696 ON THE COST OF CARRIAGE. 



to York. In a direct line, Doncaster is over thirty miles from 

 York, and the passage by water must have been down the Don 

 to the Humber, and thence up the Ouse a long circuit. But 

 in 1415, freight, probably stone, was conveyed at is. a ton 

 from Doncaster to York. It would appear that on this occa- 

 sion, advantage was taken of the return of some vessel or 

 vessels in ballast, the out journey from York to Doncaster 

 having been of a more valuable and better paying cargo. 



In 1543 the cost of carrying freestone from Dartford to 

 London by water, a distance of fully fifteen miles in a straight 

 line, and certainly twice that amount if one reckons the line of 

 the stream from Dartford to the Thames and thence to London, 

 was 4<J. the ton. This rate is still lower. 



I n 1545 nearly nine fothers of lead are carried by water 

 from Deptford wharf to Westminster. In a straight line the 

 distance cannot be less than five miles. The Thames is, how- 

 ever, so tortuous here, that the distance by water may be 

 nearly ten miles. The rate is nearly %d. the fother, and it may 

 be expected that lead was a costlier freight than stone. The 

 rate is certainly higher than that paid for the fothers carried 

 from Boroughbridge to York. 



Again, a century and a half later than the Doncaster entry, 

 freight by the Thames, in 1566, from Reading to Scotland 

 wharf, London, i.e. near Great Scotland Yard, Whitehall, was 

 contracted for at is. %d. a ton. The distance from Reading to 

 London by water cannot be less than 60 miles, is probably 

 more, and the rate is therefore exceedingly low. The year, 

 too, is by no means one of low prices, for wheat is i6s. y\d. 

 the quarter, while in 1415 it was 6s ^\d. The difference of 

 the times considered, the rate per ton is cheaper than that of 

 the water carriage from Doncaster to York. 



The accounts of Pershore supply some examples of water 

 carriage, both on the Avon and the Severn, for this monastery 

 bought goods at Evesham, Tewkesbury, and Bristol. It is clear 

 that the freight from Tewkesbury to Pershore was reckoned at 

 half that from Bristol to Pershore, for two pipes of salmon cost 



