WHARF CONSTRUCTION, SYDNEY HARBOUR. XXVII. 
course the changes did not at once effect so remote a port 
as Sydney. But inthe early seventies the first four-masted 
vessel, the “* Macgregor,”’ arrived. She was an iron steamer 
300 feet long, and for a time remained an object of wonder. 
She was followed shortly afterwards by the ‘‘Mikado,”’ 386 ft. 
long. These two vessels were engaged to run the English 
Mail service via San Francisco, with Sydneyas the terminus, 
Melbourne being then the terminus of the P. & O. Mail 
line. When the ‘‘Macgregor’’ and *‘ Mikado”’ arrived, there 
was not a wharf in Sydney at which they could be properly 
berthed. They used to lie on the west side of Miller’s 
Point and discharge the small quantity of cargo they 
carried over the usual long stages, or by means of lighters. 
The ‘‘Macgregor’’ and ‘‘Mikado’’ were soon followed 
by the “‘Tartar,’? ‘““Whampoa,’’ and ‘“‘Mongol,’”’ and it 
became clear in 1874 that some steps would have to be 
taken at once to remodel the shipping accommodation of 
the port. On one occasion the ‘‘ Whampoa”’ took the ground 
at Dibbs’ Wharf, and it was generally considered that she 
was much too large for the facilities afforded by this port. 
On the 25th of June, 1874, a Select Committee of the 
House was appointed to inquire into the wharfage accom- 
modation andreport thereon. At that period the wharfage 
was practically all private property, and the foreshores 
not having been laid out upon any comprehensive system, 
the difficulty in the way of keeping the berthing accom- 
modation abreast of the times began at an early date to 
manifest itself. The chief disadvantage lay in the numerous 
small separate holdings which prevented proper access 
from the shore, and caused the projects of one owner to 
seriously interfere with those of another as far as the use 
of the waterway for jetties was concerned. 
It is interesting to note the opinions regarding the future 
shipping requirements of the port as brought out in the 
