History ana Progress. 



I! 



In 1613 the lough extended into what is now the heart 

 of the city. Various extensions of the 

 land have taken place from time to time, 

 and where once the lonely heron waded 

 undisturbed in the shallows of the lough, 

 the harbour works 

 have extended for 

 miles into the sea, 

 and the ceaseless din 

 and hammering of 

 the iron shipbuilding 

 yards and engineer- 

 ing works fill the air. 

 Hundreds of acres 

 of land have been 

 reclaimed from the lough on either side of the river, on 

 which extensive ranges of warehouses and docks for the 

 accommodation of foreign shipping have been constructed, 

 and for the carrying on of the iron and steel shipbuilding, 

 for which Belfast is now famous. 



A rambling old bridge of twenty-one arches formerly 

 existed here, erected in 1689, over which Schomberg's 

 heavy artillery, in passing in the same year, caused such 

 damage, that three years later a large portion collapsed, and 

 so remained until comparatively recent times. The present 

 Queen's Bridge was built in 1843. Anciently a ford 

 existed at or near this place, from which the town takes its 



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