deep interest in the execution of that remarkable
work, and paid occasional visits to it during its
progress, they were well able to appreciate the ability and
zeal with which he devoted himself to this arduous task,
and they resolved, at a meeting held in the lighthouse
itself—“That a bust of Mr. Robert Stevenson be obtained,
and placed in the library of the Bell Rock Lighthouse,
in testimony of the sense entertained by the Commissioners
of his distinguished talent and indefatigable zeal
in the erection of that lighthouse.” A beautiful bust in
marble, by Samuel Joseph, from which the frontispiece<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">46</span>
has been engraved, was accordingly placed in what is
called the library, being the upper apartment of the tower.</p>
<div class="tb">* <span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">*</span></div>
<p>Mr. Stevenson’s interest in the Eddystone did not
cease on the completion of his own work. We know that
he paid at least two visits to the Eddystone after the
completion of the Bell Rock. One of those visits was
made in September 1813, when, by the courtesy of the
Trinity House, he was accommodated with the use
of the ‘Eddystone’ tender, and, though the weather
was not very favourable, succeeded in landing on the
rock and making a hasty inspection of the far-famed
lighthouse.</p>
<p>Mr. Stevenson’s last visit was made in 1818, on a
voyage in the Northern Lighthouse tender, on which
occasion he was favoured with a smooth sea and a low
tide, and enabled to make a thorough inspection of the
rock. It is important and interesting to record that
this examination strongly impressed him with the <em>ultimate</em>
insecurity of the structure, as appears from the following
almost prophetic extract from his <span class="locked">Journal:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The house seems to be in a very good state of repair, and does
not appear to have sustained any injury by the lapse of time. The
joints are full of cement, and the stone exhibits little appearance
of decay, being granite or syenite. The rock itself upon a narrow
inspection seems to be gneiss. The rock is shaken all through,
and dips at a very considerable angle, perhaps one in three, towards
the south-west; and being undermined on the north-east side for
several feet, it must be confessed that it has rather an alarming
appearance. I am not, however, of opinion that it has altered
its state perhaps since the date of the erection of the tower. Since<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">47</span>
my last visit in 1813 I am not sensible of any change upon it.
On the north-east side, however, at what is called the ‘Gut’ landing-place,
where the men sheltered themselves from the fire of
Rudyerd’s Lighthouse, but especially at low-water mark of spring-tides,
there is a hollowing of the rock which penetrates at least to
the circumference of the base of the lighthouse. I therefore conclude
that when the sea runs high there is danger of this house
being <em>upset</em>, after a lapse of time, when the sea and shingle have
wrought away the rock to a greater extent. Nothing preserves
this highly important building but the hardness of the rock and
the dip of the strata, but for how long a period this may remain
no one can pretend to say.”</p></blockquote>
<div id="ip_47" class="newpage figcenter" style="max-width: 29.125em;">
<p id="PLATE_III" class="plate"><i>PLATE III.</i></p>
<img src="images/i_047.jpg" width="466" height="600" alt="" />
<div class="caption">
<p>BELL ROCK LIGHTHOUSE.</p></div></div>
<p>That period has at length arrived, and the Trinity House,
under the advice of Mr. Douglass, their Engineer,
have resolved that Smeaton’s Eddystone—the engineer’s
long cherished object of veneration—must be renewed,
and henceforth Stevenson’s Bell Rock must be held as
the earliest existing type of a class of bold and skilful
works—still few in number—which, by converting a dark
sunken danger into a source of light and safety, have
saved many a ship, and cheered the heart of many a
tempest-tossed sailor, as happily expressed in Sir
Walter Scott’s impromptu “Pharos loquitur,” written in
the Album of the Lighthouse, when he landed with a
deputation of the Commissioners in 1814.</p>
<div class="poem-container">
<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
<span class="iq">“Far in the bosom of the deep<br /></span>
<span class="i0">O’er these wild shelves my watch I keep,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">A ruddy gem of changeful light,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">Bound on the dusky brow of night;<br /></span>
<span class="i0">The seaman bids my lustre hail,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">And scorns to strike his timorous sail.”<br /></span>
</div></div>
</div>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">48</span></p>
<div class="chapter">
<h2><a id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.<br />
<span class="subhead">LIGHTHOUSE ILLUMINATION.<br />
<span class="subhead">1801–1843.</span></span></h2>
</div>
<blockquote>
<p class="hang">Early modes of illumination—Facet reflectors and lamps—Silvered copper reflectors
and Argand lamps—Isle of May coal light—Improvements in catoptric
lights—Distinctions for lighthouses invented by Mr. Stevenson, viz., flashing,
intermittent, and double lights—Floating light lantern—Lighting of stage
of Covent Garden Theatre—Dioptric system of lighthouse illumination.</p></blockquote>
<p class="in0"><span class="smcap">Seeing</span> that, for reasons stated in the last chapter, I was
led to give up the idea of attempting to follow any chronological
sequence in this Memoir, it may perhaps be convenient,
before speaking of my father’s general practice as
a Civil Engineer, that I should supplement the sketch I
have given of the Bell Rock Lighthouse by some account
of the other important duties he performed as Engineer
to the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses—an office
which, as we have seen, he held for so long a period.</p>
<p>The lighthouse towers of the last century, though
useful as beacons by day, were after all most imperfect
guides by night. Indeed, the rude expedients adopted at
that early period to give light to the sailor in a dark and
moonless sky, present a very curious contrast to the
modern system of lighthouse illumination—the result of
careful study by modern philosophers and engineers. If<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">49</span>
proof of this be wanted, we have only to refer to the
twenty-four miserable candles, unaided by reflectors or
any other optical contrivance, which shed their dim and
uncertain light from Smeaton’s famous Eddystone for
nearly half a century after it was built.</p>
<p>But indeed at that early time all lights had not even
the advantage of the glazed lantern which protected the
candles of the Eddystone from the winter’s blast and
summer’s breeze; the grand Tour de Cordouan on the
coast of France was then lighted by blazing fagots of
wood burned in an open chauffer, and many of the early
lighthouses were open coal fires.</p>
<p>When Mr. Smith, however, was appointed Engineer
to the Scotch Lighthouse Board, he, as has been already
said, came forward as the advocate of lamps aided by
reflectors, a system which he introduced at Kinnaird Head
in 1787; so that the Lighthouse Board of Scotland never
employed any less perfect mode of illumination. These
early reflectors, which had been in use in England, consisted
of small pieces or facets of common mirror glass
arranged in a hollow mould and fixed in their places by
plaster of Paris; but soon afterwards the facets of mirror
glass, though forming good instruments for their day, and
of their kind, were discarded, and the reflectors were
thereafter made of copper, plated with silver, and
brightly polished.</p>
<p>I am not in a position to say when or by whom these
metallic reflectors were first introduced, or what was their
exact form, the question being invested in some degree
of doubt; but it was to the perfecting of these optical<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">50</span>
instruments and adapting them to practical use in a lighthouse
that Mr. Stevenson’s attention was early directed.
Thus we find him in 1805 reporting as <span class="locked">follows:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The operations at the Start Point were this season begun
upon Monday the 27th of May, and the lighthouse was finished
upon Saturday the 17th October and the light advertised to
be lighted upon the night of Wednesday the 1st of January 1806.
Some nights before I left Sanday I had the light set in motion, when
the effect appeared to be most excellent; indeed, it must be equal
to the Scilly or Cromer lights, and superior to the revolving light
at Tinmouth: at the former there are twenty-one reflectors, and at
the latter there are fifteen, whereas at the Start Point Lighthouse
I only use seven reflectors, but by altering the motion of the
machinery and construction of the revolving part, I produce the
desired effect.”</p></blockquote>
<p>And again in 1806:—</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I was late in the season for making all the observations
I could have wished upon the Start Point and North Ronaldsay
lights, and was not very well appointed in a vessel for keeping
the sea in bad weather. I however made a cruise for this
purpose, and stood towards the Fair Isle in a heavy gale of wind,
with an intention to run for Shetland, but the wind shifted, and
I stretched towards Copinshaw, at the distance of about ten or
twelve miles to the westward of Orkney, with both lights in view.
The second night I went through North Ronaldsay Firth to have
a west view of the lights. I put about off Westra, and stood
northward with both lights in view, when it came to blow with
great violence from the s.w., and it was with much difficulty
we could regain the coast. Although on this trip I had rather
bad weather, with a heavy swell of sea, yet it was very answerable
for my purpose, and I was upon the whole much pleased with the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">51</span>
appearance of the new light; but I find, when at the distance of
ten or twelve miles, with the sea running high, the light is seen for
rather too short a period, so that it would be proper to place other
seven reflectors upon the frame at an angle of about 40° to the
present reflectors, in the event of removing North Ronaldsay
light.”</p></blockquote>
<p>I find from his correspondence that my father
consulted Sir John Leslie, the distinguished Professor
of Natural Philosophy, and Alexander Adie, the well-known
optician, as to the best mode of procuring a true
parabolic form for the construction of his reflectors, and
having introduced a simple means of withdrawing the
lamp from the reflector, his new catoptric apparatus may
be said to have been completed.</p>
<div id="Fig_4" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 19.75em;">
<img src="images/i_051.jpg" width="316" height="369" alt="" />
<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 4.</span></div></div>
<div id="Fig_5" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 7em;">
<img src="images/i_052.jpg" width="112" height="232" alt="" />
<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 5.</span></div></div>
<p>The Bell Rock was the first lighthouse that was illuminated
by Mr. Stevenson’s improved apparatus (shown
in section in <a href="#Fig_4">Fig. 4</a>), where <i>a</i> is the fountain for the oil,
<i>b</i> the burner, and the directions of the incident and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">52</span>
reflected rays are represented by dotted lines. In <a href="#Fig_5">Fig. 5</a>
the reflector is shown in elevation; the lamp is represented
as lowered down from the reflector, which is
effected by a sliding arrangement controlled by a guide,—the
object being to allow the lamp to be removed while
the reflector is being polished, and to insure its being
returned to its exact position in the true focus of the
reflector. Perhaps the most valuable opinion that can
be quoted as to the utility of this arrangement is that
of Mr. Airy, the Astronomer-Royal, who, after the
apparatus had been in use fifty years, and after having
inspected the lighthouses both of Britain and France,
says—“This lighthouse” (Girdleness, in Aberdeenshire)
“contains two systems of lights. The lower, at
about two-fifths of the height of the building, consists
of thirteen parabolic reflectors of the usual form. I
remarked in these, that by a simple construction, which
I have not seen elsewhere, great facility is given for the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">53</span>
withdrawal and safe return of the lamps, for adjusting
the lamps, and for cleaning the mirrors;” and in closing
his report he adds, “It is the best lighthouse that I
have seen.”<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">6</a></p>
<p>Notwithstanding the introduction of this improved
apparatus at the Bell Rock in 1811, a coal-fire, which had
existed for the long period of 181 years on the Isle of
May, at the entrance to the Firth of Forth, still continued,
in 1816, to send forth its feeble and misleading light, and
as it was one of the best specimens of the lighthouses of
days now passed away, it may not be uninteresting to
give a short account of it.</p>
<p>The May light was at that period what is called a
“private light”—the right of levying dues on shipping
being vested in the Duke of Portland, who was owner of
the island. There were many private lights in England,
but the Isle of May was the only one that still remained
in Scotland, and the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses,
believing it to be advantageous that so important
a light should be placed under public management, so as
to secure for the shipping a better light, and exemption
from the high passing tolls charged by the proprietor,
entered into treaty with the Duke of Portland for the
purchase of his rights. This negotiation resulted in the
introduction of a Bill into Parliament in 1814, authorising
the purchase of the Isle of May, with the right of levying
toll, for the sum of £60,000.</p>
<p>So soon as the property came into the hands of the
Commissioners they erected a new lighthouse, and on the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">54</span>
1st of February 1816 the old coal chauffer was discontinued,
and a light from oil with reflectors was exhibited
in its stead. I am enabled from an old plan in my possession
to present the reader with two sketches of the
original chauffer light of the Isle of May.</p>
<div id="Fig_6" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 14.1875em;">
<img src="images/i_054.jpg" width="227" height="300" alt="" />
<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 6.</span></div></div>
<p><a href="#Fig_6">Fig. 6</a> is an elevation of the building, with the tackle
for raising the fuel to the top, and its inscription stone
over the door bearing the date 1635. <a href="#Fig_7">Fig. 7</a> shows the
building in section, with its stone winding staircase and
vaulted chambers, the whole structure apparently being
so designed as to be perfectly proof against fire—a precaution
very necessary for a building dedicated to such a
purpose, for it is recorded that no fewer than 400 tons of
coal were annually consumed in the open chauffer on its top.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">55</span></p>
<div id="Fig_7" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 11.5625em;">
<img src="images/i_055.jpg" width="185" height="224" alt="" />
<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 7.</span></div></div>
<p>It was, as I have said, one of the best coal-fires in the
kingdom, and three men were employed to keep the bonfire
burning, so that its inefficiency as a light was not due to
any want of outlay in its support. But its appearance
was ever varying, now shooting up in high flames, again
enveloped in dense smoke, and never well seen when
most required. When Mr. Stevenson visited the island,
with a view to its purchase by the Commissioners, he
was told by the keeper, that in violent gales the fire
only kindled on the <em>leeward</em> side, and that he was in the
habit of putting his hand through the <em>windward</em> bars
of the chauffer to steady himself while he supplied the
fire with coals, so that in the direction in which it was
most wanted hardly any light was visible. Nothing can
be worse than any variableness or uncertainty in the
appearance of a light. Better far not to exhibit it at all
than to show it irregularly; and the coal lights were so<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">56</span>
changeable and destitute of characteristic appearance as
to be positively dangerous. This indeed was too sadly
proved by the loss of H. M. ships ‘Nymphen’ and
‘Pallas,’ which on the 19th December 1810 were wrecked
near Dunbar, the light of a limekiln, on the coast of
Haddington, having been mistaken for the coal light of
the Isle of May. Fortunately only nine of their combined
crews of 600 men perished; but the vessels, valued
at not less than £100,000, became total wrecks.</p>
<p>During the long period he held the office as Engineer to
the Board, Mr. Stevenson designed and executed eighteen
lighthouses in the district of the Northern Lighthouse
Commissioners, many of them in situations which called
for much forethought and great energy. All his lighthouse
works were characterised by sagacity and inventiveness,
and exhibit successive stages of improvement, equally
indicative of the growing prosperity of the Board and of
the alacrity and zeal with which their Engineer laboured
in his vocation. Whether we consider the accuracy and
beauty of the catoptric apparatus, the arrangements
of the buildings, or the discipline observed by the lightkeepers
of the Northern Lighthouses, we cannot fail to
recognise the impress of that energetic and comprehensive
cast of mind which directed the whole. Acting under
the direction of an enlightened Board of Commissioners,
my father may, with the strictest propriety, be said to
have created the lighthouse system of Scotland. His
merits indeed in this respect were generally acknowledged
in other quarters; and many of the Irish lighthouses,
and several lighthouses in our colonies, were
fitted up with apparatus prepared after his designs.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">57</span>
In the course of his labours my father’s attention was
much given to the question of <em>distinction</em> among lights—a
matter of the utmost importance, especially in narrow
seas, where many lights are required; and at his suggestion,
the Northern Lighthouse Commissioners fitted up
a temporary light-tower on Inchkeith, in which numerous
experiments having this object in view were made.</p>
<div id="Fig_8" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 25.1875em;">
<img src="images/i_057.jpg" width="403" height="225" alt="" />
<div class="caption"><p><span class="smcap">Fig. 8.</span>
<span class="in10"><span class="smcap">Fig. 9.</span></span></p></div></div>
<p>He was the inventor of two useful distinctions—the
<em>Intermittent</em> and <em>Flashing</em> lights. In the intermittent
distinction the light is suddenly obscured by the closing
of metallic shades which surround the reflector frame,
and on their opening, it is as suddenly revealed to sight,
in a manner which completely distinguishes it from the
ordinary revolving light, which from darkness, <em>gradually</em>
increases in power till it reaches its brightest phase, and
then gradually declines until it is again obscured; the
action of these shades in producing the intermittent effect
is illustrated in <a href="#Fig_8">Figs. 8</a> and <a href="#Fig_8">9</a>. The <em>Flashing</em> light,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">58</span>
by a peculiar arrangement of reflectors, and a rapid
revolution of the frame which carries them, is made
to give a sudden flash of great power, once in five
seconds of time, and thus has a distinctive appearance
very different from either the revolving or intermittent
light. For these distinctions Mr. Stevenson received
from the King of the Netherlands a gold medal as a
mark of his Majesty’s approbation.</p>
<div id="Fig_10" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 10.0625em;">
<img src="images/i_058.jpg" width="161" height="256" alt="" />
<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 10.</span></div></div>
<p>Mr. Stevenson also, in 1810, gave a design for a
double light at the Isle of May, as shown in <a href="#Fig_10">Fig. 10</a>, in
which all lighthouse engineers will see the embryo of
the double light of the present day.</p>
<p>I must not omit to notice his improvement on the
lanterns of floating lightships, now universally adopted,
which he introduced in 1807. Previously to this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">59</span>
date the lightships exhibited their lights from small
lanterns suspended from the yardarms or frames. Mr.
Stevenson realised the inutility of such a mode of exhibition,
and conceived the idea of forming a lantern to
surround the mast of the vessel, and to be capable of
being lowered down to the deck to be trimmed, and
raised when required to be exhibited. His plan had
the advantage of giving a lantern of much greater size,
because it encased the mast of the ship, and with this
increase of size it enabled larger and more perfect apparatus
to be introduced, as well as gearing for working a
revolving light. <a href="#Fig_11">Fig. 11</a> shows this lantern, and the
following is his description of <span class="locked">it:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The lanterns were so constructed as to clasp round the masts
and traverse upon them. This was effected by constructing them
with a tube of copper in the centre, capable of receiving the mast,
through which it passed. The lanterns were first completely
formed, and fitted with brass flanges; they were then cut longitudinally
asunder, which conveniently admitted of their being
screwed together on the masts after the vessel was fully equipped
and moored at her station. Letters <i>a a</i> show part of one of the
masts, <i>b</i> one of the tackle-hooks for raising and lowering the
lanterns, <i>c c</i> the brass flanges with their screw-bolts, by which the
body or case of the lantern was ultimately put together. There
were holes in the bottom and also at the top connected with
the ventilation: the collar-pieces <i>e</i> and <i>g</i> form guards against the
effects of the weather. The letter <i>h</i> shows the front of the lantern,
which was glazed with plate-glass; <i>i</i> is one of the glass shutters
by which the lamps were trimmed, the lower half being raised
slides into a groove made for its reception; <i>k</i> shows the range of
ten agitable burners or lamps out of which the oil cannot be spilt<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">60</span>
by the rolling motion of the ship. Each lamp had a silvered
copper reflector <i>l</i> placed behind the flame.”</p></blockquote>
<div id="Fig_11" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 13.375em;">
<img src="images/i_060.jpg" width="214" height="392" alt="" />
<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 11.</span></div></div>
<p>The reputation of my father’s catoptric apparatus
was not, it appears, confined to those interested in the
welfare of the seaman. In 1819, Mr. Stevenson was
waited on by a gentleman passing hurriedly through
Edinburgh, who came on behalf of Mr. Harris, the
manager of Covent Garden Theatre, who was desirous
to try catoptric apparatus for certain stage effects<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">61</span>
which he intended to introduce in London. The proposal
seems rather to have taken the Lighthouse Engineer by
surprise, but on learning that the gentleman who had
favoured him with a call was Mr. Benson, the famous
singer of the day, he wrote the following letter to Mr.
<span class="locked">Harris:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I had some conversation with Mr. Benson of your theatre on
the day he proposed to leave this for London. The purpose of his
visit to me was to inquire about the reflectors we used in the
lighthouses upon this coast, which are under my direction, as he
had some plan in view for dispensing with the <em>footlights</em> on the
stage by the introduction of reflected light.</p>
<p>“Being desirous to give every facility to Mr. Benson’s views,
I offered him the loan of a reflector, which I showed him; but from
his being on the eve of setting off, and wishing to keep the
discovery, if practicable, for your theatre, I agreed to send it to
you at Covent Garden, and this letter is to acquaint you that
a case containing the reflector and its burner was shipped to your
address.</p>
<p>“You are to understand that there is no charge whatever to be
made; I only request that the reflector may be returned when you
have made your trials. I no sooner learned that I conversed with
the gentleman who sings so delightfully in ‘Rob Roy’ than I felt
an irresistible inclination to oblige him.</p>
<p>“Wishing you every success in the projected improvement in
lighting the stage, I remain,” etc.</p></blockquote>
<p>The reflector was duly returned by Mr. Harris. The
note intimating its shipment says—“It is an excellent
reflector, but it collects the light too much in one
spot for our use; I mean, it does not spread the light
sufficiently about.”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">62</span>
I mention this small matter, not so much because the
manager of Covent Garden Theatre came to Edinburgh
to get his information, but to show that Mr. Harris’s
experiment, made in 1819, foretold the result of all trials
that have since been made to light railway stations,
public gardens, and parks, by using lighthouse apparatus,
which is designed to <em>condense</em> the rays of light, and not
to <em>diffuse</em> them, and is therefore inapplicable for such
purposes.</p>
<div class="tb">* <span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">*</span></div>
<p>The remarks I have made on lighthouse illumination
refer to what is known as the <em>catoptric</em> system, whereby
the light is acted on by <em>reflection</em> alone. The invention
of the <em>dioptric</em>, system by Fresnel was first communicated
to Mr. Stevenson in a letter received from Colonel
Colby of the Royal Engineers, who had an opportunity
of knowing the benefit of Fresnel’s dioptric light in
making certain trigonometrical observations for connecting
the Government surveys of the shores of England
and France across the English Channel. The letter is
in the following <span class="locked">terms:—</span></p>
<div class="p1 b1">
<p class="sigright">
“<span class="smcap">Tower</span>, <i>1st Nov. 1821</i>.
</p>
<p>“<span class="smcap">My dear Sir</span>,—I am quite ashamed of having
delayed answering your letter, and thanking you for the
communications you sent me for so long a time. In
regard to the lamps, an account will be given of them in
the <cite>Annales de Chimie</cite> for the next month. The lens is
composed of pieces of glass forming a circle three feet in
diameter, ground to three feet focal length. The lamp is
similar to an Argand lamp, having hardly any other difference,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">63</span>
except four concentric circular wicks instead of one.
The external wick is about three inches in diameter. The
light given by the lens is remarkably brilliant. When we
were at Folkestone Hill, the lamp at Blancnez appeared
to give about four times the light of the Dungeness Lighthouse,
though the distance of the lamp was nearly double
that of the lighthouse. The only difficulty which occurs to
me in their employment in lighthouses is the small angle
to which a single lens gives light. I think one lens is
brilliant for seven degrees, and could not answer for more
than eight or nine degrees.</p>
<p>“The Cordouan Lighthouse is to be fitted up with ten
lenses round one lamp.</p>
<p>“With best wishes to Mrs. S. and your family, ever
yours,</p>
<p class="sigright">
“<span class="smcap">Thos. Colby.</span>”
</p>
</div>
<p>The merits of the dioptric system of illumination were
brought before the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses
in Mr. Stevenson’s Report of December 1821, and,
as is well known, it has, with various extensions and
important improvements, been very generally adopted
in all cases where it is applicable to lighthouse illumination.</p>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">64</span></p>
<div class="chapter">
<h2><a id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.<br />
<span class="subhead">ROADS.<br />
<span class="subhead">1798–1835.</span></span></h2>
</div>
<blockquote>
<p class="center">Early roads and road-making—Edgeworth and M’Adam’s systems of roads—Stevenson’s
system of roads—Cast-iron and stone tracks.</p></blockquote>
<p class="in0"><span class="smcap">Writing</span> at an early date, Mr. Stevenson has given the
following sketch of Roads and Road-making:—</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“In early periods, when every family formed a kind of community
within itself for providing the necessaries of life, it is
obvious that there could be little communication with distant
parts of the country, and there was, therefore, no use for roads,
which, long after the establishment of towns, must have continued
in the state of <em>footpaths</em> and <em>horse-tracks</em>. The bulky articles of
fuel and building materials are likely to have given rise to the
first idea of a sledge, the precursor of the wheel-carriage, which
ultimately led to the construction of anything like a regular path.
The first roads of Britain appear to have been the Military Ways
of the Romans. Some remains of these are still to be seen in
various parts of the kingdom, and even in the immediate vicinity
of the city of Edinburgh. It is, however, quite astonishing how
slow the progress of improvement in road-making seems to have
been, and especially its adaptation to economical purposes; although
all classes must have felt an equal interest in the formation of
roads, as both the landed proprietor and the citizen were to be
mutually benefited by thus laying open the country. But it
requires the accumulated wealth of ages to produce improvements<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">65</span>
so expensive. It is long before the mind can be brought to
approve of any radical change of habit, however advantageous;
and the scale adopted in the first instance is often so circumscribed,
that the whole measure requires to be extended and even to be
changed a second, and perhaps a third time, in keeping pace with
the public demands for improvement.</p>
<p>“It is well known, that even so late as about the middle of the
last century, almost the whole land carriage of Scotland, and a
great part of England, was conducted upon horseback, the animals
employed being termed <em>pack-horses</em>. To the horse-tracks thus
produced, and which in the first instance were <em>formed</em> without
regard to steep acclivities, are to be ascribed the evils which we
now labour under, as attendant on the laying out of our roads for
the modern improvement of wheel-carriages. Nor was it till after
much practice and the application of scientific principles, long
after the introduction of carriages, that we were induced to improve
the line of draught and adopt level tracks of road, although perhaps
more circuitous.</p>
<p>“In Great Britain the road department, after much experience,
is now brought into a system by which the highways are made
and upheld by dues directly levied on those who travel or use
them,—excepting, indeed, such roads as are situated in very remote
parts of the country, where the Government, with the most
enlightened policy, has either executed the works directly by the
troops upon the <em>peace establishment</em>, as in the case of General
Wade’s army, or given aid towards the original formation of
extensive lines of road, for opening the more remote districts of
the country. There is, perhaps, no better criterion for judging of
the prosperity of a country than by its public improvements; and
were this subject considered in all its bearings, we should hardly
be able to quote any stronger evidence of internal riches and true
greatness, than we find connected with the subject of its public
roads. It appears from a very general or cursory calculation,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">66</span>
which the reporter has made, that the highways of Great Britain
and Ireland, independently of the almost innumerable parish and
private roads, extend to about 25,000 miles. The expense of these,
including bridges, etc., on a very moderate calculation, may be
stated throughout the kingdom at the rate of £800 per mile, which
is equal to no less than the aggregate sum of twenty millions
sterling. Now, to what branch of political economy can we look
with more certainty and propriety than to such splendid examples
of the substantial wealth and resources of a country? for until a
kingdom is traversed and laid open by roads, its government must
be weak, and its people remain in a state of comparative poverty.</p>
<p>“But in so extensive a concern as the system of roads, involving
so great an expense, we may naturally look for small beginnings
and very gradual advancement. Accordingly, we find in
the first formation of highways, before their utility could be fully
understood or experience had shown the benefits of science in the
practice of the engineer, the early road-maker only increased the
breadth of the horse-track, and strewed it over with gravel from
the neighbouring brook. Indeed, we know that so late as the
year 1542, even the streets of London were formed in this way;
and it is said to be established by the records of Parliament, that
when the new system of road-making was first proposed to be
extended beyond the region of a few miles from that metropolis,
such was the mistaken policy and narrow-minded views of the
immediate proprietors, that the measure was strenuously opposed
by those who wished to make a monopoly of the supplies for the
metropolis, as detrimental to the established order of things.”</p></blockquote>
<p>The names of Richard Edgeworth, F.R.S., and John
M’Adam, are well known in connection with roads—Mr.
Edgeworth writing in 1813, Mr. M’Adam in 1816. Both
men had, it appears, given attention to the subject before
the end of the last century. Mr. Edgeworth says:—“I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">67</span>
have visited England, and have found, on a journey of
many hundred miles, scarcely twenty miles of well-made
road. In many parts of the country, and especially near
London, the roads are in a shameful condition, and the
pavement of London is utterly unworthy of a great
metropolis.”</p>
<p>Mr. M’Adam had been much struck by the entire
want of system that existed in the management of
roads at that early period, and strongly urged the
necessity of a reform in road <em>management</em> as a pre-requisite
to road <em>improvement</em>. He urged the laying out of
the roads of the country into separate districts, with the
appointment of road trustees to manage them—the
appointment of chief and assistant road-surveyors to
superintend them—and a new system of accounting and
finance,—all under statutory regulations; and it cannot
be doubted that in all this Mr. M’Adam did good service,
which was recognised in 1823 by Parliament voting a
sum of money to him for having introduced a system of
“repairing, making, and managing turnpike roads and
highways, from which the public have derived most
important and valuable advantages.”</p>
<p>It appears to me, however, that all that is said in
Mr. M’Adam’s first edition of his book on road-making, in
1816, is of so general and vague a nature that he cannot
have known of Mr. Stevenson’s work at an early part of
the century.</p>
<p>From Mr. Stevenson’s reports it appears that he
was much employed in road-engineering in the counties
of Edinburgh, Stirling, Linlithgow, Perth, and, indeed,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">68</span>
generally throughout Scotland, extending as far north as
Orkney and Shetland; and without raising any claim to
priority of design, I give the following extracts from
reports made by him in 1812 and 1813, after he must
have had at least several years’ previous study and practice
of road-making, which I think clearly show that Mr.
Stevenson, if not the <em>original</em>, was at least an <em>independent</em>
inventor of the system of road-making which is
termed “macadamising.”</p>
<p>In a report to “The Honourable the Committee of the
Trustees for the Highways and Roads within the county
of Edinburgh,” dated 1812, he <span class="locked">says:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“It may not, however, be considered altogether out of place to
notice that the pieces of stone composing the road-metal in common
use are perhaps one-half, and in some instances two-thirds,
larger than is suitable for the best condition of a road. Road-metal
of a small size consolidates by the pressure of weighty carriages,
when stones of the size <em>commonly used</em> are either pounded under
the wheel or forced into the road. It would therefore be desirable,
as an experiment upon the large scale, to lay one of the most public
roads in the county to the extent of one fourth of a mile with
stones broken much smaller than is <em>customary</em>.</p>
<p>“In some instances, especially within a few miles of Edinburgh,
it might be worthy of consideration by the Honourable Trustees of
this county how far <em>cast-iron cart-tracks</em> might not be advantageously
laid upon the roads. Some years since the reporter got two or
three yards’ length of these iron tracks brought from the Shotts
ironworks, where they have been used for years with much advantage,
and, it is believed, with economy. These cart-tracks would
cost about £2000 per statute mile, including upholding by the
iron-founder for one year. It would be interesting to have also a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">69</span>
trial made of these in some very public road, although it were only
to the extent of two or three hundred yards.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Again, in a report to “The Honourable the Trustees
for the Bridge of Marykirk,” also in 1812, he <span class="locked">says:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“In the annexed specification of road-makers’ work, the reporter
makes some alterations upon the <em>common</em> and <em>ordinary</em>
method of breaking and laying road materials, by reducing the
road-metal to a more uniform size, and using a course of gravel, if
it can be procured, or even of clean sharp sand, as a bottoming for
the broken stones. A road composed of stones of various sizes can
never be brought into that smooth and uniform surface, which is so
much to be desired, for the moment the pressure is brought upon
one of these <em>out-sized</em> stones, it must either be crushed under the
wheel or be forced by repeated attacks into the road, and thereby it
displaces the surrounding stones, and in either case admission is
given to the surface-water; a pit is immediately formed, and every
succeeding wheel widens the breach, until the road is rendered impassable.
To counteract this very common effect, arising chiefly
from the very vague manner of defining the dimensions of road-metal
by bulk or even by weight, the reporter provides that the
Trustees shall furnish a riddle or screen, the meshes or openings of
which are to be of such dimensions that a stone measuring more than
one inch and a half upon any of its sides cannot pass through it.”</p></blockquote>
<div id="Fig_12" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 37.5em;">
<img src="images/i_069.jpg" width="600" height="70" alt="" />
<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 12.</span>—Section of one half of Roadway.</div></div>
<p>Mr. Stevenson’s specification of the Regent Road in
Edinburgh is fuller, and is in the following <span class="locked">terms:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The cross section (shown in <a href="#Fig_12">Fig. 12</a>) of the metalled road to
be the same in all respects as that already described for the causewayed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">70</span>
roadway. But the cross section is to rise from the interior
<em>brows</em> or slopes of the paved channels to the centre of the roadway,
at the rate of 1 in 25. The bottoming of the road is to be of broken
stones from the excavated matters of the Calton Hill works; the
pieces of stone not to exceed five or six lbs. in weight; to be laid <em>by
hand</em> in a compact manner to the depth necessary for preparing the
road for the upper strata, viz., a layer or stratum of clean sharp sand
four inches in thickness, laid all over the surface, and forming a bed
for the upper or road-metal stratum, which is to be seven inches in
thickness, and to consist of broken stones taken from the quarries
of Salisbury Crags, or the lands of Heriot’s Hospital, as may be
finally agreed upon. The road-metal is to be broken into pieces
of such dimensions as to pass freely through a screen, to be provided
by the Commissioners, the meshes of which shall not exceed
one inch and a half square. The whole to be finished with a
‘top-dressing’ of sea-gravel, in such a manner that none of the
road-metal shall appear on the surface of the roadway when it is
completed.”</p></blockquote>
<p>These extracts, so far as I have been able to discover,
contain the earliest proposals and precise specification
of the construction of road now known by the familiar
name of “macadamising,” and I dismiss the subject with
the following candid quotation from Mr. Stevenson’s
Memoranda, in which he <span class="locked">says:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“It may be well to notice that in 1811 I specified road
materials of the size as nearly as may be of road-metal, which
<em>afterwards</em> became what is called ‘macadamised roads.’ I am
not sure if I was before Mr. M’Adam in this respect; at all events
he had the great merit of introducing the system of smooth roads.
When I first proposed this method, I think, to the Trustees of
Marykirk, they objected to it upon the score of expense.”</p></blockquote>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">71</span>
As regards the iron cart-tracks suggested for trial
by Mr. Stevenson in his report to the Edinburgh Road
Trustees, already quoted, he subsequently matured his
views and described them in the article “Roads” in the
<cite>Edinburgh Encyclopædia</cite>, where he proposed to use stone
tracks as a “smooth and durable city road,” which he
describes as <span class="locked">follows:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The individual component stones of the wheel-tracks, hitherto,
very partially in use, extend from three to four feet in length, are
about ten or twelve inches in breadth, and eight or ten inches in
depth. The stones of the tracks recommended by me, on the
other hand, are of a cubical form, measuring only from six to eight
inches in the lengthway of the track, and twelve to fourteen inches
in depth, eighteen inches in breadth at the base, and twelve inches
at the top or wheel-track. The stones are therefore proportionate
in all their dimensions, for unless they contain a mass of matter
corresponding to their length, they will be found to want strength
and stability. It would hardly be possible to keep slender stone-rails
in their places, and hence the chief benefit of a connected
railway would be lost. On the other hand, very large materials
are difficult to be got, and are also more expensive in carriage and
in workmanship than stones of a smaller size. The Italian wheel-tracks
are composed of stones two feet in breadth, and of various
lengths. To lessen the risk of horses falling, these broad stones
are kept in a rough state, by occasionally cutting grooves with a
pick-axe upon their upper surface. A mode of paving with large
blocks of granite, chequered or cut in this manner, has been tried
in some of the streets in London. In order, however, to give
pavement of this kind the necessary stability, the blocks would
require to have their dimensions equally large on all sides, the
expense of which would be too great. But cubical stones of the
size now recommended may be procured at a moderate price, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">72</span>
throughout a great range of country; while the tracks, if properly
laid, will actually be more stable than if blocks of larger dimensions
were employed. For we may notice that a carriage-wheel
rests or impinges even upon a less surface than one inch of its track
at a time, in the course of each revolution round its axis; hence,
it may be conceived to produce a kind of compensating effect,
connected with the use of small stones, which prevents the tremor
from being communicated beyond the limited sphere of each
particular block, and, consequently, extending only a few inches.
This system of paving I originally proposed for the main street
of Linlithgow, forming part of the great western road from Edinburgh
to Stirlingshire, and a correct idea of the proposal will at
once be acquired by examining <a href="#Fig_13">Fig. 13</a>. By using tracks of this
description—giving the stones a proportionally broad bed, and
laying them upon a firm foundation (which is indispensable)—we
should have our streets and the acclivities of our highways
rendered smooth and durable, avoiding the expense and inconvenience
of the common road, and also the irksome noise and
jolting motion of the causeway.</p>
<p>“The tracks may be formed of granite, whinstone, or any of
the hard varieties of rock capable of being hammer-dressed.”</p></blockquote>
<div id="Fig_13" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 25.3125em;">
<img src="images/i_072.jpg" width="405" height="145" alt="" />
<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 13.</span>—Section for Road Metal. Section for Causeway.</div></div>
<p>Specimens of these stone tracks were laid in Edinburgh,
in terms of Mr. Stevenson’s specification, on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">73</span>
South Bridge Street opposite to the College, and in the
Pleasance, and a third specimen was laid by the Road
Trustees on Liberton Hill, which still remains after a
lapse of half a century.</p>
<p>Subsequently to this Mr. Walker laid similar tramways
in the Commercial Road, London, and as is well
known, they have been pretty largely used in the principal
towns in Italy.</p>
<p>For a “city road,” as Mr. Stevenson termed it, the
system he proposed has certain advantages, inasmuch
as carriages with any form of wheel may use it, and this
freedom of use admits of any amount of traffic being
accommodated, carriages having the freedom of passing
from the stone track to any part of the road. The
introduction of iron “street tramways” may, however,
be said, for the present, to have taken the place of all
other plans for improving city passenger traffic.</p>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">74</span></p>
<div class="chapter">
<h2><a id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.<br />
<span class="subhead">IMPROVEMENT OF EDINBURGH.<br />
<span class="subhead">1812–1834.</span></span></h2>
</div>
<blockquote>
<p class="hang">Design for approaches to Edinburgh from the East by Regent and London Roads,
and opening up access to the Calton Hill—Sites for the new Jail and Court
of Justiciary, and buildings in Waterloo Place—Regent Bridge—Feuing Plan
for Eastern District of Edinburgh—Improvement of accesses to Edinburgh
from the West and North, and from Granton—Removal of old “Tolbooth”
Prison—Removal of University buildings.</p></blockquote>
<p class="in0"><span class="smcap">Ancient</span> Edinburgh was famed for its narrow streets
and crooked wynds, and even at the period when this
Memoir begins, much remained to be done for the improvement
of the various accesses to the city. These roads,
leading from north, south, east, and west, were under
the management of different Trusts or public bodies, by
all of whom Mr. Stevenson was on various occasions
consulted; and the subject seems to have had for
him more than a merely professional interest, for his
advice was generally far “ahead” of the cautious views
of his employers, on whom he seems often to have had
no small difficulty in urging the adoption of sufficiently
comprehensive designs. His love for the beautiful rose
above all other feelings, and he succeeded, not without
difficulty and perseverance, in securing for Edinburgh
those spacious road improvements which have undoubtedly
helped her to claim the title of “Modern
Athens.”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">75</span>
The “Modern Athenians” who now enjoy the magnificent
approach to Edinburgh by the Regent Road and
Calton Hill, or that no less commodious access from
Parson’s Green to Leith Walk, known as the “London
Road,” can hardly realise the time when the only communication
from Princes Street to Portobello was by Leith
Street, Calton Street, and the North Back of the Canongate.</p>
<p>At that time Princes Street was abruptly terminated
by a row of houses at the Register Office, and the Calton
Hill was in a state of nature.</p>
<p>Mr. Stevenson’s scheme of forming a direct access to
London and the south, by making a roadway over the
Calton Hill, was based on a comprehensive scale, providing
sites for public buildings, and an extensive feuing-plan
for the eastern portion of Edinburgh, all of which were
ultimately carried out under his directions.</p>
<p>But this scheme, boldly conceived and so beneficial to
Edinburgh, was not well received by the inhabitants. It
had the <em>economical</em> objection of interfering to some extent
with house property, a liberty to which people were only
reconciled in modern times when sites had to be acquired
for railway stations. It had the <em>engineering</em> objection
of involving what were represented in those days as
dangerous rock cuttings and extensive high retaining
walls along the sides of the Calton Hill; but above all, it
had the serious <em>social</em> objection that its route ran through
the “Old Calton Burying-ground,” and involved the
removal of the remains of those interred in it to a new
resting-place, to be provided by the Improvement Commissioners.
This last objection subjected Mr. Stevenson to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">76</span>
some ill feeling; and the fact that the place of interment
of his own family was one of those to be removed to the
new cemetery, did not succeed in allaying the discontent.
It was undoubtedly in consequence of Mr. Stevenson’s
perseverance and unfaltering conviction that his advice
was <em>sound</em>, and calculated to benefit his fellow-citizens,
that his plan was ultimately adopted and carried out.</p>
<p>It is proper to notice that the new jail and the
buildings in Waterloo Place were designed by Mr.
Archibald Elliot, and at a more recent period the houses
in the Regent and Royal Terraces by Mr. Playfair, and
the High School and Burns’s Monument by Mr. Thomas
Hamilton, all architects of eminence, whose works added
to the attractiveness of Mr. Stevenson’s splendid access.</p>
<p>In carrying the road round the part of the hill now
occupied by the High School, Mr. Stevenson had some
difficulty, owing to the height of the retaining wall, in
avoiding what would have appeared as a dead wall, and
would have proved unsightly as viewed from Arthur’s
Seat. He accordingly built a strong retaining wall of
masonry, which supports the road, and is covered by an
exterior wall of rough masses of stone arranged as rustic
work, which, when viewed at a distance, has all the
appearance of a face of natural rock.</p>
<p>In Lord Cockburn’s <cite>Memorials of his Time</cite> he
says:—“Scarcely any sacrifice could be too great that
removed the houses from the end of Princes Street, and
made a level road to the hill, or, in other words, produced
Waterloo Bridge. The effect was like drawing up the
curtain of a theatre.”</p>
<div id="ip_76" class="newpage figcenter" style="max-width: 37.5em;">
<p id="PLATE_IV" class="plate"><i>PLATE IV.</i></p>
<img src="images/i_077.jpg" width="600" height="369" alt="" />
<div class="caption">
<p class="floatl"><i>J. Bartholomew Bain.</i></p>
<p class="floatc">APPROACHES TO EDINBURGH BY REGENT AND LONDON ROADS, 1814.</p>
</div></div>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">77</span>
In <a href="#PLATE_IV">Plate <span class="smcap smaller">IV.</span></a> are traced, in red colour, the various lines
of connecting road which go to make up this grand
improvement, of the value of which those who know
the locality can judge for themselves.</p>
<p>In the following report, addressed to the “Sheriff-Depute
of the county of Edinburgh, as convener of a committee
for erecting a new jail for the county of Edinburgh,”
Mr. Stevenson details the various benefits to be
derived by adopting his proposal; and as his views on this
matter encountered, as has been stated, much opposition,
I give extracts from his report, begging of those readers
who have no local interest in it kindly to pass it <span class="locked">over:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“In the report which you addressed to the Commissioners for
erecting a new jail for the county of Edinburgh, the Calton Hill
is amongst other places alluded to as a site. But the difficulty of
access to that commanding and healthful situation presents itself
as a strong objection to its being adopted. As, however, an approach
to the city from the eastward, with access to the extensive lands
connected with the Calton Hill, valuable both as building grounds
and as a delightful city walk, has long been a <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">desideratum</i>, and as
the present seemed a fit time for again attempting this measure,
the reporter had the honour to receive your instructions to inquire
into the practicability of making a proper communication to the
Calton Hill, with the view of there building the intended new jail;
and he is now to submit the accompanying survey of the grounds,
together with the requisite plans and sections connected with the
design of a road from Shakespeare Square, at the eastern extremity
of Princes Street, to join the great road to London at the Abbeyhill.</p>
<p>“The Hon. Sheriff is aware that the attainment of this object
has long been wishfully kept in view by the public. It is believed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">78</span>
that at different times such proposals were by them brought under
the notice of Mr. Adam and of Mr. Baxter, the most celebrated
architects of their day. But still the work remains to be accomplished,
not certainly from any physical difficulty necessarily
attending its execution, but from the want of sufficient energy to
meet the expense that must unavoidably attend an operation of
this nature, involving the removal of some valuable buildings, and
otherwise interfering with private property. Were the reporter to
have in view merely the forming of an improved approach to the
city of Edinburgh from the eastward, instead of the present inconvenient
access by the Water Gate, he might here allude to the
intended London Road through the lands of Hillside to Leith Walk,
or to the once proposed line of road terminating by a bridge from
the northern side of the Calton Hill to Greenside, opposite York
Place, and the completion of this fine street by the removal of the
old and ruinous houses which still continue to encumber its
entrance; or he might take notice of the less commodious road at
one time in view over the higher parts of the Calton Hill, and joining
the lower part of Leith Street by means of an arch over Calton
Street. But all of these lines of road are <em>objectionable</em>, in a greater
or less degree, inasmuch as they include the acclivity of Leith
Street before the passenger can arrive at the level of the North
Bridge. To obtain this in the most eligible manner, we must look
to the extension of the line of Princes Street to the Calton Hill,
for although the other lines of road have been looked forward to as
improvements to a certain extent, yet still they were defective, and
must have left something undone, while the extension of Princes
Street by a bridge over Calton Street, and a road to the Abbeyhill,
seems to answer every purpose. It unfortunately happens,
however, that if carried in a direct line it must pass through the
Calton Burying-ground; and if this part of the road were made with
a curve, the most desirable effect in point of beauty would not be
produced. There was a time indeed when, without encroachment<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">79</span>
upon the burying-ground, the road could have been made with a
curve to the southward of Hume the historian’s tomb; but of late
years the walls of the burying-ground have been extended to the
verge of precipitous rocks, so that the removal of numerous private
cemeteries would now be indispensable in carrying the road at an
elevation sufficient to command the proper view. If a lower
level were adopted in this direction, the fine prospects of the
higher road would be lost, and this line would then become quite
uninteresting, while a heavy expense must be incurred in carrying
the road through much private property, considerations which are
sufficient to render this line highly objectionable.</p>
<p>“But the road which would afford the easiest line of draught
is that which the reporter has delineated upon the plan by a
curved line towards the left from the eastern extremity of the new
bridge, crossing the present road to the Calton Hill, winding round
the northern side of the hill and joining the intended ‘London
Road’ through the lands of Hillside near the eastern road to Leith.
By this line of road the level of Princes Street may be conceived
to become the summit level of the road, which would admit of
being made with a uniform declivity from Shakespeare Square to
the Abbeyhill, while the acclivity to Bridewell by the present
road might be greatly reduced, and the road improved in connection
with the new line of road. In the present instance, however, it is
not to the easiest line of draught as an approach to the city of
Edinburgh that the Sheriff directs the attention of the reporter,
but to a better access to the higher lands of Calton Hill, with a
view to obtain a proper site for the new jail, and therefore only an
eye view of the northern line of road is given. Yet when a communication
is opened with the Calton Hill by a bridge from
Princes Street, we may expect at some future day to see one continuous
street or drive round the hill. Before proceeding further,
a preliminary remark may here be stated, and in making it the
reporter thinks it proper to say that no one can hold the great<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">80</span>
professional abilities of Mr. Adam in higher estimation than he
does; at any rate he is certain that it could not fall to the lot of
any individual who would feel more compunction in proposing an
alteration even upon an outward wall of a work executed under
his directions. But such is the inconvenience and even danger to
passengers attending the projection of the south-eastern angle of
the parapet wall in front of the Register Office, that in the progress
of these improvements the reporter would humbly propose, for the
greater accommodation and comfort of the public, that this fine
piece of masonry should undergo a small alteration, as represented
in dotted lines upon the plan, in order to widen the street and improve
the great thoroughfare to the port of Leith.</p>
<h3>“<i>Description of Line of Road recommended.</i></h3>
<p>“In reference to the accompanying survey and plan, it will be
proper to describe it more particularly. The first step towards
forming the proposed new approach to the Calton Hill will be the
removal of the houses which presently shut up the eastern
extremity of Princes Street, and the other property in its direction
eastward. The approach will then be made up to the proper
level by a bridge extending in length about 362 feet from
Shakespeare Square over Calton Street, towards the western
extremity of the Calton Burying-ground, through which it will pass.
Thence, passing in front of Bridewell, or between it and Nelson’s
Monument, it is continued along the southern side of the Calton
Hill to the line of wall of division between the property of the
city of Edinburgh and the lands of Heriot’s Hospital. At this
position the road begins to skirt along the southern side of the
rising grounds in the parks of Heriot’s Hospital, and crossing the
eastern road to Leith it passes behind the houses of Abbeyhill,
and ultimately joins the great road to London.</p>
<p>“The line of road just described has been laid out with gradients
varying from 1 in 39 to 1 in 22. The more to the eastward<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">81</span>
the new line of road is carried before it joins the present London
road, the more gradual and gentle the acclivity becomes. To
improve this line of road still further by cutting deeper into the
rock at the summit would not only create a great additional
expense, but would place the road in a hollow, and shut out these
characteristic views of the city which are the chief inducements to
the new line of road.</p>
<p>“In determining the line of direction for the street from Shakespeare
Square to Bridewell, it seems desirable that it should run in a
straight line. The only objection to this is its interference with the
Calton Burying-ground. In making any encroachments upon a
place of burial, there is no doubt something very repugnant to the
feelings, but in many cases this has been found necessary for public
improvements, of which we have an example in the improved access
from the bottom of Leith Walk to Bernard Street, where the road
was carried through part of the churchyard of South Leith, and so
in other parts of the country. The reporter has been at much pains
in endeavouring to avoid the burying-ground, by attempting to
turn the road more or less towards the left in going eastward, and
by this means taking only a part from the northern side of that
ground. But were the burying-ground to be encroached upon at
all, and this cannot well be prevented, it seems less objectionable
to carry the road in a straight line through it, especially as it may
be found practicable to give an equal quantity of ground immediately
contiguous to the present burying-ground without materially
trenching upon any plan that may be in view for the erection of
the prison; and as there will be a considerable depth of cutting in
carrying the road through the burying-ground, the surface terring
of the different places of interment may be removed to the new
grounds with due care and becoming solemnity.</p>
<p>“The reporter gives a preference to this line, because it seems
best suited to the peculiar situation of the ground, being calculated
to show to much advantage the rugged rocks on which Nelson’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">82</span>
Monument is erected, which beautifully terminates the view in
looking eastward; and in entering the town from the opposite directions,
it exhibits at one view, from a somewhat elevated situation,
the striking and extensive line of Princes Street. Now the
reporter is humbly of opinion that to attain these objects, this line
of road should be carried straight from Shakespeare Square to the
eastern side of the burying-ground, after which it may be made to
suit the position and nature of the ground in all its windings, as
delineated upon the survey.</p>
<p>“As this road is not only to be the great approach from the
eastward, but likewise to become the chief thoroughfare to the
extensive lands of Heriot’s and Trinity Hospitals, and to the lands
of the other conterminous proprietors, henceforth likely to become
the principal building grounds for this great city, which is always
increasing towards its port of Leith, it becomes desirable for these
purposes, and particularly to preserve the interesting view of the
Calton Hill, that this road should not be less than seventy-five feet
in breadth, or similar to Princes Street, exclusively of the sunk
areas, which is certainly adequate to all the ordinary purposes of
utility, intercourse, and elegance. There is, however, one way of
viewing the width of this part of the road or street, by which it
may appear to be too narrow even at seventy-five feet, and that is
by comparing it with the width of Princes Street, which, including
the sunken areas, measures ninety-five feet in breadth. Princes
Street, however, comes more properly under the description of a row
or terrace, and the principal footpath being on the north side of the
street, it may consequently be apprehended that unless the new
street were of an equal width, a spectator looking from the north
side of the new street towards the line of Princes Street would
command but an imperfect view of it. This to a considerable
extent would be the state of the case even at seventy-five feet of
breadth, and were the street reduced to sixty feet in breadth, as has
been proposed, the view of the higher parts of the Calton Hill<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">83</span>
would be hid from the pavement on Princes Street. But the
narrowing of the street even to sixty feet in width, with two elegant
buildings in the form of pavilions or wings to the bridge, would
have an effect similar to what is strikingly observable in looking
from the western end of George Street towards the Excise Office.
Examples of narrowing streets are not uncommon, as Great
Pulteney Street in Bath, and Blackfriars and Westminster Bridge
Streets in London. The reporter, however, confesses that he is not
induced to consider sixty feet, or even seventy-five feet, as the
most desirable breadth for the new bridge from any views of
elegance; with him the reduction of the width of the street is proposed
rather from motives of economy to insure the success of a
great measure, than from choice in making the design. In this
situation a bridge of ninety-five feet, or equal to the extreme breadth
of Princes Street, would most unfortunately place the new buildings
upon the north-western side so near to the houses of Leith Street,
that the windows of the houses of Leith Street and those of the
new street would be shaded by each other, so as to require the
buildings at the western end of the bridge to be kept less in height,
if not to be discontinued altogether, for a considerable way, which
would render the building grounds of much less value. Two or
three of the new buildings, indeed, might be joined or connected
with the old houses, but still the property upon the whole would
be greatly injured. Considering this, and also the additional
expense of the bridge without greatly increasing the value of the
cellarage, together with the greater trespass that would be made
on the burying-ground by a street of ninety-five feet in breadth,
the reporter has been induced to delineate upon the plan a bridge
of seventy-five feet, and a road from it to the Abbeyhill of sixty
feet in breadth. Yet if it shall appear that funds cannot be conveniently
obtained to meet even this expense, it may then be
found necessary to make the whole of the uniform breadth of sixty
feet. From the annexed estimate for the purchase of property,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">84</span>
building a bridge of seventy-five feet in width, and making a road
from it to the Abbeyhill of sixty feet in breadth, it appears that
the expense will amount to £71,976, 14s.</p>
<p>“In estimating the expense of these works, the reporter has
had in view that the road should be executed in aisler causeway,
and that the whole should be executed in a substantial manner.
From the borings in the strata which have been made by the directions
of the reporter, there is reason to hope that the foundations
of the bridge will not be difficult, and he therefore trusts that the
several sums in the estimate of the expense already alluded to,
will be found adequate to this purpose.</p>
<p>“The expenditure will no doubt be large, but the advantages
are great in proportion.</p>
<p>“In considering this proposed new approach, it may be proper
to notice it particularly as the means of procuring a proper site
for the new jail and court house; <em>second</em>, as calculated to raise
the value of certain building grounds; <em>thirdly</em>, as a public road;
and <em>lastly</em>, as contributing individually to the comfort of the
inhabitants of Edinburgh.</p>
<h3>“<i>Site for the Jail.</i></h3>
<p>“In any display of the advantages of this measure, the motive
which led to it should not be overlooked. It was not the convenience
of the wealthy citizen, nor the increased value of ground
for building, nor even the improvement of the public roads that
was sought after. It was to obtain a healthful situation for a
<em>common jail</em>, and thereby to extend the comforts particularly of one
unfortunate class of individuals, who, perhaps from the unavoidable
circumstances of their lot, or from innocent misfortunes, are
unable to pay their debts, and are cast into prison; and even of
another class, certainly less to be pitied, who from a perversity of
disposition or the depravity of their nature, forfeit their liberty
for a time.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">85</span>
“In looking for a proper site for building a jail upon the Calton
Hill, the eye is naturally directed to the position of Bridewell as
a fit place for concentrating the whole establishment of prisons
for the city of Edinburgh to one spot, and if thought advisable,
to put the whole under the care of the same governor, as is the
general practice in England. A suitable site for the felons-jail
has been pointed out upon the western side of Bridewell; and
with a proper discrimination, the Sheriff proposes to erect the
debtors-jail upon the other side; and if these buildings be constructed
in the same style of architecture as Bridewell, the whole
will present one uniform front or suite of buildings. The reporter
understands, however, that the Sheriff does not wish this to be
understood as fixed, but that the opinion of the most eminent
architects should be obtained regarding the jail to be erected.</p>
<h3>“<i>Site for the Justiciary Court House.</i></h3>
<p>“Supposing, for the present, that the jails were arranged in
this manner, and that it were necessary in connection with them
to erect a Justiciary Court House and public offices, a place must
be found for them that shall at once be suitable in point of
elegance, and be at the same time convenient for communicating
with the prisons. In the event of adopting a street with a turn
at the eastern end of the bridge, a site for these buildings could
be very appropriately got, either facing the line of Princes Street
or upon the southern side of the arch over Calton Street. On
this last spot it may be objected that the buildings would not be
fully seen till the spectator had reached the open arch of the
bridge. Both of these situations would, however, be contiguous to
the Register Office and North Bridge, and could be made accessible
to the prisons by a private way round the southern side of the
burying-ground.</p>
<p>“But certainly the most commanding site, in regard to elegance
and grandeur of effect, for a public building would be to place it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">86</span>
opposite to the prisons in the opening of the street, as marked on
the plan. In such a position, when viewed from Princes Street in
connection with the monument, the effect of these Court houses
in perspective would indeed be very fine, and in coming round the
hill by the line of road from the eastwards, it would be no less
striking.</p>
<p>“The site for the prisons naturally points out itself contiguously
to Bridewell, as well for the reasons already stated as on account of
its southern exposure, and it has been observed to be just at the
point of elevation for receiving a supply of water from the city’s
reservoir. But in setting down the public buildings for the
county and for the Sheriff Court at so great a distance from the
Court of Session and the other Courts of Law, the convenience of
the practitioners is a consideration of importance which presents
itself as requiring very mature deliberation, which does not
strictly come under my notice.</p>
<h3>“<i>The value of Feuing Ground.</i></h3>
<p>“The prolongation of the line of Princes Street by a bridge
over Calton Street is calculated in a particular manner to benefit
the extensive lands of Heriot’s and Trinity Hospitals, and the
conterminous proprietors to the eastward of the Calton Hill, by
affording a better access than can be obtained in any other direction,
especially in so far as it regards the higher grounds of Heriot’s
Hospital. But on this subject the reporter has already submitted
his opinion in so far as regards Heriot’s Hospital, in a report to
the Governors of that institution; and as the same argument held
in a greater or less degree with the other proprietors, it seems
unnecessary, in this place, to resume the subject.</p>
<h3>“<i>As a Public Road.</i></h3>
<p>“As a new approach to the city of Edinburgh from the Abbeyhill
to the central parts of the city, avoiding the inconvenient<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">87</span>
acclivity and awkward termination of Leith Street, or the still
more intricate and incommodious access by the North Back of
Canongate, this road will be regarded by the Trustees for the highways
within the county as an improvement of the first importance.
As a road, it is at once direct and obvious. By an extension of
this line of road to Leith by the eastern road, or still more to the
eastward through the lands of Restalrig, this access will be found
of very general utility, while the traveller thus entering Edinburgh
will be presented with the most characteristic views of the city,
both old town and new town, calculated to inspire the highest
opinions of its picturesque beauties.</p>
<h3>“<i>To the Inhabitants of Edinburgh.</i></h3>
<p>“As a great addition to the individual comfort and convenience
of the inhabitants of Edinburgh, the bridge over Calton Street
will open an elegant access to the lands of the Calton Hill, from
which the surrounding country forms one of the most delightful
prospects of distant mountain ranges,—detached hills and extensive
sea-coast, with numerous ships ever plying in all directions,
together with the finest city scenery that is anywhere to be met
with.</p>
<p>“Those who have admired the city of London from an eminence
have indeed seen more extended lines of street bounded perhaps
by a richer country, yet it is very deficient in that variety and
boldness of feature which is so striking in this place. When it is
wished to extend this walk to the eastward, the new road will
lead the pedestrian commodiously to the bottom of Arthur’s Seat,
round the eastern side of which a path to Duddingston, branching
out in various directions in its course round to Salisbury Crags,
might, in a very delightful manner, be imagined to complete an
afternoon’s excursion. Let those who have not a lively picture in
their mind of the prospect from the Calton Hill walk along the
line of the projected road, and upon attending to it they will meet<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">88</span>
with such a richness and variety of scenery as will satisfy them
how greatly the ornament of the city, and the pleasures of the
inhabitants and of its occasional visitants, would be promoted
by the continuation of the line of Princes Street towards the
lands of Calton Hill. Whether therefore we consider a bridge
over Calton Street as calculated to improve the approach to the
city from the eastward, or as rendering accessible many acres for
building, and villa grounds which must otherwise remain as grass
fields for an indefinite period, or as opening an easy way to the
rising grounds of the Calton Hill, in all these and in other important
purposes the reporter is humbly of opinion that this measure
ought to be regarded as the greatest object which has engaged the
attention of public men since the erection of the North Bridge,
which was a very bold and enterprising undertaking for any period
of provincial or even of metropolitan history.</p>
<p>“Under these circumstances, it must be doubly gratifying to
learn, that notwithstanding the facility which an improved access
must afford in laying out the city grounds of the Calton Hill for
buildings, it is understood to be the intention of the Lord Provost
and Magistrates, in framing the Bill for an Act of Parliament for
regulating these works, to provide, with a proper liberality and a
due regard for the immediate and ultimate interests of the community,
that these lands shall in all time coming be preserved open
and free as at present from all common buildings. It is also
hoped that the Hon. and Rev. Governors of Heriot’s Hospital, with
enlightened sentiments, will preserve the view of Holyrood House
and its connecting scenery, by restricting the buildings on the
southern side of the new road through the Hospital’s land to such
limits as may seem for that purpose to be necessary.”</p></blockquote>
<p>The Bill for this new approach to Edinburgh was
passed in 1814, and, on the 9th of September 1815, the
foundation stone of the Waterloo Bridge was laid with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">89</span>
great masonic ceremony, bearing the following <span class="locked">inscription—</span></p>
<p class="p1 b1 in0 center intact">
<span class="smcap">Regnante Georgio III. Patre Patriae<br />
Urbis praefecto iterum<br />
Joanne Marjoribanks de Lees equite baronetto<br />
Architecto Roberto Stevenson<br />
Cives Edinburgenses<br />
Novum hunc et magnificum<br />
Per montem vicinum<br />
Ad summam urbem aditum moliti<br />
In hoc ponte nomen jusserunt inscribi<br />
Proregis Georgii Augusti Frederici.</span><a id="FNanchor_7" href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">7</a>
</p>
<p class="in0">which I quote, because Mr. Stevenson, in his notes,
mentions a curious circumstance in connection with it:—“The
late James Gregory, then Professor of the Practice
of Medicine in the University, the well-known author of
the <cite>Conspectus Medicinae Theoreticae</cite>, was applied to
by the Commission for the improvement to put the
inscription in classical Latin. The Doctor came to me
to say that he must style me <em>Architect</em>, there being no
such word as <em>Engineer</em> to be found in the history of the
Arts, and so it stands in the inscription. I wanted the
Doctor to introduce the term Engineer, as it was very
desirable to have the profession recognised in works now
exclusively entrusted to the engineer.”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">90</span>
Mr. Stevenson’s original feuing plan, already referred
to, for the Calton Hill had three ranges of terraces at
different levels, as shown by a picture in my possession,
from which <a href="#PLATE_V">Plate <span class="smcap smaller">V.</span></a> has been engraved. The middle
line of terrace shown in the drawing corresponds to the
Regent Terrace as ultimately constructed.</p>
<p>The approach on the northern side of the hill, known
as the “London Road,” was executed according to Mr.
Stevenson’s design immediately after the completion of
the Regent Road and Waterloo Bridge; and the whole
of the new lines of road, as shown in red in <a href="#PLATE_IV">Plate <span class="smcap smaller">IV.</span></a>,
were, as I have stated, part of the same design.</p>
<p>Mr. Stevenson’s further contributions to the improvement
of the approaches to Edinburgh were made between
1811 and 1817 to the “Trustees for the Post-road
District of Roads,” the “Trustees of the Middle
District of Roads,” the “Commissioners for forming and
feuing Leith Walk,” and the “Trustees of the Cramond
District of Roads.” These were the several authorities at
that time in power, under whose directions he laid out
the access to Edinburgh from Stockbridge by Royal
Circus, and from Inverleith by Canonmills to Dundas
Street, and from Canonmills to Bellevue Crescent. More
recently the access from Granton Harbour to Inverleith
Row on the east, and to Caroline Park on the west, were
designed and executed under his direction in connection
with his design for Granton Harbour, made to the Duke
of Buccleuch in 1834.</p>
<p>To Mr. Stevenson’s engineering skill, therefore, it
may truly be said that modern Edinburgh owes much
of its fame as a city of palaces, commanding views of
the Firth of Forth and surrounding country which cannot
be surpassed.</p>
<div id="ip_90" class="newpage figcenter" style="max-width: 37.5em;">
<p id="PLATE_V" class="plate"><i>PLATE V.</i></p>
<img src="images/i_090.jpg" width="600" height="286" alt="" />
<div class="caption">
<p class="floatl">W. & A. K. Johnston Lithog. Edinburgh.<sup> </sup></p>
<p class="floatr">G. C. Scott, Del<sup>t.</sup></p>
<p class="floatc">DESIGN FOR BUILDING ON THE CALTON HILL.<br />
<span class="small">by</span><br />
<span class="smaller">Robert Stevenson, F.R.S.E. Civil Engineer.</span></p>
</div></div>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">91</span></p>
<h3>THE OLD TOLBOOTH PRISON.</h3>
<p>While Mr. Stevenson was elaborating his designs for
the new approaches to the city, his attention was
naturally directed to the crowded state of the buildings
in the old town; and as we shall see, he did not fail fully
to appreciate this evil, or forget to suggest a remedy for
it in his plans of improvement.</p>
<p>The old “Tolbooth” prison, in the High Street of
Edinburgh—the scene of so many incidents in the
<cite>Heart of Midlothian</cite>—was still the only stronghold in
which debtors and criminals were indiscriminately confined.
Its position in the centre of the High Street, at
St. Giles’ Church, was very objectionable, and the erection
of a new jail, in a more favourable situation, had been
often proposed, but never carried out.</p>
<p>In pursuance of this desirable object, Sir William Rae—the
Sheriff-Depute of Edinburgh—in 1813, accompanied
by Mr. Stevenson as a professional adviser, visited many
of the principal jails in England, including Newgate,
Kingsbench, Cold Bath, Oxford, Gloucester, Chester, and
Lancaster, to inquire into their general arrangements and
accommodation.</p>
<p>Sir William Rae also remitted to Mr. Stevenson, in
conjunction with Mr. Crichton, architect, to report on the
condition of the ancient “Tolbooth;” and from the conclusion
arrived at by the engineer and architect, most<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">92</span>
people of the present day will readily sympathise with
the Sheriff in his ardent desire for the erection of a
new building. Their report is curious, as conveying an
idea of the state of prison discipline in the early part
of this century, and is interesting in connection with
the antiquities of Edinburgh. Messrs. Stevenson and
Crichton <span class="locked">say:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Agreeably to the directions of the Honourable the Commissioners
for erecting a new jail, the reporters have examined
both the exterior walls and the interior parts of the present jail,
and they now report that this building, which was erected in
1562, originally formed the western extremity of a continuous
range of buildings in the middle of the High Street, called the
Luckenbooths. A few years ago these buildings were partly
removed, leaving the old jail in an insulated and unsupported
state. The street at the north-eastern angle of the buildings was at
the same time lowered several feet; and these changes, together
with the defective state of the masonry, appear to have produced
the following effects upon the eastern and northern walls of this
now shattered fabric.</p>
<p>“The eastern wall or gable is rent in three places. Two of
these fissures extend from the ground to the top of the building,
and the wall is found to bulge or bend outwards.</p>
<p>“On the northern side there has been a junction of the walls
of two separate buildings, forming what is called the <em>debtor</em> and
<em>criminal</em> sides of the prison, which seem to have been erected at
different periods. At this place there is a very apparent opening
from the bottom to the top of the prison, and the eastern or criminal
end appears to be settling at the north-eastern angle, as further
appears from the doors of the guard-house and black hole, situate
in that quarter of the building, having at different times required
some alterations to make them move upon their hinges.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">93</span>
“This wall, like the eastern one, is also bulged outwards to the
extent of from six to ten inches in different places.</p>
<p>“The roof of the prison is likewise unsafe, particularly upon
the criminal or eastern side, where the rafters have sunk in the
middle and pressed the side wall outwards at the top.</p>
<h4>“<i>Interior of the Prison.</i></h4>
<p>“Upon examining the interior of the prison, it was found
that the several <em>cracks</em> and <em>fissures</em>, already described as observable
on the outside of the building, were also most distinctly visible
from within, and that the northern wall in several of the apartments
appears to have separated from the floors. In confirmation
of these facts, which appear particularly to claim the notice of the
Honourable the Commissioners, it was distinctly stated to the
reporters by Mr. Sibbald, the head jailer, that he had been conversant
with this prison about twenty-two years; that about seven
years ago he became principal jailer, and had ever since been in
the habit of making requisitions for the necessary repairs, which
were always executed at his sight; that these openings and
fissures, which now appeared obvious to the reporters, had been
frequently plastered over with lime, sometimes previously to whitewashing
the apartments, and at other times at the earnest request
of the prisoners, to stop the current of air, which annoyed them, and
still these fissures appeared to be getting wider; that in every
instance where the walls had been attempted to be forced by the
prisoners, the mortar was found to be loose and soft, without
having taken bond; in particular it was stated that two of the
prisoners had lately excavated about two cartloads of rubbish
from the walls with a small piece of iron, in the course of a few
hours.</p>
<p>“It is therefore humbly concluded, from the information
obtained by the reporters upon the spot, but especially from their
own knowledge and observation, that there are data for assuming<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">94</span>
that the eastern and northern walls of the prison have deviated
considerably from the perpendicular of their original elevation;
that there is reason to consider them still continuing to deviate
from the perpendicular; and that finally, in the decayed state of
this building, it is impossible to warrant its stability for any
given period of time. The reporters should even consider the
continuing the use of this building for one year longer than is
indispensably necessary for the erection of a sufficient jail, an evil
if possible to be avoided, as involving imminent danger to the
wretched inmates, and much hazard to the public at large, from its
position in the heart of the city.</p>
<p>“It would accordingly be very desirable that some support
could be given to this old building immediately, but unfortunately
its position renders this quite impossible without seriously
obstructing the High or principal street of the city. Had it
formed any part of the Honourable the Commissioners’ instructions
to the reporters to take notice of this jail as a place of security
for the safe custody of prisoners, it would only be necessary for
them to refer to what is herein stated regarding the insufficiency
of the walls, and to remark that the floors, being wholly composed
of timber, are neither proof against the simplest accident by fire
nor against the slightest attempt at escape by the prisoners. It is
truly surprising that any criminal of a desperate character can be
retained within its precincts to abide the pains of law, which
nothing but the active vigilance of its keepers could insure.”</p></blockquote>
<p>This ancient prison-house was removed in 1817, and
in his Notes to the <cite>Heart of Midlothian</cite>, Scott says:—“That
with the liberal acquiescence of the persons who
had contracted for the work, he procured the stones which
composed the gateway, together with the door and its
ponderous fastenings, to decorate the entrance to the
kitchen court at Abbotsford.”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">95</span></p>
<h3>THE REMOVAL OF THE COLLEGE.</h3>
<p>There is yet another report which, though its interest
may only be local, I think is worthy of a place in this
Memoir, as it not only shows Mr. Stevenson’s firm conviction
in the ultimate success of his Calton Hill improvements,
but is a pleasing record of his interest in the
scene of his early studies.</p>
<p>It is not, I believe, generally known that Mr. Stevenson
made an unsuccessful attempt to have the University
buildings, then in progress, removed from the old town to
the <em>site</em> proposed to be opened up on the Calton Hill; and
the remarks he then made, addressed to the Right Honourable
Sir John Marjoribanks, Lord Provost of Edinburgh,
may have interest even at the present day, as shadowing
forth views which, in the now altered relations of the new
and old town, have been to some extent realised.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“In making the following observations at the desire of the
Lord Provost regarding the completion of the College of Edinburgh,
the memorialist would be understood as referring to the
<em>site</em> of the building rather than to the merits of any particular
design, of which he does not presume to give any opinion, as it is
a matter which more properly falls under the observations of the
architect than the engineer.</p>
<p>“In treating of the fitness of the present site of the College of
Edinburgh, it may be proper to take some cursory notice of the
situation of the Old College, as connected with the houses and
streets in the neighbourhood, and then show the alterations which
the University grounds have undergone since the design was first
formed of rebuilding the College.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">96</span></p>
<h4>“<i>Old College.</i></h4>
<p>“In so far as the memorialist can recollect the exterior of
the area of the Old College, it was occupied by a range of <em>low</em>
buildings of only two stories, particularly upon the southern and
western sides, and was again divided by a range of buildings into
a small lower court towards the north, and the present main courtyard
on the south, and these two courts communicated with each
other by a spacious flight of steps, so that the principal or higher
court was comparatively open and free to the influence both of
the sun and of the air. Nor was there any obstruction to this
state of things beyond the precincts of the College for a considerable
period after the New College was commenced, and until the
elegance of the building stamped a new value upon all the surrounding
property. But, unfortunately, by this time the funds
for the works fell short, and the operations were stopped. The
Magistracy, also, who originally entered upon this great work, in
rotation retired from office, and the same zeal was perhaps not
felt by those who immediately succeeded; and we are now left to
regret the shortness of the period of human life, which has removed
the man who conceived the magnificent design of this building,
which is now so completely invested with streets as to be rendered
nearly unfit for the purposes of its foundation.</p>
<h4>“<i>New College.</i></h4>
<p>“The <em>site</em> of the New College of Edinburgh, as already stated,
does not possess any of those properties which are considered essential
to the convenience and eligibility of a public school. Instead
of being in a retired situation with sequestered walks, like the other
colleges of the United Kingdom, it is closely surrounded by paved
streets, which are the most public thoroughfares for carriages in
the city, insomuch that the memorialist has witnessed the annoyance
of Playfair’s mathematical class by a ballad-singer, and he has<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">97</span>
oftener than once seen the Professor of Moral Philosophy put to
silence by the disloading of a cart with <em>bars of iron</em> in College Wynd;
and at all times the driving of a single carriage briskly in the streets
which surround the College is sufficient to disturb, and even to interrupt,
the classes. To this it may be replied that double windows
will prevent such interruptions; but these would obscure the light
which already, from the late erection (on all sides) of very high
buildings, is much injured.</p>
<p>“So strongly is the memorialist impressed with these views,
from what he has himself as a student experienced, and from what
he has heard from others, that he cannot resist bringing them
forcibly under the notice of your Lordship in connection with the
erection of a building for one of the first seminaries of education
in Europe.</p>
<p>“When your Lordship’s predecessors in the office of the magistracy
adopted the plan of Robert Adam, the most eminent and
justly celebrated architect of his day, the site was comparatively
free from the objections stated. It is not therefore the plan which
is objectionable, but it is the neighbourhood which has been so
altered and changed as to be very unsuitable to the elegant design
of the architect.</p>
<p>“From causes to which it is unnecessary to allude, the building
of the New College has only advanced about one third towards the
perfecting of the design, and a sum of money is now expected to
be procured for its completion. The present moment is therefore
one of the greatest importance for considering the deficiencies of
the present site, and if found materially defective, as humbly
appears to your memorialist to be the case, it were much better to
change the site of the building while it may be done without much
loss, and execute the design in a more eligible situation.</p>
<p>“It must always be kept in view that when this design was
made the grounds were open to the free circulation of the air and
the full influence of light. But now the case is materially altered,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">98</span>
and if the design is executed under such a change of circumstances
the direct rays of the sun will hardly ever reach the area of the
courtyard, especially in the winter months, neither will there be
that free circulation of air which is essential to health and comfort,
and moss (byssus) will make its appearance upon the lower parts
in the interior of the courtyard, which is very unsuitable in a
magnificent building such as Mr. Adam’s design for the College
of Edinburgh.</p>
<p>“At the period when the rebuilding of the College was determined
upon there was perhaps little choice as to the spot for its
erection; the number of students, now greatly on the increase,
was at that time much smaller, and the College grounds were then
much more relieved and uncumbered with other buildings, a state
of things which most unquestionably would have been preserved
had the building proceeded as was expected; but in the lapse of
about one third of a century many changes take place, and the
slow progress of the building necessarily produced a want of
energy in the official people to prevent the use that has since been
made by the respective proprietors of the surrounding grounds.</p>
<p>“At the present crisis, however, your Lordship will now feel
yourself called upon in a review of these circumstances to consider
what is proper to be done upon a great scale for the ultimate best
advantage of future generations in a matter of great public interest.
Under these impressions a field of operation is just opening for
your Lordship’s consideration, in a prolongation of Princes Street
in a direct line to the lands of Calton Hill and Heriot’s Hospital,
now in progress under the auspices of your Lordship. To take a
minute view of this improvement would be tedious, and would
require the notice of more particulars than these observations are
intended to refer to. But in a general way it may be noticed that
there is ample space and freedom for the execution of Mr. Adam’s
design on the lands to which the new approach will lead by a
very easy access.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">99</span>
“It may be objected to the removal of the College that it would
be inconvenient for the students; but for those who are perhaps
the most numerous, living in the New Town, a site for the College
on the north side of the town would be the most convenient, and
for a different class lodgings at a cheap rate would be procured
quite at hand in the Canongate.</p>
<p>“A more powerful objection would perhaps arise from the
contiguity of the present site of the College to the Infirmary and
other institutions connected with the education of the medical
classes, but these may also be got over by a little arrangement in
the present hours of the classes, and one would not despair of
seeing a more direct road projected from the Calton Hill to the
southern side of the town were the College removed to that neighbourhood.
With regard to any real loss to the students, it is not
believed that such could be instructed were this proposition fully
considered. But those who would perhaps be the most clamorous
are the persons who have made the most of their property by
building immense piles of lodging-houses in the immediate vicinity
of the College, and have thus ruined the neighbourhood.</p>
<p>“With regard to the funds for this change of site, your memorialist
is of opinion that the removal of the College from the
present valuable grounds in the central parts of the city, for
buildings applicable to commercial and economical purposes,
would be attended with an increase of funds towards the new
erection;—for the lower part all round would be opened for
valuable shops, while the higher parts would answer for dwelling-houses
and other purposes. The part of the front would be easily
convertible into a house for the Royal Bank, which seems much
wanted, and in short it may be confidently stated that upon the
whole there would be no loss, but gain, by the change of position,
while very many advantages could be pointed out as attending
such a measure, were this the proper place for entering more fully
into the subject.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">100</span>
“The proposal stated is not new; it has been often under the
memorialist’s consideration, and he has heard it favourably spoken
of and received by several of the Professors of the University, in
particular Professors Leslie and Playfair, and others eminently
qualified to judge correctly upon the subject.”</p></blockquote>
<p>With this report I conclude what may be fairly held
to be of purely <em>local</em> interest, but which nevertheless I
have thought worthy of a place in the memoir of one
whose great anxiety ever was to secure the amenity of
Edinburgh, and make it attractive not only as a place of
residence but as a seat of learning.</p>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">101</span></p>
<div class="chapter">
<h2><a id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.<br />
<span class="subhead">FERRIES.</span></h2>
</div>
<blockquote>
<p class="center">Ferry Engineering—Extracts from Report on the Tay Ferries—Reports on
various Ferries—Orkney and Shetland Ferry, etc.</p></blockquote>
<p class="in0"><span class="smcap">Before</span> we had steamers to navigate our firths and
railways to bridge our estuaries, the “crossing of the
ferry” was an event of no small solicitude to the traveller.
In the sailing pinnace-boat of those days he not only
might encounter serious danger, but his exposure to sea-sickness
and drenching spray depended wholly on the
weather, and sometimes the length of the passage, and
the duration of his suffering could not be foretold by the
most experienced “Skipper,” as the captain of the boat
was invariably styled. Anything that could reduce the
hazard and uncertainty of so miserable a state of things
was naturally hailed as a priceless boon; and the improvement
of “ferry communication” at the beginning of this
century was an important branch of civil engineering.
Its successful practice demanded nautical knowledge as
well as constructive experience, for the engineer had first
of all to study the strength and direction of the tidal
currents of flood and ebb, and then to consider from what
points on the shore a ferry-boat, under the varying
states of wind and tide, could most readily make her
passage across. He had further to select the most suitable<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">102</span>
sites for landing-places, and to construct high and
low water <em>slips</em> at different points to meet the varying
states of tide and wind, and to construct roads of more
or less extent to connect the landing-places with existing
turnpikes. All this arrangement was required, because
at the time of which I write, before steamboats were
invented, two costly deep-water piers placed <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">ex adverso</i>
of each other, one on each side of a ferry, would not
have met the requirements of the case; for the management
of a sailing pinnace, at the mercy of the currents
and winds, demanded not a single pier for which to steer,
but a choice of several points, on as wide a range of coast
as possible, for which the “skipper” could shape his
course and make a landing. Mr. Stevenson’s nautical
experience peculiarly fitted him for giving valuable advice
in this important branch of marine engineering. It is
no doubt a branch of the profession which may be said to
be obsolete, but I do not know that on that account it is
undeserving of notice; and the best mode I can think of
for conveying to any one who may be interested in it an
idea of the “ferry engineering” of former times, is to
give an extract, with an illustrative sketch, of one of
Mr. Stevenson’s early Ferry Reports. I select for this
purpose a report made to the “Freeholders, Justices of
the Peace, and Commissioners of Supply of the counties
of Fife and Forfar” relative to the ferries across the Tay
at <span class="locked">Dundee:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Having examined the shores and firth of Tay the reporter
has now the honour of submitting the following as his report
regarding the proposed <span class="locked">improvements:—</span></p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">103</span>
“The improvement of the ferries on the Tay has long been
the desire of the public; and though this measure has hitherto
been delayed, on account of the expense which necessarily attends
such operations, yet so desirable an object has been invariably
kept in view; and now, when the advantages attending the
recently improved state of Queensferry and Kinghorn ferries
have been in a good measure realised, the passage across the Tay
has very opportunely been brought under the consideration of the
freeholders of the adjoining counties.</p>
<p>“The present landing-slips or quays upon the Tay are situate
at Dundee upon the north, and at Woodhaven and Newport on the
south. The bed of the firth or river at Dundee is so much silted up
and encumbered with sandbanks and mud, that the piers, which
were no doubt originally built of sufficient extent, and perhaps
commanding the necessary depth of water for floating the passage-boats
at low tides, have at length become inadequate to so great
a thoroughfare, and the boats are now left by the water at every
spring-tide, to the great annoyance and inconvenience of the
public.</p>
<p>“It will be observed from the plans accompanying this report
that the Craig pier at Dundee is proposed to be extended from the
southern extremity of the present landing-slip or pier 400 feet in
length, or to the southern extremity of the Craig rock, so as to
command a depth of about five feet at low water of spring-tides,
which will be sufficient to float decked boats of twenty to twenty-five
tons register, built upon a suitable construction for sailing.
It is proposed to construct this pier, where the greatest business
is to be done, upon the plan of a double pier, sixty feet in breadth;
and as it will now be of a much greater extent than formerly,
a <em>screen wall</em> is proposed to be erected in the middle of it, in a
longitudinal direction, so as to check the waves or run of the water
over the pier, and also for the defence and shelter of passengers
from the inclemency of the weather. This pier will form an<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">104</span>
inclined plane sloping to seaward at the rate of one perpendicular
to twenty-six horizontal.</p></blockquote>
<div id="Fig_14" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 25.625em;">
<img src="images/i_104.jpg" width="410" height="458" alt="" />
<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 14.</span></div></div>
<blockquote>
<p>“In sailing from the southern side of the Tay for Dundee, it
will on some occasions be found convenient, with certain directions
of the wind and currents of the tide, to have landing-slips or piers
both above and below the town of Dundee, so as to prevent the
necessity of <em>tacking</em> with adverse winds, as is the case at present<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">105</span>
from the want of such accommodation. Upon examining the shores
above or to the westward of Dundee, the most convenient position
for a landing-slip is at the Magdalene Point, about 1400 yards
to the westward of the Craig pier at Dundee.</p>
<p>“In the same manner a convenient position presents itself on
the rocky shores of the Rood Yards, about 2000 yards below or to
the eastward of the Craig pier. These proposed new piers are
delineated and laid down in the drawings accompanying this
report.<a id="FNanchor_8" href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">8</a></p>
<p>“Upon the southern side of the Tay, and opposite to Dundee,
the harbour or landing-slip most frequented at present is that of
Newport. In former times, when the accumulation of sand,
called the Middle Bank, between the opposite shores of the ferry
at Dundee, was less extensive, the principal landing-place upon
the Fife side of the firth was that of Woodhaven. Newport is a
small harbour, built of masonry, with a landing-slip or sloping pier
attached to the outward wall of the harbour for the convenience of
the ferry-boats. At this station it will therefore only be necessary
to extend the landing-slip about eighty-eight feet northward, in
order to obtain five feet of depth at low water of spring tides;
and as the present sloping pier or slip is inconveniently narrow,
it is proposed to add fourteen feet to its breadth; and the reporter
would recommend that this work, in connection with the pier at
Dundee, should be executed in the first instance, on account of
its being of primary importance in the improvement of the
Ferry.</p>
<p>“At Woodhaven it is proposed to add seventy-one feet to the
length of the landing-slip, to enable the ferry-boats to approach it
at low water of spring tides, in the same manner as at Newport.</p>
<p>“At or near Craighead, about 830 yards below or to the
eastward of Newport, there is a convenient point of land, where it
is proposed to erect a slip or pier 250 feet in length and 30 in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">106</span>
breadth. This pier will command five feet, or a sufficient depth
of water for the ferry-boats at the lowest tides, and is in a
position calculated to be highly useful.</p>
<p>“A pier has likewise been suggested as necessary at Wormit
Bay, about a mile to the westward of Woodhaven, which, in
certain directions of the wind, may no doubt be found useful; but
when the piers opposite to Dundee come to be put in good order,
and the ferry placed under proper regulations, it is presumed that
a pier at Wormit Bay would very seldom be found necessary. The
cost of these works is estimated at £20,952, 13s. 6d.</p>
<p>“In forming the several landing-places already described, it is
obvious that there must be a ready communication between each
of these piers and the public roads in their respective neighbourhoods.
It will also be of essential importance to this measure, that
a connection by good roads be formed and kept up between the
several landing-places, in so far as this can be effected. At present
there is a pretty good line of road between Woodhaven and Newport,
which would require to be extended eastward to the landing-place
at Craighead.</p>
<p>“In the event of Craig pier being adopted as the landing-place
at Dundee, it might be advisable to take a power in the
proposed Act, as a measure of the burgh of Dundee, for making a
new and more direct approach from that pier to the main street.
The extension and formation of these roads, however, will necessarily
fall under the joint consideration of the trustees for the
ferries and roads in apportioning the expense between the
respective trusts.</p>
<h3>“<i>Boats.</i></h3>
<p>“At present there are said to be no less than about thirty
boats plying upon the passage at Dundee, which are navigated by
about fifty men and boys. But were the piers and landing-places,
with the accesses to them, completed in the manner proposed,
and the whole placed under proper regulations, there can be little<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">107</span>
doubt that the ferry of Dundee would be much better attended,
and the public better served, by one half of the present number
of boats, as has been experienced on the ferries of the Firth
of Forth.</p>
<h3>“<i>Steamboats.</i></h3>
<p>“Some are of opinion that both the number of boats and of
piers or landing-places might be still further reduced by the
introduction of the <em>Steamboat</em> upon this passage. The reporter,
however, does not think it would be advisable to have fewer
than three landing-places at each station, as even the steamboat
itself is more or less liable to fall short or to be driven past its
port by adverse winds and strong currents; and, in a great public
measure of this kind, it is proper to be prepared for the worst that
is likely to happen. Regarding the adoption of the steamboat in
preference to sailing-boats, the reporter is not however prepared
to give any very decided opinion upon the subject. He has, indeed,
seen the steamboat used with great facility on the passage across
the river Mersey at Liverpool, and has himself brought the plan of
a steamboat under the notice of several of the trustees for Kinghorn
and Queensferry passages, proposed to be constructed upon
similar principles with that originally tried, it is believed, by the
late Mr. Millar of Dalswinton. But it would seem to be premature
to recommend the framing of the Bill or the construction of piers
for Dundee ferry upon the idea of the exclusive use of the steamboat.
The consideration of the late unpleasant accidents which
have befallen some of those boats renders this a matter of great
delicacy, and one in which much precaution should be used on so
public a ferry. Under such circumstances it is not only necessary
to consult the actual safety of passengers while afloat, but even
to meet their prejudices, with proper attention to their comfort.
From considerations of this kind, the reporter recommends that
such of the piers or landing-slips on the ferry of Dundee as may<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">108</span>
ultimately be erected, should be completed agreeably to the plan
herein proposed; and it is fortunate that, with some trifling alterations
or additions, the piers suitable for the common boat can be
made answerable for the steamboat. When this measure is in
full operation it may then be highly proper to make an experiment
with the steamboat upon the passage at Dundee, and if this
mode is approven of by the public it can be extended, and the
number of sailing-boats diminished accordingly.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Mr. Stevenson was employed to give similar advice by
other Trusts, and particularly by the “Trustees of the
Queensferry Passage” and the “Trustees of the Edinburgh
and Fife Ferry,” both across the Forth,—the “Freeholders
and Justices of Peace of the counties of Ross and
Sutherland,” for the Ferry of the Dornoch,—the “Freeholders
of the county of Glamorganshire,” for the new
passage-ferry of the Severn, to all of whom he made reports
at various times, as to the improvement of the mode of
communication under their charge. He also was engaged
by the Lords of the Treasury “to inquire into and report
on the best mode of improving the post-packet communication
to Orkney and Shetland,” which he did after careful
survey and consideration, in an elaborate report, from
which I give the following extracts, as illustrating some
of the disadvantages under which the public laboured
before steam was generally <span class="locked">adopted:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The islands of Orkney are separated from the coast of Caithness
or mainland of Scotland by the rapid channel of the Pentland
Firth, which varies in breadth from six to nine miles, while
Zetland lies fifty miles to the northward of Orkney.”</p>
<p>“These two groups of islands, forming one county, are of late<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">109</span>
years greatly advanced in importance, and possess an aggregate
population of 60,000 inhabitants, who are chiefly engaged in
maritime affairs and fishing adventures. From their local position
also in the North Sea, they lie much in the track of vessels
sailing in the higher latitudes, and correspondence with them
regarding the destination and insurance of ships is often of the
greatest importance to commercial men. It is likewise known
to the Right Honourable the Lord Advocate of Scotland, and the
Honourable the Sheriff of the county, that the want of a proper
communication by post not unfrequently interferes with the
regular administration of justice in these islands; and now that
Orkney and Shetland jointly send a member to Parliament, the
evils resulting from the want of a regular communication press
more forcibly, not only on the inhabitants of these islands, but on
the public generally.</p>
<p>“So uncertain is the post of Zetland on its present footing,
that the reporter himself carried to Lerwick the first intelligence
of the appointment of Sir William Rae as Lord Advocate of Scotland,
after it had been currently known through the newspapers in
all other parts of the kingdom for several weeks, and it is well
known that the succession of the King was not known in Lerwick
for several months after the event took place. During the winter
months the intercourse is indeed precarious as well as uncertain,
and much painful delay is often experienced by parties interested
in any question connected with the insurance of vessels wrecked
on this dangerous coast.</p>
<p>“In order to lessen the labour and expense to themselves, the
Orkney ferrymen on either side contrive to leave their shores so as
to meet about the middle of the Firth, where they exchange the
mail and passengers, and then return to their respective homes.
In this way they seldom complete the full trip across the Firth,
excepting when obliged by stress of weather. This interchange of
the post from boats, it must be allowed, is rather a hazardous experiment<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">110</span>
anywhere, but more especially in the middle of the Pentland
Firth; and whether the inhospitable state of the shores on either
side, the rough and boisterous nature of the sea to be passed through,
or the want of management be considered, there is evidently great
room for improvement on the ferry of the Pentland Firth.”</p></blockquote>
<p>This communication is now, as is well known, carried
on by first-class steamers, which touch at Kirkwall and
Lerwick, and by a daily mail steamer which crosses the
Pentland Firth from the low-water pier at Scrabster in
Caithness to Stromness in Orkney; and the travelling
public may be congratulated that the ferry communication
of the early part of the century, of which I have given
a sketch in this chapter, no longer forms a part of the
practice of the civil engineer.</p>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">111</span></p>
<div class="chapter">
<h2><a id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.<br />
<span class="subhead">RAILWAYS.<br />
<span class="subhead">1812–1826.</span></span></h2>
</div>
<blockquote>
<p class="hang">Canals and Railways on one level—Haulage on Railways—Railways in Scotland—Edinburgh
and Midlothian, Stockton and Darlington, and Edinburgh
and London Railways—Uniform gauge proposed—Notes on Railways for the
Highland and Agricultural Society—Letter from George Stephenson.</p></blockquote>
<p class="in0"><span class="smcap">Great</span> powers of observation, combined with fertile and
practical mechanical resources, enabled Mr. Stevenson in
many cases to form engineering opinions which may truly
be said to have been “before their time,” and in no subject,
perhaps, was this more strikingly realised than in his
views as to railways.</p>
<p>Impressed with the great inconvenience of change of
level in canals, involving “lockage,” with all its expensive
works and serious obstruction of traffic, he early formed a
firm belief that wherever lockage could be avoided, by
making even a considerable detour in the line of canal, it
was sound engineering to adopt the level line, although it
might be at the cost of additional length. Founding on
this general opinion, so early as 1812, he traced out and
proposed lines of canal to be carried upon <em>one level,
without lockage</em>, through the valleys of Strathmore and
Strathearn, connecting Perth, Forfar, Arbroath, and
Montrose, and also by a line of canal, by Broxburn,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">112</span>
Linlithgow, Polmont, Castlecary, Campsie, and Broomielaw,
to unite Edinburgh and Glasgow.</p>
<p>His early researches on the subject of canals prepared
him, about 1816, to extend the same reasoning to railways,
which, with wonderful sagacity, he foresaw must become
what he termed the “British highway” of the future.
He found that his first idea of tracks of iron and stone to
improve the draught on common roads was not destined
to meet the requirements of the future; and when as yet
nothing was known of railways beyond the tramways connected
with coal-fields, and no proposal had been made
to adapt them to passenger traffic, Mr. Stevenson was
engaged tracing in all directions through Scotland lines of
railway as a new mode of conveyance to supersede roads.
Some of these early proposals, extending to about five
hundred miles, are shown in hard lines on <a href="#Fig_15">Fig. 15</a>, and
of all these railways he made surveys, estimates, and
elaborate reports addressed to Committees of subscribers
by whom the various schemes were supported.</p>
<p>It must be remembered that at that early period no
other power than that of horses was contemplated for
performing the haulage either on road, canal, or tramway,
and Mr. Stevenson, true to his early views as to the disadvantage
of lockage on canals, spent much time in experimenting
on the prejudicial effect of steep inclines on
horse railways, and in endeavouring, in his various surveys,
to discover routes by which his lines of railway might be
carried through, as much as possible, on one level, regarding
a few miles additional length of line as quite unimportant
compared to the disadvantage of a steep gradient,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">113</span>—a
view which was more appreciated before the locomotive
engine had taken upon itself the labour of the
horse.</p>
<div id="Fig_15" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 24.5625em;">
<img src="images/i_113.jpg" width="393" height="502" alt="" />
<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 15.</span></div></div>
<p>To show the state of railway matters at the period to
which I refer, I think it may not be uninteresting to give,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">114</span>
even at some length, extracts from Mr. Stevenson’s report
on what was called the Edinburgh Railway. The report,
which is dated 1818, was addressed to “His Grace the
Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry, and the other
noblemen and gentlemen, subscribers for a survey of a
railway from the coal field of Midlothian to the city of
Edinburgh and port of Leith.”</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“In the course of a report relative to a line of canal upon one
level, or without lockage, between the cities of Edinburgh and
Glasgow, the reporter took occasion to state the practicability of
a line of railway from the coal field of the vale of the Esk to the
city of Edinburgh and the port of Leith, founded upon a communication
which he had the honour to make to Sir William Rae,
Baronet, and the Honourable Baron Clerk, so far back as the year
1812. This subject having since attracted the notice of Sir John
Hope, Baronet, and several of the other landed proprietors of Midlothian,
the reporter had consequently a correspondence with
Messrs. Gibson and Oliphant, Writers to the Signet, on the part
of the promoters of this measure.</p>
<p>“A public meeting was accordingly called by advertisement to
be held in the Royal Exchange Coffee-house on the 3d day of
September 1817, when John Clerk, Esq. of Eldin, having taken
the chair, the reporter received instructions to survey a line or
lines of railway from the Midlothian coal field to the city of Edinburgh
and port of Leith; and he now submits the following as
his report, with reference to the accompanying map or plan, and
sections of the several lines of road surveyed.</p>
<p>“It is uncertain at what periods the inhabitants of Edinburgh
were generally obliged to lay aside the use of timber, from the
distance of carriage, as their chief building material, or of wood
and turf as fuel; neither have we any certain information at what
time pit coal was discovered, or the coal field of the Lothians first
<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">115</span>opened. But it is in the recollection of some persons still living,
that, owing to the miserable and circumscribed state of the roads,
or rather the want of formed roads altogether, pit coal continued
to be conveyed in sacks and on horseback for supplying the
city of Edinburgh. These horse tracks, originally taken up
by accident, were persevered in by obstinate habit; and being
afterwards followed as the lines of our future roads, have become
the ultimate source of much of the difficulty attending their
improvement, from the soft and miry track of the pack-horse
and the sledge, to the broad and spacious <em>stoned</em> carriage-way, in
combination with the trim footpath of the present day. But,
even here, experience shows that it would be improper to rest
satisfied, and cease from further exertion. The acclivities of the
road may still be levelled, and its asperities smoothed, by the introduction
of the more compact and durable materials of the <em>British
Roadway</em> or Iron Bail. Such, however, has been the progressive
nature of discovery in all ages, that we are only beginning to
appreciate the immense advantages which would attend the introduction
of a new system of roads or railways, laid upon a level or
horizontal base, as admirably calculated to increase the power of
the horse in a tenfold proportion by destroying friction—that bane
to animal labour as now applied on the common road.</p>
<p>“Wagon-ways constructed entirely of square wooden frames
or rails, laid in two right lines on wooden sleepers, appear to have
been in use at Newcastle so far back as the year 1671. The plan
of cast-iron railways seems to have been originally introduced by
the great Iron Company of Colebroke Dale in Shropshire, only
about the year 1786, as an improvement upon the tram or wooden
railway; and such are likely to be the benefits resulting from this
discovery, that we doubt not, as this system develops itself, the
name of the person who first conceived the idea will eagerly be
sought after, and honour done to him, as to one of the greatest
benefactors of his country. We might mention the name of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">116</span>
late Mr. Jessop, as the first engineer of eminence who seems to
have introduced railways in the south. He was also the engineer
for the magnificent works of his Grace the Duke of Portland in
Scotland, connected with which there is a double railway from
Kilmarnock to Troon, which is ten miles in length. The other
railways in Scotland of any extent are those at the works of the
Carron Company, Lord Elgin’s, Mr. Erskine of Mar’s, Sir John
Hope’s, and other coal works. A public railway has also been
projected from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Glasgow, an extent of
country of about 125 miles; and an Act of Parliament has already
been obtained for completing part of this track, viz., from Berwick
to Kelso.</p>
<p>“A railway has the advantage of being formed at an average
of one third perhaps of the expense of a navigable canal; and in
many situations its first cost may even be compared with the
expense of making a common road. The result is also favourable
if we inquire into the comparative quantities of work done upon a
canal and a level railway. Upon the canals in England, a boat of
thirty tons burden is generally tracked by one horse, and navigated
by two men and a boy. On a level railway, it may be concluded
that a good horse managed by a man or lad will work with eight
tons. At this rate the work performed on the railway by one man
and a horse is more than in the proportion of one third of the
work done upon the canal by three persons and a horse, if we take
into account the more speedy rate of travelling and the facilities
to general trade in loading and discharging, together with the
difference of the first cost of a railway, which altogether give it in
some cases a decided advantage over the navigable canal. If we
compare the railway with the common road, it may be fairly stated
that, in the instance of a level railway, the work will be increased
in an eight or ten fold proportion. The best horse, indeed, with
difficulty, works with three fourths of a ton on the common road,
from the undulating line of its draught, but on a level railway it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">117</span>
is calculated that he will work even with ten tons. But to increase
the economy of the railway system still further, we have
only to employ one man to work two horses.</p>
<h3>“<i>Line of Draught.</i></h3>
<p>“With regard to the line of draught, or longitudinal section of
a railway, it may be stated as one of its great advantages that it is
more easily accommodated to the irregularities of the ground through
which it has to pass than a navigable canal; and even where
the ground is so irregular as not to admit of a uniformly level
track, or an inclined plane, there are several simple methods which
may be resorted to for lifting the wagons from one level to another,
so as to produce similar effects with lockage on a canal. In so
far, however, as the present design of the Edinburgh Railway has
been carried by actual survey, neither of these plans will be found
necessary upon the main lines. Even on the descending line, the
fall is so extremely gentle that the horses in returning may be
loaded with four or five tons. But the proposed mode of lockage
may with propriety be introduced on the several offset branches,
such as those from Leith to the main line, and from Monkton Hall
and the Cowpits to Dalkeith, and to the southern parts of the
county, on which a trade may be expected to be carried both to
and from the main line.</p>
<p>“Where the load or trade is all in one direction, it is a maxim
in <em>practice</em>, that the fall should be so apportioned to the rise, that
the work may be equal <em>down</em> with the load, and <em>up</em> with the empty
wagons. But where there is to be a trade both ways, it is
obviously much to be desired that a level in all such cases should
be obtained. This, in the Edinburgh Railway, has been found from
the declining aspect of the country towards the sea; but as there
will be less return trade on this railway in merchandise and
manure, etc., to the eastward, than the coal and building materials,
etc., carried to the city, it becomes a question of policy how far it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">118</span>
may be proper, in this instance, to adopt the level line at a great
additional expense.</p>
<p>“By the level line to Edinburgh the branch to Leith becomes
also somewhat more lengthened than by the descending line, which,
instead of preserving the level, is always falling, or approaching
towards Leith. The reporter, as before noticed, has various modes
in view, by which the branch to Leith may be made of a very easy
line of draught, or be thrown into a succession of levels, by a species
of lockage or stepping. Where sudden acclivities occur on the line
of a railway they are generally overcome by an inclined plane, of
greater or less extent, according to the particular rise, and on this
the loaded wagons are brought up by a steam-engine. But to
render railways applicable to all situations, it seems to be necessary
that the overcoming of such obstacles should be within the reach
or power of the driver and his horse; by working a kind of <em>gin</em>
connected with an inclined plane, or by lifting the loaded wagons
perpendicularly, which may in various ways be accomplished by
the aid of pulleys, by the common lever, or the revolution of a
wheel.</p>
<p>“This subject has been justly considered to be a matter of so
much public importance, that the Highland Society of Scotland
has offered a premium for an Essay, with models, for lockage on
railways; and the reporter has no doubt that by this means
much additional light will be thrown on the subject.</p>
<p>“There are few subjects on which those conversant in the
working of draught animals are more divided than about the proper
<em>line of draught</em>. Some do not hesitate to affirm, that a level road
is injurious to the horse, and that an undulating road is preferable
to one by which the ascent is long, though gradual. Such are of
opinion, that by throwing the road into successive eminences, or <em>up
and down hill</em>, various muscles are brought into action, while others
are left at rest, and this alternation they conceive to be the best
condition of things for the animal.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">119</span>
“Being rather, however, at a loss in regard to that part of the
subject which relates to the operation of the muscles, the reporter
applied for a solution of the case to a distinguished medical friend
in this city [Dr. John Barclay], eminent for his knowledge and for
his great exertions in the science of <em>Comparative Anatomy</em>. His
answer to the queries which he allowed the reporter to put contain
the following comprehensive passages: ‘My acquaintance with the
muscles by no means enables me to explain how a horse should
be more fatigued by travelling on a road uniformly level than by
travelling over a like space upon a road that crosses heights and
hollows; and it is demonstrably a false idea that one set of
muscles can alternately rest and come into action in cases of that
kind. The daily practice of ascending heights, it has been said,
gives an animal <em>wind</em>, and enlarges the chest; it may also with
equal truth be affirmed that many horses lose their wind under
this sort of training, and irrecoverably suffer from imprudent
attempts to induce such a habit.’ In short, he ascribes much to
prejudice, ‘originating with the man, who is continually in quest
of variety, rather than the horse, who, consulting only his own ease,
seems quite unconscious of Hogarth’s <em>line of beauty</em>.’</p>
<p>“In the course of investigating the subject of the draught of
horses, the reporter has made several experiments with the dynamometer,
both upon canals and railways, with a view to ascertain
the power of horses and the best line of draught; and he has
further the satisfaction to find, that the result of these trials agrees
nearly with experiments made, and obligingly communicated to
him, from various parts of the kingdom. The reporter therefore
concludes that the force with which a horse will continue to work
is about one-sixth or one-seventh of his absolute weight. Now, as
he found the average weight of three ordinary cart horses to be
about ten cwt. it may be assumed, generally, that a horse can continue
to work with a force equal to 160 lb.; and allowing 40 lb.,
or one fourth, for friction, there remains 120 lb. to be applied to the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">120</span>
load. In these trials, when the wagons were put in motion, it
appeared, under favourable circumstances, that a force of about 12 lbs.
only was necessary to move one ton upon a level edge railway,
which by calculation would give about ten tons as the load of a
good horse weighing ten cwt.; but, for practice, this will perhaps
more properly be taken at about eight tons. With regard to inclined
planes, it may be noticed, that for every one fourth of an inch of
rise to the lineal yard of road, the force must be increased, or the
load diminished, in a ratio or proportion varying at the rate of about
one half, one third, one fourth, one eighth, and one ninth, etc.</p>
<p>“Such are the happy effects of a wise and extended policy, that,
notwithstanding the expensive war in which this country has been
engaged, more has actually been done in Great Britain, within the
last twenty or thirty years, for the improvement of the highways,
and in laying open the country by new and better lines of road,
than was effected for centuries before that period. With such
public improvements we presume to class the measure of the proposed
railway from the city of Edinburgh and its port of Leith,
calculated as it is to ramify through the various tracts of East
Lothian, Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk shires, and to become,
in time, a system of the greatest importance in its consequences to
the advancement of the commerce and agriculture of this part of
the kingdom. Under impressions of this kind, the noblemen and
gentlemen who now come forward as promoters of this measure
are actuated; and with this in view, the reporter lays before them
the accompanying survey, and will now endeavour to state the
consideration which he has given the subject, by describing the
several lines he has surveyed, and estimating the probable expense
and advantages of the measure.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Mr. Stevenson then describes the proposed line, which
he estimated at £52,000, and terminates his report by
giving some remarks on the construction of railways,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">121</span>
which are interesting as noticing the use of cast and
malleable iron rails, and George Stephenson’s experiments
on locomotives.</p>
<h3>“<i>Construction of the Railway.</i></h3>
<blockquote>
<p>“In giving some general description or outline of the construction
of the proposed railway, it may be observed, that the formation
of railways, or roads of cast iron, is comparatively but a
recent discovery, which, however, is likely to be attended with
immense advantage to this commercial and agricultural country.
From the great traffic to be expected upon the Edinburgh Railway,
two sets of wheel-tracks will require to be laid,—one for the wagons
or carriages coming to town, and another for those going to the
country. This double railway, with the necessary allowance for
driving-paths, etc., will occupy at least twenty feet of space in its
cross-section, viz., four feet three inches for each set of tracks; a
space of four feet between the respective wagon-ways; and three
feet nine inches on each side for a driving-path, fences, and gutters.
The horse-paths, or spaces between the waggon-tracks of the
railway, as proposed above, will be four feet three inches in breadth,
or the width of the <em>square part</em> of the common cart axle, it being
also a great advantage for the convenience of loading, etc., and for
the stability of the railway, to have broad and rather low wagons.
But from the general use to which this public railway is applicable,
it may be found advisable to acquire even a greater breadth than
twenty feet. The space between the tracks will be made up with
stones, broken very small, and blinded or covered with gravel, as
in the best description of road-making. The footpath for the
drivers may be made with gravel, coal dust, pan ashes, or brick-dust,
as may be found most convenient in the district of the
railway.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">122</span></p>
<h3>“<i>Cast Iron Rails.</i></h3>
<p>“The cast iron tracks of the earlier railways were made flat, or
about four inches in breadth, with a projecting ridge or <em>flange</em>, upon
the outer verge, and are technically called <em>plate rails</em>. But the
reporter is led from his own observation, and the opinion of the
following professional gentlemen obligingly communicated to him,
viz., Mr. Wilson of Troon, Mr. Bald of Alloa, Mr. Landale of
Charlestown, Mr. Grieve of Sheriff Hall, and Mr. Buddle of
Newcastle, who are not only scientifically but practically conversant
in this matter, to conclude that the plate rail not only
induces greater friction, but is more exposed to have the wheels
clogged and interrupted with gravel or small stones than that
called the <em>edge rail</em>, which, in its best construction, of cast iron,
consists of a bar of about 1½ inch in thickness or breadth, for
the <em>seat</em> of the wheel, and of a depth corresponding to the weight
to be carried. This bar is set upon edge instead of being laid
flat. In this manner the edge rail presents less friction, and,
weight for weight, is much stronger for the load than the plate
rail; upon the same principle as, in modern carpentry, the beam
is now set on edge, instead of being laid on its side as formerly.
The Reporter is therefore to recommend an edge rail warranted
to work with two tons, including the wagon, of the weight of
140 lb. per lineal yard of finished double railway. Lighter
dimensions might indeed be found to answer; but for a public
railway, the rails should be made of a greater strength than is
barely sufficient for a given weight, as this cannot always be kept
within bounds, or regulated to a nicety. The expense of a little
additional weight of cast iron, in the first instance, will be greatly
compensated in the end, by avoiding frequent repairs, and will
thereby be amply repaid, while the expense of laying the road,
and other contingencies, are much the same in the light as in the
heavy rail. The mode of fixing is another point of great importance
in the construction of a substantial railway. In the early<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">123</span>
practice of laying railways, the value of this new discovery was
for a time lost to the public, owing to the intricacy and difficulty
of this part of the design. Much trouble and expense have in
this way been occasioned, in consequence of using, for the underground
fixtures, soft and friable stones, liable to be acted upon by
the alternate changes of the weather, from their being necessarily
placed so near the surface. A method has been adopted of making
the cross fixtures under ground, with bars wholly of cast iron, to
which the rails are attached, with iron pins. Much, however,
depends upon the nature and tenacity of the ground to be passed
over. At the works of Lord Elgin and the Carron Company, the
use of the sleeper or cross iron bar is laid aside, and other alterations
are daily suggested as improvements, in the method of laying
and fixing the rails, and also in the construction of the wheels
and wagons. With regard to the construction of <em>cast iron rails</em>,
they are, in general, made in the lengths of from three to four feet;
but the reporter is inclined to think that the perfection of the
cast-iron railway will be found to consist rather in shortening the
rails very considerably than adopting even the shortest of those
lengths; but this and similar matters will fall more properly to be
matured in the practical details of the business.</p>
<h3>“<i>Malleable Iron Rails.</i></h3>
<p>“One point, however, deserves particular notice here, as likely
to be attended with the most important advantages to the railway
system, which is the application of malleable iron instead of cast
iron rails. Three miles and a half of this description of railway
have been in use for about eight years on Lord Carlisle’s works at
Tindal Fell in Cumberland, where there are also two miles of cast
iron rail; but the malleable iron road is found to answer the
purpose in every respect better. Experiments with malleable iron
rails have also been made at Mr. Taylor’s works at Ayr and Sir
John Hope’s at Pinkie; and, upon the whole, this method, in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">124</span>
the case of the Tindal Fell Railway, is not only considerably
cheaper in the first cost than the cast iron railway, but is also
much less liable to accident. In the use of malleable iron bars
the joints of the railway are conveniently obtained, about twelve
feet apart, and three pedestals are generally placed between each
pair of joints.</p>
<h3>“<i>Locomotive Engine.</i></h3>
<p>“Some of the most striking improvements in the system of
railways are the patent inventions of Mr. Stephenson of Newcastle,
particularly his <em>locomotive engine</em>, by which fifty tons of coal and
upwards are at one load conveyed several miles along a railway by
the power of steam.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Acting on the same general principles, Mr. Stevenson
surveyed and reported on such lines as the “Montrose
and Brechin Railway,” the “Strathmore Railway,” and
the “East-Lothian Railway,” which, as has been shown,
embraced a large portion of the principal business part of
Scotland. But at that time Scotland was not ready
either to take up his enlarged views, or to find money to
carry them out, and the prospectuses issued by the different
Committees who zealously promoted these railway
schemes did not meet sufficient support to enable the
promoters to form Companies to apply to Parliament for
their construction. We all know that in England, at a
later date, our British Railway system was first inaugurated,
but it is a fact that redounds greatly to Mr.
Stevenson’s credit as an engineer, that all of these
Scottish lines, originally surveyed by him, have, with or
without deviation, been now carried out.</p>
<p>Mr. Stevenson, in his researches for adapting railways<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">125</span>
to the general communication of the country, had made a
great advance in bringing the subject before the public;
and he was requested to visit the coal districts in the
north of England to advise as to establishing a railway
between Stockton and Darlington, with extensions to the
coal fields of Bishop-Auckland; which he did in 1819,
meeting with Mr. Pease, Mr. Backhouse, and other influential
men there, to whom, after making a survey, he
reported on the Stockton and Darlington Railway.</p>
<p>In making these various researches, Mr. Stevenson
was enabled to suggest many proposals which can only be
regarded as valuable for the period at which they were
made, but he gave many opinions, which undoubtedly
have come wonderfully true in the history of railway
communication.</p>
<p>The Right Honourable Sir John Sinclair, Bart., proposed,
in 1823, certain queries to Mr. Stevenson relative
to a proposal for the construction of an iron railway
between the cities of London and Edinburgh, and the
following is an extract from his reply, showing, that while
he fully appreciated the value of <em>ship-canals</em>, he entertained
the conviction that “iron railways” would become,
as I have already said, the highway of the future.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Regarding the practicability of such a scheme, it may be
noticed that the late eminent James Watt entertained an idea of
the eligibility and great advantage which might accrue to the
public from the formation of a central and considerably elevated
line of inland navigation constructed so as to ramify through the
interior districts of England, and communicate with the principal
manufacturing and populous towns in the kingdom.</p>
<p>“In any comprehensive view of a measure of this kind there<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">126</span>
can be no doubt that an iron railway would not only be much
more practicable, but more commodious and useful for general
intercourse than a canal. And the comparative expenses of the
two operations would probably be in the ratio of about one to eight
in favour of the railway. Again, if the advantages of carriage by
the railway and the <em>common road</em> be compared, it will be found
that the proportion is at the rate of about one to seven, also in
favour of the railway.</p>
<p>“The economy of carriage on the railway, when fully contrasted
with that of the canal, is also much greater. It may now, indeed,
be considered as a generally received opinion, that, unless for enabling
sea-borne ships to pass from one side of the coast to another,
so as to avoid a tedious or dangerous circumnavigation, the railway
in every other case is preferable. It is at the same time to be
noticed that when Mr. Watt suggested the idea of a central line
of canal many years since, the railway system was then neither so
well known nor so much acted upon as now.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Mr. Stevenson’s belief that railways would ultimately
be the general highways of the world, led him to regard
with distrust their <em>immediate</em> introduction into Britain in
absence of some public Act for their proper regulation,
and accordingly, on 29th January 1825, he writes to Lord
Melville in the following terms:—“It seems necessary
at this time, even before any Act is proposed for a public
railway, that a Committee of the House should take the
subject of regulating the width according to the number
of tracks, and perhaps the strength of rails and weight to
be carried on four wheels, in a public Act, otherwise
much confusion will ensue. It will be a great loss if
these railways, like the common road, should require to
be altered that they may communicate with each other.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">127</span>
“All the engineers I have spoken with, including Mr.
Telford, agree in this. I have noticed it to Mr. Home
Drummond and Mr. Gladstone.</p>
<p>“I put the specification of the bridge at Melville
Castle in train before I left home.”</p>
<p>Had it been possible to carry out the spirit of this
suggestion, made at that early period, in an Act of the
Legislature, I think, in the retrospect of much that took
place during our “railway manias” and “railway company
competitions,” it might possibly have proved advantageous
to the community.</p>
<div class="tb">* <span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">*</span></div>
<p>The Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland,
which has ever been foremost to encourage everything
that tends to the improvement of the country, regarded
the introduction of railways as a matter of great importance,
and considering it a subject that came legitimately
within their province, offered, in 1818, a premium of fifty
guineas for the best essay on the construction of railroads.
Many competing treatises were given in, and the Society
placed the whole of them in the hands of my father for
his opinion and report on their merits, “together with
such remarks of his own as he might judge useful.” The
result of his examination is given at great length in the
Transactions of the Society,<a id="FNanchor_9" href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">9</a> accompanied by “notes,” in
which he makes several valuable suggestions. Before the
period alluded to, the rails in use had been almost invariably<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">128</span>
made of cast iron or timber; but my father in his
notes says—“I have no hesitation in giving a decided
preference to malleable iron formed into bars from twelve
to twenty feet in length, with flat sides and parallel edges,
or <em>in the simple state in which they come from the rolling-mills
of the manufacturer</em>.” He also recommends that they
should be fixed into guides or chairs of iron supported
on props placed at distances in no case exceeding three
feet, and that they should be connected with a clamp-joint
so as to preserve the whole strength of the material. It
is not a little singular that this description, given about
forty years ago, may, to use engineering phraseology, be
not inaptly called a “specification of the permanent way”
of our best railways at the present day.</p>
<p>I close this chapter by giving a letter which shows the
value that George Stephenson attached to my father’s
researches on railways, while it is at the same time interesting
as showing the very moderate estimate which
the great Railway Engineer at that time entertained of
the performance of the locomotive engine—a machine
which was destined ultimately to become, under his
skilful management, so important an agent in changing
the inland communication of the whole civilised
<span class="locked">world:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p class="sigright">
“<span class="smcap">Killingworth Colliery</span>,<br />
<i>June 28, 1821</i>.
</p>
<p class="in0">“<span class="smcap">Robert Stevenson, Esq.</span></p>
<p>“<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,—With this you will receive three copies of a
specification of a patent malleable iron rail invented by
John Birkinshaw of Bedlington, near Morpeth. The hints<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">129</span>
were got from your Report on Railways, which you were
so kind as to send me by favour of Mr. Cookson some time
ago. Your reference to Tindal Fell Railway led the inventor
to make some experiments on malleable iron bars,
the result of which convinced him of the superiority of
the malleable over the cast iron—so much so, that he took
out a patent. Those rails are so much liked in this
neighbourhood, that I think in a short time they will do
away the cast iron railways. They make a fine line for
our engines, as there are so few joints compared with the
other. I have lately started a new locomotive engine,
with some improvements on the others which you saw.
It has far surpassed my expectations. I am confident a
railway on which my engines can work is far superior to a
<em>canal</em>. On a long and favourable railway I would stent
my engines to travel 60 miles per day with from 40 to 60
tons of goods. They would work nearly fourfold cheaper
than horses where coals are not very costly. I merely
make these observations, as I know you have been at
more trouble than any man I know of in searching into
the utility of railways, and I return you my sincere
thanks for your favour by Mr. Cookson.</p>
<p>“If you should be in this neighbourhood, I hope you
would not pass Killingworth Colliery, as I should be
extremely glad if you could spend a day or two with
me.—I am, Sir, yours most respectfully,</p>
<p class="sigright">
“<span class="smcap">G. Stephenson.</span>”
</p></blockquote>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">130</span></p>
<div class="chapter">
<h2><a id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.<br />
<span class="subhead">HARBOURS AND RIVERS.<br />
<span class="subhead">1811–1843.</span></span></h2>
</div>
<p class="in0"><span class="smcap">There</span> is scarcely a harbour or river in Scotland about
which, at some time, Mr. Stevenson was not asked to
give his advice. His opinion was also sought in England
and Ireland, and he executed works of greater or less
extent in many of the cases in which he was consulted.</p>
<p>We may select from his reports the names of
Dundee, Aberdeen, Peterhead, Stonehaven, Granton,
Fraserburgh, Ardrossan, Port-Patrick; the rivers Forth,
Tay, Severn, Mersey, Dee, Ribble, Wear, Tees, and Erne,
as among some of the many places in the United Kingdom
where he was employed.</p>
<p>In a subsequent chapter extracts will be found
illustrating Mr. Stevenson’s views on various professional
subjects, and from these it will be seen that he
brought his large experience and study of the waves
to bear advantageously and practically on his harbour
engineering. He was, as will be gathered from the
extracts, at an early period fully alive to the value of
spending basins for tranquillising a harbour, and of the
proper disposition of the covering piers, in reference to
the line of exposure, so as to avoid throwing sea into the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">131</span>
harbour’s mouth, or causing it to heap up on coming in
contact with the piers; while, as regards rivers, he was
no less alive to the value of <em>backwater</em> in keeping
open estuaries, and to the necessity of removing all
obstructions to the free flow of the tide in river-navigation.</p>
<p>At an early date, for example, Mr. Stevenson and Mr.
Price were jointly consulted as to the navigation of the
Tees, and I am indebted to Mr. John Fowler of Stockton,
the engineer to the Tees Navigation, for the following
statement as to the result of that joint <span class="locked">reference:—</span></p>
<p>“The Navigation Company consulted Mr. Stevenson
and Mr. H. Price, who differed in opinion as to the
general treatment of the river. Mr. Price recommended
that it should be contracted by jetties, and Mr. Stevenson
that the banks should be faced with continuous walls,
stating as his reason for this recommendation, that ‘to
project numerous jetties into the river, I regard as inexpedient,
being a dangerous encumbrance to navigation,
and tending to disturb the currents and destroy the
uniformity of the bottom.’ The plan adopted by the
Navigation Company was, however, that of Mr. Price;
and jetties were constructed on the river to a large
extent,” and Mr. Fowler adds, that “after a trial of
twenty-seven years it was found that they were liable to
all the objections that had been urged against them by
Mr. Stevenson.”</p>
<p>Accordingly, under Mr. Fowler’s direction, the whole
of the jetties have been removed.</p>
<p>One of the early harbour schemes in which my father<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">132</span>
was engaged in England, was a harbour at Wallasey Pool,
on the Mersey, in which he acted in conjunction with
Telford and Nimmo. The following reports will show the
nature and extent of work then contemplated as a commencement
of the Birkenhead Docks, now so valuable an
adjunct to the port of Liverpool. But at the early
period of 1828, when the reports were written, the
public were not prepared to entertain a scheme of improvement
based on so great a scale. It included, as will
be seen, not only the formation of a floating harbour at
Wallasey on the Mersey, but the construction of a
harbour at Helbre on the Dee, with a connecting ship
canal between the two estuaries.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“<i>To the Subscribers for the proposed Wet Docks at Wallasey Pool.</i></p>
<p class="p1 b1 center">“<span class="smcap">Preliminary Report</span> of <span class="smcap">Robert Stevenson</span> and <span class="smcap">Alexander
Nimmo</span>, Civil Engineers, on the proposed improvements at
Wallasey Pool.</p>
<p>“<i>Liverpool, Feby. 23, 1828.</i>—Having been requested to examine
the situation of the Wallasey Pool with a view to discover how
far additional accommodation might be obtained there for the
increasing trade of the port of Liverpool, we did accordingly meet
at Woodside on the 10th February 1828, and after examining the
pool at high and low water, and the action of the tides on the
northern edge of the Leasowe level, which we found to be overflowed
at high water of the 16th and 17th and 18th February,
with off-shore winds and moderate weather, we next examined
the shore down to low water in that place called Mockbeggar
Wharf, which we found to consist of turf and soft marl over a
bottom of fine clay. We afterwards visited the western part of
the level, which extends to the immediate vicinity of the estuary<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">133</span>
of the Dee, part of which we examined, also Helbre, Hoylake, and
the Rock Channels, and directed certain surveys and levels to be
taken for our further information, and though we have not yet
obtained all the data requisite for forming estimates of the expense
of improvement, we are generally of opinion as <span class="locked">follows:—</span></p>
<p>“That this situation of Wallasey Pool affords, beyond doubt,
the most favourable position in the vicinity of Liverpool for an
extension of the accommodation of the shipping trade of the port,
at a very moderate expense.</p>
<p>“The ground being level, the soil water-tight and of easy
excavation, docks may be formed there of any extent. The bay
in front between Seacombe and Woodside, though mostly shallow
at present, affords the first place of shelter within the Mersey, and
small vessels lie there out of the stream in perfect safety. It
possesses a creek or channel which could easily be enlarged and
deepened so as to form an outer tide harbour similar to the
original harbour of Liverpool, but upon a greater scale, and for
the scouring of which it would be easy to open up the tide in the
pool to the extent of 250 acres, as far as Viners Embankment,
and above that to any extent that may be thought desirable.
This space having a deep creek through its whole extent forms a
complete half-tide basin for facilitating the entrance into the Docks
on either side, while on the shallow parts may be formed extensive
timber-ponds. Works of masonry in this situation being out
of the sea-way and of the stream of the tide, may be constructed
with great economy; good building stones are to be found at
Bidston Hill, and the whole soil is a brick earth.</p>
<p>“The situation possesses other advantages of access not so
obvious, but which may eventually be of the greatest importance.
The Leasowe level at the head of this pool extends as far as the
river Dee, and touches the sea-shore at Mock Beacon, where indeed
it is occasionally overflowed by the tide. In this direction it
would be quite practicable to open a direct passage for ships into<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">134</span>
the Horse Channel, by excavating in marl and clay, only quite
clear of the shifting sands which are found in all other parts of
the Mersey and Dee. And towards the Dee a ship canal may
easily be cut with its entrance either at Dawpool in Hoylake, or
in a tide harbour which could be formed at Helbre, a position
which affords many maritime advantages.</p>
<p>“That position has several good anchorages in its vicinity,
three different passages to sea, and is only five miles from the
floating light, the distance of which from Liverpool by Wallasey
and Helbre is exactly the same as by the Rock Channel; and
nine miles of it would be inland navigation, instead of an intricate
passage among sandbanks, the whole of which inland navigation is
an addition to the floating harbour.</p>
<p>“Having thus briefly shown the facilities possessed to seaward,
we may next turn our attention to those connected with the
inland navigation. It is evident that to the ‘flats’ which navigate
the Duke’s Canal, Mersey and Irwell, Ellesmere, Sankey, and
Weaver Navigations, Wallasey Pool is just as accessible as the
Docks of Liverpool, while by a canal to Helbre you communicate
with the large navigation of the Dee, and the valuable mineral
county of Flintshire; and if ever, as is extremely probable, the
canal navigation should be brought nearer to Liverpool, the natural
termination would be Tranmere or Wallasey Pool, between which
a cut can be easily formed. By this means boats from the small
canals in Staffordshire and the other inland counties can be
brought down to the seaport and return their cargo without the
trouble of transhipment,—an object, as being important to the
proprietors of these canals, that there can be little doubt of their
endeavouring to carry it into effect whenever the shipping can be
accommodated on the Cheshire side.</p>
<p>“Although in the present state of our survey, and until we
meet our eminent friend and colleague Mr. Telford, we are not
prepared to enter into any detail of plans or estimates of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">135</span>
expense of these improvements, yet we are satisfied he will
agree with us in opinion that the cost of even the most expensive
will be greatly inferior to that of obtaining any important additional
accommodation upon the Liverpool shore, which being almost
entirely occupied already, we consider it impossible to obtain there
at any expense sufficient room for the increasing trade; and we
would conclude this preliminary report by recommending to the
thriving and enlightened community of Liverpool to weigh well
the advantages above alluded to, and the benefit of now extending
their operations to the Cheshire shore.</p>
<p class="sig-container">
“<span class="smcap">Robert Stevenson.</span><br />
<span class="smcap">Alexander Nimmo.</span>”
</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p class="p2 center">“<span class="smcap">Intended Ship Canal</span> between the <span class="smcap">Rivers Dee</span> and <span class="smcap">Mersey</span>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p class="hang">“<span class="smcap">The Report</span> of <span class="smcap">Thomas Telford</span>, <span class="smcap">Robert Stevenson</span>, and <span class="smcap">Alexander
Nimmo</span>, Civil Engineers, recommending Two extensive
new Sea Ports, etc., on the Rivers Dee and Mersey, adjacent
to Liverpool, with a Floating Harbour or Ship Canal to
connect them.</p></blockquote>
<p>“The undersigned, having so far completed their land and
water surveys as to enable them to speak with confidence upon the
practicability of extending the accommodation for shipping to
suit the rising demands of this great commercial emporium, beg
leave to commence their report upon this important subject by
describing the general outline of the proposed improvements, and
then to proceed to discuss them in detail; but previous to this it
is necessary to make a few preliminary remarks.</p>
<h3>“<i>On the Estuaries of the Dee and Mersey.</i></h3>
<p>“In one or other of these must always continue to be the great
port of the north-west of England, the preservation and improvement
of which has become the more important since this last<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">136</span>
century has added so much to the progress of manufacturing and
commercial enterprise, and to that extension of inland navigation,
which has rendered Liverpool not only the great mart of the
north-west of Britain and of all Ireland, but nearly of the whole
western world.</p>
<p>“The chief feature of these estuaries is the extensive range
of sandbanks in their front, through which an intricate ship-navigation
has to be carried. These channels have been always
subject to variations, and are now only safely navigated by a careful
system of pilotage.</p>
<p>“In the progress of our investigations, and feeling the great
importance of the measures we are about to recommend, we have
carefully inquired into the various changes which have taken
place on these banks, as far as can be collected from history or
inferred from observation, in order to be enabled to judge what is
likely to take place as to their future permanent condition.</p>
<p>“In the time of the Romans the Ribble seems to have been the
chief port of this district, and Ribchester is said to have been a
city as great as any out of Rome; the port was Poulton below
Preston, at the Neb of the Naze, so vastly inferior at the present
time to various situations on the Mersey and the Dee that it is
impossible not to admit that some extraordinary change has taken
place in their physical condition since that period. Tradition says
that the port of the Ribble was destroyed by an earthquake, and
also that there were tremendous inundations in Cheshire and
Lancashire about the termination of the Roman sway in Britain;
and various phenomena we have seen seem to point to some such
catastrophe.</p>
<p>“It is well known that in the Saxon times the river Dee was
an important navigation, and that Chester was then and for many
ages after the great port of the west, and for the connection with
Ireland, whilst the Mersey was little known, and Liverpool only
a fishing village.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">137</span>
“But in after times the port of Chester was so much obstructed
by sandbanks in the upper portions that the city became inaccessible
to vessels of large draught, and though serious efforts were
made to remedy this evil, and have even partly accomplished it,
yet the trade of the country was gradually transferred to Liverpool
on the Mersey, which had become a place of considerable importance
at the time of the Revolution, and had been created an
independent port: before, it was only a creek of Chester.</p>
<p>“In our inquiries into the early state of the navigations of the
Dee and Mersey, the oldest chart we have found of any authority
is that of Grenville Collins, in 1690. It is dedicated to King
William, to whom he acted as pilot on his expedition to Ireland;
and as that army embarked from Hoylake, as also that of the year
before under General Schomberg, and as Collins was officially
employed in making charts of the coast, there can be no doubt that,
though rude, it conveys, as far as it goes, an authentic representation
of the state of navigation at that time.</p>
<p>“The roadstead of Hoylake was then spacious and deep, with
five fathoms into it, and seven fathoms inside, from one half to three
quarters of a mile wide, and covered by the Hoyle Sand, which was
then one solid bank without any swash or opening across it, and
was dry at neap tides as far as opposite the Point of Air and
beyond.</p>
<p>“The Dove Point then projected a mile and three-quarters from
the shore, separating Hoylake from the Rock Channel, which was
then nearly dry at low water as far as Mockbeggar, between which
and Burbo Sand there was only one quarter fathom, and between
Dove Point and Burbo only two fathoms.</p>
<p>“The large vessels which at that time belonged to Liverpool
put out part of their lading in Hoylake until they were light
enough to sail over the flats to Liverpool.</p>
<p>“The union of Hoylake and the Rock Channel formed, as at
present, the principal passage to sea, called the Horse Channel, then<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">138</span>
a fair opening with three to seven fathoms, but considerably to the
eastward of the present channel of that name; for Collins’s sailing
mark through it was Mockbeggar Hall upon the Banquetting-House
in Bidston, would mark the present Spencer’s Gut as having been the
channel. The north spit did not then exist, or rather was part of
the Hoyle bank; and the Beggar’s Patch seems to have been the
extremity of Dove Point. The Formby Channel was said to have
three fathoms on the bar, but was not buoyed or beaconed, therefore
not used.</p>
<p>“The Chester bar had nine feet least water; and Wild Road is
marked as good anchorage, much used in the coal trade. About
1760, published in 1776, we have the Survey of Mackenzie, who
was employed by the Admiralty to make charts of the western
coasts of Britain, which are still in high reputation.</p>
<p>“At this time Hoylake continued to be a good roadstead, though
greatly altered; the depth at entrance was only two fathoms, eight
fathoms in the middle, the width only three furlongs, and its length
had diminished at least a mile. A passage was opened from the
Rock Channel across to Dove Point into Hoylake, and across the
east end of Hoyle Sand, with four to eight fathoms, forming the
present Horse Channel.</p>
<p>“On this chart we also perceive the beginning of another opening
across the Hoyle Sand, now called Helbre Swash, then dry at
low water at each end, having three fathoms in the middle, now a
deep and fair channel with seven to nine fathoms, and two and a
half least water at its mouth.</p>
<p>“Since the opening of this channel or swash little or no tide
sets through the Hoylake, which is gradually closing up, and now
used only for small craft.</p>
<p>“The existence of Hoylake was of material importance to Liverpool
and also to the Dee, for vessels could run there at any time;
the entrance to it was marked by leading lights in the middle of
last century, one of the first applications of reflecting lights to the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">139</span>
purposes of navigation; they are now of little use, as the sand has
shifted to the eastward, and the entrance is nearly dry at low
water.</p>
<p>“The Rock Channel seems to have undergone a very important
change by the time of Mackenzie’s survey. We have observed
that in Collins’s time, 1690, it was dry at low water as far nearly
as Mockbeggar. Although this is still nearly the case at the Perch
at low tides, it is opened below that in a material degree. In the
space of seventy years the channel had deepened to have three or
four fathoms in Wallasey Hole; also between Mockbeggar Wharf
and the north bank, which was dry at low water; and a channel
had opened across Dove Point, with two and three fathoms, into
Hoylake, and from thence across the east end of Hoyle, forming
the present Horse Channel, as before described, with four to eight
fathoms out to sea. On the other hand, the sand from this deepening
had been carried down to seaward, forming a complete shoal
across the original Horse Channel of Collins’s time, in whose sailing-line
is marked a depth of four feet only, and this shoal connected
with that called the Beggar’s Patch, and thence with the spit or flat
along the west side of the Horse Channel, on which was six feet
water. This last channel was direct and fair, with five to eight
fathoms, and previous to the publication of Mackenzie’s chart, but
after the time of his survey, was marked by two lighthouses at
Leasowe shore, and subsequently by that on Bidston Hill under
the direction of Captain Hutchinson, as was also the entrance into
Hoylake by the two lights near Meols, as before described.</p>
<p>“The Formby Channel is marked as deep upon Mackenzie’s
chart, with four fathoms at the entrance, and between Taylor’s Bank
and Middle Patch two fathoms; there is now only five feet over
the flats at low water at its entrance, and it was buoyed in at
Mackenzie’s time; but, though the deepest channel to Liverpool, it
is, from its intricacy and instability, still very little used for
navigation.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">140</span>
“Lieutenant Evans published a survey of the Liverpool and
Chester rivers, with a book of sailing directions, which is in good
repute. We have preferred the chart by Mr. Thomas in 1813,
made by order of the Lords of the Admiralty, for the purpose of
comparison with the several before mentioned surveys, as more
minute in detail.</p>
<p>“At the time of this survey, fifty years after that of Mackenzie,
Hoylake had diminished in breadth to one furlong; the depth at
the entrance was three to seven feet; four fathoms near the Red
Stones; since that time it is still shallowing, and now may be
walked across at low water, from Dove Point to East Hoyle; so
that this roadstead may be considered as lost.</p>
<p>“Helbre Swash had opened to half a mile wide, with six or
eight fathoms water, but with a shoal at its entrance of one
fathom; there are now two fathoms and a half through that
entrance.</p>
<p>“The Brazil or North Bank had extended dry, at low water, as
far as Spencer’s Gut Buoy, and the North Spit or four feet flats
had extended into the Horse Channel across the line of sea lights,
thereby forcing that channel further into Hoyle Bank. The lower
part of the Rock Channel had enlarged by the formation of a passage
on each side of the Beggar’s Patch.</p>
<p>“The entrance to Formby Channel had very much altered since
Mackenzie’s time, and, though better marked, still continued to be
little frequented. The floating light placed opposite Helbre Swash
and the Horse Channel, outside of all the banks, has made a great
improvement in the access from the seaward in that direction.</p>
<p>“The Rock Channel, from these circumstances, continues to be
the main passage to and from the harbour of Liverpool, but it is
only provided with day marks, and though well buoyed cannot be
navigated by night; being very narrow, and having banks in its
middle, it is difficult for vessels to beat through with foul winds
in one tide, and as there is no secure anchorage, frequent delays
and losses take place in this part of the navigation.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">141</span>
“Within the harbour of Liverpool or in the river Mersey the
principal places of anchorage <span class="locked">are—</span></p>
<div class="hang">
<p>“1st, Abreast the town.</p>
<p>“2d, Off the Magazines, which is used by the outward-bound
vessels.</p>
<p>“3d, Up the river in Sloyne Roads, or Broombro Pool, which is
almost confined to vessels under quarantine.</p>
</div>
<p>“In the two first-mentioned anchorages a great sea tumbles
in, with <span class="smcap smaller">NE.</span> gales, and this, with the rapid tide and bad holding
ground, causes vessels to drift, even with two anchors down, so that
it is necessary for all the merchant vessels, as soon as the tide
serves, to proceed into dock and remain there until a favourable
opportunity occurs of putting to sea, so as to get through the Rock
and Horse Channels with daylight; hence a considerable accumulation
of vessels within the docks at all times, but especially when
there has been a continuance of northerly and westerly winds,
and which has made it necessary to look now for additional accommodation
on the opposite shore of Wallasey Pool.</p>
<h3>“<i>Proposed establishment at Wallasey.</i></h3>
<p>“Small craft find good shelter on the banks at the mouth of
Wallasey Pool, being there out of the stream, and land-locked by
the Point of Seacombe.</p>
<p>“The steamers also, to which dispatch is of moment, moor along
this shore, and if there was more room in Wallasey Pool it would
decidedly be the best anchorage about Liverpool.</p>
<p>“Wallasey Creek runs nearly for two miles from the Mersey,
where it is stopped by an embankment, through which the waters
of 3000 acres of marsh land pass by a tunnel. The pool below the
embankment covers nearly 250 acres at spring-tides, and by its
backwater maintains a channel through the creek down to low
water springs, and with seventeen feet at high water springs as far
up as the embankment.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">142</span>
“Previous to the embankment it is certain that this creek was
materially deeper. On Mackenzie’s chart, opposite to its mouth,
there are twenty fathoms marked, being much more than anywhere
within the Mersey at present, and a bottom of rock. This channel
would therefore be restored by any considerable addition to the
backwater; and at all events, if the lower parts of the creek were
opened by dredging, and, by a power of scouring it, low water
obtained, a safer inlet for vessels to run to would be acquired than
at present exists anywhere in the neighbourhood of Liverpool.</p>
<p>“On the south side of the creek, between Woodside Ferry and
Bridge End, there is a bottom of sandstone rock, but this ceases at
Bridge End Creek; and above that place the shore is composed of
firm clay, fit for brick making, to a depth at least of thirty feet,
in which excavation for docks and basins could be carried on with
great facility.</p>
<p>“Upon the attention being directed to Wallasey Pool as a
commercial station, it will appear at first view obvious that an
entrance might be made along the low ground which extends from
it to the sea shore at Leasowe, by which a direct passage to sea
might be obtained, and the insecurities and dangers of the bar and
banks of the Rock Channel be avoided; but the objections to such
an entrance are, that the channel outside affords no safe anchorage,
and the cut would be exposed directly to the stroke of the sea,
and if protected by piers their construction would not only be
expensive, but might also materially alter the channel along shore.</p>
<p>“But the ground continues equally favourable to the westward
as far as Hoylake and the Dee below the hill of the Grange. The
shore is skirted by a narrow belt of sandhills, through which however
there would be no great difficulty in making a passage into
the tideway. Here it is important to remark that the Helbre
Swash opens a deep and fair channel, well sheltered by banks on
each side, and only five miles in extent to the floating light, which
is in a direct line with it.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">143</span>
“This channel has been formed within the last century, and
readily accounts for the deterioration of Hoylake; it now carries
down most of the ebb of the Dee, and is likely to improve still
more, having deepened materially since Thomas’s survey in 1813.</p>
<p>“Through all the vicissitudes we have traced there has been
deep water and good anchorage at the point of Helbre Island; and
as that situation affords solid rock for every sort of construction,
there can be no risk of the permanency of any work that may be
established there.</p>
<p>“Sea-locks constructed at Helbre would be protected against
the prevailing westerly gales by the island itself, against the
northerly by the bank of East Hoyle; and they may be connected
to the mainland by banks formed across the strand, which is mostly
dry at high water of neap tides; and by means of these banks a
pond of sixty-four acres may be enclosed, which, being filled at
spring tides, may be employed for the purposes of scouring and
keeping open the harbour and its entrance, and as a reservoir for
a ship canal from thence to the shore, and along the low ground
to Wallasey Pool. Such a canal, of large dimensions, and seven
miles long, will be one continued floating harbour, which may be
carried to a great extent in various directions and on the same
level.</p>
<p>“Independent of Helbre Swash two other channels for ships
passing to sea unite at that position; one, the original Hoylake,
still sufficiently navigable at high water; the other, the passage by
Wild Road and Chester Bar, greatly superior in safety and permanency
to that of the Formby Channel; for in all the successive
charts little or no change seems to have taken place on that bar,
which continues to have nine feet at low water, with a rise of
thirty. The great extent of ebb-tide from the Dee (being quite as
extensive an estuary as that of the Mersey) must always keep one
or other of those channels or all of them open, so that ships may
sail from Helbre in almost every wind; and if necessary to beat<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">144</span>
out, a vessel starting from Helbre with the first of the ebb down
the Swash will be at the floating light and clear of the banks
before another from Liverpool can get round the Rock Perch.</p>
<p>“To persons at all acquainted with the navigation to Liverpool
it must be quite unnecessary to point out the benefit of this proposed
arrangement, which, while it preserves all the advantages of
communicating with the Mersey, and the extensive inland navigations
connected therewith, affords a new passage to and from the
sea, by means of the Dee, by which both the distance and dangers
of an intricate navigation will be wholly avoided.</p>
<p>“An important advantage obtained by this plan is, that the
proposed entrance at Helbre is within the jurisdiction of the port
of Chester, of which it is recorded as a creek in Sir Matthew Hale’s
Treatise <cite>De portibus maris</cite>; and business done there or upon its
waters, even as far as Wallasey Pool, being within the port of
Chester, will have to pay the dues at that port; and unless ships
and goods lock into the Mersey they are exempted from the dues
of Liverpool. The facility of construction is so great that a
moderate charge for dues will be a sufficient remuneration for the
capital required. The ground on either side of the canal is singularly
suitable to be appropriated to any kind of establishment connected
with shipping, and there can be no doubt that it will be so
employed even by private speculation; but in so extensive a scheme
as we propose it will be advisable for the promoters of the measure
at once to establish a set of docks and warehouses of the most perfect
description, as has been done in all the docks which have been
constructed in and adjacent to London, and we have accordingly
designed a set of such warehouses and yards as part of the plan.</p>
<h3>“<i>Details of the Plan.</i></h3>
<p>“Commencing at the river Mersey, we propose to dredge out
and widen Wallasey Creek at least to the depth of three feet under
low water of spring tides, being four feet below the sill of Prince’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">145</span>
Dock, and this for 200 feet in width up as far as the entrance into
the basins; to lay the sill of the greater entrance lock at that level,
also the sill of the basin of the barge lock. The barge entrance
lock to have a lift of ten feet; the ship lock four feet; so as to
give the same water when the gates are opened as into the Prince’s
Dock. The side of Wallasey Creek will be quayed for four hundred
yards below the entrance of the dock, to facilitate transporting
vessels into and out of the basins.</p>
<p>“The tide basin is 1000 yards long, and 100 yards wide in the
middle, curving on the north side towards the locks at each end,
the south side receding 100 feet, so as to give berthage to timber
vessels, and in the front of them a sloping wharf and bonding yards
for timber; a line of barge canal between these yards and the
warehouses on the main dock will facilitate the removal of the
timber without interfering with the shipping.</p>
<p>“The entrance lock into this basin from the tideway will be fifty
feet wide, the entrance wing walls widening gradually to 100 feet,
to afford easy access to the shipping when both gates are thrown
open. At low water, neaps, or half tide, two or three vessels may
pass at a time. The upper lock between this basin and the canal
to be double; one large lock, forty-five feet wide and 160 feet long,
for great ships, and another, twenty-five feet wide, for smaller
vessels, with gates at each end, pointing both to land and seawards.
These locks to rise to four feet below the old dock sill of Liverpool,
and thus to have twenty-two feet water in the canal on the level
of an eighteen feet tide, which we propose to make the surface
level of the canal.</p>
<p>“The ship dock parallel to this basin will be 400 yards long
and 100 wide, with warehouses on each side, supported by iron
pillars, so as to form a covered wharf, as at the St. Katherine’s
Dock in London; behind these warehouses a parallel barge canal
fit for river flats, forty feet wide, which will, as in Holland, be found<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">146</span>
a singular convenience. These canals communicate with a dock
and basin for flats only, whence the barges may be let down into
the creek during the ebb; and as they navigate at the lowest water
they will be ready to pass up the Mersey with the first of the flood;
and in like manner, coming down with the last of the ebb, will get
into the pool and enter the dock without losing a tide. Ships from
the Mersey, in like manner, may enter the basin with half-flood,
and be ready to proceed down the Swash with the first of the
ebb.</p>
<p>“The flat marsh by the Boilers Yards is well adapted for this
establishment, but as the ground beyond is high for some distance
we propose the canal to be 124 feet only at water surface for 1000
yards from the locks, and to be lined with a stone wall on each side,
so that this space will, in fact, be also a dock. Afterwards the
marsh widens, and here is a favourable place for another entrance
basin and dock, if necessary. From this point we propose to continue
the canal with sloping banks, the bottom to be four feet under
the level of the old dock sill, and 163 feet in width at the surface
of the water, which will be twenty-two feet in depth.</p>
<p>“The canal proceeds at first in the direction of the Leasowe
Lighthouse, and approaches within half a mile of the shore, and
about the same distance north of the village of Moreton, and then
turns to the westward, keeping half a mile inland from the villages
of Great and Little Meols through Newton Car, where it turns off to
Helbre Island, and enters the strand about half a mile above the
hotel; across the strand it is carried by embankments to the upper
end of Helbre Island. A large breadth is allowed for the embankment
on the sea-side, with facing mound of stone from the rocky
point near the Red Stone to within 600 feet of the Point of Helbre.
The head of this pier to be of rough stone, rounded off, and carefully
paved. A pier head is to be built in Helbre of 300 feet in length,
leaving an opening of 300 feet into the tide harbour, which is fifty<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">147</span>
acres in extent, and to be cleared to at least low water of a spring-tide,
and preserved of that depth by scouring.</p>
<p>“A quay wall is to be constructed of hewn stone along the
Helbre Island from the pier-head 600 yards to the tide lock, which
is to be fifty feet wide, as at Wallasey; another tide lock of similar
dimensions on the north side of the harbour. The north pier
is only intended to be of rough stone; but a short covering pier
will be made to protect that lock and facilitate the entry of ships.
Above these locks the canal is to be formed into a tide basin of
500 yards in length, the level of which may be kept at that of the
tide of the day; and at the upper end are two parallel canal locks,
as at Wallasey, with gates pointing to the sea and land at each
end, as the tide will occasionally rise higher than the level of the
water in the canal.</p>
<p>“From Helbre Island to the Middle Helbre, thence to the Eye,
and from that to the shore at Kirby Church, an embankment and
road will be carried along the ridge and made water-tight. By
this and the canal a pond, as has already been described, will be
enclosed, of 640 acres, which will fill at spring-tides to the depth
of nine feet, containing 3,000,000 of cubic yards, and may be all
emptied for the purpose of scouring the outer harbour; but at the
latter part of the spring tides it will be advisable to fill this pond
as a reservoir for lockage water, for which purpose it may be drawn
down three feet to the canal level, and will hold 1200 locks-full
for ship lockage at each end, and, if necessary, 1000 more locks-full
may be drawn off without any material inconvenience to the
navigation.</p>
<p>“We now subjoin an estimate of what we conceive will be the
expense of completing these works, including an extensive range
of warehouses on each side of the dock at Wallasey Pool, and of
enclosed timber yards along the tide basin; and for all the items
we have made a liberal provision.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">148</span></p>
<h3>“<i>Estimate.</i></h3>
<table summary="Estimate for Wallasey">
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Excavations in Wallasey Creek and Helbre Harbour, also in the Locks, Basins, and Canal to Helbre, and Barge Canal and Basins,</td>
<td class="tdr">£436,017</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Quay Walls on Creek, Basins, Locks, and Canal at Wallasey Pool,</td>
<td class="tdr">230,100</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Bridges and Tunnels,</td>
<td class="tdr">38,000</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Piers and Quays Walls, Helbre Harbour,</td>
<td class="tdr">95,100</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Locks, Dams, and Culverts, Helbre Harbour,</td>
<td class="tdr">111,000</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Warehouses at Wallasey Pool, Inclosure Walls, and Paving,</td>
<td class="tdr">183,000</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Purchase of Land,</td>
<td class="tdr">125,000</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">For Surveys, Act of Parliament, Law Expenses, Superintendents’, Lock-keepers’, and other Offices, etc., and Contingencies on Works, Fifteen per Cent.,</td>
<td class="tdr">182,731</td></tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td class="tdr"><span class="bt bbd">£1,400,948</span></td></tr>
</table>
<p>“For the above sum a floating harbour will be obtained of seven
miles in length, capable of indefinite enlargement, with extensive
warehouse accommodation, and with a sea-port at either end on
the two separate estuaries. That this is not too great for the wants
of the country will be at once admitted by those who consider the
vast extent of shipping usually moored in the Thames, notwithstanding
all its docks; the total inapplicability of the rivers Mersey
or Dee to such a purpose; and the confined space which even
the docks of Liverpool can afford for the accommodation of a trade
now hardly inferior to that of the metropolis, and certainly and
rapidly increasing.</p>
<p class="sig-container">
“<span class="smcap">Thos. Telford.</span><br />
<span class="smcap">Robt. Stevenson.</span><br />
<span class="smcap">Alexander Nimmo.</span></p>
<p>“<span class="smcap">London</span>, <i>16th May 1828</i>.”
</p></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p class="p2 b1 center">“<span class="smcap">Further Report</span> respecting the proposed two new Ports, etc., on
the Rivers Dee and Mersey, adjacent to Liverpool.</p>
<p>“In the foregoing report we have shown the form and expense
of this establishment when completed upon an extensive and perfect
plan. At the commencement, however, of so great an undertaking<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">149</span>
it is not to be expected that all the conveniences we have
proposed can be immediately required; a considerable portion may
therefore be deferred until the wants and increasing demands of
trade shall show them to be necessary. In the meantime the
essential parts of the improvement may be effected, with a smaller
expenditure of capital, so as to obtain all that safety and facility
of access which we have shown to be leading features of this plan.</p>
<p>“We have proposed to make the canal from Wallasey to Helbre
wide enough for three great ships, so as to admit of part of it being
used as a floating harbour, still leaving room for navigation; but for
navigation alone it will be quite enough to adopt the dimensions
of the Caledonian Canal, viz., 120 feet at surface, and if the trade
should increase so as to require it, instead of widening it, a parallel
canal may hereafter be made, with a bank and two towing-paths
between, leaving the whole of the opposite banks applicable to
berthage and commercial establishments. The same locks will
serve at either end, and the transporting of ships be greatly facilitated;
and the construction of this canal, or repair of the other, may
be effected without any interruption to the navigation by such an
arrangement. Again, the double locks at the Wallasey end of the
canal, intended for the greater dispatch of business, may very well
be deferred for the present, and the entrance basin made of smaller
dimensions. The ship dock there may at first be made as a part
of the canal, and quayed on one side only, and afterwards widened
and completed when wanted. The half tide dock may be dispensed
with by enlarging the barge tide dock so as to serve also for ships,
and the quay walling of the pool and of the first mile of the canal
may also be deferred. The warehouses at Wallasey dock may be
dispensed with at first, or left to individual capital; but it will be
highly proper to secure a sufficient quantity of land to enable all
these improvements to be undertaken at some future period. We
do not deem it advisable to give up the enlargement and deepening
of the entrance of Wallasey Pool, as on that depends much of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">150</span>
utility of the plan in giving access to vessels at low tides; and for
a similar reason we would preserve all the works proposed for the
harbour at Helbre Island. Upon this modified plan the expense,
as below, will be £734,163.</p>
<p class="sig-container">
“<span class="smcap">Thos. Telford.</span><br />
<span class="smcap">Robt. Stevenson.</span><br />
<span class="smcap">Alex. Nimmo.</span></p>
<p>“<span class="smcap">Chester</span>, <i>July 14, 1828</i>.
</p>
<h3>“<i>Estimate.</i></h3>
<div>
<table summary="Wallasey Pool Estimate">
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Excavating Tide Basin, Barge Dock, and half of Ship Dock, at Wallasey End,</td>
<td class="tdr">£25,000</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Walling along the Pool, from Brassey’s Works, also the Barge Dock and one side of Ship Dock,</td>
<td class="tdr">31,500</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Ship Lock, Barge Lock, and Tide Gates for Basin, and two Swivel Bridges,</td>
<td class="tdr">36,500</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Dredging Wallasey Creek, as before,</td>
<td class="tdr">20,000</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Land and Damages,</td>
<td class="tdr">51,000</td></tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td class="tdr"><span class="bt">£164,000</span></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl in8">Fifteen per Cent. Contingencies,</td>
<td class="tdr"><span class="bb">24,485</span></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl in8">For Wallasey End,</td>
<td class="tdr"><span class="bb">£188,485</span></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Excavating Canal,</td>
<td class="tdr">£207,403</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Bridges and Tunnel,</td>
<td class="tdr">22,000</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Land and Damages,</td>
<td class="tdr">27,000</td></tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td class="tdr"><span class="bt">£256,403</span></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl in8">Fifteen per Cent.,</td>
<td class="tdr"><span class="bb">38,460</span></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl in8">For the Canal,</td>
<td class="tdr"><span class="bb">£294,863</span></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Pier and Quay Walls from Helbre, as before,</td>
<td class="tdr">£95,100</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Locks, Dams, and Culverts, <span class="in1">do.,</span></td>
<td class="tdr">111,000</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Excavation in Harbour,</td>
<td class="tdr">10,000</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Strand and Damages on Isle,</td>
<td class="tdr">2,000</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl in8">Fifteen per Cent.,</td>
<td class="tdr"><span class="bb">32,715</span></td></tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td class="tdr"><span class="bb">£250,815</span></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl in8"><span class="in4"><span class="smcap">General Total</span></span>,</td>
<td class="tdr"><span class="bb">£734,163</span></td>
<td>”</td></tr>
</table></div>
</blockquote>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">151</span>
I have given the Reports of the three Engineers to
whom this question was remitted, to show the very
comprehensive view they took of the important subject
referred for their opinion; and it is almost unnecessary
to tell professional readers that after a lapse of nearly a
quarter of a century the embryo but comprehensive
proposal of Telford, Stevenson, and Nimmo resulted in
the modified but still large Birkenhead Dock scheme of
J. M. Rendel.</p>
<div class="tb">* <span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">*</span></div>
<p>The original design for the improvement of the Tay
was made by Messrs. Robert and Alan Stevenson, in
1833, and in connection with my father’s life a short
account of the works may be desirable as illustrating
his practice in River Engineering in the Tay and other
rivers.</p>
<p>The river Tay, with its numerous tributaries, receives
the drainage water of a district of Scotland amounting to
2283 square miles, as measured on Arrowsmith’s map.
Its <em>mean</em> discharge has been ascertained to be 274,000
cubic feet, or 7645 tons of water per minute. It is
navigable as far as Perth, which is twenty-two miles
from Dundee and thirty-two from the German Ocean.</p>
<p>Before the commencement of the works, certain ridges,
called “fords,” stretched across the bed of the river,
at different points between Perth and Newburgh, and
obstructed the passage to such a degree that vessels
drawing from ten to eleven feet could not, during the
highest tides, make their way up to Perth without great
difficulty. The depth of water on these fords varied from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">152</span>
one foot nine inches to two feet six inches at low, and
eleven feet nine inches to fourteen feet at high water of
spring tides; so that the regulating navigable depth, under
the most favourable circumstances, could not be reckoned
at more than eleven feet. The chief disadvantage experienced
by vessels in the unimproved state of the river was
the risk of their being detained by grounding, or being
otherwise obstructed at these defective places, so as to
lose the tide at Perth,—a misfortune which, at times when
the tides were falling from springs to neaps, often led to
the necessity either of lightening the vessel, or of detaining
her till the succeeding springs afforded sufficient depth
for passing the fords. The great object aimed at, therefore,
was to remove every cause of detention, and facilitate the
propagation of the tidal wave in the upper part of the
river, so that inward-bound vessels might take the first of
the flood to enable them to reach Perth in one tide. Nor
was it, indeed, less important to remove every obstacle that
might prevent outward-bound vessels from reaching Newburgh,
and the more open and deep parts of the navigation
before low water of the tide with which they left Perth.</p>
<p>The works undertaken by the Harbour Commissioners
of Perth for the purpose of remedying the evils alluded
to, and which extended over six working seasons, may be
briefly described as <span class="locked">follows:—</span></p>
<p><i>1st</i>, The fords, and many intermediate shallows, were
deepened by steam dredging; and the system of harrowing
was employed in some of the softer banks in the lower
part of the river. Many large detached boulders and
“fishing cairns,” which obstructed the passage of vessels,
were also removed.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">153</span>
<i>2d</i>, Three subsidiary channels, or offshoots from the
main stream, at Sleepless, Darry, and Balhepburn islands,
were shut up by embankments formed of the produce of
the dredging, so as to confine the whole of the water to
the navigable channel, and the banks of the navigable
channel were widened to receive the additional quantity
of water which they had to discharge.</p>
<p><i>3d</i>, In some places the banks on either side of the
river beyond low water mark, where much contracted,
were excavated, in order to equalise the currents, by
allowing sufficient space for the free passage of the water;
and this was more especially done on the shores opposite
Sleepless and Darry islands, where the shutting up of the
secondary channels rendered it more necessary.</p>
<p>The benefit to the navigation in consequence of the
completion of these works was of a twofold kind; for
not only was the depth of water materially increased
by actual deepening of the waterway, and the removal
of numerous obstructions from the bed of the river,
but a clearer and a freer passage was made for the flow
of the tide, which begins to rise at Perth much sooner
than before; and as the time of high water is unaltered,
the advantages of increased depth due to the presence
of the tide is proportionally increased throughout the
whole range of the navigation; or, in other words, the
<em>duration of tidal influence has been prolonged</em>.</p>
<p>The depths at the shallowest places were pretty
nearly equalised, being five feet at low and fifteen feet at
high water, of ordinary spring tides, instead, as formerly,
of one foot nine inches at low and eleven feet at high<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">154</span>
water. Steamers of small draught of water can now
therefore ply at <em>low water</em>, and vessels drawing fourteen
feet can now come up to Perth in <em>one tide</em> with ease and
safety.</p>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">155</span></p>
<div class="chapter">
<h2><a id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.<br />
<span class="subhead">PRESERVATION OF TIMBER.<br />
<span class="subhead">1808–1843.</span></span></h2>
</div>
<p class="in0"><span class="smcap">In</span> 1808 Mr. Stevenson was the discoverer of the
<i>Limnoria terebrans</i>, that small but sure destroyer of
timber structures exposed to the action of the sea, and
forwarded specimens of the insect and of the timber it
had destroyed to Dr. Leach, the eminent naturalist, of the
British Museum, who, in 1811, announced it as a “new
and highly interesting species which had been sent to
him by his friend Robert Stevenson, Civil Engineer,”
and assigned to it the name of <i>Limnoria terebrans</i>
(<cite>Linnean Trans.</cite>, vol. xi. p. 37, and <cite>Edinburgh Encylopædia</cite>,
vol. vii. p. 433).</p>
<p>The <i>Teredo navalis</i>, which is a larger and even more
destructive enemy, is happily not so prevalent in northern
seas as the <i>Limnoria</i>.</p>
<p>So impressed was Mr. Stevenson with the importance
of his discovery as affecting marine engineering, and
especially harbour works, that he resolved to establish a
train of systematic experiments by exposing the timber
of different trees to the action of salt water, and it
occurred to him that no situation could be more suitable<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">156</span>
for such observations than the Bell Rock, where the
specimens would not only be fully exposed to the sea,
and free from any interference, but would be strictly
watched and minutely reported on by the lightkeepers.
He further conceived it proper, in the interests of the
navy, to take the Admiralty into his counsels, and he
accordingly communicated his intention to that Board,
with the result that many of the specimens of timber
experimented on were sent from Woolwich dockyard,
and the results of the trials were from time to time
communicated to the Admiralty.</p>
<p>The different blocks of timber under trial were
treenailed to the rock, and the experiments extended over
a period of nearly thirty years. They clearly proved that
teak, African oak, English and American oak, mahogany,
beech, ash, elm, and the different varieties of pine, were
found sooner or later to become a prey to the <i>Limnoria</i>.
Greenheart oak was alone found to withstand their
attacks, and even this timber was ultimately not entirely
unaffected.</p>
<p>The result of these valuable experiments is given in
the following <span class="locked">Table:—</span></p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">157</span></p>
<p class="p1 b1 center narrow"><span class="smcap">Table</span> showing the different kinds of Timber which were exposed
to the attacks of the <i>Limnoria terebrans</i> at the Bell Rock in
1814, 1821, 1837, 1843, with their durabilities.</p>
<table id="t157" summary="Timber durability">
<tr><th class="t157width">Kind of Timber.</th><th colspan="2">Decay<br />first<br />observed.</th><th colspan="2">Unsound<br />and<br />quite<br />decayed.</th><th colspan="2">Quite<br />sound<br />for</th><th>Remarks.</th></tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td class="tdc yr">yrs.</td>
<td class="tdc mo">mo.</td>
<td class="tdc yr">yrs.</td>
<td class="tdc mo">mo.</td>
<td class="tdc yr">yrs.</td>
<td class="tdc mo">mo.</td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Greenheart,<sup>1</sup></td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td class="tdc yr">19</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 0</td>
<td class="tdl"><sup>1</sup> Affected in one corner.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Teak-wood,</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td class="tdc yr">13</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 0</td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Beef-wood,</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td class="tdc yr">13</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 0</td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Treenail of Bullet-wood,</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 5</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 0</td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Beech, Payne’s patent pro.,<sup>2</sup></td>
<td class="tdc yr">10</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 7</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td class="tdl"><sup>2</sup> A little holed at one end underneath. Nearly sound 7½ years after being laid down.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Teak-wood,<sup>3</sup></td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 5</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 6</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">African Oak,<sup>4</sup></td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 5</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 6</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td class="tdl"><sup>3</sup> Nearly sound 7½ years after being laid down.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Do. do.</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 4</td>
<td class="tdc mo">11</td>
<td class="tdc yr">10</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 0</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td class="tdl"><sup>4</sup> Nearly sound 7½ years after being laid down.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">English Oak, kyanised,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 4</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 7</td>
<td class="tdc yr">10</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 0</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Teak-wood,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 4</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 7</td>
<td class="tdc yr">12</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 0</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">American Oak, kyanised,<sup>5</sup></td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 4</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 3</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td class="tdl"><sup>5</sup> Decaying, but slowly, 5 years and 7 months after being laid down.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">British Ash,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 3</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 0</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 5</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 0</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Scotch Elm,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 3</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 0</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 5</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 0</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Ash,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 2</td>
<td class="tdc mo">11</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 4</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 3</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">English Elm,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 2</td>
<td class="tdc mo">11</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 4</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 7</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Plane Tree,<sup>6</sup></td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 2</td>
<td class="tdc mo">11</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td class="tdl"><sup>6</sup> Decaying, but slowly, 5 years and 7 months after being laid down.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">American Oak,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 2</td>
<td class="tdc mo">11</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 4</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 7</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Baltic Red Pine,<sup>7</sup></td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 2</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 9</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 4</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 3</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td class="tdl"><sup>7</sup> A good deal decayed when first observed.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">English Oak,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 2</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 4</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 4</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 7</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Scotch Oak,<sup>8</sup></td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 2</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 4</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td class="tdl"><sup>8</sup> Much decayed when first observed.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Baltic Oak,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 2</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 4</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 4</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 3</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Norway Fir,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 2</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 4</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 3</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 1</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Baltic Red Pine, kyanised,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 2</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 4</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 4</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 7</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Pitch Pine,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 2</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 4</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 4</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 3</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">American Yellow Pine,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 2</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 4</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 3</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 7</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">American Red Pine,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 2</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 4</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 3</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 1</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Do. do., kyanised,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 2</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 4</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 4</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 7</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Larch,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 2</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 4</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 4</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 3</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Honduras Mahogany,<sup>9</sup></td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 2</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 1</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td class="tdl"><sup>9</sup> Nearly sound 3½ years after being laid down. Washed away 6 months later.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Beech,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 9</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 3</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 1</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">American Elm,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 9</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 3</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 1</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Treenail of Locust,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 5</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 0</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 3</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 0</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">British Oak,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 6</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 5</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 0</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">American Oak,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 6</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 5</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 0</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Plane Tree,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 6</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 5</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 0</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Honduras Teak treenails,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 6</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 5</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 0</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Beech,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 6</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 5</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 0</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Scotch Fir, teak treenails,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 6</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 3</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 0</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Do. from Lanarkshire,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 6</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 3</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 0</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Do. do.</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 6</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 3</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 0</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Do. Locust treenails,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 6</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 3</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 0</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Memel Fir,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 6</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 5</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 0</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Pitch Pine,<sup>10</sup></td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 6</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 2</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 6</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td class="tdl"><sup>10</sup> Going fast when first observed.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">English Oak,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 3</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 1</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Italian Oak,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 3</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 6</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Dantzic Oak,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 2</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 6</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">English Elm,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 6</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Canada Rock Elm,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 6</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Cedar of Lebanon,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 2</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 6</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Riga Fir,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 6</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Dantzic Fir,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 6</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Virginia Pine,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 6</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Yellow Pine,<sup>11</sup></td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 6</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td class="tdl"><sup>11</sup> A good deal gone 18 months after being laid down. Swept away by the sea 7 months afterwards.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Red Pine,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 6</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Cawdie Pine,<sup>12</sup></td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 6</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td class="tdl"><sup>12</sup> A good deal decayed when first observed.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Polish Larch,<sup>13</sup></td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 6</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td class="tdl"><sup>13</sup> Going fast when first observed.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">Birch, Payne’s patent pro.,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 0</td>
<td class="tdc mo">10</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 1</td>
<td class="tdc mo">10</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
<tr class="bot">
<td class="tdl">American Locust treenails,</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 0</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 8</td>
<td class="tdc yr"> 3</td>
<td class="tdc mo"> 0</td>
<td class="yr"> </td>
<td class="mo"> </td>
<td> </td></tr>
</table>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">158</span>
Mr. Stevenson seems to have formed an opinion that
the best preservative against decay was charring the
timber, as recommended in the following extract from a
report, made in 1811, to the Trustees of Montrose
<span class="locked">Bridge:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The changeableness of climate to which the northern parts of
this island are subject renders edifices of timber more liable to
decay here than perhaps in any other country in Europe. But
the bridge at Montrose is curiously circumstanced; for while it
unavoidably exposes a great surface of timber to the action of the
weather, some of the wooden piers are immersed twenty-two feet
in the water, where they are attacked by a destructive marine worm.
Some of the woodwork at the Bell Rock was infested with the
same species of animal which preys upon the wooden pier at
Montrose. In some of the temporary works there, as in the beams
laid for carrying the railway over the inequalities of the rock, the
timber was so much wormed that some logs measuring one foot
when laid down would not square to more than nine inches at
the end of three years. The beams which supported the wooden
house for the accommodation of the artificers while the lighthouse
was erecting escaped almost untouched, having been slightly
charred, but the reporter, when inspecting the Bell Rock works
this year, found that these worms are making some impression
upon the ends of the supports resting on the rock where the
charring could not take effect. The reporter is therefore of opinion
that there is no better defence against the effects of this animal
than slightly charring the timber, and he would recommend the
practice at the bridge of Montrose wherever it can be applied.
The operation of charring at the Bell Rock was performed by previously
scraping off the adhering matter upon the logs and laying
the skin of the wood open, and tar was applied to promote the
combustion. Charcoal, besides being tasteless and inodorous,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">159</span>
possesses some very curious properties in its action upon vegetable
and animal substances, which may not only render it insipid, but
even offensive to this insect. For those parts between the high-water
mark and the roadway it will be enough to scrape the timber
and lay it over with hot tar.”</p></blockquote>
<p>I need hardly say that this advice would perhaps not
have been given at the present day, when even creosote
has been found to delay, though not to act as a perfect
defence against, the ravages of the <i>Limnoria</i>.<a id="FNanchor_10" href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">10</a></p>
<h3>PRESERVATION OF IRON.</h3>
<p>At a more recent period Mr. Stevenson experimented
at the Bell Rock Lighthouse in the same way on twenty-five
different kinds of malleable iron, with the result that
all of them were soon affected, and that galvanised specimens
resisted oxidation from three to four years, after
which the chemical action went on as quickly as in the
others.</p>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">160</span></p>
<div class="chapter">
<h2><a id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.<br />
<span class="subhead">BRIDGES.<br />
<span class="subhead">1811–1833.</span></span></h2>
</div>
<blockquote>
<p class="hang">Marykirk, Annan, Stirling, and Hutcheson stone bridges—High-level bridge
for Newcastle—Timber bridge of built planks—Winch Chain Bridge—American
bridges of suspension—Runcorn Bridge—Menai Chain Bridge—New
form of suspension bridge.</p></blockquote>
<p class="in0"><span class="smcap">Mr. Stevenson’s</span> stone bridges over the North Esk
at Marykirk, and the Nith at Annan (<a href="#PLATE_VI">Plate <span class="smcap smaller">VI.</span></a>), are
good specimens of road bridges of moderate extent; and
his bridge over the Forth at Stirling, and Hutcheson
Bridge over the Clyde at Glasgow (<a href="#PLATE_VII">Plate <span class="smcap smaller">VII.</span></a>), are
structures of a larger class.</p>
<p>Of the latter, Mr. Fenwick, of the Royal Military
Academy, Woolwich, in the preface to his work on the
<cite>Mechanics of Construction</cite>, published in 1861, says,—“The
London and Waterloo Bridges, in the metropolis,
which rank among the finest structures of the <em>elliptical
arch</em>, and Stevenson’s Hutcheson Bridge at Glasgow,
which is one of the best specimens of the <em>segmental arch</em>,
together with many others, have supplied me with a
variety of problems for illustration.”</p>
<div id="ip_160" class="newpage figcenter" style="max-width: 37.5em;">
<p id="PLATE_VI" class="plate"><i>PLATE VI.</i></p>
<img src="images/i_160a.jpg" width="600" height="430" alt="" />
<div class="caption">
<p>ANNAN BRIDGE<br /><span class="smaller">1824.</span></p>
<p>MARYKIRK BRIDGE<br /><span class="smaller">1811.</span></p>
<p class="floatr"><i>W. & A. K. Johnston, Edinburgh.</i></p>
</div></div>
<div id="ip_160b" class="newpage figcenter" style="max-width: 37.5em;">
<p id="PLATE_VII" class="plate"><i>PLATE VII.</i></p>
<img src="images/i_160b.jpg" width="600" height="426" alt="" />
<div class="caption">
<p>HUTCHESON BRIDGE, GLASGOW.<br /><span class="smaller">1828.</span></p>
<p>STIRLING BRIDGE.<br /><span class="smaller">1829.</span></p>
<p class="floatr"><i>W. & A. K. Johnston, Edinburgh.</i></p>
</div></div>
<div id="ip_160c" class="newpage figcenter" style="max-width: 37.5em;">
<p id="PLATE_VIII" class="plate"><i>PLATE VIII.</i></p>
<img src="images/i_160c.jpg" width="600" height="422" alt="" />
<div class="caption">
<p>DESIGN FOR HIGH LEVEL ROAD BRIDGE<br />AT NEWCASTLE ON TYNE.<br />
<span class="smaller">1828.</span></p>
<p class="p1 smaller">TRANSVERSE SECTION.</p>
<p class="floatr"><i>W. & A. K. Johnston, Edinburgh.</i></p>
</div></div>
<p>The Hutcheson Bridge was completed in 1832.
The masonry of the piers was laid at the level of seven
feet below the bed of the Clyde, on a platform of
timber, on piles eighteen feet in length. I found by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">161</span>
a section made in 1845, after a lapse of thirteen years,
that the level of the river had been lowered, in consequence
of the deepening of the river Clyde by the Navigation
Trustees, no less than eleven feet, and even with
that amount of scour the bridge was, and might long have
remained, a safe structure. But immediately above its
site there is a weir which dams up the Clyde and forms a
lake, or almost still pool, in the river’s bed for several
miles. It was determined, in the interests of navigation,
to take powers to remove the weir, and on its removal the
bridge could, no longer be pronounced safe; it was also
resolved to take powers to replace the Hutcheson by the
new Albert Bridge, designed by Messrs. Bell and Miller.</p>
<div class="tb">* <span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">*</span></div>
<p>Mr. Stevenson has also left behind him some traces of
originality of design in bridge-building.</p>
<p>In 1826 he gave a design to the Corporation of Newcastle
for raising on the existing bridge another roadway,
on a high level, to communicate with the higher parts of
the town, as shown in <a href="#PLATE_VIII">Plate <span class="smcap">VIII</span>.</a>, being the idea since
so successfully carried out on a large scale by the late Mr.
Robert Stephenson in his justly celebrated “high-level
railway viaduct.” Mr. Stevenson’s design, as will be seen,
consists of piers of masonry raised on the piers of the old
bridge supporting a roadway of cast iron. The upper
bridge being continued across the quays on either side of the
river, and joining the roadways leading towards the south
and north by easy gradients, avoided the circuitous and
dangerous route of the old post road through Newcastle.</p>
<p>For timber bridges Mr. Stevenson also proposed, in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">162</span>
1831, a new form of arch of a beautiful
and simple construction (<a href="#Fig_16">Fig. 16</a>),
in which what may be called the
“ring-courses” of the arch are
formed of layers of thin planks bent
into the circular form and stiffened
by <em>kingpost pieces</em>, on which the level
roadway rests. This form of bridge
was afterwards very generally employed
for railway bridges before
the discovery had been made that
for such works, structures of iron
were, in the end, more economical
than timber.</p>
<div id="Fig_16" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 36.875em;">
<img src="images/i_162.jpg" width="590" height="119" alt="" />
<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 16.</span></div></div>
<p>In 1820, he proposed to the
Cramond District of Road Trustees,
with a view mainly to lessening the
cost of the work, a form of suspension
bridge applicable to spans of
moderate width, in which the roadway
passes <em>above</em> the chains, and the
necessity for tall piers is avoided.
The suspension bridge over the
Rhone at Geneva, and other bridges,
have since been constructed on this
principle.</p>
<p>In 1821 Mr. Stevenson wrote an
article on Suspension Bridges for the
<cite>Edinburgh Philosophical Journal</cite>;
and as it contains a description of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">163</span>
this new form of construction, as well as some historical information
relative to bridges on the suspension principle, a
few extracts from the paper may not be without <span class="locked">interest:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“<i>Winch Chain Bridge.</i>—The earliest bridges of suspension of
which we have any account are those of China, said to be of great
extent; Major Rennell also describes a bridge of this kind over the
Sampoo in Hindostan, of about 600 feet in length. But the first
chain bridge in our own country is believed to have been that of
Winch Bridge over the river Tees, forming a communication
between the counties of Durham and York. This bridge is noticed
and an elevation of it given in the third volume of Hutchison’s
<cite>Antiquities of Durham</cite>, printed at Carlisle in 1794. As this volume
is extremely scarce, owing to the greater part of the impression
having been accidentally destroyed by fire, the writer of this article
applied for a sight of it from the library of his friend, Mr. Isaac
Cookson of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The following account is given
by Hutchison at p. 279:—‘The environs of the river (Tees) abound
with the most picturesque and romantic scenes; beautiful falls of
water, rocks and grotesque caverns. About two miles above
Middleton, where the river falls in repeated cascades, a bridge
suspended on iron chains is stretched from rock to rock over a
chasm nearly sixty feet deep, for the passage of travellers, but
particularly of miners; the bridge is seventy feet in length, and
little more than two feet broad, with a hand-rail on one side, and
planked in such a manner that the traveller experiences all the
tremulous motion of the chain, and sees himself suspended over a
roaring gulf, on an agitated and restless gangway, to which few
strangers dare trust themselves.’ We regret that we have not
been able to learn the precise date of the erection of this bridge,
but from good authority we have ascertained that it was erected
about the year 1741.</p>
<p>“<i>American Bridges of Suspension.</i>—It appears from a treatise
on Bridges by Mr. Thomas Pope, architect, of New York, published
<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">164</span>in that city in the year 1811, that eight chain bridges have been
erected upon the catenarian principle, in different parts of America.
It here deserves our particular notice, however, in any claim for
priority of invention with our transatlantic friends, that the chain
bridge over the Tees was known in America, as Pope quotes
Hutchison’s vol. iii., and gives a description of Winch Bridge.
It further appears from this work that a patent was granted by
the American Government for the erection of bridges of suspension
in the year 1808. Our American author also describes a
bridge of this construction, which seems to have been erected about
the year 1809, over the river Merrimack in the State of Massachusetts,
consisting of a catenarian arch of 244 feet span. The
roadway of this bridge is suspended between two abutments or
towers of masonry, thirty seven feet in height, on which piers of
carpentry are erected which are thirty five feet in height. Over
these ten chains are suspended, each measuring 516 feet in length,
their ends being sunk into deep pits on both sides of the river,
where they are secured by large stones. The bridge over the
Merrimack has two carriage-ways, each of fifteen feet in breadth.
It is also described as having three chains which range along the
sides, and four in the middle, or between the two roadways. The
whole expense of this American work is estimated to have been
20,000 dollars.</p>
<p>“<i>Proposed Bridge at Runcorn.</i>—Perhaps the most precarious
and difficult problem ever presented to the consideration of the
British engineer was the suggestion of some highly patriotic
gentlemen of Liverpool, for constructing a bridge over the estuary
of the Mersey at Runcorn Gap, about twenty miles from Liverpool.
The specifications for this work provided that the span of the
bridge should measure at least 1000 feet, and that its height above
the surface of the water should not be less than sixty feet, so as to
admit of the free navigation of this great commercial river. The
idea of a bridge at Runcorn, we believe, was first conceived about<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">165</span>
the year 1813, when the demand for labour was extremely low,
and a vast number of the working classes of Lancashire were
thrown out of employment. A variety of designs for this bridge
were procured by a select committee of the gentlemen who took
an interest in this great undertaking. The plan most approved of,
however, was the design of a bridge of suspension; and Mr. Telford
the engineer, and Captain Brown of the Royal Navy, are understood
pretty nearly to have concurred in opinion as to the practicability
of such a work. Mr. Telford has reported fully on the
subject, and has estimated the expense of his design at from
£63,000 to £85,000, according to different modes of execution.
Though as yet little advancement has been made in carrying this
enterprising design into execution, yet the novelty and magnitude
of an arch of 1000 feet span is a subject of so much interest that
we have thought it proper in this place to mention these circumstances.</p>
<p>“<i>Menai Chain Bridge.</i>—The Straits of Menai, which separate
the island of Anglesea from Caernarvonshire, have long formed a
troublesome obstruction upon the great road from London to Dublin
by Holyhead, by which the troublesome ferry of Bangor might be
avoided. Many plans for the execution of this undertaking have
also been agitated, chiefly in cast iron, including a range of estimate
from about £128,000 to £268,000; but that which is now acted
upon is a bridge of suspension upon the catenarian principle, the
extent of which between the piers or points of suspension is to be
560 feet, the estimate for which is only about £70,000. This by
many has been considered a work of great uncertainty; but the
Union Bridge on this plan has already been executed on the
Tweed, to the extent of 361 feet.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Mr. Stevenson then goes on to mention several wire
and chain bridges erected in Scotland, and gives the
following description of his design for Cramond <span class="locked">Bridge:—</span></p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">166</span></p>
<div id="Fig_17" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 25.9375em;">
<img src="images/i_166.jpg" width="415" height="196" alt="" />
<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 17.</span></div></div>
<blockquote>
<p>“<a href="#Fig_17">Fig. 17</a> is a section and plan designed for crossing the river
Almond on the great north road between Edinburgh and Queensferry.
The extent of the span between the points of suspension
is laid down at 150 feet. The chief circumstances which particularise
this design are a mode of fixing the chains to the abutments
of suspension on each side of the river, by which the
main chains can be distributed equally under the roadway. The
main chains are likewise made to collapse or turn round the abutments
of masonry, as will be seen from the section, in which the
parts of the work are so contrived that access can be had to the
chains by an arched way on each side. In this design the two
ends of the chains are formed into great <em>nails</em> or bolts, with
countersunk or conical heads made to fit into corresponding
hollow tubes of cast iron built into the masonry of the abutments.</p>
<p>“From this description the reader will readily form an idea of
the simplicity and effect of this mode of fixing the chains, being
such, also, that any particular chain may be withdrawn and replaced
without deranging the fabric of the bridge. The roadway,
instead of being <em>suspended</em> from the main chains, is made up to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">167</span>
the proper level upon the chains by a framework of cast iron,
prepared for the reception of a stratum of broken stones for
the road.</p>
<p>“The making up of the roadway of this bridge, however, and
the enlarged angle of its suspension, may be considered as limiting
the span or extent of bridges of this construction to about 200 feet.
The structure represented by <a href="#Fig_17">Fig. 17</a> appears to possess many advantages
for bridges of that modified extent, and the manner of
fixing the chains is applicable to all bridges of suspension; it is
likewise new, so far as we know.”</p></blockquote>
<p>In the close of his paper Mr. Stevenson <span class="locked">says:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“To what extent suspension bridges may be carried is very
uncertain, and he who has the temerity to advance sceptical
or circumscribed views on this subject would do well to reflect
upon the history of the steam-engine. When the Marquis of
Worcester first proposed, by the boiling of water, to produce an
effective force, no one could have conceived the incalculable
advantages which have since followed its improvement by our
illustrious countryman, Watt.”</p></blockquote>
<p class="in0">A prophetic announcement, which has had its full realisation
in the Suspension <em>Railway</em> Bridge of 821 feet
span at Niagara Falls, and in the still bolder design
now in execution for connecting New York and Brooklyn
by a steel wire suspension bridge, having a clear opening
between the piers of no less than 1600 feet.</p>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">168</span></p>
<div class="chapter">
<h2><a id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.<br />
<span class="subhead">WOLF ROCK LIGHTHOUSE.</span></h2>
</div>
<p class="in0"><span class="smcap">About</span> the year 1812, Mr. Stevenson having, as adviser of
the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses, attained the
position of being the most eminent Lighthouse Engineer
of his day, was requested by the Admiralty to report on
the practicability of erecting a lighthouse on the Wolf
Rock, lying about eight miles off the Land’s End in
Cornwall.</p>
<p>I give, from Mr. Stevenson’s “Journal,” the following
curious account of the first visit he made to the rock; and
it may perhaps be as well to say that all quotations made
from what I have called his “Journal” are records of
what he roughly noted down at the time in the form of
a Diary, and are on that account perhaps all the more
interesting, at least to non-professional readers.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“<i>14th Sept. 1813.</i>—Waited upon Sir Robert Calder, Admiral of
the port of Plymouth, on the 13th, in consequence of letters from
Lord Melville relative to a vessel to carry me to the Wolf Rock.</p>
<p>“The Admiral accordingly appointed the ‘Orestes,’ Captain
Smith, to proceed with me to the Wolf, and after landing me there,
and having made my observations, Captain Smith was directed to
land me at any port most convenient for me, according to the state
of the weather. Captain Smith, in consequence of this order, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">169</span>
to suit my convenience, got the ‘Orestes’ in readiness two days
sooner than he otherwise intended, and I embarked on the 14th at
2 <span class="smcap smaller">P.M.</span> agreeably to appointment.</p>
<p>“The Captain took me by the hand and welcomed me on board
His Majesty’s ship, and introduced me to his first lieutenant, Mr.
Fallick. He then proceeded to give orders for casting off, which
was done in an instant after the word was given. The ‘Orestes’
is properly a gun brig, but rigged as a ship, has 28 guns and 100
men. Kept plying to windward, and in the evening had the
Eddystone light in view, still upon our lee quarter, distant eight
or ten miles.</p>
<p>“<i>15th.</i>—Kept working along the shore all day, and at 7 <span class="smcap smaller">P.M.</span> a
pilot from Mousehole by Penzance came on board. Upon consulting
the pilot, he recommended that the ship should be brought to an
anchor in Mounts Bay, or rather Newland Road, all night, as it
would answer no good purpose to go round the land so soon after a
fresh gale of wind, with the view of landing on the Wolf, which he
represented as being only practicable in the finest of summer
weather. This was poor heartening. The Captain submitted to me
whether it were not more advisable to come to an anchor, in which,
with all submission to him, I consented. The ship, accordingly,
was brought to an anchor in twelve fathoms, clean sand.</p>
<p>“On board of the ‘Orestes’ two of the people were punished,—one
for threatening to <em>knock down</em> the serjeant of marines, while
on duty, received three dozen; another who offered an insult to a
lieutenant, received one dozen.</p>
<p>“I was sitting below, the time this was going forward, when all
hands were piped on deck, and the Captain began to read the
Articles of War. He had previously said to me that two men were
in irons, whom he meant to punish and liberate. I went upon deck
to learn the cause of all being so quiet, and discovering what was
intended, I went below and waited in great suspense till the men
began to call out for mercy. I took the liberty of sending a note<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">170</span>
to the Captain—the circumstances were so painful to me—to see if
he could remit any part of the punishment, to which I afterwards
understood he had listened, as he did not give them so many
lashes as was intended. Captain Smith had by no means the
character of a severe commander, as I understood from some of
the officers he had been two years in the ship, and had only
punished twice.</p>
<p>“About 9 <span class="smcap smaller">P.M.</span>, while the Captain and myself were at supper,
we heard a conversation between the pilot and Mr. Fallick, the
first lieutenant, about a vessel being on fire. The former was of
opinion that it was a pilchard boat, the crew of which were roasting
pilchards, while Mr. Fallick insisted that it was a vessel on
fire. In a short time the vessel or boat appeared to be in flames,
and with all sail set she approached the ‘Orestes.’ On shore the
people of Penzance and Mousehole were afraid of the ‘Orestes’
taking fire and discharging a broadside upon the town. In the
meantime the vessel on fire approached the ‘Orestes’ so directly
that Captain Smith gave orders to veer out all the cable, stand by
to cut or bend on more rope, according to circumstances.</p>
<p>“The weather became moderate, and we had little or no wind,
and the vessel on fire (which turned out to be a sloop of 80 or 90
tons, bound for St. Sebastian with bottled porter and bale goods)
passed ahead of the ‘Orestes’ about half a cable’s length. Her hull
was then completely on fire, but the rigging and sails had not then
caught fire, and she kept an undeviating course till she grounded
on the shore.</p>
<p>“Captain Smith then despatched officers and men in three boats
to endeavour to save as much as possible, but a report having gone
abroad that she had gunpowder on board no person ventured near
the vessel on fire till it was too late to be of any service, and in the
morning when Captain Smith and I went on shore nothing remained
but the keel and a few of the ‘futtocks’ half burned, and the mast
over by the deck, the lower part having been consumed by the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">171</span>
flames. The vessel was just getting under weigh when the accident
occurred, through the carelessness of a boy, who set a lighted
candle into a crate of straw in which bottles were packed. The
crew soon afterwards appear to have carelessly deserted the vessel
and landed at Mounts Bay, three miles from Mousehole, and
appear not to have been very active in doing what was in their
power. The loss of ship and cargo was estimated at £14,000.</p>
<p>“<i>16th.</i>—Got under weigh at 6 <span class="smcap smaller">P.M.</span>, and left Mousehole Bay
with an intention to go round the land; but the weather fell calm,
and after shutting in the Lizard lights came to an anchor in
Mounts Bay till next morning. The Lizard lights appeared to
very great advantage.</p>
<p>“<i>17th.</i>—Got under weigh at 6 <span class="smcap smaller">A.M.</span>, wind shifting from southwest
to east with a fine breeze, and at 11 <span class="smcap smaller">A.M.</span> got up with
the Wolf Rock. At 12 noon two boats were manned—one commanded
by a midshipman, and the other by Lieutenant Fallick,
into which I went, and after pulling round and round the rock
with both boats, sounding all the while, we made preparations for
landing. Mr. Fallick arranged his boat’s crew, and let go a grapling
over the stern, then veered away upon this stern rope watching a
smooth, and when the boat was near enough the young man (the
same who had two days before got one dozen of lashes) appointed
to land with a bow rope to make fast, leaped upon the rock, and
upon these two ropes the boat was hauled off and on with great
ease and facility. In this manner Lieutenant Fallick landed next,
then I landed, but not without much difficulty, and watching an
opportunity to get on the rock with a smooth between the seas.</p>
<p>“Upon leaving the ship, about a quarter of a mile from the rock,
I began to sound, and at from two to three cables’ length off
the rock have 41, 40, and 38 fathoms water, with shell sand of
a fair colour. At about one cable’s length have 13 fathoms, same
bottom. Within this distance have 10, 8, 5, 3½, and 2 fathoms,
chiefly rocky bottom.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">172</span>
“The rock is steep in all directions; the south-west if anything
draws to a point with rather less water near it than in other directions.</p>
<p>“At low water of a neap tide the rock appeared to be about twelve
or fourteen feet in perpendicular height above the surface of the
water. Its surface is very irregular, jutting up in masses of from
six to ten feet in height. These inequalities all presented marked
and angular outlines, terminating in well-defined points and edges.
The central part of the rock is formed pretty much into a hollow,
where there have been some quarrying operations in fixing the
beacon which was erected upon it. The margin of the rock is
upon the whole pretty regular, as it appears jutting out of the
water. On the eastern side it is not so regularly formed at the
water’s edge as on the western side. It slopes outwards, and
seems to form a large stool in every direction. At some places
there are guts or slips in the rock, but none of these are large enough
to be useful for a boat landing at. The best and perhaps the only
landing place is at the north-east side, where the rock is most
precipitous.</p>
<p>“Taking the dimensions in the largest directions with the lead-line,
in fathoms, it measured twenty-two fathoms in a north-east
and south-west direction, and sixteen fathoms in a north-west and
south-east direction.</p>
<p>“Upon the surface in the middle, at the hollow place, I found
a hole of six inches in depth, and about nine inches square, and
connected with it, at six feet distant, three holes for bats, which I
presume to have been the step of the beacon, and the iron bats were
still to be seen which had been used as guys. This fragile affair
appears to have wanted base and every requisite suited to such
an exposed situation and important purpose, and accordingly the
beacon, with a wolf of metallic work, erected by a Lieutenant Smith,
who erected the Longships Lighthouse, is said not to have remained
longer than a few days, and was carried away in the first storm.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">173</span>
“Besides these holes and bats, which last seem not to have
exceeded 1½ inch iron in strength, I found several eye bolts in
different parts of the rock, particularly at the landing place, which
had been put in to make fast boats, etc., while the beacon was
being erected.</p>
<p>“The surface of the rock is extremely rugged, and running in
every direction into sharp angular points. The rock seems to run
in beds from an inch to a foot in thickness. It has much the
appearance of limestone, but upon a narrow inspection it turns out
to be porphyry. It is covered with the barnacle, many limpets of
a very large size—say two inches diameter,—and mussels. These
were the only animal productions that were found upon it. Of the
marine <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">fuci</i> there were two or three varieties.</p>
<p>“That it would be practicable to erect a building upon this
rock I have no doubt, but from its shape and figure, and the great
depth of water in all directions round it, together with the smallness
of its dimensions, it would be a work of great difficulty, and
be attended with much expense and great hazard.</p>
<p>“I am therefore of opinion that it might cost from £80,000 to
£90,000 to erect a lighthouse at the Wolf, with all the requisite
buildings and appointments, like the Bell Rock Lighthouse.</p>
<p>“In a conversation on this subject with Lieutenant Smith in
1806 (who had erected the beacon on the Wolf), he pronounced it
as an impracticable work. But his opinion, from the work he had
performed at the Longships, and other circumstances, made very
little impression upon my mind, at the time, in regard to the Bell
Rock, and since seeing the Wolf Rock I think his arguments were
ill founded, and I am perfectly decided in opinion that the work
is a practicable one.</p>
<p>“The wind being nearly easterly, and consequently unfavourable
for returning with dispatch to Plymouth, the captain gravely proposed
that we should stand towards ‘the Bay’ for a few days,
when it might shift. Not being fully aware of what was meant by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">174</span>
the Bay, I put the question, when to my surprise he meant the
Bay of Biscay, and said we should see St. Sebastian, which had
just fallen; but to this I replied, that I should much rather be
landed at the Land’s End. He was constantly on the outlook for
prizes, and as I came not to fight I wanted much to be on shore,
that I might pursue my way to Bath, where I knew Mr. Rae, the
Sheriff of Edinburgh, would be waiting my return to proceed upon
the visit to the Prisons on our return to Scotland.</p>
<p>“The ship was therefore directed to steer for the Land’s End,
and the pilot took the ship within the Longships Lighthouse, and
he and I landed at Sennan on the same evening.</p>
<p>“Having procured horses for myself and luggage, I set off
immediately for Penzance, which I reached about 10 o’clock at
night, the 17th September, much pleased with my trip upon the
whole.</p>
<p>“<i>18th.</i>—Leave Penzance, and reach Falmouth by the fly.</p>
<p>“<i>19th.</i>—Leave Falmouth, and that same night, or early next
morning, reach Exeter.</p>
<p>“<i>20th.</i>—At 6 <span class="smcap smaller">A.M.</span> leave Exeter, and 8 <span class="smcap smaller">P.M.</span> reach Bath.</p>
<p>“From Plymouth to the Wolf, and returning to Bath, only
eight days.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Mr. Stevenson at a subsequent date made another
visit to the Wolf, accompanied by an assistant, when a
careful survey was made, followed by a well-considered
design, which is shown in <a href="#PLATE_IX">Plate <span class="smcap smaller">IX.</span></a>, and is described by
him as <span class="locked">follows:—</span></p>
<div id="ip_174" class="newpage figcenter" style="max-width: 21.0625em;">
<p id="PLATE_IX" class="plate"><i>PLATE IX.</i></p>
<img src="images/i_174.jpg" width="337" height="600" alt="" />
<div class="caption">
<p><i>DESIGN FOR WOLF ROCK LIGHT HOUSE.</i></p>
<p class="floatl"><i>W. & A. K. Johnston, Edinburgh.</i></p>
</div></div>
<blockquote>
<p>“<a href="#PLATE_IX">Plate <span class="smcap smaller">IX</span></a>. is the section of a design formed by the revolution
of the parabola round the axis of a building, as its asymptote,
whose base measures fifty-six feet in diameter, and parallel at
the top of the solid is thirty-six feet; and height to the entrance
door, thirty-five feet. The contents of this figure between these<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">175</span>
parallels is calculated at 45,000 cubic feet; but the whole of the
masonry of the design is estimated at 70,624 cubic feet. Its
general features may be stated as similar to those of the Eddystone
and Bell Rock Lighthouses, the parts being only enlarged, and the
parabolic instead of the logarithmic curve adopted for its outline.
In this design, the parabolic curve is continued from the basement
to the copestone of the light room, exclusively of the projection
for the cornice and balcony. The masonry is intended to be 120
feet in height, estimating from the medium level of the sea, of
which the solid, or from the foundation to the entrance door, forms
thirty-five feet, the staircase twenty-five feet, and the remaining
sixty feet of its height is occupied with six apartments, and the
walls of the light room. In the staircase a recess is formed for
containing the machinery for raising the stores to the height of the
entrance door; here a small hole is perforated through the building
for the admission of the purchase chain. The thickness of the
walls immediately above the solid is twelve feet; at the top of the
stone staircase they are eight feet, and where the walls are thinnest,
immediately under the cornice, they measure two feet. A drop
hole formed in the courses of the staircase and solid, provides for
the range of the weight of a revolving light. The ascent to this
building, as at the Bell Rock, is intended to be by an exterior stair
or ladder of brass, and the interior communication between the
several apartments by means of flights of circular oaken steps.”</p></blockquote>
<p>The only estimate Mr. Stevenson ever made of the
work was that already stated in his Journal, at a cost
of £80,000 to £90,000 for the tower and requisite dwellings
for the lightkeepers and crew of attending vessel
ashore.</p>
<p>Mr. Stevenson’s original visit was, as we have seen,
made in 1813, and in 1870, after a lapse of fifty-seven<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">176</span>
years, the present tower on the Wolf Rock, the joint
work of the late Mr. James Walker and of Mr. James
N. Douglass, was successfully accomplished under the
auspices of the Trinity House. The cost of the tower,
exclusively of the shore establishment, which it was unnecessary
to provide, was £62,726, being not very different
from the estimate of Mr. Stevenson (from £80,000 to
£90,000), which included a shore establishment.</p>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">177</span></p>
<div class="chapter">
<h2><a id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.<br />
<span class="subhead">CARR ROCK BEACON.<br />
<span class="subhead">1810–1821.</span></span></h2>
</div>
<p class="in0"><span class="smcap">The</span> Carr Rock is a tide-covered reef extending about 1¾
mile from the shore of Fifeness, and forming a <em>turning
point</em> in the navigation of the northern-bound shipping of
the Firth of Forth, and on Mr. Stevenson’s recommendation
the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses resolved
to erect a beacon of masonry to mark the danger.</p>
<p>It may seem to be unnecessary, after describing the
Bell Rock Lighthouse, to notice so apparently small a
work as this; but in such matters it is unsafe to generalise;
each case must be considered on its own merits, and great
difficulties were encountered in accomplishing the work.
The formation of the Carr Rock rendered it impracticable
to secure a base for a building of greater diameter
than eighteen feet, and as part of that base had to be
founded under the level of the lowest tides by cofferdams
which were removed and taken ashore after each
tide’s work, even the Engineer of the Bell Rock Lighthouse
found all his resources taxed to a considerable
extent, and he was in the end foiled in carrying out his
design for the building. But irrespectively of these<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">178</span>
physical difficulties, the Carr Rock is a work of great
interest to the lighthouse engineer, inasmuch as Mr.
Stevenson at that early date conceived the idea of calling
to his aid the power given by the rise of tide on the
building to move a train of clock work to sound a warning
bell; and again, when the destruction of the upper
portion of his beacon by the sea obliged him to relinquish
this plan, unwilling to be beaten, he suggested that the
same tidal action might be made to sound a whistle; and
failing that, he proposed to exhibit a phosphorescent light
from the top of the building. All of these ideas suggested
by Mr. Stevenson’s inventive mind have been from time
to time revived by modern inventors.</p>
<p>The original design of the Carr Rock Beacon was made
in 1810, and the work was commenced in 1813. After
portions of the masonry had repeatedly been carried
away by the sea, the original design for surmounting the
building by a bell to be rung by the rise and fall of the
tide was abandoned, and the beacon was completed in
1821, by raising an iron structure, as shown in <a href="#PLATE_X">Plate <span class="smcap smaller">X</span></a>.
<a href="#PLATE_X">Fig. X-2</a>, on the foundation that had escaped the fury of the
sea, and that structure is still in perfect preservation.
So great, indeed, was the difficulty that Mr. Stevenson, in
1818, contemplated using blocks of cast iron instead of
stone to insure greater specific gravity—a proposal which
is believed to have been then made for the first time.</p>
<p>The following is Mr. Stevenson’s own description of
this interesting <span class="locked">work:—</span></p>
<p>“The form and construction of the Carr Rock Beacon,
as originally designed and ultimately executed, will be
<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">179</span>better understood by referring to <a href="#PLATE_X">Plate <span class="smcap">X</span></a>. The motion
originally intended to be given to the bell-apparatus,
or tide machine, <a href="#PLATE_X">Fig. X-1</a>, was to be effected by admitting
the sea through a small aperture of three inches in
diameter, perforated in the solid masonry, communicating
with a cylindrical chamber in the centre of the building,
measuring two feet in diameter, in which a float or metallic
air tank was to rise and fall with the tide. During the
period of flood tide, the air vessel, in its elevation by the
pressure of the water, was to give motion to machinery
for tolling the bell and winding up a weight, which last,
in its descent, during ebb tide, was to continue the motion
of the machine, until the flood tide again returned to perform
the joint operation of tolling the bell and raising the
weight. A working model of a machine upon this principle
having been constructed, it was kept in motion for
a period equal to several months; this was effected by
water run through a succession of tanks raised by a pump
from the lower one to the higher, thus producing the
effect of flood and ebb tides. The time during which this
apparatus was in action having been ascertained by an
index, a constant attendance upon the machine during
this protracted experiment became unnecessary.</p>
<div id="ip_179" class="newpage figcenter" style="max-width: 37.5em;">
<p id="PLATE_X" class="plate"><i>PLATE X.</i></p>
<img src="images/i_179.jpg" width="600" height="549" alt="" />
<div class="caption">
<p class="floatl">CARR ROCK BEACON AS DESIGNED<br />IN THE YEAR 1810</p>
<p class="floatr">CARR ROCK BEACON AS EXECUTED<br />IN THE YEAR 1821</p>
</div></div>
<p class="p4">“The upper termination of the beacon, in its present
form, as shown in <a href="#PLATE_X">Fig. X-2</a>, does not admit of the application
of the tide machine with the bell apparatus. Experiments
as applicable to this have, however, been tried with a wind
instrument, to be sounded by the pressure of the sea water,
but it has not succeeded to the extent that seems necessary
for a purpose of this kind. We have, indeed, thought<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">180</span>
that the application of pressure as a power, communicated
by the waters of the ocean, in mechanical operations,
might be carried to almost any extent by simply providing
a chamber or dock large enough for the reception of a
float or vessel, of dimensions equivalent to the force
required. This description of machinery is more particularly
applicable in situations where the tides have a great
rise, as in the Solway Firth, Bristol Channel, and other
parts of the British seas; and at St. Malo on the coast
of France.</p>
<p>“A beacon of any form, unprovided with a light, must
always be considered an imperfect landmark, and therefore
various modes have been contemplated for more
completely pointing out the position of the Carr Rock.
It has been proposed that phosphoric lights should be
exhibited from the top of the building. This object, however,
would be more certainly accomplished by the erection
of leading lights upon the island of May and mainland
of Fife. But these, with other plans, which have been
under the writer’s consideration, would necessarily be
attended with a great additional expense, which, in the
present instance, it is not thought advisable to incur.”</p>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">181</span></p>
<div class="chapter">
<h2><a id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.<br />
<span class="subhead">CRANES.</span></h2>
</div>
<p class="in0"><span class="smcap">It</span> appears that Mr. Stevenson was much perplexed as to
what sort of cranes he should use in building the Bell
Rock Lighthouse. His difficulties were <span class="locked">twofold:—</span></p>
<p><i>First</i>, In consequence of the dovetailed form of the
stones he required a crane that would drop them as nearly
as possible on the beds on which they were permanently
to rest.</p>
<p><i>Second</i>, Supposing he devised a <em>guy crane</em> that overcame
this difficulty, what was to be done as the building
rose in height, and the guys became too nearly perpendicular
to admit of such a crane being used?</p>
<p>In his private notes Mr. Stevenson regrets that he
could get no advice from anybody he consulted, all of
whom recommended him to employ common sheer poles,
such as had been used by Smeaton at the Eddystone;
and he adds, “I may say, morning, noon, and night,
these difficulties have haunted me.” But thrown back on
his own resources, and appreciating the difficulty as no one
else could so well do, he found, as is often the case, that
he was his own best counsellor, and he succeeded in
solving the problem that had given him so much concern,
by inventing what he called the “moveable beam<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">182</span>
crane,” and also the “balance crane,” which are shown in
<a href="#PLATE_XI">Plate <span class="smcap">XI</span></a>. The former, as modified to suit particular
cases, is now in universal use for building purposes, and
the latter has been employed in rearing most of our Rock
Lighthouses, so that I think professional readers will
not object to my giving Mr. Stevenson’s description
of these cranes, as designed by him at the beginning of
this century. He <span class="locked">says:—</span></p>
<p>“In cranes of the common construction the beam is a
fixture, and is placed at right angles to the upright shaft:
but in the machine represented in the <a href="#PLATE_XI">Plate (Fig. XI-1)</a>,
its attachment is at the lower extremity of the crane,
where it is moveable up and down upon a journal or
bolt. This crane is therefore termed a moveable beam
crane. The moveable property of the beam, in so far as
the writer knows, is new, and possesses the advantage of
laying any stone within its range perpendicularly on its
site. This, from the dovetailed form of the stones at the
Bell Rock, rendered it particularly fitted for this work, to
which a crane of the ordinary construction could hardly
be said to be applicable. At the Eddystone Lighthouse
this operation was performed by means of triangular
sheers; but, from the greater extent of the Bell Rock
works, and their greater depth in the water, such means
must have rendered the process of building extremely
tedious. These cranes were necessarily immersed at
high water, and were retained in their places by four
guys fixed at the top of the upright shaft, and the moveable
jib or beam being lowered down, was secured to an
eyebolt batted into the rock.”</p>
<div id="ip_182" class="newpage figcenter" style="max-width: 37.5em;">
<p id="PLATE_XI" class="plate"><i>PLATE XI.</i></p>
<img src="images/i_182.jpg" width="600" height="457" alt="" />
<div class="caption">
<p><span class="smcap"><i>MOVEABLE JIB and BALANCE CRANES.</i></span></p>
<p class="floatl"><i>W. & A. K. Johnston, Edinburgh.</i></p>
</div></div>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">183</span></p>
<p class="p2">“The ‘balance crane’ (<a href="#PLATE_XI">Fig. XI-2</a>) was constructed on a
new principle for building the upper part of the Bell Rock
Lighthouse, when the guy ropes of the moveable beam
crane became ‘too taut,’ as sailors express it, or were
too near the perpendicular, thereby rendering the beam
cranes unstable. To remedy this, the balance crane was
so arranged as to be kept in equilibrium by a back weight
of cast iron, so adapted as to counteract the varying load
upon the working arm or beam. The elevation here
represented is the same in principle with that used at the
Bell Rock, but differs somewhat in form, agreeably to
improvements made in order to adapt it to the erection
of the Carr Rock Beacon. The upright central column is
a tube of cast iron put together in convenient lengths
with flush joints, after the manner of spigot and faucet,
fitted by turning and boring. The centre column of this
machine might have been carried to any suitable or convenient
height, by adding length to length, as the building
advanced, without once moving the foot on which it rested,
but at the Bell Rock not more than three lengths of from
six to nine feet were generally in use. A malleable iron
cross head was stepped into the void of the central shaft
or column when the body of the crane was to be elevated.
This operation was accomplished simply by hooking the
main ‘purchase’ and ‘traveller’ chains into the eyes of
the crosshead, when the machinery of the crane was
employed with great facility as a locomotive power for
lifting itself as each new length of central column was
added. The weight of this crane as used at the Carr
Rock did not exceed two tons.”</p>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">184</span></p>
<div class="chapter">
<h2><a id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.<br />
<span class="subhead">FISHERIES.</span></h2>
</div>
<p class="in0"><span class="smcap">Mr. Stevenson</span> was ever an intelligent and anxious
observer of the habits and industry of the people of those
remote and isolated parts of the country which he so
often visited. He was specially interested in the fisheries
from which they mainly derive their support, as testified
by frequent allusions to them in his journals and notes.</p>
<p>The following notice regarding the state of the Scottish
fisheries, made in 1819, to the editor of the <cite>Edinburgh
Philosophical Journal</cite>,<a id="FNanchor_11" href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">11</a> will be read with <span class="locked">interest:—</span></p>
<p>“Having been for many years conversant with the
navigation of the Scottish seas, I have, prior to the war
with Holland, seen fleets of Dutch ‘busses’ engaged in
the herring fishery off the northern parts of our coast.
For a long time past, however, those industrious fishermen
had not ventured to approach these shores; and they
are now only beginning to reappear.</p>
<p>“In the early part of August last, while sailing along
the shores of Kincardineshire, about ten miles off Dunnottar
Castle, the watch upon deck, at midnight, called out
‘Lights ahead.’ Upon a nearer approach these lights
were found to belong to a small fleet of Dutch fishermen<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">185</span>
employed in the deep sea fishing, each vessel having a
lantern at her mast head. What success these plodding
people had met with our crew had no opportunity of
inquiring; but upon arriving the next morning at Fraserburgh,—the
great fishing station on the coast of Aberdeen—we
found that about 120 boats, containing five men each,
had commenced the fishing season here six weeks before,
and had that night caught no fewer than about 1500
barrels of herrings, which in a general way, when there
is a demand for fish, may be valued at £1 sterling per
barrel to the fishermen, and may be regarded as adding
to the wealth of the country perhaps not less than £3000.
In coasting along between Fraserburgh and the Orkney
Islands, another fleet of Dutch fishermen was seen at a
distance. The harbour and bay of Wick were crowded
with fishing boats and busses of all descriptions, collected
from the Firth of Forth and southward even as far as
Yarmouth and Lowestoft. The Caithness fishing was
said to have been pretty successful, though not equal to
what it has been in former years.</p>
<p>“In the Orkney and Shetland Islands one would naturally
look for extensive fishing establishments, both in
herrings, and what are termed white fish (cod, ling, and
tusk); but it is a curious fact, that while the Dutch have
long come from their own coast to these islands to fish
herrings, it is only within a very few years that the people
of Orkney, chiefly by the spirited and praiseworthy
exertions of Samuel Laing, Esq., have given any attention
to this important source of wealth. It has long been a
practice with the great fishmongers of London to send<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">186</span>
their <em>welled</em> smacks to fish for cod, and to purchase lobsters,
around the Orkney Islands; and both are carried
alive to the London market. This trade has done much
good to these islands, and has brought a great deal of
money to them; but still it is of a more circumscribed
nature, and is less calculated to swell the national wealth,
than the herring and white fishery in general.</p>
<p>“Hitherto the industry of the Orcadians has been
chiefly directed to farming pursuits; while the Shetlanders
have been almost exclusively occupied in the cod, ling,
and tusk fishing. It is doubtful, indeed, if, up to this
period, there be a single boat belonging to the Shetland
Isles which is completely equipped for the herring fishery.
But on reaching Shetland another fleet of Dutch doggers
was seen collecting in numbers off these islands—a coast
which is considered a rich harvest in Holland.</p>
<p>“So systematically do the Dutch pursue the fishing
business upon our coasts, that their fleet of busses is
accompanied by an hospital ship. This vessel we now
found at anchor in Lerwick roads, and were informed
that she paid weekly visits to the fleet, to supply medicines,
and to receive any of the people falling sick, or
meeting with any accident.</p>
<p>“Though Shetland is certainly not so much an agricultural
country as Orkney, yet it may be hoped that the
encouragement judiciously held out by the Highland
Society, for the production of green crops in Shetland,
may eventually have the effect of teaching these insular
farmers the practicability of providing fodder for their
cattle in the spring of the year. This has long been a
great desideratum. The command of a month or six<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">187</span>
weeks’ fodder would enable the proprietors of that country
to stock many of their fine verdant isles with cattle, and
to employ their hardy tenantry more exclusively in the
different branches of the fishery.</p>
<p>“It is well known, that, next to the Newfoundland
Banks, those of Shetland are the most productive in ling,
cod, tusk, and other white fish; and by the recent discovery
of a bank, trending many leagues to the south-westward,
the British merchants have made a vast accession
to their fishing grounds. The fishermen who reside
in the small picturesque bay of Scalloway, and in some
of the other bays and voes on the western side of the
mainland of Shetland, have pursued with much success
the fishing upon this new bank, which I humbly presume
to term the <span class="smcap">Regent Fishing Bank</span>—a name at once calculated
to mark the period of its discovery, and pay a proper
compliment to the Prince. Here small sloops, of from
fifteen to twenty-five tons burden, and manned with eight
persons, have been employed. In the beginning of August
they had this summer fished for twelve weeks, generally
returning home with their fish once a week. On an average,
these vessels had caught 1000 fine cod fish a week, of
which about 600 in a dried state go to the ton, and these
they would have gladly sold at about £15 per ton. So
numerous are the fish upon the Regent Fishing Bank, that
a French vessel, belonging, it is believed, to St. Malo, had
sailed with her second cargo of fish this season; and
though the fishermen did not mention this under any
apprehension, as though there were danger of the fish becoming
scarce, yet they seemed to regret the circumstance,
on account of their market being thus preoccupied.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">188</span>
“Here, and at Orkney, we had the pleasure to see many
ships arriving from the whale fishing, and parting with a
certain proportion of their crews. To such an extent,
indeed, are the crews of the whalers made up from these
islands, that it is calculated that not less than £15,000 in
cash are annually brought into the islands by this means.
With propriety, therefore, may the whale fishery be
regarded as one of the most productive sources of national
wealth connected with the British Fisheries.</p>
<p>“From the Orkney and Shetland Islands our course
was directed to the westward. A considerable salmon
fishing seems to be carried on in the mouths of the
rivers of Lord Reay’s Country in Sutherlandshire: the
fish are carried from this to Aberdeen, and thence in
regular trading smacks to London. We heard little more
of any kind of fishing till we reached the Harris Isles.
There, and throughout the numerous lochs and fishing
stations on the mainland, in the districts of Gairloch,
Applecross, Lochalsh, Glenelg, Moidart, Knoidart, Ardnamurchan,
Mull, Lorn, and Kintyre, we understood
that there was a general lamentation for the disappearance
of herrings, which in former times used to crowd
into lochs which they seem now to have in some measure
deserted. This the fishermen suppose to be owing to
the <em>Schools</em> being broken and divided about the Shetland
and Orkney Islands; and they remark, that, by some
unaccountable change in the habits of the fish, the
greatest number now take the east coast of Great Britain.
This is the more to be regretted, that in Skye, the Lewis,
Harris, and Uist Islands, the inhabitants have of late
years turned their attention much to the fishing. Indeed,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">189</span>
this has followed as a matter of necessity, from the general
practice of converting the numerous small arable farms,
which were perhaps neither very useful to the tenants
nor profitable to the laird, into great sheep walks; so
that the inhabitants are now more generally assembled
upon the coast. The large sums expended in the construction
of the Caledonian Canal have, either directly
or indirectly, become a source of wealth to these people:
they have been enabled to furnish themselves with boats
and fishing tackle, and for one fishing boat which was
formerly seen in the Hebrides only twenty years ago, it
may be safely affirmed that ten are to be met with now.
If the same spirit shall continue to be manifested, in
spite of all the objections which have been urged against
the salt laws, and the depopulating effects of emigration,
the British Fisheries in these islands, and along this
coast, with a little encouragement, will be wonderfully
extended, and we shall ere long see the Highlands and
Islands of Scotland in that state to which they are peculiarly
adapted, and in which alone their continued prosperity
is to be looked for, viz., when their valleys, muirs,
and mountains are covered with flocks, and the people
are found in small villages on the shores.”</p>
<div class="tb">* <span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">*</span></div>
<p>The following history of the origin of the Shetland
herring fishery, communicated to <cite>Blackwood’s Magazine</cite>
in 1821, is, I think, worthy of being <span class="locked">recorded:—</span></p>
<p>“Few people, on examining the map of Scotland, would
believe that the herring fishing has only within these
few years been begun in Orkney, while the natives are
almost strangers to the fishing of cod and ling.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">190</span>
“On the other hand, it is no less extraordinary that
although the cod and ling fishery has been carried to
so great an extent in Shetland as to enable them to
export many cargoes to the Catholic countries on the
Continent, not a herring net has been spread by the natives
of Shetland till the present year (1821), when Mr. Mowat
of Gardie, and a few other spirited proprietors of these
islands, formed themselves into an association, and subscribed
the necessary funds for purchasing boats and
nets, to encourage the natives to follow the industrious
example of the Dutch.</p>
<p>“The immediate management of this experimental
fishery was undertaken in the most patriotic and disinterested
manner by Mr. Duncan, the Sheriff-Substitute of
Shetland. Having procured three boats, he afterwards
visited Orkney, to ascertain the mode of conducting the
business there, and having also got fishermen from the
south, this little adventure commenced. Its nets were
first wetted in the month of July, and it is believed its
labours were concluded in the month of September, after
obtaining what is considered pretty good success, having
caught as follows, <span class="locked">viz.:—</span></p>
<table summary="Shetland herring experiment, 1821">
<tr>
<td class="tdl">The ‘Experiment,’</td>
<td class="tdl">6-manned boat,</td>
<td class="tdl">212½</td>
<td class="tdl">crans.</td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">The ‘Hope,’</td>
<td class="tdl">5<span class="in2">”</span></td>
<td class="tdl">119¾</td>
<td class="tdl"><span class="in1">”</span></td></tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">The ‘Nancy,’</td>
<td class="tdl">4<span class="in2">”</span></td>
<td class="tdl"> 80</td>
<td class="tdl"><span class="in1">”</span></td></tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td class="tdl"><span class="bt bb">412¼</span></td>
<td class="tdl"><span class="in1">”</span></td></tr>
</table>
<p>“The great object which the Shetland gentlemen have
in view, in this infant establishment, is to give employment
to their fishermen in the herring trade, after the cod
and ling season is over, and by this means to enable them<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">191</span>
to partake of those bounties and encouragements so properly
bestowed by Government on the fisheries; and thus
abstract the attention of the lower orders of these islands
from an illicit traffic in foreign spirits, tea, and tobacco,
which has greatly increased of late years.</p>
<p>“The profit of the herring fishing at its commencement
has, however, afforded more encouragement than
could have been expected; for, besides paying the men
a liberal allowance for their labour, a small sum has been
applied towards defraying the expense of the boats and
nets. But what is of far more consequence to this
patriotic association is the spirit of enterprise which it
is likely to create by bringing forward a number of
additional boats in the way of private adventure, which
must be attended with the best advantage to the Shetland
Islands.”</p>
<h3>THE SYMPIESOMETER.</h3>
<p>Again, in 1820, Mr. Stevenson took occasion to
express his solicitude for the welfare of the fishermen in
the following note, suggesting the means whereby they
might sometimes avoid a coming storm—a suggestion
which is now to some extent carried out by the Board
of Trade’s establishment of marine barometers at many
of our fishing <span class="locked">stations:—</span></p>
<p>“Mr. Stevenson informs us,” says the editor of the
<cite>Edinburgh Philosophical Journal</cite><a id="FNanchor_12" href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">12</a> for 1820, “that having
occasion, in the beginning of September last, to visit the
Isle of Man, he beheld the interesting spectacle of about
300 large fishing boats, each from fifteen to twenty tons<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">192</span>
burden, leaving their various harbours at that island in
an apparently fine afternoon, and standing directly out
to sea with the intention of prosecuting the fishery under
night. He at the same time remarked that both the
common marine barometer, and Adie’s sympiesometer,
which were in the cabin of his vessel, indicated an
approaching change of weather, the mercury falling to
29·5 inches. It became painful, therefore, to witness the
scene,—more than a thousand industrious fishermen,
lulled to security by the fineness of the day, scattering
their little barks over the face of the ocean, and thus
rushing forward to imminent danger or probable destruction.
At sunset, accordingly, the sky became cloudy and
threatening, and in the course of the night it blew a
very hard gale, which afterwards continued for three
days successively. This gale completely dispersed the
fleet of boats, and it was not without the utmost difficulty
that many of them reached the various creeks of
the island. It is believed no lives were lost on this
occasion, but the boats were damaged, much tackle was
destroyed, and the men were unnecessarily exposed to
danger and fatigue. During the same storm, it may be
remarked, thirteen vessels were either totally lost or
stranded between the Isle of Anglesea and St. Bee’s
Head in Lancashire. Mr. Stevenson remarks, how
much it is to be regretted that the barometer is so little
in use in the mercantile marine of Great Britain, compared
with the trading vessels of Holland, and observes, that
although the common marine barometer is perhaps too
cumbersome for the ordinary run of fishing and coasting
vessels, yet Adie’s sympiesometer is so extremely portable<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">193</span>
that it might be carried even in a Manx boat. Each lot
of such vessels has a commodore, under whose orders the
fleet sails; it would therefore be a most desirable thing
that a sympiesometer should be attached to each commodore’s
boat, from which a preconcerted signal of any
expected gale or change of weather as indicated by the
sympiesometer could easily be given.”</p>
<h3>THE HABITS OF FISHES.</h3>
<p>The following notes as to the habits of fish may
prove of interest to the <span class="locked">naturalist:—</span></p>
<p>“It has often been observed in the course of the Bell
Rock operations, that during the cold weather of spring
and autumn, and even at all seasons, in stormy weather,
when the sea is much agitated by wind, the fishes disappear
entirely from the vicinity of the rock, probably
retreating into much deeper water, from which they do
not seem to return until a change of weather has taken
place; so much was this attended to by the seamen
employed on this service, that they frequently prognosticated
and judged of the weather from this habit of the
fishes as well as from the appearance of the sky.”</p>
<p>“It was a general remark at the Bell Rock that fish
were never plenty in its neighbourhood, excepting in
good weather. Indeed, the seamen used to speculate
about the state of the weather from their success in
fishing. When the fish disappeared at the rock, it was
considered a sure indication that a gale was not far off,
as the fish seemed to seek shelter in deeper water, from
the roughness of the sea, during these changes of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">194</span>
weather. This evening, the landing master’s crew brought
to the rock a quantity of newly caught cod fish, measuring
from fifteen to twenty-four inches in length. The
membrane called the <em>sound</em>, which is attached to the
backbone of fishes, being understood to contain, at different
times, greater portions of azote and of oxygen than common
air, the present favourable opportunity was embraced
for collecting a quantity of this gas in a drinking glass
inverted into a pail of salt water. The fish being held
under this glass as a receiver, their bladders were punctured,
and a considerable quantity of gas was thus collected.
A lighted match was afterwards carefully introduced into
the glass, when the gas exhibited in a considerable degree
the bright and luminous flame which an excess of oxygen
is known to produce.”</p>
<p>On showing this extract to my friend Dr. P. D.
Handyside, who has contributed some interesting papers to
the Royal Society of Edinburgh on the Polyodon gladius,
he writes:—“Biot and De La Roche found that the proportion
of oxygen in the air bladder increases with the
depth of the water in which the fish usually lives, from
a small quantity up to 87 per cent. Biot found in the
deep Mediterranean fishes 87 parts of oxygen, nitrogen,
and carbonic acid. Humboldt found in the electrical eel
96 parts of nitrogen and 4 only of oxygen. No hydrogen
has ever been detected in this organ. In the air bladder
of marine fishes oxygen predominates, and in that of
fresh-water fishes nitrogen. No air sacs exist in rays,
flounders, sole, turbot, and others which lie at the bottom.”</p>
<p>Dr. Handyside adds: “The extract shows with what a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">195</span>
practical and accurate mind your father was endowed, and
I think, in justice to him, you should give his observations.”</p>
<p>I also communicated Mr. Stevenson’s papers on fishings
to the Honble. B. F. Primrose, C.B. (Secretary to the
Fishery Board: Scotland), who has kindly sent me a letter
explaining why the progress of the fishings in the Shetland
Islands is slow, from which I give a few <span class="locked">extracts:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I have read with great interest your father’s notes upon the
fisheries of Scotland. They bear distinctly the impress of that
practical and accurate mind with which he is described as having
been endowed. It is also pleasant to see that his mind went a
great deal further, and grasped the application of science to solve
the mystery of fishings.</p>
<p>“He seems to have overlooked, as was universal in his day,
that the secret of fisheries is not the presence of fish but the
certainty of markets. Samuel Laing of Orkney, to whom he refers,
was, I think, the first that struck this key note of truth. The Dutch
came here and fished for herrings because they could not fill their
vessels fast enough for the markets behind them in Holland. The
Shetlanders did not fish for herrings because they had no remunerative
market for them, but they fished, and fished boldly, where they
had one, viz., for the whales of the Arctic Regions. They might
have brought the herring home from off their own coasts and got
nothing for them, but they could not bring the whale oil home
without a secured profit.</p>
<p>“The same thing obtains still. Shetland, from its position,
cannot compete with the mainland of Scotland either in the home
market or in the great continental markets for herrings; but it
yields large supplies of cod, ling, and tusk, for which it pushes
distant adventures to Iceland and the Faroe Isles.”</p></blockquote>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">196</span></p>
<div class="chapter">
<h2><a id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.<br />
<span class="subhead">MARINE SURVEYING.</span></h2>
</div>
<p class="in0"><span class="smcap">Modern</span> engineers who have practised only under the
benign reign of Ordnance Surveys and Admiralty Charts,
can have no idea of the toil their predecessors underwent
in procuring data for their designs and reports; and I am
safe in saying that Mr. Stevenson was of all others
the engineer to whom in his sea coast practice, such
useful aids would have been of the very highest value.</p>
<p>For example, before he could tell, with the exactness
he desired, the distance between the Bell Rock Lighthouse
and the shore, he had, in absence of any reliable information,
to undertake a pretty extensive trigonometrical
survey of the coast, involving the measurement of a <em>base
line</em> upwards of two miles in length—a most “laborious
operation,” he observes, in which his assistants were
aided by six sailors from the lighthouse tender.</p>
<p>Again, to show the difficulty in determining the best
site for a lighthouse in those early days, before an accurate
Government survey of the coast line had been made, I
give from Mr. Stevenson’s Journal the following notes of
his observations to determine the best site for a lighthouse
at Kinnairdhead in Aberdeenshire. I give them
<em>at length</em>, as jotted down at the time, for they may<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">197</span>
perhaps lead young engineers of the present day to be
thankful that, in most cases at least, they are not,
from want of accurate coast surveys and soundings, left
to resort altogether to their own resources in getting the
information they require. But I think they are specially
worthy of record as showing the extreme care bestowed
by Mr. Stevenson in getting the data to enable him to
determine the exact positions of the several lighthouses
<em>he designed</em>. His Journal <span class="locked">says:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“<i>First.</i>—I caused a mast to be erected upon the top of Kinnairdhead
Castle or Lighthouse, making its extreme height from the
ground 100 feet.</p>
<p>“Got the yacht under weigh, and having a careful pilot on
board, I sailed for Rattray Head, and there observed the mast
over the land of Cairnbulg, it being then high water, or twenty
minutes past 7 <span class="smcap smaller">P.M.</span> With the parapet of the lighthouse in
view, have eight fathoms water off the head, which bore <span class="smcap smaller">W.N.W.</span>
Run in upon the head with flag upon the mast seen over the land
till seven fathoms water, when the flag disappeared. Then leave
the vessel and sound from the boat, and have 6 fathoms, 5, 5, 4¼,
3, 2, 1 fathom, and lastly 3½ feet. Return to the ship in a more
southerly direction, and have 3 feet, 1 fathom, 2, 2¼, 2¾, 3½, 4, 4¾,
5, 5½, 6½, and 7 fathoms. All these soundings rocky bottom.</p>
<p>“With the Windmill near Peterhead on with Stirling hill, and
Monument hill on with the rounded Sandy Down of Rattray, and
the parapet of Kinnairdhead Lighthouse seen over Cairnbulg land,
you are in 8 fathoms water off Rattray Briggs, which lie about ¼ of
a mile to the southward of the Sandy Down.</p>
<p>“Wait off the Briggs till the light was seen, then stood in upon
the Briggs till the light was shut in by the land of Cairnbulg, and
at that moment had 8 fathoms water, so that at present the light
forms an excellent direction for Rattray Briggs.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">198</span>
“Find that the lightroom is seen fully from the yacht’s deck in
8 fathoms water off Rattray Briggs, that the flag upon the masthead
is seen in 6 fathoms water—high water spring tides. Ship
then bearing from the head <span class="smcap smaller">E.S.E.</span> and <span class="smcap smaller">W.N.W.</span>, distant about one
mile from the shore, where a man is distinctly observed at a boat
in the twilight.</p>
<p>“<i>Secondly.</i>—Remove the mast from the castle or lighthouse on
the morning of the 15th to Cairnbulg, and elevate a flag to the
height of 86 feet from the ground, or 97 feet from high water
mark, at the distance of about 100 yards from the high water
mark at the point connected with Cairnbulg Briggs.</p>
<p>“The yacht lying off or to the westward of the Briggs, was got
under weigh at 2 <span class="smcap smaller">A.M.</span> of the 16th, and beat up the north shore as
far as Rosehearty, and there observed the flag over the land. Found
off Rosehearty that the flag was just hid by the highest inequalities
of the land to the southward of the Castle, and that it appeared at
the lower or flat places sometimes in sight 20 feet above the land,
and at other places intercepted by the land and houses of the town,
amongst which it often appeared and disappeared. The range of
the flag along the land was as far as Mr. Dalrymple’s house when
it was time to put about, having there three fathoms at nearly
low water.</p>
<p>“After completing the observations in this direction, sailed
along the shore southwards to Rattray Briggs. Find that
Inverallochy head, south-eastward of the town of Cairnbulg, is the
eastmost point on this coast, but, being at a distance from the foul
ground of Cairnbulg, would make a less desirable point than
Cairnbulg.</p>
<p>“Off Rattray, in eight fathoms water, begin to lose sight of the
lantern on Kinnairdhead Castle as before. See the mast and flag
at Cairnbulg a considerable way up the country over the lands of
Inverallochy. See the flag, standing in upon Rattray to five
fathoms water at half tide, lose it, and then stand for Fraserburgh.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">199</span>
“As the result of these trials, find that Inverallochy head or
point is the most eastern or projecting point of land upon that
coast, that Cairnbulg is the next projecting point. The former
lies between the points of danger, viz., Rattray and Cairnbulg.</p>
<p>“Find that if the light were to be moved to a more southern
situation, it would be better on either of the above places than
Rattray Head, which would entirely remove its usefulness from the
Moray Firth.</p>
<p>“Find that in the event of two lights for this coast, the one
ought to be at Kinnairdhead, and the other upon the Cock Inch at
Peterhead.</p>
<p>“Under all the circumstances of the case, find that it would be
most advisable to erect a new lighthouse at Kinnairdhead, about
100 yards more to the eastward than the Castle stands, and erect
it about twenty or thirty feet higher than the Castle. This, with
a better light, would perhaps answer the general purposes of the
coast better than a single light placed on any of the other stations
along this coast.”</p></blockquote>
<p>After perusing this extract, the reader, I think, will
not be surprised to find Mr. Stevenson making an urgent
appeal on behalf of all interested—Seamen—Fishermen,
and Engineers, for a Government Survey and “Sailing
Directions” of the intricate navigation of the shores of
Scotland, which he did in the following <span class="locked">terms:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The attention which Government has long paid to the
improvement of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, in connection
with the British Fisheries, has been attended with the best
effects in the country at large. It is much to be wished that these
shores were rendered more accessible to the mariner.</p>
<p>“The marine survey of the Highlands by Murdoch Mackenzie,
undertaken by order of the Lords of the Admiralty, may be considered<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">200</span>
as the first grand step towards the improvement of the Highlands,
and next to that the later institution of the Northern Lighthouses.
By means of these the fisher may find his way from loch to loch,
and the mariner bound over seas, instead as formerly of holding a
course without the Lewis Islands, can now find his way through
the Sounds, and in adverse winds take shelter in safe harbours,
instead of being exposed to the boisterous seas of the Atlantic
Ocean; these charts and lighthouses have in many points of view
contributed to the improvement of the Highlands, and to the
present flourishing trade carried on through these Sounds from
Liverpool, etc., to the northern continent of Europe. However,
from the extensive range of coast which these charts include,
together with the prodigious number of extensive lochs and small
islands, it was impossible that any first survey could be made so
accurate as to supply the place of pilots, where there are neither
landmarks to characterise the coast, nor beacons or buoys to point
out the situation of sunk rocks; and although these charts have
certainly contributed much to the facility and security of the
navigation of the Highlands, yet no one will say that they are free
from imperfections, and their incommodious size and high price
are insurmountable bars to their general utility, thereby rendering
them impracticable for the use of small vessels, so that they are only
to be found in the cabins of large vessels, where large accommodation
affords room to unfold them, but even here also the price
forms an objection, as the charts are always <em>found</em> by the shipmaster.</p>
<p>“Nothing therefore can be more necessary or essential to the
improvement of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, than an
accurate survey of the fishing grounds, lochs, and harbours, upon
a scale considerably larger than Mackenzie’s charts, given in the
form of a book of the size of a large quarto, containing only the
lochs, etc., interleaved with printed directions and descriptions of
each chart or harbour, which book of charts, accompanied with a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">201</span>
general chart would sufficiently guide the mariner and fisher in
their several pursuits.</p>
<p>“With regard to an accurate survey of the lochs and harbours
in the Highlands published in the most commodious form for the
use of small vessels, such an undertaking would require to be
sanctioned in a manner similar to the survey undertaken by
Murdoch Mackenzie, and though in process of time the sale of these
charts might produce a considerable return to those concerned
with it, yet the time and attention which such (with a laborious
number of soundings) must occupy would certainly require that
those concerned in the undertaking should be put in possession of
certain sums of money to enable them to go on with that deliberation
which is essential to accuracy, and this encouragement should
be the more considerable that the charts might be procured to the
public at a moderate price.”</p></blockquote>
<p>This Memorial, written in 1803, was intended for and
in some shape communicated to the Admiralty, and
was followed by good results.</p>
<p>In “A Memoir of the Hydrographical Department of
the Admiralty,” published in 1868,<a id="FNanchor_13" href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">13</a> are the following
remarks:—“It was about this time,” 1810, “that the
Admiralty first conferred on the Hydrographer the
privilege of selecting a surveyor for the <em>home coasts</em>.
Singular as it may appear, the Hydrographer had at
this time great difficulty in finding a naval officer
competent to fill the position, or who was acquainted
with anything beyond surveying by common compass.
At length, however, about 1811, Mr. George Thomas,
a master, was selected” for home service. The Memoir<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">202</span>
also states that at the same time the Hydrographer
appointed to foreign service Mr. Beaufort, afterwards Sir
Francis Beaufort, the eminent Hydrographer to the
Admiralty, who was, all his life, Mr. Stevenson’s intimate
friend and constant correspondent.</p>
<p>There is therefore, I believe, no reason to doubt that
Mr. Stevenson’s original appeal and subsequent personal
friendly and free intercourse with the officials of the
Admiralty led to the establishment, on a <em>systematic
footing</em>, of our Government “Admiralty Survey,” which,
as all engineers know, indicates with marvellous accuracy
and detail every shoal, sunken rock, and sounding on the
coasts of Great Britain and Ireland; and from which the
“Admiralty Sailing Directions” have been prepared
with such discernment and care that the whole system
of our coast survey may now be said to have attained
perfection.</p>
<p>With Colonel Colby, also, of the Royal Engineers, who
was Director of the Ordnance Survey, Mr. Stevenson
regularly corresponded, being no less interested in the
progress of the great national work so successfully carried
on under his charge.</p>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">203</span></p>
<div class="chapter">
<h2><a id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.<br />
<span class="subhead">CONTRIBUTIONS ON ENGINEERING AND SCIENTIFIC SUBJECTS.</span></h2>
</div>
<blockquote>
<p class="hang">Contributions to <cite>Encyclopædia Britannica</cite> and <cite>Edinburgh Encyclopædia</cite>—The
alveus or bed of the German Ocean—Sectio planography—Wasting effects
of the sea at the Mersey and Dee—Density of fresh and salt water—The
Hydrophore.</p></blockquote>
<p class="in0"><span class="smcap">We</span> have seen that Mr. Stevenson’s college education
was mainly, if not altogether, due to his own thirst for
knowledge, and his education being voluntarily undertaken,
could hardly fail to issue in good results. That his
early studies were of incalculable value to him no one can
doubt; and his own conviction of this may explain the
solicitude with which, in after life, he impressed on his
sons the extreme importance of being properly grounded
in every branch of study, <em>scientific</em> and <em>practical</em>, which a
well trained engineer has to call to his aid in the
practice of his profession.</p>
<p>Fortified by this valuable training, Mr. Stevenson had
also that unselfish love of his profession which alone
can move a man to give the results of his experience
freely to others, and this he did to the <cite>Edinburgh
Encyclopædia</cite> and the <cite>Encyclopædia Britannica</cite>, in articles
on “Roads,” “Lighthouses,” “Railways,” “Dredging,”
“Blasting,” and other engineering subjects.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">204</span>
But he did not confine his literary labours to matters
purely professional. His love for nature in all its aspects
led him also to make communications to the Scientific
Journals of the day on subjects of more general interest.
Of these his papers “On the Alveus or Bed of the German
Ocean,” in which by an investigation of many evidences
he is led to the conclusion that the sea is gradually
encroaching on the land, may be quoted as an example.</p>
<p>Mr. Stevenson’s first communication on this subject
was published in 1816, in vol. ii. of the Wernerian Transactions,
in which he gives examples, from actual observation,
of the wasting effects of the sea on various parts of
the coasts of the British Isles. His second communication
was made to the Wernerian Society in March 1820,
and published in the <cite>Edinburgh Philosophical Journal</cite> of
that year.</p>
<p>In the fifth edition of Baron Cuvier’s “Essay on the
Theory of the Earth,” reference is made to Mr. Stevenson’s
theory. His papers are several times quoted in
Lyell’s <cite>Principles of Geology</cite>, and the General Committee
of the British Association at York in 1834 passed
a resolution, “that Mr. Stevenson be requested to report
to the next meeting upon the waste and extension of the
land on the east coast of Britain, and upon the general
question of the permanence of the level of the sea and
land, and that individuals who may be able to supply
information upon the subject be requested to correspond
with him.”</p>
<p>Without discussing in how far Mr. Stevenson’s theory
may be sound (for on such questions it is notorious that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">205</span>
the views of geologists do not always coincide), it cannot
be denied that his mode of dealing with the subject is
original and interesting, and as the papers are not now
accessible to the general reader, it may be excusable to
give one of them <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">in extenso</i>. I also notice another feature
which gives interest to the subject. In his illustrations
he adopted a mode of representation which was peculiarly
suitable for the object in view. It will be seen from
<a href="#PLATE_XII">Plate <span class="smcap smaller">XII.</span></a> that the sections are laid down on what is now
known by engineers as <em>sectio planography</em>, which it is believed
was used for the first time in illustrating this paper.</p>
<h3>“<span class="smcap">On the Bed of the German Ocean, or North Sea.</span>
(Read before the Wernerian Natural History Society,
25th March 1820.)”</h3>
<p>“The efforts of man in exploring the more occult
processes of nature are necessarily much circumscribed,
especially when his attempts are directed to the investigation
of regions which his senses cannot penetrate. It has
accordingly been with the utmost difficulty that his exertions
have been rendered in any degree successful in prying
into the bowels of the earth, or in his endeavours to
ascend to the aërial regions. In proof of this, the limited
excavations even of the most extensive mining works,
have required the lapse of ages, and the powerful stimulus
of commercial enterprise, for their accomplishment. From
these the philosopher has not hitherto derived much light,
to enable him to compare the theories which have been
assigned by geologists to account for the various and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">206</span>
discordant appearances of the structure of the globe. It
has also been with much difficulty, and at no small
personal hazard, that the philosophical inquirer has
ventured to climb the highest mountains, to examine
into the phenomena of the atmosphere. The balloon has
indeed enabled us to attain still higher points of elevation;
but as yet we do not seem to have made proportional
progress in knowledge. In all such attempts to
ascend the greatest heights or penetrate the deepest
excavations, we still breathe in our own element, though
under different modifications. If, however, we would
explore the depths of the Ocean, we immediately encounter
an element to which the organisation of our lungs
is not at all adapted; the density of air, compared with
water on a level with the surface of the sea, being in the
ratio of one to about 850; and our difficulties must consequently
increase in a very rapid proportion. Here
therefore we are unavoidably left to conjecture on many
points of our inquiries regarding this highly interesting
subject. Even the ingenious contrivance of the diving
bell contributes but little towards our investigations for
ascertaining the nature of the bottom of the sea, at least
to any considerable depth, on account of the difficulty of
its application in situations exposed to stormy weather,
and also of the increasing ratio of the pressure of the fluid
as we descend. This curious machine, it is believed, was
invented and employed, about the year 1720, by a Captain
Rowe for raising the wreck of ships upon the coast of
Scotland; and in the year 1778, the active mind of
Smeaton first applied it to the operations of the engineer.</p>
<div id="ip_206" class="newpage figcenter" style="max-width: 26.8125em;">
<p id="PLATE_XII" class="plate"><i>PLATE XII.</i></p>
<img src="images/i_207.jpg" width="429" height="600" alt="" />
<div class="caption smaller">
<p>CHART<br />
<span class="smaller">of the</span><br />
NORTH SEA <span class="smcap smaller">OR</span> GERMAN OCEAN<br />
with SECTIONS of the<br />
<i>DEPTHS of WATER</i><br />
<i>Illustrative of Observations</i><br />
by<br />
<i>ROBERT STEVENSON</i><br />
<span class="smaller"><i>Civil Engineer</i></span><br />
<span class="bold">1820.</span>
</p>
<p class="floatr"><i>W. & A. K. Johnston, Edinburgh.</i></p>
</div></div>
<p class="p4"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">207</span>
“Our knowledge of the bottom of the ocean, therefore,
remains still very imperfect, and, with little exception,
the simple apparatus of the mariner, consisting of a plummet
and line, continues to be chiefly in use for ascertaining
the depth of the sea and the nature of the ground. With
these, and the addition of a little grease applied to the
lower extremity of the plummet, which strikes against
the bottom, we learn the quality of the soil, though
imperfectly, by the particles which adhere to the grease.
What the navigator has yet been able to discover
regarding the depth and the nature of the bottom of the
German Ocean, I shall now endeavour to notice, being
myself enabled to offer the result of a pretty extensive
acquaintance with this field of inquiry.</p>
<p>“It may be necessary to premise, in treating of a subject
so extensive, and in comparing great things with
small, that we are obliged to speak of the North Sea as a
bay or basin, and of the immense collection of débris
which we meet with, extending over a great proportion
of its bottom, under the common appellation of sand
banks. We must also be allowed to consider the undulating
line, or the irregularities of the bottom, to arise
chiefly from the accumulation of deposited matters; and
in most of the situations connected with these banks, we
are supported and borne out in this conclusion, by their
local positions relatively to the openings of firths, and the
line of their direction in regard to the set or current of
the ebb tide.</p>
<p>“The accompanying map (<a href="#PLATE_XII">Plate <span class="smcap smaller">XII.</span></a>) of the eastern
coast of Great Britain, with the opposite Continent, though<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">208</span>
upon a small scale, exhibits numerous soundings of the
depth of the German Ocean; and the sections delineated
on it will perhaps be found to give a pretty distinct view
of the subject. This chart extends from the coast of
France, in latitude 50° 57´ to 61° <span class="smcap smaller">N.</span> On the east, this
great basin is bounded by Denmark and Norway, on the
west by the British Isles, on the south by Germany,
Holland, and France, and on the north by the Shetland
Islands and the Great Northern or Arctic Ocean. The
term <em>German Ocean</em>, though in very common use, is
certainly not so comprehensive in its application to this
great basin as that of <em>North Sea</em>, now more generally used
by the navigator. The extent of this sea from south to
north, between the parallels of latitude quoted above, is
233 leagues, and its greatest breadth from west to east,
reckoning from St. Abb’s Head, on the coast of Scotland,
to Ringhjoöbing Fiord, on the opposite shore of Denmark,
is 135 leagues. The greatest depth of the water in this
basin seems to be upon the Norwegian side, where the
soundings give 190 fathoms; but the mean depth of the
whole may be stated at only about 31 fathoms.</p>
<p>“To be more particular with regard to the depth of the
German Ocean, or North Sea, it will be observed by the
sections and soundings marked upon the chart, that the
water gradually deepens as we sail from south to north.
The first of these sections which we shall notice is on the
parallel of three degrees of east longitude, running from
Ostend to the latitude of the northmost of the Shetland
Islands, being an extent of 227 leagues. The depth, as
will be seen from this section (which, to avoid confusion<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">209</span>
in the body of the chart, is traced along the western side
of it), varies rather after an irregular progression, from
120 fathoms towards the northern extremity of this
sectional line, to 58, 38, 24, and 18 fathoms, as we proceed
southwards, to within five miles of the shore, nearer
which we do not approach in our remarks regarding the
soundings. Notwithstanding the irregularity of the depth
from the occurrence of numerous sandbanks, it is curious
to observe the increase upon the whole as we proceed from
south to north, by which this sea exhibits all the characteristic
features of a great bay, encumbered with numerous
sandbanks.</p>
<p>“In the same manner, though not strictly connected
with our present purpose, we may observe that the
English Channel deepens progressively from Dover to its
entrance, formed by the Land’s End of England and the
Isle of Ushant, on the coast of France; so that the Strait
between Dover and Calais may be said to form a point of
partition between two great inclined planes, forming the
bottom of these seas.</p>
<p>“Besides the longitudinal, or north and south sectional
line described above, we have also six other sections
delineated in an easterly and westerly direction, across
the accompanying chart, which are as follow. One
between the Shetland Islands and the coast of Norway;
a second between Tarbetness in Ross-shire and the Naze
of Norway; a third extends from the Firth of Forth to
the coast of Denmark; a fourth from the mouth of the
river Tyne to Sylt Island, also in Denmark; a fifth from
Flamborough Head, in Yorkshire, to the mouth of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">210</span>
River Elbe; and the sixth is from Yarmouth to Egmond-op-Zee,
on the coast of Holland. Other sections of this
sea have also been made, which include the general elevation
of the land, as, for example, one of these extends
from Holland across the German Ocean to the Thames,
and through the interior of the country to the Bristol
Channel; then crossing St. George’s Channel, this sectional
line passes through the southern extremity of
Ireland, and falls into the Atlantic Ocean; but this will
be more particularly noticed, when I come to speak of the
bed of the English Channel, in a future paper.</p>
<p>“On examining the accompanying cross sections of the
depths of water on the same parallel they will be found
to vary considerably. It may, however, be stated as a
general conclusion, that there is a greater depth of water
on the eastern and western sides of the German Ocean
than in its central parts, and that, upon the whole, it is
deeper on the British than on the continental shores, the
coast of Norway excepted.</p>
<p>“We have already observed, that this sea is much
encumbered with sandbanks, or great accumulations of
débris, especially in the middle or central parts, and also
along the shores towards what may be termed the apex
of the bay, extending from the river Thames along the
shores of Holland, etc., to the Baltic. One of these great
central banks, delineated on the chart, and known to
mariners as the Long Forties, trends north-east in the
direction of the ebb tide from the entrance of the Firth
of Forth no less than 110 miles, while the Denmark and
Jutland banks may also be traced on the chart from the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">211</span>
entrance of the Baltic, upwards of 105 miles in a north-western
direction. Besides these, we have also another
great central range of banks, which is crossed by no fewer
than four of our sectional lines. These are known under
the common appellation of the Dogger Bank, which is
subdivided by the navigator into the Long Bank, the
White Bank, and the Well Bank, including an extent of
upwards of 354 miles from north to south. There are
also a vast number of shoals and sandbanks, lying wholly
to the southward of our section, between Flamborough
Head and Heligoland. Altogether, therefore, the superficies
of these extensive banks is found to occupy no
inconsiderable portion of the whole area of the German
Ocean; the surface of which, in making these investigations,
has been estimated to contain about 153,709 square
miles, while the aggregate superficial contents of the
sandbanks alone amount to no less than 27,443 square
miles, or include an area of about 5¾ of the whole surface
of the North Sea.</p>
<p>“But to render these dimensions a little more familiar
by comparison, we may notice, that the Island of Great
Britain contains about 77,244 square miles, being not
quite one half of the area of the North Sea; so that the
area of the sandbanks bears a proportion equal to about
one third of the whole <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">terra firma</i> of England and Scotland;
and they are, therefore, perhaps, far more considerable
in their extent than has been generally imagined.</p>
<p>“In speaking of the dimensions of sandbanks situate
in the middle of the ocean, we are aware that great allowance
must be made in forming a proper estimate of their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">212</span>
extent, especially in speaking of their cubical contents.
From a vast number of observations and comparisons
relative to this subject, I have, however, been enabled to
determine, that the average height of these banks measures
about seventy-eight feet, from a mean taken of the whole.
In ascertaining their height above the surrounding bottom,
the measurement has been taken from the general depth
around each respectively. Now, upon taking the aggregate
cubical contents of the whole of these immense collections
of débris, supposing the mass to be uniformly the
same throughout, it is found to amount to no less a
quantity than 2,241,248,563,110 of cubic yards, being
equal to about fourteen feet of the depth of the whole
German Ocean, or to a portion of the firm ground of
Great Britain, on a level with the sea, taken twenty-eight
feet in perpendicular height or depth, supposing the
surface to be a level plane.</p>
<p>“These calculations at least tend to show that an
immense body of water must be displaced, in consequence
of these banks occupying so very considerable a proportion
of the bed of the North Sea, the unavoidable effect of
which must give a direct tendency to the tidal waters,
and the flux produced by storms in the Atlantic, to overflow
the bed of the German Ocean, in the same manner
as if stones or other matter were thrown into a vessel
already nearly brimful of water. This may further be
illustrated by considering the actual state of any of the
great inland lakes, as those of Geneva, Lochness, Lochlomond,
etc., which for ages past have been receiving the
débris of the surrounding mountains. We must doubtless<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">213</span>
allow that they contain a smaller portion of water, or are
actually of a less depth than they were at an earlier period
of the history of the globe. Accordingly, from inquiries,
which, in the prosecution of this subject, I have been led
to make regarding the two last mentioned lakes, it has
satisfactorily appeared that their waters are subject to
overflow or rise upon their banks. On Lochlomond, in
particular, the site of a house at the village of Luss was
pointed out to me, which is now permanently under <em>the
summer water mark</em>, while the gable of another house in
its neighbourhood is in danger of being washed down by
the increase of the waters of the loch. Whether this
striking appearance is to be attributed wholly to natural
causes, or partly to artificial operations upon the bed of
the river Leven, flowing from the loch, I have had no
opportunity of inquiring. But the great bench or flat
space round the margin of the loch, which is left partly
dry during summer, forms altogether such a receptacle
for débris as to be sufficient to affect the surface of the
loch, and indeed permanently to raise its waters. We
also infer, though by a different process, that the constant
deposition going forward in the bed of the German Ocean
must likewise displace its waters, and give them a tendency
to enlarge their bed and to overflow their banks or
boundary.</p>
<p>“In this view of the subject, it will appear that we have
not only to account for the supply of an immense quantity
of débris, but we must also dispose of the water displaced
by the process of deposition which is continually going
forward at the bottom of the ocean.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">214</span>
“With regard, then, to the supply of the débris of which
these banks are composed.—We find that a very great
portion of it consists of siliceous matters in the form of
sand, varying in size from the finest grains to coarse
bulky particles, mixed with coral and pounded shells, the
quantity of these calcareous matters being altogether
astonishingly great; and being specifically lighter than
the particles of sand, the shells generally cover the surface
of these sunken banks. With regard to the vast collection
of siliceous particles connected with the banks, our surprise
ceases when we consider the receptacle which the
North Sea forms, to an almost unlimited extent of drainage
from the surrounding countries, on which the change of
the seasons, and the succession of rain and of drought
upon the surface of the earth, are unceasingly producing
their destructive effects. All have remarked the quantity
of mud and débris with which every rill and river is
charged, even after the gentlest shower; especially
wherever the hand of the agriculturist is to be found.
His labours in keeping up the fertilising quality of the
ground consist in a great measure in preparing a fresh
matrix for the chemical process or the germination of the
seeds of the earth, in lieu of that portion of the finely
pulverised soil which the rains are perpetually carrying to
the sea, as the grand receptacle and storehouse of nature
for these exuviæ of the globe. From the effect of rills
and rivulets, we should, perhaps, rather be apt to expect
a greater deposition in the bed of sheltered bays and arms
of the sea than we really observe. So that we can readily
believe that the quantity of débris, even for a single year,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">215</span>
along such an extent of coast, may bear some consideration
in respect to the bed of the German Ocean; what, then,
must these effects produce in the lapse of ages?</p>
<p>“Whatever be the cause, the fact is certain, that on
almost every part of the shores of Great Britain and
Ireland, and their connecting islands, from the northernmost
of the Shetland to the southernmost of the Scilly
Islands, and also upon the shores of Holland, and part of
France, particularly in the neighbourhood of Cherbourg,
this wasting effect is going forward. These shores I have
myself examined. But my inquiries have not been confined
to the coasts which I have personally visited, having
also, through the kind attentions of some nautical friends,
been enabled to extend my investigations even to the
remotest parts of the globe. The general result has been,
that equally in the most sheltered seas, such as the Baltic
and Mediterranean, and on the most exposed points and
promontories of the coasts of North and South America,
and the West India Islands, abundant proofs occur, all
tending to show the general waste of the land by the
encroachments of the sea. Such wasting effects are quite
familiar to those locally acquainted with particular portions
of the shores; and I have often received their testimony
to these facts, as the sad experience of the removal
of buildings, and the inundation of extensive tracts of land
by the encroachment of the sea.</p>
<p>“Indeed, by a closer inquiry into this department of
the subject, we shall, perhaps, find ourselves rather at a
loss to account for the <em>smallness</em> of the quantity of this
deposition, considering the waste which is constantly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">216</span>
going forward in the process of nature, and even be led
to seek for its wider distribution over the whole expanse
of the bed of the ocean, as has been supposed in that
theory of the globe, so beautifully and so ably defended
by our late illustrious countryman Professor Playfair.</p>
<p>“One of the most striking and general examples of this
kind may perhaps be found in the abrupt and precipitous
headlands and shores which we everywhere observe along
the coast, and which we suppose to have once been of the
same sloping form and declining aspect with the contiguous
land. In the production of these effects alone, an
immense quantity of débris must have been thrown into
the bed of the ocean. The channels which are cut by
the sea in the separation of parts of the mainland, and
the formation of islands, no doubt make way for a considerable
portion of the displaced fluid; but still these
channels, when filled with water, come far short, in point
of bulk, when compared with the portions of the elevated
land which are thus removed. Now, it has been alleged
by some, that while the land is wasting at certain points,
it is also gaining in others; and this is a state of things
which is freely admitted to take place in various quarters;
yet these apparent acquisitions are no more to be compared
with the waste alluded to, than the drop is to the
water of the bucket. But accurate observations regarding
the formation of extensive sandbanks, and the accumulation
of the débris, of which they are formed, are not to be
made in a few years, perhaps not in a century, nor indeed
in several centuries; for although the short period of the
life of man is sufficient to afford the most incontrovertible<span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">217</span>
proofs of the waste of the land where we become observers,
yet when we extend our views to the depths of the ocean,
and speak of the events and changes which are there going
forward, we must not be supposed to set limits to time.</p>
<p>“We have many convincing proofs in the natural
history of the globe, that the sea has at one time occupied
a much higher elevation than at present. On the banks of
the Firth of Forth, near Borrowstounness, for example, I
have seen a bed of marine shells, which is several feet in
thickness, and has been found to extend about three
miles in length, and which is now situate many feet above
the present level of the waters of the Forth. A recent
illustration of this subject occurred also in the remarkable
discovery of the skeleton of a large whale, found in the
lands of Airthrey, near Stirling,—the present surface of
the ground where the remains of this huge animal were
deposited, having been ascertained (by my assistants,
when lately in that neighbourhood) to be no less than
twenty-four feet nine inches above the present level of the
Firth of Forth at high water of spring tides. Now,
whether we are to consider these as proofs of the higher
elevation of the waters of the ocean in the most general
acceptation of the word, at a former period, I will not
here attempt to inquire. But aside from these anomalous
appearances, there is reason for thinking that the waters
of the higher parts of the Firth of Forth, like those of the
Moray Firth, may, at one time, have formed a succession
of lakes, with distinct barriers, as we find in the case of
Lochness, and the other lakes forming the track of the
Caledonian Canal. My object on the present occasion,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">218</span>
however, is simply to notice the wasting effects of the
North Sea upon the surrounding land, its deposition in
the bottom of the sea, and the consequent production
of surplus waters at the surface, and to endeavour to
account for these appearances consistently with the laws
of nature. The opinion accordingly which I have formed,
and the theory which I have humbly to suggest (for I
am not aware that this subject has been before particularly
noticed) is, that the silting up of the great basin of the
North Sea has a direct tendency to cause its waters to
overflow their banks.</p>
<p>“Referring to the chart, we find that the North Sea is
surrounded with land, excepting at two inlets or apertures,
the one extending about 100 leagues, between the
Orkney Islands and the Norwegian coast, and the other
between Dover and Calais, which is of the width of seven
leagues. The aggregate <em>waterway</em> of these two passages
forms the track for the tidal waters, and also for the
surplus waters produced during storms which affect the
Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. It is also obvious that this
waterway must remain nearly the same, and admit a
constant quantity; or, to speak more correctly, by allowing
these inlets to follow the general law, they must be
enlarged by the waste or wearing of their sides, in a
ratio perhaps greater than the silting up of the bottom in
those particular parts, while the interior and central
portions of the German Ocean are continually acquiring
additional quantities of débris, along with the drainage
water of the widely surrounding countries. If therefore
the same, or a greater quantity of tidal and surplus<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">219</span>
waters continue to be admitted from the Atlantic and
Arctic Seas into this great basin, where the process of
deposition is constantly going forward, it is evident that
the surface of the German Ocean must be elevated in a
temporary and proportionate degree, and hence the production
of those wasting and destructive effects which
are everywhere observable upon its shores.</p>
<p>“This reasoning is also applicable, in a greater or less
degree, to all parts of the world; for as the same cause
everywhere exists, the same effects, when narrowly examined,
must everywhere be produced. In the Southern
or Pacific Ocean we have wonderful examples of great
masses of land formed by madrepores and extensive coral
banks, which in time assume all the characteristic features
of islands. These occupy considerable portions of the
watery bed of the ocean, and displace corresponding
portions of the fluid. Immense quantities of mud are
also said to be deposited in the Yellow Sea of China, in
the great deltas formed at the mouths of the Ganges, the
Plate, the Amazon, the Mississippi, the St. Lawrence, the
Nile, the Rhine, and other large rivers, whose joint operations,
both at the surface and bottom of the ocean, are
continually carrying forward the same great process of
displacing the waters of the ocean; for it matters not to
this question whether the débris of the higher country
which is carried down by the rains and rivers, or is occasioned
by the direct waste produced by the ocean itself
on the margin of the land, be deposited at the bottom or
surface of the ocean, it must still be allowed to displace
an equal or greater bulk of the fluid, and has therefore<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">220</span>
a direct tendency to produce the derangement which we
are here endeavouring to describe.</p>
<p>“A striking illustration of this doctrine may be drawn
from M. Girard’s able and ingenious observations on the
delta of Egypt, made in 1799, and published in the <cite>Mem.
de l’Acad.</cite> for 1817, in a memoir <cite xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Observations sur la Vallée
d’Égypte, et sur l’exhaussement séculaire du sol qui la
recouvre</cite>. It appears that the whole soil of the “Valley
of the Nile” is very considerably increased by the alluvium
deposited annually by the inundations of the Nile, as
ascertained by the marks on some ancient Nilometers and
statues, the dates of which have been traced and compared
by Girard, with the corresponding historical periods. In
the quarter of Thebes, where the statue of Memnon is
erected, the increase of the soil since the commencement
of the Christian era is l<sup>m.</sup> 924 (6 feet 3·7 inches), or this
process may be stated as going forward at the rate of
0<sup>m.</sup> 106 (4·17 inches) in the course of each century. The
magnitude of the deposits at the mouths of the Nile, in the
bed of the Mediterranean, appears to be no less surprising.
It is remarked that the Isle of Pharos, which in the time
of Homer was a day’s journey from the coast of Egypt,
is now united to the continent.</p>
<p>“If, then, we compare these effects with the same
process, going forward in a certain proportionate rate
over all parts of the globe, and where the same facilities
for these depositions being made on firm ground are not
afforded, we shall find that the quantity of deposit in the
bottom of the ocean must be so considerable as to affect
the level of the waters of the ocean.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">221</span>
“In thus disposing of the waste of the surrounding
land beyond the accumulation of the sunken banks in
the German Ocean, we are not left at any loss for a distributing
cause, as this is provided by the tides and
currents of the sea; and with regard to their action we
have many proofs, even at very considerable depths, by
the breaking up of the wrecks of ships, the occasional
drift of seaweed, and also drift timber, nuts, etc., into
regions far distant from those in which they are spontaneously
produced. The dispersion of fishes, evinced by
their disappearance from the fishing grounds in stormy
weather, tends to show the disturbance of the waters of
the ocean to the depth of thirty or forty fathoms. This
observation I have frequently had an opportunity of
making near the entrance of the Firth of Forth. Numerous
proofs of the sea being disturbed to a considerable
depth have also occurred since the erection of the Bell
Rock Lighthouse, situate upon a sunken rock in the sea,
twelve miles off Arbroath, in Forfarshire. Some <em>drift
stones</em> of large dimensions, measuring upwards of thirty
cubic feet, or more than two tons weight, have, during
storms, been often thrown upon the rock from the deep
water. These large boulder stones are so familiar to the
lightkeepers at this station as to be by them termed
<em>travellers</em>. It is therefore extremely probable, that a
large portion of the débris is carried down with the
drainage water of the higher country, as before noticed,
and ultimately washed out of the North Sea into the
expanse of the ocean.</p>
<p>“The question which naturally arises as to the result<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">222</span>
of all this waste or transposition of the solid matters of a
large portion of the globe, is to inquire what has become
of the body of water displaced by this wasting process.
Without attempting to go into all the minutiæ of this
part of the subject, I shall here briefly observe, that
there seems to exist (if I may be allowed so to express
myself) a kind of compensating arrangement between
the solid or earthy particles of the globe in the one
case, and the waters of the ocean in the other. Thus
by the process of evaporation, and the universal application
of water, which enters so largely, in its simple or
chemical state, into the whole animate and inanimate
creation, the surface of the ocean may be kept nearly at
a uniform level. Phenomena of this description are, no
doubt, difficult in their solution upon the great scale,
being met by the process of <em>decomposition</em>, which resolves
bodies into their constituent parts, and also by our theory
of the atmosphere, by which its limits and operations are
determined. But were we to abstract our attention from
the more general view of the subject, and confine our
inquiries to the German Ocean, the Baltic, the Mediterranean,
the Red Sea, or to any other inland and circumscribed
parts of the ocean, this difficulty seems to be
lessened. Indeed, the probability is, and it is a pretty
generally received opinion, that a greater quantity of
water is actually admitted at the Straits of Gibraltar
and of Babelmandel than flows out of the Mediterranean
and Red Seas. We consider water, therefore, as the
great <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">pabulum of nature</i>, which, as before noticed, enters
either simply or chemically into the constitution of all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">223</span>
bodies, and appears to be held, almost exclusively, in
solution, in the formation and maintenance of the whole
animal and vegetable kingdoms, and is found to exist
largely in the composition of all mineral substances. The
quantity of water, consequently, that is required, and is
continually supplied from the ocean by the process of
evaporation, both for the support and reanimation of
nature, must be immense, and may of course be supposed
permanently to absorb a very large proportion of the
surplus waters of these circumscribed seas, while the
remaining portion of surplus water, if not thus wholly
accounted for, may be distributed over the general
expanse of the ocean.</p>
<p>“But if we suppose with some, that in nature there is
neither an excess nor diminution of the waters of the
globe, and that the united and counterbalancing processes
of evaporation, condensation, decomposition, and regeneration,
so completely equalise each other, that the surplus
waters, arising from the displacement of a portion of
the solid surface of the globe, must again be wholly distributed
and intermixed with the waters of the ocean,
the portion of water remaining thus to be accounted for
becomes more considerable, and, upon the great scale,
must be permanently disposed of, independently of the
process of evaporation.</p>
<p>“Another view has been suggested as applicable to
the distribution of the surplus waters produced by the
gradual filling up of the bed of the ocean. These waters,
in place of being elevated in any sensible degree, may be
naturally disposed to find their level in the great polar<span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">224</span>
basins, or oblate portions of the surface of the globe which
are known to exist next the poles. The oblate figure of
the earth at the poles makes these imaginary points the
nearest to the centre of the earth, and consequently, with
regard to level, they are also the lowest. It therefore
appears to follow, that any filling up of the bed of the sea
near the equator, or at a distance from the poles, will
have the effect of promoting the retiring of the surplus
waters to the polar regions by their own gravity, while
the centrifugal force occasioned by the earth’s diurnal
motion will prevent their being further removed from
the earth’s centre, without a corresponding elevation of
the waters in the great polar basins.</p>
<p>“In this manner, such an accumulation of water may,
at a former period of time, have taken place at the then
poles of the globe, as to have altered the position of these
points, and given rise to the Flood, or temporary general
overflowing of the waters over the earth’s surface, producing
a change in the beds of the seas or oceans of former
times. In this way may have been produced many of the
phenomena observable in the crust of the earth, which
are otherwise with much difficulty accounted for.</p>
<p>“Of what has now been advanced, regarding the waste
of the land by the operations of the sea, it will be proper
to notice that much consists with my own personal observation.
The consequences of this process must be the
deposition of débris, and a tendency to raise the bottom
of the ocean and produce a proportional elevation of the
water. With regard, however, to the distribution of the
surplus waters that is produced, what I have now said is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">225</span>
offered with much deference, in the hope that some one
better qualified than myself will turn his attention to
this curious subject.”</p>
<div class="tb">* <span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">*</span></div>
<p>In connection with this discussion I give the following
interesting account of observations on the estuary of the
<span class="locked">Mersey:—</span></p>
<h3>“<span class="smcap">Wasting Effects of the Sea on the Shore of
Cheshire between the Rivers Mersey and Dee.</span>
(Read before the Wernerian Society, 8th March 1828.)</h3>
<p>“On a former occasion I had the honour to make a few
observations which appeared in the second volume of the
Society’s Memoirs regarding the encroachment of the sea
upon the land generally. The present notice refers only
to that portion of the coast which lies between the rivers
Mersey and Dee, extending to about seven miles.</p>
<p>“To this quarter my attention, with that of Mr.
Nimmo, Civil Engineer, had been professionally directed
in the course of last month. In our preambulatory survey
we were accompanied by Sir John Tobin and William
Laird, Esq., of Liverpool, along the Cheshire shore and
its connecting sandbanks between Wallasey Pool in the
Mersey, and Dalpool in the river Dee.</p>
<p>“Within these estuaries the shores may be described
as abrupt, consisting of red clay and marl, containing
many land or boulder stones of the cubic contents of
several tons, and very many of much smaller size, diminishing
to coarse gravel. But the foreland or northern
shore between these rivers, which I am now to notice, is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">226</span>
chiefly low ground, and to a great extent is under the
level of the highest tides. The beach or ebb extends
from 300 to 400 yards seaward, and toward low water
mark exposes a section of red clay; but toward high
water it consists of bluish coloured marl, with peat or
moss overlaid by sand. This beach, at about tide level,
presents a curious and highly interesting spectacle of the
remains of a <em>submarine forest</em>. The numerous roots of
trees, which have not been washed away by the sea, or
carried off by the neighbouring inhabitants for firewood,
are in a very decayed state. The trees seem to have
been cut off about two feet from the ground, after the
usual practice in felling timber, and the roots are seen
ramifying from their respective stumps in all directions,
and dipping towards the clay subsoil. They seem to
have varied in size from eighteen inches to perhaps thirty
inches in diameter, and when cut with a knife appear to
be oak. Several of the boles or trunks have also been
left upon the ground, and being partly immersed in the
sand and clay, are now in such a decomposed state that,
when dug into with a common spade, great numbers of
the shell fish called <i>Pholas candida</i>, measuring about
three fourths of an inch in length and two inches in
breadth, were found apparently in a healthy state. These
proofs of the former state of this ebb or shore—now upwards
of twenty feet under full tide—having been once
dry land to a considerable extent beyond the region of
these large forest trees were rendered still more evident
by the occurrence of large masses of greenstone, which, at
a former period, had been embedded in the firm ground<span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">227</span>
here, and especially on the shore within the river Dee.
It may further deserve notice that the inhabitants of this
district have a traditional rhyme expressive of the former
wooded state of this coast, where not a tree is now to be
seen, viz., “From Birkenhead to Helbre a squirrel
may hop from tree to tree;” that is, from the Dee to the
Mersey, now presenting a submarine forest.</p>
<p>“As these evidences of great changes upon the state and
former appearances of the land were highly interesting to
the party, and intimately connected with the professional
inquiries of myself and colleague, it seemed desirable, if
possible, to get them corroborated by oral testimony.
Sir John Tobin accordingly very obligingly took measures
for examining the oldest people in the neighbourhood as
to their recollection of the former state of these shores. In
particular, Thomas Barclay, aged ninety-three, “all but
two months,” by profession a mason and measurer of
country work; Henry Youd, labourer, aged eighty-six;
and John Crooksan, labourer, aged eighty, were examined.
Barclay stated that he had been employed at the erection
of the Leasowe landward lighthouse in the year 1764;
that there were then two lighthouses near the shore, for
a leading direction to shipping through the proper channel
to Liverpool; and that the seaward light became uninhabitable
from its being surrounded by the sea. A new
light was then built upon Bidstone Hill, and the present
Leasowe Lighthouse, formerly the landward light which
he had assisted in building, became the sea light. He
could not condescend upon the distance between the two
original lights, but was certain that it must have been<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">228</span>
several hundred yards; that he knows that in the course
of thirty years the shore of the Leasowe lost <em>by measurement</em>
eleven Cheshire roods or eighty-eight yards; and
verily believes that, since he knew this shore, it has lost
upwards of half a mile of firm ground. To the correctness
of these statements the other two aged men gave ample
testimony, Henry Youd having also worked at the lighthouse.</p>
<p>“As to the present state of things, the party alluded
to were eye-witnesses of the tides on the 16th, 17th, and
18th of February 1828, having exhibited a very alarming
example of the encroachment of the sea upon the Leasowe
shore. At high water it came over the bank, and ran in
a stream of about half a mile in breadth surrounding the
lighthouse, and continued its course through the low
grounds toward Wallasey Pool on the Mersey, thereby
forming a new channel, and threatening to lay several
thousands of acres of rich arable and pasture lands into
the state of a permanent salt lake. The present Leasowe
Lighthouse, which, in 1764, was considered far above the
reach of the sea, upon the 17th of February last was thus
surrounded by salt water, and must soon be abandoned
unless some very extensive works be undertaken for the
defence of the beach, the whole of the interior lands of
the Leasowe being considerably under the level of high
water of spring tides.</p>
<p>“This coast, with its sandbanks in the offing, its submarine
forest, and the evidence of living witnesses as to
the encroachment of the sea upon the firm ground, is
altogether highly interesting to the geological and scientific<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">229</span>
inquirer. The remains of forests in the bed of the
ocean occur in several parts of the British coast, particularly
off Lincoln, on the banks of the Tay near Flisk, at
Skail in the mainland of Orkney, and in other places
noticed in the Transactions of this Society, and are strong
proofs of the encroachments of the sea upon the land.
However difficult, therefore, it may be to reconcile the
varied appearances in nature regarding the sea having at
one time occupied a higher level than at present, yet its
encroachment as a general and almost universal principle
seems to be beyond doubt in the present day.</p>
<p>“Since I had last the honour of addressing the Society
on this subject, opportunities have been afforded me of
making many additional observations on the British
shores, and of personally extending these to almost every
port on the Continent between the Texel and the Garonne.
I have also, through the obliging communications of friends,
been enabled to extend my inquiries to other quarters of
the globe, and I am now prepared to state that, with a
few comparatively trifling exceptions, the sea appears to
be universally gaining upon the land, tending to confirm
the theory that débris arising from the general degradation
of the land, being deposited in the bed of the minor
seas, is the cause of their present tendency to overflow
their banks.”</p>
<h3>DENSITY OF SALT AND FRESH WATER.</h3>
<p>Mr. Stevenson’s discovery that the salt water of the
ocean flows up the beds of rivers in a stream quite distinct
from the outflowing fresh water, was made in 1812, when<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">230</span>
investigating a question regarding salmon fishings on the
Dee. It is described in the following extract from his
<span class="locked">Report:—</span></p>
<p>“The reporter observed in the course of his survey that
the current of the river continued to flow towards the sea
with as much apparent velocity during flood as during
ebb tide, while the surface of the river rose and fell in a
regular manner with the waters of the ocean. He was
led from these observations to inquire more particularly
into this phenomenon, and he accordingly had an apparatus
prepared under his directions at Aberdeen, which,
in the most satisfactory manner, showed the existence of
two distinct layers or strata of water; the lower stratum
consisting of salt or sea water, and the upper one of the
fresh water of the river, which, from its specific gravity
being less, floated on the top during the whole of flood as
well as ebb tide. This apparatus consisted of a bottle or
glass jar, the mouth of which measured about two and a
half inches in diameter, and was carefully stopped with a
wooden plug, and luted with wax; a hole about half an
inch in diameter was then bored in the plug, and to this
an iron peg was fitted. To prevent accident in the event
of the jar touching the bottom, it was coated with flannel.
The jar so prepared was fixed to a spar of timber, which
was graduated to feet and inches, for the convenience of
readily ascertaining the depth to which the instrument
was plunged, and from which the water was brought up.
A small cord was attached to the iron pin for the purpose
of drawing it, at pleasure, for the admission of the water.
When an experiment was made the bottle was plunged<span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">231</span>
into the water; by drawing the cord at any depth within
the range of the rod to which it was attached, the iron
peg was lifted or drawn, and the bottle was by this means
filled with water. The peg was again dropped into its
place, and the apparatus raised to the surface, containing
a specimen of water of the quality at the depth to which
it was plunged. In this manner the reporter ascertained
that the salt or tidal water of the ocean flowed up the
channel of the river Dee, and also up Footdee and Torryburn,
in a distinct stratum next the bottom and under
the fresh water of the river, which, owing to the specific
gravity being less, floated upon it, continuing perfectly
fresh, and flowing in its usual course towards the sea, the
only change discoverable being in its level, which was
raised by the salt water forcing its way under it. The
tidal water so forced up continued salt; and when the
specimens from the bottom, obtained in the manner described,
were compared with those taken at the surface by
means of the common hydrometer of the brewer (the only
instrument to which the reporter had access at the time),
the lower stratum was always found to possess the
greater specific gravity due to salt over fresh water.”</p>
<h3>THE HYDROPHORE.</h3>
<p>The instrument Mr. Stevenson then invented and used
was that to which the term <em>hydrophore</em> has been applied.
<a href="#Fig_18">Figs. 18</a> and <a href="#Fig_19">19</a> show two forms of hydrophores made
under his directions.</p>
<div id="Fig_18" class="figright" style="max-width: 7.125em;">
<img src="images/i_232.jpg" width="114" height="257" alt="" />
<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 18.</span></div></div>
<p><a href="#Fig_18">Fig. 18</a> is used for procuring specimens of water from
moderate depths, drawn on a scale of one-tenth of the full<span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">232</span>
size. It consists of a tight tin cylinder, <i>a</i>, having a
conical valve in its top, <i>b</i>, which is represented in the
diagram as being raised for the admission of water. The
valve is fixed <em>dead</em>, or immoveable, on
a rod working in guides, the one resting
between two uprights of brass
above the cylinder, and the other in
its interior, as shown in faintly dotted
lines. The valve rod is by this means
caused to move in a truly vertical line,
and the valve attached to it consequently
fills or closes the hole in the
top of the cylinder with greater accuracy
than if its motion was undirected.
A graduated pole or rod of iron, <i>c</i>,
which in the diagram is shown broken
off, is attached to the instrument, its end being inserted
into the small tin cylinder at the side of the large water
cylinder, and there fixed by the clamp screws shown
in the diagram; the bottom of the water cylinder may
be loaded with lead to any extent required, for the
purpose of causing the apparatus to sink; but this, when
an iron rod is used for lowering it, is hardly necessary.
The spindle carrying the valve has an eye in its upper
extremity, to which a cord is attached for the purpose of
opening the valve when the water is to be admitted, and
on releasing the cord, it again closes by its own weight.
When the hydrophore is to be used, it is lowered to the
required depth by the pole which is fixed to its side, or,
if the depth be greater than the range of the pole, it is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">233</span>
loaded with weights, and let down by means of a rope so
attached as to keep it in a vertical position. When the
apparatus has been lowered as far as is required, the small
cord is pulled, and the vessel is immediately filled with
the water which is to be found at that depth. The cord
being then thrown slack, the valve descends and closes
the opening, and the instrument is slowly raised to the
surface by means of the rod or rope, as the case may be,
care being taken to preserve it in a vertical position.</p>
<div id="Fig_19" class="figleft" style="max-width: 5.625em;">
<img src="images/i_233.jpg" width="90" height="399" alt="" />
<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 19.</span></div></div>
<p>The form of hydrophore represented in <a href="#Fig_19">Fig. 19</a> is used
in deep water, to which the small one just described
is inapplicable. It consists of an egg-shaped
vessel <i>a</i>, made of thick lead to give the apparatus
weight, having two valves, <i>b</i> and <i>c</i>, one in
the top and another in the bottom, both opening
upwards; these valves (which are represented
as open in the diagram) are, to insure more perfect
fitting, fixed on separate spindles, which
work in guides, in the same manner as in the
instrument shown in <a href="#Fig_18">Fig. 18</a>. The valves, however,
in this instrument are not opened by means
of a cord, but by the impact of the projecting
part, <i>d</i>, of the lower spindle on the bottom,
when the hydrophore is sunk to that depth.
By this means the lower valve is forced upwards, and the
upper spindle (the lower extremity of which is made nearly
to touch the upper extremity of the lower one, when the
valves are shut) is at the same time forced up, carrying
along with it the upper valve, which allows the air to
escape, and the water rushing in fills the vessel. On<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">234</span>
raising the instrument from the bottom, both valves again
shut by their own weight, and that of the mass of lead, <i>d</i>,
which forms part of the lower spindle. The mode of using
this hydrophore is sufficiently obvious; it is lowered by
means of a rope, made fast to a ring at the top, as shown in
<a href="#Fig_19">Fig. 19</a>, until it strikes on the bottom, when the valves are
opened in the manner described, and the vessel is filled;
on raising it the valves close, and the vessel can be drawn
to the surface without its contents being mixed with the
superincumbent water through which it has to pass. This
instrument, shown on a scale of one twentieth of full size,
weighs about half a hundredweight, and has been easily
used in from thirty to forty fathoms water.</p>
<div class="tb">* <span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">*</span></div>
<p>Mr. Stevenson subsequently extended his experiments
on the density of salt and fresh water to several firths
and tidal rivers, and gave the results in a paper communicated
to the Royal Society of Edinburgh in May
1817, of which the following digest is given in Thomson’s
<cite>Annals of Philosophy</cite>:<a id="FNanchor_14" href="#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor">14</a>—</p>
<p>“The waters of the Thames opposite the London
Dock gates were found to be perfectly fresh throughout;
at Blackwall, even in spring tides, the water was found
to be only slightly saline; at Woolwich the proportion
of salt water increases, and so on to Gravesend. But the
strata of salt and fresh water are less distinctly marked
in the Thames than in any of those rivers on which Mr.
Stevenson has hitherto had an opportunity of making his
observations. But these inquiries are meant to be extended<span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">235</span>
to most of the principal rivers in the kingdom,
when an account of the whole will be given.</p>
<p>“From the series of observations made at and below
London Bridge, compared with the river as far up as Kew
and Oxford, Mr. Stevenson is of opinion that the waters
of the Thames seldom change, but are probably carried
up and down with the turn of the alternate tides for an
indefinite period, which, he is of opinion, may be one, if
not the principal cause of what is termed the extreme
softness of the waters of the Thames.</p>
<p>“Mr. Stevenson has made similar experiments on the
rivers Forth and Tay, and at Loch Eil, where the Caledonian
Canal joins the Western Sea. The aperture at
Corran Ferry, for the tidal waters of that Loch, being
small compared with the surface of Loch Eil, which
forms the drainage of a great extent of country, it
occurred to him that the waters of the surface must
have less saline particles than the waters of the bottom.
He accordingly lifted water from the surface at the anchorage
off Fort William, and found it to be 1008·2; at the
depth of 9 fathoms 1025·5; at the depth of 30 fathoms,
in the central parts of the Loch, it was 1027·2; being
the specific gravity of sea water.”</p>
<p>The hydrophore, which was originally devised and
used by Mr. Stevenson, in 1812, at Aberdeen, has now
reached its height of excellence of construction and scientific
importance in the famous ‘Challenger’ Expedition.</p>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">236</span></p>
<div class="chapter">
<h2><a id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.<br />
<span class="subhead">EXTRACTS FROM EARLY REPORTS.</span></h2>
</div>
<blockquote>
<p class="hang">Wide range of subjects on which Mr. Stevenson gave advice—Reports on ruins
of Aberbrothock Abbey—St. Magnus Cathedral, and Earl’s Palace, Kirkwall—St.
Andrews Cathedral—Montrose Church Spire—Melville Monument, Edinburgh—Lipping
of joints of masonry with cement—Provision for flood waters
in bridges—Hydraulic mortar—Protection of foreshores—Cycloidal sea wall—Checking
drift sand—Night signal lamps—Cause of heavy seas in Irish
Channel—Sea routes across Irish Channel—Build of ships—Prospective
increase of population—Tidal scour—Unscrewing of bolts by the waves—Cement
Rubble cofferdams—Buoyage system—Observations on fog signals—Regulations
for steam vessels—Notes on shipwrecks.</p></blockquote>
<p class="in0"><span class="smcap">Judging</span> from Smeaton’s well known “Reports,” to
which all have access, we may conclude that the “professional
advice” given by early Engineers was very generally
accompanied by a fuller and less reserved discussion of
opinion than is to be met with in the brief and technical
Engineering reports of the present day. In early times,
Engineers did not hesitate to express themselves freely
on physics, æsthetics, or commerce, provided their views
had a collateral bearing on the subject under discussion,
and this often added to the interest of their reports.</p>
<p>These early Engineers were also consulted on a much
wider range of subjects than the Engineers of modern
times. We know that the larger requirements of modern
Engineering demand that its practice should be classified<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">237</span>
under distinct branches, such as harbours, navigations,
water works, gas works, lighthouses, or railways, not to
mention electrical and sanitary engineering, and other
branches of modern growth, all of which cannot possibly
be advantageously practised by any one member of the
profession; for no one mind can grasp the theoretical
knowledge, and no one life can compass the practical
experience, to enable a man to attain eminence in all
these departments of modern Engineering.</p>
<p>A biographical sketch of Mr. Stevenson’s professional
life would, it seems to me, be incomplete if it did not
convey to the reader some notion, however general, of
the wide range of subjects brought under his notice,
in these early times, and of his comprehensive and suggestive
mode of treating every case on which he was
professionally consulted. This object would be only
imperfectly attained were I to restrict my reference to
his reports to the examples given in the preceding
chapters; for I have found in his numerous writings
casual notices of a miscellaneous and fragmentary character,
many of which seem to me to be interesting to the
profession, and worthy of preservation, and I propose,
in this chapter, to give a few of these extracts, without
order of subject or date; and I think they will justify
my remark as to the great variety and fulness of treatment
to be found in the reports of early Engineers.</p>
<div class="tb">* <span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">*</span></div>
<p>It appears, for example, that Mr. Stevenson was often
called to advise on matters which were more related to
architecture than engineering. Of this nature was his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">238</span>
tour of inspection to the jails of England, in company
with Sir William Rae, the Sheriff of Edinburgh, in 1813,
referred to in a former chapter.</p>
<h3>ABERBROTHOCK RUINS.</h3>
<p>In like manner he inspected Aberbrothock Abbey,
with Sir Walter Scott and the Sheriff of Forfar, in 1809,
to advise as to preserving the ruins, some of the turrets
being in imminent danger of falling; and after procuring
a survey of the whole building he prepared a report, with
plans and specification, which were submitted to the
Barons of Exchequer, and the work was thereafter
carried out under his direction.</p>
<h3>ST. MAGNUS CATHEDRAL AND EARL’S PALACE.</h3>
<p>He also reported in a similar way to the Sheriff of
Orkney with reference to the repairs of the Earl’s Palace
at Kirkwall, estimated at £500, and on certain alterations
at the Cathedral of St. Magnus.</p>
<h3>ST. ANDREWS CATHEDRAL AND MONTROSE SPIRE.</h3>
<p>With a similar object in view he inspected and
reported on the Cathedral of St. Andrews, and the steeple
of the Church of Montrose, which was thought to be in
danger, and the result of that inquiry was the present
beautiful spire, built from the designs of James Gillespie
Graham.</p>
<h3>MELVILLE MONUMENT.</h3>
<p>He was also associated with Mr. Burn in the Melville
Monument of Edinburgh,—the preparation of the foundation,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">239</span>
the rubble work for the tower, and the scaffolding
and tackling for raising the statue were carried out under
Mr. Stevenson’s direction; the whole architectural design
being due to Mr. Burn alone.</p>
<h3>LIPPING OF JOINTS OF MASONRY WITH CEMENT.</h3>
<p>The well known practice of what is termed “lipping”
with cement the mortar joints of masonry exposed to the
wash of water is described by him as new in his report
to the Trustees of Marykirk Bridge, of 16th July 1812,
where he <span class="locked">says:—</span></p>
<p>“Upon carefully examining the face joints of the
masonry of the south pier under water line, some of these
were found not to be so full of mortar as could have been
wished, and although Mr. Logan (the inspector of works)
had taken the precaution to cause the joints to be covered
with clay to preserve them from the effects of the water,
yet this had not altogether answered the purpose, and
hence the reporter recommended to the meeting of the
8th current <em>to provide a few casks of Parker’s Roman
Cement, to be laid to the breadth of three or four inches
upon the bed and end joints under the low water mark of
the remaining piers</em>.”</p>
<h3>PROVISION FOR FLOOD WATER IN BRIDGES.</h3>
<p>In determining the waterway of his bridges, Mr.
Stevenson invariably provided for prospective increase of
flooding due to agricultural improvements, as stated in the
following extract from a report made in 1811:—</p>
<p>“To preserve an ample waterway the north abutment
is placed about twelve feet from the edge of the river,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">240</span>
leaving a sufficient passage for the water in floods. A
less waterway might perhaps have answered the purpose,
but as the valleys through which the North Esk passes
may come to be meliorated by drainage, and especially
those districts of country on each side of the feeders which
join the river, the facility with which the surface water
may then escape must greatly increase the floods, and
although their duration will be shorter, yet their rise
must be proportionally higher.”</p>
<h3>HYDRAULIC MORTAR.</h3>
<p>The following remarks on hydraulic mortar, made in
1811 to the Commissioners of Montrose Bridge, are interesting
as showing the detail which he brought to
bear on all his <span class="locked">works:—</span></p>
<p>“The best mortar for water work is a mixture of
Pozzolano earth with lime and sand, but the late interrupted
state of commercial intercourse with the Mediterranean
has for years past rendered Pozzolano so scarce
an article as hardly to be procured on any terms. Your
reporter has therefore been induced to make various
experiments with preparations of lime and Roman cement,
and finds that a mixture may be made which will set
under water and answer every purpose. For this
mortar the lime ought to be well burned, and put into
casks when drawn from the kiln. It should be brought
to the work as recently after being burnt as possible.
This will be most readily attained by taking the lime
from Boddam kilns. English lime is in general stronger
and cleaner, but some of it brought for the purpose of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">241</span>
agriculture is not so suitable for buildings as Lord
Elgin’s lime. These limes, however, cannot be had very
newly burnt, and it will be preferable to take lime from
some of the kilns in the neighbourhood which are of good
character. When brought to the bridge the lime should
be kept under cover, opening only one barrel at a time;
the shells must be pounded to a state of powder, and
immediately before mixing it with the other ingredients
it will be proper to sprinkle a little water upon it to
dissolve any gritty particles that may remain amongst it.</p>
<p>“The sand for this work, though fine, must nevertheless
be sharp; it must also be passed through a
sieve, and cleaned of all impurities by washing, if found
necessary. For ramming the joints and pointing under
water, let equal parts of lime in its powdered state and
of Roman cement be used, with one fourth part of prepared
sand, but for the upper works the quantity of
Roman cement in the mortar may be reduced to one third
part.</p>
<p>“The mortar must be mixed in small quantities and
quickly beaten up into a consistency suitable for the
work. All white specks, which are apt to swell and
spoil the joints, must be carefully rejected from the
mortar.”</p>
<h3>PROTECTION OF FORESHORES.</h3>
<p>Some suggestive remarks on the protection of foreshores,
made in 1812, in a report to Lord Rosebery, on
his Lordship’s property at Barnbougle Castle on the Firth
of Forth, are given in the following <span class="locked">terms:—</span></p>
<p>“If the operation of the waters of the ocean be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">242</span>
attended to in the formation of the shores, some useful
hints may be gained. These shores will be found to be
so many inclined planes, varying in declivity according
to the tenacity of the matter of which they, are composed.
Hence it is that the minute grains of sand and the light
sea shell become a lasting barrier against the rapid river
current and the tumultuous ocean, while the erect sea
wall is levelled with the ground. For the truth of this
it were needless to refer to the works of nature in
different quarters of the world, or in distant parts of this
country; it is only necessary to examine the shores on
each side of Barnbougle Castle, where the beautiful
beach, consisting of sand and shells, between the Cockle
Burn and the sea, forms a complete defence to the low
grounds behind it, while to the northward of the castle
the massive wall is in danger of being completely thrown
down. Without waiting to inquire into the causes which
regulate these appearances, it will be more consonant
to the business of this report to point out how their
simple forms may be imitated and turned to advantage.”</p>
<h3>CYCLOIDAL SEAWALL.</h3>
<p>In reporting on the defence of the lands of Trinity,
on the Firth of Forth, Mr. Stevenson recommended the
adoption of a cycloidal talus wall, which was executed
under his direction in 1821:—</p>
<p>“In giving an opinion relative to the best mode of
defending and preserving this property, the reporter
observes that it fortunately happens that the beach is
pretty closely covered with large boulder stones, which
now form a kind of <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">chevaux de frise</i> in breaking the force<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">243</span>
of the sea, and making it fall more gently towards high
water mark. Were it not that these stones are proposed
to be employed in the erection of a more effectual barrier
against the waves, the reporter would not fail to disapprove
of their removal for any other purpose.</p>
<div id="Fig_20" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 34.375em;">
<img src="images/i_243.jpg" width="550" height="347" alt="" />
<div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 20.</span></div></div>
<p>“The reporter proposes that a <i>Talus wall</i> or bulwark
should be built of these boulder stones, roughly dressed
and laid so as to form a cycloidal curve in the central
part, as nearly as may be, as represented in the section
with its tangents (<a href="#Fig_20">Fig. 20</a>). The properties of the
cycloid as applicable to a sea wall in an exposed situation
are very important. In particular, if compared with any
other curve, in the same vertical line and down through
the same points, it will be found of swiftest descent
under similar circumstances, therefore the water in its
rise must be proportionally retarded. The lower tangent
to the curve alluded to also forms a wall towards low
water, best adapted for admitting the sea to flow gently
over it, while that connected with the upper extremity
of the cycloidal part, tending towards the perpendicular,
brings gravity into action against the rise of the waves.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">244</span>
The practical execution of a wall upon this construction
is simple, while the aggregate quantity of materials is
less than for any of the curves of the conic sections of
similar extent, and it seems upon the whole to be
peculiarly applicable for the defence of the sea beach in
question.</p>
<p>“If we examine the numerous works of this kind
erected for similar purposes along this coast, we shall
find that the general process or action of the waves is
to undermine the seaward courses of the walls. In some
cases, however, where due attention has not been paid
to making up the backing of the face wall in a compact
and firm manner, the central parts have been found to
sink and give way. But the more common mode of
failure is by the undermining of the seaward courses,
arising from too sudden a slope being given to the face
wall, which has a direct tendency to produce additional
agitation in the waters at the bottom of the wall, by which
the beach is excavated, and the foundation, being exposed
to the wash of the sea, its destruction soon follows. If
we attend to the distribution which nature makes of the
matters composing a sea beach, unless where special
local causes occur, we find them laid with a very gradual
descent towards low water mark. The sands of Portobello,
in this neighbourhood, form a striking example of
this. Here small quartzose grains mixed with light sea
shells prove, in their effects, a more effectual barrier
against the overwhelming force of the waves than perpendicular
and massive walls of masonry.”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">245</span></p>
<h3>CHECKING DRIFT SAND.</h3>
<p>Mr. Stevenson recommended Lord Palmerston to
introduce the <i>Pinus maritima major</i>, as a check for
sand drift, on his estate of Mullaghmore, in the following
report, dated 21st July 1835:—</p>
<p>“During the reporter’s visit to Mullaghmore, his advice
was also asked regarding the operations at present going
on for the improvement of the land. He had then much
satisfaction in viewing the interesting improvements of
reclaiming bog lands, and checking the inroads of the sand
flood or drift, by planting ‘bent’ grass upon the shores
of this estate. The system of dibbling the bent grass,
pursued by Mr. Lynch, is in the best style which the
reporter has anywhere met with; and he has been so impressed
with the national importance of this scheme, from
the success already experienced at Mullaghmore, that he
has already taken the opportunity of recommending this
system as applicable to the entrance of Ballyshannon, and
in other quarters, particularly to the Highland and Agricultural
Society of Scotland.</p>
<p>“The question chiefly submitted to the consideration
of the reporter, in regard to these operations, was the best
mode of defending the margin of the bent grass towards
the sea. For such purposes, buildings or fences of any
kind are not only expensive in their formation, but are also
in constant need of repair. Mr. Lynch seems so much at
home in all planting operations that the reporter begs
simply to bring under your Lordship’s notice the French
mode of planting a species of fir (<i>Pinus maritima major</i>),<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">246</span>
which was originally suggested to the Government by the
late M. Bremonteuil, <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Ingénieur des Ponts et Chaussées</i>.
This system has been extensively tried along the stormy
shores of the Bay of Biscay, particularly in the district of
Grave, at the entrance of the Garonne, where the arid and
sterile sands have been covered with extensive forests,
which thrive quite close to the water’s edge. From the
climate and exposure of the shores at Mullaghmore, the
reporter has no doubt of the success of similar plantations
in arresting the progress of the sand flood. It is believed
that Mr. Lawson, seedsman to the Highland and Agricultural
Society of Scotland, is taking measures to import
the seeds of the <i>Pinus maritima major</i>, with a view to trying
it on some of the exposed sandy districts of Scotland.”</p>
<p>From the following extract of a letter from Mr. Kincaid
of Dublin, who was Lord Palmerston’s Commissioner,
it is interesting to know that the experiment was entirely
satisfactory, proving that the <i>Pinus maritima major</i> is well
adapted to the climate of the coasts of the British <span class="locked">Isles:—</span></p>
<p>“The Mullaghmore plantations extend to about 200
acres. About eighty of these were planted twenty-five
years ago. Some of the trees are thirty feet in height,
and vary from that height to about twenty or twenty-five
feet. The remainder were planted ten years ago,
and are making fair progress. All the pine plantations
from opposite Newtown Cliffony to Mullaghmore are in a
most healthy condition, the trees making growths of from
twelve to twenty inches each year. The storms have no
bad effect on the south side of the great sand hill, but
on its summit, and towards the west side, the spray and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">247</span>
gales of the Atlantic will not allow the young trees to
make any progress.”</p>
<h3>NIGHT SIGNAL LAMPS.</h3>
<p>In a report to the Trustees for improving the Queensferry
passage, made in 1811, Mr. Stevenson proposes a set
of signals as described in the following extract, his proposal
being, in fact, the signal now in use on all British
<span class="locked">railways:—</span></p>
<p>“Upon the supposition of its being the intention of this
Honourable Trust to have an establishment on the south
side of the Firth similar to that which is now proposed for
the north side, the reporter takes the liberty of observing
that much advantage, as the Trustees know, might be
derived by the public from a few simple and well appointed
signals, both for night and day.</p>
<p>“Those intended for the day may be constructed upon
a modified scale, after the common telegraphic method;
while the night signals can be rendered extremely simple
and effective by interposing at pleasure between the
observer and the reflector a shade of coloured glass. By
connecting these partial obscurations of colouring the
light with an index that shall be understood on both
sides of the passage, orders may be communicated in a
very expeditious manner.”</p>
<h3>CAUSE OF HEAVY SEAS IN IRISH CHANNEL.</h3>
<p>In a report to the Right Honourable Viscount Cathcart,
Commander of His Majesty’s Forces, made on Portpatrick
harbour in 1812, he gives the following explanation
of the well-known rough sea between Portpatrick
and <span class="locked">Donaghadee:—</span></p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">248</span>
“In describing the harbour of Portpatrick, it may be
noticed that although the coast on which it is situated is
not directly exposed to the Atlantic Ocean, yet the opposing
tides of the north and south channels meet there
and separate to flow up the Clyde and Solway Firths,
which, independent of storms, must occasion a very considerable
commotion in the waters of the channel between
Portpatrick and Donaghadee.</p>
<p>“Accordingly we find that the sea has made a great
impression upon the coast of Wigtonshire; and though
the shores between Loch Ryan and the Bay of Glenluce
consist chiefly of whinstone (the greenstone of mineralogists),
which is one of the most indestructible rocks we
have, yet the figure of the coast is indented with many
small cuts or creeks, and rocks are all along the shore
found jutting into the sea. At the head of one of these
creeks, which is about a hundred fathoms in length, and
thirty fathoms in breadth, the harbour of Portpatrick is
situated between two insulated rocks, upon one of which
the piers are built, the harbour being formed by an excavation,
chiefly in the solid rock.”</p>
<h3>SEA ROUTES ACROSS IRISH CHANNEL.</h3>
<p>In the same report he states the relative advantages
of various routes of communication across the Irish
<span class="locked">Channel:—</span></p>
<p>“A further extension of the intercourse between Scotland
and Ireland could be made with much advantage to
both by a regular establishment of packets between
Ardrossan, Troon, or Dunure in Ayrshire, and Larne in
the county of Antrim. Between the two last places,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">249</span>
viz., Dunure and Larne, the distance would only be about
sixty miles, being ten miles shorter, and unquestionably
much safer, than the passage from Holyhead to Dublin.</p>
<p>“Under all the views of this subject, from the greater
contiguity of Portpatrick and Donaghadee than of Lochs
Ryan and Larne, and the former places having more
immediate access to the open sea than the latter, and
also from the intercourse being now fully organised by
long establishment, it were perhaps better, even at a much
greater expense, to continue the present system than to
change it. Portpatrick harbour may be rendered incomparably
better by the plan now proposed, and Donaghadee
is also capable and stands much in want of improvement,
by an extension of its piers and the erection of a permanent
light to direct the packets into the harbour under
night.”</p>
<h3>BUILD OF SHIPS.</h3>
<p>In reporting to the Royal Burgh of Dundee as to the
improvement of the harbour in 1814, Mr. Stevenson
takes occasion to introduce one of those collateral questions
to which I have <span class="locked">referred:—</span></p>
<p>“It is curious to observe the changes and to trace
the progressive improvements which have taken place in
the form and <em>build</em> of ships. When we contrast those of
early navigators with ships of modern times, among the
many alterations, none seems more striking than the
difference of their depth. The draught of water that was
required for a ship of 300 tons burden would hardly be
found enough to float a modern built vessel of 100 tons.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">250</span>
This alteration in the construction of ships, which is
mainly calculated to improve their sailing, by giving
them a better hold of the water, seems gradually to
have advanced, as the mariner became more adventurous
in his voyages; and is only now restrained by certain
considerations of convenience, of which the most prominent
is the want of a sufficient depth of water in the
havens and harbours on the coast for their reception,—a
circumstance which arises partly from the natural
position of harbours, but is chiefly owing to the difficulties
and expense attending the necessary engineering operations,
which increase enormously with the depth of water.
Hence it is that many of the ancient seaport towns of
this country, which at one time possessed an extensive
trade, have, from neglecting their harbours, sunk into a
state of insignificancy; while others, by proper exertions
in this respect, have, under the most inauspicious circumstances,
attained to great commercial importance.”</p>
<h3>PROSPECTIVE INCREASE OF POPULATION.</h3>
<p>Another case of the same kind occurs in his report on
the harbour of North Berwick, made in 1812:—</p>
<p>“Before closing this report it may be noticed that
North Berwick has considerable advantages, which if
acted upon would infallibly lead to the rapid improvement
of the town and neighbourhood. Situated upon an
extensive flat which skirts along the high land of North
Berwick Law, on a beautiful sandy bay, which is intersected
by the street leading to the harbour, few<span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">251</span>
towns will more easily admit of elegant extension or are
better calculated for becoming a sea-bathing retreat.”</p>
<p>It has now the well-known reputation of being the
best frequented watering place on the east coast of
Scotland.</p>
<h3>TIDAL SCOUR.</h3>
<p>In the report, of 1814, on Dundee we find the following
remarks on tidal <span class="locked">scour:—</span></p>
<p>“To put this matter in a clearer point of view, let us
see what nature does upon the great scale, as for example
in the extensive basin forming the Firth of Tay. We
there find that in consequence of the rapidity of the
current at the narrow passage in the neighbourhood of
Broughty Castle, which may be viewed as the <em>scouring
aperture</em> of the basin of the Tay, the water is from forty
to eighty feet in depth, and moves with a velocity which
carries a great quantity of sandy particles along with it.
But no sooner are the waters of this current allowed to
spread and cover the basin of the Tay, than the velocity
ceases, and the foreign matters fall to the bottom and
form the various sandbanks which appear at low water.
In a similar way the deposition of silt and earthy particles
brought down the river in speats is accounted for. Now,
this view of the case is equally applicable to the harbour of
Dundee, for so long as the water preserves the velocity it
acquires in the <em>scouring apertures</em> or arches in the quays,
it carries all its foreign matters along with it; but the
moment it is allowed to expand over the extent of the
harbour the deposition of these earthy particles begins.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">252</span>
And in every case the well-known law in hydraulics
holds good, that the <em>scouring effect</em> of a fluid is in the
ratio of the square of the velocity.”</p>
<h3>UNSCREWING OF BOLTS.</h3>
<p>The following observations made in 1807 on the action
of the waves in unscrewing bolts, are <span class="locked">interesting:—</span></p>
<p>“The unlocking of screws, where <em>washers</em> had been
introduced as a security was rather unexpected, and the
writer took an opportunity of conversing with his much
respected friend Professor Playfair regarding this circumstance.
The Professor observed, that he had experienced
some inconvenience of this kind from the unlocking
of almost all the screws of a telescope which had been
sent to him from London by the mail coach. Indeed,
from the spiral form of the screw, which is, in fact, an
inclined plane, Mr. Playfair readily accounted for such
an occurrence, and, when reflected upon, it seems to be
an effect rather to be looked for, and is a reason why
riveting the point of a bolt in preference to screwing it
should generally be resorted to, where much motion is to
be apprehended.”</p>
<h3>CEMENT RUBBLE COFFERDAMS.</h3>
<p>I give his description of the cement rubble cofferdams,
first used in 1808, at the erection of the Bell Rock
<span class="locked">Lighthouse:—</span></p>
<p>“At seven o’clock this morning, the tide proving
more favourable, the artificers began to work. At nine
o’clock the rock was again overflowed, and the boats<span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">253</span>
returned to the tender after two hours’ work. Part
of the operations of this morning’s tide consisted in
building up the crevices and inequalities of the rock
round the margin of the foundation with Pozzolano
mortar and the chips produced from excavation, with the
view to dam out the water. These little walls varied
from six to eighteen inches in height; a small sluice or
aperture being formed in one of them, by which the
water, during ebb tide, was allowed to drain off.</p>
<p>“It formed part of the writer’s original design to
erect a cast iron cofferdam of about five feet in height
round the site of the building; but the surface of the
rock was so irregular that the difficulty of tightening it,
and also of emptying the contained water, so as to get
the benefit of it during ebb tide, would have been so
great, that taking these circumstances into account,
together with the loss of time which would attend the
erection of such a preparatory work, the idea of a cofferdam
was laid aside, soon after entering upon the actual
execution of the work.”</p>
<h3>BUOYAGE SYSTEM.</h3>
<p>In his report on the Forth Navigation, made to the
Magistrates of Stirling in 1828, Mr. Stevenson proposed
a system of buoyage, which has since been adopted by
the several Lighthouse Boards of the United <span class="locked">Kingdom:—</span></p>
<p>“The channels proposed to be cleared through the
different fords are coloured red on the Plan, in reference
to the sectional line. For the use and guidance of river
pilots, buoys and perches or beacons are likewise intended<span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">254</span>
to be placed in the positions shown in the Plan; those
coloured red are to be taken on the starboard, and those
coloured black upon the larboard side, in going up the
river; and the whole are to be so placed in connection
with the clearing and deepening of the fords as to be
approached with safety.”</p>
<h3>OBSERVATIONS ON FOG SIGNALS.</h3>
<p>At a very early period Mr. Stevenson’s attention was
directed to the dangers of fog at sea, and the best means
of providing an effective fog signal for the mariner, and
so long ago as 1808 he had come to the conclusion that
the best signal adapted for the purpose was the sustained
sound of a horn, which, as is well known, has within the
last few years been so much employed in the fog signals
which are now being established at many of the lighthouse
stations in this and foreign countries. The following
extracts give an idea of the difficulties he encountered,
and his views on the <span class="locked">subject:—</span></p>
<p>“The boats landed this evening (23d June 1808),
when the artificers had again two hours’ work. The
weather still continuing very thick and foggy, more difficulty
was experienced in getting on board of the vessels
to-night than had occurred on any previous occasion,
owing to a light breeze of wind which carried the sound
of the bell, and the other signals made on board of the
vessels, away from the rock. Having fortunately made out
the position of the sloop “Smeaton,” at the north-east buoy,
to which we were much assisted by the barking of the
ship’s dog, we parted with the Smeaton’s boat, when the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">255</span>
boats of the tender took a fresh departure for that vessel,
which lay about half a mile to the south westward. Yet
such is the very deceiving state of the tides that although
there was a small binnacle and compass in the landing
master’s boat, we had nevertheless passed the ‘Sir Joseph’
a good way, when fortunately one of the sailors caught
the sound of a blowing horn. The only fire-arms on
board were a pair of swivels of one inch calibre; but it
is quite surprising how much the sound is lost in foggy
weather, as the report was heard but at a very short
distance. The sound from the explosion of gunpowder
is so instantaneous that the effect of the small guns was
not so good as either the blowing of a horn or the tolling
of a bell, which afforded a more constant and steady direction
for the pilot. It may here be noticed that larger
guns would have answered better, but these must have
induced the keeping of a greater stock of gunpowder,
which in a service of this kind might have been attended
with risk. A better signal would have been a bugle horn,
the tremulous sound of which produces a more powerful
effect in fog than the less sonorous and more sudden
report of ordnance.”</p>
<p>And again he <span class="locked">says:—</span></p>
<p>“In the course of this morning’s work two or three
apparently distant peals of thunder were heard, and the
atmosphere suddenly became thick and foggy. But as
the Smeaton, our present tender, was moored at no great
distance from the rock, the crew on board continued
blowing a horn, and occasionally fired a musket, so that
the boats got to the ship without difficulty. The occurrence<span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">256</span>
of thick weather, however, became a serious consideration
in looking forward to the necessary change of
quarters to the Pharos, distant about one mile from the
rock, instead of a few hundred yards, as in the case of
the Smeaton.</p>
<p>“The weather towards the evening became thick and
foggy, and there was hardly a breath of wind to ruffle the
surface of the water; had it not therefore been the noise
from the anvils of the smiths, who had been left on the
beacon throughout the day, which afforded a guide for
the boats, a landing could not have been attempted this
evening, especially with so large a company of artificers.
This circumstance confirmed the writer’s opinion with
regard to the propriety of connecting large bells to be
rung with machinery in the lighthouse, to be tolled day
and night during the continuance of foggy weather, by
which the mariner may be forewarned of too near an
approach to the rock, while every distant object is
obscured in the mist.”</p>
<p>Following out this subject, Mr. Stevenson caused
observations to be made at the Calf of Man—a small
island at the south of the Isle of Man, and separated from
the main island by a narrow “sound.” The place is noted
for its fogs, on which Mr. Stevenson <span class="locked">says:—</span></p>
<p>“I sent Mr. Macurich, a shipmaster in the lighthouse
service, to the Calf of Man, with directions to reside there,
and make monthly returns of the state of the weather,
agreeably to a printed form. During his stay of seven
months, it appears upon the whole that the fog rested
only twice upon the highest land of the Calf Island, while<span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">257</span>
it cleared partially below. On one of these occasions I
was on board of the lighthouse yacht, then at anchor off
the island, when the fog was for a time general; and as
the weather became clear, I observed that it first disappeared
upon the lower parts of the island, and that in
half an hour the whole of the Calf was seen. In the
monthly returns made by Mr. Macurich, the Calf island is
represented as often perfectly free of fog, while the higher
parts of the opposite mainland of the Isle of Man were hid
in mist. To account for this, it may be noticed that the
mass of matter in the Calf Island is much less, and the
land is also much lower than in the main island. Part of
this effect may also be ascribed to the rapidity of the tides,
which create a current of wind, particularly in the narrow
channel between the main and Calf islands, which have a
direct tendency to clear away the fog, as I have observed
at the Skerries in the Pentland Firth, and in similar
situations on different parts of the coast, where rapid
currents prevail.”</p>
<p>These extracts are given to show the attention Mr.
Stevenson gave to the subject of fogs, which, as already
noticed, led him to recommend the horn, the instrument
now so much used in giving signals to the mariner.</p>
<p>Akin to this may be mentioned his expression of regret
that no means existed for determining the force of the
wind, as noticed in the following <span class="locked">paragraph:—</span></p>
<p>“We cannot enough regret the want of an efficient
anemometer, or instrument for measuring the force of the
wind. Indeed, we hardly know any desideratum of more
universal interest, for, notwithstanding the labours of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">258</span>
Lind and others on this subject, from the want of a proper
scale we are still groping in the dark with the use of such
indefinite terms as ‘light airs inclining to calm,’ ‘fresh
breezes,’ ‘fresh gales,’ ‘hard gales,’ and ‘very hard gales;’
for it rarely happens that the sailor will admit the term
‘storm’ into his nomenclature.”</p>
<h3>REGULATIONS FOR STEAM VESSELS.</h3>
<p>The loss of the ‘Comet’ steamer by collision on the
Clyde, in 1825, led the Lord Advocate to entertain the
idea of introducing a Bill for the regulation of steamers,
and to issue a circular in the following terms, of which
Mr. Stevenson received a <span class="locked">copy:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p class="sigright">
“<span class="smcap">Edinburgh</span>, <i>4th Feby. 1826</i>.
</p>
<p>I annex a copy of the heads of such a Bill as, in my
opinion, may be calculated to afford sufficient security to
steamboats, and thereby alike promote the interests of
the owners of such vessels and that of the public. I feel
noways wedded to any of the proposed provisions, and am
anxious to submit them to the consideration of the better
informed on such subjects, so as to obtain suggestions
either as to the additions or amendments which the Bill
may be fitted to receive.</p>
<p>“In directing your attention to this important subject,
I need hardly remind you that in our endeavours to
render such vessels perfectly secure in so far as respects
the passengers, we must not lose sight of the interest of
the owners, or attempt to clog the trade with unnecessarily
embarrassing regulations. Such restrictions are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">259</span>
seldom enforced, and, if they should receive effect, might
lead to such harassing consequences as would injure this
useful description of property, and thereby to a certain
extent deprive the public of the great benefit which is
now derived from the use of vessels navigated by steam.—I
have the honour to be your most obedient servant,</p>
<p class="sigright">
“<span class="smcap">Wm. Rae</span>.”
</p></blockquote>
<p>The only account I can find of Mr. Stevenson’s views
on this important subject is contained in the following
extract from a letter, dated 3d November 1825, to
Captain Foulerton, one of the Wardens of the Trinity
House, with whom he appears to have had much correspondence,
in which he explains views which are very
much in accordance with the regulations for steamers
now issued by the Board of Trade. His letter <span class="locked">says:—</span></p>
<p>“We lately had a melancholy accident, as you would
see, by the running down of the ‘Comet’ steam packet,
by which, it is believed, that about seventy people lost
their lives. The Lord Advocate attended himself at the
taking of the precognition, and is, I believe, to bring some
of the parties to trial. He has also in view some regulations
by an Act on this new and important subject.</p>
<p>“From my seeming marine habits his Lordship has
desired me to state what occurs on the subject of lights.
If we need this on the Forth and Clyde, you must be in
a worse state in the Thames. I have no doubt you had
this under the notice of your House. I think there should
be two lights, one in each bow, but under deck, in order
to keep the lights <em>entirely</em> out of the view of those on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">260</span>
deck. I am not for interfering with their head sails. I
would have them licensed like stage coaches, and placed
under the inspection of an officer of the navy, not below
the rank of a lieutenant. Six or eight officers might do
the duty for the whole United Kingdom for a time.”</p>
<p>The accident seems to have led to a further investigation
into the general question of the saving of life in cases
of shipwreck on the coasts of Scotland; and on this subject
Mr. Stevenson made the following replies to the queries
submitted to him by the <span class="locked">authorities:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p class="center">“<span class="smcap">Query.</span>—Are shipwrecks frequent on the coasts of Scotland
and its islands?”</p></blockquote>
<p>“Wrecks between the Firths of Forth and Moray are
more frequent than on any other part of the coast of Scotland.
This may probably be accounted for by the great
number of vessels passing and repassing along that coast.
In the month of December 1799, a strong gale from the
south-east occasioned serious disasters on these shores,
when upwards of seventy sail were wrecked on the eastern
coast of Scotland, and many of their crews perished. This
lamentable catastrophe was the means of causing lifeboats
upon Greathead’s plan to be fitted out at St. Andrews,
Arbroath, Montrose, Aberdeen, Peterhead, and other
places, which have been found highly useful in saving the
lives of mariners. This gale was also the immediate cause
of the erection of the Bell Rock Lighthouse, which may
be said almost entirely to have prevented shipwreck, so
frequent in St. Andrews Bay and the entrance of the
Firth of Forth in general.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">261</span>
“From the Moray Firth along the shores of the mainland
to the entrance of the Firth of Clyde, wrecks cannot
be said to be very frequent, although the navigation is
rather difficult; but the safety of shipping on this coast
depends upon the great number of excellent natural bays
and harbours upon it.</p>
<p>“In the Orkney and Shetland Islands few seasons pass
without wrecks occurring. On the Lewis and Western
Hebrides shipwrecks frequently occur.”</p>
<blockquote>
<p class="center">“<span class="smcap">Query.</span>—Are the coasts of Scotland in general well provided
with the means of giving assistance in case of shipwreck,
or are they deficient in such provision?”</p></blockquote>
<p>“The coast of Scotland is provided with no other
means of saving the crews of vessels than the assistance
they accidentally meet with from the inhabitants along
shore. The only lifeboats established are those at the
ports already mentioned.</p>
<p>“If Captain Manby’s apparatus was generally known
and applied upon the coast, it would be found highly
beneficial.”</p>
<blockquote>
<p class="center">“<span class="smcap">Query.</span>—Are any instances remembered of total shipwrecks
where lives lost might have been saved by the lifeboat or
by Captain Manby’s apparatus, at the distance of 350 or
400 yards off the coast?”</p></blockquote>
<p>“In the year 1813 the ‘Oscar,’ Greenland ship of
Aberdeen, Captain Innes, went ashore upon Girdleness,
at the entrance of Aberdeen Harbour. There were on
board fifty-four persons, of whom only two were saved, by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">262</span>
dropping from the bowsprit end. The ship was very near
the shore. She broke up about twenty minutes after she
struck, and I have no doubt that, if an active person
had been on the spot with Captain Manby’s apparatus,
the greater part of the crew of this ship might have been
saved.</p>
<p>“In the winter of 1824 the ‘Deveron’ of Aberdeen,
Captain Scott, went ashore upon the sands three miles
north of Aberdeen in a gale at south-east. She was only
about 300 yards from the shore, and here the whole crew
must have perished had it not been for the prompt use of
Captain Manby’s apparatus.</p>
<p>“Every one who has seen this apparatus must have
admired its simplicity and effect. It is however difficult to
see how its application can be very generally introduced
so as to be useful along the whole extent of chequered
coasts of the British dominions. Certainly at all principal
ports it would naturally be expected that both this and
the lifeboat would be provided.</p>
<p>“A time seems to be approaching when the coast will
be much more complete in all such provision from the
hands of the humane for the safety of the mariner. We
also hail with pleasure the extending efforts of the respective
Lighthouse Boards on the coasts of England,
Scotland, and Ireland, as a certain means of adding to
the security of that useful body of men, as well as to the
facilities of her enterprising merchants. Nor can we
withhold the notice of the effect of the operations of the
Scots Board in this respect. At the entrance to the
Firth of Forth, prior to the erection of the Bell Rock<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">263</span>
Lighthouse, few winters passed without some disastrous
shipwreck.</p>
<p>“Even after the completion of this arduous undertaking,
until the beacon was erected on the Carr Rock, off
Fifeness, the fisherman’s observation was—‘The Carr has
always her wreck: if she misses one year, she is sure to
have two the next.’ But since the erection of this beacon
in 1820 till this date (1825), not a single wreck has
happened on this part of the coast.”</p>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">264</span></p>
<div class="chapter">
<h2><a id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.<br />
<span class="subhead">RETROSPECT OF MR. STEVENSON’S LIFE.</span></h2>
</div>
<p class="in0"><span class="smcap">The</span> unconnected sketches which form this Memoir extend
over a period of about forty years. They have, as already
stated, been selected from among a large mass of documents,
in order to convey to the reader, not only some
idea of the great variety of subjects Mr. Stevenson was
called on to consider, but also to show his happy power
of dealing with engineering questions in the several aspects
under which they were presented to him. In perusing
them, the reader can hardly have failed to remark in
how many instances the views Mr. Stevenson expressed
were forecasts either of great fundamental social changes,
such as the substitution of the railway for the road, or
of smaller though important matters of detail, as, for
example, the signal lights of our railways and steamers,
without which the “night traffic”—so popular a feature
of modern travelling—could not possibly be conducted.
These and many other instances must have satisfied the
professional reader that <em>foresight</em> and <em>originality</em> were
remarkable features of Mr. Stevenson’s character.</p>
<div class="tb">* <span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">*</span></div>
<p>In the department of Lighthouses, he had experiences<span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">265</span>
which, it may be safely said, none of his compeers
possessed, and I think it will be admitted that
in his general practice he displayed powers of observation
of a high order. Acting as he did with Rennie,
Telford, Nimmo, and afterwards with Walker, George
Rennie, and Cubitt, with all of whom he ever remained
in friendly intercourse, his experience was both large and
varied, and the whole of his practice as an Engineer
was distinguished by full preliminary investigation of
his subject—great caution in forming his conclusions—elaborate
preparation of his reports and designs, and,
as specially called forth at the Bell Rock Lighthouse,
masterly skill, indomitable energy, and unwavering fortitude
in carrying his designs into execution.</p>
<div class="tb">* <span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">*</span></div>
<p>My father was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society
of Edinburgh in 1815, and soon after joined the Antiquarian
and Wernerian Natural History Societies, taking
an active part at their meetings and communicating
papers to their proceedings. He was a Fellow of the
Geological and Astronomical Societies of London, a
Member of the Smeatonian Society, and of the Institution
of Civil Engineers.</p>
<p>He was also one of the original promoters of the
Astronomical Institution, out of which has grown the
present establishment of the Royal Observatory of
Edinburgh, and the following account of the early origin
of the Institution was drawn up some years before Mr.
Stevenson’s death at the request of Professor Piazzi
Smyth, the Astronomer-Royal of <span class="locked">Scotland:—</span></p>
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">266</span>
“There was a young man named Kerr—an optician—in
Edinburgh, who, on commencing business, brought
about the formation of a Club, somewhat like a Book
Club, for procuring philosophical instruments for the use
of its members. These were more particularly optical
instruments and theodolites, etc., for surveyors, which
were also to have been lent out for hire. I think the
subscription was a guinea. The meetings were, perhaps,
monthly; they were held in the office of Mr. James
Ogilvy, Accountant, Parliament Square.</p>
<p>“I attended two, or perhaps three, meetings in the
year. The Club was formed before I was invited to
become a member. At the first meeting I found present
Mr. James Bonar, treasurer of the Royal Society; Mr.
Christison, mathematician; Mr. Brown, bookseller, opposite
the college; Mr. Ogilvy, and Mr. Kerr.</p>
<p>“After attending one or two meetings of this very
modest Society for the advancement of science, Mr. Bonar
and I had some conversation upon its prospects, and the
difficulties attending such a scheme of procuring philosophical
instruments, and systematising the lending out,
and keeping in efficient order theodolites, levels, telescopes,
etc.; and we concurred in opinion that the scheme
could not succeed. We deemed it advisable rather to
endeavour to get Short’s observatory on the Calton Hill
occupied as a ‘Popular Observatory.’ We spoke to some
of the magistrates on this subject, who, on the part of the
town, were quite favourable to the idea. We also applied
to Mr. Thomas Allan, then an active member of the Royal
Society, and he joined us in a communication to Sir<span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">267</span>
George Mackenzie of Coul, who warmly entered into our
views; and ultimately we had an interview with Professor
Playfair, who, in his mild and placid manner, agreed to
consider the subject, but felt some difficulty on account
of his colleague, the Professor of Practical Astronomy.
After a time Professor Playfair undertook to draw up a
statement for the public, which he did in his usual elegant
and concise style. Thus, step by step, we succeeded in
obtaining subscribers, and under the countenance and
support of Playfair, many were found who patronised the
proposal of establishing an observatory on the Calton Hill.</p>
<p>“Our idea was that we might look forward to a Popular
Observatory which would not interfere with the existing
Professorship of Astronomy, but have an establishment
to which, with our families, we might resort in an evening
with the advantage of oral and ocular demonstrations in
the science of Astronomy, treated after a popular form.</p>
<p>“The present characteristic and beautiful building was
then erected, and with the aid of Government, it was
furnished with some of the chief instruments; but much
to my regret the establishment has been exclusively
limited to the purposes of a scientific observatory, without
any provision of a popular description for which it was
originally intended.</p>
<p>“Unfortunately there was nothing to keep our constitution
alive in the minds of the public—nothing to allure
additional subscribers to our funds, so as to extend the
building, and fit it with a theatre and apparatus for
popular purposes—no Lecture was established, and, in
short, the original object fell dead in the hands of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">268</span>
Directors. I thus personally lost my object in this establishment,
and in all my <em>uphill</em> journeys and manifold
meetings, I had chiefly in view the pleasure of interviews
with my excellent friend the late Thomas Henderson, the
Professor of Astronomy in the University.”</p>
<div class="tb">* <span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">*</span></div>
<p>Passing from what may be regarded as Mr. Stevenson’s
public character as an engineer, it is only natural
that I should conclude this Memoir by adding a few
paragraphs descriptive of his social bearing as a man.</p>
<p>In politics my father was a decided conservative, but
he never took a prominent part in political or municipal
affairs. He was, however, from his earliest days a loyal
subject of the king; and, as we find from his Journal, a
zealous supporter of the Government. He says:—“After
my return from the Pentland Skerries in 1794, I enrolled
myself as a private in the 1st Regiment of Edinburgh
Volunteers raised as the local Defenders of our <em>Firesides</em>
against the threatened invasion by the French, and served
about five years in the ranks of that corps. However,
when the war became hot, and invasion was fully expected,
other corps of Volunteers were embodied, when I was
promoted to be a Lieutenant in the ‘Princess (Charlotte’s)
Royals,’ and afterwards Captain of the Grenadier Company.”</p>
<p>His connection with the volunteers seems to have
been of a very agreeable and satisfactory character,
proving that such loyal and patriotic services were not
then and are not now incompatible with the most ardent
pursuit of those studies and duties which are to qualify a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">269</span>
man for the business of life. On his promotion to the
Royals he received the following friendly letter from his
Colonel, Charles Hope, Lord Advocate, and afterwards
Lord President of the Court of <span class="locked">Session:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p class="sigright">“<i>24th January 1804.</i></p>
<p>“<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,—I always part with any of my friends in the Regiment
with great regret, especially such as belonged to the old Blues.
But I cannot object to your leaving me in order to be more extensively
useful in another corps. I therefore heartily wish you every
success in your new undertaking, and have no doubt that you will
prove a valuable acquisition to the discipline of the Spearmen.</p>
<p>Notify to Captain Spens your resignation, that he may send
for your arms.—I am, Sir, yours sincerely,</p>
<p class="sigright">
<span class="l2"><span class="smcap">C. Hope</span>,</span><br />
“<i>Lt.-Col. 1st. R.E.V.</i></p>
<p class="in0">“<span class="smcap">Mr. Robert Stevenson</span>,<br />
<span class="in1">“Capt., Spens’ Company.”</span>
</p></blockquote>
<p class="p1">Mr. Stevenson remained several years in his new
corps, until he was obliged, on commencing the Bell Rock
Lighthouse, to tender his resignation, when he received
a letter from Colonel Inglis conveying the request
of the Regiment that he should continue as an honorary
member of the <span class="locked">corps:—</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p class="p1 sigright">
“<span class="smcap">Edinburgh</span>, <i>9th April 1807</i>.
</p>
<p>“<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,—My anxious desire to have, if possible, devised means
for detaining you among us, must plead my excuse for being so
long of replying to your letter; and it is with most sincere regret,
that, after the most mature consideration, I am obliged to express
my fears that the rules of the Volunteer Corps must deprive us of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">270</span>
your services, in consequence of your active charge of a work of
national importance, rendering your absence from Edinburgh
unavoidable for years, during the months of drill.</p>
<p>“While I feel myself impelled, therefore, to accept of your
proffered resignation, I beg to assure you of my own sense, as well
as that of all the other officers, of the loss we sustain, and of our
great personal regard.</p>
<p>“And I am directed to entreat you will do us the favour of
continuing as an honorary member of a corps which has been so
much indebted for your zeal and exertions.</p>
<p>“I cannot conclude without returning you my thanks for the
obliging sentiment contained in your letter towards myself; and
have the honour to be, with much esteem, sir, your faithful
obedient servant,</p>
<p class="sigright">
“<span class="smcap">William Inglis</span>, L.C.C., L.E.S.
</p>
<p>
“<span class="smcap">Captain Stevenson</span>, Etc.”
</p></blockquote>
<p class="p1">Many of his personal friends have recorded the pleasant
satisfaction with which they continued through life
to look back upon the days spent in my father’s company
on board the lighthouse tender, while making his
annual inspection of the lighthouses. On one of these
voyages he was accompanied by his friends Patrick Neill,
LL.D., the Botanist; Charles Oliphant, Writer to the
Signet; and John Barclay, M.D., the Anatomist; who
presented him with a piece of plate in remembrance of
“the many happy hours they passed in his company on
sea and shore.”</p>
<p>On another occasion in 1814, the Commissioners of
Northern Lighthouses invited Sir Walter Scott to accompany
them on their annual tour. Mr. Lockhart, in his
life of Scott, says, “The company were all familiar friends<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">271</span>
of his, William Erskine, then Sheriff of Orkney, Robert
Hamilton, Sheriff of Lanarkshire, Adam Duff, Sheriff of
Forfarshire, but the real chief of the expedition was the
Surveyor Viceroy, the celebrated Engineer Stevenson,
and Scott anticipated special pleasure in his society.” “I
delight,” Scott writes to Morritt, “in these professional
men of talent; they always give you some new lights by
the peculiarity of their habits and studies, so different
from the people who are rounded, and smoothed, and
ground down for conversation, and who can say all that
every other person says, and—nothing more.” I quote a
single paragraph from Scott’s diary of this memorable
voyage, in which he gives an amusing account of the
first landing of the Commissioners on the rock on which
the celebrated Skerryvore lighthouse has since been
erected by Alan Stevenson, who succeeded my father as
Engineer, on his retirement from the Scottish Lighthouse
Board in 1843.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Having crept upon deck about four in the morning,” says Sir
Walter, “I find we are beating to windward off the Isle of Tyree,
with the determination, on the part of Mr. Stevenson, that his
constituents should visit a reef of rocks called Skerry Vhor, where
he thought it would be essential to have a lighthouse. Loud
remonstrances on the part of the Commissioners, who one and all
declare they will subscribe to his opinion, whatever it may be,
rather than continue this infernal buffeting. Quiet perseverance
on the part of Mr. S., and great kicking, bouncing, and squabbling
upon that of the yacht, who seems to like the idea of Skerry Vhor
as little as the Commissioners. At length, by dint of exertion,
come in sight of this long ridge of rocks (chiefly under water), on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">272</span>
which the tide breaks in a most tremendous style. There appear
a few low broad rocks at one end of the reef, which is about a mile
in length. These are never entirely under water, though the surf
dashes over them. To go through all the forms, Hamilton, Duff,
and I resolve to land upon these bare rocks in company with Mr.
Stevenson. Pull through a very heavy swell with great difficulty,
and approach a tremendous surf dashing over black, pointed rocks.
Our rowers, however, get the boat into a quiet creek between two
rocks, where we contrive to land well wetted. I saw nothing
remarkable in my way excepting several seals, which we might
have shot, but in the doubtful circumstances of the landing, we
did not care to bring guns. We took possession of the rock in name
of the Commissioners, and generously bestowed our own great
names on its crags and creeks. The rock was carefully measured
by Mr. S. It will be a most desolate position for a lighthouse,
the Bell Rock and Eddystone a joke to it, for the nearest land is
the wild island of Tyree, at fourteen miles’ distance. So much for
the Skerry Vhor.”</p></blockquote>
<p>In family life Mr. Stevenson was a man of sterling
worth. As a husband, a father, and a friend, he was
remarkably distinguished by the absence of selfishness.
His exertions in forwarding the progress of young men
through life were generous and unwearied; and few
men had more solid grounds than he for indulging in the
pleasing reflection that, both in his public and private
capacity, he had consecrated to beneficial ends every talent
committed to his trust.</p>
<p>He was a man of sincere and unobtrusive piety;
and although warmly attached to the Established Church
of Scotland, of which for nearly forty years he had been
an elder, and for many years a member of the General<span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">273</span>
Assembly, he had no taint of bigotry or of party feeling,
and he died calmly in that blessed hope and peace which
only an indwelling personal belief in the merits of a
Redeemer can impart to any son of our race.</p>
<div class="tb">* <span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">* </span><span class="in2">*</span></div>
<p>At a statutory general meeting of the Board of
Northern Lighthouses, which was held on the 13th July
1850, the day after my father’s death, the Commissioners
recorded their respect for his talents and virtues in the
following <span class="locked">Minute:—</span></p>
<p>“The Secretary having intimated, that Mr. Robert
Stevenson, the late Engineer to the Board, died yesterday
morning,</p>
<p>“The Board, before proceeding to business, desire
to record, their regret at the death of this zealous, faithful,
and able officer, to whom is due the honour of conceiving
and executing the great work of the Bell Rock
Lighthouse, whose services were gratefully acknowledged
on his retirement from active duty, and will be long
remembered by the Board, and to express their sympathy
with his family on the loss of one who was most estimable
and exemplary in all the relations of social and domestic
life. The Board direct that a copy of this resolution be
transmitted to Mr. Stevenson’s family, and communicated
to each Commissioner, to the different lightkeepers and
the other officers of the Board.”</p>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">274</span></p>
<div class="chapter">
<h2><a id="APPENDIX"></a>APPENDIX.<br />
<span class="subhead">THE INCHCAPE ROCK.</span></h2>
</div>
<blockquote>
<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">An</span> old writer mentions a curious tradition, which may be worth quoting. “By
east the Isle of May,” says he, “twelve miles from all land in the German
Seas, lyes a great hidden rock, called Inchcape, very dangerous for navigators,
because it is overflowed everie tide. It is reported in old times, upon
the saide rock there was a bell, fixed upon a tree or timber, which rang
continually, being moved by the sea, giving notice to the saylers of the
danger. This bell or clocke was put there and maintained by the Abbot of
Aberbrothok, and being taken down by a sea pirate, a yeare therafter he
perished upon the same rocke, with ship and goodes, in the righteous judgement
of God.”—<span class="smcap">Stoddart’s</span> <cite>Remarks on Scotland</cite>.</p></blockquote>
<div class="poem-container">
<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">No stir in the air, no stir in the sea,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">The ship was still as she could be;<br /></span>
<span class="i0">Her sails from heaven received no motion,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">Her keel was steady in the ocean.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">Without either sign or sound of their shock<br /></span>
<span class="i0">The waves flowed over the Inchcape Rock;<br /></span>
<span class="i0">So little they rose, so little they fell,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">They did not move the Inchcape Bell.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">The Abbot of Aberbrothok<br /></span>
<span class="i0">Had placed that Bell on the Inchcape Rock;<br /></span>
<span class="i0">On a buoy in the storm it floated and swung,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">And over the waves its warning rung.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">When the Rock was hid by the surge’s swell,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">The mariners heard the warning Bell;<br /></span>
<span class="i0">And then they knew the perilous Rock,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">And blest the Abbot of Aberbrothok.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">The Sun in heaven was shining gay,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">275</span><br /></span>
<span class="i0">All things were joyful on that day;<br /></span>
<span class="i0">The sea-birds scream’d as they wheel’d round,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">And there was joyaunce in their sound.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">The buoy of the Inchcape Bell was seen<br /></span>
<span class="i0">A darker speck on the ocean green;<br /></span>
<span class="i0">Sir Ralph the Rover walk’d his deck,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">And he fix’d his eye on the darker speck.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">He felt the cheering power of spring,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">It made him whistle, it made him sing;<br /></span>
<span class="i0">His heart was mirthful to excess,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">But the Rover’s mirth was wickedness.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">His eye was on the Inchcape Float;<br /></span>
<span class="i0">Quoth he, “My men, put out the boat,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">And row me to the Inchcape Rock,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">And I’ll plague the Abbot of Aberbrothok.”<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">The boat is lower’d, the boatmen row,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">And to the Inchcape Rock they go;<br /></span>
<span class="i0">Sir Ralph bent over from the boat,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">And he cut the Bell from the Inchcape float.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">Down sunk the Bell with a gurgling sound,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">The bubbles rose and burst around;<br /></span>
<span class="i0">Quoth Sir Ralph, “The next who comes to the Rock<br /></span>
<span class="i0">Won’t bless the Abbot of Aberbrothok.”<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">Sir Ralph the Rover sail’d away,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">He scour’d the seas for many a day;<br /></span>
<span class="i0">And now grown rich with plunder’d store,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">He steers his course for Scotland’s shore.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">So thick a haze o’erspreads the sky<br /></span>
<span class="i0">They cannot see the Sun on high;<br /></span>
<span class="i0">The wind hath blown a gale all day,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">At evening it hath died away.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">On the deck the Rover takes his stand,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">276</span><br /></span>
<span class="i0">So dark it is they see no land.<br /></span>
<span class="i0">Quoth Sir Ralph, “It will be lighter soon,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">For there is the dawn of the rising Moon.”<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">“Canst hear,” said one, “the breakers roar?<br /></span>
<span class="i0">For methinks we should be near the shore.”<br /></span>
<span class="i0">“Now, where we are I cannot tell,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">But I wish I could hear the Inchcape Bell.”<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">They hear no sound, the swell is strong;<br /></span>
<span class="i0">Though the wind hath fallen they drift along,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">Till the vessel strikes with a shivering shock,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">“O Christ! it is the Inchcape Rock!”<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">Sir Ralph the Rover tore his hair;<br /></span>
<span class="i0">He curst himself in his despair;<br /></span>
<span class="i0">The waves rush in on every side,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">The ship is sinking beneath the tide.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">But even in his dying fear<br /></span>
<span class="i0">One dreadful sound could the Rover hear,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">A sound as if with the Inchcape Bell,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">The Devil below was ringing his knell.<br /></span>
</div></div>
</div>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">277</span></p>
<div class="chapter"><div class="index">
<h2 class="nobreak p1"><a id="INDEX"></a>INDEX.</h2>
<ul class="index">
<li class="ifrst">Aberbrothock Abbey, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Aberdeen Harbour, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Adam, Robert, architect, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Adie, Alexander, optician, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Admiralty Survey, appeal for, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">—— Memoir of, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Airy, Sir G. B., <a href="#Page_52">52</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">American Suspension Bridges, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Anderson, Dr., <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Anemometer, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Annan Bridge, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Ardrossan Harbour, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Argand lamps. <i>See</i> <a href="#lighthouse">Lighthouse Illumination</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Astronomical Institution of Edinburgh, origin of, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">Backwater, value of, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Balance crane, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Barclay, Dr. John, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Barnbougle, foreshore, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Base line, measurement of, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Baxter, Mr., architect, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Beaufort, Sir F., <a href="#Page_202">202</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Bell Rock Lighthouse:—Dangers of the rock, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">ballad of Sir Ralph the Rover, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">“Account” of, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Mr. Stevenson’s design of 1800 for a stone tower, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">improvements on Smeaton’s tower in design and arrangement of materials, 16–<a href="#Page_24">24</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Bill of 1802–3 thrown out on financial grounds, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Mr. Telford and Mr. Rennie called in to support Mr. Stevenson’s design, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Act passed in 1806, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">progress of the work, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">attending boat breaks adrift, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">life in the floating lightship, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">boating between lightship and the rock, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Mr. Stevenson’s anxiety for the workmen, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Sunday work, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">life in the barrack or beacon, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">cranes invented for the work, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">bust of Engineer placed in the tower by the Lighthouse Board, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Sir Walter Scott’s visit to the tower, and lines inscribed in the album, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">experiments on preservation of timber, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">experiments on iron, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">measurement of base line for ascertaining its distance from the shore, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">cement rubble cofferdams used at, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">observations on fog and fog signals, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Southey’s “Inchcape Rock,” <a href="#Page_274">274</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Benson, Mr. (Covent Garden Theatre), <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Birkenhead Docks, 132–<a href="#Page_150">150</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Blackwood, W., publisher, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Blair, Sir D. Hunter, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Blasting, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Bolts, unscrewing of, by the waves, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Bremonteuil, M., <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.</li>
<li class="indx" id="bridges">Bridges:—Mr. Stevenson’s designs for Marykirk, Annan, Stirling, and Hutcheson stone bridges, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">high level road bridge for Newcastle, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">278</span></li>
<li class="isub1">bridge of built planks, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">new form of suspension bridge, 162–<a href="#Page_165">165</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">paper on suspension bridges, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">provision for flood waters, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Buoyage system, Mr. Stevenson’s, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Burn, Mr., architect, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">Canals:—Mr. Stevenson’s Reports on, upon one level without lockage, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Strathmore, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Edinburgh and Glasgow, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">ship canals, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">canal between the Dee and Mersey, 132–<a href="#Page_150">150</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Carr Rock Beacon:—Design for, and tide machine for ringing bell or sounding a whistle, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Cast iron rails. <i>See</i> <a href="#railways">Railways</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Cast iron tracks. <i>See</i> <a href="#roads">Roads</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Cathcart, Viscount, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Catoptric system. <i>See</i> <a href="#lighthouse">Lighthouse Illumination</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Cement. <i>See</i> <a href="#mortar">Mortar</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Clerk, John, of Eldin, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Coal light. <i>See</i> <a href="#may">Isle of May</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Cockburn, Lord, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Cofferdams, cement rubble, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Colby, Colonel, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">‘Comet’ steamer, accident to, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Corran Ferry, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Covent Garden Theatre, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Cramond Suspension Bridge, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Cranes:—Moveable jib and balance cranes invented by Mr. Stevenson, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Creech, Mr., <a href="#Page_3">3</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Crichton, Mr., architect, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Cubitt, Sir W., <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Cumbrae Lighthouse, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Cycloidal talus wall, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">Davidson, Rev. Dr., <a href="#Page_2">2</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Dee, River (Cheshire), <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, 132–<a href="#Page_150">150</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">—— wasting effects of the sea at, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Dee, River (Aberdeenshire), density of salt and fresh water at, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Dioptric system. <i>See</i> <a href="#lighthouse">Lighthouse Illumination</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Double light, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Douglass, J. N., C.E., <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Dredging, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Duff, Sheriff, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Duncan, Sheriff, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Dundee Harbour, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">Earl’s Palace, Kirkwall, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">East Lothian Railway, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Eddystone Lighthouse, Mr. Stevenson’s inspection of, in 1813 and 1818, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">fears as to its security, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">to be rebuilt, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Edgeworth, R., <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Edinburgh Astronomical Institution, origin of, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Edinburgh, Mr. Stevenson’s design for approaches from the east by Regent and London Roads, and opening up access to the Calton Hill, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">sites for the new Jail, Court of Justiciary, and buildings in Waterloo Place, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Regent Bridge, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Feuing Plan for eastern district of Edinburgh, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">improvement of accesses from the west and north and from Granton, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">removal of Old Tolbooth Prison, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">proposal to remove the University buildings, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Edinburgh Railway, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Edinburgh and Glasgow, canal between, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Elliot, A., architect, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Erne, River, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Erskine, Lord Advocate, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">Facet reflector, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">279</span></li>
<li class="indx">Fenwick, Mr., <a href="#Page_160">160</a>.</li>
<li class="indx" id="ferries">Ferries, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Ferry Engineering illustrated by Mr. Stevenson’s Report on the Tay Ferries, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Reports on various ferries, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Orkney and Shetland Ferry, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Fisheries:—Mr. Stevenson on the Scottish fisheries, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">origin of the Shetland herring fishery, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">sympiesometer suggested as a storm warning for fishing boats, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">habits of fishes, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">gases in air sacs of fishes, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Dr. Handyside’s remarks on, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Hon. B. F. Primrose on the slow progress of the Shetland fisheries, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Flashing light, invention of, by Mr. Stevenson, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Floating light lantern, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Fog and fog signals, observations on, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Foreshores, protection of, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Forth, River, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Foulerton, Captain, Trinity House, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Fowler, J., C.E., <a href="#Page_131">131</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Fraserburgh Harbour, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Fresnel, A., <a href="#Page_62">62</a>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">German Ocean, the alveus or bed of, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Graham, J. Gillespie, architect, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Granton Harbour, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Gregory, Professor, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">Haldane, J., architect, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Hamilton, T., architect, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Hamilton, Sheriff, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Handyside, Dr. P. D., <a href="#Page_194">194</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Harbours, Mr. Stevenson’s Reports on various, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">value of spending basins for, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Harris, Mr., <a href="#Page_60">60</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Henderson, Professor, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Highland and Agricultural Society, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Hope, Lord President, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Hope, Professor, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Hutcheson Bridge, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Hydraulic mortar, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Hydrophore, Mr. Stevenson’s invention of, 231–<a href="#Page_235">235</a>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">Inglis, Colonel, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Intermittent light, invention of, by Mr. Stevenson, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Irish Channel, cause of heavy seas in, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">sea routes across, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Iron, experiments on the durability of, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Isle of Man Lighthouses, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">—— observations on fog at, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.</li>
<li class="indx" id="may">Isle of May Lighthouse, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">Jameson, Professor, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Joseph, Samuel, R.A., <a href="#Page_45">45</a>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">Kincaid, Mr., <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Kinnairdhead Lighthouse, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">Laing, S., <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Leach, Dr., <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Leslie, Sir J., <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Lifeboats, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>.</li>
<li class="indx" id="lighthouse">Lighthouse Illumination:—early modes of, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">facet reflectors and lamps, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">silvered copper reflectors and Argand lamps, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">sliding lamp carriage, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">coal lights, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">distinctions among lights, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">dioptric system, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Lightship lantern, Mr. Stevenson’s design for, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>.</li>
<li class="indx"><i>Limnoria terebrans</i>, ravages of, on timber, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Lipping of joints of masonry, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">280</span></li>
<li class="indx">Loch Eil, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Locomotive engine, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Lockhart, J. G., <a href="#Page_270">270</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">London and Edinburgh, railway between, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Low, Professor, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">M’Adam, J. L., <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Mackenzie, Murdoch, <a href="#Page_138">138</a> <abbr xml:lang="la" lang="la">et seq.</abbr></li>
<li class="indx">Manby’s apparatus, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Marine Surveying, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">measurement of base line for Bell Rock, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">fixing site of Kinnairdhead light, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">appeal for Admiralty Survey, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">history of Admiralty Survey, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Marjoribanks, Sir J., <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Marykirk Bridge, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Melville, Lord, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">—— Monument, Edinburgh, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Mersey, River: Reports on harbour and dock at Wallasey and the Dee, with connecting ship canal, 132–<a href="#Page_150">150</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">wasting effects of the sea at, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Montrose Bridge, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">—— church spire, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</li>
<li class="indx" id="mortar">Mortar, hydraulic, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Moveable jib crane, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Mowat, Mr., of Gardie, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Mullaghmore Harbour, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">Neill, P., LL.D., <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Netherlands, King of, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Newcastle, design for high level road bridge at, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">New York Suspension Bridge, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Niagara Suspension Bridge, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Night signal lamps, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Nimmo, Alexander, C.E., <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">North Berwick Harbour, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.</li>
<li class="indx" id="northern">Northern Lighthouse Board, origin of, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Mr. Smith appointed Engineer, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">first light exhibited by, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Mr. Stevenson appointed Engineer, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">annual inspections and reports on the lighthouses, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">send Mr. Stevenson on a visit to the English lights, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Bell Rock Lighthouse, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">improvements in lighthouse illumination adopted by, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">lighthouses designed by Mr. Stevenson, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Minute on the death of Mr. Stevenson, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">Ordnance Survey, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Orkney and Shetland Ferries, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">—— Fisheries, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">Palmerston, Lord, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Pentland Skerries Lighthouse, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Peterhead Harbour, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>.</li>
<li class="indx"><i>Pinus maritima major</i>, for checking sand drift, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Playfair, Mr., architect, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Playfair, Professor, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Population, prospective increase of, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Portpatrick Harbour, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Price, H., C.E., <a href="#Page_131">131</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Primrose, Hon. B. F., <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">Queensferry passage, signal lamps for, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">Rae, Sir William, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Rails, cast and malleable iron, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>.</li>
<li class="indx" id="railways">Railways on one level, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">haulage on, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">lines of railway in Scotland laid out by Mr. Stevenson, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Report on Edinburgh Railway, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">cast iron and malleable iron rails, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">locomotive, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Reports on various railway lines, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">281</span></li>
<li class="isub1">uniform gauge, etc., proposed for, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">notes on railways for the Highland and Agricultural Society, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">description of permanent way of, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">letter from George Stephenson, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">article on, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">signal lamps, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Reflectors. <i>See</i> <a href="#lighthouse">Lighthouse Illumination</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Rendel, J. M., <a href="#Page_151">151</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Rennie, George, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Rennie, John, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Ribble, River, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Ritchie, Professor, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Rivers, Mr. Stevenson’s Reports on, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">value of backwater, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Tees navigation, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Reports by Telford, Stevenson, and Nimmo, on harbours and wet docks at Birkenhead and at the Dee with connecting ship canal, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">improvement of the Tay navigation, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">experiments on the density of fresh and salt water, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.</li>
<li class="indx" id="roads">Roads:—Early roads and road making, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Edgeworth and M’Adam’s systems of road making, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Mr. Stevenson’s system of road making, 67–<a href="#Page_70">70</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">cast iron tracks, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">stone tracks as a smooth and durable city road, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">article on, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Robison, Professor, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Rosebery, Lord, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">Salt water, density of, in estuaries and rivers, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Sand drift, checking of, by “bent” grass and planting <i>Pinus maritima major</i>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Scotch Lighthouse Board. <i>See</i> <a href="#northern">Northern Lighthouse Board</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Scott, Sir Walter, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Sectio planography, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Severn, River, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Shetland Ferries. <i>See</i> <a href="#ferries">Ferries</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Shetland Fisheries, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">origin of herring fishery, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Ships, build of, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Shipwrecks, notes on, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Signal lamps, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Sinclair, Sir John, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Skerryvore Lighthouse, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Smeaton, John, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Smith, Captain of the ‘Orestes,’ <a href="#Page_168">168</a> <abbr xml:lang="la" lang="la">et seq.</abbr></li>
<li class="indx">Smith, Thomas: improvements in lighthouse illumination, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Engineer to the Scotch Lighthouse Board, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Cumbrae Lighthouse, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Pentland Skerries Lighthouse, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Smyth, Professor Piazzi, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Southey’s “Inchcape Rock,” <a href="#Page_274">274</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Spink, J., Bell Rock pilot, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">St. Andrews Cathedral, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">St. Magnus Cathedral, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Steamboats, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">regulations for, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">lights for, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Stephenson, George, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">—— Robert, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Stevenson, Alan, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Stevenson, Robert:—birth, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">superintends erection of Cumbrae Light, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">resolves to be a Civil Engineer, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">student at Andersonian Institution, Glasgow, and University of Edinburgh, 5–<a href="#Page_7">7</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">superintends Pentland Skerries Lighthouse works, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">appointed Engineer to the Northern Lighthouse Board, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">annual inspections and Reports on the Scotch Lighthouses, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">inspection of and report on English lights, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">is taken for a French spy, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Journals, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Reports, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>.</li>
<li class="indx"> Design for the Bell Rock Lighthouse, personal superintendence of the work during its execution, and incidents connected therewith, 13–<a href="#Page_47">47</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">“Account” of, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>.</li>
<li class="indx"> Lighthouse illumination, improvements in, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">sliding lamp carriage, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">282</span></li>
<li class="isub2">lighthouses in Scotland designed by, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">invents distinctions for lighthouses, viz., flashing, intermittent, and double lights, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">design for floating light lantern, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">Report on dioptric system of illumination, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>.</li>
<li class="indx"> System of road making, 67–<a href="#Page_70">70</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">cast iron tracks for roads, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">stone tracks, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.</li>
<li class="indx"> Improvement of Edinburgh:—design for approaches from the east by Regent and London Roads, and opening up access to Calton Hill, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">Report on sites for new Jail and Court of Justiciary and buildings in Waterloo Place, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">building plan for eastern district of Edinburgh, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">improvement of accesses from the north and west and from Granton, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">visit to the jails of England, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">Old Tolbooth Prison, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">Report on removal of University buildings, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>.</li>
<li class="indx"> Ferries:—Reports on, illustrated by those of the Tay, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">Reports on various ferries, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>.</li>
<li class="indx"> Report on canals on one level without lockage, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">Reports on railways, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">uniform gauge, etc., proposed for railways, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">notes on railways for the Highland and Agricultural Society, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">description of permanent way, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>.</li>
<li class="indx"> Harbours and Rivers:—Reports on, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">Tees navigation, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">Reports on harbour and wet docks at Birkenhead, and harbour at Helbre on the Dee with connecting ship canal, 132–<a href="#Page_150">150</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">Tay river improvements, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>.</li>
<li class="indx"> Preservation of timber:—experiments on, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">preservation of iron, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>.</li>
<li class="indx"> Bridges:—designs for Marykirk, Annan, Stirling, and Hutcheson stone bridges, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">design for high level road bridge at Newcastle, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">bridge of built planks, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">new form of suspension bridge, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.</li>
<li class="indx"> Design for Wolf Rock Lighthouse, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.</li>
<li class="indx"> Design for Carr Rock Beacon, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">proposal to use the tide for tolling a bell or sounding a whistle, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>.</li>
<li class="indx"> Invents the moveable jib and balance cranes, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.</li>
<li class="indx"> Fisheries:—notes on the Scotch, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">origin of the Shetland herring fishery, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">suggestion for using the sympiesometer as a storm warning, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">experiments on air sacs of fishes, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>.</li>
<li class="indx"> Marine survey, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">measurement of <em>base line</em>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">mode of ascertaining positions of lighthouses, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">appeal for Admiralty Survey and Sailing Directions, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</li>
<li class="indx"> Contributions to <cite>Encyclopædia Britannica</cite> and <cite>Edinburgh Encyclopædia</cite>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">alveus or bed of the German Ocean, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">sectio planography, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">wasting effects of the sea on the estuaries of the Mersey and Dee, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">discovery that the salt water flows up the beds of rivers in a stream distinct from the outflowing fresh water, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">invents the hydrophore, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.</li>
<li class="indx"> Wide range of subjects on which Mr. Stevenson gave advice, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">architectural reports, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>;</li>
<li class="isub2">extracts from early Reports, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.</li>
<li class="indx"> Retrospect of life, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Stewart, Professor Dugald, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Stirling Bridge, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Stockton and Darlington Railway, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Stonehaven Harbour, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Stone tracks. <i>See</i> <a href="#roads">Roads</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Strathmore Canal, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">—— Railway, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Suspension Bridges. <i>See</i> <a href="#bridges">Bridges</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Sympiesometer, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">Tay Ferries, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">283</span></li>
<li class="indx">—— River, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Tees, River, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Telford, Thomas, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Thames, River, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Thomas, Captain, Admiralty Survey, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Tidal scour, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Timber:—experiments on durability of, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">ravages of the <i>Limnoria terebrans</i> on, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">charring, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">creosoted <a href="#Page_159">159</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Tour de Cordouan, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Trinity, cycloidal sea wall at, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>.</li>
<li class="ifrst">Walker, James, C.E., <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Water:—experiments on the density of fresh and salt water at the Dee, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Thames, Loch Eil, etc., <a href="#Page_235">235</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">hydrophore for obtaining specimens of, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Watt, James, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Waves, action of, in unscrewing bolts, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Wear, River, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Wilson, Captain, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Winch Chain Bridge, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</li>
<li class="indx">Wolf Rock Lighthouse:—design for, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">Journal of visit to, 168–<a href="#Page_175">175</a>;</li>
<li class="isub1">tower built in 1870, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>.</li>
</ul>
</div></div>
<p class="p2 in0 small vspace">
<span class="bt">PRINTED BY T. AND A. CONSTABLE, PRINTERS TO HER MAJESTY,</span><br />
<span class="p4">AT THE EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY PRESS.</span></p>
<div class="chapter"><div class="footnotes">
<h2 class="nobreak p1"><a id="FOOTNOTES"></a>FOOTNOTES</h2>
<div class="footnote">
<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="fnanchor">1</a> Mr. Randall assumed the name of Davidson after succeeding to the estate
of Muirhouse.</p></div>
<div class="footnote">
<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="fnanchor">2</a> Account of the Bell Rock Lighthouse. Drawn up by desire of the Commissioners
of the Northern Lighthouses, by Robert Stevenson. Edinburgh, 1824.</p></div>
<div class="footnote">
<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="fnanchor">3</a> 7th September 1807.</p></div>
<div class="footnote">
<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="fnanchor">4</a> The tender was named after the great Engineer.</p></div>
<div class="footnote">
<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5" class="fnanchor">5</a> Spink’s boat was too large to come close to the rock.</p></div>
<div class="footnote">
<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6" class="fnanchor">6</a> Report of the Royal Commission on Lighthouses, 1861, p. 86.</p></div>
<div class="footnote">
<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_7" href="#FNanchor_7" class="fnanchor">7</a> <i>Translation also by Dr. Gregory</i>:—“In the reign of George the Third,
the father of his country, in the second year of the Provostship of Sir John
Marjoribanks, Baronet, of Lees,—The citizens of Edinburgh having made this new
and magnificent access over the neighbouring hill to the capital city, according to
the plan of Robert Stevenson, Civil Engineer, ordered the name of the <em>Regent</em>,
George Augustus Frederick, to be inscribed on this bridge.”</p></div>
<div class="footnote">
<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_8" href="#FNanchor_8" class="fnanchor">8</a> From which <a href="#Fig_14">Fig. 14</a> has been made.</p></div>
<div class="footnote">
<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_9" href="#FNanchor_9" class="fnanchor">9</a> The essays most favourably noticed are those of Mr. Alexander Scott, Mr.
George Robertson, Mr. George Douglas, Mr. John Ruthven, Mr. James Dickson,
Mr. James Walker (Carron), Mr. James Walker (Lauriston), Mr. John Fraser,
Mr. John Wotherspoon, Mr. John Moore, and Mr. John Baird.</p></div>
<div class="footnote">
<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_10" href="#FNanchor_10" class="fnanchor">10</a> Notice of the Ravages of <i>Limnoria terebrans</i> on Creosoted Timber.—<cite>Proceedings
of the Royal Society of Edinburgh</cite>, vol. iv. and vol. viii.</p></div>
<div class="footnote">
<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_11" href="#FNanchor_11" class="fnanchor">11</a> Vol. ii. p. 129.</p></div>
<div class="footnote">
<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_12" href="#FNanchor_12" class="fnanchor">12</a> Vol. ii. p. 196.</p></div>
<div class="footnote">
<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_13" href="#FNanchor_13" class="fnanchor">13</a> A Sketch of the Institution and the progress of the Hydrographical Department
of the Admiralty, from its first establishment in the year 1795.</p></div>
<div class="footnote">
<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_14" href="#FNanchor_14" class="fnanchor">14</a> Vol. x. p. 57.</p></div>
</div></div>
<div class="chapter"><div class="transnote">
<h2 class="nobreak p1"><a id="Transcribers_Notes"></a>Transcriber’s Notes</h2>
<p>Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant
preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.</p>
<p>Simple typographical errors were corrected.</p>
<p>Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained; occurrences of
inconsistent hyphenation have not been changed.</p>
<p>Index not checked for proper alphabetization or correct page references.</p>
<p><a href="#PLATE_IV">Illustration</a> facing page 77: credit line not entirely readable.
</p>
</div></div>
<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 55596 ***</div>
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