THE MADRAS HARBOUR. 



I have now to show that we had a system in our proceed- 

 ings. I started by explaining the principles of the two rival 

 systems of breakwaters, the upright wall and the flat slope. 

 The former was adopted for Madras because of its less cost, 

 but as a certain depth of water is an essential condition of 

 it, it was inapplicable where that depth did not exist, and 

 we were driven necessarily to adopt the other to begin with, 

 and then more or less gradually to make the transition to 

 the upright wall. Now, for the flat slope, all that is wanted 

 is plenty of rubble stone : quality is not of much importance. 

 We simply want to get a sufficient area covered with a 

 material less liable to be influenced by the waves than sand. 

 We want to push this out into such a depth of water that it 

 will bear a superstructure of concrete blocks to withstand the 

 greater force of the waves at the surface. For this purpose 

 a neat bank with a given width of top and slopes of a regu- 

 lar inclination is a simple impossibility. The sea, not the 

 engineer, determines what the form and dimensions of the 

 bank is to be, and the engineer has only to provide stone 

 enough for the sea to work upon. Neptune will do the rest. 



Now, to return to our narrative : this is the work which 

 was begun with the year 1876. Laterite was pushed out as 

 fast as it could be obtained. The water-line was soon 

 reached, but the bank of rubble was pushed ahead into the 

 surf. The surf attacked it and tore down the slopes — never 

 mind — it will only widen them, which is just what we want ; 

 push ahead — let the sea do its worst, it can do no harm, at 

 least while the south-west monsoon lasts and the waves 

 drive it northward. All this apparently aimless battling 

 with the waves was no doubt trying to the patience of the 

 looker-on. One day the bank was 100 feet into the surf, the 

 next day under water, or carried away to the northward, and 

 no result visible. But nevertheless there was a result. 

 Where a few months previously there was only a line of soft 



