554 REPORT—1896. 
outside the Bar. Out at sea, some eight miles from the Bar, a lightship 
known as the North-west Lightship is moored, this being the first floating 
light to be picked up by vessels making for the port. There are, however, 
along the north coast of Wales, to as far as Holyhead, several light- 
houses maintained at the expense of the port of Liverpool. Each 
important station has its distinguishing light and fog-signal. In addition 
to the lightships in the main channel, there are also a number of lighted 
gas-buoys. The dredged cut at the Bar is also defined by two lighted 
buoys on each side. 
The system of buoyage adopted in the sea channels of the Mersey 
is that approved in 1883 by the Conference on Buoyage in Ports of the 
United Kingdom, of which Captain Graham Hills, R.N., then Marine 
Surveyor to the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, was a prominent 
member. 
The width of the main channel varies in its several reaches, its deep- 
water fairway being outlined by the buoys referred to, which are moored 
to give a width of channel from 800 to 1,400 yards. 
Doubtless the several features are well understood and appreciated by 
navigators, but they present such interesting characteristics as to render 
them worthy of the attention even of landsmen and laymen unacquainted 
with. the locality. It will be evident from the foregoing necessarily very 
general description that the main sea-channels of the Mersey being wide, 
deep, thoroughly well buoyed and lighted, and provided with powerful 
fog-horns at all the leading points, there is no difficulty in entering or 
leaving the Mersey by day or night, which facility is essential in a sea- 
port used by such an enormous number of vessels, of all sizes and classes, 
as carry on its trade. 
Until a few years ago vessels arriving at the approaches to the port 
occasionally ran some risk, and were, in some cases, subject to considerable 
inconvenience through being compelled to wait in the open bay outside 
the Bar until there was sufficient water over it to enable them to cross 
safely. By the very extensive dredging operations carried out in recent 
years, and to which the author now proposes to make some reference, 
this difficulty has practically been entirely removed. 
It has been mentioned above that the main channel of the Mersey has 
maintained its general features with regularity, so that the conditions 
of navigation have remained practically uniform. ‘This applies, amongst 
other features, to the depth of water over the Bar, which has generally 
under natural conditions been about 10 or 11 feet below low water of 
spring tides. Sometimes in the course of changes it has been somewhat 
greater or less. Assuming a depth on the Bar of 10 feet below low-water 
springs, then, with the range of tide obtaining in Liverpool Bay, the 
depth of water over the Bar at high water would scarcely ever be less than 
30 feet, and would vary between that and about 40 feet, so that at high 
water (that is, about once every twelve hours) any vessel could enter 
or leave the port. Doubtless, therefore, the measure of inconvenience 
was not great when vessels were small and slow; but in recent years, 
where the size and speed of steamers have greatly increased, the detention 
at the Bar of vessels arriving at or about low water became a serious 
inconvenience, especially in the case of the ocean greyhounds carrying 
a large number of impatient passengers. 
Previous to 1890 no attempt had been made to obtain by artificial 
