Mr Stevenson oji British Harhoiirs. Ill 



authorities of the town of Leith. I am now, therefore, to give 

 some account of it, and to state what appears to me most suit- 

 able for its improvement. 



At high-water of ordinary neap-tides there is a depth of only 

 about eight or nine feet at the present entrance of Leith Har- 

 bour, and in spring-tides the depth is about thirteen or fourteen 

 feet. From the pecuhar form of its piers, and, particularly, ow- 

 ing to a considerable extension of the eastern pier beyond the 

 western one, as will be seen from the accompanying sketch-plan, 

 vessels are by this means often shut up for a length of 

 time with north-westerly winds. Till of late years the birthage 

 of the harbour was confined to the bed of the river, and had be- 

 come so extremely incommodious from the increase of shipping, 

 that its enlargement became indispensable. An additional reve- 

 nue was accordingly provided ; and two spacious wet-docks, ex- 

 tending to ten acres, were formed. These docks have proved a 

 vast accommodation to the port ; but a great desideratum still 

 remains, in the want of a sufficient depth of water, and a more 

 commodious entrance for the reception of large ships. 



If we inquire into the cause of the shallowness of the water 

 at Leith, and generally along the southern shores of this frith, 

 it may be accounted for, on the great scale, by the set both of 

 the flood and ebb tides, in the following manner. The strongest 

 current, for example, of the flood-tide, in its course from the At- 

 lantic Ocean, runs along the coasts of Caithness, Aberdeen, and 

 Kincardine, to the higher parts of the Frith of Forth, meeting with 

 comparatively few obstructions on the northern side; whereas 

 the stream of tide which supplies its southern shores, separates 

 off* St Abb's Head, in Berwickshire, — one branch of the tide pro- 

 ceeding to the English coast, and the other along the Lothians 

 up the Frith. This last, however, has more the character of an 

 eddy-tide, having changed its course almost at right angles, at 

 or near St Abb's Head, and being further intersected in its pro- 

 gress by the Bass and other islands lying off* the coast of Had- 

 dingtonshire. At Gullen Ness, which forms one of the chops of 

 the inner part of the Frith, the channel suddenly expands into 

 the comparatively great bay of Musselburgh. This expanse 

 gives another check to the velocity of the tide, which at Leith 

 is again obstructed by a chain of rocks extending toward Inch- 

 keith, throwing the currents, both of flood ^aiid ebb, still off the 



