102 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [4] 
the different stations along the coast becomes a matter of great import- 
ance, and there is a great lack of proper means to indicate shallow and 
dangerous places.!. The coast of Bobus-lan has been treated in a very 
step-motherly manner in this respect, as compared with the east coast of 
Sweden. This mistake should be corrected, all the more as a new and 
very considerable branch of industry will be largely benefited thereby. 
For this intercourse along the coast it will, moreover, be necessary 
that several routes for ships should be plainly marked, and that two 
canals should be constructed, to avoid the necessity of sailing along an 
extensive stretch of coast exposed to the full fury of the sea. An in- 
vestigation of this matter was made last summer at the expense of 
the province, and an estimate drawn up of the extent and cost of 
the work.? The most dangerous places are (1) near Tjurpannan, (2) 
near Soten, and (3) the coast near the Hjerteré and Marstrands fiords, 
The two first-mentioned places require the canalization of considerable 
portions of land; whilst—as will be shown below—the requirements of 
the northern coast (mentioned under No. 3) will be most satisfactorily 
met by the construction of a railroad from Uddevalla to Grebbestad- 
Krossekirr, with a branch line to the southern end of the Sanndis fiord, 
in case the proposed canal between the last-mentioned place and Kros- 
sekdrrshamn should not be constructed. Both the canals referred to 
above should, in order to meet all requirements, be at least 12 or 15 feet 
deep, and broad enough to allow two steamers to pass each other with- 
out inconvenience. They would therefore involve a very considerable 
expense, without satisfying half the demands of Northern Bohus-lin for 
better means of communication. It is moreover feared that, on account 
of the strong current, sailing vessels could but rarely pass through 
them. The dredging of the inner route between the Bottna and Joreds 
jiords, however, should be done at once, as it will only involve a com- 
paratively small expense, would connect the southernmost part of the 
northern coast with the terminus of the above-mentioned railroad, and 
could be taken both by steamers and sailing vessels. As regards the 
avoiding of the last-mentioned portions of the coast, this could easily 
be accomplished by dredging and widening the existing channel inside 
the Hjerteré fiord,? and by dredging the sound between Tjérnskalf and. 
Tjornshufvud. As the last-mentioned work would make one of the best 
outer harbors of Bohus-lan, Kalfvehamn, accessible from the south, the 
sound referred to should be made at least 15 feet deep. This subject 
was discussed several years ago; all the preliminary investigations were 
made, when the whole project fell through, because it was feared that 
the new channel would offer special facilities for smuggling. As the 
herring fisheries, both during the last century and during the present 
fishing period, were most productive south of Soten, and as all herring 
"180 « Géteborg’s och Bohus lins Landstings Handlingar,” 1879, No. 15; 1880, No. 14. 
2See the same, 1878, No. 9, p. 10; No. 15, p. 3-4; No. 30, p. 4: 1880, No. 24, p. 1. 
3See the same, 1880, No. 15. 
