58 



TH K MADRAS HARBOUR. 



is to drive the sand upon the beach before it. Every wave 

 as it breaks lifts up a certain quantity of sand, carries it a 

 little way alongshore, and then as it retreats drops it again. 

 Thus all the sand on the surf-beaten beach is in motion, 

 northward for one portion of the year, southward for the 

 remainder. This fact has long been known and utilized by 

 placing stone groynes which arrest the sand in its motion, 

 first in one direction and then in the other, and so widen the 

 foreshore. The movement of the sand has been popularly 

 attributed to the current, but no current could produce the 

 effect. It is a simple wave action. There is a current alter- 

 nating with the monsoons at some distance from shore, but 

 it is a mere surface current, and does not in the least affect 

 the sand on the shore or in the bottom of the sea. 



These were shortly the local physical conditions to which 

 I had to adapt my design for a harbour, and the result of the 

 best consideration I could give to the subject is shown in the 

 accompanying plan and in the works now approaching comple- 

 tion. The proposal was in 1873 submitted to the Govern- 

 ment of Madras, then presided over by the late Lord Hobart. 

 That nobleman warmly supported it, and recommended its 

 adoption to the Government of India and the Secretary of 

 State. There was no very great opposition to its physical 

 features, and no alternative scheme was proposed, although 

 some attempts were made to revive the idea of a detached 

 breakwater parallel with the shore. The scheme, however, 

 was strongly opposed on financial grounds. It was contended 

 that my estimate of cost was insufficient, and that my esti- 

 mates of the saving in the expenses of landing and shipping 

 and of the tonnage of cargo were excessive. The result, 

 however, after fifteen months of warm discussion, was that in 

 March 1875 it was sanctioned by the Secretary of State, and 

 immediate arrangements were made for the commencement 

 of the works. 



