Narratives of two excursions to the ports of England, Scotland, and Ireland, in 1816, 1817, and 1818 : together with a description of the Breakwater at Plymouth, and also of the Caledonian Canal / translated from the French of Charles Dupin ... and illustrated by notes, critical and explanatory, by the translator.

  • Charles Dupin
Date:
Between 1800 and 1899
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Narratives of two excursions to the ports of England, Scotland, and Ireland, in 1816, 1817, and 1818 : together with a description of the Breakwater at Plymouth, and also of the Caledonian Canal / translated from the French of Charles Dupin ... and illustrated by notes, critical and explanatory, by the translator. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    EXCURSION TO THK PORTS OF EN(;LAN1), IN ISK). After having exhausted every thing most useful and most* ingenious offered to me by France, considered in a maritime point of v'icw, I turned my eyes towards a people who for a century past have held the sceptre of the seas, and, without ever reposing on the superiority of their labours, strive more and more to approach towards perfection. In my first excursion, 1 visited the establishments of Lon¬ don which have a direct or indirect connexion with the ma¬ rine, all the great naval ports, and the two most important ports of commerce, after the capital: I mean Bristol and Liverpool. London offered itself to my observations in three different points of view. First, as the greatest port for trade in all England; then, as a focus of industry for the maritime arts ; lastly, as the centre of the operations of the military marine, or navy. Let us take a rapid glance at the capital of the Bri¬ tish empire, considered under these various aspects. » London enjoys, from natufe, an advantage which Paris ought to have enjoyed long since through the benefits of art. It is that of being a sea-port. Ships ascend the Thames in full sail, and come to anchor, or moorings, at the very foot of the arches of London-bridge. In setting out from tliis place, and descending towards the sea, five, six, seven, and even eight vessels lying abreast, arc seen on each side of the river, and these tiers succeed each other almost without any interruption, to a considerable distance. Nevertheless, this is but a small part of the mercantile ma¬ rine, or merchant-shipping belonging to the capital. All the ships which trade to India have their particular wet-docks, or basins, one for the imports, or homeward-bound ships, another for the exports, or those outward-bound. All the ships which trade to the West Indies, in like manner, have • theirs; ships of all nations arc received, without any kind of
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