ii INTRODUCTION. 



on the coast of Scotland. It is not unlikely, however, that 

 long before that date some of the most dangerous parts of 

 the Mediterranean were lighted in a like primitive manner. 



The first lighthouse of any note of which we have authentic 

 record is the Tour de Corduan, near the mouth of the river 

 Garonne, in the south-west of France, which was founded in 

 1584, but not completed and lighted till 1610. On account 

 of the style and grandeur of its architecture, it was long 

 regarded as one of the wonders of the world, the Pharos of 

 Alexandria having been regarded as another. Its lightroom 

 was originally constructed for the combustion of wood in a 

 kind of chauffer raised six feet above the floor of the lantern ; 

 but it has undergone many alterations and improvements 

 since then, to bring it into keeping with the progressing and 

 modern system of lighthouse illumination, which has made 

 great strides during the last half-century. 



Winstanley's wooden structure to mark the Eddystone 

 Rock off Plymouth was probably the next work of importance 

 in lighthouse building. It was lighted in 1698, but washed 

 away in a storm about five years afterwards when Winstanley, 

 who had gone there with some workmen to execute certain 

 repairs, and the lightkeepers all perished. A subsequent 

 lighthouse, also of wood, on the Eddystone, was accidentally 

 burned down about fifty years later, after which Smeaton's 

 structure of stone was placed on it. This building stood 

 until a few years ago, when it was seen the sea was mak- 

 ing such serious inroads on the rock on which it was 

 founded, that it was deemed advisable to take it down and 

 have another built on a different part of the reef. The 

 success of Smeaton's lighthouse having been assured, attention 

 was directed at the beginning of last century to the Bell 

 Rock, which was a source of great danger to vessels navigat- 

 ing the East Coast of Scotland, and particularly to those 



