April, 1892. 
THE SEVERN BORE. 
81 
The great Atlantic wave (accompanying the spring tides), 
in its progress up the Bristol Channel, encounters an opposi¬ 
tion in the nature of the funnel-shaped ccecum —to speak 
biologically—of the River Severn ; and, finding no outlet, 
naturally forces its way up superficially until its energy is 
dissipated. I was informed that this sometimes did not 
happen till it had reached Worcester, but that since the 
Severn has been canalised the bore never passes the Weir 
near Tewkesbury. From the nature of the environment, 
a south-west wind produces the greatest bore in the Severn. 
It will occur to most of us, “ Why do not the Rivers Avon 
and Wye, which also discharge into the Bristol Channel by 
means of the Severn, experience the effects of the bore?” The 
answer may be anticipated ; but, to be certain, I consulted my 
good friend, Professor Lapwortli, F.R.S., the master of all 
things geological. He agreed with me that we may accept 
Mr. Herbert Spencer’s definition of the “direction of motion,” 
in the ninth chapter of “First Principles —“Bodies move in 
the line of least resistance, or greatest traction, or their 
resultant.” The Atlantic wave, the residuum of which is the 
Severn bore, proceeds in the “ line of least resistance,” and 
is not deflected laterally by the Avon or Wye. I was told by 
a local scientist that at the time of high water at Chepstow 
—one of the highest tides in the world—the River Wye 
has a tide five feet higher than the Severn. This wants 
explanation. 
Similar phenomena to the bore of the Severn occur in 
the Humber, the Dee, the Seine, the Hoogly, and other 
rivers narrowed by local conditions similar to the Bristol 
Channel. So much for preliminary. Now for my own 
experience. 
We are up betimes on Sunday morning, the 20th ; it is 
the biggest tide of the series, following a full moon, and 
high water takes place about ten o’clock in the forenoon. So 
about seven o’clock we take up our station at a place called 
“ Hock Crib,” where the River Severn is a mile wide, and, 
viewed downwards, appears like an inland lake, several miles 
in length. In the distance is seen the famous Severn Bridge. 
Our “coign of vantage” is a Lias cliff about fifty feet high, 
to reach the greensward on which we pass through pleasant 
woods; the distance from the point where the “ Nautilus ” is 
moored being upwards of a mile. There were already present 
about twenty people of both sexes, and in various walks 
in life, from the labourer up to the landowner—a plea¬ 
sant sign as indicative of a growing interest in natural things. 
An uncomfortable drizzle from the south-west is the only 
obstacle to our enjoyment of the early morning. The inland 
