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Art. XV . — Account of the Ferry across the Tay at Dundee. 
By Captain Basil Hall, R. N. F. R. S. L. and E. 
Of the many recent applications of science to the business of 
ordinary life, there is perhaps none which was less looked for, or 
which now promises to be of greater utility, than the adaptation 
of the steam-engine to travelling, and to the conveyance of goods, 
both by land and by water. The danger, the inconvenience, 
and the uncertainty of ferries, have been proverbial from time 
immemorial, — and as there are few persons who may not, at 
some time of their lives, be obliged to cross the water, any thing 
which proposes to remedy these evils, cannot be unimportant to 
the general reader. At first sight, indeed, the details of a ferry 
may seem out of place in a Philosophical Journal; but it will 
probably be admitted by those who examine what follows, that 
the genuine end of science, — the advancement of human hap- 
piness, — has in the present case been obtained. 
The Ferry across the Tay at Dundee, has long been a great 
thoroughfare between Forfar and Fife ; but owing to the strong 
tides, the numerous shoals in the river, and the frequency of 
hard gales, so much risk and inconvenience generally attended 
the passage, that many people preferred the circuitous route of 
Perth, to this short, but dangerous and inconvenient ferry. A 
melancholy accident in 1815, by which no less than seventeen lives 
were lost, attracted the public attention to the subject. There 
were at this time twenty-five boats on the passage, manned by up- 
wards of 100 men and boys. The boats were ill adapted to the 
service required ; the crews w r ere composed of infirm old men, or 
equally inefficient boys; and as there was no system of management 
or any kind of discipline, much drunkenness and disorder prevail- 
ed. There being no regular superintendant to direct the sailing 
of the boats, the passengers, on reaching the landing-place, had 
either to hire a whole boat, at a great expence, or to wait till a 
sufficient number of persons had assembled to make up the fare. 
This was productive of great hardship to the poor, and incon- 
venience to all parties ; and, added to the discomfort of bad 
landing-places, and unskilful management, rendered the simple 
passage of a mile and a half, especially in blowing or rainy 
weather, a service of no small risk. 
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