ClIAP. VIII.

BRITAIN.

397

is placed. The town lies at the south-west extremity of the bay, at the mouth of a smallriver, which has a course of 10 miles, and which discharges itself into a smaller bay, sepa-rated from the greater by the Pollock Itocks, which ebb dry about 800 feet beyond highwater mark, and are, upon an average, 15 feet above low water; there is another rockyisland which is dry at low water, upon which there is a small tower of refuge for themariners that may be driven upon it. St. Mary’s, or the Connister Rock, is another shoal,between which and the Pollock the channel is not more than 300 feet in width, wliichis nearly dry at low water of extraordinary tides. The harbour is formed of a pier, whichextends from high to low water mark, a distance of 650 feet, terminated by a circular headand a lighthouse. Quay walls are continued from thence along both sides of the river fora distance of nearly 2000 feet, and the harbour comprised may be computed at 11 acres;it is dry at low water of spring-tides, and the bottom is composed of fine shingle.

The tides vary here considerably ; the height of the springs occur two days after full andchange of the moon at noon, when the tide rises from 19 to 20 feet, and extraordinaryequinoctial tides rise 3 feet higher, and the neaps from 10 to 14 feet.

Port Patrick Harbour is the nearest port in Great Britain to Ireland , and is only 7leagues from the opposite harbour of Donaghadce: when John Smeuton was called uponto report upon its condition, in 1770, he found it as nature had left it, with the addition onlyof a small platform for the convenience of the landing and shipping of passengers; it had,however, many advantages — it was easy of access, vessels of considerable size could remainafloat at low water, and they were protected from storms coming from seven-eighths of thewhole compass, and had the other eighth, he observed, been as well guarded as the rest, theharbour would be complete.

The harbour is formed by two ledges of rocks running out almost parallel from the shore,so as to inclose between them a small bay of about 220 feet clear width, and about 550 feetin depth. The bottom is covered with a clean sand, and the soundings gradually increasefrom the shore to 20 feet at low water in the mouth of the bay, leaving from 9 to 10 feetat dead low water mark in the middle of the harbour.

As the Irish coast extends from the south-west to north-west, and being so very near,the swell, when the wind is right, is not considerable; from the north-west and north points,the fetch of the sea is not of great lengths, being to a certain degree land-locked by theIla, Mull of Cantire, &c., &c. ; and being well screened by the ledge of rocks, immediatelyon the north side of the harbour, which rise considerably above high water, no violence isexperienced on that side. The land lies from north to south, so that nothing can happenfrom the eastern point; it is only from south to south-west inclusive that the harbour liesunprotected.

The rocks, which run out in the direction west by south on the south side of the harbour,point to the lighthouse of Donaghadce, and would, if higher, afford considerable shelter inall these winds; but the Irish Sea being open from these points, and the rocks being in agreat measure covered at high water neap tides, and at three-fourth flood at spring tides,the seas break over them with so much violence in times of storms, that vessels lying therewere beat against the sandy beach at the bottom of the bay, where they were retained byropes as their only means of protection.

The vessels entering this port were, in consequence, obliged to be built very strong, andof so flat a construction that they would not sail except with wind on the beam or abaft.All the westerly winds prevent their sailing from Port Patrick to Donaghadee, and all theeasterly winds from their returning, so that they cannot go and return unless the winds aresoutherly or northerly, and not then, if it were not from the strong current of the tides,which up and down this narrow channel change twice each way in 24 hours; so thatsailing at a proper time of the tide, they are prevented by the current from sailing to lee-ward, but could vessels constructed upon proper principles be protected here, they wouldbe enabled to turn to windward, and consequently make their passage good in all winds inmoderate weather, an advantage that arises from the particular set of the tides.

For the improvement of this harbour, Smeaton proposed to run out a pier from the pointof the rocks upon the mainland, crossing the gully between that point and the detachedrocks called the South Ledge, and then follow their general direction. This pier was to beraised 6 feet above the high water of a spring tide, with a parapet 6 feet upon that; so thatthe whole being raised 12 feet above high water, vessels would be effectually screened fromthe south and south-westerly wind% as well as from those nearer the west.

The flow of the tides here was reckoned to be 15 feet at spring tides, and 12 feet at neaptides, but these varied with the winds.

When the work xvas advanced sufficiently to break off from that part intended for theinterior harbour the great seas that roll in with the southerly and south-west winds, anadditional pier was proposed, the position of which was nearly north-east, and this extendedfrom the main pier 175 feet, leaving an opening into the interior harbour of 100 feet,between the pier head and the nearest point of the platform rocks, which served the effect