ul2 Dr Fleming on the Expediency of forming Harbours 



rnce of the permanency and stability of a breakwater are 

 duly considered. The little crustacean, termed Limnoria 

 (rrebrans, which feeds on timber in the sea, and px'opagates 

 w'th amazing rapidity, would prove a foe to breakwaters of 

 such materials, and render their maintenance troublesome, 

 ]'i'ecarious, and expensive. Stones, therefore, must be em- 

 ]ilnyed as the material in the construction of the breakwater ; 

 and fortunately blocks of sufiicient magnitude and durability 

 are not wanting at various places of the coast. 



The best positions for harbours of refuge could be ascer- 

 tnined, with the greatest certainty, by an examination of those 

 mariners who have been accustomed to navigate the coast, 

 and who are, in consequence, familiarly acquainted with the 

 dangerous winds, the sets of the tides, and the depths of water. 



Towards the turning point of the Moray Frith, a situation 

 occurs in many respects excellent for the formation of a har- 

 bour of refuge, viz. Sandford Bay, bounded on the north by 

 Peterhead, and on the south by Buchanness. Here, by means 

 of a breakwater, this Bay, which possesses excellent anchor- 

 age ground, with sufficient depth of water, and affiirds in its 

 present state a great amount of protection against westerly 

 gales, could be made a havenof security equallyconvenient both 

 for size and proximity to the ship-stores of Peterhead. Ma- 

 terials well adapted for the construction of a breakwater are 

 abundant in the neighbourhood, and the lighthouse on the 

 south side of the bay at Buchanness, would furnish satisfactory 

 directions to the mariner running to it for shelter. There are 

 licre no shifting sands to contend against, although an objec- 

 tion may be urged against the locality, as too near the turning 

 point into the Moray Frith. 



The Bay of Aberdeen offers apparently but few conve- 

 niences for the construction of a harbour of refuge. The quan- 

 tity of shifting sand ranging along the coast from Slains on 

 I'ne north, to Girdleness on the south side, would form obstacles 

 Avliich, probably, no arrangement of walls could prevent from 

 accumulating injuriously. 



The Bay of Nigg, immediately to the south of Aberdeen 

 bay, seems to possess several advantages. It is not incom- 

 moded with moveable sands, has abundant materials for the 



