698 



DOCK DOCKS. 



in the duchy of Meckleiibursr-Srhw ( rin. About a 

 mile from Uie place is tlie Heilige Dnnim, or Holy 

 Dam, a high natural mound of stones, curiously 

 formed ami coloured, stn-trliin-; far into the Baltic. 

 Tradition says, ili;it the sea threw up these stones in 

 one niulit : ii was, perlia]>s, the eflect of an earth- 

 quake. Tliree miles distant from Dobberan is a 

 IwUiinir-iiouM-, the oldest establishment for sea-bath- 

 ing in (ieniiiiny. It was founded by Uie duke in 

 17'i:>; and to it Dobberan 1ms been chiefly indebted 

 fur its celebrity. 



DOCK; a name applied to different species of the 

 genus rnmr.r. These are large herbaceous plants, 

 with stout roots, alternate and often entire feaves, 

 and bearing panicles of small greenish flowers. 

 Their roots have an austere taste, are astringent and 

 styptic, and the seeds are sometimes employed in 

 hemorrhage. The root of the water-dock ( R. ayua- 

 ticim) strikes a black colour in a solution of sulphate 

 of iron. About sixty species of this genus are known. 

 The term dock is frequently applied to other large 



weeds. 



DOCKS. The word Jock v as formerly applied to 

 the slip or excavation made for the purpose of build- 

 ing or repairing a vessel; and was distinguished as 

 a dry dock when furnished with flood-gates to pre- 

 vent the influx of the tide, if required ; and as a wet 

 dock when, having no flood-gates, the vessel could 

 only be cleaned or repaired during the period in 

 which the tide left her accessible. These slips or 

 docks are still used. At present, the name of graving 

 nr building dock is more generally given to what we 

 luive termed dry dock, wffirJi latter term is applied 

 to those docks or basins left dry by Uie tide ; while 

 the appellation slip is confined to the narrow inlet for 

 building or repairing, unprotected by gates. 



During the growth of the maritime power and the 

 commerce of Europe, it was found highly inconve- 

 nient to load and unload vessels in^a tide-river or in 

 a harbour not entirely land-locked ; for ej^er the 

 ships could not be brought close to the wharves, or, 

 when conducted there at the flood of the tide, tliey 

 were left dry at the ebb. and suilered continual dam- 

 age by straining, by delay from neap tides, and other 

 accidents and inconveniences. To obviate4hese in- 

 conveniences, improvements in thexisting 4 O( *5. or 

 slips were made from time to time, until England, 

 taking the lead, introduced a system of floating docks, 

 which have greatly contributed to her advancement 

 and prosperity. 



Many of the principal maritime ports of Europe 

 are provided with dry docks for building r.nd repair- 

 ing vessels; and of these Toulon, Havre and 

 have the most remarkable. Most seaport towns ar 

 provided with graving docks for the repairing 

 ships; but it is only in the British islands that the 

 system has been carried to any extent of form 

 ing large basins or Coating docks, furnished with 

 flood-gates for the reception of shipping to load and 

 unload, wherein the vessel remains safe at the quay 

 side. 



The docks of Liverpool were the first constructed 

 in England; and many other maritime towns have 

 been induced to follow her example. It is only about 

 thirty years since nearly the whole of the vessels 

 that entered the port of London were obliged to re- 

 main moored in the open stream of the Thames. 

 The example which Liverpool had set for nearly a 

 century pointed out the remedy for the existing evils, 

 and the construction of floating docks in the port of 

 London was resolved on. The first constructed, and 

 fhose nearest the trading part of the metropolis, are 

 railed the London docks. They are just below the 

 site of the Tower, and on the left bank of the Thames; 

 were begun in 1800, and completed in 1805. The 



Brest' gro' 

 iref'aiii 

 of ch 

 he Di 



dock, properly so called, is 420 yards in lengUi 

 276 yards in breadth, and 29 feet in depUi ; its 

 superficies is equal to twenty-five acres; Uiat of tho 

 basin communicating with it is above 2^ acres; and, 

 including Uie ground occupied by warehouses, sheds 

 and quays, Uie whole premises contain a superficies 

 of 1 10 acres. Excepting Uiose ships Uiat trade to Uie 

 i aM and West Indies, every vessel, whether British 

 or foreign, may enter the London dock upon paying 

 Uie duUes, to unship her cargo or take in a new 

 lading. For the convenience of business, ranges of 

 sheds, low, and of a very simple' construction, have 

 been erected along the sides of the dock and near 

 the edges of Uie quays, into which cargoes arc re- 

 moved. Behind Uiese sheds, and in a parallel direc- 

 tion to them, standsa line of magnificent ward 

 four stories high, with spacious vaults, into which the 

 casks are conveyed by inclined planes. These build- 

 ings occupy a superficies of 120,000 square yards. 

 The cellars are appropriated to wines and brandies, 

 and railways, or rather tramways, running in all di- 

 rections, facilitate labour. The London docks have 

 Uieir several parts perfectly adapted to each oUier, 

 and are of the most admirable construction. The 

 gates, like all those whose size much exceeds twenty 

 leet, instead of being straight, are curved on the side 

 on which the water presses. 



The IVest India Docks are on the left bank of the. 

 Thames, at the distance of about one mile and a hall 

 below the London docks. They are situated on the 

 base of a tongue of land of the Isle of Dogs a sort 

 of peninsula formed by a long circuit of the river. 

 The West India docks are much superior to the Lon- 

 don, boUi in extent and regularity. These vast works 

 were undertaken and executed by an association of 

 private individuals, and by means of a mere subscrip- 

 tion. Twenty seven months sufficed to accomplish 

 the whole. The excavations of the West India docks 

 jvere begun on Uie 12th of July, 1800 ; and. as early 

 asl^e month of September, 1802, vessels entered the 

 import dock ! ATOhe highest tides, the depth ot 

 water in the two docks is twenty-four feet ; they are 

 fonned parallel to each other ; their common length 

 is about 880 yards. The largest, which has a super- 

 ficies of above thirty acjes, is destined for those ves- 

 'sels returning to the l^st Indies, which deposit their 

 cargoes in the wareMuses of this artificial port. The 

 second, the superflffes of which is about twenty-five 

 acres, receive*-"the vessels laid up in ordinary, or 

 taking the outward-bound cargoes. These docks, with 

 '" an'd the locks which connect them wiUi 

 esent an area of sixty-eight acres ol 

 excavated by human hands, for the reception 



d borage of vessels. The total superficies, in- 

 cluding Uiat of the quays and warehouses, is 140 acres. 

 During the busy season, this establishment employs 

 ^out 2600 workmen. It can admit, at the same 

 time, 204 vessels in Uie import, and 195 in the export 

 dock, forming a total of 120,000 tons. During the 

 first fifteen years, 7260 vessels entered them. Upon 

 the quays, under the sheds, and in the warehouses 

 there have been deposited, at the same time, 148,563 

 barrels or casks of sugar, 70,875 barrels and 433,648 

 bags of coffee, 35, 158 pipes of rum and Madeira wine, 

 14,021 logs of mahogany, 21, 350 tons of logwood, &c. 

 At the upper and lower entrances of the two docks, a 

 basin presents three locks of communication. The 

 first communicates with the Thames ; the water is 

 kept in it by means of double gates. The second and 

 third locks lead respectively into the export and im- 

 port docks ; they liave also double gates. By Uiis 

 means, the vessels are able to come in and go out in- 

 dependently of the state of the tide ; they may remain 

 in Uie basin as long as is judged convenient. The 

 water of the docks being but very little higher tluui 



