112 Mr Stevenson on British Harbours. 



southern shore. Between Lcith and the Narrows at Queensferry, 

 the incumbrance is continued by the interposition of Cramond 

 Island and the foul grounds of Mickery and Oxscares, which 

 altogether are favourable to the process of deposition on this 

 shore ; while the force of the current and consequent depth of 

 water are increased upon the northern »ide. Of this we have an 

 anomalous example at Queensferry, where the soundings are 

 about thirty-five fathoms in depth, and consequently greater than 

 on the same parallel of latitude any where between the Frith of 

 Forth and the opposite coast of Denmark. 



The great obstacle to the improvement of the present entrance 

 of Leith harbour arises from the extensive flat or bank trend- 

 ing northward to the rocky grounds called the Symonds, lying 

 seaward of the Martello Tower, as delineated on the annexed 

 Sketch of the shore between Leith and Newhaven, shewing the 

 figure of the bank and the position of the respective rocks in the 

 oflSng. On the southern side of the Frith, immediately above 

 Newhaven, the scouring effect of the tide is chiefly with the ebb, 

 and thus we account for the peculiar form of the sand-bank off* 

 Leith, and the greater depth of water ofl* Newhaven : at this 

 place the bank is comparatively narrow, and it attains its great- 

 est breadth off* the entrance to Leith Harbour. 



The scouring effects of the river Leith are, no doubt, benefi- 

 cial to its alveus ; but if we carefully examine this matter, we 

 shall find, from the extent and flatness of the ground, that its 

 influence is, upon the whole, languid. The bar does not consist 

 of mud, but of sand, similar to that which is deposited above 

 and below Leith. It is not a particular ridge, but an extensive 

 flat, which has its origin in the local set of the tides, arising from 

 the configuration of the shores opposed to the tidal current. I 

 am therefore of opinion, that every effort to deepen the present 

 entrance of the harbour, which stops short of carrying two con- 

 tinuous piers at a very moderate distance from each other, sea- 

 ward of the Symond Rocks, or to the extent of about a mile 

 from the shore at Leith, will not only prove ineffectual, but that 

 one pier, of any form, which extends much beyond the other, will 

 prove ruinous to the best interests of the port. I would not, 

 however, be understood as recommending so extensive a plan 

 of operations, as the extension of piers to the Symond Rocks, 



