NORTHUMBEELAND. 293 



The mouth of the Wear is occupied on both sides by the great city of Sunder- 

 land — which consists of Sunderland proper; Bishop Wearmouth, on the south bank; 

 and Monkwearmouth and Southwick, on the north bank of the river — and is only 

 inferior to Newcastle as a coal-shipping port. Its vast docks and the river are 

 at all times crowded with vessels, and only London, Liverpool, and the Tyno 

 ports surpass it in the amount of their shipping. Formerly Sunderland pointed 

 with pride to its iron bridge, which spans the river Wear in one stupendous arch 

 of 237 feet, and at a height of 100 feet above the water ; but constructions of this kind 

 have become numerous in an age of railways. Far more singular is the lighthouse 

 on the southern pier, which, notwithstanding its weight of 338 tons, was moved 

 bodily a distance of 300 feet. Sunderland is an important manufacturing town. 

 The ship-yards employ several thousand workmen, and there are glass houses, 

 machine factories, iron-mills, and foundries. 



The coast between Sunderland and the Tyne presents some striking scenery. 

 At Roker curious caverns abound in the limestone rock, and to the north of the 

 cheerful watering-place of Whitburn are the wild and striking Marsden Rocks, one 

 of them forming an archway beneath which boats can pass. 



The valley of the Derwent, which joins the Tyne above Newcastle, is rich in 

 collieries and iron works. The principal towns within its basin are Consetf, 

 Benfiekhide (opposite Shoth'i/ Bridge), on the Northumberland side of the river, 

 and Leadgatc. The Tyne bounds the county on the north ; but though it forms 

 a civil boundary, the towns on both banks are engaged in the same industries, and 

 may all of them be looked upon as dependencies of Newcastle. Passing the 

 colliery towns of Rijton and Bhtgdon, the Tyne flows between Newcastle and its 

 southern suburb Gateshead, with machine factories, chemical works, iron foundries, 

 and glass houses. Felling is passed below Gateshead, and then we reach Jarrow, 

 a large town with docks, ship-yards, chemical works, and paper-mills, interesting 

 as the scene of the labours of the Venerable Bede, who was born at the neighbouring 

 village of Monkton. South Shields, at the mouth of the Tees, connected by a 

 steam ferry with North Shields, on the opposite side of the river, has ship-yards 

 and other industrial establishments, and exports large quantities of coal. The 

 "ballast hills " near the town are interesting to botanists, for many exotic plants 

 grow upon them from seed carried thither in the ballast discharged from vessels 

 coming from foreign parts. 



N()RTHUMBERLA>D, the northernmost county of England, extends along the 

 German Ocean from the Tyne to the Tweed. The entire western half of it is 

 occupied by mountain moors, producing hardly anything but heath, except in 

 the Cheviots, which are distinguished for their fine verdure. Agriculture is 

 possible only in the narrow valleys which intersect these hills. The maritime 

 portion of the county is more favourably circumstanced, and the soil, consisting 

 of strong clayey loam, is for the most part very fertile. Yet in no other part of 

 England have arable husbandry and stock-breeding made more progress, principally 

 owing to the large size of the farms and the leases which secure to the tenants the 

 full results of their labour. The great coal-field which extends across the Tyne to 



