CHAPTER X. 



THE BASINS OF THE MERSEY AND THE RIBBLE. 

 (Cheshire and Laxcashire.) 



General Features. 



HOUGH small in extent, the district which we are about to describe 

 is one of the most densely peopled in the world, and green fields 

 appear almost obliterated by the masses of brick houses raised by 

 human hands. Lancashire has more inhabitants within its limits 

 than any other county of England, not even excepting Yorkshire 

 or Middlesex — the one more than thrice ita size, the other occupied by the greater 

 part of the metropolis. If the whole world were as densely peopled as Lancashire, 

 it would hold 76,000,000,000 of human beings. 



At first view this county does not appear to possess exceptional advantages. 

 The soil is only of middling fertility, and vast tracts on the western slope of the 

 Pennine chain are not even cultivated. The climate is moist, and the prevailing 

 winds carry the sea-fogs inland, where they are precipitated as rain. The coast, it 

 is true, is indented by several estuaries, in which the tide rises to a considerable 

 height ; but this is an advantage enjoyed by many other parts of England. "What 

 has proved the great source of wealth of Lancashire is its coal measures, and as 

 the coal is found in close proximity to an excellent harbour, it became at once 

 available as a means of establishing commercial relations with foreign countries. 

 The raw materials could thus be conveyed within a short distance of the locality in 

 which thej'' were to be converted into manufactures, and it was possible to 

 concentrate here commercial emporiums, factories, and mines. The enterprise and 

 energy of the inhabitants have done the rest. The people of Lancashire are in no 

 respect inferior in skill to their neighbours of Yorkshire. They have turned to 

 profit all the resources which their count}' offers, and derive benefit even from 

 advantages which elsewhere are allowed to lie sterile. The local dialects are as 

 tenaciously preserved as amongst the dwellers on the other side of the Pennine 

 chain. It has been observed that the large rivers and estuaries form the boundaries 

 between a variety of local dialects. Where the rivers can be forded, or are spanned 



