Rivers and River Transport 109 



along the course of navigable rivers, while the country at 

 any distance therefrom remained unoccupied, however im- 

 portant the places that may be found there to-day. On the 

 map of Saxon England, for instance, mention is made of 

 Gleaweceaster (Gloucester; spelling from "Saxon Chron- 

 icle "), Teodekesberie (Tewkesbury ; " Domesday "), Brycg- 

 north (Bridgnorth ; " Saxon Chronicle "), and Scrobbesbyrig 

 (Shrewsbury; "Saxon Chronicle "), but no one can doubt 

 that these places attained to their early importance mainly 

 because of their situation on the river Severn. Other typical 

 inland cities or towns include London and Oxford on the 

 Thames ; Ware on the Lea ; Rochester on the Medway ; Peter- 

 borough on the Nen ; Lincoln on the Witham ; York on the 

 Ouse ; Doncaster on the Don ; Cambridge on the Cam ; Norwich 

 on the Yare ; Colchester on the Colne ; Ludlow on the Terne ; 

 Exeter on the Exe ; Winchester on the Ouse (Sussex) ; Here- 

 ford on the Wye ; Chester on the Dee ; Caerleon (Isca) on 

 the Usk ; and so on with many other places, the location of 

 which alongside a river must doubtless have been due, in part, 

 it may be, to the convenience of water supply, and in part, 

 also, to the greater fertility of the river valley, but more 

 especially to the facility offered by the water highway for 

 transport when other highways were either lacking or far less 

 convenient. 



Adam Smith, in his " Wealth of Nations " (Book I., 

 chapter xi., pages 20-1), compares the cost of sending goods 

 by road from London to Edinburgh with that of forwarding 

 them by sea, and adds : 



" Since such are the advantages of water carriage it is 

 natural that the first improvements of art and industry should 

 be made where that conveniency opens the whole world for a 

 market to the produce of every sort of labour, and that they 

 should always be much later in extending themselves into the 

 inland parts of the country. The inland parts of the country 

 can for a long time have no other market for the greater part 

 of their goods but the country which lies round about them, 

 and separates them from the sea coast and the great navigable 

 rivers. The extent of their market, therefore, must for a long 

 time be in proportion to the riches and populousness of that 

 country, and consequently their improvement must always 

 be posterior to the improvement of that country. In our 



