4 IMPRO VED FISHER Y HARBO UR A CCOMMODA TION 



to the shore, and there have been numerous instances of the 

 loss of boats so near the land that the countenances of the 

 crew have been plainly recognised by their anxious friends 

 on land before the last fatal wave has struck the boat. 



In the opening chapter of his work, ' The Design and 

 Construction of Harbours ' (Adam & C. Black, Edinburgh), 

 Mr. T. Stevenson, C.E., F.R.S.E., observes as follows : 

 " Many parts of the British coasts are amply provided 

 with natural bays and creeks, while in other districts the 

 accommodation and shelter for shipping have been 

 entirely supplied by artificial means." 



Thus great portions of the coast-line of Scotland and 

 Ireland have good harbours, the south and west coasts of 

 Ireland and Scotland in particular, but the good harbours 

 of England, if we except Devon and Cornwall, are far apart, 

 and there is a great dearth of deep-water ports on the east 

 coasts of England and Scotland. 



Although every small additional fishing harbour is an 

 undoubted gain to the industry of the district, the great 

 desideratum for the fishing population is the creation at the 

 most frequented districts of the fisheries, at certain centres, of 

 roomy harbours with deep-water entrances, which the boats 

 may take with confidence in bad weather, so that the crews 

 may not feel, as is too often the case, that the nearer they 

 are to safety in approaching the harbour's mouth, the 

 greater is the danger, owing to the shoalness of the water. 



THE EAST COAST OF ENGLAND. 



That part of the coast from the Isle of Sheppey to Great 

 Yarmouth is on the whole well supplied with harbours, as 

 we have the East and West Swale, the Medway, the Thames 

 mouth, the rivers Crouch, Blackwater, and Colne, Harwich 



