MEMOIR ON BOSTON HARBOR. 109 



cessful improvements made in the navigation of the river, only nine feet of water at low- 

 neap tides. 



Hamburg, the greatest commercial city of Germany, perhaps of the Continent, can 

 only be approached with safety at all times by vessels drawing fourteen feet of w^ater, 

 though vessels drawing eighteen feet can come up with the spring tides. Marseilles, the 

 great emporium of the South of France, the centre of nine tenths of the commerce of 

 France with the countries bordering on the Mediterranean, has for its port a basin three 

 thousand feet long, and quite narrow, having only sixteen or eighteen feet of water at 

 the entrance, with no perceptible tide, and kept open only by the incessant use of dredg- 

 ing-machines. The port of Havre is kept clear by artificial means. 



But the best idea of the capacity of Boston Harbor, and of the most suitable mode of 

 improving its conveniences for commerce, is obtained by comparing it with London in 

 some particulars; and this comparison is suggested by the Report of the Commissioners 

 of January, 1850. It is recommended in this report to excavate upon the flats wet 

 docks, in imitation of London and Liverpool, and a plan is submitted in which the place 

 of these docks is drawn, above low-water mark. This recommendation is founded upon 

 a total misconcei^tion of the nature of the case, and ignorance of the actual condition of 

 Boston Harbor. Wet docks have been constructed in London at an enormous cost, be- 

 cause they were absolutely indispensable. As the commerce enlarged, the ships that 

 entered the river would have blocked it up, and intercepted all passage, had they not 

 been drawn out on one side or the other. The maintenance of the commercial prosper- 

 ity of the city depended on having some auxiliary space into which to take vessels that 

 must unavoidably lie still a long time, while discharging, loading, repairing, &;c. 

 The natural room was too limited ; artificial room was to be created. In the case of 

 Liverpool, docks are required, whatever may be their expense, if a great trade is to be 

 sustained, in consequence of the want of good anchoring-ground in the Mersey, and be- 

 cause it would not under any circumstances be either safe or commodious for vessels to 

 load and discharge cargoes by the side of a pier, or by means of lighters, where the rise 

 and fall of the tide is thirty feet. The cases, therefore, of Boston and London, or Liv- 

 erpool, are essentially diflerent. 



Neither is it correct to speak of the Atlantic Dock at New York as belonging to the 

 same system as the English docks. The Atlantic Dock is formed by the inclosure of a 

 natural water area, deepened and improved undoubtedly. It is hardly worth while to 

 say, that this is a very distinct thing from the construction of one of the London docks, 

 occupying ground on wliich formerly stood a populous parish, with its dwellings and 

 churches. 



VOL. V. NEW SERIES. 16 



