The roads and railroads, vehicles, and modes of travelling, of ancient and modern countries; with accounts of bridges, tunnels and canals, in various parts of the world

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ROAiyS AND RAIEfOADS,
VEHICLES,

AND

MODES OF TRAVELLING,

OF

ANCIENT AND MODERN COUNTRIES;

WITH ACCOUNTS OF

BRIDGES, TUNNELS, AND CANALS,

IN
VARIOUS PARTS OF THE WORLD.

Let us visit all the countries of the earth, and wherever we find no
facilities for travelling from a city to a town, or from a village to a
hamlet, we may pronounce the people to be barbarians. RaVnaf,.

LONDON; Q,'
JOHN W. PARKER, WEST STRAND.

•^^

M.DCCC.XXXIX.

PREFACE.

The object of the present volume is to lay before the
general reader some easy details on a subject of first-
rate importance, whether considered in a national
point of view, or with reference to the advance in
civilization of the whole human family.

The reader may probably imagine that roads and
rail-roads, bridges, tunnels, and canals, and the various
contrivances adequate to the wants and demands of
internal communication, scarcely admit of being
treated in that easy, amusing, and instructive manner
which less homely subjects might admit of; but when
he considers that the progressive improvement of
mankind is due as much to a diligent cultivation of
love, peace, and good-will, as to the diffusion of the
arts and elegancies of life ; and when, at the same
time, he reflects that this can only be brought about
by a constant, easy, and safe means of communi^cation
between distant places, he surely cannot deem it
unentertaining or uninstructive to trace the paths
over which civilization has advanced, and is still
advancing. It has, therefore, been one of our objects
in the following pages to show that the improvement
of mankind, and the perfection of the means of inter-
nal communication, have progressed simultaneously.

IV PREFACE.

We have bestowed hasty glances on the people of
many lands — we have seen the ancient Briton moving
over his narrow trackway — we have traced the loco-
motive engine proceeding with astonishing speed over
a smooth and elaborately-constructed line of road —
and, in filling up the long interval between the states
of society coeval with these two forms of locomotion,
we have endeavoured to inculcate the useful lesson,

THAT IN VIRTUOUS INDUSTRY AND ENTERPRISE, NATIONS,
AS WELL AS INDIVIDUALS, FIND THEIR HAPPINESS AND
WELL-BEING.

CONTENTS.

Chapter I.

PAGE

Of the Nature and Importance of Roads in general . . I

Chapter II.

Mixed Facilities and Difficulties of all the Natural Mediums
of Travel and Conveyance ; either Air, Water, Earth, or
Land. — Contrast of a Rail-road with a Rope-bridge. —
Obstacles to Land-travel. — Mountain-passes. — Travelling
in the Desert . . . . . .9

Chapter III.

Ancient Roman Roads. — PrEetorian, or Military Roads. —
Consular, or Public, or High-roads. — Vicinal, or By-roads.
— Ancient Roman Roads in Italy, France, Spain, Syria,
and Great Britain . . . . .24

Chapter IV.

Ancient British Roads, and Ancient Roman Roads, in
Britain. — Degrees of Civilization among the Ancient
Britons. — British Roads, and sites of British Towns,
Villages, and Burial-places, in Wiltshire. — Course of the
Wans Dylie from Andover to the Bristol Channel. — Belgic
Kingdom of King Divitiacus. — Ancient History of the
Road now called the Great Western Road. — Dykes ana
Ditches, Fosses and JSIoats. — Grim's Dyke . . 34

Chapter V.

Ancient British Roads, and ancient Roman Roads in Britain
concluded. — Four ancient British Roads from ancient
London and its vicinities. — The Foss-way, or the Wans
Dyke. — Watling-street. — Ancient sanctity of the spot now
St. Paul's Church-yard. — Ikenild-street. — Ermin-street. —
Statues of Ermin or Roland. — Differences between British
and Roman road-making. — Roads, walls, dykes, and ditches.

VI CONTENTS.

PAGE

— Odin's Dyke. — Grim's Dyke. — Ancient British Towns
and Villages, and their communications. — Wheel-carriages.
— War-chariots.— Imagined terraces intended as roads
upon the British hills. — Natural terraces in North America.
— Ancient Peruvian and Mexican Roads. — Roads and City
of Palenca, or the City of the Desert. — Ancient Roman
and Ancient British Roads contrasted . . .46

Chapter VI.

Remarks on modern Roads.— History of modern Turnpike-
roads.— Origin of the Mail.— Undulations and Lines of
Roads.— Requisites of Good Roads.— Mac Adam. — Tel-
ford.— Parliamentary Inquiry. — Gravel-roads.— Macadam-
izing.—Foundations of Roads.— Telford'i Holyhead Road.
— Drainage.— Highgate-archway Road. — Repair of Roads.
— Continental Roads.— Paved Roads.— Asphalte Roads. —
Road-scraper. — Diiection-posts . . . .65

Chapter VII.

Importance of Bridges. — Oberlin's Pont de Charite'.— The
Arch. — Chinese Bridges. — Roman Bridges. — ilodern
Bridges. — The Brethren of the Bridge. — Croyland Bridge.
— History of London Bridge. — Coft'er-dams and Caissons.
— Other Bridges over the Thames. — Pont y Prydd . 93

Chapter VIII.

Iron Bridges, History of. — Southwark Bridge. — Telford's
Iron Bridges. — Timber Bridges of Germany. — Floating
Bridges. — Suspension Bridges of America and Asia. — Con-
ditions of Suspension Bridges. — Telford's ]\Ienai Bridge,
&c. — Brighton Suspension Pier. — Fribom-g Suspension
Bridge. — Hammersmith Suspension Bridge . .116

Chapter IX.

Importance of Canals. — Canals of the ancient Greeks,
Romans, and Egyptians. — Canals in China. — Modern
Canals of Russia, Holland, France, and Great Britain. —
Duke of Bridgewater's Canal. — Brindley. — Construction
of Locked Canals. — Caledonian Canal . . . I35

CONTENTS. Vll

Chapter X.

PAGB

On Tunnels. — Uses of Tunnels. — Natural and artificial. —
Natural Tunnel in America. — Medway, Edge Hill, and
Thames Tunnels. ...... 146

Chapter XI,

On Military Walls and Roads. — China. — Military and com-
mon Roads distinguished. — Military Roads of Scotland . 167

Chapter XII.

The Scottish Highlands. — Their Roads, Carriages, and
Horses. — Roads and Travelling in Scotland generally, in
the eighteenth century. — Old Roman Roads . .176

r Chapter XIII.

Glances at the modern Roads of Foreign Lands. — Travelling
in Lapland. — Roads and Travelling in Norway. — Alpine
Roads. — Simplon. — Great Saint-Bernard. — The other Al-
pine Roads. — Moxint Brenner. — Cornice. — Aurelian Road.
— Gasper Stoeri. — Roads of France . . 188

Chapter XIV.

Primitive Modes of Travelling. — Pack-horses, Sledges, Se-
dans, Palanquins, Litters. — Introduction and Improvement
of the Wheel. — Two and Four-wheeled Carriages. —
Springs. — Ancient Chariots. — Fore and Hind-wheels. — Old
Coaches, &c. — Vehicles of Africa, of Russia, of Sweden
and Norway, and of Italy. — Irish Jaunting Car. — Vehicles
of England. — The Dray, the Gig, Tilbury, &c. — State Car-
riage of England. — The Mail and the Post Office. — Stage
Coaches, Hackney Coach, and Cab. — The Omnibus.— t
French Diligence. — Construction of Wheel-carriages . 226

Chapter XV.

The Steam-Engine. — As applied to Sea and Land travel. —
Early Attempts at Steam Locomotion. — Advantages of
Rail-roads. — Rail-roads in the Collieries. — Wooden and
Iron RaUs. — Proposed Prime Movers. — Stockton and Dar-
lington Railway. — Steam-Carriages and Steam-Boats com-
pared.— Resistances to their Motion. — Skidding of Wheels.
— Stationary and Locomotive Engines . . . 202

via CONTENTS.

Chapter XVI.

PAGE

On the Steam-Engine in general, and as applied to locomo-
tion in particular. — Steam ; its elasticity ; how estimated.
— The Steam-Engine; its general construction. — The At-
mospheric Steam-Engine. — The high-pressure Steam-
Engine. — The low-pressure or condensing Steam-Engine.
— Watt's improvements. — The principal details of a
Steam-Engine. — A Locomotive Steam-Engine desci'ibed. —
Steam-Locomotion on Common Roads . . . 279

Chapter XVIL

The Liverpool and Manchester RaU-road.— -Necessity for the
undertaking. — Plan and estimate of the Line. — Edge-hill
Tunnel. — Sankey Viaduct. — Chat-moss. — Laying the RaUs.
— Passage of the first Locomotive over pftft of the Line. —
Prize offered by the Company for the best form of Loco-
motive Engine. — Adjudication of the Prize. — Opening of
the Road. — Accident to Mr. Huskisson. — Commencement
of Traffic . . . . . . .303

Chapter XVIIL

The Rail-road system. — Province of the Legislature. — For-
mation of Railway Companies. — Economy of Railways. —
Station-houses. — Supply of Water and Fuel, &c. — Loco-
motive Engine and its Attendants. — Two Engines to one
Train. — Mile-stones. — Rapidity of Transit. — Signals — Day
and Night. — Police. — Improved Signals. — Telegraphs. —
Steam-whistle. — Winds, effects of. — Anemometers. — Tun-
nels, salubrity of. — Variations in the construction of Rail-
ways.— Livei-pool and Manchester, — London and Birming-
ham,— Great Western, — London and Brighton, — London
and Greenwich Railways. — Railways in Ireland. — Con-
clusion . . . . . . .318

ERRATA.

P. i8, line 19, for give, read gives.

48, „ 17, for Ic, read I.

65, „ J) after remark, insert that.

71, „ 2, for now here, rend no where.
' 9^, ,» **» /**** tightness, read lightness.
lOlf i» 9, fo^ Bican^on, read Besant^on.

P. 152, line 13, for are, read is.
175» », 9» ^0*' s^^f Tead side.
197» ,» 1, for are, read is.
^97i »» 36, for is, read are.
324, „ 24, for pass, read passes.

ROADS AND RAILROADS

CHAPTER I.

Of the Nature and Lnportance of Roads in general.

"What admirable things are roads ! Admirable for their
beauty, admirable for their utility; admirable, often, for
the grandeur, either of their extent, or of their conception;
admirable for their testimony to the civilization of the
countries through which they pass, and for their influences
upon the advance of that civilization. Admirable, too, for
the industry, and often for the skill, displayed in their
execution ; — for the performance finished, and for the dif-
ficulties overcome!

Those, -who, like ourselves, have had the happiness to
be born and bred in the bosom of countries teeming w^ith
wealth, with arts, and with civilization, are in great danger
of never being called upon to think how much they owe
to those countries, (that is, to the past and present genera-
tions of their inhabitants,) for a thousand local advantages
and aids, as well to their bodies as to their minds. How
much, too, amid every blessing of the natural world, are

B

2 IMPORTANCE OP ROADS.

they still indebted for to human genius, human ingenuity,
and, more than all, to human industry and labour! Hoat
much, also, do they owe to the industry which has accu-
mulated wealth, and to the genius, the judgment, the
taste, the wisdom, the liberal outlay, the bold adventure,
and the pious or the charitable purpose, — of their prede-
cessors, or of their contemporaries !

It has been well observed that roads, canals, and
navigable rivers, may justly be considered as the veins and
arteries through which all improvements flow. To internal
commerce and agriculture, they are as the veins and ar-
teries to the human body. Through these the blood circu-
lates in every direction, preserving life, health, and vigour
to the animal system ; but, if this circulation be by any
means checked or obstructed, even in the remotest part,
that part soon becomes useless, and sinks into decay, and
this evil is in some degree felt throughout the Avhole body.
So it is with respect to the commercial and agricultural
systems. "Without a free and uninterrupted intercourse,
it is impossible they can exist, or, at least, produce to the
community at large so many important benefits as they
otherwise might do. How many, for example, are the
places in almost every country, that might be rendered
doubly valuable, if possessed of good roads! What
immense quantities of the finest timber are now grow-
ing in forests inaccessible for want of roads ! What
valuable strata of metals and coals now lie in undisturbed
repose in inaccessible districts, and what vast quantities
of valuable land are now lying waste for want of means of
communication Avith them ! Indeed, the riches and strength
of a country so much depend upon an easy and uninter-
rupted communication by good roads, that we generally
find the state of the public thoroughfares to be a pretty
sure test of the state of the country itself. "Let us
travel," says Raynal, " over all the countries of the earth,
and wherever Ave find no facilities for travelling from a
city to a town, or from a village to a hamlet, Ave may pro-
nounce the people to be barbarians." A modern writer
also observes that the making of roads is fundamentally
essential to bringing about the first change that every rude

IMPORTANCE OP ROADS. &

country must undergo, in emerging from a condition of
poverty and barbarism.

It is difficult for us to conceive the state of a country,
Avhicli is destitute of the conveniences of roads : yet there
■was a time in England, Avhen, from the absence of high-
Avays, the north of our island was to the south as a foreign
land, requiring, not merely days, but weeks, for the pas-
sage of a single conveyance ; when, in many parts, wheel-
carriages could not travel at all ; when passengers, and
goods, and even coal, manure, and grain, were carried on
horses' backs ; and a wagon, with a single load, travelling
only a few miles a day, required eight or ten horses to
draw it over the soft and unequal ground which served the
purpose of a road or track-way. Even at the present
time, in some parts of the world, portions of crops are left
to rot upon the ground, because there are no roads
Avhereby to remove them ; and in Spain, sheep are, (or re-
cently were,) killed for the fleece only, and the carcass
abandoned, because the expense of removing it to any dis-
tance would be more than its worth ; so miserable there
are the ways which are dignified by the name of roads.

The value of roads is thus happily expressed by Dr.
Anderson. "Around every market-place you may sup-
pose a number of concentric circles to be drawn, within
each of which certain articles become marketable, which
were not so before, and thus become the sources of wealth
and prosperity to many individuals. Diminish the expense
of carriage but one farthing, and you widen the circles,
you form as it were a new creation, not only of stones and
earth, and trees and plants, but of men also, and wlat is
more, of industry and happiness."

The roads chiefly to be spoken of in these pages are
great or considerable roads ; roads of vast length, and of
ample breadth ; roads of ingenious and toilsome construc-
tion ; roads of which the courses affect the interests, the
prosperity, and even the virtues of communities; and,
sometimes, not of communities alone, but of regions, and
all the quarters of the globe.

The purposes of roads are commercial, military, neigh-
bourly. They concern the traffic of towns, of nations, and

B2

4 IMPORTANCE OF ROADS.

of the world ; they concern the inward peace and outward
safety of states ; they concern the intercourse of kindred
and friends, and of mankind. The tendency of their ex-
tension and perfection is to make friends of all the species ;
to communicate from man to man all human henefits ; to
diffuse arts, sciences, and learning ; to spread from dis-
trict to district, and from land to land, all human dis-
coveries and improvements ; to obliterate prejudices ; to
extinguish enmities ; to promote and recompense industry ;
to banish poverty ; to make, of provinces, and kingdoms,
and even of the entire globe, so many thriving and har-
monious cantons.

These are some of the public claims of roads ; but how
many are not their private benefactions? It has been
said of painting, that it gives us, to enliven, and even to
perpetuate our affections, the faces of our parents, of our
children, and of our friends; and of writing, that it ena-
bles each of these, at whatever distance, to interchange
their thoughts : but how well do roads also contribute to
all these tender, all these moral aims; — roads, which
either facilitate, or at least enable parents, and children,
and friends, personally to meet each other ; or, stopping
short of that chiefest good, facilitate, or permit, the travel
of mail-carriages and postmen, and the interchange of
letters!

How much happiness, how much virtue, to say nothing
of how much knowledge, and how much wealth, through
every thread of private life, depend upon these meetings,
and upon these distant communications and memorials; and
how much do these meetings, these communications, and
this imparting and possession of memorials, depend upon
the multiplication, the extension, and the perfection of
roads !

Paintings are good things, but meetings are still better ;
and roads minister to all conveyance, Avhether of ourselves,
or of our letters, or of our pictures. It is a pretty thought,
nevertheless, which has been put into the mouth of a little
boy, when writing to his mother, that he Avould not have
contented himself with writing to her, if he could have
come to her ; — if Love, which had lent him one quill of

IMPORTANCE OP UOADS. $'

his Aving, Avitli which to write, had, kinder still, lent him
his whole wing, and both his wings, to fly into her arms.

And, then, for public news ; for matters which regard
business, pleasure, or information. How small, either is
or can ever be, the interchange of intelligence where roads
are wholly wanting, or at best but insufficient, for the
bringing of it to our doors ! Be it the minstrel, the tra-
velling merchant, the pilgrim, or the friend ; or, simply
the newsman or the postman (where these offices are
separate), Avhom roads enable to reach our dwelling, how
much do we not owe to those 7-oads, the mediums of the
welcome visits ! AVell does the poet describe the service
of the country-postman !

Hark ! 'tis the twanging horn ! o'er yonder bridge,

That with its wearisome but needful length,

Bestrides the wintry flood, iu which the moon

Sees her unwrinkled face reflected bright.

He comes, the herald of a noisy world.

With spattered boots, strapped waist, and frozen locks ;

News from all nations lumbering at his back.

But oh, the important budget, ushered in
"With such heart-stirring music ! who can say
What are its tidings?

But, besides post-?Hf«, we are not yet wholly without post-
women, and nev/s-n'07nen. Those coiiriers of the remoter
villages, who, though not quite so industrious, are, as
might well be hoped, more expeditious than the same class
of functionaries in the south of Italy ; though, as roads
are improved and multiplied, and as traffic and wealth in-
crease with us, their number is doubtless decreasing.

In the South of Italy, from the absence of cross-country
posts, and of other means of communication, women are
very generally employed to carry letters, small parcels, and
similar little burdens, from one place to another, like our
post-women. These female couriers {corrieri, as it
sounds grandly to hear them called, though the name
implies nothing but rtaniers), always perform these
journeys on foot, and often with hare feet ^ and in spite
of the incumbrance of their bags and parcels, they almost
uniformly carry with them their distatts, and spin as they

6 I3IP0RTANCE OF ROADS.

go, — yet Avalking, upon an average, at tlie speed of three
iryles in an hour. A modern traveller gives us reason to
believe, that this practice of spinning as they -walk,
either on the roads or in the fields, is general from
Italy into Greece, and thence to Asia Minor. At the foot
of Mount Parnassus, to this day, >vhen the women and
girls in the evening, as the shadow of the mountain lies
outstretched upon the plain below, are seen driving the
eows to their steadings for the night ; — or when on a
journey from one town or village to another ; — or when
(which is less remarkable) they are keeping their flocks
upon the hills, — the primitive distaff is still in their hands,
and they move about, still spinning their cotton or their
linen thread.

Here, too, we have left aside all mention of the benefits
conferred upon us by roads, where travel or change of
place in our own persons has for its object only health, or
pleasure, or instruction ; and yet, are these but trifles ?
Travel for instruction is happily combined with the pro-
motion of health and pleasure ; and it advances always,
at the same time, in lower or in higher degree, all those
benefits of communication of man with man, in arts, in
sciences, in learning, in peace, in safety, in personal
prosperity, and in reciprocal good feeling, which I have
described as the general tendency of the existence and
formation of roads. Man separated from man, and family
from family ; neighbourhood cut off from neighbourhood;
town separated from country; kingdom from kingdom ; and
region from region ; — all are comparatively poor, ignorant,
vicious, and unhappy. But, joined in easy and in frequent
intercourse, the possessions, the knowledge, and the hearts
of all are enlarged ; and each becomes the happier, while
seeking and promoting the happiness of others !

" Happy," says a writer somewhat eloquent, but also
somewhat superficial, "happy the man to whom the
horizon of his birth-place is the limit of the earth, and
the next village a foreign country!" Doubtless it may
occur, that much virtue and happiness, much peace and
comfort, fills the lot of particular individuals so circum-
stanced; but the general rule will be far otherwise. For

IMPORTANCE OP ROADS.' '7

the most part, persons thus cut off from the world, and
from their feUow-creatures, will pass^ lives of comparative
indolence, and consequently, of comparative suffering.
Such Avill be uninformed, and therefyre narrow-minded;
strange to all men, and counting all men strangers, and
therefore enemies to all, and dreading all as enemies ; and
denied, at the very least, that happiness which is derived
from making others happy, and which seems like one of
the wants of human nature.

If the writer quoted above were right, in what he
advances, roads Avould be among the inflictions of our
lives; but the reverse is so much the truth, that (espe-
cially in anticipation of a little further inquiry into the
value of roads,) we may rather avail ourselves of another
thought of the same pen, and apply it safely to the eulogy
of road-makers and road-menders.

" He," says the same cynical philosopher, " that causes
two ears of wheat, or two blades of grass, to grow, where
only one of either grew before, is a greater benefactor to
mankind than any other that can be named; and thus the
spades of slaves have done more good than all the swords
of conquerors." Now, without disputing what we owe to
the husbandman, or stopping to inquire what may or may
not have been achieved by the swords of conquerors, it is
certain that the pickaxe and spade of the road-maker and
road-mender, and even the hammer of the stone-breaker,
as aiding in those tasks, have done, and are daily doing,
immeasurable services to mankind; and not the least of
them, services to the growers and gatherers, as well as to
the consumers, of wheat and grass!

Roads are benefits, of whicli, directly, or indirectly, all
the Avorld partakes; the native and the foreigner, the
country and the town, the palace and the cottage, the
farm-yard and the warehouse. Abundance of truths, to
be displayed in the succeeding chapters, Avilt contribute,
therefore, to an acknowledgment of the value of the road-
maker. The philosopher, it has been said, follows the
sword; and it is the same as to the merchant and the
artisan. But how slowly and uncertainly the whole,
Avithout the help of roads! Honour to the road-maker!

t

IMPORTANCE OP ROADS.

It is, then, this view, among numerous others, — moral
and intellectual, — that, "while ve shall relate the histories,
and describe the structure, appearances, and uses of so
many vast, magnificent, and beneficial contrivances and
works of art, connected immediately with the purposes of
travel and conveyance, and mediately with so great a
multitude of the very highest human interests; — it is this
view that we are anxious should by no means escape
attention; for, by exciting an interest upon that point,
this book will have a value yet wider and more high than
it can otherwise attain to.

While relating the story of human labour, while re-
cording the triumphs of human genius, while describing
the origin, the operation, and the products of even the
most ordinary accommodations of human life; while talk-
ing of works, machines, and inventions, which relate to
the immediate purpose of this book, we shall be carried to
the recollection of that immense debt of gratitude and
respect, which is due from us to such portions of mankind
as, by any means whatever (by wealth and enterprise; by
genius, by patience, by zeal, or by toilsome labour and
sweat of the brow), have severally contributed to our
possession of so many monuments of use and beauty, in
our own country, and in other parts of the world. Honour
to the road-maker!

Rope-Bridge in the Himalaya Mountains.

CHAPTER 11.

Mixed Facilities and Difficulties of all the Natural Mediums of
Travel and Conveyance ; either Air, Water, Earth, or Land. —
Contrast of a Rail-road with a Rope-bridge. — Obstacles to Land-
travel. — Mountain-passes. — Travelling in the Desert.

The moving creatures of the globe enjoy, distributively,
for the respective theatres of their movements, the air, the
water, and the land. Birds fly in the air; fishes swim in
the waters; and beasts walk, and run, and lea}) upon the
earth. Insects and reptiles, in the variety of their kinds,
and in the changes of form which attend the lives of many
of their species, may be spoken of as dispersed and mixed
in and throughout the Avhole of the three regions: as
flying in the air, swimming and creeping in the waters; and
creeping, walking, running, leaping, and even burrowing,
in and upon the earth. Among the several features, by
the partial exhibition of which all created things whatever
are seen somewhere to approach and meet each other,
exceptions and qualifications, in addition even to these,
may be demanded. There are birds which scarcely fly, or
make their movements in the air; there are fishes that
scarcely swim, or make their movements in the water;

B 3

10

FACILITIES AND DIFFICULTIES

and there are beasts Avhich scarcely walk, or run, or leap
upon the earth, or which absolutely do neither.

-Again: there are birds which not only swim upon the
water, but swim and pursue their prey under its surface,
and which, while themselves fishing, are sometimes caught,
at considerable depths, in fishermen's nets. There are
other birds which descend into the waters to walk alono:
their bottoms; as also those which, as I have already inti-
mated, instead of flying in the air, live upon the earth,
walking, running, and leaping upon it, like the beasts, its
proper denizens. Add to this, that there are fishes which
jiy, or at least leap or dart into the air; and beasts also, that
is 7nammaiia, (as bats and flying squirrels,) which, more
or less, like birds, make their movements in the air;
and others, (as seals and otters, and beavers and musk-
rats,) which, more or less, like fishes, make theii' move-
ments, and seek their sustenance, in the bosoms, or on the
beds, of the seas, or of the rivers. Still, the special
destination of the three superior classes of moving crea-
tures, to the three regions of air, and Avater, and earth
respectively, remains uncontradicted.

A medium, or a surface, in or upon which to move,
was a needful provision, in the way of outward counter-
parts to the inward powers of locomotion. The creatures
upon which they have been bestowed, possessing from within
the power of locomotion, it was required that they should
find facilities without, either in the medium or element
to be moved through, or in the surface to be moved upon.
The air and the water present, respectively, mediums
or elements in or upon which birds and fishes are seve-
rally able to exert their inward or inherent locomotive
powers; and the earth presents to men, and to the four-
footed creation, a surface similarly adapted to their
peculiar wants, or similarly fitted to their peculiar
structure.

But neither the earth, the air, nor the water, present
facilities for locomotion, unattended by those occasional
difficulties which occur in every other department of crea-
tion. The yielding element of water, which has been
described as so unresisting to the bodies and the motions

OP TRAVEL AND CONVEYANCE. 11

of the finny tribes, has assuredly its local and occasional
contrarieties ; its swells, its whirlpools, its tumultuous
hearings, and its opposing currents, which obstruct and
counteract the motive efforts of the -fishes beneath its
surface, as well as those of our ships and boats upon its
surface; in one case, impeding their progress ; in another,
driving them in unwished-for directions; and, not unfre-
quently, casting them upon rocks and sands, exhausted,
"wounded, helpless, dead, or dying.

AV'hen the waters^ at or near their surfaces, are ruffled
by the winds, the fishes swim at greater depths than
those which, species by species, they usually frequent;
endeavouring thereby to avoid the danger attendant upon
the commotion. But the refuge does not always avail
them. Great storms upon the leeward coasts of con-
tinents and islands rarely, if ever, happen without causing
the seas, and even the rivers, to cast upon the land large
shoals of the smaller fishes, and to leave them there to
perish; while, though in less numbers, the larger species
similarly suffer.

The air, though another yielding and commodious
element for giving passage to moving bodies, if not by
variation of places, is, at least by variation of seasons or
times, as partially uncertain as the water, and perhaps
more so. We are better acquainted, indeed, with the
vicissitudes of the atmosphere above us, than with those
of the depths of the seas, and of waters that are beneath
us ; and can add our testimony, upon this latter subject,
to the testimony of the birds which wing their flight in
it ! If we do not, like birds, (and in spite of our bal-
loons,) very often ascend into its higher regions, we know
Avhat it is to stem its opposing currents, as they sweep
over both the water and the earth, as they drive the
waters at the same time with our ships ; as we resist with
difiiculty, even if always with success, the blast that
would lift us from our feet, which shakes the temple
and the tower, bends to the earth the lofty trees of the
forest, and threatens to bring all upon our heads ! The
birds, to which the air is the natural element of loco-
motion, often troubled, often discomfited, not unfrequently

12 DIFFICULTIES OP LAND-TRAVEL.

destroyed, by the contrarieties of the air, have ample
experience of the partial difficulties of this second
medium of transport. It -would be easy to adduce
examples.

The difficulties of laiid-trayel, so often interposed by
the simply natural circumstances of the earth, are largely
experienced by all creatures that move by the aid of feet,
and, therefore, among the rest, by all the human race ;
and by all creatures, too, they are often removed or miti-
gated through the help of art ; and by man, as may well
be expected, with more extensive art than by any others.
The atmosphere, the seasons, the hours of the day and
night, are sometimes hostile, for shorter or longer periods ;
but, besides these, there are difficulties of the surface
only, which last the entire year. These are interruptions
by seas and lakes, by rivers and torrents, by hills and
mountains, by forests and morasses, by the rocks, and by
drifting sands, all of Avhich have exercised human skill
and industry, to lighten or remove, and all with more or
less success. Seas and lakes have been crossed in boats
and ships ; rivers and torrents have been crossed on
bridges, or passed beneath their beds ; hills and moun-
tains have been levelled, or roads carried over their rugged
faces, or pierced through their centres : trees have been
felled, entangling underwood has been cleared away,
morasses have been drained, or else intersected with long
and lofty causeways ; roads have been cleft through
rocks, Avhose stony fragments have been made to harden
and perpetuate the passages Avhich by nature they had
appeared to interdict : and if the drifting sands, in them-
selves, defy all efforts of improvement, upon a great
scale, they yet admit of diminishing their obstacles,
through the aid of beasts of burden, and by the choice of
hours and seasons. Finally, all distance, and intempe-
rance of climate, of season, and of weather, have been pro-
vided for by the invention or structure of countless sorts
of land-carriages, and by the subjugation of so many of
the animal species to the tasks of draught and carriage.
This last resource might seem to belong to man alone,
were it not that in the instance of that interesting little

THE RAIL-ROAD AND ROPE-BRIDGE. 13

animal, the marmot, we are assured, that among its
hay-making parties, one or more of the troop, laying
himself upon his back, submits to be the hay-cart,
■while the others, that so pull him, «ubmit to be the
hay-team to carry home the stores for their long winter's
sleep.

What a contrast between a scene upon the Liverpool
and Manchester Rail-road, and the rope-bridge over a
torrent in the Indian mountains, placed at the head of
this chapter ! In the former, enterprise and toil have
united to cut a level passage through the hearts of rocks.
It is here, perhaps, that we have an example — what with
the rocks through which the passage is cut — the level to
which the passage is reduced — the invention and work-
manship of the iron rails which are laid upon it — the
adaptation of carriages to move upon those rails, — the
movement of those carriages by the power of steam-
engines, themselves in locomotion ; and finally, the ease
and swiftness of travel attained through so much com-
bined intelligence and industry, so far surpassing every
thing within the power of foot of man or beast ; it is
here, perhaps, that we see what may be cited as the per-
fection of the artificial means of land-travel, and of the
triumphs of civilized humanity over the impediments of
nature !

Upon the other hand, the view of the rope-bridge
over a torrent, presents, as a suitable contrast, the first
dawnings of human art, in the conquest of the traveller's
difficulties ; dawnings which, however imperfect, are, in
themselves, invaluable ; for, as to the crossing of torrents
and rivers where bridges of no kind are to be found, such
impediments to human attempts will hereafter engage our
attention !

But rivers, under many views, and canals in all, are
helps to what still may be called land-ixayeX. If rivers
obstruct by their width, Avhen we would cross them, they
carry us forward, by their length, when we would either
ascend or descend their streams. Rivers and canals and
lakes, are the means of inland navigation, — the watery
ways or roads, — of the countries in which they are

14 OBSTACLES TO LAND-TRAVEL.

found ; in the same manner that the great ocean is the
great highwoy of nations. " Canals," it has been observed,
" are properly roads, to all intents and purposes."

The importance of roads, like that of other helps to
land -travel of which we are about to speak, depends upon
the number and magnitude of the natural obstacles which
may happen to beset the travellei*, and either wholly stop
him, or add to his fatigues, his dangers, or delays. It
must be earnestly impressed upon the minds of our
readers, how greatly we are indebted to art, and to our
fellow-creatures, for the ease, and even for the possibility
of our ordinary means of travelling. We are, therefore,
about to point out more particularly the varieties of coun-
try in which travel is to be performed.

Rivers and marshy grounds offer the natural obstacles
to land-travel, of Avhich, perhaps, our youthful readers
■will the most readily form ideas. Most of them, we ima-
gine, know very well what it is, either to be stopped by
the water of a simple brook, or to sink and be distressed
in wet and miry situations. In such cases they have only
to fancy the small brook expanded into a large river, and
the wet grass and mud into a wide morass, in order to
become sensible of the value of bridges and causeways,
by means of Avhich they so often cross rivers, and proceed
comfortably through morasses, without thinking for a
moment of what would otherwise have been their difficul-
ties, or of the great works of art from which they derive
such advantages.

Of bridges and causeways we shall treat hereafter ;
but let us think, for a moment, of the natural difficulties
of travel over the tops and sides of lofty mountains, in
the hot or cold climates, in the midst of summer, or in
the depth of Avinter. What heights to climb, what rocks
to be passed by, what precipices to be avoided ; and,
when the snow is upon the ground, what depths and pit-
falls of this snow, accompanied M-ith a freezing air, and,
perhaps, Avith raging winds ! Of travel among the rocks
and hills of Norway, of the west of Scotland, and of
S'.vitzerland, we shall presently see more; but even the
plains and valleys, when covered with snow, have diffi-

OBSTACLES TO LAND- TRAVEL. 15

culties of travel -which are to be overcome or lessened
only by contrivances of art, of Avhich the sledges of the
Laplanders are a well-known example.

The mountains, still more difficult to traverse when
covered with snow, which distinguish Switzerland, Nor-
way, the Scottish Highlands, and many other countries,
of which the names are less familiar ; these will claim
several of the future pages. At present, we mention
only one or two mountain-passes, from which even a sum-
mer's sunshine, if unaided by the work of ai't, cannot
take away the terrors.

There are few places, even among the passes of the
Alps, more wild and romantic than the Via Mala, where
a deep hollow is formed between tlie bitses of mountains,
rising to the height of six, and even of eight thousand
feet into the heavens, on either side of the torrent of the
Hinter Rhin. The entire length of the valley is nearly
four miles ; and the contrast of its general repose with
the sudden terror of the Via Mala, or Bad Road, give it
a character of beauty which it would not otherwise
possess.

The Via Mala is part of a road now- earned across
Mount Bernardin, and executed by the canton of the
Grisons, with the assistance of the king of Sardinia;
both Sai-dinia and the Grisons, as well as other districts,
expecting to profit by it, through the transit of merchan-
dise by this means, from the ports of the Mediterranean
into Switzerland, Germany, and Holland ; and the canton
of the Grisons comprising a great part of the ground to
be traversed upon both sides of the Alps.

From Coire to the summit of the Bernardin, a dis-
tance of fifteen leagues, the road rises five thousand one
liundred and thirteen English feet ; and from the summit
to Bellinzona, a distance of eleven leagues and a half,
it descends six thousand two hundred and eighty-nine
feet.

At Richenau, on the road of which we are speaking,
the two streams called Vorder Rhin* and Hiiiler lihinf,

* Foremost, or Further Rhine. -|- Hinder, or Hither Rliino.

16

OBSTACLES TO LAND-TnAVEL.

unite ; and here is a bridge of a single arch, two hun-
dred and thirty-seven feet in span, and eighty feet, at its
centre, above the Avater, The bridge is covered, and,
built entirely of wood ; and is one of the most celebrated
and remarkable of this description of bridge at present
existing.

The Via IJala.

After passing, by another covered bridge, the stream
of the Hinter Rhin, we enter the beautiful valley of
Doraleschg, through which an excellent road carries us to
Tusis, a town at its southern extremit}', and close to the
Verlohren-loch, the entrance to the Via Mala. Before the
year 1470, there began, at this point, only a pass for
mules, which avoided the gorge of the Via Mala ; but
now a shorter communication was opened, descending six
hundred and eighteen feet into the gorge, and continued

OBSTACL'ES TO LAND-TRAVEL. l7

by means of hollowing out a path upon the eastern side.
In 1738, the road Avas improved by altering part of its
course to the tvestern side, and by building two bridges,
"which were boldly throAvn across the gulf below. It was
the part constructed in 1 470 which first took the name of
Via Mala ; that of the whole ravine being Verlohren loch.

When the establishment of a carriage-road by the
Bernardin was resolved, Pocobelli, the engineer, directed
his particular attention to the entrance of the Yerlohren-
loch, by the side of Tusis, and determined to carry the
road through the tremendous obstacles which opposed
him there. The success of his enterprise was complete.
A well-made road is now extended across the NoUa by a
new bridge ; thence it is carried round the eastern side of
the ravine ; and, where the projecting and perpendicular
rock overhung the torrent three hundred feet, a gallery
or tunnel has been cut through it, two hundred and
sixteen feet long, fourteen feet high, and eighteen feet
wide.

The scene immediately around this spot is exceedingly
grand. In many places, where the road is carried three
or four hundred feet above the river, the sides of the
ravine are not fifty feet apart ; and the width of the gulf
never exceeds a hundred and fifty. The rocks, in the
mean time, which tow^er a vast height above the road,
and overhang the mighty depths beneath it, oppress the
mind of the spectator, through his difficulty, in the nar-
row passage, to discern the end, either of the height or of
the depth ! The narrowest spots have naturally been
chosen for the sites of the bridges ; but here, too, from the
narrowness, the rush of the water is the most fieix'e;
and, from the bridges, it requires a firm head to look
down upon the latter steadily. The roar of the waters
diminished as it ascends from their deep -sunk sur-
face, reaches the ear only in murmurs : and, when dis-
cerned in their dark abyss, they appear to send up a
white foam along the ravine, produced by its boiling
eddies.

Our next example comes from the Alpine scenery
upon the sea-coast of Italy.

18 OBSTACLES TO LAND-TRAVEL.

" A Genoese," says a writer, " will tell you, you have
a lovely road from Diana to Saint-Remo: the postboy
rides in the night very often, and falls asleep. Now what
would you imagine this road to be? A million sterling
could not render it tolerable. Indeed, none but the
natives are obliged to pass it, except the postboy, now and
then, and the sea-sick. It serpentines on the side of a
ridge of rocks, which, every ten minutes, hangs over the
sea, as high, perhaps, sometimes, as the cupola of St.
Paul's is from the ground. You have a wall of rock
above you, and a stony track for the mule, about twelve or
fifteen inches wide. If you turn your head a little back,
Avhen you clear any angle, you may see the sea under your
beast's crupper: — on your right hand, a perpendicular wall
of rock; on your left, waves roaring and dazzling beneath
you. To mend the matter, the mule always chooses the
edge of the precipice; because, when she carries bales of
goods, if she strike against the side-wall, it might overset
her in an instant. If the guide sees you timorous, he
denies you a bridle, for the least check, through fear,
would send beast and rider both down the precipice!"

But, though the mule is a beast of burden Avhich, in
almost every instance, is the surest-footed of travellers
upon these difficult roads, there are situations in their
course, where men may better trust their own feet than
those of their mules.

Above Hendec, in the Pass of the Grimsel, in the
Alps, the road, half a league from the Chalets, rises high
above the torrent of the Aar; and on the brink of a pre-
cipice, crosses curved and inclined surfaces of granite, of
great extent, and worn to extreme smoothness by the
descent of avalanches, which, from time to time, have also
swept away the barriers raised to guard the traveller in
this fearful part of the passage. Here, too, the danger is
further increased, when wet has fallen, and a frost has
followed the Avet; and it is usual, therefore, to dismount
at this place, because a man can walk over the masses of
rock with greater security than a mule ; and a single slip
of the foot of the latter must be destruction to the rider,
no less than to the beast. Upon one occasion, however, a

TRAVELLING IN THE DESERT. 19

Tisiter insisted upon riding, in spite of every remonstrance
of his guide; but the mule (less able to take care of itself
upon account of its burden) slipped, as the guide had too
truly expected; and though the guide, by seizing the
obstinate man's clothes, saved the latter, yet the mule fell
over the precipice into the gulf below, and was killed and
shattered to pieces by the fall. The traveller's feet were
out of the stirrups, or he must have perished also. The
largest of the masses of smooth rock is a hundred and
twenty feet across, and is called Hollen-Platte, or the
Devil's Platter.

An accident somewhat similar befell Napoleon Buo-
naparte, during his extraordinary passage of Mount St.
Bernard, in the year 1800. In a dangerous part of the
Avay, near the termination of the Forest of Saint-Pierre,
he slipped from off his mule, but was saved from falling
over by his guide, who, as in the former instance, caught
hold of him by his coat. The guide was rewarded with a
present of a thousand francs.

To change the scene, and to show how pleasant, com-
paratively, the travelling upon the Arabian deserts, at the
favourable season, may sometimes be found, we will make
a few quotations from the excellent account of a late
journey from Damascus to Bagdad, across the Desert, in
company Avith a numerous and Avell-armed caravan. In
the experience of our present traveller, the route is made
to appear a very passable, even if not a very amusing ride,
of about twenty days' duration.

" I must give a description of our equipage, now that
we are fairly launched on the great Avaste. I ride a white
camel, AA'ith my saddle-bags under me, and a pair of
Avater-skins, quite full, beneath them : over the saddle is
my bed. A thick cherry-stick, Avith a cross at the end of
it, serves to guide the animal; a gentle tap on the side of
his neck, sends him to the left, and one on the opposite
makes him turn back ajjain to the ri";ht: a knock on the
back of his head stops him, and a few bloAvs betAveen the
ears bring him to his knees, if accompanied by a guttural
sound, resembling, as the Arabs say, the pronunciation of
their letter sche. To make him move quickly, it is ne-

20 ■ TRAVELLING IN THE DESERT.

cessary to prick him, with the point of the stick, on the
shoulders.

" To the north there is a range of bare hills, and at
their bases are patches of green; the rude tents of a tribe
of Bedouins are pitched, and their cattle enliven the
scene. We passed over a perfect level this morning,
strewed with flowers, and thick with pasture for the
camels, where we are now resting. It is not usual here,
as in many parts of the east, for the camels to wind in
long strings, one after the other. Our numbers, amount-
ing to fifteen hundred, are scattered over the surface in
all directions, as far as the eye can trace.

" In travelling, the sheikhs or chiefs of the caravan,
attended by the military part of their equipage, mounted
on dromedaries, move in advance, Avhile the loaded camels
follow at some distance, in parallel masses, opening out, or
changing the form, as the grass renders it necessary. They
fall so naturally into military figures, that it is difhcult
to conceive their doing it without direction.

" We have several tents in the caravan. They are
pitched so as to permit the camels belonging to each to
lie in the intervals, where they are placed in squads for
the night. They are by no means agreeable neighbours:
for, although they are not able to move from their place,
they make a most unpleasant gurgling noise*; the bales of
the merchants always form the windward defence, for the
tents have no sides to them, and but flutter over the goods
to keep the sun from their owners.

"At the usual hours of prayer, a loud call is heard
throughout the camp, and parties flock to Avhere the
Muezzin takes his stand. At sunset, as the camels draw
in from the pasture, all the Arabs are on their knees, in a
line of two or three hundred, in two ranks. The priest,
like a fugelman, in front, gives the time for bowing their
heads, and performing the rest of the enjoined cere-
monies. As they rise on the signal, they sink again
to their knees, and press their foreheads to the earth

" Is this in chewing the cud ; that is, (with camels,) in digesting
and changing the situations of the food, in their five stomachs 2

TRAVELLING IN THE DESERT. 21

with the utmost devotion; the scene is singularly im-
pressive.

" The rate at which a loaded camel travels is estimated
at two miles and a half an hour by almost every traveller.
Our caravan has not, I think, exceeded this; but the
variety of its movements has been very^ tiresome. The
Arab "drivers, who walk in front of the animals, never miss
an opportunity of a piece of pasture, but, however distant
it may be from the proper course, lead them towards it,
and, with the short sticks they carry, beat them into the
thickest part of it. The camels are anxious enough for
the matter themselves, and huddle so together that their
riders' legs are in tolerable danger of being crushed in the
contact.

" There is so strong a resemblance to a voyage at sea,
in a passage across the Desert *, that I cannot divest my-
self of the belief that the moving mass is but a collection
of small vessels, carried into a heap by the tide. Every
man is ready with his stick to fend off the animal that
approaches him; one push separates the camels as it
would separate a couple of boats, and the camels move
away quite unconscious of the circumstance, till another
movement swings them together again."

" Very little," says IMajor Skinner, upon another occa-
sion, " serves to give interest in the Desert." The two
small incidents, however, Avhich follow, serve not only to
illustrate the general manners of the Arabs, but also some
of the features of a journey with a caravan.

"April 8th, We are obliged to halt this day, and
have learned the cause of the short march of yesterday.
A very fine gray mare, belonging to the Sheikh, foaled
during the night. He gave a feast, in celebration of the

" One of the well-known figurative names of the Arabs for
the camel, is that of *' Ship of the Desert."

It is a verbal coincidence, but nothing more, and yet striking
for a sort of reversal of the image, that in Europe we have a
machine called a " camel." But the allusion, in this latter in-
stance, is only to the machine's lifting a ship upon its back, by
rising with it toward the surface of the water; as a camel rise
from his knees after he has received his load.

22 TRAVELLING IN THE DESERT.

"birth, to the principal people of the great tribe of Anazie,
now in our neighbourhood. The festival has created some
merriment in the camp. Fires are blazing all aVound, and
knots are seated in diflferent quarters, smoking, cookinf',
or eating.

" The drivers are the poorest and lowest of the tribe,
and exercise the sticks they carry with very little cere-
mony. For example, I was in the act of drinking water,
with the flask applied to my lips, when my camel, re-
ceiving a blow for going where he should not, turned
suddenly round, and I came in a sitting posture to the
ground, amid the laughter of the whole of my part of the
caravan. I contrived to meet the fall; and, without hav-
ing moved my flask, continued to drink. I received an
Arab cheer for this feat; and, when I remounted, several
came to congratulate me on the ingenious manner of my
fall. One Arab, who had travelled a great deal in Syria,
and had seen many Franks *, assured me that I was more
fit to be an Arab than any other Frank he had met with;
for Franks, he said, were all excessively awkward and dis-
concerted Avhen they fell. I do not mean to take much
merit to myself for this act of agility, or to recommend it
to the practice of travellers; but it has positively gained
me more good will from my wild companions, than the
most sedate demeanour could have donet."

The following will mitigate any ideas of uniform
horror which we may entertain concerning the Arabian
wildernesses, and the situation of those who have journeys
to make upon them.

"April 12th. I am so pleased," says Major Skinner,
" with the independence of the Arab life, that I think I
could submit with good grace to such a lot for a few
months. When the Desert ceased to be, as it now seems,
a garden, I should probably change my mind; but at this

* Frnngi, Fringi, or Europeans; so called by the Eastern
nations, from the word Fratik, or French ; their earliest acquaint-
ance with Europeans having been vvith the Franks, or ancient
Frenchmen, who, coming from Europe, were considered as Euro-
peans in the total.

•f Skinner's Journey Overland to India.

TRAVELLING IN THE DESERT.

23

moment the mildness of the climate, the immense extent,
the richness and fragrance of the plain, render the life I
lead most delightful. I was obliged this evening to pluck
up a large bed of mint, before I was able to spread my
carpet, the odour being too strong when pressed bj my
weight; it is iike the most powerful essence of pepper-
mint, and is in very great quantity around."

We have thus glanced at the facilities offered to man
and animals in moving over the surface of the earth. We
have seen that many obstacles are opposed, and many
difficulties to be overcome, and that the modes of travel
are as various as the nature of the soil upon Avhich man
travels. Let us now proceed in a more methodical order :
let us trace the progress of roads and bridges; canals and
tunnels ; carriages and vehicles of every description, from
ancient times to our own day, until Ave arrive at the last
grand improvement in locomotion, in which animal power
is superseded by the new and wonderful adaptation of
steam. We must visit many lands in our progress, and
become acquainted with many nations; but our course
will not be uninstructive, nor devoid of entertainment : it
will teach us to prize the blessings of civilization, to ad-
mire the progressive ingenuity of man ; and the moral
will be, that, in virtuous industry and enterprise, nations
as well as individuals find their happiness and general
well-being.

FvOad. of Antoninus.

CHAPTER III.

Ancient Roman Roads. — Praetorian, or ]\Iilitary Roads. — Con-
sular, or Public, or High-roads. — Vicinal, or By-roads. —
Ancient Roman Roads in Italy, France, Spain, Syria, and
Great Britain.

The beo-inning of roads is as ancient as the first move-
ment of animal life upon dry ground ; for all animals, by
the treading of their feet, make roads spontaneously.
Hence, the first roads that were made by men. were pro-
perly paths, or foot-ways ; and they afterwards grew in
len<Tth and breadth, in hardness, smoothness, and all other
perfections, in proportion as cities, towns, and other places
of human dwelling and resort, were multiplied and fre-
quented. The Indian paths of America, Avhich are only
broad enough to admit of one person following another,
are examples of the primitive roads; and the tracks with
which we are so well acquainted, across our fields and
commons, and through our woods and coppices, are similar
examples still nearer home.

But the practice of road-making, usually so called,
began only when men first added to the spontaneous tread-
in^r of their feet the skilful labour of their hands, in the
formation of these important instruments of human inter-

ANCIENT ROMAN ROADS. 25

course and motion. Tliis besrinnin'x avc must date from
the commencement of civilization ; and as to the further
progress of the art, and its achievements, this, in all
countries, must have kept pace Avith the advances of that
civilization ; or, in other words, of their populousness, in-
dustry, ingenuity, and wealth. It follows, then, that in
all countries, hov.'ever ancient, where these means have
Leen possessed, there have been roads adapted to their
several purposes.

Of the roads of ancient Greece, historical notices re-
main sufficient to show that they were proportional, upon
one side to the state of civilization, and upon the other to
the narrowness of the territory of the busy and enlightened
countries composing it. In ancient Egypt, the frequent
historical references to its horses and chariots, no less than
to its great cities, its general luxurj^ and even to its roads,
leave us no doubt concerning its advancement in this
branch of civilization ; though it seems that in the times
of its later and highest prosperity, it sacrificed its roads,
its chariots, and its horses, to canals, conjoined with the
navigation of its river. Phoenicia, so renowned in arts,
and likewise in commerce, both by land and sea; the
whole of all that was fertile in Syria; the pompous em-
pires of Assyria and Babylon ; the active populations of
Persia, and of the countries bordering on it, and from thence
to the soil of India, have all of them their antique attestations
of important and well-frequented roads, for the conve-
nience of the soldier, the pilgrim, and the merchant.
Such is, for the most part, found to be the case, wherever
the sandy surfaces of trackless deserts did not interfere
with their structure and maintenance, obliging those that
travelled to rely only upon the heavenly bodies, or upon
the compass, as guides to the places which they desired
to reach.

It would be easy to enlarge upon the history of ancient
roads by referring not only to those in the Old World,
but even to those of Peru and Mexico in the New World.
In arriving, however, at Carthage, from which the Romans
ai-e said to have derived the knowledge and practice of
that stupendous system of road-making, with the history

c

26 ANCIENT ROMAN ROADS.

of which we are so well acquainted, and of which we have
still so many opportunities of examining the remains ; we
may here contract our view, and content ourselves with a
few chapters on the roads of antiquity, and then pass on
to the more modern roads of our own country, as well as
to those of foreign lands.

The Romans had roads exclusively military, as well as
all those which are known among ourselves. Their mili-
tary roads were called PrcEtoriari roads, as being under
the immediate government of the Prastors, or military
superiors ; Avhile tlieir public or high-roads were called
Cons^ular, because made and maintained by the authority
of the Consuls : and to each of these respectively was
usually given the name of the particular Consul under
whom it was first made ; as in the examples of the Via
Aurclia, or Aurelian road, made under the Consul Aure-
lius; and the Via Appia, or Appian road, made under
the Consul Appius. Their by-roads, or roads leading from
the Consular roads only to small places, or vicinities, or
neighbourhoods out of the great lines, were called Vicinal
roads, or Via; Viciiiales.

What was peculiar consisted in the usage of keeping
the Praetorian, or military roads, or roads designed for the
marching of soldiery and armies, entirely distinct from the
Consular, or public, or high-roads — roads designed for
traific and for general purposes. The objects of the first
were military dominion, and the immediate affairs of state,
while the objects of the second concerned commerce and
the general intercourse of Romans and strangers ; and the
separation was so strict, that where roads for all these
purposes were wanted to and from the same places, still
the two difierent descriptions of road were formed and
carried more or less by the side of each other ; as in the
modern world Ave may now sometimes see our roads and
canals, common roads and rail-roads, running side by side.

But the manner of making the Praetorian and Consu-
lar roads differed as much as the purposes for Avlilch they
were made. The Consular roads Avere often more remark-
able for their magnitude and breadth, for the persevering
boldness Avith Avhich they Avere carried in straight lines

ANCIENT ROMAN ROADS. 27

over surfaces of every kind, and for the variety of accom-
modation they afforded to passengers, than for smoothness
or for general ease of travel. The centres wei'e raised and
paved -with stones or otherwise provided Avith hard mate-
rials, while the sides Avere more or less of unmade earth.
These raised and hardened centres were of the same eene-
ral kind as the modern chaussees of France and causeways
of England. In their general figure, too, they must have
agreed Avith that of the many broad openings still to be
seen in several parts of England, wliere a narrow cause-
Avay in the centre has Avide spaces, or Avater, or mire, upon
each side, serving for the traveller's use, Avhen and where
convenient ; and in a more general manner for the pas-
turage of a cottager's cow, ass, pig, or goose. But the
causeway in these Consular roads Avas sometimes twelve
feet in breadth. For the making and repair of these
public roads, the needful expenditure Avas levied upon the
OAvners of the lands through Avhich they passed ; and Avhile
to the entire road Avas usually given the name of some
particular Consul, or Pro-consul, as stated above, the par-
ticular parts Avere called after the names of these land-
holders respectively. From these statements it must
appear that no tolls Avere collected, but that the cost and
labour of these roads Avere provided for in Roman Europe,
as till lately in all modern Europe, under a system more
or less resembling that of the corvee in France, and of
statutable labour in England, and wdiich is the same Avith
the system to Avhich Ave shall hereafter refer in an account
of the roads in NorAvay. There Avere no turnpike gates
(those objects so long and so angrily decried upon their
first introduction into England) ; but in order to enforce
the Roman law, Avhich required the land-holders to main-
tain the roads, inscriptions Avere established along the
road-side, shoAving upon Avhom the responsibility rested.
These inscriptions stated the divisions of the road, the
names of the land-holders, the extent of their possessions,
and the consequent duty to be levied upon them.

Of these Consular, or public, or high-roads of the
ancient Romans, many considerable remains are still to be
seen in every part of that Avhich once constituted the

c 2

28 ANCIENT ROMAN ROADS.

Roman empire. The Yia Appia, which departing from
Rome extended to the distance of 350 miles, and then
terminated at Naples, had a causeway or pavement twelve
feet broad, composed of square blocks of freestone, each
for the most part a foot and a half in measure ; and this
road, now 1800 years old, is still, for several miles to-
gether, in many parts of its line, as sound as when
first made. It is not everywhere, indeed, the smoothest
of roiids, but this Ave may believe it never Avas. Horace*
himself Avas of opinion that it AA'as best to go slowly over
it ; and this was at all times, doubtless, the case Avith the
Consular roads in general. However superior they Avere
in solidity, they probably resembled, in the article of
smoothness, the modern roads or causcAvays of France,
and required strong carriages as Avell as patience under
jolting in order to be travelled. The modern road in the
same direction as the Appian, though less adapted for
great durability, is excellent in every particular that can
recommend it to those Avho have to pass over its surface.

In the vicinity of Lyons, in France, exist the remains
of Roman road-making, composed of beds or masses of
flint-stones not bigger than eggs, laid in mortar, and from
tAvelve to fifteen feet in depth, and as hard and compact
as marble. After a period of 1 600 years from their for-
mation; it is still scarcely possible to penetrate or disjoin
the masses by any force of hammers, mattocks, or other
tools. The Romans ahAays laboured at establishing the
solidity of their roads, first by ramming or beating the
natiA'C soil, and next by spreading upon it layers of flints,
pebbles, or sand; and sometimes by adding masonry com-
posed of hard rubbish, or of bricks, all bound together AvIth
mortal".

As to the public roads in general, their remains are
regarded as monuments of the good sense of the ancient
Romans, and of their care to provide for the accommoda-
tion of travellers. On each side Avas an elevation about

• " Miuiis est gravis Appia tardis."

Sat. Book i. 5. \. 6.
'■ The Appian road is less fatiguing to people Avho traA'el
sIowIa-."

AXCIENT ROMAN ROADS. 29

sixteen inches in heiglit, and nine inches in breadth, called
crepidiiies, or parapets; and at the distance of little more
than five yards were regularly placed on this parapet,
large stones, each of the size of nineteen inches square,
and twenty-seven high, for tlie convenience of passengers
as resting places, or to assist them in mounting their
horses. The road Avas higher in the middle than on the
sides, and there were channels Avith small arches, as at
present on our roads, for carrj^ing off the water Avhich
drained from it into the adjacent fields.

In the streets of Pompeii, holes are to be seen in the
parapet, made for tying horses or beasts of burden; and
possibly the same practice Avas adopted on the high-roads;
but Caius Gracchus, about 130 B. c, is said to have been
the first to join the roads together by bridges, where such
valuable accommodations Avere needed, and also to drain
them by subterranean channels; and to him also is due
the introduction of mile-stones, Avhich everyAvhere indi-
cated the distance from Rome. On the road to Naples,
all these mile-stones Avere placed on the left of the tra-
veller Avho Avas on his Avay thither. The inscriptions on
the bridges Avere engraved on each side. A military
column or standard mile-stone, denominated 7mliarium
aureum, or golden standard, or mile-stone, AA'as erected in
the Forum, at Rome; as the centre Avhence proceeded the
roads v.-hich spread from it. Most of the consular roads
led to sea-ports.

But many of these roads Avere double; that is, they
had a carriage-AA'ay upon each side paved Avith stones, for
the use of carriages moving in opposite directions; and
each separated from the other by a raised foot-Avay, paved
with bricks. Add to this, that their Avhole line was
studded Avith mounting-stones or horse-blocks, and Avith
miliary or j/nYe-stones.

The consular roads Avere also sometimes double in a
more extended sense ; that is, there Avere tAvo roads to
and from the same places. The intention appears to have
been the safety of commerce and of travellers; as Avhen,
in the direction of sea-ports, one road Avas carried inland,
and the other along the coast. Of these double roads

30 ANCIENT ROMAN ROADS.

between the same places, we may cite, as an example, the
Via Appia and Via Domitia; the first leading from Rome
to Puteoli through Capua; and the second through Cum£e
and Baife. A poem of Statius is extant, which describes
fully this latter.

Another species of Roman road was the suhterranean ;
or road carried like our modern galleries or tunnels,
2mclergrouncl; but for the sole purpose of shelter from the
sun. These, of which the invention has been referred to
the Egyptians, grew up among the Romans in times of
luxury, and numerous vestiges of them are still found in
different parts of Italy.

The Praetorian or military roads, upon the formation
and good repair of which depended, in so great a degree,
the acquisition and maintenance of conquests abroad, as
well as the enjoyment of security and peace at home, were
still moi-e decidedly the care of the Roman government.
For the most part, they were, at least, sixty feet wide;
of which space the elevated centre occupied tAventy feet,
and each of the slopes twenty more. But of this it
would seem that only a part was paved; that is, imbedded
with great stones in the centre, while footways upon each
side had silso their stone-pavements. Stirrups not having
been yet invented, the stones for mounting horses were
always an important part of the accommodations of the
Roman roads; and alons the Prfetorian roads these stones
were placed (we are told) at intervals of only ten feet.
But did not these mounting-stones supply the further
purpose of our ordinary posts, protecting the foot-ways
against the horse and carriage-ways? The materials em-
ployed in making and repairing the roads, were such as
the country through which they passed, afforded.

The Vicinal*, or countr}^, or cross-roads, crossed the
military roads at right angles; and at such places where
four roads were thus made to meet each other, square
gate-houses Avith arches opening upon each side, were
built.

Roman streets or roads, as to their construction, have

* The VicB Vicinales, — Vicinal or neighbouriug roads, — were
sometimes called Via3 Patrice or Country roads.

ANCIENT ROMAN ROADS. 31

been divided, into tliree kinds: — the first, or simple stratce
vice, paved roads, Avere formed only of pebbles and gravel;
the second, or vice silice stratoe paved with flint-stones, of
large but unequal sizes; and the third, or vice saxo et
lapide quadrato stratce, paved with square flat stones, laid
down with regularity.

In some of the remains of Roman roads four strata or
beds of materials are discovered: — in the first place, the
foundation, which is quite sound, all soft or unstable
earth having been carefully removed ; in the second, a
bed of broken earthenware, tiles, and similar materials,
joined together with cement ; in the third, a bed of mor-
tar; on which, fourthly and for a completion, w^as laid
the uppermost stratum, consisting of bricks, tiles, stones,
or other convenient substances.

It is worthy of remark that, after the lapse of many
centuries, during which most of our modern roads have
been formed, the imperfections of which, had long been
felt as a serious evil to the whole kingdom, good i^aved
roads have been at length formed, by adopting the plan
of the ancient Romans. Many of the new pavements of
London are now based upon broken granite, instead of
loose earth, which constantly works through the inter-
stices, and interferes with the solid bearing of the stones
upon each other; — to say nothing of the vast quantities of
mud thus produced.

In other instances, the Romans paved their roads with
stones, which they joined by means of a cement of sand
and clay. A mixture of this kind is what is now used
for many purposes in England, under the name of " Roman
Cement."

Roads of the former kind Avere raised in the middle
and laid with flags, or flat stones, for the convenience of
foot-passengers; while the two sides were formed of sand
and loamy earth, that they might be soft for the feet of
horses; though horses Avere not anciently without shoes,
as some antiquaries have imagined. The second kind of
roads, made Avholly of sand and clay, were convex in their
form, to keep them dry.

The Foss-Avay, discovered in Wiltshire, is regarded as

32 ANCIENT R0.1IAN ROADS.

one of the many Roman roads in Great Britain; upon
being cut through at a part of its line, it was found to
have been constructed thus: — first, a foundation of flat
stones; then eighteen inches of earth and rubble; and
above this a course of small stones, ■with large fixed stones
upon the surface.

On another ancient road in the same part of England,
a layer of small stones was found at the top, then a layer
of stone grouted or pounded; and, beneath the latter, a
foundation which the soil concealed. These layers com-
posed a mass which was cut through, to the depth of six
feet and a-half, by four paces wide.

In low and marshy grounds the Romans took great
care to secure their roads against injury by floods ; and
raised them, where the level required it, five, ten, and
sometimes twenty feet high, that the waters might never
rise above them.

The remains of Roman roads are still very numerous in.
our island. I shall speak of them again, in conjunction
with the ancient British roads, or roads constructed by
the Britons, either before or after the establishment of
the Romans among them.

The north as well as the south of Great Britain has
its share of the remnants of Roman roads. In the east of
Scotland they have been traced as far as the county of
Angus, where they are regarded as affording traces of the
Roman province of Vespasian.

The Roman wall with its military road, (similar to the
Chinese Avail,) which separated Roman Britain from the
Picts and Scots, and which is called the Avail of Antonine,
is well knoAvn. But if, leaving all further consideration
of Roman roads in Britain, Germany, SAvitzerland, Gaul,
Spain, and Italy, and other countries of the Avest, Ave direct
our attention for a moment to the Roman Empire in the
east, Ave find there, too, food for historical recollections of
Roman roads, and even actual remains of those great
Avorks. One of these latter, the road of Antoninus Pius,
before alluded to, affords the vieAv at the head of this
chapter, as it is seen along the sea-coast near Baireuth, in
Syria.

ANCIENT ROMAN ROADS.

33

In modern Syria, no less than in modern Egypt, the
spirit of enterprise and improvement promises the speedy
construction of new and important roads; such as may
furnish extensive means of communication, even if their
quality should be less durable than tiiat of the ancient
roads. In Egypt, as has been long known, an excellent
road between Caii-o and Alexandria is at this day travelled
by public coaches, built in England, drawn by English
horses, wearing English harness, and driven by English
coachmen; and in Syria, according to a traveller whose
agreeable volume has already afforded us some descriptions
of travel in that part of the world, " Ibrahim Pacha has a
very fine scheme in his head. Should he secure the pos-
session of Syria, Tour (the ancient Tyre), is to be the port;
and a grand road from every part of the east is to be made
to it*." The writer means that roads from every part of
the east, are to be made to meet at that ])lace.

* Skinner's Journey to India.

Cleopatra's Needle.

C 3

Course of the Wans Dyke over St. Anne's Hill.

CHAPTER IV.

Ancient Britisli Roads, and Ancient Roman Roads, in Britain. —
Degrees of Civilization among the Ancient Britons. — British
Roads, and sites of British Towns, Villages, and Burial-places,
in Wiltshire. — Course of the Wans Dyke from Andover to tlie
Bristol Cliannel. — Belgic Kingdom of King Divitiacus. —
Ancient History of the Road now called the Great Western
Road. — Dykes and Ditches, Fosses and JNIoats. — Grim's Dyke.

When we glide over tlie smooth and spacious roads of
modern Britain and Ireland, our thoughts are but seldom
carried back to the narrow, rugged, and uneven roads
upon both islands, which we shall have to advert to in
the present and succeeding chapter: or to the contrast of
the objects that lined them, or were visible from them
anciently and now. In the aspect of nature, with regard
to these objects, how striking is the difference between
the castles and the cabins of times past, and the palaces,
the villas, and the cottages of times present! between the
wild moors of old, "immeasurably spread," and the swell-
ino- lawns of parks, witli their beautiful drives, and taste-
ful entrance-lodges, which so often embellish at once the
private and the public road!

We are not to think too meanl}', however, of our native
roads in Britain; roads begun and completed in times

CIVILIZATION OF ANCIENT BRITONS. 35

■vvhicli probably go back to tbe higbest antiquity. There
"were no Roman roads upon the island until the time of
the Emperor Claudius, about 45 a.d.; but there were
manjr British roads before the Julian invasion. We are
accustomed to hear so much of the very rude state of the
Britons two thousand years ago, — of their painted bodies,
"wicker coracles, and woodland huts, — that we often fail
to remember that these descriptions, in all their rigour,
apply only to parts of the people and to parts of the
island, and afford no just representation of the "vvhole of
either. Caesar states the condition of the Britons, in
Kent, to have been found by him very similar to that of
the Gauls upon the opposite side of the Channel ; and
from what we know of the civilization of ancient Gaul,
Britain, no doubt, as seen by Cassar, was sufficiently
barbarous ; but it was not savage: and in the estimate
made of its advancement, there must be allowances for
mountainous and other poor and thinly-inhabited situa-
tions, for remoteness from the sea, and for the very ab-
sence of roads, — where they were really absent, — and for
the differences between kingdom and kingdom, or region
and region, upon our soil; as also for the differences of
rank and property in society, — for Britain, or parts of
Britain, possessed, at the era in question, kings and
hierarchies, nobility and land-owners, and, doubtless,
merchants, slaves and a commonalty, in greater or less de-
gree, the property of men of wealth and station. A Avide
distinction, indeed. Is to be drawn between the Britons
whom Caasar found, and the Roman Britons, such as those
afterwards became during the few centuries of Roman in-
tercourse and domination : but Britain, before it was
known to Rome, had its cities, towns, villages, and roads,
and also its sea-going ships and foreign commerce.

" AVhat the Britons," says Caesar, " call a town is
nothing more than a thick wood surrounded by a ditch
and bank;" but Strabo gives us a better understanding of
these dwelling-places when he observes: "Their towns
are woods of a broad circuit, in the midst of which they
clear away a part of the trees, and build huts, in which
they and their cattle live together." Even here, we are

36 BRITISH TOWNS AND VILLAGES.

to remember, nevertheless, that loivns hearing this gene-
ral description, might yet vary most considerably in ex-
tent, populousness, wealth, and the pursuits of civilized
and even commercial life; from the rudest hamlet to
ancient London, and other ancient cities of Britain, — cities
which had their great roads before the first arrival of the
Romans, and by the sides of which the Romans, where
they did not adopt and improve tiiem, we^'c often content
• to make their own roads for tlieir military purposes.

A town is properly an enclosure, or place defended
against unwelcome intrusion, either by the simplest fence,
or the strongest fortification; and thus it is that in Devon-
shire and Cornwall, where so much of what was anciently
British, is still preserved, as well as in other parts of the
kingdom, a farm-yard is still denominated a town and a
town-place; and that by barton, byre-town, or barn-town,
we are to understand a byre-yard or barn-yard. Now
the towns of the Britons (like the towns of all other
Celtic nations from Gaul and Italy to Britain and Ire-
land,) Avere circular*, and their fort if cations (in defect of
walls commonly so called,) consisted of circuits of thick,
or, as it were, impenetrable trees, (called silva; impeditce,
or thick woods, by Ctesar,) behind the outer circles of a
bank and ditch, like so many of our rural defences to this
■day. But this very scheme of fortification is even now to
be witnessed in central Africa, as that of very large towns
,(not to speak of them as cities) ; and it is always obvious,
that these woody circuits, the cleared spaces, the number
and condition of their inhabitants, and the number, size,
and solidity of the dwelling-houses, and other buildings,
sacred and profane, contained in them, might vary greatly.
An enlightened and indefatigable English antiquaiy,
whose fortune and personal assiduity were long devoted
(spade in hand) to exploring the earthen remains and
monuments of British civilization and customs as still

* It is agreed that from the circular form of the ancient
Latian towns, the Romans had their name of urbs (orbis), a town
or city. The reader will see further, in the Latin word urbs, and
its aiiplication, the origin of the English words urban, urbane, and
suburb.

ANCIENT BRITISH ROADS. 37

extant in tlie south-west of England, speaks thus of the
ancient British roads, with the villages and towns in that
part of the island : —

"These ridse-jvays." he observes, "Avere the roads made
use of by the earliest inhabitants of Britain, as lines of
communication between their different towns and vil-
lages. They generally followed the highest ridges of land,
on which also we find their habitations. They Avere not
paved Avith stone and gravel, as in later times by the
Romans, but their basis Avas the firm and verdant turf.
It is somcAvhat singular that, even to this day, this ori-
ginal track-Avay* of the Britons may be traced over our
Wiltshire hills for a very great extent, and throughout the
Avhole of the adjoining county of Berks.

" In my description of the IMarlborough station," he
continues, "I mentioned the course of this ridge-AA'ay
through it, and have supposed it to proceed from the
southern ridge of hills, by a very ancient earthen-Avork,
bearing the name of Broad-bury, across the valley tOAA'ards
Marden, betAveen which place and "Wilsford Ave have
found pottery, and other marks of ancient residence.
This line of the ridge-Avay is afterwards indicated by the
names of Broad-street and Honey-street, and nature has
formed an opening for its passage betAveen two hills, each
croAvned Avith British remains. The one on the right,
called Knap-hill-|-, has an earthen Avork on its summit,

* These track-ways, or traceable roads of the ancient Britons,
fire called ridge-u'ays, (as to those parts of them Avhich followed,) as
described in the text, the elevated ridges of land ; but the author
quoted, frequently calls the same pieces of road alternately track-
ways and ridge-ivuys.

-f- It does not appear to have struck the writer, that this name
of Knap-lull is obviously derived from the natural " opening for
the passage of the British road between two hills," whicli is
spoken of in the text. To knaj) is to break, or to cleave asunder ;
and is also the same Avord (though differently modified) with our
modern word snap, and likewise gap. The Germans, also, have
the verb knappen, to snap asunder with a noise. We find this
AVord having a similar signification Avith the Flemish or Belgic port
or poort used in the same sense in this sort of topogi-aphy. Nape
or knap, in the sense of an opening, hollow, or indentation, is the
true origin of the term, the " nape of the neck ;" for the nape

38 COURSE OP THE AVANS DYKE.

and two barrows within it; the other on the left, called
TValker's-hill, has a long barrow* on its apex. Anti-
quities and barrows occur in the next valley, from which
Ave re-ascend, and cross the celebrated Belgic boundary
named Wans Dyke"|*. Hence the ridge- way descends into
the vale of the river Kennet, Avhich it crosses near the
A'illage of East Kennet, and pursues a northern course to
the Hackpen-hill. Having traversed the turnpike-road
between Bath and Marlborough, a little to the Avest of
mile-stone lxxix., it steers its course towards the Hack-
pen-hill, AA-hich is rendered conspicuous by numerous
barrows of large dimensions AA'hich cross its summit; it
continues on the ridfje of hill overlookinfj the A'ale of
Abury on the left, to the place before-mentioned, called
Glory- Ann; then skirting Elcombe and Uscot DoAvns, it
descends from them at the base of a hill on which Bar-
er knap, in this case, is the hollow cutting or indentation between
the shoulders and the head ; in the same manner that insecta or
insect gives name to the class in zoology called insects, because
of the knap or nape between the thorax and the abdomen, in so
many of its species.

* Barrows, m Latin tumuli, are momids of earth which distin-
guish ancient burial-places or tombs.

-f There is believed to have been a Belgic invasion and settle-
ment in this part of Enghind about four or five hundred years
before the invasion of Julius Cajsar ; and the boundary between
the invaders and the invaded is thought to have consisted in a
line of defence composed of a bank and ditch, or Avhat is still
called in this part of the country, a dyke or ditch only. The
numerous Belgic or Flemish words and proper names, both of
persons and places, still preserved in the vicinity, seem to be
monuments of the south of this pait of British history; but
our author is perhaps wrong in supposing Wans Dyke to be the
British and Belgic boundary, at least, as far as its name may
seem to import. Wans Dyke, or Woden's Dyke or ditch, is so
named from Woden or Odin, the object of the worship of the
Teutonic Anglo-Saxons, and not of the Celtic British and Belgse
British ; Belgic and Anglo-Saxon names being intermixed through-
out the country in question : and as to the compounds which
include the Saxon and Scandinav-ian name of Odin or Woden,
they are met with at intervals throughout the island ; as Wed-
nesbury, Wensley, Wenlock, Wanborough, Wantage, and Wan-
stead. Near Matlock in Derbyshire, there is a mine still denomi-
nated Odin's Mine.

COURSE OF THE WANS DYKE. 39

bury Castle is placed, and beneath whicli, towards the
north, there are the traces of some slight earthen-works.
Though the track-way has been in some places destroyed
by the plough, its course is well known, and again visible
at the eastern extremity of a fine plain of verdant turf
appropriated to the race-ground at Barderop. It con-
tinues its track through the dirty lanes, and an open
arable country, to a place called Cross Bush, where it is
again traversed by the Roman road leading from the
station of Cunetio to that at Wanborough Nytli. From
hence the ridge- way skirts the base of the hill on which
Liddington, or more properly Brodbury Castle is situated,
and is joined by another ancient track-way, which I have
before mentioned as coming from Marlborough to this
earthen- work. The old thorn-tree, as designated by the
title of Ridge- way Bush is still in existence on the left
side of the track- way, which shortly afterwards is crossed
near a cottage called Totterdown, by another Roman road,
coming from the station of Spinse, near Spene, to the next
station at Wanborough Nyth. The ridge-way now
ascends Shelbarrow-hill, and having travelled through an
enclosed corn-country, we leave the county of Wilts and
enter that of Berks, a little beyond the village of Bishop-
stone *."

Wans Dyke, Avhich, agreeing with Dr. Stukeley, this
author supposes to have been the great Belgic boundary
is spoken of by others only as an ancient sheltered or
covered road. It consists of a vast dyke or ditch, by the
side of which is a lofty bank or wall, or vallum, and is
conjectured to have commenced eastward near Andover,
in Hampshire. It terminated in the Severn Sea, or
Bristol Channel, after a course of upwards of eighty miles
through Hampshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, and Somerset-
shire ; for more than three parts of which distance it is
still discoverable by the eye, while in many it is almost in
perfect preservation. According to Dr. Stukeley, it skirted
inland the Belgic kingdom established in Britain, of
which the king, Divitiacus, finds a place in the Commen-

* Su- EiCHARB Colt Hoare's South Wiltshire p. 46.

40

COURSE OF THE WANS DYKE.

taries of Ccesar; whose name also, Divitiacus, is thought
to be also still preserved in that of Devizes, at present l)ut
a market-town, though anciently (say the antiquarians)
the capital of Divitiacus.

In the state in which Wans Dyke still subsists, and
whatever people were its original constructors, it is sup-
posed to have shared the labour of the Belga3, Romans,
and Anglo-Saxons, from -which latter workmen it probably
received its present name. Our author believes, indeed,
that a considerable part of the present remains is to be
ascribed to the Anglo-Saxons; and also that what was
done by the Romans, had for its object the conversion of
the dyke into a road.

"In the year 1817," he observes, "a very satisfactory
discovery was made on the line of the Wans Dyke, which
evidently proved that this agger (bank, wall, or vallum),
was at first raised to a certain height, and subsequently
increased in altitude. This important discovery was
made by digging through the Wans Dyke, to make a
sheep-drove, when the evident marks of the first and sub-
sequent agger were clearly visible, with the difi^"erent
strata of mould, chalk, and turf. The first probably raised
by the Belgaj, the last by the Saxons."

The view at the head of this chapter represents the
course of the Wans Dyke over Saint Anne's Hill, better
known among the country-people by the name of Tan
Hill, of which the other name is probably a corruption.
Upon this hill, upon the sixth day of August annually',
there is held a large fair called Tan-hill fair. The view
is taken from the two barns upon the hill, which are the
immediate site of the fair. They stand upon the very
line of the dyke, and the spot affords " a most perfect and
comprehensive view," says Sir Richard, " of this noble
agger, which still preserves its winding, and irregular
course over the elevated ridge of hill." At the end of the
present chapter is another view of an adjacent part of the
AYans Dyke, where it joins a Roman road.

There seems reason to believe that all the " Saint
Anne's Hills," (of which there are many,) throughout our
island are so called, from some dialectic corruption, instead

COUKSE OF THE "WANS DYKE.

41

of Tan Hills, or Tan's Hills ; in -wliicli latter form, how-
ever, the sound approaches so nearly to that of Saint
Anne's Hill, that the change may have heen quite unin-
tentional. TaJi is described as the great object of Belgic
worship ; and the fair held annually upon this spot in
Wiltshire is doubtless, (like our fairs in all parts,) a rem-
nant of some religious festival ; and a festival it may be
believed of Tan or Tamarus, or Taranus, (Jupiter, or the
Thunderer,) a name of the first sanctity in ancient
Belgica*. By some, Wans Dyke is regarded as the real
Foss-way, already spoken of as one of the four principal
British roads ; by the side of which, at a later epoch, ran
the Roman road, (Via Badonica,) from London to Bath;
both, in a general view, in the line of what is now the
Great Western Road.

In order not to interrupt the course of our statements,
and not wishing to overload these pages with notes, we
have reserved for the conclusion of the present chapter,
some curious information on the subject of dykes or

* Tan-fan, or Tanfanca, (Tanarus Fanus,) is spoken of by
Tacitus as a celebrated temple of the Belgaj. The practice of
dedicating liills, either natural or artificial, to the service of the
Divinity, and of celebrating the worship of the gods upon their
summits, has been universal among mankind, and to tliese prac-
tices are probably due the name of Barbury-hill, as also Tan-hill.
Barbury is a corruption of Badbury ; and Badbury implies the
hill of Bad, Bod, Budh, or God ; in which sense we have Gads-
hiU, Gaddesden, and Gadsbury, in England ; and Godesberg in
Germany.

42 DYKES ANB DITCHES.

ditches generally, arising out of -wliat lias been already
said respecting Wans Dyke in particular.

AVans Dyke, otlierwise "Wondes Ditch, as it has been
already intimated, may be called Woden's or Odin's Ditch
or Dyke. It is observable that the -words ditch and dyke,
(which are only the same word differently pronounced,)
have tAvo A'ery different senses, as well as different pronun-
ciations in different parts of the islands. In some parts,
as in the south of England, a ditch or a dyke is understood
to be a hollow, cut lengthwise in the earth, of various
dimensions, either dry or wet, and intended either for
drainage, demarcation, or defence; thus we speak both of
wet and of dry ditches; and thus also in the military art,
ditch and fosse are synonymous terms. In other parts of
the island, however, a dyke is understood of a wall, or at
least of an embankment ; and thus the term stone-dykes,
meaning commonly uncemented parapet-walls of unhewn
stone, such as, upon rocky soils, are used for fences, and
partitions of fields, instead of hedges, or other different
materials. But in both senses, whether of a ditch, or of a
bank, or wall, the words dyke and ditch have a common
origin in the verb to dig, and imply a digging; the diver-
sities of their senses and sounds depending as to the first
upon the particular result of the digging to which the
mind refers ; and as to the second, upon the circumstance
whether a dyke or a ditch shall signify something which is
sunk, or something Avhich is raised ; but it is to be re-
membered that either has the proper signification of the
whole of the Avork performed ; or of that entire line of
drainage, demarcation, or defence, which avc sometimes
(and accurately) call a bank and ditch together; after
•which it is left to different speakers, or to difference of
local variations, to settle the term, and to choose a sound
between that of the letter^, and of the letter k; between the
hard and the soft sounds of both; and between the various
alphabetical representations of these sounds, as tch, and
sh ; as, for instance, the word dish (a hollow vessel) is but
a third form of the word ditch or dyke.
!'' Then, as to the custom of applying the term dyke, or
the term ditch, exclusively to the ditch, or hollow, or

FOSSES AND MOATS. 43

exclusively to tlie bank, or wall, we have to notice that
botli of these are dug, and both are dykes, ditches, or dig-
gings, the one being the sjiace whence earth has been
dug out ; and the other the space upon which is raised up
the earth which has been dug out. The established appli-
cation of numerous words to the exact counterparts of
their literal and primitive meanings, is exceedingly com-
mon ; and we have an example in one which is closely
allied to that of the dyke or ditch. In England, most per-
sons understand by the word moat, a sort of ditch sur-
rounding a house and gardens ; such house, (or moat-
house,) being usually ancient, and of some ancient dignity.
In truth, the moat, which at least anciently belonged to it,
and whence it had its designation, was one of its means of
military defence in ages when private persons had the
misfortune to be obliged to live in " strong houses," or
small fortresses. But was the ancient moat, i\\e fosse or
ditch, as at present understood? No; but the mount
which had the fosse or ditch (now called moat) at its foot;
and from which the enemy could be overlooked and as-
sailed, while the fosse or ditch (now moat) obstructed his
approach. Hence it is that in Ireland, and, in many
instances, in England, a moat still signifies a mount, in-
stead of a ditch, comformably with the real meaning of
its orifrinal, which is the French word motte ; for which
both in England and Ireland, we are doubtless indebted
to the Norman part of our ancient population. Wans
Ditch, then, and "Wans Dyke are names of the same signifi-
cation ; and may equally apply to the embankment above,
or to the covered (that is protected) way below; and
hence it is either a wall, or a way, or road ; or, in other
terms, a dyke, ditch, or foss-wai/, or a dyke, or ditch-
road.

An interesting point connected with the supposed
boundary between the Belgas and Britons remains to be
noticed. If it were necessary to find a Celtic name at-
taching itself to a dyke or ditch, Avhich formed the sup-
posed boundary between these people, this may probably
oflFer itself in Grim's Dyke before referred to, which the
country people of Wiltshire are frequently heard to speak

44 grim's dyke.

of as The Devil's Dyke. Grim may be only another form
of Gri7i, or of Gnjn, {Gryan in the Irish, whence comes
the Irish proper name of Ryan,) signifying the sun'% and
here used for the sun as a divinity, or as the object or
symbol referred to in divine -worship. What suggests the
probability of such an etymology is the name of Devil's
Dyke, otherwise borne by the same dyke or ditch : for if
the Pagan inhabitants of the country called this ditch or
dyke, the Dyke or Ditch of the Sun, as a title of
sanctity, their Christian successors would assuredlv call
it the Dyke or Ditch of the Idol, or of^the Devilt; and if
this origin of both Avords g?7'?« ^vAgrin be admitted, several
other corroborative explanations will follow, especially of
English proper names, alike of persons, and of places, — all
connected with that solar worship which once stood so high
in Britain, and not the lowest at the city of Bath, which
place is in the part of England of which we are now speak-
ing. Thus of " Grimshaw," {shaiv signifying a wood or
grove,) we shall make " The Wood or Grove of the
Sux. But what Grim, or Gryn, or Grynreus may have
been to the Celtic races, the same was Woden or Odin
to the Saxon ; that is. Sun of the symbolical worship ; so
that with all the truth of poetry they could call a gleam
of sunshine the " smile of Odin."

It must be my apology for making these references to
the religious antiquities of our islands Avhile directly
concerned only with their roads, that the history of roads,
Avhether ancient or modern, involves us deeply in the
general history of the countries in which the}' are found ;
and that the history of all Pagan countries, and of all
Pagan antiquities, also involves us deeply in all that
belongs to the peculiarities of their religion. We must
not, however, lengthen our chapter so far as to state
the history of the reasons why the roads, ditches, walls,
and boundary lines of Pagan kingdoms, have so many
religious connexions. For the rest, we may venture to
hope that these incidental contributions to the general

* The same with the Apollo Gryn.T3us of classical mythology,
t Frequent allusions occur in the Scriptures to the heathen
gods, as being devils.

GRIM S DYKE. ID

ancient history of the British Islands, arising out of that of
their ancient roads, will not be wholly unacceptable even
in the midst of the immediate history of such ancient
roads, which Ave will conclude in the next chapter. We
shall, of course, be troubled with no such associations,
when we come to speak of modern performances in
road-making.

Junction cf the Wans Dyke, and a Roman Road
in North Wiltshire.

Ancient Britisli Track\ray.

CHAPTER V.

Ancient British Roads, and ancient Roman Roads in Britain con-
cluded.— Four ancient British Roads from ancient London and
its vicinities. — The Foss-way, or the Wans Dyke. — Watling-
street. — Ancient sanctity of the spot now St. Paul's Church-
yard.— Ikenild-street.-^Ermm-street. — Statues of Ermin or
Roland. — Differences hetween British and Roman road-making.
— Roads, walls, dykes, and ditches. — Odin's Dyke. — Grim's Dyke.
— Ancient British Towns and Villages, and their communica-
tions.— Wheel-carriages..-^ War-chariots. — Imagined teiTaces
intended as roads upon the British hills. — Natural teri'aces in
North America. — Ancient Peruvian and INIexican Roads. —
Roads and City of Palenca, or the City of the Desert. — Ancient
Roman and Ancient Bi-itish Roads contrasted.

The Foss-way or Foss-road, or dyke or ditch-road, or the
Wans Dyke, so frequently referred to under these various
names in the last chapter, is one of the four great roads
■which departed from London before the time of the
Romans in Britain; which roads constituted the southern,
the south-western, the eastern, and the north-eastern, as
at present. Their names, as transmitted to us, are Wat-
ling-street, Ikenild-street, the Foss-way, and Ermin or
Herming-street. Yerulam-street, which is less spoken of
by antiquaries, was part of the present Great North-road,
or which we sometimes call the Barnet-road, and Saint

ANCIENT BRITISH ROADS. 47

Alban's-road; and had its ancient name from the ancient
city of Yerulam, nearly upon the site of which stands the
modem toAvn of Saint Alban's. Saint Alban's itself is
sometimes still called Verulam; as in the case of the
title of the illustrious Lord Bacon, which is sometimes
spoken of as Verulam, and at others as Saint Alban's.

Of the four roads, tliat which is now called AVatlinff-
street is the one best known to modern Englishmen, or at
least to modern Londoners; for there is still, Avithin the
limits of the ancient city, a street called Watling-street,
a certain remnant of the ancient road or street, and situate
near London Stone, the antiquity of which monument is
not disputed; and which was probably the ancient standard,
or point of departure, for the four several British roads.
Watling-street has been so familiar to English ears, as a
road of considerable extent, and, as it were, running
through all the kingdom, that a poetical, and perhaps
cockney astronomer of the last century, has ventured to
call the milky-way, or thin starry band, or road, which
encircles all our visible heaven, — " the Watling-street of
the sky!"

That Watling-street had its origin before the Romans,
or that it was what that people called a via patrice^ or
country, or native road, at the time of their arrival, has
never been controverted. In the Latin, Watling-street has
the ancient name of Via Vitelliani, given, according to a
French writer (who is a decided advocate of the British
origin and denomination of the road), by the modern
English antiquaries, through an eagerness to find that
everything in Britain is Roman. But, if the word wailing
is really British, what can be more probable, than that
the Romans themselves so corrupted, or, at least, so latin-
ized that British word, as to make of Watling-street, " Via
Vitelliani ?" As to the rest, a wattle is held to be the
same thing as a hurdle^ and always a species o^ fence,
whether made with the small ozier, in the manner of
basket-work, or with stronger pieces of Avood, such as we
see in the hurdles of sheep-folds, and even in fences still
larger and stronger. Hurdles, therefore, or Avattles, are
the fences of enclosures; and according to the French

48 ANCIENT BRITISH ROADS. '

(that is, tlie Breton) investigator already alluded to, Wat-
ling-streQt Avas so named by the Britons, because it was a
jiaved road, leading to a sacred c?t closure^'. He means,
then, that it led to a ivaltlcd or enclosed space ; or, more
strictl}', to the wattles or to the enclosure. But Avith
respect to the sanctity of the supposed enclosure, were
these wattles, or Avas the sacred enclosure our present St.
Paul's church-yard, upon which Watling-street actually
abuts; and Avhich in the time of the Romans contained a
temple of Diana, as, before the Romans, it had contained
(we need not doubt) a temple of the Druidical worship ?

Ikenild-street appears to be literally "the Essex road."
It left London in an eastward direction, and penetrated
into the country of the Iceni, or modern county of Essex,
The name Iceni, upon the principle already adverted to of
a variable and dialectical hard and soft sound, and conver-
tibility of the letters Ic and c, may be written and pro-
nounced Ileni. M. Cambry, already quoted, thinks that,
in the syllable ild, in IkenzVrf, we are to find the modern
English Avord old, (French, ancic?i); but does not add
whether by the name Ikenild-street, ho therefore under-
stands " the road of the ancient Iceni," or " the old Iceni
roadt." This syllable, ild, is to be met with in various
orthographies, as ild, ilde, eild, icld; as is also the entire
name. Thus, for the same street or road, authorities give
us Ikenild-street, Ikenield-street, Ickenield-street, Iken-
ning-street, Hikenllde-street, Rykenield-street, and even
Thenield-street % . In the passage of this ancient way or
road through Berkshire, it is called " Ickleton-way."

* " Chemin pav^ de I'enceinte sacree ; de Wattling, substan-
tive et participle present de Wattle, " claie," " fermer de dales :"
d'ou le plurier Wattles, "pare fait de claies." — Camu'o.y, Monu-
mens Celtiques.

t How is it that in the eastern part of London we liave still
our " Old-street," and also its derivative, the " Old-street-road ? "

:}: This last, however, appears to be no more than an error of
the press. It is found in Bre wst eh's Encyclopedia, a Avork abound-
ing in the most extraordinary manner Avith eiTors of that descrip-
tion. If " Rykenield," or " Rikenield-street," which is more
frequent, could be supposed to originate in a clerical mistake of
R for //, then " Hykenield-strect," or " Hikenilde-street," would
only be " Ikenield-street," Avith an aspkated iuitiak

STATUES OF ROLAND. 49

Ermin-street, or Herming -street, is described as an
ancient road of considerable circuit. Departing from some
point near London, it is supposed to have run, first, to
Colchester, in Essex, (anciently a city of high rank, as
■well British as Roman); and thence to Carlisle, or,
according to others, to Chester. The name Ermin, Her-
ming, or Herminge, appears to be Saxon, and is derived
from Errain, the subject of the celebrated monument of
stone, the Erminseul, and written in Latin, Arminius;
called, sometimes, a Saxon hero, but at others, and with
greater probability, a Saxon divinity; and the same it
may be strongly suspected, with the equally equivocal
Saxon, or generally German personage, " Roland," Avhose
statue is so frequent in the market-places of Germany and
Switzerland, and whose name is not unknown in France.

It will not be uninstructive to the general reader, if I
here interrupt the prescribed order of my chapter, to
introduce a few remarks on the subject of these famous
Roland statues.

There is a Tour* Roland at Aries, on the Rhone, in
France, called by another name, La Dominante. At
Bremen, and in numerous other cities and towns in Ger-
many and Switzerland, and particularly in Saxony, there
are statues of Roland in the market-places.

" Who is this famous Roland," says the English tra-
veller, Holcroft, " a figure of whom one meets at almost
every town ?" According to the popular account, " Roland "
was a great champion, and one of the twelve paladins or
peers of Charlemagne; and the same, we may perceive,
with the Italian Orlando; but according to accounts that
are preferable to this, these " Rolands " of the German
cities represent no historical person Avhatever, but are
merely the symbols of municipal authority, or of terri-
torial jurisdiction or police. Riige, in the old German,
signifies a court of justice or of pleas; and Riigeland
( Rugeland, Ri'ihaid, or Roland,) is a land, territory, or
district, endowed with the privilege of holding such a
court within itself, or of dispensing, within its own limits,

* Tour is the French for a tower or spire, and here implies a
statue.

D

50 BRITISH AND ROBIAN ROADS.

justice, both civil and criminal. Now this privilege or
authority, and the determination to exercise it, v^as repre-
sented by a totvn-sfafue, a weich-bild, or statue of the
highways and market-places; and these statues, or simple
symbols of the privileged or incorporated cities or districts,
are the Riilands or Rolands, or properly the Riigelands-
saiilen, or stones, or pillars, or columns of the several
riigelands, communes or municipalities. Roland, or Rii-
land's statues, says a German writer, are statues of a man
in armour, foun^ in twenty-eight German cities, Der
Roland, or Riiland, ist em riesen bild, (is a gigantic statue,)
erected in old times, (says a German lexicographer,) in the
market-places of certain cities of Germany.

It would be easy to carry these explanations and this
history much further; but we must conclude with the
propositions, that a Riiland, or Roeland-saul, is the same
with the well known Ermin-saul, so zealously destroyed
by Charlemagne himself; and the same with a statue of
Mercury or Hermes, the accompaniment (and for similar
reasons) of Greek and Roman market-places and high-
ways; and that, probably, tAVo of these Rolands, or Rii-
lands, or Ermins, (the apparent sources of the name of
Ermin-street, or Herming-street,) are the originals of the
famous giants of the Guildhall of our English capital : one
representing the municipal authority of the city of London,
and the other that of the county of Middlesex. Let us
now return to our more immediate subject of ancient
British roads.

In numerous other parts of Britain, besides those al-
ready mentioned, remains of ancient British roads are still
subsisting, as well as of Roman and others which are
proved to have had existence by their record in ancient
writings; and they are found, as already suggested, some-
times accompanying, sometimes crossing each other; and
sometimes the successive labour of British and of Roman
hands. Their structure, their materials, the lines they
follow, and sometimes their names, or the names of the
places through which they pass, point out to the antiquary
a portion, at least, of the history of their origin and later
condition.

BRITISH AND ROMAN ROADS. 51

The Roman roads never deviated from a straight line;
but where the surfaces opposed an impediment, the highest
points of land, one after another, were chosen for surveying
posts, whence another post at a considerable distance
could be seen, and thus the direct line, was, as much as
possible, preserved. "Sometimes," says the Wiltshire
antiquary before quoted, "while speaking of the Foss-
way, you are in danger of losing it through the many in-
tersections of cross-roads; and sometimes it is enclosed
with pastures, or passes under the side of a wood. There-
fore, upon every hill-top, I made an observation of some
remarkable object on the opposite high ground, which
continued the right line, so that, by going straight forwards,
I never failed of meeting it again."

The natural soil, (a gravel, where it was attainable,)
and the verdant turf, were often the only surfaces over
which the British roads proceeded, and the sides of hills
or ridges of land, for the sake of their dryness*: and
the natural openings between hills, for the facilities of
passage, and all for the abridgment of labour and cost,
and for the smaller demand upon science and skill, were
usually the characteristics of British roads, while, in the
Eoman roads, we see the skill of the engineer, the rigour
of a fixed system, a prodigality of labour and materials,
a costly transport of the most serviceable kinds of the
latter, a disregard of obstacles, a readiness to level heights,
to run cause-ways through low grounds, and to open pas-
sages refused by nature; all which contributed to make
these latter straight in their course, and solid in their
substance. Many Roman roads in Britain bore the
proudest Roman names, the Julia Strata, for example,
" the Julicm paved way."

In the east of Scotland we have, in addition to Roman
roads, the wall of Antoninus Pius; a wall which, like that
of China (though upon a scale so little comparable), was
at once a wall and a road; nor will the numerous remains
of Roman palaces, and of other works of strength and

* It is in situations like these that we find the British roads
or trackways of the soiith-west of England, with the local denomi-
nation of ridge-ways,

D2

52 BRITISH AND ROMAN ROADS.

grandeur, and the historical records of the residence of at
least two Roman emperors in England (Claudius at Col-
chester, and Constantine at York), permit us to doubt, for
an instant, anything that has been written, or anything which
remains in substance, to attest the care of the Romans to
supply this island with roads, as well as with so many
other products of civilization, during at least the latter
part of their continuance here, which exceeded altogether
four hundred years. IIow many topographical names
among us still conceal the testimonies of Roman labour,
may be guessed from an example in North Wiltshire,
where the name "Runway Hill" has received the scarcely
disputable interpretation of Roman- Avay Hill.

In the mean time, while thus acknowledging our debts
to our Roman benefactors, and specifically in the article
of roads, it must not be omitted, once again, to take credit
for the early British civilization as shown by their roads,
to an extent not absurdly and visionarily extravagant,
hut such as may be well warranted by evidence and by
reason. The evidence of names, supposed to be Roman,
is not always to be trusted ; and as an opposite example
to that of Runway Hill, may be cited a road in Lincoln-
•shire, called " Sarnelin" and '' Sarn Helen" in English,
and Strata Helence in Latin, and set down for a Roman
road, named after the Empress Helen. But, if the con-
jecture of a living Gallic antiquary may be admitted,
neither the Roman empress Helen, nor any other Helen
whatever is concerned with this Lincolnshire road, and
the name "Sarnelin" is a purely British compound. The
British or Breton sar?i, according to this writer, signifies
the same with the Latin stratum, that is pavimentum, or
a paved road or street; and eltn, the Latin cubitus and
conversio, in English an elbow, or turning, or winding:
and thus " Sarnelin" becomes a curved or elbowed paved
road or street*. It may be added to this, that many
names of places throughout Britain have been thought to
be of Roman origin, only because of a certain radical
similitude of the Roman and British languages. The
Latians or Latins, if not the Romans, were essentially as
* Cambry, Monumens Celtiques.

BRITISH AND ROMAN ROADS. 53

much Celts or Gauls as the Gauls in Gaul, or in the
several Gauls, and as the British Gauls in Britain *; and
of the Latians, or the Latins, the Romans received,
among many other things, at least, a great part of their
language f. With respect, however, to the single word
street, employed in the sense of road, and occurring in its
derivatives and compounds, in frequent examples, in our
topography, and upon which such stress has often been
laid, as inferring a Roman origin %, there seems reason to
think from the wide diffusion, either of the root of the
word or of the Roman form of it, into both Celtic and
Teutonic vocabularies, that its use may be as well attri-
buted to many other people as to the Romans; and that
perhaps our English term way, (from the Latin via,)
as occurring in ^osB-way, and in general application, is
of more probable bequest to us, than the term street §.
But the term street, as in the names of our Watling-
street, Ikenilde-street, and Erming-street, may be as
likely to be Anglo-Saxon as Roman, and as likely to be
British, too, as either. Ystridx, or " the street," is the

* CjEsar, in his Commentaries, appears to speak of BritaLa as
part of Gaul ; that is, as a Gallic region, divided from continental
Gaul only by the sea.

f The liomans, it is tnie, carefully distinguished their race
from the races both of Latians and Italians ; Avith both of -which,
again, either in ancient or in modem times, foreigners might be
apt to confound them. But the history of the Konians is so far
this, that they were by origin a small people seated in a large
and populous Celtic or Gallic region, and always more or less
commingled in language, as well as in sentiment and usage, with
the elder possessors of the soil.

+ Thus, Stratford is Street-ford; Stratton, Stretton, and
Streatham, are Street- towns; Streatley is a tey, tea, or meadoiv,
traversed, or by the side of a street, or paved or high or public
road; and Bolton-le-street and Chester-le-street are towns in
shnilar situations, and abbreviated from " Bolton-ou-tlie-street,"
or Sur-le-street in our Norman phraseology. "The very term
' on the street,' " says a zealous topographical anticpiary, " implies
Eomanity ;" and again, " here are two villages of the name of
Stretton, winch carry with them evident Roman etymology.

^ Yet way, is perhaps as likely to have come immediately to
ourselves from the Saxon weicli, a "road" or " way," as from the
Latin via ; or weich may be the Germanized via ; or both words may
perhaps have a common origin.

54 BRITISH TOWNS AND VILLAGES.

modem Welsli; struct, tlie Dutcli; straete, the Saxon;
strasse, the German; and all these may either be derived
from the Latin strata, paved, or, with the Latin itself,
from one Celtic root. Our lanes, which are properly of
rural topography, are so called from the Anglo-Saxon,
German, or Teutonic; while the courts and alleys of our
to^vns boast of a French or a Norman original, — a dis-
tinction as to town and country objects being always
observable in our mixed JSTorman and Anelo-Saxon voca-
bulary; but it is not readily to be seen Avhat else the
Anglo-Saxons could have called our paved roads but
streets. In our Norman-French we have called them
chaussees (now corrupted into causeways, though more
early into causeys), but in the Anglo-Saxon there seems
to be no other term than street. But of streets, lanes,
and the rest, more hereafter.

That the Britons had passable roads, is directly to be
inferred from their possession of wheel-carriages. That
they had chariots or cars for war, is indubitable, and it is
very likely that they had other wheel- carriages for pur-
poses of peace. Their acquaintance with that great
mechanical power, the wheel, and its application to loco-
motion, not to speak, also, of the horse, which they had
tamed, and knew how to harness to their chariots, leads
us to infer that the Britons had good roads in greater or
less number, and through a greater or smaller part of the
country; and, with good roads, we may suppose, that
many other appendages of a respectable civilization
existed. Sir liichard Hoare, already quoted several
times, believes, from tracing several of their towns and
villages, in the risings and sinkings of the turf now grow-
ing, that these, besides the dwellings of their inhabitants,
had always one or more places of Druidical worship,
regularly appropriated to each, like our present town and
village churches; and he shows us, as disinterred by himself,
numerous works of exquisite though singular skill in art,
together Avith costliness in luxury; and from barrows, or
burial-places, adjacent to the towns and villages which
have seemed to him exclusively devoted to the burial of
females, he has produced feminine ornaments so elegant

COMMERCE OP ANCIENT BRITONS. 55

and so rich, as to testify strongly to the gallantry, and
therefore to the refinement of the opposite sex, by ■whom
they must have been made and bestowed ; and to make it
incontrovertible that they had a foreign commerce to en-
rich them, especially with gold, — so that they either im-
ported expensive works of art from foreign shores, or they
paid for the production of them at home.

The Britons, in short, were by race and origin, by
language, by manners and customs, by arts and by
continued eastern intercourse, an eastern people, — a
people connected directly and indirectly with the shores of
the Mediterranean Sea, and with all the seats of ancient
civilization situate inland from those shores : with Egypt,
with Syria, and with Carthage, — and all this, ages before
the arrival of the Romans.

The early voyages of the Phoenicians from Syria, and of
the Carthaginians from Africa, to the south-western parts
of Britain, are subjects of well- attested history, especially so
far as relates to the ancient exportation of our tin. There
is no reason, however, to doubt that this commercial inter-
course had its influence in Britain beyond the simple
limits of the coasts, and that it introduced (if they needed
it) Phoenician, Carthaginian, Egyptian, and other oriental
tendencies of language, customs, and manners. It may be
questioned, nevertheless, whether the term sarsen, to be
heard in Somersetshire, is necessarily so purely, or so ex-
clusively Carthaginian, as described by Dr. Stukeley. It
may have been a term used in Carthage, and yet native in
Britain also, and derived by both from a common eastern
source. By the term sarsen is understood, in Somerset-
shire and the south-west of England, what are otherwise
called boulder-stones, and in some places by a similitude,
greij-w ethers, from looking upon the downs like sheep.
In Somersetshire, and other places, these rounded masses
of rock overlay the turf, which itself often covers nothing
but a chalk stratum, which is still the constant wonder of
geology ! But the term applied to these masses is, accord-
ing to Stukeley, Carthaginian. But for objects so rude,
and so strictly native, the Britons had surely a native
term ; and may there not be some relation between the

56 BRITISH TERRACES.

British term " sarsen," a rock or stone, and the Brilish
term " sarn," a pavement, or paved road, attributed to the
British list of terms in the case of "Sarnelin," or "Sarn
Helen?" But to return: —

The British war-chariots, almost identical with those of
ancient Egypt, of ancient Greece, and of all the ancient
countries of the Mediterranean, which by themselves
speak so much for the general civilization which they
must have accompanied, will be described when we
treat expressly of wheel-carriages, but are referred to at
present only as they assist our right estimation of the con-
temporary British roads. In adverting, however, with due
respect to those roads, it is not to be understood that we
are quite prepared to agree with those who believe the
ancient Britons to have carried the road-making for their
war-chariots to such an extent of industry and enterprise
as to have cut successions of terraces, or of roads, as it
were, in steps upon the sides of the hills and mountains,
with reference to the contingent movements of their
warriors, and scenes of possible affray and battle. These
terraces are remarked in England and in Scotland ; but
in avowed deficiency of actual inspection on a large scale,
it may yet be pardoned us if we say that Ave fancy them
to pertain rather to geological science than to the history
of either roads or warfare. That the Britons did cut ter-
races, we are quite willing to allow, since we have in-
spected a series of them now existing, in a fine state of
preservation, at Downton, in Wiltshire ; but these are so
arranged as to remind one of the raised seats of an amphi-
theatre, with a stage of verdant turf in the centre, pro-
bably for the exhibition of gladiatorial feats, than of ways
or roads for the passages of chariots and horses. Terraces
on a large scale yet exist in the wilds of North America,
where, as we repeat, whatever may have been the state of
ancient Mexican civilization, wheel-carriages seem never
to have been known ; yet these American terraces are
probably of natural origin, (small, it is true, if the work
of nature, and stupendous, if the work of man.) and mark
the successive levels of the subsiding ocean, which once
covered, perhaps, the entire continent. But, Avhatever the

BRITISH TERRACES. 5'J

origin of these American terraces, we may also be per-
mitted to add that reguLirity and equal heights, as well as
the horizontal levels of these terraces, make them objects
of continual interest to the traveller, as likewise the uni-
formity of their numbers, according to the heights of the
several hills or mountains. Each terrace is always an
embankment of uniform equal height from its own base ;
but the terraces rise one above another, according to the
height of the hill or mountain in question ; such that the
present level of the waters will allow of the appearance of
the given number of terraces (always of equal height
among each other), and no more, upon its side. The
most general number is three, and this number is seldom
exceeded; but upon the higher mountains five may be
counted, and upon those of a lower elevation only two, or
even only one. The level of the waters and of the base-
ment of the mountains was the same, and the only dif-
ference was in the height of the circumjacent mountains,
exposed, in consequence, to more or fewer markings from
the waters. Thus, if in the sketch below, a mountain rose
to the height shown by fig. 1, or to that in fig. 2, it had
one or two terraces accordingly ; while if it rose to the

Fi-. 1. Fife'- 2.

height shown in fig. 3, or to that of fig. 4, it had three
terraces, or four, according to the height. Of this kind,

Fig. 3. Fig. 4.

for example, is the beautiful basin in which stands Lake
Ontario, in Upper Canada ; the lake is surrounded by an

D 3

58 ROADS OP THE EASTERN COUNTRIES.

amphitlieatre of lofty and terraced land (the terraces rising,
three in number), each terrace retires further and further
from the borders of the lake, and each is as much at a
level Avith the horizon as the calmest part of the waters of
the lake. It is from viewing these spectacles, as well as
from other considerations, that, with all our esteem for
ancient British roads, and for other ancient British works
of art, we are led to doubt the origin of the terraced hills
in England and Scotland, when this origin is referred to
the road-making of the ancient Britons, or to any prepa-
ration for the passage of their Avar-chariots.

That the countries of the eastern hemisphere, enjoying
temperate climates, and therefore adapted to the growth
of cities and commerce, had roads more or less consi-
derable, and that they improved them from very early
dates, is what those Avho have been properly instructed in
general ancient history will have little difficulty in believ-
ing. That India, therefore, and even Tartary, China, and
Japan, had good and useful roads, and that the same may
be said of Persia, Assyria, Syria, Egypt, Greece, Italj-,
and the countries reaching from the shores of the Medi-
terranean, to the heart of our own island, will scarcely
afford to any reader occasion for surprise ; but as to the
western hemisphere, which contains America, or the New
World, all are so much accustomed to think that region
new, not only as to European discovery, but as to all
human discovery, even to its own population, that to
speak of ancient roads, and those of the most elaborate
and most perfect workmanship, in any part of the world
of Columbus, will startle, at least, some of those who may
make acquaintance with them for the first time in these
pages.

The roads, and even the establishments for regular
posts, in ancient Peru, are topics somewhat familiarized
to European knowledge by means of a variety of writings
long since given to the world ; but the subject of the
roads, along with many other works of art and monu-
ments of industry and civilization, in ancient Mexico, has
lain in comparative and extraordinary neglect, almost to
the day before us. Yet the roads of ancient Mexico are

PERUVIAN AND MEXICAN ROADS. 59

now described to us, from the view of existing remains,
in terms which leave behind them all that has ever been
said of the roads of ancient Peru, and absolutely allow no
claim to superiority even for the stupendous roads of
ancient Rome : terms which Ave may readily credit, if we
compare these roads with the remains of Mexican cities,
which are now, in like manner, described to us ; and Avith
respect to which our single ground of astonishment must
arise from the consideration, that, numerous as the popu-
lation is presumed to have been, numerous and massive
as were the edifices of the cities, these roads should have
been constructed to resist the Avear of the heaviest bur-
dens and traffic in a country, and at a time, when, for all that
has yet appeared, there was not the smallest acquaintance
Avith AA'heel-carriages.

Excepting for the absence of every shadow of CAddence
that the inhabitants of the mighty city of Paleuca, or
'of Otulum, or Colucan, had, at any time, the convenience
of the humblest description of Avheel-carriage, the accounts
noAv given us of the ruins, still to be Adsited, of that city,
laight Avell prepare us for the accompanying accounts of
its adjacent roads. Seated upon the banks of the river
Otulum, though upon an elevation of five thousand feet
above the level of the sea, and overgrown Avith almost
impenetrable forests, in Avhich many of the existing gene-
ration of trees are estimated by woodmen at the age of
nine hundred years, buildings of hewn stone, more or less
uninjured at this time, but surrounded with broken and
crumbling stones, columns, and sculptures, cover a space
exceeding twenty-four miles in length, and two miles in
breadth, at the extremity Avhich was first entered by the
explorers, and sixty miles in circumference. An ancient
population of three millions of souls, some Avi-iters venture
to assign to it. We repeat, then, that if the facts just
stated were all that remain to be considered, Ave could
easily understand from them hoAV it is that remains or
roads, more or less perfect, and more or less extensive,
are found in Mexico, and the countries southward ; and
not only in the immediate vicinity of such ancient cities,
but at considerable distances, elaborately constructed, like

60 PERUVIAN AND MEXICAN ROADS.

the Roman Prsetorian or military roads, of large squared
blocks of stone, and with other distinctions, in the highest
degree demonstrative of wealth, industry, and skill. Like
our modern rail-roads, and to a degree beyond what was
observed by the Romans, these ancient American roads
were carried along continued levels ; and it is added, that
those western artificers constructed — besides these level
roads, and besides galleries, tunnels, or subterranean
passes, and besides aquaducts — lines of what are called
viaducts^ traversing uneven surfaces, and parapetted
along the edges of acclivities, all having marks of division
into distances, answering to our mile-stones, and all
having here, as in Peru, regular stations for the public posts.
It will be interesting to the reader, if we state the
sources of this information. The ruins of the city, called
by its Spanish discoverer El Cittdad del Paleiique, or
Palenca, or the City of the Desert, or of the wilderness or
forest, were discovered in the year 17 i')6, but left wholly
unexplored till after a lapse of thirty years ; and even
from 1786, when it was minutely examined, and described,
"with the assistance of drawings, by Captain Don Antonio
del Rio, under the orders of the Crown of Spain, the
■whole narrative, and the concomitant drawings, remained
buried in the library of the Escurial till within a very
recent date. The ruins in question are situated in the
province of Ciudad real Chiapa, in the late kingdom of
Guatemala, upon the north-eastern coast of that country,
and to the south of the port and city of Vera Cruz, and
distant 240 miles from Tobasco, and a thousand miles
from Mexico, though joined under a general view with
our notions of the JMexican empire and history. The city
has been called the capital of the kingdom of the Tyen-
dales, the whole of Avhich is said to have been highly
populous so lately as the first arrival of the Spaniards in
America, and is described by Don Domingo Juarros under
the name of Colhuccm; while by Professor Raffinesque it
is called Otulum, from the name of its river, at the dis-
tance of a mile and a-half from which the ruins begin to
appear. A writer now living in New York, compiling an
account of the city from the Spanish authorities, observes

ANCIENT BRITISH ROADS. 61

that it Avas ten times the size of -what New York -was,
even in the last year, 1838. It may be added in England,
that if a population of three millions can really be as-
signed Avith safety to this ancient capital of the Tyendales,
the amount surpasses, by considerably more than twice,
that of the whole population of modern London and its
environs. Ancient cities, however, always covered so
much more ground than the modern, or, at least, than the
modern European cities, in proportion to the population,
that to hazard a statement of the population of this
ancient city of America from the mere measurement of its
area, or even from the number and size of its buildings,
may be thought rash ; and what other guides remain to
us, in this instance of the city of the Tyendales, it does
not appear to be known.

But the ancient roads which in various degrees of pre-
servation arc still found, and even ordinarily frequented in
various parts of the British Islands, are many of them of
a far earlier origin than anything for which we are
indebted to the Romans. That roads, in proportion to
their workmanship and extent, are testimonials, in all
countries, of the civilization of the agent to which they
can be referred, is a proposition assumed in these pages ;
and the question of the real amoimt of ante-Roman civi-
lization at any time subsisting in, at least, the more
favoured parts of our islands, is one, perhaps, not entirely
obscure, nor yet entirely without interest in its solution ;
but we must content ourselves with adverting to the two
simple facts ; the one that the Britons had roads in greater
or less number, and in greater or less perfection be-
fore the arrival of the Romans; and that, as to many
of those roads, they remain, and are frequented to this day.
But as to the Romans, it is said that, in the roads
constructed in Britain by themselves, they usually ran
them very much in a line with the ancient British roads,
though there Avas one essential difference between the two
systems of road-making, sufficient to ensure frequent se-
parations of their several parts. The Britons, as might
be expected of a poor and comparatively artless and
unskilful people, Avound their roads almost as the country

62 ROMAN AND BRITISH ROADS.

permitted, seeking, for the sake of dryness, and perhaps
for greater safety of travel, high and commanding surfaces
over which to pass, though lengthening thereby the
journey ; while the Romans, at ease as to labour and
money, and provided with competent artificers, rarely de-
viated, in submission to natural diificulties, from a straight
line, in proceeding from place to place. They raised
causeways, as we have seen, through marshes ; threw
bridges over rivers ; removed rocks ; lowered hills, or
hewed their way through them. Consequently, the British
and Roman roads, though they often began and terminated
at the same place with each other ; yet they incessantly
parted and met again through all the interval. But fur-
ther, as I have before remarked, even when they were
the ori"-inal makers of the roads, either of their earlier
territory itself, or of its later increase, it was a common
practice with them to carry two roads from the same
place of beginning, to the same place of ending ; and
uniformly to run their military roads distinct, and yet by
the side of their public roads ; and, from one or all of these
causes, it is easy to imagine that, even when the Romans
partially adopted the ancient British or native roads*,
British and Roman roads were continually crossed and
intermixed, as well as sometimes adopted for each other.
Nor were the Romans the only masters of the British
soil who took advantage of the ancient British roads in
the formation of their own. The eai-ly history of the
Wans Dyke is, indeed, unsettled ; but that this celebrated
road affords an example of this practice of adoption, seems
in a high degree probable. Its name of Wans Dyke, or
Woden's Dyke, or Odin's Dyke, it seems to owe to the
Anglo-Saxons ; but " the Wans Dyke," says a topographi-
cal antiquary, " which has been traced for nearly sixty
miles, I believe to be truly the Foss-road, one of the four
greater highways originally formed by the Britons." It
was by the side also of the Wans Dyke, as we observed
before, that the Romans carried their great road from
Bath to London.

• Such were the vise patrice, or country roads, so called by the
Romans in Britain, and in their other provinces.

ROJIAN AND BRITISH ROADS. 63

The ancient British roads, established before the Ho-
man conquest, are particularly distinguishable, as our
readers may have been led to expect, from their not fol-
lowing those straight lines which are the constant charac-
teristic of the Roman roads. Less, or very little assisted
by art, the British roads were so made as to include all
natural circumstances, in order to an easy formation ; and
were therefore wound along the ridges or high grounds,
Avhich were afforded by the surface ; Avhence they are often
denominated ridge-ways. They pass along the tops or
sides of the chains of hills, or lesser eminences, which lie
in the required direction. Along their course they fre-
quently throw out branches, which, after running parallel
with the original stem for miles, are again united to it.
The track of an ancient British road is distinguished to
this day by the mounds which are seen along its sides,
and by various banks and hollows which are the marks
where villages, towns, and the cultivation and divisions
of land into small parcels, have once been. These are
often seen at the crossing of two roads, and always upon
high ground ; for the Britons were intent, or at least more
habituated, to dwell in commanding situations, for security
against enemies, than to seek the shelter of the valleys
against the injuries of weather ; and they did not build,
it is said, in lower situations, until after the arrival of the
Romans.

If the towns and roads of the Britons, as they were
found by the Romans, appeared to the latter convenient
for themselves, they adopted either or both; but with
the addition of their own works of art, and civil and
military arrangements. In other cases, they ran new
roads in lines parallel with those of the Britons.

The Anglo-Saxons made roads of stone, and cement
or mortar, and of stone and wood ; and roads for carriages
distinct from bridle-roads, or roads for horses. They
called the Roman roads by the name of military roads,
and the British by that of country roads.

One of the marks, in the eyes of the antiquary, of the
Roman origin of roads is the peculiar mode of their con-
struction. Their military or praetorian roads were some-

64

EOMAX AND BRITISH ROADS.

times paved ^vitll deep beds of pebbles, and at otber
times -vvith blocks of free-stone, usually a foot and a-half
in thickness. Deep beds of pebbles, found as the ancient
foundations of roads, generally indicate their Roman origin.
In England, there is a Roman road distinguished in this
manner, near Scarborough, and Bridlington, or Burlington

Another mark in England of the Roman origin of roads
is their retention of the Roman name of street; a term upon
■which remarks have been already made in this chapter:
in which Roman " streets" in England are of course in-
cluded the four principal remains of the kind, each de-
parting from London, as from a centre, and in general
■vvell-known, as was said, by their respective names of
Watling-street, Ikenild-street, Erminage-street, and the
Foss-way. In England, however, and in other parts of
Britain, as also in many other countries, which were at one
time provinces of the Roman empire, there still remain
native roads, called by the Romans, viwferw; which roads
were found by the conquerors in the country ; and even at
this moment, the merits and characteristics of many of
them are open to our personal inspection.

Thus far have we discussed the subject of ancient Ro-
man roads in Britain, and of ancient native British roads.
From this two-fold subject the transition Avill be easy to
modern British roads, and thence to modern roads in
general.

An ancient War-Chariot.

CHAPTER VI.

Eemai-ks on modern Roads. — History of modern Turnpike-
roads. — Oriffin of the Mail. — Undulations and Lines of Roads.
Requisites of Good Roads. — Mac Adam. — Telford. — Parlia-
mentary Inquiry. — Gravel-roads. — Macadamizing. — Founda-
tions of Roads. — Telford's Holyhead Road. — Drainage. —
Highgate-archway Road. — Repair of Roads. — Continental
Roads. — Paved Roads. — Asphalte Roads. — Road-scraper. —
Direction-posts.

In coming to tlie subject of modern roads, we remark all
the excellencies Avhich appertain to a garden-walk, and
the path of a park, Avhich latter is usually entered at the
site of an elegant lodge, are now brought to bear both
ujjon the high and bye-roads of these kingdoms. They
are used and enjoyed, not only by royalty and nobility,
but even by the humblest of our race.

We have seen in former chapters how sensible the
Romans were of the value of roads ; so much so, that
the government itself took them under its especial pro-
tection. That great people spared neither labour nor
expense to carry their roads from the centre of their
empire to its remotest dependencies. The readier march
of their armies was undoubtedly an impelling motive to
this ; but the easier intercourse of the several parts of

66 MODERN ROADS.

this great empire was another advantage, whicli their
wisdom and prudence foresaw. We find, also, on the
authority of the Roman historians, that Semiramis, Queen
of Assja-ia, being so fully convinced of the importance of
an easy and general intercourse, applied herself to render
the roads available throughout the whole extent of her
empire.

The transition from ancient Roman and British roads
to the roads of the moderns is exceedingly abrupt. On
the decline of the Roman empire the roads gradually
became neglected ; and, during the dark ages, they came
to be reckoned among the ruins of a great and mighty
people which had passed away. It is now difficult to
ascertain what the state of the roads was at different
times, from the revival of learning to the end of the last
century. The improvement of roads was of necessity
slow, because the arts of constructing and directing them
were not well understood until very recently. Sweden
seems to have been the first kinjrdom in which the con-
dition of the high-roads at all approached their present
state of excellence.

In our own country, from the time of the departure of
the Romans to the revolution of 1688, foreign invasions
and intestine commotions occupied our ancestors so much,
as to make them incapable of improving their means of
internal communication. The roads, over which mer-
chandise was carried on horses' backs, seem to have been
little better than foot paths, or well-beaten sheep tracts.

In the year 1285, the first act of parliament was
passed relating to roads. In 1346 a toll was levied on
carts or carriages travellinc: from Saint Giles'-in-the-
Fields to Temple-Bar. In the reign of Henry the Eighth,
the first important attempt at improvement was made, by
an act, allotting to parishes the care of the roads passing
through them, and appointing road-surveyors. The funds
were to be obtained from a pound-rate, levied on the land-
holders, and assistance in labour was enforced.

One of the most notable circumstances in the history
of English roads, is the establishment of a toll, to be
paid by the passers along the road, in order to defray a

TURNPIKE ROADS.

67

portion or the whole of the expense incurred in keeping
the road in repair. This plan "was first adopted, Ave
believe, in the year 1663, in the fifteenth year of the
reign of Charles II. It did not apply, in the first instance,
to England generally, but its operation was confined to
the counties of Hertford, Cambridge, and Huntingdon.

The act ordained, that the justices of the peace were
to appoint persons to take " sumes of money in the name
of Toll or Custome, to bee paid for all such horses, carts,
coaches, waggons, droves, and gangs of cattell as shall
passe that waye." The tolls were, for a horse one penny,
a coach sis-pence, a wagon one shilling, a cart eight-pence,
a score of sheep or lambs one half-penny, a score of oxen
five-pence, a score of hogs two-pence.

It was naturally anticipated that a new law such as
this, however much it might conduce to keep the public
roads in good ordei", might meet with some opposition ;
and severe penalties were incurred by those who slighted
the law. If any person refused to pay the toll, the horse,
coach, or whatever it might be that was passing along the
road, was detained and distrained until the toll was paid.

It would appear that this act was not much relished;
for seven years afterwards, in another act relating to

68 TURNPIKE ROADS.

liigliways, a clause was introduced, relative to the inter-
ference or obstruction to the taking of toll. It was
enacted, that if any person forcibly opposed the detection
of cattle, &c., for non-payment of toll, he should be fined
forty shillings, and confined in prison until the fine was
paid.

At a subsequent period, mobs used to collect, and
pull down or destroy the turnpike-gates; the military
were often called out to quell the disturbances occasioned
by these disagreements ; and, at the same time, a penalty
of seven years' imprisonment was awarded against those
who should continue these unlawful proceedings.

But, notwithstanding, the progress of improvement
was very slow. We read of a journey from Glasgow to
London, in the year 1 739, performed by two persons on
horseback ; there being no turnpike road till they arrived
at Grantham, within 110 miles of London. Up to that
point they travelled on a narrow causeway with an un-
made soft road on each side of it. They occasionally met
with strings of pack-horses, from thirty to forty in a gang.

carrying goods. The leading horse of the troop carried a
bell, to warn passengers coming in an opposite direction ;
and the travellers were then compelled to make Avay for
them, and pass into the road-side, since the causeway did
not afford room for both. In 17o4 improved turnpike-
roads were made; but the opposition attending their
first introduction was renewed, and so difficult was it to
reconcile the people to such a change, that in the reign of

ORIGIN OF THE MAIL. 69

George the Second, an act was passed, making it felony
to destroy a toll-bar.

So inveterate is custom, that the in4;roduction of an
improvement which tends to destroy old usages, incon-
venient though they be, generally raises a host of alarmists
who regard the novelty as a sure proof of the degenera-
tion of our species, and a sign of the decline of the
nation. At the introduction of turnpikes, the counties
round London petitioned parliament against the extension
of turnpike-roads into the more distant counties, lest
these latter, having better facility for communicating with
the metropolis, might undersell the former, in respect of
hay, corn, &c., in the London market ; whereby the culti-
vation of the ground round London would be ruined. The
contrary of this has fallen out to be the case : for, although
turnpike-roads have ramified throughout the kingdom, the
prices of all kinds of meal-produce, and the rents of land
have rise7i in the neighbourhood of the metropolis. Again,
a Avriter in the beginning of the seventeenth century speaks
of the establishment of stage-coaches " as one of the
greatest mischiefs that have happened of late years to the
kingdom — mischievous to the public, destructive to trade,
and prejudicial to lands." In our chapter on wheel-car-
riages we will say more on this subject; but we may here
mention, that with the improvement of the roads came the
improvement of the vehicles which travel over them — espe-
cially of mail-coaches and carts engaged in carrying the .
correspondence of the nation. It will excite surprise at
the present day, when we state, that in the middle of the
last century the mail-bags were conveyed in small carts,
or on horses, and that the post was one of the slowest and
most easily robbed conveyances in the country. Previous
to 1784, the letter-bags were conveyed by post-boys, who
were badly paid, and whose characters for integrity were
of a very doubtful description. They travelled on bad
horses, and were in no way able to defend themselves
from the attacks of robbers: indeed, the way-laying of
these post-boys for the purpose of robbery was of frequent
occurrence, and strong suspicion was often entertained
that the boys and the robbers were in league.

70 ORIGIN OF THE MAIL.

About this time a plan was proposed by Mr. Palmer,
of tbe Bath Post-office, for the conveyance of letters with
greater speed and safety, as well as economy. He pro-
posed the discontinuance of the horse-post, and the em-
ployment of coaches furnished with a well-armed guard
to prevent robbery. That the times of the mail-coaches
for leaving the country towns should be so regulated as to
secure, as far as possible, their simultaneous arrival in
London at an early hour every morning : and that all of
them should leave London every evening at the same
hour. These suggestions met with considerable opposi-
tion; but they were eventually adopted, and the first
mail-coach on the new plan left London for Bristol on
the 2nd of August, 1 784. Mail-coaches soon extended to
every part of the empire ; and while the letters were con-
veyed more rapidly and safely than under the old system,
the coaches themselves offered a more desirable mode of
travelling than on horseback.

On the first establishment of roads, the narrow paths
made by horses and foot-travellers were adopted and
enlarged; and gravel and other materials obtained from
the neighbourhood were laid down. This origin is suffi-
cient to account for the windings and rapid slopes, which
even the present roads frequently present. We know
that the road preferred by the foot-passenger is not
always that Avhich is preferable for carriages and horses:
the limit of the slopes beyond which it would not be
desirable to proceed, is less restricted for foot- travellers
than for horses ; and less for these again than for loaded
vehicles.

The primitive foot-roads or horse-tracks were neces-
sarily tortuous; every obstacle which the ground pre-
sented being sufficient to turn the traveller out of his
natural direction. Many of these roads were carried over
hills, to avoid marshes which are perhaps now drained off
or dried up ; others deviated from their direct course, in
order to be able to communicate with the fords of rivers,
which are now passable by means of bridges.

As trade, manufactures, and the wants of the commu-
nity increased, the roads were gradually made more straight.

REQUISITES OP GOOD ROADS. 71

and the abrupt-ness of their turns and slopes diminished :
but as our country now here presents those immense plains
whose level admits of perfectly horizontal roads to any con-
siderable extent, we still find with all our improvements in
levelling, that the roads are varied by gentle slopes and
constant undulations. Indeed, perfectly horizontal roads
would not in England be preferred ; for it is stated by
experienced horsemen, that such roads are more fatiguing
both to horses and foot-travellers than a road interspersed
with gentle undulations : because, say they, the alterna-
tions of ascent, descent, and level ground requiring, in turn,
the exercise of difi'erent muscles, aiford rest to those
which are for the time least exerted; and thus all the
muscles are in succession brought into action*.

Our island is diversified with such an agreeable con-
trast of hill and dale, as gives a charm to its landscapes;
but this feature has not always been favourable to the
construction of good roads. At the time of their forma-
tion, care has not always been taken, in carrying them over
hilly countries, to select the least elevated sites, so as to
render the highest point of ascent conveniently low. In
many cases this might easily have been done, by leading
the line of road through valleys, or along the brows of hills.
But, for some years past, our engineers have been engaged
in diminishing the too rapid slopes of the old roads, and
in endeavouring to preserve the same degree of slope along
the whole length of ascent, so that the summits of eleva-
tions are frequently reduced by cutting, and the materials
thus removed are usually employed in raising the lower
part of the road. It has been calculated that very few of
these slopes should exceed two degrees of inclination;
and Mr. Telford has adopted this proportion as the basis
of his improvements on the road which passes" through

* Mr. Stephenson, however, does not agree in the opinion
that an undulating road is easier for the horses than a level one.
He asked the opinion of Dr. John Barclay, a comparative ana-
tomist, on the subject of the anatomy of the horse, with reference
to this question. His opinion was hostile to the idea ; and he
said that, if the horse were allowed to consult his own ease, he
would quite disregard Hogarth's " Line of Beauty."

72 REQUISITES OF GOOD ROADS.

Wales and the Isle of Anglesea. The ascents of this road
were, at one time so great as to vary from X2" to A per
unit of hoi-izontal length or distance. In proportion as
these ascents were fatiguing, the descents were dangerous,
particularly for SAvift travelling vehicles.

We have stated that in this country perfectly horizontal
roads are not practicable, and that they would not be pre-
ferred; so that the perfectly straight roads of the old
Romans would not suit the English taste. But so long as
the windings of a road do not form any very considerable
angles with its direct course, the straight road is very
little shorter than the winding road; and the latter costs
but little more for its construction and support ; and the
transports Avhich are made upon it require only a little
addition of time and strensrth. '"These little turninjrs,"
says Dupin, (whose agreeable and valuable work on our
country has greatly assisted us in the present chapter,)
"these little turnings produce an agreeable effect with
reference to the surrounding scenery; so that the road
becomes an ornament to the country, and the country
itself is exhibited to the best advantage to the eye of the
traveller, Avho, by the course of the road, is led to those
points which command the most pleasing prospects.
Why should we neglect this mode of enhancing the en-
joyment of the beauties of nature, when in our cities we
expend such considerable sums in futile amusements, and
in pleasures less pure and positive?" It may also be
added that by giving a gentle winding direction to the
roads, the traveller is relieved from the fatiguing and
tiresome., prospect of a course which seems intermin- ■
able. JkoA'f. It-^ <?itr.tr 'ffif Jt- ^^^/vc/i {'''>

The principle's upon which roads ought to be constructed,
have been recently, and to a certain extent, developed
throu2;h the skill and attention of modern enjrineers.
The fine roads which have been formed within the last
twenty years, and which continue, with only slight occa-
sional repairs, to fulfil the conditions required of a perfect
road, ouijht to be taken as models; and no variations
alloAved, except on strictly scientific grounds. The con-
ditions of a good road are thus plainly defined by Mr.

REQUISITES OP A GOOD ROAD. 73

Mac Adam: "A road ought to be considered as an arti-
ficial flooring, forming a strong, smooth, solid surface, at
once capable of carrying great Aveights, and over which
carriages may pass without meeting any impediment."

Hardness and smoothness, then, are the great requisites
of a good road. One of the greatest impediments to
travelling on a soft road is this: when a wheel presses
down soft soil, a ridge is formed, not only at the sides,
but in front of the wheel, and this front ridge exercises
an enormous eftect. " If a coach or wagon, Aveighing
60 cwt.," says a practical raoderu writer, " supported by
wheels four feet in diameter, formed a new rut an inch
deep in a smooth road, the length of the part immersed
being about fourteen inches, the horizontal resistance from
the raised ridge in front would be about ^x^^ of the
weight, upon the lovA'est supposition that is at all admis-
sible, and more probably about ^th, or from 6 to 7 cwt. at
least; and if the rut Avere two inches deep, the resistance
would be half as much more. An increase in the dia-
meter of the wheel obviously reduces this horizontal re-
sistance." In the formation of roads the variations are
principally Avith respect to their Avidth.

The limits of by-roads have been prescribed by laAv as
follows: — foot-paths, six feet and a-half Avide ; horse-roads,
eight feet; carriage-roads, tAA'enty feet. For turnpike-
roads, at the approach to populous toAA^ns, the prescribed
width is sixty feet; but this Avidth is by no means ahvays
obtained. Before the grand improvements in road-making,
Avhich Avere introduced chiefly by Telford and Mac Adam,
the Avidth of the roads, at a short distance from many of
our principal towns, Avas only eighteen feet, and some-
times not more than thirteen feet; so that the meeting of
rapidly-moving vehicles, and the passage of numerous
flocks and herds, occasioned great delay, and frequently
gave rise to serious accidents. To the remedy of these
inconveniences, the attention of the road-trustees, as also
of Parliament, was for a long time earnestly directed ;
and the public roads are uoaa-, probably in every part of
the kingdom, sufficiently spacious to aff"ord facility to con-
veyances pertaining to the most extensive trade.

E

74 AVIDTH OP ROADS.

On the subject of the width of roads, M. Dupln intro-
duces an elegant remark: "It is absurd," says he, "to
allow roads in the least-frequented districts, to preserve
the same dimensions as those which lead to the capital
and great towns. Many persons, however, regard this
excessive width of the public roads as a' sign, and almost
as an emblem, of moral and political greatness. They
judo-e of empires according to the amplitude of these
superb and expensive zones, as the vulgar judge of great
noblemen, according to the breadth and glitter of the
lace which adorns the liveries of their servants. Let us
hope that in due time the progress of reason will banish
these absurd opinions."

A oreat deal of discussion has taken place on the extent
to Avhich roads should be elevated in the centre, or de-
pressed towards the sides, in order to allow water to drain
off. One great fault of badly-made roads is the forma-
tion of ruts, one by each wheel, and another by the
horses' feet. These ruts retain much water, keep the
road in a constant state of ruin, and allow no dry path for
foot-passengers. To remedy this, some roads have been
made to slope at one of their sides only, so as to leave the
higher side dry, and passable to foot-passengers. Ditches
also are dug along the road, which allow the water to drain
off. The great convexity of the old roads caused many
serious accidents from the upsetting of carriages, and,
-taking advantage of the lessons of experience, our modern
road-makers have considerably diminished the convexity
of their structures. Indeed, Mr. Mac Adam says, " I
consider a road should be as flat as possible with regard to
allowing the water to run off at all, because a carriage
ought to stand upright in travelling. I have generally-
made roads three inches higher in the centre than at the
sides, when they are eighteen feet wide; if the road be
smooth and well made, the water will run off very easily
in such a slope." And again, he says: " When a road is
made flat, people will not follow the middle of it, as they
do, when it is made extremely convex. In very convex
roads, travellers generally follow the track in the middle,
which is the only place where a carriage can stand upright,

SUPERIORITY OF BRITISH ROADS. /O

by ^vhich. means three furrows are made by tlie horses
and the wheels, and the water continually stands there;
and I think that more water actually stands upon a very
convex road than on one which is reasonably flat." And
in Mr. Telford's celebrated road, he has given for the
transversal inclination no more than that which is pro-
duced by a rise of eight inches in a width of thirty-three
feet.

One great cause of the superiority of British roads over
the roads of other countries, consists in the abundance of
road-making materials which this country produces. The
ground, too, over which the roads are traced, is, in most
parts, naturally very firm, from being composed of a mix-
ture of sand, gravel, and flint, which enables the water to
filter easily through it, and thus leaves the road dry almost
directly after rain. " The climate of England, too, though
habitually damp, is not subject to those heavy torrents of
rain which occasion such a rapid destruction of the roads
in more southern countries. These causes, however, are
not sufficient to account for the excellence of the roads in
Great Britain; for in many parts of the north of England,
and in Wales, where heavy rains are frequent, and where
the waters run in rapid torrents, public roads have been
constructed of a perfectly good quality. Indeed, even
on marshy and clayey soils, roads have been formed re-
markable for their solidity, durability, and dryness." —

DUPIN.

The materials employed in road-making diff'er according
to the mineral productions of the counties through which
the roads pass. For example, in Essex, Sussex, Shrop-
shire, and Staffordshire, flints mixed with sand are em-
ployed. In Somersetshire, Gloucestershire, and Wilt-
shire, limestone is commonly used. This latter substance
offers but little resistance, and its durability is therefore
small; but when properly prepared and laid down, it
forms a compact road, and binds more readily than any
other road-making material.

In the report of the Parliamentary Committee on the
highvrays of the kingdom, we find, in the minutes of the
evidence taken, some curious and valuable information

e2

76 PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRY.

offered by engineers, coacli-proprletors, and persons con-
cerned in the making and using of roads. Althougli
several years have elapsed since the date of this inquiry,
yet the subject is still new and applicable. The " ex-
perimental pavements" in Oxford-street, Avhich, at the
time we write, are being tested, — the state of our roads in
inclement weather, and the slowness and difficulty of the
passage of vehicles over them, — the conflicting opinions
which still exist among the best road-makers, — all this
proves that we have hitherto by no means arrived at per-
fection in the art of road-making. The following informa-
tion will, therefore, be acceptable to such of our readers
as desire to know the qualifications of a good road, and
the tests whereby to distinguish a bad one; what materials
are good and what are worthless; how good materials
may be made bad, and bad materials be converted to use-
ful purposes. These, and many other connecting subjects,
will usefully employ our time and attention in the present
chapter, since one of the very best modes of ensuring im-
provement, is to convince every member of the community
of its necessity and advantage.

A few years ago, it was stated on good authority, as a
remarkable fact, that the great high roads leading into
London, and which from their beauty were the admiration
of foreigners, were formed of the worst materials: viz., a
kind of argillaceous gravel and small flinty nodules, which,
from their spherical form, were prevented from uniting
like broken stones, whose flat surfaces come in contact,
and produce, by the pressure of the wheels, a compact
mass, which becomes daily more solid. But there are
some absurd laws and regulations with respect to Avater-
carriage, detailed by Mr. Mac Adam in his evidence, which
prevent the transport of good road-materials to London
by the Thames, and the numerous canals which converge
to the capital.

Roads formed Avith gravel mixed with earth are always
bad. The rain converts the earth into a mass of thick
heavy mud; but, if care be taken to wasli the gravel tho-
roughly, and to break the stones, a good road can be
formed : the Reading road is made of very inferior gravel,

GRAVEL ROADS. 77

but by adopting tbese precautions it is perfectly smootb,
firm, and level. This shows us that bad materials, when
science and skill are employed in their application, are
better than good materials in the absence of both; for we
find that in Scotland, where the materials for road-makino-
are everywhere abundant and cheap, many of the roads
are rough, loose, and extremely expensive in their con-
struction, because the materials are unskilfully used.

The traveller, inexperienced in road-making, while
being whirled over the roads in the vicinity of London,
admiring them for their apparent smoothness, absence of
ruts and jolting, is sometimes inclined to thank the kind
fates which made him an Englishman, and furnished his
country with such superb roads. But what say the coach-
proprietors and persons who are well entitled to a profes-
sional opinion ? They say that the much admired metro-
politan roads are so soft and yielding, and the difficulty of
transit over them so great, that, in order to proceed as
rapidly as they are accustomed to do at a greater distance
from the capital, their coaches must be drawn by horses
of very superior strength; and that the fatigue endured
by these poor animals is so excessive, that they are ren-
dered useless in so short a time as three years ! " The
foreigner," says Dupin, "justly admires the beauty of the
horses attached to the public vehicles in the neighbour-
hood of London; but he is far from suspecting that the
choice of these animals is occasioned by the very defects
of the road which is so magnificent in appearance, and so
pleasant to the traveller."

Let us now inquire into the plans suggested by Mr.
Mac Adam, and so extensively adopted for repairing an
old and defective road, or for making a new one.

No new materials, he observes, are to be brought upon
a road, unless in the absence of a quantity of clean stone
equal to a thickness of ten inches. The old stone ma-
terial is to be taken up*, carried to the road-side and
broken, so that no piece may exceed six ounces in weight:
the road is then to be laid as flat as possible, leaving a fall

* Mr. Mac Adam calls this operation, " lil'tiug the road."

78

MACADAMIZING.

of three inclies fi-om the middle to the sides, when the
■width of the road is thirty feet.

In order to regulate the size and -weight of the stones,
the former not exceeding one inch longitudinally, and
the latter not more than six ounces, the people -stIio
break the stones are furnished "with sieves made of iron,
■with circular holes: every piece of stone that will not
pass through this sieve is laid aside. The overseers of
the road are furnished with a balance and a Aveight,
for weighing two or three of the largest fragments of
each heap of broken stones, to ascertain that none are too
heavy.

AVhen all the great stones are thus broken, the surface
of the intended road is to be smoothed with a rake, and
the broken stone is to be spread over it carefully: this
operation requires attention, since the future quality of the
road will depend on the mode in Avhich it is done. The
stone must not be laid on in shovels full, but scattered
over the surface, one shovel-full following another, and
being spread over a great space.

The proper mode of breaking stones, both for effect and
economy, is in a sitting posture. This work can be done
by Avomen, boys, and old men past hard labour.

Breaking Stones.

In some cases it Avould be imprudent to lift the road,
even if the materials be too abundant ; for example, the
road betAA'een Bath and Cirencester AA'as made of large
stones, but so soft, that they Avould have fallen into sand
if removed. Mr. Mac Adam merely had the higher parts

ON ROAD-MAKIXG. 79

cut down, sifted, and replaced ; and thus the surface kept
smooth, Avhile those materials lasted. They were subse-
quently replaced by stone of a better quality, properly
prepared. At Egham it was necessary to remove the whole
road, in order to separate the small portion of valuable
material from the mass of soft matter in which it was
enveloped; and this was removed at a great expense, be-
fore a good road could be made. A durable road cannot
be made wdth freestone ; but, if judiciously laid down, it
forms a good surface while it lasts.

When new stone is to be placed on a road already
consolidated, the hardened stone is to be loosened with a
pick, to enable the new materials to unite with the old.

A new road requires constant raking until the materials
are consolidated; so that the tracks made by the wheels
must be filled up, so long as any loose materials remain on
the road.

No " binding" material, as it is called, is ever to be
employed, such as earth, clay, chalk, or any substance at
all that will imbibe water. It is necessary that our readers
should be aware that Avater, in the act of freezing, expands
with amazing force. Major Williams filled a very stout
iron bomb-shell with water, and closed it tight, by means
of an iron screw : on exposing this apparatus to a frosty
air, the enclosed water froze, and by its expansion burst
the bomb-shell. Now, when water soaks into a road, and
becomes frozen, it lifts up and displaces the whole struc-
ture : this is called, the " breaking up of roads by frost ;"
and the mischievous eflPect is particularly remarkable in
the subsequent thaw : the roads then often become im
passable. This, then, is one great reason why Mr. Mac
Adam, in the formation of his roads, discarded every sub-
stance likely to imbibe water : he found that good stone,
well broken, will combine, by its own roughness and
angles, into a solid compact body, having a smooth sur-
face, not affected by the vicissitudes of weather, nor dis-
figured by the action of Avheels, which, as they pass
over it without a jolt, (or, as the coachmen say, " the
road runs true,") Vvill, consequently, do the road little or
no injury.

80 TOOLS FOR ROAD-MAKING.

The tools employed by Mr. ]\rac Adam Avere, first,
strong picks, but short from the handle to the points :
second, small hammers weighing about a pound, with a
face the size of a shilling, well steeled, and with a short
handle: third, rakes, with wooden heads, ten inches in
length, with long and strong iron teeth, about two inches
and a-half long, for raking out the large stones when
the road is being " lifted," and for smoothing it when
completed and while consolidating : fourth, light broad-
mouthed shovels, to spread the broken stones.

The whole expense of preparing and newly foi-ming
a rough road to the depth of four inches, is about a penny
or twopence per square yard ; the expense varying with
the quantity of stones to be broken. A ton of stones may,
if properly managed, be broken for a shilling, and some-
times for less ; often including the value of the stone
itself. A great advantage attending Mr. Mac Adam's
mode of road-making, is the great diminution of horse-
labour : human labour being substituted, whereby a valu-
able source of employment is opened to the poorer classes,
when, in the absence of agricultural and other pursuits,
work is otherwise so difficult to be provided for them,
while the parish is, nevertheless, responsible for their
support. At one time, in the vicinity of Bristol, for
example, one-fourth of the whole expense of road-making,
was incurred for men's labour, and three-fourths for that
of horses ; but, by the introduction of Mac Adam's S3's-
tem, the proportions were reversed, one-fourth only being
incurred for horse-labour, and the rest for the labour of
men, women, and children.

Let us now speak of the foundations of roads, about
which a singular opposition in opinion has been distinctly
stated by Mr. Mac Adam, and by Mr. Telford. The for-
mer gentleman says, that in order to construct or repair a
road, a layer of solid materials, ten inches thick, is suffi-
cient, and that this will bear all sorts of loads, whether
the soil below, (which we call the foundation,) be firm or
not. He even prefers a soil consisting of a mixture of
hard and soft materials, to one that is quite hard. He
states, that on the former, the roads are more durable; be-

FOUNDATIONS OP ROADS, 81

cause they rest on an elastic bed, which, yields to very
heavy pressure, and deadens violent shocks; probably, on
the same principle, and for the same reason, that an anvil
mounted on a block of wood, will last longer than if
mounted on stone.

As an example of this singular and apparently para-
doxical statement, the details of two roads, thus con-
structed, were given to the Committee of the House of
Commons. The road from Bridgewater to Cross, is partly
made over a moveable morass; so that, when travelling
along it in a coach, the water may be seen quivering in
the ditches on each side. After a slight frost, the qui-
vering of the water, occasioned by the motion of the
"wheel-carriages, is such as to break the ice formed on its
surface. Adjoining this marshy road is another, formed
on a foundation of calcareous stone. The expense of
keeping these two roads in repair, is in the proportion of
five to seven; though that portion of road which is car-
ried over the hard soil lies higher than the other.

In making roads on a marshy foundation, Mr. Mac
Adam did not employ larger fragments of stone than usual.
He has shown that the stone will not sink into the soft
soil, because, he says, the elements composing the road
unite together, and form a large, compact, and solid mass,
which has no tendency to sink in one part more than in
another. The thickness of the bed of materials, which
he would then propose to lay down, would vary only from
seven to ten inches ; and he states that five tons of broken
stones laid down in this way, make as good a road as
seven tons of stones laid on a very hard foundation.

This theory is plausible, but it is also specious: expe-
rience has shown it to be erroneous. Let us now see Mr.
Telford's opinions and practice on this subject, as stated by
Mr. Provis, who assisted as an engineer under Mr. Telford
in the great Holyhead road. He says, " the pitching or
paving the bottom of a road is a subject which has often
been discussed, and though generally approved of by
scientific men, has met with some decided opponents.
On the old part of the Shrewsbury and Holyhead road
which extends from Gobowen to Oswestry, as well as in

E 3

82 telfokd's principles.

some other places, the foundation of the road had been
paved, but in an irregular and promiscuous manner, some
of the stones standing near a foot above others, and in
some places holes were left -v^-ithout any stones; upon this
a coat of gravel had been laid, and necessarily of very un-
equal thickness, some of the points of the stones being
scarcely covered. This road havinfr afterwards been much
neglected, the upper gravel, M'here thin, Avas "worn quite
awa}", or else forced from its bed by being in so thin a
coat that it could not bind, and the road's surface vras
thereby made a continued succession of hard lumps and
hollows, with water standing in every hole after a shower,
and no means of getting otf, except by soaking through
the road. Any stranger, on passing over such a road,
would condemn the principle on which it was made.
But here seems to be the great error, — that the principle
is condemned instead of the abuse of it. When the
paving is put down carefully by hand, of equal or regular
height, with no large smooth-faced stones for the upper
stratum to slide upon, and the whole pinned so that no
stone can move, I have no hesitation in saying that in
many cases it is highly beneficial, and in none detrimental.
Whenever the natural soil is clay, or retentive of water,
the pavement acts as an underdrain to carry off any water
that may pass through the surface of the road. The com-
ponent stones of the pavement, having broader bases to
stand upon than those that are broken small, are not so
liable to be pressed into the earth below, particularly
where the soil is soft. The expense of setting this pave-
ment is less than one-fourth of that of breaking an equal
depth of stones to the size generally used for upper coat-
ing ; and therefore in point of economy, it has also a ma-
terial advantage. Mr. Telford, in all cases, recommends
this m.cde of paving, and the opinion of a man of such
experience cannot be treated slightly. He has made more
miles of road than any engineer in the kingdom ; and
having myself studied for nearly fifteen years in his
school, and made a considerable extent of road under his
direction, I may venture to say that his practice is not un-
supported by experience. I should not have said so much

THE HOLYHEAD ROAD. 83

on this subject, but from the circumstance of other road-
improvers having asserted that paving is useless; and I
think that assertions on one side, shoukl be met with firm-
ness on the other, whenever an important principle is at-
tacked, the correctness of which can be established by
reasoning and by facts."

Mr. Telford's celebrated Holyhead road was constructed
upon a well-digested plan of his own. In his specification, he
says, " The road is to be 30 feet wide, exclusive of foot-
paths, with a fall of six inches from the centre to the side
channels." The foundation, if of a wet or spongy texture,
is to be well rmnmed with chips of stone ; and in some
situations it is advisable to have a stratum of hand-laid
stones of from five to seven inches deep, with their
broadest ends downwards, and the whole made compact.
The uniformly broken stones, (technically called vietal,)
must be laid upon this so as to form a compact solid body-
To make the stones of uniform size, a ring, two and a half
inches in diameter, is provided, through which each stone
will pass. No binding material or gravel is to be used on
this body of metal ; because the sides of the stones soon
wedse together, and form an even surface. Green-stone
is preferred for road-metal, as being less friable even than
granite, when broken small. In the absence of better
materials, sand-stone, lime-stone, and chalk, may be used ;
and where coal is abundant, the sandstone can be reduced
to a vitreous mass in kilns, erected by the road-side ; but
all such road-metal is bad, and is not used except in
necessitous cases. But in some parts of Wales, scoria?,
procured from the furnaces of iron-foundries, &c., and
ashes obtained from the stoves of steam-engines, are used
instead of fragments of stone, and form durable roads. In
the absence of road-making materials, clay, baked like
brick, and then broken into fragments has been employed;
but this practice must altogether depend upon the value
of fuel in the districts where it is adopted.

In places remote from quarries of hard stone, Mr. Tel-
ford introduced a plan, by which gravel may be advanta-
geously adopted, and populous roads rendered solid and
durable. In the following table we have a vertical section

84

DRAINAGE.

of such a gravel- road, 30 feet wide, sliowing the disposition
of the layers, and the fractions of the upper layers.

Thickness
of the
layers.

Siftings

of ^
Gravel.

Small
Gravel
Stones.

Large
Gravel
Stones
broken.

Large
Gravel
Stones
broken.

Small
Gravel
Stones.

Siftings

of
Gravel.

3 inches

3 feet

4 feet

8 feet

8 feet

4 feet

3 feet

3 inches

Layer of Lime.

6 inches

Layer of Graveh

6 inches

Layer of Lime.

Clay, serving as a foundation for the Road.

One department in the art of road-making, and that
which requires the exercise of great judgment and skill, is
drainasie. How often do we see, even at tlie present day,
many of our high roads so constructed as to form excel-
lent s;iMers to the adjacent fields! If good roads he at all
desired, especially in places subject to inundations and
great moisture, the ground over Avhich the road is laid
must be raised : deep ditches must be dug on both sides,
and parallel Avith the road. Into these ditches there must
branch out, at intervals, subterraneous drains. Tliese
latter have been formed by digging to the depth of from
four to eight feet, and placing a layer of fagots of
brambles, two feet thick, at the bottom of the hollow;
above this is laid stubble or turf, and the whole is covered
with a layer of earth. The width of these aqueducts is
nearly three feet, and they endure for more than twenty
years. It must also be observed that roads ought to be
above the level of the adjacent fields ; otherwise they are
likely to be wet and muddy, always out of repair, and
difficult of passage both to man and beast.

It appears then from all that has been said, that a dry
and solid foundation is necessary to the construction of a
good road; and so far Mr. Mac Adam's practice seems

macneill's opinions. 85

erroneous. "We will therefore conclude the subject of road-
making with the opinions of Mr. Macneill, as expressed
by himself.

" Well-made roads," says he, " formed of clean hard
broken stone placed on a solid foundation, are very little
affected by atmospheric changes ; weak roads, or those
which are imperfectly formed with gravel, flint, or round
pebbles, without a bottoming, or foundation of stone pave-
ment or concrete, are, on the contrary, much affected by
changes of the weather. In the formation of such roads,
and before they become bound or firm, a considerable
portion of the sub-soil mixes Avith the stone or gravel, in
consequence of the necessity of putting the gravel on in
thin layers : this mixture of earth or clay, in dry warm-
seasons, expands by the heat, and makes the road
loose and open ; the consequence is that the stones are
thrown out, and many of them are crushed, and ground
into dust, producing considerable Avear and diminution of
the materials. In wet weather, also, the clay or earth
mixed with the stones absorbs moisture, becomes soft, and
allows the stones to move, and rub against each other,
when acted upon by the feet of horses, or wheels of car-
riages. This attrition of the stones against each other
wears them out surprisingly fast, and produces large
quantities of mud, which tends to keep the road damp,
and by that means increases the injury."

In the formation of the Highgate Archway-road, no
stones could be obtained for making a foundation of pave-
ment; in consequence of which a composition of Roman
cement and gravel Avas employed by Mr. Macneill, and suc-
ceeded admirably. There were four longitudinal drains,
and also secondary drains running from the former to the
side channel drains, and those again to drains outside the
footpaths, covered with brick. On the prepared centre of
six yards' breadth, after being properly levelled, the cement
was laid, after mixing it first in a box Avith water, gravel,
and sand, in certain proportions. In fifteen minutes
this became hard ; in about four minutes after being laid,
a triangular piece of wood, sheeted Avith iron, Avas in-
dented into it, so as to leave a track or channel for the

86 REPAIR OF ROADS.

stones to lie and fasten in. This indent had an inclina-
tion or fall from the centre to the side of the road of three
inches, Avhich allowed the Avater that percolated through
the broken stones to run off the cemented mass into the
drains. This road has not been injured hj frost, nor
by the working of carriages over it.

It appears that the destruction of a road is due more to
the feet of horses, than to the wheels of vehicles. Mr.
Gordon has calculated that a set of tires would run 3000
miles in good weather, and 2700 miles in average
weather ; but that a set of horses' shoes would bear only
200 miles of travel.

In coming now to speak of the ?'epair of roads, we may
observe that the same general principles which regulate
their construction apply also to their preservation. The
materials of the road, when pulverized by the action of
carriage-wheels, and converted by wet into mud, are
scraped from the middle of the road, and heaped up along
the sides, to be carried away in carts to the neighbouring
fields, where they act as a useful manure. Ke\v materials
are not laid down on the road, nor are the ruts which
may begin to appear filled up, until after the dust and
mud have been removed. The mending of the road, too,
should take place immediately after moving the mud, and
■while the ground is still wet. It is necessary- also to adopt
special plans for keeping the roads, as far as possible, dry;
especially in such a climate as ours, where so much damp-
ness prevails, and the heat of the sun is seldom powerful.
Trees and shrubs must not be planted within 15 feet of the
centre of the road. If any such plantation exist, and the
trees be not cut down Avithin ten days after the surveyor
has given notice to that effect to the owner of the ground,
the owner is subject to a penalty ; and, if necessary, he
can be compelled to clear the public thoroughfare. So also
with respect to hedges, the law requires them to be cut so
as not to occasion too much shade, thereby preventing
the free circulation of air for drying the ground in wet
weather, and the sweeping off' of the dust in dry weather.

When a road is formed of good materials, an occasional
washing by heavy rains, or by artificial means, is consi-

IRRIGATION OP ROADS.

87

derecl useful, not only as affording comfort to passengers,
and facility for driving, but as tending to preserve the road.
When the road is thoroughly washed, the mud is carried
off in Avinter, and the dust in summer ; the action of the
Arheels too is less injurious to the wheels themselves and
also to the road ; and, at the expiration of a few hours,
even after a succession of rain, the road may be found
firm and dry.

The following cut will remind our readers of the irri-
gation of roads in summer for the purpose of laying the
dust.

Watering Cart.

We come now to notice the paved roads of our cities
and towns, in contradistinction to the turnpike roads,
which have already occupied our attention.

" On visiting the squares and streets in the great
toAvns of England," says the illustrious foreigner whom
we have already quoted, " the traveller is struck with the
cleanliness, propriety, and arrangement, which they ex-
hibit In the best parts of the principal towns

in England, the fronts of the houses are separated from
the street by an area, surrounded by an iron railing; and
this railing is separated from the horse-road by a broad
foot-pavement. Thus the walls of the houses are not
disfigured by dirt and splashes, as is the case in the towns

of France In the most modern parts of

l.ondon, the extensive proportions of the streets present
tlie Imposing appearance of a great capital. In Oxford-
street, which is more than a mile in length, five carriages

88

PAVED ROADS.

may drive abreast, between two broad foot-pavements.
These dimensions are indispensable in the most commer-
cial city in the world."

We have already stated that gravel roads, though fine
in appearance, are very fatiguing to the horses. It is
stated also that, taking the average of every day in the
year, horses Avill go through more Avork, with the same
extent of fatigue, on a paved road than on a gravel road,
if the draught be considerable. This assertion is well
supported by JMr. Edgeworth, who has examined the
matter experimentally, and he declares himself decidedly
in favour of paved roads for all places where there is
active traffic.

The horse-roads in London, when paved, are made of
granite, brought from Scotland and Cornwall ; and the
flag-stones for foot-pavements are brought from the
peninsula of Portland, on the coast of Dorsetshire. The
conveyance of these materials is a considerable branch of
mercantile navigation.

^ riaftBv piiOlfUjj « B 11 1- II

Paving.

When the system of IMac Adam was brought into
operation a few years ago, most of the granite pavement
of the principal thoroughfares of London was taken up
and broken, and the roads Macadamized ; but experience
has shown that the alternate dust and mud on these roads
are excessively noxious in crowded thoroughfares, where
dust and mud are generated by ceaseless ti-affic, hoAvever
well Mac Adam's plan may succeed for turnpike-roads.
A variety of stone paving, and even cast-iron plates, has
been suggested, and partially adopted.

THE RUBLE AND AISLER CAUSEWAY. 89

Two kinds of pavement are chiefly adopted in the
capitals of Great Britain and Ireland ; the one is termed
the ruble causeway, and the other the aisler causeway.
In the ruble form, the stones are slightly dressed with a
hammer ; in the aisler form, the stones are nearly of de-
terminate dimensions, varying from five to seven inches
in thickness, from eight to twelve in length, and about a
foot in breadth. A good specimen of the aisler causeway
is to be seen in the Commercial-road, leading from White-
chapel to the India Docks, at Blackwall and Poplar.
This road is seventy feet wide, and two miles long. The
footpaths are laid with Yorkshire flags, and the roadway
with granite. The tramway consists of large blocks of
stone, eighteen inches wide by twelve inches deep, and
from two-and-a-half to ten feet long ; these are placed in
rows, four feet apart, on a hard bottom of gravel, or on a
concrete foundation; their ends are firmly jointed to-
gether, so as to prevent any kind of movement. As an
example of the value of this road, it is stated that a
loaded wagon, weighing ten tons, was drawn by one
horse from the West India Docks, a distance of two miles,
with a rise in the road of 1 in 274, at the rate of nearly
four miles an hour. Mr. James Walker is the engineer
of this fine work.

In English towns generally, the carriage-roads, if
paved, are covered with blocks of stone, more or less
resembling cubes ; Avhile the footpaths are covered Avith
broad thin flag-stones. In Florence, the whole breadth
of the streets is paved with flag-stones, placed diagonally ;
and in Naples the surfaces are nearly as smooth. In both
these cases, it is necessary to roughen the stones fre-
quently with chisels, wherever there is a hill or bridge, in
order to prevent the horse from slipping ; but in both
cities the horses, from habit, are sufficiently sure-footed,
even when running with some rapidity. In Milan, both
kinds of pavement are mixed together in the same street ;
the smooth kind in two double lines for the wheels of
carriages coming and going, and the rougher in the inter-
mediate parts, for the feet of the horses.

We fear to add any more descriptions of stone pave-

90 ASPHALTIC CEMENT.

ments to our chapter, -which already contains, perhaps, too
much of Avhat the general reader may designate dry de-
tail ; hut we cannot omit the mention of an interesting
substance which has been lately introduced into the me-
tropolis as a covering to the surface of its populous ways.
We allude to Asphalle, or Asphaltic Cement, the history
of which is briefly as follows : —

About the year 1712, a Greek, named Eirinis, dis-
covered in the valley of Travers, in Prussian Neufchatel,
a bed of asphaltic rock, which he describes as being com-
posed of a mineral substance, gelatinous, and more adhe-
sive than pitch, solid, and well adapted as a cement for
buildings, &c., preserving timber from dry rot and from
worms, and enabling it to resist the action of time and
the vicissitudes of weather. He tried it experimentally,
and found that Avhen melted, and mixed with a small
portion of pitch, and spread on the substance to be pre-
served, its success was complete-
No notice, however, seems to have been taken of the
Greek's proposal till the year 1838, when the Count de
Sassenay became proprietor of the mines of the valley of
Travers. The Count established a company for the work-
ing of asphalte, whence England receives its supply.

The Count has published an interesting little work on
the subject of the asphalte cement. He distinguishes
several varieties of asphalte, and states the real cement to
consist of bitumen combined Avith calcareous matter. This
substance is obtained by simple mining operations. Small
cavities are made in the rock, which are filled with gun-
powder, and thus large masses are detached by blasting.
The powder has most effect in cold weather, when the
rock is harder. The cement is prepared tlius : — Ninety-
four parts, by weight, of the asphaltic stone are pul-
verized, mixed with six parts of bitumen, and melted in
large boilers ; the mass is then poured off and formed into
large cakes, which constitute the cement. In spreading
this substance over roads, &c., it is remelted and mixed
with fine sand, which gives it more stability, and a degree
of roughness Avhich prevents the feet from slipping.

This cement is valuable, not only on account of the

ASPHALTE ROADS. 91

smooth and level surface wlilcli it produces on the road,
but also on account of its extraordinary durahility. More
than a hundred years ago, a staircase was coated with the
cement by Eirinis, and it has not yet given any signs of
being worn down ; while a stone staircase, constructed at
the same time, and in the same house, is completely hol-
lowed out by footsteps. It has been extensively adopted
in the public buildings of France ; it is easily washed,
and affords a protection against damp. Rats and mice
also are said to have disappeared in places where the
cement is used. It has also been spread over the road of
a much-frequented bridge at Paris ; and though exposed
to all the changes of weather, and the tread of thirty
thousand people daily, it exhibits no signs of decay. It
has also been adopted in several parts of London, by way
of experiment, and we believe it to be successful, especi-
ally on the Ferry-road, Mill-wall, Poplar, and on the
Vauxhall-road. There are, however, many imitations of
this cement now being imposed upon the public, but they
are all unsuccessful, and will not bear comparison with
the real article, as obtained from Prussia.

We cannot, of course, verify the statements, which
we have obtained chiefly from Count de Sassenay's work,
but it appears, from other sources of information, that
most of the praise bestowed on the asphaltic cement is
really its due.

The English are particularly distinguished for the
pains they bestow on the cleanliness of their roads. The
humble but useful occupations of the scavenger and road-
scraper we need not here describe; but an ingenious in-
strument, lately introduced by its inventor, Mr. Bourne,
deserves notice. Tliis machine is formed of a series of
scrapers fastened to Avooden rods, acting on a common
axis, 3'et rising or falling singly and independently of
each other, so as to meet the inequalities of the road's
surface. They are all inserted into a frame, the lower
part of which passes on the scrapers, the upper part being
the handle ; the machine is then fixed on wheels, and the
mode of using it is by hand. The Avorkman commences
at a given place by elevating the handle, vrhich sinks the

92

ROAD-SCBAPERS.

scrapers, and he drags the machine across the road at
right angles to the line of draught ; when he has dragged
the mud to the opposite side, he depresses the handle,
and the scrapers rising, deposit their gatherings. The
independent action of each scraper enables, the whole to
enter and cleanse out any holes or depressions of the sur-
face, or to get over any hard projection, and to adapt it-
self generally to any state of road, or to any kind of surface.

Before concluding this chapter, we should remark
that, in England, not only are good roads made for the
traffic of horses and carriages, which roads are kept dry,
and also moist, as the season may require, but the foot-
paths for pedestrians are more numerous and commodious
than in any other country : yet, for all this, the English
are said to walk on foot less than the people of any other
nation. Sign-posts are also numerous, for the ready in-
formation of every traveller, whether on foot or on horse-
back, as to his route, and the readiest path whereby to
arrive at his destination.

But since road?, admirable and useful as they are,
would have their usefulness greatly curtailed were they
confined to land only, especially in a country like our
own, abounding in rivers and artificial streams of water
of so many kinds and dimensions, we come now to con-
sider a more difficult and elaborate description of road,
which Is carried over the surface of water, and serves the
useful purpose of connecting ordinary roads together.
This, however, is an extensive subject, to which ^\e must
devote the next two chapters.

Direction-jrost.

Stepping-stones.

CHAPTER, VII.

Importance of Bridges. — Oberlin's Pont de Charite'. — The
A,rcli. — Chinese Bridges. — Roman Bridges. — ^lodern Bridges.
The Brethren of the Bridge. — Croyland Bridge. — History of
London Bridge. — Coffer-dams and Caissons. — Other Bridges
over the Thames. — Pont y Prydd.

In the memoirs of the virtuous Oberlin, the pastor of
a poor protestant flock, in one of the wiklest parts of
France, viz. Waklbach, in the Ban de la Roche, Ave find
this good man in the early part of his career endeavouring
to civilize a rude and superstitious people. He judged
rightly in supposing that by bettering their social con-
dition, he should promote their moral, and thereby pre-
pare a way for their spiritual improvement. From the
record that is given of him, we select a specimen, as
showing not only the value of the arts of life generally,
but of bridges in particular, in assisting the great cause of
civilization. As the ship of the ocean brings the mem-
bers of different nations and of different climes in frequent
communication, so the bridge enables villages, towns,
and cities, which are separated by natural obstacles, to
communicate with, and, consequently, to help each other.
It appears that all the roads belonging to the Ban de
la Hoche were impassable during the greater part of the
year; and the only ready mode of communication be-
tween this parish and the neighbouring towns, was by
stepphig-stoncs over the Bruche, a stream which, having
its sources in the mountains, falls into the 111 before it

94 IMPORTAXCE OF BRIDGES.

reaches Strasburg, It was thirty feet •wide at the crossing-
place; and in Avinter, when the stream Avas swollen, it
became impassable. Being thus confined to their own
valley, the inhabitants had no means of disposing of their
produce in other parts, nor of obtaining those comforts or
conveniences of life Avhich they could not of themselves
produce. They had been accustomed, in consequence of
their limited means of communication, to endure a bare
and wretched subsistence ; and they had not even the
most necessary agricultural implements to aid them in ob-
tainincr this. Such was their condition when Oberlin
assembled them, and proposed to open a communication
with the high road to Strasburg by blasting the rocks,
constructing a solid wall to support a road about a mile
and a-half in length along the banks of the Bruche, and
buildinc: a bridcfe across that river near Rotham.

This proposal greatly surprised the peasants ; they
deemed it utterly impracticable, and shrinking from the
idea of so vast a work, they one and all declined it. To
their numerous difl&culties and objections Oberlin replied
by reminding them of their situation : that they were
shut up in their own villages three-fourths of the year ;
that if this road were made and a bridge tlirown across
the river, they would always have a free intercourse with
the neighbouring district, they would always have a ready
market for their produce. They might supply their most
urgent wants, and bring comforts home to their families
which their own sterile Galley * did not afford ; and he
concluded by saying, " Let those who see the importance
of my proposal come and work with me." "With that, he
shouldered a pickaxe, and, assisted by a faithful servant, be-
gan the work. The reasonableness of Oberlin's speech and
his admirable example produced such an effect on the minds
of the peasants, that they ran simultaneously for their
tools and joined their pastor, who appointed each man his
work, and reserved the most dangerous or difficult part
of it for himself and his man. A spirit of enthusiasm

* The German name of the Ban de la Roclie is Steinthal, or
the Yalley of Stone, indicative of its native barrenness.

LE PONT DE CnARITE. §5

soon diffused itself over the place ; tools were ■wanting for
a number of volunteers; these were procured from Stras-
burg, and our good pastor not only expended his own
little property in the undertaking, but borrowed assistance
elsewhere. The work proceeded admirably; walls were
erected to support the earth when necessary, mountain-
torrents which had hitherto inundated the meadows, were
diverted into courses, or received into beds sufficient to
contain them : a neat wooden bridge was thrown over
the Bruche, which was named, and still retains its original
appellation, "Le Pont de Charite" (the Bridge of
Charity) ; and the whole task was completed, and a com-
munication opeited with Strasburg within two years from
the commencement of the undertaking.

Oberlin, perhaps, was not aware that more than one
good man had obtained immortal honour by works like
that Avhich he had the ardour to undertake and the hap-
piness to accomplish. He looked for no reward in earthly
honours ; but yet he ultimately obtained this reward in
the success of his endeavours, and the increased influence
over his parishioners. They noAV experienced the benefit
of his zealous exertions for their Avelfare, and cheerfully
engaged in his next project, that of forming roads between
the four villages of his parish, which were, till his time,
in a state of savage separation. The spirit of well-directed
industry that had thus been raised made the Steinthal a
lively and animating scene. The pastor, who on the
Sabbath had directed their attention with that earnestness
and warmth wherewith his own soul Avas filled, to " the
rest that remaineth for the people of God," was seen on
the Monday, with a pickaxe on his shoulder, marching at
the head of two hundred of his flock.

The reader will probably excuse the length of this
introduction to the subject of bridge-making. We are so
accustomed to the thousands of conveniences which pertain
to civilized life ; we use them and enjoy them so much as
a matter of course, that it is difficult in the absence of a
practical application, to conceive the want and misery
attendant on the absence of any one of them. Yet, there
was a time when bridges were unknown ; when the

96

PRIMITIVB BRIDGES.

simple stepping-stones of the brook, or the rude plank
thrown across it, were the only means of passing narrow
streams of water, dryshod; while rivers of considerable
magnitude opposed an insuperable barrier to the inha-
bitants on either side.

Priuiitive Briuee.

The foregoing is a specimen of a rustic bridge of the
commonest sort beyond the stepping-stones. The annexed
cut represents a rural bridge, one degree beyond the
former, in having a wooden railing for the convenience
and safety of the passengers going over the water.

*-vAv,

Bridge-making is an art M'hich in our own times has
been brought to the highest pitch of beauty and perfec-
tion through the skill of modern architects and engineers.
The Romans were skilful bridge-builders ; but at the
breaking-up of their vast empire this art was nearly lost.
The Romans have left us many splendid specimens of
bridges ; but no record of the rise and progress of the
art itself Doubtless, in the infancy of every nation, the

THE ARCH.

first essays contained the rude germs of the art. A fallen
tree across a stream would suggest a simple bridge : a
cavern worn by the waves, might suggest that wonderful
specimen of human ingenuity, the arch ; but it is pro-
bable that the earliest bridges were formed of lintels of
stone or wood of sufficient length to reach from bank to
bank, or supported by posts fixed in the bed of the river.

We know so little of the origin of the arch, that the
early history of bridge-making is very unsatisfactory. The
Egyptians, with all their skill in architecture, do not seem
to have been acquainted with the arch. The Chinese
seem to have known the arch from remote antiquit}^, and
many of the variations in its structure seem to have been
familiar to them. A traveller describes the construction
of the Chinese arch thus — " Each stone, from five to ten
feet in length, is cut so as to form a segment of the arch ;
and, in such cases, there is no key-stone ; ribs of wood
fitted to the convexity of the arch are bolted through the
stone by iron bars, fixed fast in the solid parts of the
bridge : sometimes, however, they are without wood, and
the curved stones are morticed into long transverse blocks
of stone. There are, however, arches wherein the stones
are smaller and pointed to a centre, as in ours. I have
understood that no masonry could be superior to that in
the great wall, and that all the arched and vaulted work
in the old towers was exceedingly well turned." — Bar-
row's China.

The ancient Greeks do not seem to have been well
acquainted with the useful application of the arch. In
their palmy days of luxury, refinement, and splendour,
when their beautiful style of architecture had reached its
greatest perfection, v«'hen their buildings were adorned
with the choicest productions of the pallet, and their
streets with the noblest results of the chisel, the people of
Athens were compelled either to wade or to be ferried
over the river Cephisus for want of a bridge.

The Romans, however, observed the error of their
Grecian predecessors in slighting the arch in architecture;
and they succeeded in rearing the stupendous arch, and
the imposing cupola. When they had constructed enor-

F

98

CHINESE BRIDGES.

mous sewers and aqueducts, together with a cupola over
the Pantheon of Agrippa, it was easy for them to throw
a stone bridge over their river.

Chinese Bridtje.

The Chinese have for so many ages remained, as it were,
in a stationary position, following so accurately in the steps
of their ancestors, that it were hard to say that the Romans
preceded them in bridge-building, and yet it is undoubted
that the Romans first communicated to the world the ap-
plication of the arch to works of public utility. The most
noted bridges of ancient Rome were not remarkable for
the size or span of their arches, nor for the tightness of
their piers, but for their solidity and durability. The
span of their arches seldom exceeded seventy or eighty
feet ; and the height was about half the span : the form
was generally semicircular, or a segment nearly approach-
ing to it, as shown in the adjoining cut. The semicir-
cular form of the arch existed universally until within
the last half century. Prior to this time, it was believed
that the stones of an arch would not retain their hold, if
the curve were made elliptical, or only the segment of a
circle ; and it was only Avhen architects had made bridges
with but a slight rise in the middle, and these bridges had
stood the test of time, that all doubt of their durability
was discarded.

In the construction of a Roman bridge, all the requi-
sites were observed which we meet with in a modern
structure : these consisted of pU(e or piers ; fornices or
arches ; snblicoe or hutments ; pavlmenla and oggeres ;
the roads in the middle for carriages, on each side of which

KOMAN BRIDGES. 99

■were decursoria or elevated bankments for foot passengers,
separated by a railing and sometimes covered over to
afford shelter from tlie rain. The Romans at one time
committed the building and repairing of bridges to the
priests, (thence named Pontjfices or bridge-makers) ; after-
wards to the censors and curators of the roads ; and,
finally, the emperors themselves had the care of the
bridges.

The bridges of ancient Rome were eight in number ;
these, as well as the many bridges also constructed in
various parts of their empire, it will be scarcely interest-
ins: to enumerate. We will content ourselves with a brief
notice of the celebrated bridge built over the Danube, by
Trajan, for the convenience of sending ready assistance to
the Roman legion, on the other side of the river, in case
of a sudden attack from the Daci. Adrian, the successor
of Trajan, esteemed this bridge a dangerous friend,
because it was as convenient to their enemies as to them-
selves ; and fearing that the barbarians might overpower
the guard placed to defend the bridge, and so gain a ready
entrance into Moesia, and cut off the garrisons there, he
caused this fine structure to be demolished. This act of
pusillanimity may, perhaps, be excused on account of the
reason assigned for it : but nothing can excuse the wanton
execution of the architect Apollodorus, who was charged
by Adrian with facilitating the irruptions of the barba-
rians into the Roman territory. Just as if the architect
erected the bridge on his own account, and for his own
amusement ; but the real cause of the death of Apollo-
dorus was his high character as an architect, which
Adrian foolishly attempted to rival ; whereby he incurred
not only the ridicule of the Romans, but the sneers of
the architect himself. Some of the piers of this bridge
are still to be seen in the middle of the river near Warhel,
in Hungary. Dion Cassius describes this bridge as con-
sisting of twenty piers of squared stone, each of them
a hundred and fifty feet high above the foundation ; sixty
feet in breadth ; and a hundred and seventy feet distant
from each other ; which was, therefore, the span or width
of the arches, thus making the whole length of the bridge

F 2

100

ROMAN BRIDGES.

about fifteen hundred yards. Doubts have been cast upon
this account of the bridge by reference to certain delinea-
tions of it in Trajan's column, Avhich differ from Dion's
description : but it appears that no attempt is made on
the column to offer a model of the bridge, but only to
commemorate its existence.

Bridge over the Ilissus.

The annexed figure represents a Roman bridge over
the river Ilissus, in Greece.

Passing over the fall of the Roman empire and the
age of barbarism which succeeded, Ave find the Moors in
Spain to be the first successful bridge-builders in what is
called Modern Europe. The bridge of Cordova over the
Guadalquiver is a fine specimen of their skill.

One of the most ancient bridges of Modern Europe is
that on the Rhone at Avignon. It was constructed by a
religious society called "The Brethren of the Bridge;"
which was established upon the decline of the second,
and the beginning of the third, race of the kings of
France, when the state fell into confusion, and no pro-
tection was afforded to travellers, especially in passing

THE BRETHREN OF THE BRIDGES. 101

rivers ; where they were subject to be plundered by bands
of robbers. The aim of this praiseworthy society was to
aiford the required protection by building bridges, esta-
blishing ferries and caravansaries on the banks of the
most frequented rivers. Their first establishment was
upon the Durance at a dangerous spot named Maupas or
had jyassage; but afterwards, when it became more
secure, it was named Bonpas or good passage. Near this
place at Bicangon is a noble bridge. But the bridge over
the Rhone, above referred to, seems to have been planned
and built by Benezet, who was originally a shepherd ; but
being frequently warned in dreams to quit his flock and
build this bridge, he did so. His youth and inexperience
gained him no respect; but by the aid of the Brethren he
succeeded, and was canonised as a Saint, when he died
in 1187. The bridge was commenced 1176, and com-
pleted in 1188. It consisted of eighteen arches — the
span of the largest arch was one hundred and ten feet
nine inches; and it was forty -five feet ten inches in
height. In the same year that witnessed the commence-
ment of this bridge, was old London Bridge begun by
Peter of Colechurch who was probably a member of the
widely dispersed fraternity of the " Brethren of the
Bridge." Previous to the erection of this structure,
which was completed in the reign of John, a.d. 1209, a
bridge of wood existed, built in the reign of Ethelred 11.,
between the years 993 and 1016. In 1163, it was
rebuilt of timber.

This society erected many other bridges, such as that
of St. Esprit, over the Rhone, others at Lyons, &c.

The remarkable bridge of the Holy Trinity, over the
Arno, at Florence, was built in 1569. It is a beautiful
specimen of the arch. A bridge, which is a copy of it,
has been built at Cambridge, in the walks of Trinity
College.

The art of brido^e-building seems to have been cuiti-
vated in Britain, with success, from an early period. The
oldest structure of this kind, seems to be the Gothic trian-
gular bridge at Croyland,in Lincolnshire; built, it is said,
in 860. There are two curious circumstances in the

102 CROYLAND BRIDGE.

construction of this bridge, -wliicli render it an object of
great interest to the antiquary. First, it is formed by
three semi-arches, at equal distances from each other.
These unite at the top; and the triune nature of the
structure has led some to imagine that it was in-
tended as an emblem of the Trinity. Secondly, the
ascent on each of the semi-arches is by steps paved with
small stones edgeways; and it is so steep, that none but
foot-passengers can go over the bridge: horsemen and
carriages frequently pass under it, as the river near the
bridge is shallow. It is now difficult to determine for
what purpose this bridge was erected; it is obvious that
utility was the smallest motive for its erection. To bold-
ness of design and simplicity of construction it has strong
claims ; and it is surpassed in these qualities at least, by
no bridge in Europe. Its durability also is not the least
of its merits; for although it has been erected so many
centuries, it exhibits no symptoms of decay. At the foot
of one of the ascents, is the ruined statue of some Saxon
monarch, supposed by some to be that of Ethelbert.

In the year 993, the first bridge over the Thames was
erected opposite the site of the present St. Botolph's
wharf. This bridge was of wood, and a statute of Ethelred
II., fixing the tolls to be paid by the " Bylyngsgate"
fishing boats, alludes to this bridge.

Previous to the erection of this bridge, there was a
ferry, the proprietor of which left it to an only daughter,
named Mary, who founded a house of sisters, or a con-
vent near the church of St. IMary Overil, in Southwark,
(the present St. Saviour's.) and endowed it with the ferry
and its proceeds. This convent was subsequently trans-
formed into a college of priests, who built the wooden
bridge, and kept it in repair; till, finding that the expense
would be ultimately saved by a greater immediate outlay,
agreed with the citizens of London to substitute a bridge
of stone.

The wooden bridge had been exposed to many vicissi-
tudes. Soon after its erection it was nearly destroyed by
the Norwegian prince, Olaf, who attacked the city in be-
half of his ally, King Ethelred, whom the citizens had

LONDON BRIDGE. 103

refused to acknowledge. In 1016, Canute, being pre-
vented by the bridge from sailing up the river, dug a
channel at the southern end, and carried his fleet through
it to the western side of the bridge. In November, 1091,
a violent flood destroyed the greater part of the bridge,
and it was repaired by a tax levied on the city by William
the Second. In 1136, it was damaged by fire, and though
again restored, it was found, in 1163, to be so dilapidated,
as to require rebuilding. The college resolved, therefore,
as we said, to erect a bridge of stone, and applied to Peter
of Colechurch, w ho conducted the work, and erected an
edifice Avhich endured 600 years. This bridge was begun
in 1176, a little to the west of the old wooden one. The
utility of such a work was so much appreciated, that
the contributions to it Avere considerable, — the king gave
to it the proceeds of a tax on wool, and hence arose
a popular saying, that the foundations of the old London
bridge were laid on wool-packs ; the Pope's legate contri-
buted a thousand marks, and the Archbishop of Canter-
bury, and numerous other persons, Avere donors to this-
useful undertaking.

The piers were built on a frame-work of elm piles,,
driven in as closely as possible, and the intervals w^ere
filled in with rubble. The coffer-dams, which were made
round each, Avere never removed, and constituted the
stei-li?ig.i*', which formed so singular a feature in this
venerable structure. The loAver courses of the masonry
exposed to the action of the Avater Avere laid in pitch,
instead of mortar ; for, at that time, no cement of lime
Avas knoAvn, Avhich Avas capable of setting under, and re-
sisting the action of Avater.

Peter died in 1205; and three merchants of London
Avere appointed to complete the Avork, Avhich they did in
four years more. The bridge, Avhen finished, contained
tAventy arches of unequal magnitude, and of the pointed
Gothic style; the total length of the bridge was 915 feet,
and its Avidth, 73 feet.

• More properly, perhaps, s;eer/m^«,- for theywere supposed to
have been designed for the preservation of the piei-s, by guiding
or steering tlie force of the current or other damage from them.

104 LONDON BRIDGE.

The master-mason of the work erected a Gothic chapel
at his own cost, on the east side of the ninth pier from
the northern end of the bridge. This chapel was dedi-
cated to St. Thomas. The lower story thereof was a crypt,
and stood in the sterling of the pier, which was extended
fifty feet further than the others for the purpose in view: the
upper part, or chapel, was level with the road- way of the
bridge, and stood partly on the pier, presenting a front to the
road, forty feet high, and thirty wide: the length of the whole
building was sixty feet. The body of Peter, of Colechurch,
was deposited in a stone tomb, in the crypt of this chapel,
within the pier of the bridge — a proper burial-place for its
architect. This chapel was, at successive times, augmented
by several chantries; so that, in the time of Henry
VI., there Avere four chaplains belonging to it, whose
stipends were bequeathed by different persons at their
deaths. It afterwards became the property of St. Kather-
ine's hospital ; and, though it was suppressed as a monastic
institution at the Ileformation, divine service was per-
formed in it till the beginning of the last century; it was
then occupied as a shop, and the crypt converted into a
paper- warehouse ; and such was the solidity of the work,
that though the floor of this story was nearly ten feet below
high water-mark, no damp penetrated the walls. In the
enclosure of the sterling, in front of the end of the edifice,
a fish-preserve had been made, into which the tide carried
the fish, and they Avere secured by a wire grating. A
winding staircase led down to this pond from the chapel.
This singular and interesting chapel Avas pulled down
in 1760, during some repairs of the bridge.

The arches of the bridge were of different Avidths; four
of the Avidest, Avhich admitted the passage of larger boats,
Avere called locks; and there was a moveable draw-bridge,
instead of a stone arch, between the sixth and seventh,
piers, to admit of larger vessels coming up the river.

There AA'as also a toAver erected at each end of the
bridge,forthepurposesof defence; a general practice at such
a time, Avhen, in case of an attack upon the city, the easiest
access Avas, of course, over the bridge. In 1426, a third
toAver Avas erected at the north side of the draAA'-bridge ;

LONDON BRIDGE.

Ids

and, it is probable, that many houses were about this
time also erected on the bridge; for we find an account of
the loss of many lives by a fire, about three years after-
wards, which broke out in Southwark, and communicated
to some buildings on the opposite side of the bridge ; and
these unfortunate people neglecting to quit their dwellings
in time, were enclosed by the flames, and drowned in trying
to escape by the river; some were crushed by the falling
ruins, and others were burnt in the flames. It is stated
that about three thousand lives were lost on this occasion.

A writer in the reign of Elizabeth appends the fol-
lowing description, to a curious view of the bridge in
that reigft. " This famous bridge is adorned with sump-
tuous buildings, and statelie and beautifull houses on
either syde inhabited by wealthy citizens, and furnished
with all manner of trades, comparable in itself to a little
city, Avhose buildynges are so artifycially contryved and so
firmly combyned, as it seemeth more than an ordinary street,
for it is ^s one continuous vaute or roof, except certain
voyd places reserved from buildings for the retyre of pas-
sengers from the danger of cars, carts, and droves of cattle,
usually passing that way. The vaults, cellars, and places
in the bowels, as it were of the same bridge, are many
and admirable, which arte cannot discover to the out-
warde view."

A number of these " buildynges" were destroyed by
fire, in 1646, and new ones were erected, " three stories
high, besides the cellars, which were within and between
the piers; and over the houses were statelie platforms
leaded, with rails and balusters, and some had pretty little
gardens with arbours."

Nonsuch- house, a curious building of the Elizabethan
age, made entirely of timber prepared in Holland, was
erected on the bridge. It stood near the draw-bridge
over the seventh arch, and overhung the river on each
side ; it was four stories high, richly carved and gilt. The
whole frame-work was put together with wooden pegs, no
iron being allowed in its construction.

The fire of 1666, destroyed almost entirely this laby-
rinth of dwellings. Within twenty years they were all

F .-J

106 LONDON BRIDGE.

erected on a more regular plan; the objection to their
presence on the bridge not being yet confirmed. The
passage over the bridge was, however, narrow, dark, and
dangerous : small security was afforded to foot passengers,
and the appearance, both from the bridge and from the
river, was unsightly in the extreme. The inconvenience,
therefore, of the houses, and of the narrow passage pro-
duced by them, being more and more felt, these were all
cleared away in 1755, parapets and balustrades were
erected on each side; two of the middle arches were
thrown into one, to enlarge the water-way; and an arch-
way was opened through the tower of St. Magnus church,
for the accommodation of foot-passengers. In this state
this venerable structure remained till 1833, when it was
finally demolished.

We have been tempted into these details respecting a
structure, which is still vivid in the recollection of the
present generation. The magnificent bridge which has
been substituted for the old one, is so well known, and
the circumstances of its erection have been so frequently
and so recently detailed, that we need not repeat them.
We pass on, therefore, to notice AVestminster bridge; our
reason for which is to be found in the circumstances
attending its erection ; which forms an epoch in the art
of bridge-building, caissons being, for the first time, em-
ployed in building the piers. In noticing this bridge,
therefore, we will inform our young readers of the general
mode of erecting similar structures.

The increased population of the Surrey side of the
city of London, requiring more extensive means of com-
munication than London bridge afforded, an Act of Par-
liament was obtained, in 1736, for the erection of a bridge
at Westminster, and John Labelye, a Swiss architect, was
appointed to the work.

Up to this time it had been the custom, in the con-
struction of modern bridges, to form a coffer-dam^ or en-
closure of strong piles driven into the bed of the river,
large enough to allow of the pier being built within it;
this work was made water-tight by means of clay, &c.
rammed between two rows of piles; and the water being

AVESTMINSTER BRIDGE. 107

then pumijed out, the foundation could be dug, and pre-
pared -without impediment from the action of the stream.

But, in the erection of Westminster bridge, a new
plan was adopted. The mud having been removed by
dredging, till the firm sand was reached, the surface of
this was made level by raking, and tried by repeated
measurements, with a proper instrument. The caisson
consisted of an enormous chest, formed of timber-beams ;
the bottom being made capable of separation from the
sides, and the whole rendered water-tight Avhile in use.
This chest being floated to the proper spot over the pre-
pared foundation, it was secured to fender-piles driven
round the place ; and the lowermost course of masonry
being laid in it, and cramped, the water Avas admitted
into the caisson, by a sluice-gate, and so caused it to
sink. It was then ascertained whether it lay truly level
on the bed of sand: the sides of the caisson were made
sufficiently deep to allow of its edge being above the level
of the water when it was sunk ; so that, by shutting the
sluice, and pumping the water out, it might float again, if
need were, with the masonry in it.

If any defect in the level had been discovered, the bed
was corrected accordingly; and new courses of masonry
being built in that already laid, the whole Avas again,
sunk into the precise spot. By these means the pier
was raised nearly to the level of low water; so that by
availing themselves of the ebb, and pumping out the
watei-, the Avorkmen could soon add ncAV courses of ma-
sonry, and raise the Avork above the level of the high tide-
When this Avas done, the sides of the caisson Avere de-
tached from the bottom, and floated ashore, to be fixed
to a new one, to serve for another pier.

The bridge is 1223 feet long, and 44 Avide, betAveen
the parapets ; there are thirteen semicular arches, besides
a smaller one, of tAventy feet, at each end, next the abut-
ments ; the centre arch is seventy-six feet span, the others
decrease in Avidth regularly, both Avays, by four feet each.
The piers and arches are of Portland stone, the spandrils*

* A spanclril, in bridge-building, is the space comprised be-
tween the upright line of the pier, the road-Avay, aud the outer
curve of the arch.

108 BLACKFRIARS' BRIDGE.

being filled up witli courses of PurLeck stone, laid so as
to form an arch, and so adjusted, that the whole mass
shall be in ecjuilibrium ; each arch is, consequently, in-
dependent of the adjoining ones for support.

The piers between the arches form semi-octagonal
projections, which terminate at the parapets, in recesses
in which are benches for the convenience of passengers:
six of these, on each side of the bridge, are arched over
with stone.

Before the completion of the bridge, one of the piers
sank considerably, in consequence of a quantity of sand
for the road-way having been dredged out of the river
at a spot too near the foundation, and nine feet below it.
It therefore became necessary to take down the two ad-
joining arches; and the pier being loaded with cannon
till all subsidence ceased, was then raised up to a level with
the others, and the arches rebuilt. The bridge was opened
on the 17th of November, 1750.

The next metropolitan bridge, in point of date, was
Blackfriars. It was begun in 1760, and opened in 1771.
Mr. Milne was the architect, and, profiting by the example
in scientific construction set him by Labelye, he surpassed
the performance of the latter, in boldness and elegance of
design. The stone, however, which is employed in this
structure, is of so perishable a nature, that it is already
much decayed, and requires frequent repairs ; as many of
oui- readers are probably in the habit of witnessing.

Waterloo bridge, a representation of which is given in the
next page, is generally admitted to be the finest in England,
if not in the world; though its arches are far surpassed iu
span t by more recent erections, yet no other bridge unites
such simplicity and grandeur of design, with such magni-
tude. A bridge at this part of the river had, in 1805,
been proposed by Mr. George Dodd; but in consequence
of much interested opposition, an Act of Parliament was
not obtained for it until June, 1809. Mr. Rennie was
appointed engineer, who, in June, 1810, offered two de-

* The span of an arch is the horizontal distance between the
piers or abutments which support it, measured at the points where
the arch begins, or springs.

WATERLOO BRIDGE

111

signs for a bridge, one of seven and the other of nine
arches, the latter of which was approved. This bridge
has a perfectly horizontal road-way; its arches are ellipti-
cal, each having a span of 120 feet, and a rise of 38 feet,
forming a water-way of 1080 feet. The length of the
bridge, between the abutments, is 1380 feet, and its width
forty-two feet four inches. The approaches to each end of
the pier are seventy feet wide, and are carried over a series
of semi-circular brick arches. On the Surrey side, the
approach is formed by thirty-nine of these arches, besides
an elliptical arch of twenty-six feet span over the narrow-
wall-road, so that the total length of the bridge and brick
arches, is 2456 feet. This bridge is not national property.
It belongs to a company incorporated by the Act of
Parliament, which authorized its erection and the payment
of a toll.

EridL

over tha JJee.

There is a magnificent bridge, called the Dean-bridge
which has been lately thrown across the opening formed
by the river, or water of Leith, to the north of the city of
Edinburgh, which river is called the Dee. It has been
erected from a design by Mr, Telford. It consists of two
series of four arches each, the one surmounting the other.
The latter carries the foot-paths; and from the road-way,

112 PONT Y PRYDD.

■\vhlcli is at the enormous height of about 120 feet above
the level of the river below, there is a most extensive vieAV
of the Frith of Forth, with the adjacent coast of Fife and
East Lothian.

The stone bridges of our own countr}-, as well as of
France, are numerous and beautiful, but Ave have not
space to describe them further; our object being rather
to show their importance as connecting links between
roads, and their influence in promoting civilisation, than
than to furnish their history and the details of their erec-
tion. There is, however, one bridge which, as a memorial
of the patience, industry, and talent, of its remarkable
architect, we cannot pass over in silence.

This bridge is probably the most extraordinary of any
in our own country. It is thrown over the Taaf, in Gla-
morganshire, called Pont y Prydd, and was erected by
William Edwards, an uneducated mason of that county.
In 1746, he built a new bridge at this place, Avliich was
universally admired for neatness of workmanship and
elegance of design : it consisted of three arches, elegantly
light in their construction. The hewn stones were well
dressed and closely jointed. But the river flows through
a very deep vale, that is more than usually woody and
hemmed in with mountains. It is also to be considered
that many other rivers, of no mean capacity, besides
numberless brooks, that run through long, deep, and
well-wooded vales, or glens, fall into the Taaff. The
descents into these vales from the mountains being in
general very steep, the water, during long and heavy
rains, collects into these rivers with great rapidity and
force, raising floods such as the inhabitants of open and
flat countries can scarcely have a notion of, Avhere the
rivers are neither so precipitate in their courses, nor have
such hills on each side, to swell them Avith their torrents.
Such a flood unfortunately occurred about two-and-a-half
years after the completion of Edwards's first bridge,
whereby the largest trees were torn up by the roots, and
borne down the river to the bridge, whose arches were
not sufliciently wide to admit of their passage ; there,
therefore, they Avere detained. Brushwood, weeds, hay,

PONT Y PRYDD. 113

straw, and whatever lay in the way of the flood, came
down and collected ahout the branches of the trees, all
which stuck fast in the arches, and choked the free cur-
rent of the water. In consequence of this obstruction to
the flood, a thick and strong dam, as it were, was thus
formed. The aggregate of so many collected streams
being unable to get any further, rose here to a great
height, and with the force of its pressure carried the
bridge away entirely before it. Edwards had given secu-
rity for the stability of the bridge during the space of
seven years, he was therefore obhged to erect another,
which he proceeded to do as promptly as circumstances
would allow him. The second bridge was of one arch,
for the purpose of admitting freely under it Avhatever
incumbrances the flood might bring down. The span of
this arch Avas 140 feet, and its altitude 35 feet. The
arch was finished, but the parapets were not yet erected,
when such was the pressure of the unavoidably ponderous
work over the haunches*, that it sprang in the middle,
and the key-stones were forced out. This was another
blow to a man who had, as yet, encountered nothing but
misfortune in an enterprise which was to establish or to
ruin him in his profession. But his courage did not so
easily give way as his bridge ; he soon set about a third
structure, and by means of cylindrical apertures through
the haunches, so reduced their weight that there was no
more danger on this account. The third bridge, which
has stood ever since, was completed in 1755, four years
after the fall of the second bridge. The arch of the pre-
sent bridge is 140 feet in span, and 35 feet high. In
each haunch are three unequal cylindrical openings,
running through from side to side, of nine, six, and three
feet in diameter. The width of the bridge is about
eleven feet. To strengthen it horizontally, it is made
widest at the abutments, from which it contracts towards
the centre by seven offsets ; so that the roadway is one
foot nine inches wider at the extremities than at the
middle. We have ventured upon these details, partly to

* The haunches of a bridge which has but a single arch ai"e the
sides from which tlie arch springs.

114

THE RIALTO.

afford our younger readers a cheering example of ■what
may be done by firmness and Integrity of purpose ; partly
to express our admiration of the performance of a vigor-
ous though uneducated mind, and partly to afford a few
particulars respecting a stone arch, which, at the time of
its erection, was the largest in the world. The Rialto at
Venice, which was planned by Michael Angelo, had been

The Bialto.

considered a wonderful structure, because the span of its
arch was ninety-eight feet; whereas, that of Edwards's
arch was 140 feet span. Edwards's performance gave, as
it were, a new impulse to bridge-building ; stone arches
of extraordinary dimensions were constructed, both in our
country and in France : but no one excelled the bridge of
our Welsh architect, whose fame now extended far and
wide. He built many other bridges, and, in point of
convenience, improved upon his first attempt ; for he
formed his arches of segments of much larger circles than
he had ventured to try in the first instance, so that, the
roads over them being flatter, the draught of carriages was
less, and general travel much easier than with arches
formed of segments of smaller circles. All that Edwards

STONE BRIDGES.

115

performed was done by his own reflection and sagacity ;
he received instruction from no one — the very principles
of masonr}'' he declares lie acquired by rambling among
the ruins of an old gothic castle in his native parish.

We have thus far noticed those superior structures of
stone which are calculated to endure for centuries. There
now remain to be noticed several classes of bridges of a
less durable description, to a brief notice of whicli we pro-
pose to devote the next chapter.

Ancient Bridge ever tne Moselle.

Uii' i4iiiinii

Norwegian Bridge.

CHAPTER VIII.

Iron Bridges, History of. — Soiitliwark Bridge. — Telford's Iron
Bridges. — Timber Bridges of Germany. — Floating Bridges. —
Suspension Bridges of America and Asia. — Conditions of Sus-
pension Bridges. — Telford's Menai Bridge, &c. — Brighton
Suspension Pier. — Fribourg Suspension Bridge. — Hammer-
smith Suspension Bridge.

Among the many remarkable applications of that valuable
metal iron, its use in the construction of bridges is worthy
of our notice. It has been asserted of the English, as a
nation, that Avith all their powers of application and im-
provement, they are Avanting in invention. It is scarcely
"worth while to enquire into the truth of this assertion;
for in the case before us, the merit is due solely to the
English, of inventing, applying, and improving Iron
bridofes : and it is not unnatural that, with our eminent
skill in iron manufactory, that metal should be employed
in the construction of bridges, in situations Avhere stone
is not easily obtained, or for purposes of lightness and
economy. In the iron districts, in particular, bridges
would naturally be built of iron, that being the most abun-

SOUTHWARK BRIDGE. 119

dant material, as in well-wooded districts timber would
most likely be adopted.

The first iron bridge ever constructed was over the
Severn, at Colebrook-dale in Shropshire; the metal for it
was cast at the Colebrook-dale foundries by Abraham
Darby in 1777, at the great iron- works situate there.
The chord is 100 feet, and the arch nearly a semicircle,
composed of five iron ribs, upon Avhich the road-way is
formed by other pieces of cast iron, and plates which carry
the road.

The second iron bridge, cast by Messrs. Walker, in
Yorkshire, Avas as great an improvement on the first in
principle, as it was superior to it in size. It was con-
veyed to London, and exhibited at a bowling-green, near
the old church Pancras. It was intended to have been
sent to America, but the speculator failing in his payments,
the materials were used for the beautiful bridge over the
Wear, at Bishop's Wearmouth, near Sunderland. The
span of this arch is 240 feet. It Is elevated 100 feet
above the water, so that vessels of 300 tons burden can
sail under it without striking their topsails.

In the same year, 1795, Mr. Telford erected an iron
bridge at Buildwas, in Shropshire, which is remarkable as
consisting of two arches, one partly sustaining and partly
suspending the other.

Vauxhall bridge was originally intended to be of stoiie;
the arches are therefore of less span than was at all neces-
sary for an iron bridge, aiid although the effect is pleasing,
it wants the lightness of an iron bridge of great span.

Perhaps the finest iron bridge in the world is Trafalgar,
or as it is more commonly called Southwark, bridge. The
architect is Mr. Rennie, who has had the honour of con-
structing three fine bridges over the Thames at London.
Southwark bridge consists of three arches only; the centre
one being 240 feet in span, with a versed sine ■■' of only
twenty-four, or one-tenth of the chord. The piers are of
granite.

* The versed sine in an arch is its height, measured from the
soffite, or highest point of the imderside, to the span-line or chord,
which is thereby divided into two equal parts.

120 TIMBER BRIDGES.

The largest iron arch ever proposed, but not executed,
■was when the plans of the new London bridge were
being considered. Mr. Telford designed an iron bridge
whose span should be 600 feet. Mr. Telford's character
stands too hi";h to admit a doubt of his beino; able to ac-
complish anything he proposed, and Avere it not that the
present London bridge is so admirable a structure, we
should regret that Mr. Telford's plan was not adopted.

We come now to notice Timbp:r bridges, which is the
most ready, and probably the most ancient, mode of form-
ing these useful structures.

The first recorded timber bridge is by Julius Caesar, de-
scribed by him in his Commentaries. Palladio has given
a design of this bridge founded on Cjesar's own descrip-
tion. Lie has also described other wooden bridges which
are ingenious, and not inelegant; but these we need not
stay to describe. At the head of this chapter is a represen-
tation of a Norwegian bridge, constructed in a very primi-
tive fashion of logs of wood, and thrown over a torrent.

Germany has been called the school for wooden bridges,
as England is for those of iron. The most celebrated
•wooden bridge is that over the Rhine at Schauifhausen,
constructed in 17'')8 by a self-taught carpenter named
Ulric Grubenmann. The strong current of the river
having undermined the piers of a stone bridge which pre-
viously existed there, it fell down in 1 754, and it was
determined to substitute one of timber, which, requiring a
smaller number of piers was not so much exposed to simi-
lar accidents. Grubenmann oflPcred a model of a bridge
without any pier at all, but his project being considered
too bold, the authorities insisted that one pier of the old
bridge, which was left standing, should be used as an in-
termediate support. The design was therefore modified,
and the bridge was built apparently in one span from
shore to shore, but addltional'support was afforded by beams
springing from the stone pier. The length of the bridge
was 364 feet, and its breadth eighteen feet. This bridge was
destroyed by the French in 1 799. John, the brother of LTIric
Grubenmann, has also erected bridges with skill, equal to
that of his brother. The two brothers in conjunction

TIMBER BRIDGES. 121

erected a beautiful structure over the river Limmat near
Baden, and another at Writtenghen.

Swiss Bridge.

"Wiebecking, Avho has been called the most skilful car-
penter of modern times, has erected timber bridges of ex-
traordinary dimensions. One of these structures is the seg-
ment of a circle, the chord line of which measures 639 feet,
its versed sine only twenty-six feet six inches, being the
portion of a circle whose whole diameter is no less than
3876 feet. The thickness of the framing of this extra-
ordinary bridge is only four feet two inches.

The Americans, having a superabundant supply of
timber, have been very successful in the construction of
wooden bridges. Timber also abounds in Norway, but,
judging from the specimen represented at the head of the
present chapter, the Norwegians are sometimes con-
tented with bridges of a rude and most primitive form.

Over the Schuylkill in Philadelphia is a timber bridge
named the Colossus, having a span of 340 feet. It was
built by Wernwag, in 1813.

Another description of bridges of great antiquity is
known by the name of floating bridges, which are in
general only temporary works for the purposes of facilitat-
ing military operations"; but they are also sometimes
adopted as permanent bridges over rivers, examples of
them being found at St. Petersburgh, Presburgh, Coblentz,

* The famous bridge of boats formed over the Hellespont, by
Xerxes, will occur to the readers of ancient Iiistory.

G

12S FLOATING BRIDGES.

and other towns on the continent of Europe. Others are
found of a less permanent nature; as on the Black River,
a branch of the Senegal, in Africa, is seen a floating bridge
made of trees and bamboos, which is every year carried
away by the swelling of the stream in the rainy season,
and rebuilt by the people of one of the neighbouring
towns.

The principal feature of these bridges consists in a
roadway supported by boats of a peculiar construction,
Avhich are anchored in a line across the stream. They are
very useful on rivers with strong currents, which some-
times bring down large masses of ice, so destructive to the
piers of an ordinary bridge. On such occasions an open-
ing is made in the floating bridge by removing the road-
way, and unmooring a few boats; or the whole bridge is
made to swing round with the current, and lie along the
shore till the danger is over. This plan is also available
in times of war, Avhen a frontier-town is exposed to the
attacks of an enemy; and the facility with which all com-
munication by roads or bridges can be cut ofi" without
injury to the bridge is a great recommendation to this
contrivance; but still the passage over floating bridges is
not at all times pleasant or even safe, since the bridges
partake of all the undulations of the stream, and are also
greatly afl:ected by strong winds.

The last form of bridges that we shall notice, is Pex-
DENT bridges, or bridges of Suspension, which seem to be
derived from the rope bridges of South America and the
East Indies, which are well adapted to mountainous
countries, where the depth of the valleys is so great as to
preclude the erection of piers, and consequently of bridges
of stone, iron, or timber; they are also extremely useful,
for a similar reason, over very rapid streams.

By referring to the cut at page 9, the reader will under-
stand at a glance the rude and simple mode of crossing
torrents and other rapid streams in India, as well as in
South America. When Europeans first visited the latter
country, they found the tarabiia, as it is called, used by
the natives in crossing the valleys and torrents of the Cor-
dilleras.

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SUSPENSION BRIDGES. 125

A cable made of strips of hide, or fibres of plants, is
stretched across from a post, or tree, on one side, to a
■wheel on the other ; this wheel, or some such contrivance,
being necessary to keep the rope tight. A basket is then
suspended by loops from the cable, and the basket, Avith
the traveller in it, is pulled across by means of a smaller
rope to the opposite shore.

Humboldt describes a bridge, called the Penipe, over
the river Chambo, in Quito, of a superior construction to
the Tarabita. The main ropes are four inches in dia-
meter, and are laid over frames of timber on each bank,
and secured by posts driven into the ground. Over these
ropes is laid the road-way, which consequently partakes of
the curvature of the ropes, and their instability increases
the difficulty of Avalking ovex it ; there are, however, side
parapets, to prevent a person from falling. The span of
this bridge is 131 feet.

In the mountainous districts of India and Central
Asia, suspension bridges of ropes, or chains, have been in
use from the earliest times. The simplest form closely
resembles the Tarabita, above described, and is called a
I'hoola; but we often find descriptions of suspension-
bridges of a far superior construction. Over the river
Tchin-tchien is a bridge, called Chuka-chazMra. The
river flows between precipitous and rugged banks, in one
of the steepest , of which is a pyramidal pier of masonry,
through the top of Avhich is the road-way ; in this open-
ing is fixed a strong frame, like a door-way. On the
opposite bank is a second pier, in which a room is con-
structed, from the front of Avhich projects a covered gal-
lery of timber to the edge of the river, a distance of about
thirty-five feet. The floor of the bridge is made by five
main-chains of iron, secured to the front wall of the
building containing the room ; which chains, after passing
over the lower beams of the gallery, are attached to the
bottom of the frame of the opposite pier. On each side
of the bridge is fixed another chain, nine feet above the
former, to the top beam of this frame, and, being carried
through the Avail of the room, they pass doAvn to the
ground, Avhere they are secured. Vertical suspending-rods

]26 SUSPENSION BRIDGES.

hang from these two upper chalus to the outer ones of
the floor-chains, to the support of which they contribute,
while they form a parapet to the bridge ; the road- way is
covered with strips of bamboo. This bridge is very
ancient, and a superhuman origin is assigned to it by the
natives.

It is remarkable that suspension-bridges were not
introduced into Europe until about the close of the last
century, although they seem to have been kno^ATi for at
least 2000 years ; but the grand discovery of the arch was
probably the cause of their exclusion, till, engineers having
carried arched bridges to a high degree of perfection, a
desire arose for the construction of bridges on a more
economical plan, and in situations where the arch, for
reasons before stated, was impracticable.

In the Peruvian and Indian bridges, the employment
of several ropes was considered necessary to their security,
in order that if one Avere broken, the others might sustain
the road till the injury were repaired; also because several
short ropes are stronger in proportion than one long one.
Similar precautions are necessary when iron chains are
employed, whose weight, independently of the road-way
which they sustain, requires not only an increase in their
number, but an equal degree of strength in every part of
them. This latter condition is attained by making each
link to consist of several parts united together, because it
is easier to make a small bar sound than a large one, and
if one such bar in the link should break, it can be replaced;
besides, these small rods can be made of forged iron, the
tenacity of which is greater than that of cast iron. The
links too are frequently made of iron- wire, bound together
in numerous coils, the tenacity of which is improved by
drawing, so that it thus becomes superior even to wrought
iron.

It is, of course, well known to the reader that a very
long cord, or chain, cannot be stretched into a perfectly
horizontal line, in consequence of the attraction of gravi-
tation ; it will break long before it approaches a horizon-
tal line. Now it has been found, by calculation and
experiment, that there is a certain degree of curvature in

SUSPENSION BRIDGES. 127

a chain, or rope, when employed in a suspension bridge,
Avhich is best adapted to stability ; and since the lowest
part of that curve, or the level of the road, must be suihci-
ently elevated above the river or valley beneath, the
chains must be suspended from some solid fixed object,
such as a pier, at each end of the bridge, in order to aftbrd
the necessary curvature of the chains. But as no upright
structure would be capable of resisting the tension of the
chains, simply fastened thereto, it is necessary, after carry-
ing the chains through or over these piers, to bring them
down to the ground, and attach them to some other mas-
sive and immoveable object.

Since, also, the length of the chains is subject to vari-
ation by change of temperature, as well as by vibration, the
chains are laid on friction-rollers, which allow motion to
them without disturbing the piers to which they are
attached. So also, in order to avoid any lateral pressure,
which would tend to overthroAv the piers, it is necessary
that the weight of the suspended mass should exert a per-
pendicular pressure on them. This is effected by making
the chains descend from the piers each way at an equal
angle; but this precaution is often sacrificed to other
considerations, and the stability of the piers secured by an
increase of size or strength, and by their pyramidal form.

A chain-bridge Avas erected across the Tees, near
Middleton, in Yorkshire, about the year 1 741 ; but very
little science or skill seems to have been employed in its
construction. In 17^65 a suspension- bridge was erected
over Jacob's Creek, near Greenburgh, in North America ;
and this seems to be the first important bridge of this
nature in modern times.

It was not till about the year 1814, that the attention
of English engineers was directed to the subject of suspen-
sion bridges. A projected road from Runcorn to Liver-
pool included a bridge over the Mersey at Runcorn Gap,
instead of the existing ferry. Since the navigation of the
river could not be disturbed, and three spans only being
allowed for the bridge, the centre one of a thousand feet,
and seventy feet high ; an arched bridge was, of course,
impracticable. Mr. Telford proposed a suspension-bridge,

128

MENAI BRIDGE.

and thus reminded English engineers of a practice which
has since been extensively adopted.

Our limits do not allow us to trace the rise and pro-
gress of suspension-bridges in this country, but it will
be enough for our purpose to instance two of these
remarkable structures, and describe them somewhat in
detail.

The Menai suspension-bridge is justly celebrated, as
well for the skill of its design and execution, as for its
utility. This noble Avork, of which the accompanying
figure will convey an accurate idea, is due to Mr. Telford.
It was commenced in July, 1819, and opened in January,
1826.

The passage of the Menai Straits, between the Isle of
Anglesea and the Caeraarvonshire coast, had always ope-
rated as a great impediment to communication ; and the
advantages were likewise lost of proceeding at once to
Holyhead as the nearest point of embarkation for Dublin.

The accompanying view will not only convey a just
idea of suspension-bridges generally, but will render a
minute account of the work itself unnecessary. The dis-
tance between the piers at the level of the road is 551
feet; the road-way is 102 feet above high-water level,
and is 28 feet wide, divided into two carriage-ways of
12 feet each, with a foot-way between them of 4 feet.

There are sixteen main chains, the links of which con-
sist of five wrought-iron bars, 10 feet long, 3^ inches
broad, and 1 inch thick ; so that there are in all eighty
such bars. The links are connected by means of coupling
links, 16 inches long, 8 broad, and 1 inch thick, as shown
in the annexed figure, which shows the junction of two

contiguous links ; each bolt-pin is 3 inches in diameter,
and weighs 56 pounds. The chains are arranged in sets

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MENAI BRIDGE. 131

of four, one under the other ; one set on each side of the
central foot-path, and one set on each of the outer sides
of the bridge. The chains, after passing over the piers,
descend to the earth, and are conveyed through three
tunnels cut in the solid rock on each shore, and are held
in chambers at the end of the tunnels by means of twelve
bolts, each 9 feet long, and 6 inches in diameter, resting
in sockets in cast-iron plates. The chains are provided
■with suspending-rods, cross-ties, &c., to prevent vibration
and lateral motion from the effects of wind, &c. The
chains lie on cast-iron saddles on the top of the piers,
these saddles resting on friction-rollers, carried by a fixed
iron bed; the saddles, therefore, move Avith the chains
■when these undergo any variation from temperature.

In setting up the chains, the parts within the tunnels
were put together link by link, from the holding-bolts at
the bottom ; a scaffolding was erected from the mouths of
the tunnels on the masonry, supporting a platform of the
requisite slope, reaching to the tops of the piers; the
chains were put together on this platform till they reached
over the saddles. A cradle capable of holding two work-
men was suspended by tackle from the top of the pier on
the Caernarvon side, in such a manner that the men could
raise or lower it themselves as they required. The links
■were brought to the face of the pier next the sea through,
the archway; from thence each link was raised to the
required height : it was then attached to the last link by
the men in the cradle. In this way the chain was length-
ened downwards to the level of the water. The other
portion of the chain, which was to unite the two ends,
was laid on a raft 400 feet long and 6 feet wdde : one end
of the chain on the raft being fixed to the end of the chain
hanging from one pier, the raft was floated across, and
the other end of the chain lying on it was attached by the
second link to a powerful tackle, which was raised by two
capstans on shore, till the chain was elevated to the height
necessary to admit of a union between the two ends. In
this way all the chains were got up.

The road-way suspended from these chains consists of

132 ^ MENAI BRIDGE.

two thicknesses of planks, forming a thickness of five
inches; the under planks are l)olted. to the wood that
fills in the intervals between the road-way bars. This
planking was covered with felt saturated with boiled tar,
and the upper thickness was placed over this felt and
spiked down to the lower one. In the middle of each
carriage-way there is a third layer of plank, placed on
felt as before ; the road-way is also stiffened by means of
an oak plank bolted to the underside, between each cross-
bearer.

We shall not justly estimate this noble structure un-
less we remind the reader that there had not been as yet
any performance on such a scale of magnitude and diffi-
culty ; whereby to assist and guide the engineer as a pat-
tern. When a great work is once established, and in action,
it is comparatively easy to take it as a model, whereby to
follow out, and extend its principle, to avoid its defects,
and to institute such useful variations and improvements
as experience may suggest. Few men are so gifted by
nature, by education, and by co-operating circumstances,
as to discover an unknown principle, or law of nature ;
but when this is revealed, how simple becomes the appli-
cation of crowds of illustrative facts, and how rapidly are
old facts varied, and new facts discovered ! We, there-
fore, regard Mr. Telford as one of the gifted few whose
genius led him to invent a model which places him on a
level with such benefactors of our species as an Arkwright,
a AVatt, or a Brindley.

Among the useful roads which enable men to commu-
nicate with each other, we must not forget Piers, or roads
stretching out into the sea from sea-coast towns which
have not the advantage of a natural harbour, or port,
whereby in such a case all approach to the town by sea is
inconvenient, and in rough weather impracticable. Such
a town was Brighton, previous to the erection of a suspen-
sion-pier.

The skilful Captain Brown is the engineer of the
Brighton suspension-pier. It was commenced in October,
1822, and finished in November, 1823. This work ex-

BRIGHTON PIER. 133

tends 1014 feet into the sea from the front of the espla-
nade wall. The entire length is 1136 feet, and is divided
into four spans of 22.5 feet each. The platform is 13 feet
broad.

There are eight main chains carried over pyi-amidal
cast-iron frames, 25 feet high, resting on piles ; the ex-
treme pile at the head of the pier is spread out laterally,
and is covered Avitli granite paving, -weighing upwards of
200 tons ; the object being to afford a firm base for the
back-stay chains -which are bolted to diagonal piles con-
structed in the extreme pile.

At the land-end the main chains are carried over a
pier of masonry, and through two tunnels cut in the cliff,
30 or 40 feet deep ; and secured in a brick chamber to
massive stones, by means of a ponderous plate of cast-iron.

This beautiful pier was greatly injured, if not destroyed,
by a tremendous gale, during the night of the loth of
October, 1833. The platform between the first and third
piers was almost entirely destroyed ; all the suspension-
rods broken, and the main chains much deranged, while
the weight of the road-way being removed, the chains over
the first and fourth spans were so much depressed, that
the platform they supported was also greatly injured.

Suspension-bridges generally are subject to a vibratory
motion, which is not only unpleasant to passengers, but is
injurious to the structure itself. However ponderous a
body may be, if suspended so as to vibrate, a slight force,
if repeated at equal intervals, produces that motion which
is frequently sufficient-to produce a rupture. It is stated
that a suspension-bridge at Broughton, near Manchester,
was broken down, in April, 1831, by a party of sixty
soldiers marching over it to a tune on a fife. The bridge
would have borne more than double the weight if the
men had gone over it in an irregular step; but the
equal timedness of the march produced so great an oscil-
lation in the main chains, as to break them. It has been
suggested that the damage done to the Brighton pier
was by gusts of wind acting probably at equal intervals of
time.

134

HAMMERSMITH BRIDGE.

There is a very fine suspension-bridge at Fribourg, in
Switzerland, constructed with Avire-cables by M. Chaley,
the French engineer. We may also remind tlie reader of
the fine structure at Hammersmith, designed and erected
by Mr. W. T. Clark, which presents the peculiarity of part
of the road-Avay being supported on, and not hanging from,
the main chains.

This bridge was opened in 1827, after having been
about three years in erecting.

ELimmersmith Su-speEsion Bridge.

CHAPTER IX.

Importance of Canals. — Canals of the ancient Greeks, Romans*
and Egyptians. — Canals in China. — Modern Canals of Russia,
Holland, France, and Great Britain.— Duke of Bridgewater's
Canal. — Brindley. — Construction of Locked Canals. — Cale-
donian Canal.

The author of the Wealth of Nations, after expatiating on
the value of good roads to the community, and the mani-
fold advantages to be derived from them, says : " But how
much greater must be the advantages of Canals, on -which
one horse will do the work of twenty or thirty horses in
the transport of goods, and one boy and a man the work of
ten men; that is, one man, a boy, and a horse, are suffi-
cient for transporting, by a canal of the smaller class,
twenty tons' weight of merchandise, which on the best
roads would require at least twenty horses and ten men.
The expense of carriage, therefore, would be at least ten
times as great, and the wear -and tear proportionably
greater."

The word " canal" is derived from canalis, the Latin
for a thing hollowed out like a cane or reed. Virgil uses
the term when speaking of a trough. But, as we generally
understand the term in reference to inland navigation, it is
a piece of water whose length is of more importance than
its breadth.

Although in this country canals, at their first introduc-
tion, had to share the fate of most new and useful inven-
tions, in encountering much opposition, their value seems
now to be generally admitted, even at the present time,

13(i CANALS OF ROME AND GREECE.

■when rail-roads are being so extensively and universally
adopted. On the first introduction of the latter mode of
conveyance, it was supposed that canals -would no longer
he required; and it "was suggested to draw off the water
from most of them, and convert them into lines for rail-
roads: but experience has hitherto shown, that the rail-
road is not a desirable mode of transport for goods whose
value is small compared with their weight, on account of
the great expense of carriage ; so that, where expedition is
not an important object, canals Avill always continue to be
desirable for the transit of a vast amount of heavy articles,
such as road-making materials, manure, fuel of various
kinds, metallic ores, &c.

We find many accounts of canals among the ancients;
and even in Greece, which, from its peculiar geographical
construction, would seem not to require the aid of canals,
we find traces of them. Some of the Roman Emperors
attempted to cut through the isthmus which connects the
Peloponnesus or Morea Avith the rest of Greece. In
Boeotia traces of canals are found, originally cut for the
purpose of carrj-ing off the water from the flooded lands.
The aqueducts of the Romans were a species of canal; and
they also had many canals for drawing off the water from
flooded lands.

From the earliest times canals seem to have been dug
in Egypt, for receiving and distributing the waters of the
Nile, at the time of its annual overflow; there Avas also a
grand project of a canal between the Nile and the Red
Sea. The works are said to have been commenced by
Necos, and continued by Darius; but a fear arose that all
Egypt would be inundated, and thus the plan was aban-
doned. The second Ptolemy, however, proceeded with
the undertaking, and completed it. He caused a dam, or
sluice, to be constructed, which was only opened to allow
a boat or other vessel to pass. The passage of this canal
occupied four days. It afforded a means of conveyance for
the rich commodities of India, Persia, Arabia, and the
southern coasts of Africa. These were conveyed from the
Red Sea down the Nile to Alexandria, whence they were
shipped to different parts of Europe. After the time of

CANALS OF CHINA. 137

Ptolemy, this canal fell into neglect, but one of the caliphs,
A.D. 635, restored it ; it was then suffered to fall into ruin,
and only a few traces of it now remain to excite the specu-
lations of the traveller. The canal of Alexandria, called
by the Arabs the Canal of Faon, was cut from a place
now named Rhamanie to Alexandria, for the purpose of
supplying water to this city, whence also proceeded a
canal to Canopus.

China has long been celebrated for its canals. Most of
my young readers will have heard of the Grand or Im-
perial Canal, extending from north to south more than
400 miles, cutting in its course several rivers and smaller
streams, and affording a constant supply of water. The
skill displayed in many parts of this stupendous work is
also remarkable. In order to accommodate the general
level of the canal to the respective levels of the streams
which supply it, it Avas necessary in some places to cut to
the depth of sixty or seventy feet below the surface ; and
in other cases to raise mounds of earth upon lakes,
swamps, and marshes of large dimensions. Some of these
enormous embankments are carried through lakes of vast
extent, and the water between the embankments is main-
tained at a level considerably above that in the lakes ;
sometimes, too, the Avater of this canal moves along at the
rate of three miles an hour, for the bed is level only in a
few places. Flood-gates are thrown across it in certain
situations, for the purpose of elevating or depressing the
height of the water when necessary, so as to maintain a
general level. Sluices are also constructed in the sides of
the embankments for draining off the redundant water.
The construction of the flood-gates is very simple. They
consist of planks sliding in grooves cut into the sides of
two stone piers, which, in the places where they are
situated, contract the canal to the width of thirty feet.
At each set of flood-gates there is a guard-house, with
soldiers, to protect the place, and to draw up and let down
the hatches as occasion requires. From the river Hohang-
ho to Kian-ku the country abounds in lakes and marshy
grounds; and in some parts the canal is carried twenty
feet above the level of the country, and the width is often

138 CANALS OP RUSSIA.

200 feet. This canal has no locks, and with the excep-
tion of the flood-gates, no interruption to navigation occurs
throughout its whole extent. It is stated that there is a
passage by canals almost from one extremity of the
Chinese empire to the other: that is from Pekin in the
north, to Canton in the south, tlie distance being estimated
at 920 miles, along which vessels may pass with only one
interruption, which is a mountain.

The canals of China are probably the most ancient in
the world; those of Russia are perhaps (if we except our
OAvn country) the most modern. From the generation of
this vast empire by Peter the Great, it has been alive to
every species of improvement which civilization affords.
After founding the city of Petersburgh, Peter formed the
plan of an inhmd navigation from Persia to his new city.
Merchandise was to be brought by the Caspian Sea to
Astracan, and thence by the Wolga; a line of canals was
then to convey it into the river Mesta and the Novogorod
lake; then into the lake of Ladoga, and to Petersburgh
by the river Neva, — a distance of 450 miles. Peter also
designed a navigation from the Don to the Wolga, and
another canal to the river Occa, and thus to arrive at
Moscow; and then a line Avas to communicate with Arch-
angel. An English engineer, Captain Perry, was ap-
pointed to superintend the works, and they proceeded
until the Czar's death, in spite of considerable opposition
on the part of the nobles or boyars. The successors of
Peter have, however, completed most of these fine plans,
which confer so great an advantage on Russia, as may be
seen when we state that goods may be conveyed nearly
4500 miles by water, from the frontiers of China to Peters-
burgh, Avith only one interruption of sixty miles. Another
completed line of upM'ards of 1400 miles, reaches from
Astracan to Petersburgh. There are also many other
smaller canals in Russia.

The canals of Holland form the principal feature of this
singular country, which, by the ingenuity and labour of
man has been withdrawn from the dominion of the sea.
The provinces of this country are intersected with a vast
number of canals, which form, in fact, the high roads of

CANALS OF FRANCE. 139

the Dutch; along which they are constantly travelling and
conveying goods from one to another, in summer by means
of boats and barges, and in winter by sledges and skates.
Their canals also communicate with many parts of France,
Flanders, and Germany. The profits of this mode of con-
veyance are also very great. JMr. Philips states that, for
one distance of forty miles, an annual profit of 250,000/.
is, or was, commonly obtained.

The canals of France are very considerable. Perhaps
the finest is that of Languedoc, or the canal of the two
seas, forming, as it does, a junction between the ocean and
the JMediterranean. But our limits do not permit us to
describe the canals of France and of other nations; nor,
indeed, is it necessary that we should do so, since the
general features of all canals being so much alike, a mere
catalogue of their names, the geographical description of
their lines, and the dates of their construction, would not
sufiiciently interest the general reader to warrant the in-
sertion in this little volume. We pass on, therefore, to a
brief histoiy of the canals of our own country.

The English did not adopt the use of canals before the
year 1755, Avhen the first canal was constructed by the
proprietors of the Sankey navigation, in order to make the
Sankey brook navigable from the Mersey to St. Helen's.
The length of this canal was 12i miles.

This performance probably suggested the first grand
work of the kind which was constructed in England,
namely, the Duke of Bridgewater's canal. Francis, Duke
of Bridgewater, succeeded to the family estates, while
yet under age, in the year 1748. Part of his property
•was at AV^orsley, a few miles to the Avest of Manchester,
and the coal-mines of this place were very rich, but left
unproductive, for want of some cheap means of transport.
The young Duke, therefore, considered earnestly the
means of supplying this defect. The Duke's father had,
in 1732, obtained an act of Parliament empowering the
construction of a canal to Manchester, but feared to begin
the Avork on account of the natural difficulties thereof,
and the great cost which it must necessarily entail upon
him and his family. Besides this, there was probably no

140

BRIDGEAVATER CAXAL.

engineer capable of such an undertaking; and it was not
until Brindley became known, tliat the idea of the canal
was resumed, Avhen the young Duke applied to him to sur-
vey the line and report thereupon. To a mind like that of
Brindley, a new and difficult undertaking was peculiarly
adapted. Confident in the strength of his own inventive
resources, he reported favourably to the Duke, who at
once resolved to commence it; and in ] 758 he obtained a
second act of Parliament, enlarging and extending the
powers granted by the first; so that the works were, that
year begun.

One of the difficulties of the undertaking was a due
supply of water. In order therefore to prevent waste, it
was determined to maintain a horizontal level throujihout,
so that no locks would be necessary ; in consequence of
which, the line extended over Avide valleys, and through
high hills. A spacious basin was formed near the centre
of the coal-district at Worsley ; a tunnel, three quarters of V-"
a mile long, was then cut through a hill, on emerging from '
which the line was carried straight-forward on the same
precise level, until it reached Barton. A stupendous
aqueduct Avas then to be constructed over the Irwell, in
such a Avay as not only to preserve the level of the canal,
but also not to interrupt the navigation of that river ; this
required a height of 39 feet for the aqueduct above the
level of the river. As soon as Brindley's intentions to
construct this aqueduct Avere knoAvn, they Avere universally
denounced as AA'ild and visionary, and the plan accordingly
pronounced impracticable. But in order to justify his
conduct toAvards his noble employer, Brindley desired that
an eminent engineer might be called in to give his opinion
respecting the proposed aqueduct. The report of this
gentleman is memorable': " I have often heard," said he,
" of castles in the air, but never before Avas shoAvn Avhere
any one of them Avas to be erected." This sneer did not
hoAvever, disturb the confidence of the Duke in his own
engineer; he immediately ordered the plan to be pro-
ceeded Avith ; and such Avas the rapidity and success Avith
Avhich the aqueduct Avas effected, that those Avho had pub-
licly denounced it as chimerical were astonished and con-

BRIDGE WATER CANAL. 141

founded. This work Avas begun in September, 1760 ; and,
within ten months, the first boat sailed over it on the 17th
July in the following year ; from which time it was not
uncommon to see a barge loaded with forty tons drawn
with ease over the aqueduct, while ten or a dozen men
were often seen below toiling painfully to direct a smaller
load against the stream of the river. The work was then
completed as far as Manchester.

This noble canal reflects infinite credit upon its under-
taker, as well as upon his engineer. The former devoted
his fortune to the work, and even limited his own personal
expenses to d£'400 a-year, in order to extend his means for
the undertaking. It would be an interesting narrative to
detail minutely the toils and anxieties which his favourite
scheme produced to the noble Duke : we find him thus
voluntarily renouncing the dignities and the enjoyments
of his station ; often encountering commercial difficulties ;
unable at times to raise money ; but still never tiring in
his activity, or abating his zeal for the completion of a
work which is now associated with the wealth and pro-
sperity of our country. The duke and his family were,
however, amply rewarded by the success of the undertak-
ing, and the public Avas greatly benefited. As an example
of the latter, Ave may state that goods had been conveyed
between Manchester and Li^Trpool at the charge of twelve
shillings per ton by Avater, and forty shillings by land ;
but by the canal they Avere conveyed for six shillings per
ton.

So justly celebrated did Brindley become by the con-
struction of this canal, that before its completion he Avas
applied to, to connect the Trent and the Mersey by a like
undertaking. Here again the engineer had vast natural
difficulties to encounter ; in one case, a tunnel Avas carried
through Harecastle Hill, 2880 yards in length, and some-
times more than 200 feet beloAV the surface of the earth.
There Avere five tunnels to this canal, 76 locks, and several
aqueducts. Indeed Brindley not only excited the astonish-
ment of the public generally, but that also of contempo-
rary engineers. His various inventions and fertile re-
sources Avere perhaps equalled only by the beauty and

142 BRINDLEr.

simplicity of the results produced. He seldom or never
constructed models or plans ; but, when any difficulty oc-
curred, his custom was to retire to bed, and there meditate
upon the best means for overcoming it. He has been
known thus to seclude himself for days together. So
much attached was he to canal-navigation, that on being
examined before a Committee of the House of Commons,
and speaking slightingly of rivers for the purposes of in-
land navigation, the question was jocosely put, " Of what
use then are rivers ?" to which Brindley replied, " Un-
doubtedly, to feed navigable canals."

From the time of Brindley, the great advantages of
canals to the commercial and manufacturing interests of
this country became duly appreciated, and ncAv lines of
canals were speedily begun and completed, the bare enu-
meration of which would occupy many pages. The num-
ber of canals in Great Britain is 1 03 ; the total extent is
2688 miles, and the capital sunk in their construction is
computed at upwards of thirty millions of pounds ; nearly
the whole of them have been completed by the combined
exertions of private individuals.

It will be seen from some of the above statements that
the construction of a canal in a level country is a very
simple affair. All that is necessary being to dig a bed or
channel in the earth, and throw up the soil on each side.
When the soil is loose and porous, the floor and sides of
the canal must be lined with some substance through
which water will not pass ; this operation is called pud-
dling, and need not be described particularly.

Since a canal is a mass of still water, exposed to cer-
tain losses by leakage and evaporation, it is necessary to
construct reservoirs which shall be supplied by streams or
springs in the vicinity of the line ; and from these reser-
voirs the canal receives its due supply of water.

In cases where, from the nature of the ground, a per-
fect level cannot be produced, systems of locks are adopted.
A lock may be described as a chamber of masonry, occu-
pying the whole bed of the canal at the particular spot
Avhere the level varies. The water in this chamber is
made to coincide with either the upper or lower level of

LOCKED CANALS. 143

tlie canal ; and this is done by a pair of gates at each end
of the chamber of the lock ; so that supposing a vessel to
have to pass from the lower to the upper level, while the
sates at the end of the chamber where the water is lowest
are opened, the water in the chamber coincides with the
upper level ; a boat or barge then enters through the
opened gates which are closed upon it ; the other gates
are then opened, and the water in the chamber rises, and
coincides with the upper level ; the boat is then drawn
onwards, the gates are again closed, and the whole amount
of water transferred from the upper to the lower level is
that contained in the lock betv/een the flood-gates. By a
reverse process it will easily be seen how a boat may be
transferred from the upper to the lower level. Since it is
desirable to lose as small a quantity of water as possible
in the passage of boats through these locks, they are made
as narroAv as possible ; and the lock is often made wdth
two divisions, which communicate by means of a valve or
hatch ; so that one-half of the water which would other-
wise be transferred to the lower level, is let into the other
division of the hatch between the closing of the gates of
the upper, and opening those of the lower level.

A locked canal is therefore a series of ascending or
descending stairs ; and a magnificent staircase of this de-
scription is exhibited in the Caledonian Canal, which
passes through a chain of lakes and narrow arms of the
sea, and affords an inland navigation of 250 miles across
the central part of Scotland. There are 27 locks ; and the
lockage up and down is equal to 190 feet. These locks,
Avith one exception, are L80 feet long, and all of them 40
feet wide; thus opening a ship-navigation through the midst
of the country, and rising at the highest level, 94 feet
above the tide-water of the eastern, and 96^ feet above
that of the western-coast. At Fort Augustus this canal is
cut through the glacis of the fortification, which improves
the military defences as well as the appearance of the fort,
and presents, with five rising locks of masonry, a splendid
combination of military and civil engineering. From Loch
Ness, passing westward, to Loch Oich, the land is 20 feet
above the Avater-line ; which, with the depth of water

144 CALEDONIAN CANAL.

in the canal, forms an excavation, }^ mile long, and 40
feet deep. In descending -westward to Loch Lochy from
Loch Oich, the natural difference of the surfaces of the
two lakes is 22 feet, and to save cutting through a rock,
the whole area of Loch Lochy which is It) miles long, and
one mile broad, is raised 12 feet. In the last two miles
before the canal enters Loch Eil, there is a descent of 64
feet, which is passed by eight magnificent locks of the di-
mensions as stated above. These locks are founded on in-
verted arches connected together, and forming a solid con-
tinuous mass of masonry, 500 yards long, and 20 yards
wide, Avith flood-gates of cast-iron. This system of locks
has been named Neptune's staircase ; and the appear-
ance of the large vessels in these enormous locks descend-
ing from the hill towards Loch Eil is described as majestic
and imposing in the extreme, and exhibits a striking
instance of the triumph of art over nature. The total as-
cent of this canal by locks is 94 feet, and the descent also
by locks, 96 feet and a-half ; thus showing a difference of
2^ feet between the levels of the two seas. The Cale-
donian Canal was opened on the 23rd of October, 1822 ;
the entire cost of its construction has been estimated at
CC9 12,500 ; the engineer to whose genius and skill the
work was intrusted was Mr. Telford.

This slight sketch of canals will enable the reader to
estimate their value. Spreading as they do in so many
directions from coast to coast, and penetrating into our
most inland districts, a facility is afforded for the convey-
ance of materials of all kinds; the boat which conveys
corn to one place may return laden with manure ; it may
convey besides corn, lime, iron ore, and coals ; and return
with the iron manufactured into articles of constant use,
and demand, both at home and abroad ; it may convey the
raw cotton to the seat of manufacture, and return with
cotton goods for exportation ; and all this may be done
with so much ease that a load of more than twenty tons
may be drawn by a single horse at the rate of two miles
an hour. It may be objected that this is but a sorry pace ;
but it must be remembered that at a slow pace, as regards
tractive force no means of conveyance can come in com-

ADVANTAGES OF CANALS,

145

petition with canals. With the increase however of
manufactures and commerce, time is, indeed, a valuable
element, and the charge of transport often becomes of less
account than the time employed about it ; the wonderful
speed which the railway affords is its greatest recom-
mendation ; and to the details of this subject we shall
devote much of the remainder of this volume.

It is not always easy to say Avhether roads engender
commerce, or whether commerce is the parent of roads ;
but it is evident that they act upon each other ou the
same principle as two magnets: that is, each one
strengthens and improves the other. So long as the in-
tei'nal traffic of Spain, for instance, is carried on by mule-
teers instead of by coaches, wagons, canals, steam-boats,
&c., we may look in vain for the extension of commerce
in that unfortunate and misgoverned country. Muleteers
sound very well in songs and romances; but if we had to
bring our teacups from Staffordshire, our knives and forks
from Sheffield, our cotton from Manchester, and our woollen
goods from Leeds, on mules' backs, for want of good roads
and canals, our commercial progress Avould be marvel-
lously slow.

H

The Thames Tunnel.

CHAPTER X.

On Tunnels.—
Tunnel in
Tunnels.

■Uses of Tunnels. — Natural and artificial. — Natural
America. — ISIedway, Edge Hill, and Thames

" Tunnel" is a name given to an arclied opening -which
passes through a hill or an elevated portion of country,
having a place of exit at each end. If -we adhere to this
definition, we shall find tunnels of A^arious sorts. A
natural archway through which water can pass, — a similar
archAvay, but constructed by art, — a dry cavern, passing
through the bowels of a mountain, — and a similar cavern,
but made by the hand of man, — may all be called tunnels.
We may therefore divide tunnels into three classes ; viz.,
natural and artificial tunnels for the passage of water,
and artificial tunnels fit for land-travelling. 'A description
of all the excavations which mifrht belonp; to this classifica-
tion woidd absorb the whole of this work. We will, there-
fore, select one instance of each, b}' which the reader can
judge of the rest.

In the passage of rivers througli mountainous districts,
it often happens that they have gradually worn away the
subsoil beneath a rock, and forced for themselves, in the
lapse of ages, a passage beneath or through a mountain.
In other cases, a volcanic eruption, or an earthquake, has
'disturbed the geological features of a district, — made rents
and chasms in various parts, and throMn two or more
rocks out of their original positions, in such a manner as to
leave a cavernous opening between them, through which
a river may ultimately flow.

NATURAL TUNNELS. 147

Many such instances as this have heen met with in
various parts of the world; and. in which it is not always
easy to saj'' whether a cavern or a tunnel has been exca-
vated, or worn away by a river, or has been formed by one
of those sudden convulsions of nature, which show us how
fragile is the crust of our earth, when piit in competition
with the mighty elements working within it. AVe will
select an instance from the other side of the Atlantic.

The state of Virginia contains many specimens o
rocky bridges, naturally formed over a brook or river; bu
the one to which we now allude could scarcely be called a
bridge ; it is more properly a tunnel bored by nature's
own hands through a hill, along which a stream flows.
The existence of this tunnel Avas long known, but its de-
tails were so little understood, that Lieutenant-Colonel
Long, of the United States army, resolved to pay it a visit;
and communicated the result to the American Journal
of Geolor/t/ and Natural Science, a few years ago.

He says, " Saturday, August the 13th, 1831. Having
ascended Cove Ridge, we turned aside from our route
to visit the natural bridge, or tunnel, situated on Buck-
Eye, or Stock-Creek, about a mile below the Sycamore
Camp, and about one and a-half mile from a place called
Rye-Cove, which occupies a spacious recess between two
prominent spurs of Powell's mountain, the site of the
natural tunnel being included Avithin a spur of Cove
Ridge, Avhich is one of the mountain-spurs just alluded to.
Here is presented one of the most remarkable and attract-
ive curiosities of its kind, to be witnessed in this or any
other country. The creek, which is about seven yards
wide, and has a general course about S ] .5 W, here passes
through a hill elevated from two to three hundred feet
above the surface of the stream, winding its way through
a huge subterraneous cavern or grotto, whose roof is
vaulted in a peculiar manner, and rises from thirty to
seventy or eighty feet above its floor. The sides of this
gigantic cavern rise perpendicularly, in some places, to the
height of fifteen or twenty feet, and in others, are formed
by the springing of its vaulted roof immediately from its
floor. The width of the tunnel varies from fifty to one

h2

148

NATURAL TUNNEL IN A5IERia\.

hundred and fifty feet. Its course is that of a continuous
curve, resembling the letter S; first winding to the right
as we enter on the upper side, then to the left, again to
the right, and then again to the left, on arriving at the en-
trance on the lower side. Such is its peculiar form, that an
observer, standing at a point about midway of its subter-
ranean course, is completely excluded from a view of either
entrance, and is left to grope in the dark through a dis-
tance of about twenty yards, occupying an intermediate
portion of the tunnel. When the sun is near the meri-
dian, and his rays fall upon both entrances, the light
reflected from both extremities of the tunnel, contributes
to mollify the darkness of the interior portion into a
dusky twilight. The extent of the tunnel, from its upper
to its lower extremity, following its meanders, is about
one hundred and fifty yards; in which distance the stream
falls about ten feet, emitting, in its passage over a rocky
bed, an agreeable murmur, which is rendered more grate-
ful by its reverberation upon the roof and sides of the
grotto. The discharge of a musket produces a crash-like
report, succeeded by a roar in the tunnel, which has a
deafening efi*ect upon the ear."

As an example of an artificial tunnel excavated for
the passage of Avater, we may take the tunnel under which
the water of the Thames and Medway passes, in its
course from one of these rivers to the other ; such tun-
nels as these are occasionally constructed for canals, in
order to avoid the great number of locks which would be
necessary, were a canal carried over a high tract of country.
There is a canal running completely under the parish of
Islington, for instance, through a tunnel three-quarters of
a mile in length.

A similar tunnel is the one represented in the annexed
cut, and which forms part of the Thames and Medway
canal. This canal was projected about the end of the last
century, by IMr. Ralph Dodd, the original projector of a
dry tunnel under the Thames. The passage from Graves-
end to Chatham, round by way of the Nore, is very cir-
cuitous, and entails a great loss of time, for barges, &c.,
which have to go from one to the other. It was, there-

THE MEDWAY TUNNEL.

149

fore, urged by Mr, Dodd, that a canal connecting the two,
(which are not more than about seven miles from one
another,) would be of great service to the inhabitants of
the surrounding parts.

After some time, and certain changes in the plan, a
canal was cut in that quarter, Avhich was commenced early
in the present century. It extends from the Thames at
Gravesend, to Frindsbury, opposite Chatham. It has a
basin at each end; and passes, by means of the tunnel
which we have represented, through the chalk hills which
skirt Gravesend. This tunnel is about two miles in length.
There are but few canals in England, which effect a greater
ratio of saving in the distance leading from one place to
another, by barge or boat, than that of which we are
speaking; the distance from Gravesend to Chatham being
about forty-seven miles, round the extremity of the Isle of
Grain, and, as we have said, only about seven or eight by
way of the canal to which we here allude.

The tunnel is no larger than will conveniently admit
the barges, and a towing-path for the horses at the side.
But the main part of the canal is fifty feet in width, and
is one of the very few in England that are perfectly level.

We shall make the Thames tunnel our instance of an
artificial tunnel for land-travelling. But, as this differs

150

RAILWAY TUNNELS.

from most of the kind, in passing under the bed of a
mighty river, Ave will say a few words respecting those
which pass under a large tract of country, but only under
small rivers.

Our railroads furnish the most notable instances of
these. AVe shall hereafter have to state, in our Chapter
on Railroads, the reasons why a. railroad must be as level,
and as little influenced by the undulations of the surface
of the country, as possible. But one of the effects of that
necessity is, that tunnels must, frequently, be excavated
through elevated tracts of country.

In order to make the Manchester and Liverpool railway
as valuable as possible to the merchants of the latter place,
it is carried down very near to the docks, so as to allow
goods to be conveyed from the ships to the railway with
as little intermediate travelling as possible. To effect
this, the railway is carried, by means of a tunnel, com-
pletely under the greater portion of the town of Liverpool.
This tunnel is level for a part of its length, and inclining
downwards, towards the docks, for the remaining part.

The subjoined cut represents the upper end of this
tunnel, at Edge Hill. The first shaft of this tunnel was
opened in September, 1826. It is twenty-two feet wide,
and sixteen feet high. The sides shoot up nearly perpen-

THE EDGE-HILL TUNNEL. 151

dicular to a distance of about five feet from the ground,
and this part is surmounted by a semi-circular arch.
The leno-th of the tunnel, from end to end, is two thousand
two hundred and fifty yards,— about a mile and a quarter.
One of the entrances is at the company's yard at Wapping,
Liverpool; and the other at Edge Hill, as represented in
the engraving. The former entrance is by an open cut-
ting, twenty-two feet deep, and forty-six feet -wide, and
aflPording space for four lines of railway.

From this opening, the railroad commences along a
perfect level, which occupies about two hundred and
eighty yards of the length of the tunnel. After this, the
inclined plane commences, and extends one thousand nine
hundred and seventy yards, in a perfectly straight line,
and with an inclination of one yard in forty-eight, — the
entire rise of the tunnel being one hundred and twenty-
three feet. A large portion of this tunnel was excavated
through a solid rock of fine red sandstone, which in those
parts furnished the engineer with a natural and secure
roofing, requiring neither masonry nor brick-AVork. But,
in other parts, the material through which the excavation
was carried, was too loose and weak to support itself,
unless masonry were immediately applied.

The construction of the tunnel was carried on at seven
or eight different parts simultaneously, by sinking as many
shafts, in different parts of its length, and connecting one
shaft with another, by lateral excavation; the stone and
earth being removed up the shafts. The depth, or thick-
ness of the ground, from the open air to the roof of the
tunnel, varies from five to seventy feet, at difterent parts
of its length. The tunnel is sufticiently lighted by gas-
burners, which are placed at distances of twenty-five yards
asunder, through its whole extent ; the white- washed sides
and roof serving to reflect and increase the light. The
tunnel occupied two years in completing, and cost £34,791.

The tunnels belonging to the London and Birmingham,
and other railways, either completed, in progress, or in
contemplation, we need not particularize here; since they
are sufficiently analogous to the one which we have de-
scribed, to render distinct and separate description un-
necessary.

152

THE THAMES TUNNEL.

But we now corae to one which eclipses them all in
the gigantic power of the difficulties to be contended with.
However hard a rock, or however soft a soil, excavators
may have to pass through, in an ordinary tunnel, they are
free from the embarrassing difficulties inseparable from the
existence of a large river over the excavation. These
difficulties, which Mr. Brunei, the engineer, and the work-
men under his direction, have, for some years, braved with
an unconquerable spirit, demand a somewhat detailed no-
tice from us. — "We, of course, are alluding to the " Thames
tunnel."

The communication between the shores of Middlesex
and Surrey, are kept up, at London, by means of the nu-
merous bridges which cross the Thames. The bridges of
London, Southwark, Blackfriars, Waterloo, Westminster,
and Vauxhall, serve as media from one shore to another.
But the great manufacturing and commercial establish-
nients below London bridge have no medium of commu-
nication across the river, but bv a circuitous route by way
of London bridge. A bridge, in those parts, would he too
gigantic an undertaking; for it would be necessary that
the arch or arches should be lofty enough to allow regular
.ships to pass beneath them. It Avas, therefore, many
years ago, the object of attention, among engineers and
commercial men, to determine how far it would be prac-
ticable to construct a road under the Thames, instead of a
bridge over it, in these parts. The accompanying engrav-

,..iuaK

THE THAMES TUNNEL. 158

ing will illustrate the advantages proposed to be attained
by the construction of some mode of communication be-
tAveen the opposite shores of the river, at some spot east-
ward of London bridge, and westward of Greenwich. The
figure is a slight map of the Thames, at that part. Sup-
pose a wagon-load of merchandise had to be removed to
the neighbourhood of the London Docks, from the oppo-
site side of the river! A glance will show how great
must be the loss of space by passing over London bridge,
the most eastern bridge over the Thames. The map re-
presents the exact position suggested for the excavation of
a tunnel.

The first attempt of this kind was so low down the
river as Gravesend. But this plan was looked upon as too
chimerical, and was speedily abandoned. In 1804, another
plan was proposed, for cutting a road-way under the
Thames, from Rotherhithe to Wapping, nearly on the spot
occupied by the present tunnel. A shaft was dug on the
Rotherhithe side, to a great depth; and from thence a
small channel, called a drifts was cut through the soil
under the Thames, in a horizontal direction. This was
continued a great part of the way towards the Middlesex
side, when the occurrence of land-springs, and other ob-
stacles, led to the abandonment of the enterprise ; for the
prevalent opinion seems to have resolved itself into the
following question, — if we encounter so many difiiculties
in the construction of a small drift passage, what will be
the obstacles to the progress of an excavation sufficiently
capacious for the purposes of traffic ?

For nineteen years from this period, various plans
were proposed, and estimates given, for the construction
of a tunnel under the Thames ; but, until the year 1 823,
nothing occurred to give a stamp of practicability to any
of them. But in the last-mentioned year, Mr. Brunei
issued proposals, plans, and estimates, for a tunnel to be
made at once ; — that is, the whole of the necessary height
and width to be excavated at one time, instead of first
making a drift, and then enlarging to the proper dimen-
sions. This plan was looked upon as being worthy of
support ; and a company, supported by joint-stock shares,

h3

154

THE THAMES TUNNEL.

was formed to carry it into execution. Borings were
made in the bed of the river, in three different lines, in
order to determine the nature of the soil through which
the tunnel was proposed to be carried.

Operations Avere commenced on the Rotherhithe shore,
at a spot distant about two miles from London Bi'idge.
As the tunnel would, of necessity, have to be carried far
beneath the bed of the river, for the sake of safety, it is
obvious that it would likewise be far below the level of
the ground. How, then, was that to be made available
as a road for traffic ? How were wagons and carts to get
down to the tunnel ? To effect this it was proposed, that
there should be an inclined road, having a gentle decli-
vity, leading down from the surface of the ground to the
level of the tunnel. This line would either be in a
straight or in a curved direction ; and two reasons in-
duced the choice of the latter. A straight road, proceed-
ing from a depth of fifty or sixty feet, and of so gentle
an acclivity as not to distress horses Avhen drawing a
vehicle up it, must necessarily extend to a great distance,
and require the purchase of much land ; and it would, at
the same time, carry the point of emergence too far away
from the wharfs and raanufiictories near the water's edge,
for whose accommodation the tunnel was in a great
measure projected.

The carriage-way leading from the ground to the
tunnel was, therefore, planned in the form of a spiral,
two hundred and fifty feet in diameter, round which the
road was to wind. This was to be the carriafje-entrance.
This spiral road- way may be seen by referring again to the
map. On the London side, a new road was to be cut
from Ratclitt-highway, which, passing by the London
Docks, should communicate with the Thames Tunnel by
the descending spiral road noticed in the map. At the
Rotherhithe side, a similar spiral road-Avay connects the
tunnel with a commodious road, to be cleared and per-
fected for that purpose. The entrance for foot-passengers
Avas planned to be a Avinding staircase round the inside
of a cylinder or shaft, Avliich Avas to be sunk close to the
end of the tunnel. These shafts are represented by the

THE THAMES TUNNEL. 155

two white circular openings in the map, between either
end of the tunnel and its adjoining spiral road.

In order to give an idea of the magnitude and nature
of the undertaking, we wall proceed to describe it in its
present state, or at least, as it was when we visited it at
the commencement of the present year.

After wading through a chaos of mud and bustle,
Ave reached the Rotherhithe entrance, and proceeded at
once to the upper part of the shaft. This shaft, instead
of displaying an elegant and well- lighted staircase, which
it will eventually do, contains through its centre, from top
to bottom, a huge frame-work, holding machinery for
drawing up the earth, mud, and water, which the exca-
vators meet with in their progress. At the bottom of the
shaft is a reservoir fifteen feet deep, into Avhich the water,
■which flows into the tunnel from the numerous land
springs while the men are digging, is conveyed, and from
which it is afterwards pumped up to the surface.

At the bottom of the shaft we see the outline of an
arch, which is hereafter to be broken through, and to
form the commencement of the spiral carriage-road. Op-
posite to that, we see the entrance to the tunnel, the
appearance of which we cannot better describe than by
comparing it with Burlington Arcade ; excepting that the
Thames Tunnel consists of two archways or roads, and
Burlington Arcade has but one.

The shaft Avas introduced into its present position in a
remarkable manner, considering its great bulk. It is a
cylinder of substantial brickwork forty-two feet in height,
fifty feet in diameter, and three feet thick. It was built
on the surface of the ground, and then the earth beneath
it was gradually dug away, so as to lower the brick shaft
into its place. This was done until they had passed
through a gravelly soil, and had reached a stifi" blue clay,
favourable to the progress of the miners.

The operations on the Middlesex side are not yet com-
menced ; but there Avill be a shaft on that side exactly
resembling the one on the Rotherhithe side of the river,
and the distance between the two will be about thirteen
hundred feet, which is thus divided :— one hundred and

156 THE THA]\tES TUNNEL.

fifty feet from the Rotherhithe shaft, to low-water mark,
on that side of the river ; seven hundred and seventy
feet, width of the river at Ioav water, and three hun-
dred and eighty feet from the shaft at Wapping to
the low-water mark, on that side of the river. Of this
distance there is now done about eight hundred and fifty
feet, and seventy more will bring it to the level of low-
water mark, on the Middlesex side.

The form of each of the two arches into Avhich the
section of the tunnel is divided, is as nearly as possible
that of a horse-shoe. The whole height of the opening
excavated is about twenty-two feet, and the whole breadth
thirty-eight feet. These dimensions are reduced by seve-
ral processes : — first, a substantial lining of bricks, of a
great thickness, covers the surface of the whole excava-
tion. Secondly, a solid brick wall is built through the
centre of the channel, as a support and strengthener.
Tliirdly, part of the curvature at the bottom is filled up
to afford a flat road-way and pavement for traffic. By
these means this great excavation is reduced to two road-
ways, separated from each other by solid brickwork, and
each one furnishing a road sufficiently broad for any com-
mon vehicle, and a pavement for foot-passengers. The
vehicles going from north to south will pass along one
avenue, and those going from south to north will pass
along the other. It may, also, hereafter prove convenient
for foot-passengers to adopt the same plan, by which they
would not jostle against one another, for the foot-pave-
ment is rather narrow ; still they have the means of pass-
ing from the footpath in one avenue to that in the other,
by means of lateral openings through the central brick
division, which openings occur at the distance of every few
feet. Gas-lights are placed in these lateral openings, in
such situations as to afford a pleasant and sufficient light
to the Avhole tunnel ; for it need hardly be said, that as it
is more than sixty feet below ground, the natural light of
day is wholy shut out.

The gradual deepening of the bed of the river to-
wards the middle, rendered it necessary that the tunnel
should also descend from the shaft towards the centre.

THE THAMES TUNNEL. 157

This obliquity is about tAvo or two and a quarter feet to
every hundred feet, and is not such as to fatigue horses
travelling on such a road-way. The Middlesex end will
probably have a similar declivity, so as to present the
greatest depression near the middle of the tunnel's length.
When circumstances, to which we shall presently
allude more particularly, rendered it desirable that the
Thames Tunnel, so far as it was then finished, should
take its stand among the public exhibitions of London,
one of the two archways was cleared of all working im-
plements and obstructions; the brick work was nicely
stuccoed ; the gas-burners were fitted up properly ; and
the ground, or future carriage and foot-paths, were neatly
gravelled ; a temporary staircase was made down the
shaft, separate from that by which the workmen ascended
and descended ; and all was made as comfortable as could
be expected for the reception of visiters, without inter-
rupting the progress of the workmen. From 20,000 to
40,000 persons have visited it every year since it has
been thus opened to the public ; and although the funds
thus produced have not been large in amount, they have
served to show the interest with which this remarkable
undertaking has been regarded. It is not always that
the inhabitants of a country are themselves the best
judges of the merit or attraction of any public work
Avhich may be carried on in it. Although the admiration
which the Thames Tunnel has excited, and we think
always will excite, among our own countrymen is great,
this admiration is not so vivid as that which it has excited
among foreigners. Tiere are many remarkable instances
of the impression which the sight or the reputation of
this public work has made. Miss Pardoe, in her City
of the Sultan^ states, that she was surprised while at
Constantinople, at being asked by an Albanian chief re-
specting the progress and the probable success of the
Thames Tunnel! Such a question must have brought
" Father-land" back to the memory of one sojourning in a
foreign country ; and we may imagine the pleasure with
which that lady answered a question so likely to gratify
her national feelings. The present enterprising Pasha of

158 THE THAMES TUNNEL.

Egypt, likewise, is known to feel a strong interest in tlie
success of this undertaking. His possession of the com-
paratively narrow belt of land which separates the Red Sea
from the Mediterranean, and through those, the Indian
Ocean from the Atlantic ; the attempt which he is
making to raise the commercial importance of Egypt ;
and his acknowledged sagacity ; make him view with
interest the progress towards completion of an under-
taking, which may serve him as a valuable pattern from
which to copy, when occasion offers.

We have said that only one out of the avenues was
opened to visiters ; so it remains up to the present time ;
and so it is likely to continue until the whole is com-
pleted. The other avenue is appropriated to the work-
men who pass and repass to and from their work at the
blank end ; and likewise to the conveyance of the mate-
rials employed by the workmen. It also serves as the
channel for conveying aAvay the earth which the miners
dig out in their progress. This earth is thrown into
boxes, or small carts, and drawn along a rail-way to the
bottom of the Rotherhithe shaft, up which it is lifted,
and then emptied out at the surface of the ground. The
water which may ooze through into the tunnel from the
numerous land-springs Avhich the miners meet with, flows
through a pipe from one end to the other end of the
tunnel, falls into the reservoir or tank at the bottom of the
shaft, and is from thence pumped out by the force of a
steam-engine.

When we speak of miners digging the earth away to
form the tunnel, let not the reader think that the
men stand before a blank surface of earth, and cut with
their pickaxes and shovels as they would do in a gravel
pit ! Vast, indeed, are the arrangements before a single
shovel-full of earth is removed from the ground in front
of the miner. The reason for this may be soon told.
When a great body of Avater, such as the Thames, flows
over a cavity, such as the Tunnel, every crevice or chasm
which may happen to exist in the bed of the river
becomes a channel whereby water is conveyed into the
excavation, or into its immediate neighbourhood. Be-

THE THAMES TUNNEL. 159

sides the Thames -water, there are innumerable land-
springs pervading the soil in every direction, -which not
only form small streamlets, but moisten, and turn into a
sort of mud, the soil through which they move.

Now, if the miners Avere to proceed in excavating a
cavity, the sectional area of which is upwards of eight
hundred feet, (thirty-eight feet by twenty-two and a-half,)
the upper soil in front of such a great opening, subject as
it is to so great a pressure from above, would burst in,
and allow a flow of water into the excavated tunnel.
The aim, therefore, must be, to board up, or otherwise
secure, the greater part of the face of the soil, while
small portions, only, of it are being dug away.

This is effected by means of a most ponderous and
intricate piece of mechanism called the shield. This is
-H'holly the invention of Mr. Brunei, the engineer of the
tunnel, and is a very remarkable piece of mechanism, con-
sisting of not less than five thousand separate pieces, all
of which act towards one common object. The vertical
face of the soil about to be excavated is closely boarded
up, by means of planks separate from one another, and
capable of being pressed up against the soil with great
force. Some of these boards, which are called poling
boards, are removed in order to let the pickaxes of the
Avorkmen excavate beyond them to the extent of a few
inches ; while the remaining boards are left close. These
latter are then removed, one by one, and the excavation
made beyond them in the same manner.

In order to aftbrd room for a number of miners to
work at once, a large frame is built up, the Avhole height
and width of the excavation, and about eight feet deep.
This frame is divided vertically into twelve spaces, every
one of* which is separate and distinct from the others, but
placed in close contact to the adjoining ones. Each of
these spaces is sub-divided horizontally into three cells,
one above another, the size of the cells being about six
feet high and three feet wide. There are thus thirty-six
cells in all, and each cell is a sort of little Avorkshop for a
miner ; so that thirty-six miners can be Avorking simul-
taneously. This arrangement is represented at the foot of

160 THE THAMES TUN^HEL.

the present chapter, which is a front view of the shield,
•with its thirty-six compartments, every one of which,
contains a miner proceeding with the excavation.

The general mode of working is to excavate about
nine inches in depth over the whole surface of the vertical
face of earth, and then to move the shield onwards to
that extent. Each division is moved separately. It is
supported on two feet, which, by an ingenious contrivance,
are thrust onwards, and the cells above them are then
likewise urged forward. Six alternate divisions are moved
forwards ; and then the other six. When the whole
have been advanced as many inches forwards as the exca-
vation has proceeded, the bricklayers immediately succeed
the miners, and cover with brickwork the belt of earth
which has been laid bare by the advance of the shield.
By this means the tunnel is not left for a single day ex-
posed to the mercy of earth and soil alone : as soon as
ever there is room enough — nine inches — to admit ano-
ther layer or course of bricks, the bricklayers proceed to
work and give stability to that which the miners have
left behind them. The brickwork is of the most sub-
stantial and excellent kind, and immediately forms a coat
which protects the tunnel from the action of the earth and
water above it.

During this period, we are told, the men worked
night and day, being divided into three parties, which
relieved each other every eight hours. Good wages were
paid ; and hence the engineer was enabled to command
the services of first-rate bricklayers in the process of
bricking and cementing after the miners. The men were
not required to perform task-work : all that Avas required
was, that they should keep steadily at the work, and lay
the bricks in a careful and workmanlike manner. The
best cement was used, and such as would harden very
quickly. AVithin two hours after any bricklaying, the
work was carefully tested. An overseer went round with
a hammer of fourteen pounds weight, with which each
separate brick Avas struck a hard blow. The bricks them-
selves were always carefully chosen and approved, before
being brought into the tunnel for use. If at the over-

THE THAMES TUNNEL. 161

seer's blow, the cement yielded, so as to disclose the
smallest opening between the bricks, the workman was
immediately called back to repair the defect, and likewise
fined one shilling to the sick-fund. If the brick shook in
its place upon being struck, nothing but a special plea in
excuse could save the workman from instant dismissal.

We have described briefly what the tunnel is, and what
it is intended to be ; but we have said nothing of the trials,
the difficulties, the " hopes deferred," and of the indomi-
table perseverance which has so far triumphed over them.
To form great but practicable plans is one of the charac-
teristics of genius and sagacity ; but a firmness to bear up
against obstacles and difticulties, and an inventive faculty
to devise means for their removal, are powers which are
scarcely, if anything, less important. The whole of these
powers have been required by the engineer, Mr. Brunei,
during the progress of the works, and have been mani-
fested by him. For fifteen years he had to struggle against
difficulties, such as few of our great public works have
occasioned.

In 1823 Mr. Brunei first issued his proposals for the
tunnel. By midsummer of the following year, a company
had been formed, an Act of Parliament had been obtained,
borings had been made to ascertain the nature of the soil,
and the excavation was commenced. First, the enormous
brick shaft, which was before described, was built, and
sunk into the earth to the requisite depth. Then the
horizontal cutting commenced, at a depth of sixty-three
feet below the level of the ground.

The erection and' sinking of the shaft, the preparation
and fixing of the shield, and other labours, occupied the
whole of the year 1 825. By new year's day of the follow-
ing year, the shield Avas ready to receive its band of thirty-
six miners, and the horizontal digging commenced, through
a stratum of stiff blue clay. All went on well till the 25 th
of the same month, when, instead of a firm compact clay,
the miners encountered a loose gravelly soil, full of land-
springs. This was a serious retardation, owing to the
quantity of water which thus flowed into the excavation.
But the work proceeded steadily, although more slowly,

162 THE THAMES TUNNEL.

and by midsummer they had reached the level of low-
vater mark on the Rotherhithe side.

For nine months all went on pretty well, and by the
end of April, 1827, the tunnel had advanced 400 feet
below low-Avater mark, or 5.50 feet from the shaft at
Rotherhithe, But the soil now gave evident symptoms of
being in a loose, crumbly state, and incessant precautions
were necessary to guard against danger. On the 18th of
May, several circumstances had occurred to increase the dis-
turbance of the soil in the immediate neighbourhood of the
shield, when the water suddenly formed a chasm through the
bed of the river, and rushed into the tunnel at the small
earthen space between the brickwork already finished, and
the shield. The workmen, by a precipitate retreat, were
enabled to effect their escape.

Now was a trying moment for the engineer. His
tunnel was filled with water, and the progress of the work
stopped. Pumping was of no utility, for the water would
have flowed into the chasm as fast as it was pumped out
at the shaft. The first object was, therefore, to fill up
the chasm which the Avater had made in the bed of the
river. This was effected by throwing out, from barges
moored over the spot, enormous quantities of clay, con-
tained in bags. These bags were precipitated into the
chasm, Avhich they completely filled up, and were then
allowed to settle and consolidate into one mass. A kind
of raft Avas then made, and lowered to the bed of the river.
The object of this raft was to protect the clay which had
been just thrown in, from the action of the tide as it
flowed each way.

When the chasm, which opened a communication be-
tween the tunnel and the water in the river was thus
completely filled up, preparations were made for cleariufif
the tunnel again, and resuming operations. All the water
was pumped out; and it was found that the brick-work
and the shield were so admirably constructed, that neither
had received any serious injury. After a short time the
miners resumed their labours, and by the end of the year
fifty feet more had been completed.

But now approached the period of a more awful cala-

THE THAMES TUNNEL. 163

mlty than the former. By the beginning of January,
1828, many symptoms of a disturbed and loose state of
the soil occurred. The miners had even to cut through a
number of feet of the bags of clay which had been thrown
into the river to fill up the former chasm, so much had
the bed of the river been disturbed by the irruption, which
had rendered that supply of clay necessary. The raft at
the bottom of the river became loosened from its place,
and floated to the surface, leaving the soft soil beneath
exposed to the action of the tide. These and other cir-
cumstances rendered the state of the ground in the vicinity
of the shield so dangerous, that, by the 12th of January,
it was evident a second irruption would occur. Mr. Brunei
was ill the tunnel, and ordered every one out of it, except
three men whom he retained near him. His efforts to
stem the approaching calamity were in vain; the waters
burst in and swept him along the whole length of the
tunnel, and allowed him to escape up the shaft. The
other three men Avere less fortunate : they became entangled
in the dark terrors of the tunnel, and met with a watery
crave, as sudden as it was fearful!

Again the necessity of ceasing the operations occurred;
again it became imperative to throw an enormous quan-
tity of clay into the chasm which the irruptive water had
made in the bed of the river. When we say that seven
thousand tons' weight of clay was thrown into the two
cbasms, occasioned by these irruptions, it will serve to
convey some idea of the immense size of the breaches made
in the bed. of the river.

The water was removed from the tunnel, the brick-
work Avas uninjured, and engineers and men w^re ready to
resume their labours. But here, one of those obstacles
occurred, which is more potent than even the natural dif-
ficulties of land and water in these matters. The funds
of the company Avere exhausted. A sum had been raised,
as the joint stock of the company, in accordance with the
estimate which the engineer had given of the probable
outlay. But a large portion of that fund had to be de-
voted to the reparation of the numerous unforeseen diffi-
culties which marked the progress of the works, and before

] 64 THE THAMES TUNNEL.

the tunnel had proceeded to half its required length, the
funds were exhausted.

For the long and weary period of six years and a-half,
the engineer had to suspend the prosecution of an enter-
prise on which so much of his talent and perseverance had
been bestowed. The first attempt to raise a fund for the
completion of the work, was the power granted to the
company, by Act of Parliament, to raise a loan to the
amount of 200,000/., which it was' considered would be
more than sufficient to complete the undertaking. But
this attempt failed; subscribers to the loan were too few
and too tardy to meet the inevitable demands consequent
upon the resumption of the works. The reason for this
may be easily surmised. Those who invest their money
in joint-stock undertakings, do so with the hope of gaining
a larger interest for it than can be obtained in the public
funds; and if the speculation into which they propose to
embark, seem to show but doubtful symptoms of success,
nothing more is wanting to make them hold back. So it
was with the Thames Tunnel. Repeated disasters had
occurred, and had engendered doubts and misgivings, the
result of which was, that the project for a loan failed of
success.

It was next proposed that a private subscription should
be raised; but this, although supported in a very credit-
able manner, naturally failed in producing a sum suffi-
ciently large for the objects required.

The only course now was an application to Govern-
ment for the advance of the necessary supplies from the
national exchequer. Such proceedings are always slow
in their progress; and although there was a general feeling
in favour of the project, it was not till June, 1834, that
the Government finally agreed to advance 250,000/. in
portions from time to time.

Attention was now once more directed to the almost-
deserted tunnel. The old shield, which had become too
much injured for further use, was replaced by a new one,
still more elaborate and ponderous than the former, in
order that it might be the better able to contend against
the difficulties which experience had shown it would be

THE THAMES TUNNEL. ] 65

liable to encounter ; as, for instance, the pressure upon it
from above was often as much as 300 tons. Many months
were taken up in these preliminary preparations ; and it
was the beginning of 1836 before the tunnelling was re-
sumed in earnest.

Forty feet were excavated in the next six months, and
from that time to April, 1837, ninety-six feet more were
completed, making in the whole 736 feet, the average rate
of progress since the resumption of the works being about
two feet and a-half per week. For some time after this
the rate of progress has not been so much as one foot and
a-half per week, so much were the engineer and directors
harassed by the constant occurrence of land-springs, irrup-
tions of a minor character, and temporary stoppages for
want of further advances from Government. The progress
at the time we are writing is more favourable than it has
been for a long period, being at the rate of three feet per
week. Sixty feet more will bring the excavators to the
level of low-water mark on the Middlesex side, after
which the difficulties will in all probability greatly dimi-
nish, as they will then have to proceed under the dry
land, except the small distance due to the high water level.

When Mr. Walker surveyed the tunnel, by order of
(Jovernment, in April, 1837, he named two years and a
half as the shortest time in which it could be completed.
That would bring the period to the latter end of the pre-
sent year (1839); but it is evident that the completion,
from the numerous difficulties which have occurred, will
be delayed much beyond that period. In August, 1837,
another, but less formidable, irruption occurred, the effiscts
of which it took some weeks to get clear of. It seems
probable that the whole expense, provided no more irrup-
tions take place, will be somewhere about 400,000/.

In order to give an idea of the relative distance from
the surface and from the bed of the river to the tunnel,
a representation of the vertical section of the tunnel
through its whole length across the river is given at the
head of the present chapter. The tunnel, it will be seen,
is not quite horizontal, but is rather depressed under the
middle of the river. The row of archways shows the
lateral openings from one roadway to the other. At each

166

THE THAMES TUNNEL,

end is seen a shaft, continued from a considerable distance
above ground to several feet below the tunnel. The lower
part is the reservoir, in which the water flows which may
enter the tunnel during the progress of the excavation.
Hound the part of the shaft above the reservoir is seen
the spiral staircase, by which foot-passengers descend to,
or ascend from, the tunnel. The extreme ends show the
commencement of the spiral carriage-Avays, which want of
room prevents us from introducing in our engravino-.

We cannot withhold the expression of our earnest de-
sire "that this most creditable specimen of engineering skill
may be brought to a satisfactory conclusion. It will tlien
take its place with the Menai bridge of Telford, the Eddv-
stone lighthouse of Smeaton, the Waterloo brid"-e of Ren-
nie, and the Grand Trunk Navigation of Brindley as
honourable specimens of the skill and enterprise developed
in this country, and applied to the furtherance of its com-
mercial transactions.

It was stated in a Paris paper, a few years ago, that a
tunnel Avas about to be made under the Vistula, a river run-
ning through Poland and Prussia, Avhich tunnel should be
"somcAvhat similar in design and in purpose to the
Thames tunnel." We are not at present aAA'are Avhether
it has been put into execution.

Shield in -w-hich. the Men work in the Thames Tunnel.

l.Iilitary Road upon the Wall of China

CHAPTER XI.

On Military Walls and Roads. — China. — Military and common
Roads distinguished. — JNIilitarv Roads of Scotland.

In the ancient state of the military art, both cities and
large tracts of territory were often defended by means of
walls of prodigious length, height, and thickness, upon the
tops of which were military roads of sufficient breadth
and solidity for the passage of men, horses, and chariots.
Of this description of military road, as well as of ancient
roads in general, the specimen at once the most ancient,
and the most complete in actual preservation, is perhaps
that which runs along the top of the Great AVall of China,
a view of part of which extraordinary structure stands at
the head of this chapter. The building of that wall is
dated at two thousand years ago. It is the work of the
first Emperor of the Chinese dynasty of Tzin. It runs
along the northern frontier of China, which country it
separates from Independent Tartary ; and its original pur-
pose was that of defending the Chinese against all Tartar
molestation. That purpose it answered for the first four-
teen hundred years of its existence ; but soon after the
termination of this period, (in the year 1212,) a Tartar
leader, with his followers, succeeded in forcing the bar-

168 THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA.

riers of the Avail, in eifecting the conquest which the wall
was intended to prevent, and in placing Tai'tar conquerors
upon the Chinese throne, of which they have been mas-
ters ever since. Still, the wall is a defence of more or
less strength against all new Tartarian enterprise ; and
hence the Tartar Emperors of China, now settled upon its
Chinese side, have been as careful to preserve it as an-
ciently the Chinese Emperors themselves were industrious
in building and defending it. The accounts of Parish and
Staunton enable us to describe this wall somewhat
minutely.

This wall commences at the eastern end, at the shore
of the Gulf of Pechele, 3^° E. of Pekin, and terminates
at its western end at Syning, 1 5° W. of Pekin, after tra-
versing the extraordinary distance of fifteen hundred
miles.

Sir George Staunton, alluding to the first view of the
wall, says, " What the eye could, from a single spot, em-
brace of those fortified walls, carried along the ridges of
hills, over the tops of the highest mountains, descending
into the deepest valleys, crossing upon arches over rivers,
and doubled and trebled in many parts, to take in im-
portant passes, and interspersed with towers or massy
bastions at almost every hundred yards, as far as the sight
could reach, presented to the mind an undertaking of stu-
pendous magnitude." In one place the Avail is carried
over a ridge five thousand tAvo hundred and twenty-five
feet high. The body of the AA'all is composed chiefly of
earth, flanked on each side by a Avail of brick, and covered
by a platform or terrace of square bricks. The Avails, con-
tinued upAvards to some height, form the parapets. The
height of brick-Avork averages about twenty-fiAe feet, of
which the parapet occupies five. The brick flanking
walls are supported by stone-masonry underneath; and the
thickness of the brick-work diminishes from five feet at
the bottom, to one foot six inches at the top.

The entire thickness of the AAall, including the earth-
, Avork enclosed betAveen the brick-Avalls, is tAventy-five feet
at the bottom, and about fifteen at the top, the earth-
work being of equal thickness throughout.

THE GREAT WALL OP CHINA. 169

To\A'ers are placed at distances of one hundred yards
from one another along the wall. These towers are not
all of equal size, but vary according to the strength neces-
sary for the part where they are placed. One which
Captain Parish measured Avas thirty-seven feet high from
the ground, about forty feet square at the base, and thirty
at the summit ; and it projected eighteen feet beyond the
wall on the Tartary side.

Another tower contained two stories, one above
another, and Avas built with amazing strength. It was
forty-eight feet high, forty-two square at the base, and
thirty-six at the top.

There are loop-holes along both edges of the wall, for
the use of Aveapons against an approaching enemy.
Captain Parish observes : " The great Avail does not ap-
pear to have been intended as a defence against cannon,
since the parapets are insufficient to resist the force of can-
non-shot. But the soles of the embrasures of the towers
AA'ere observed to have been pierced Avith small holes, simi-
lar to those used in Europe for the reception of the
SAvivels of Avall-pieces. The holes appear to be part of the
original construction of the Avail; and it seems difficult to
assign them any other purpose than that of resistance to
the recoil of fire-arms. The field-pieces seen in China
are generally mounted Avith SAvivels, for Avhich these holes
are Avell calculated; and though the parapets are not
capable of resisting cannon-shot, they are sufficiently stron"-
to Avithstand these small pieces. From these considera-
tions, it does not seem unlikely that the claim of the
Chinese to a very early knoAvledge of the effects of gun-
poAvder, is not Avithout foundation."

The bricks, of Avhich the Avail consists, are about fifteen
inches long, seven and a half broad, and three and three
quarters thick. Those Avhich form the flat terrace or plat-
form are about fifteen inches square. These bricks are of
a blue colour, a circumstance Avhich has led to a doubt
Avhether they had ever been exposed to any greater heat
than that of the sun. But kilns have been discovered
near the Avail, Avhere it is probable the bricks Avere burned;
and it has been subsequently proved by Dr. Abel, that the

170 THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA.

clay of AvLiich the bricks are made, Avhicli is red in its
original state, becomes blue by burning.

The wall is not absolutely continuous from one end to
the other, as it is crossed by a ridge of lofty moimtains
near Suen-hao, and is likewise crossed twice by the great
river Whang-ho. The former obstruction is too lofty, and
the latter too broad, to suffer the wall to be continued at
those parts. The wall is stated to be a mere mound of
earth at its western end ; and it was, perhaps, never quite
finished in that quarter. The immense mass of matter
which the whole Avail contains is such, that a calculation
has been made, by which it appears that the materials,
supposing it were a solid mass of masonry, would be suf-
ficient to surround the earth on two of its great circles,
with a Avail six feet high, and tAvo thick.

The Chinese historians say that the wall A\'as begun
and completed in the short space of five years, every third
man in the empire being forced to engage upon it. But
it is supposed by modern Avriters, that it must have been
the Avork, not of one, but of several successive princes.

Among the Anglo-Saxons the term 7niliian/-voa.d was
equivalent to Roman-Yoad ; because the roads constructed
by the Romans in Britain AAere intended for military pur-
poses. An old AA'riter on the subject thus draAA'S a distinc-
tion bet\A'een military and other roads : — " Some AA'ays are
military ; others not. Those are military AA'here we travel
with the army and baggage. Therefore, it behoves a mi-
litary way not to be much more spacious than military
machines. The ancients laid it doAAn as a rule, that they
should be never less than eight cubits. By the laAv of the
tAvelve tables they thus fix the road, that when it is
straight, it should be twelve feet broad, Avhen crooked,
sixteen. The non-military roads are those by Avhich we
go out of a military road into a village, or toAvn, or into
another military road. It is necessary that the course of
military ways should not be the same through the country,
as through the city. Without the city, these things es-
pecially are to be obserA'ed: — that the road be wide, and
most open for looking round everyAA'here; that it be free
and most clear from every incumbrance of Avaters and

ROADS OF SCOTLAND. 171

rains; that no lurking-holes, no recesses be left for robbers
to lie in ambush ; that no adits convenient for devastation
lie open to it. Some think a country the safest where
deep roads, like sunk ditches, intersect the country,
ambiguous in the entrance, uncertain in the progress, and
by no means safe, with high banks, from which an enemy
may be easily crushed; more skilful persons prefer the
safest road, that which is carried along the level ridge of
eminences."

During the rebellion in Scotland in 171'^? the expedi-
ency of rendering accessible the fastnesses of the North
became apparent to Government as a measure of national
police. At that time the royal troops wore unable to pene-
trate beyond Blair in Athol ; but in the year 1 725, General
Wade was appointed by King George the First, to draw
up a report of the state of the Highlands of Scotland, from
personal observation, in order that such measures might
be taken as mi^ht seem most conducive to the betterinsr
of the country generally. Among other topics, General
Wade had occasion to allude to the state of the roads and
paths in the Highlands.

He says, " Before I conclude this report, I presume to
observe to your Majesty the great disadvantage which re-
gular troops are under, when they engage with those who
inhabit mountainous situations. The Savennes, in
France, the Catalons, in Spain, have, in all times, been
instances of this truth. The Highlands, in Scotland, are
still more impracticable, from the want of roads and
bridges, and from the excessive rains that almost con-
tinually fall in those parts ; which by nature and constant
use becomes habitual to the natives, but very difficultly
supported by the regular troops ; they are unacquainted
with the passages by which the mountains are traversed,
exposed to frequent ambuscades, and shot from the tops of
the hills, which they return without effect, as it happened
at the affair of Glensheal."

This report received immediate attention, and about
the year 1732, General Wade was appointed, Avith the
several regiments under his command in the Highlands, to
make certain roads, which should in future be sufficient

12

172 ROADS OF SCOTLAND.

for the conveyance of troops and military stores. The
first line of road Avhich they formed was from Stirling,
across the Grampians, to Inverness, and from thence along
the chain of forts, including Fort George, Fort Augustus,
and Fort "William, between the East and West seas, by
which troops and artillery were carried with facility into
into the central Highlands, mainly owing to which the dis-
turbances of 1745 were speedily suppressed. By the year
17B5, the military roads, including what has been termed
the GalloAvay road, from Fortpatrick to the river Sark, on
the confines of Cumberland, extended to as much as about
788 miles, including 1011 bridges.

" These roads," says Anderson, " were narrow, but
rarely provided Avith parapets or drains ; the bridges were
high and steep, and the roads Avere carried over every
inequality of surface, in as rectilineal a direction as pos-
sible. Many of the old military bridges, however, have
stood the severest winter-floods in consequence of their
arches being highly pointed, fcAV, and open, and having
no breastAvorks of stone at either end. In some instances
the road has been often SAvept aAA'ay at their extremities,
and their bare gaunt masses left spanning a Avide stream,
apparently for no useful purpose.

" They were formed by small parties of soldiers, who
durins; the Avorkinjr season received a small increase of
pay ; each party was under the direction of a master-
mason and an overseer, aa'Iio had his instructions from an
officer, called the baggage-master and inspector of roads
in North Britain, and Avho Avas directly amenable to the
commander-in-chief of the forces for Scotland (Wade)."

"These roads Avere begun," says Pennant, "in 1723,
under the directions of General Wade, Avho, like another
Hannibal, forced his AA-ay through rocks supposed to have
been unconquerable. Many of them hang over the
mighty lakes of the country, and formerly afforded no
other road to the natives than the paths of sheep or goats,
Avhere even the Highlander craAvled with difficult}^, and
kept himself from tumbling into the far subjacent AA'atej:
by clinging to the plants and bushes of the rock. Many
of these rocks Avere too hard to yield to the pickaxe, and

KOADS OF SCOTLAND. 173

the miner ■was obliged to subdue their obstinacy with
gunpowder, and often in places where nature had denied
him footing, and where he was forced to begin his labours
suspended from above by ropes on the face of the horrible
precipice. The bogs and moors had likewise their diffi-
culties to overcome, but all were at length constrained to
yield to the perseverance of our troops.

" In some places I observed that, after the manner of
the Romans, they left engraven on the rocks the names
of the regiment each party belonged to who were em-
ployed in these works.

" These roads begin at Dunkeld, are carried on through
the noted pass of Killicrankie, by Blair, to Dalnacardoch,
Dalwhinie, and over the Coryarich, to Fort Augustus.
A branch extends from thence eastward to Inverness, and
another westward, over High Bridge, to Fort William.
From the last, by Kinloch Leven, over the Black Moun-
tain, by the King's house, to Tyendrum ; and from thence,
by Glen Urquie, to Inverary, and so along the beautiful
boundaries of Loch Lomond to its extremity."

These roads have been so very important in contri-
buting to the present improvement of the Highlands of
Scotland, that, although they may be slighted as specimens
of good road-making, they are entitled to the highest
praise. In the following extract these roads are spoken
of too disparagingly, but we nevertheless offer it to our
readers as containing the opinions of a modern celebrated
topographer.

'■• The epigram on Marshal Wade is well known*, but
we might easily make a Marforio to it, and turn up our
eyes at the manner in Avhich the roads are made. If
Fingal was a far greater hero, he Avas unquestionably also
a much better road-maker; and really it is somewhat
marvellous how the Marshal could have imagined, how
he could have adopted, the best of all possible plans, when
he formed the heroic determination of pursuing straight
lines, and of defying nature and wheel-carriages both, at

* The epigram here referred to is as follows : —
" Oil ! had yoii only seen these roads before they were made,
You'd lift up your hands and bless ^Marshal Wade ! "

174 ROADS OF SCOTLAND.

one valiant effort of courage and science. His orjran
of quarter-masterireness must have been ■woefully in ar-
rear, for there is not a highland Donald of them all, nay,
not even a stot or a quey in the country, that could have
selected such a line of march. Up and down, up and
down, as the old catch says, it is like sailing in the Bay
of Biscay. No sooner up than down, no sooner down
than up. No sooner has a horse got into his pace again
than he is called on to stop ; no sooner is he out of wind
than he must begin to trot or gallop ; and then the trap
at the bottom which receives the wheels at full speed.
The traveller, says some sentimental tourist, is penetrated
with amazement and gratitude, and so forth, at General
Wade's road — the amazement is probable enough. Pen-
nant, Avho, if he is not very sentimental, is at least the
very pink of good-humoured travellers, supposes the
General had some valid military reasons for his hobby-
horsical system ; this is very kind."

After the rebellion in 1745, the government made a
military road from Dumbarton Castle to Stirling Castle ;
another from the bridge of Fruin up the west side of
Loch Lomond ; and a third from Duchlage, on the west
side of Loch Lomond, across the country to the Frith of
Clyde. These roads were long kept in repair at the ex-
pense of the government, but this support was at length
withdrawn; and l>y degrees the military roads became sup-
ported partly by government and partly at the expense of
the various counties.

We cannot close this chapter Avithout offering the
reader the character of the brave soldier who effected so
vast a benefit for the Scottish Highlands.

" On the 14th of I\Iarch, 1758," says Noble, " died, at
the age of seventy-five, the once celebrated and still re-
membered JMarshal Wade, who commanded asfainst the
forces of the Pretender in 1715, and having finished the
contest, remained in Scotland as commander-in-chief.
While holding that office, his soldiers effected the famous
military road through the Highlands, which tended more
to the civilization of the country than all that the sove-
reigns before the reign of Georfte I. ever effected. Its

ROADS OP SCOTLAND.

175

inconsiderable expense has caused no less ■wonder tlian a
just admiration of his incorruptible integrity. He like-
wise built the noble bridge over the Tay."

It would seem that in the time of the rebellion, about
a hundred years ago, the Pretender, with most of his
Highland soldiers, escaped in consequence of the badness
of the roads on the coast of the Irish Sea, or St. Georcre's
Channel, in Lancashire and Cumberland.

" Had the road on the western sea to Scotland been
good for the march of an army and artillery, the young
Pretender had been overtaken, in spite of all his nimljle-
ness. For the Highlanders, like horses bred in a stony
country, might have stumbled on plain ground."

Higliland Euu.

Roads in the Scottish Highlands.

CHAPTER XII.

The Scottish Highlands. — Their Roads, Carriages, and Horses. —
Roads and Travelling in Scotland generally, in the eighteenth
century. — Old Roman Roads.

If roads, travel, and conveyance, were backward, botli in
tlie north and south of England, not yet a century ago, —
that, at the same period, they Avere not much better, or
that in reality they were still worse, in Scotland, or North
Britain, and most of all in the Highlands of Scotland,
may easily be thought. Here, in addition to the severity
of the climate, and other disadvantages of situation, are
mountains, rocks, and torrents to be passed, in the attempt
to reach from one place to another ; here are but small
and often shallow portions of culturable soil ; here is
poverty, and almost famine, to prey upon the bulk of the
population ; and here, up to the date in question, all im-
provement, to be expected from neighbourhood to the
perpetual increase of wealth in England, was either pre-
vented or retarded, by successive troubles and disorders in
the state of Scottish society.

Before the union of Scotland and England under a

THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS. 177

single sovereign, the borders of both countries were the
scenes of mutual and incessant robbery, slaughter, and
devastation, between the people of both countries. After
the union of the sovereignties, there were internal troubles
regarding civil and religious government; and after the
parliamentary union under Queen Anne, came the rebel-
lions and discontents which, till the final establishment of
the authority of the House of Hanover in Scotland, by
the issue of the rebellion of 1745, still opposed them-
selves to all Scottish advancement in civilization.

The history of roads and travel is intimately joined with
civil history in general, and it is needful to advert to cer-
tain circumstances of civil history, as well as to the diffi-
culties of surface and of climate, in order to a right view
of the sad picture of the Scottish Highlands, some sixty
years ago. But the author whom Ave shall quote, paints
the liighlands principally with reference to their winterly
aspects and necessities ; and produces, therefore, a strong
effect of contrast, if his description be compared with the
ruddy and sunny drawings of later tourists; tourists who
make flying visits ; and who make them, too, but in the
green season of summer, or to behold the glowing tints of
autumn.

We should have been pleased, nevertheless, if Ave
could have added to this preface, that the Scottish High-
lands of almost the middle of the nineteenth century are
no longer the same countries as almost in the middle of
the eighteenth ! Vast improvements, to some of Avhich,
and to some of their causes, these pages bear evidence,
have no doubt marked the inverval , but there still re-
mains too much to be lamented. Climate and surface
and situation are still against the natives of the High-
lands ; and many things remain but as they Avere.

" An inhabitant of the Highlands of Scotland," says
a tourist of the last century, " differs so much from an
inhabitant of the LoAvlands, in his language, customs,
manners, and dress, that to say of cither of them that he
is a Scotchman, is as indefinite as to say of a native of
France, that he is a European.

" The Highlands take up more than one half of

I 3

178 THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS.

Scotland, and extend from Dumbarton, near the month of
the Clyde, to the northernmost extremity of Great Bri-
tain ; a tract which is more than two hundred miles in
length, and from fifty to a hundred broad.

" In the country thus defined, one mountain is rudely
piled upon another, with vast hollows between them that
are filled with snow, especially near the summits, Avhicli
are frequently higher than the clouds. The ridges gene-
rally run from east to west, and, if they are viewed in that
direction *, they form the most dreadful prospect that can
be conceived. The eye then penetrates far among them,
and sees more particularly their stupendous bulk, frightful
irregularity, and horrid gloom, which becomes more strik-
ing by the shades which they project upon each other, and
the pale glimmering light which a faint reflection throws
in among them. The summit is generally a naked rock ;
the surface below is covered Avith heath ; the chasms that
are filled with snow appear in white spots ; and down the
declivity are deep and winding holloAvs t, worn by the
weight and violence of the waters, which frequently
loosen and bring down, as they descend, craggy fragments
of a prodigious magnitude. Among these scenes of deso-
lation, a few firs and small oaks are sometimes discovered,
the root of one being upon a level Avith the summit of
another. Upon a nearer view, some spots of grass are
seen among the hollows, but every enormity increases as
it is approached ; the gloom becomes deeper, the precipice
more steep, the bulk of the rude mountains above stu-
pendous, and the hollows of snow, which from the foot
appeared no bigger than a table, are found to extend more
than a mile. The appearance of these rocks varies A^th
the seasons, and is critically watched by the mountaineers.

* Hence the roads whicli run north and south follow a surface
alternately ascending to great heights, with cliasms, and preci-
pices, and beds of torrents, to distinguish them; and descend
to great depths, intersected with torrents, streams, cataracts, and
broken rocks.

t These winding hollows are the cleughs and doughs of the
Scotch, and the gills of the men of Cumberland and the adjacent
northern English counties. Cleiigh and dough are forms of the
words diff, dift, and deft; and gill, or gull, is gully.

THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS. 179

When the uppermost waters begin to appear with their
white streaks, they say ' the gray mare's tail begins to
grow ;' and from this time they never venture far from
home, lest they should either be swept away by the torrent
when it bursts forth, or it should at least cut off their
retreat, and leave them in an inaccessible desert, to perish
of hunger. One of these mountains, in Lochabar, called
Ben Nevis, is of a bulk so prodigious, that it is seven
Scotch miles, not to the summit, but to that part only
where it begins to be inaccessible !

-"Among these mountains there are some flats called
glens, which their situation renders totally barren ; for the
hollows in which they lie are sometimes so deep, that the
sun is not above their horizon more than three hours in
the longest day. Glen is also the name given in these
countries to a little spot of corn-country, by the side of
some small rivulet bounded by hills *.

" In passing this countr}^, it is necessary for the tra-
veller to take provisions, not only for himself, but for his
horse, and to procure a guide. As soon as he begins to
ascend the fli-st hill, he loses sight of the plain below,
and creeps slowly along a rocky A^alley surrounded with
mountains, still hoping that the ridge before him is the
summit ; and still finding another and another, till he
almost despairs of returning again to the level of vege-
table nature, or of again beholding the face of a human
being. Besides other dangers and inconveniences in this
journey, there are several rivers, very deep and rapid. Over
some of them, indeed, there is a ferry, but the boat is often
so small that the horse is obliged to swim at the stern, and
so shattered that the passenger is obliged to stand upon
clods of turf, placed over holes in its bottom to stop out
the water. "When there is no boat, it is best to let the

" The Celtic derivative glen, glynne, glin, hjn, or lin, has the
general sense of " a hollow," either wet or dry, and either per-
pendicular or horizontal. It is hence a hollow between hills or
mountains ; a pool or basin containing water, as at the foot of a
cataract, etc.; or a bay, hollow, or indentation, in the bank of a
coast, lake, or sea; as m the name of the town, port, and bay of
Lynu, in Norfollc.

180 THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS.

horse clioose his own steps, and for the rider to keep his
eye fixed upon some object on the opposite side of the
river ; for if he looks down into the current he will im-
mediately become so giddy as to endanger his seat, to
secure which he should at all events let his legs hang in
the water wherever the stones at the bottom will permit""'.
But after all these precautions, the traveller is sometimes
swept away by the sudden gushing of water from the
rocks a1)ove, which no sagacity can foresee, nor any
strength resist.

" A mile an hour is the ordinary rate of travelling,
the way being sometimes a rough part of the rock, some-
times full of loose stones, and sometimes bog more than
two feet deep, with large crags at the bottom. A wood
of fir-trees sometimes intervenes, the roots of which, cross-
ing each other, run a long way on the surface of the rock,
till they find a cranny, into which they shoot as a hold
a<]:ainst the force of the winds above. Among these roots
the horse's feet are so entangled, that the bog is scarcely
the less eligible of the two. On the summits of the hills,
indeed, there are bogs so deep as to bury the horse and
his rider. They look like little plains about a hundred
and fifty yards square, and the surface is sometimes stiff
enough to bear the little Highland horses, which, if they
happen to be bogged, will lie still till they are relieved ; but
our English horses, by continual struggling, work them-
selves so far in, that it is sometimes impossible to get
them out.

" In many places the rider is obliged to dismount,
sometimes climbing with the assistance of his hands, and
sometimes content to slide down the declivity. Some
part of the way is a path scarcely two feet wide, on the
brink of a precipice. Here the side of the mountain is
nearly perpendicular, and at the distance of about a hun-
dred yards below is a lake, into which vast fragments of

* To a rider or driver who is crossing a running stream, the
horse or carriage seems to stand still, and only the water to
move; and nothing to the inexiierienced appears more incom-
prehensible, and almost incredible, than that after a period of
this seeming fixture in the midst of the water, the opposite Lank,
always growing nearer and nearer, is at length actually reached !

THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS. 181

the rock have fallen ; and above, the mountain still rises,
till its summit is lost in the clouds. In these places the
danger is greatly increased by violent and sudden tem-
pests, which scoop the snow from the mountains, and
drive it along Avith incredible force, in such quantities
that the rider can scarcely see his horse's head, and the
beast himself is driven from side to side by the first fury
of the blast ; besides, if the snow, which at a certain
height falls every day, happens to continue many hours,
the face of the country is so changed, that till it melts it
is not possible for the best guide to find his way. After
such a journey as this, continued, perhaps, for two days,
the traveller will suddenly discover a little plain, about a
quarter of a mile square, with perhaps, eight or nine little
hovels upon it ; and this is a Highland town.

" If a drift of snow happens from the mountains,
the confinement of the Plighlanders to their glens and
their hovels is yet more dreary and close than otherwise j
for, in this case, the latter are sometimes buried to their
roofs, and when it is necessary to open a communication
between them, this is effected only by one man beginnino"
at the edge of the drift next to his own dwelling; when,
waving his body from side to side, he presses forward,
breaking part with his hands, if it is higher than his head.
When he reaches the next hut, its inhabitant joins him,
and they proceed together to another; and when many
have got together, they open, by a similar process, a way
for the cattle to return to the huts, the latter being noAV
usually near at hand; because, wben drifts happen, the
same Avind that fills the glens, clears, at the same time,
the hills of the snow that is thus drifted, and thus offers
to the cattle a free passage from the latter to the former.

" Besides neat cattle, the Highlanders have a breed of
dwarf horses, which they call garro7is; and Avhich run
Avild among the mountains, till they are eight or ten years
old, and are caught in various ways, according to the spots
in Avhich they are found. Sometimes they are hunted
into a bog; sometimes driven up a steep hill, on Avhich
the nearest pursuer endeavours to catch them by the hind
legs ; and sometimes they are hunted from place to place,

182 THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS.

till tliey lie down through mere ■weariness and Avant of
breath.

" The Highlanders have a tradition that these dimi-
nutive horses came originally from Spain, and have dwin-
dled to their present size by degrees. When a bundle is
to be carried on horseback, the Highlanders use two
baskets, of the kind that in England we call hampers, but
which are here called creels, of which one is hung upon
each side of the little horse; and if the load cannot be
divided, they put it all into one creel, and fill the other
"with stones; so that, for the removal of fifty pounds
weight, it becomes necessary for the horse to carry a hun-
dred.

" Where the Highlanders have sufficient depth of
ground for ploughing, they plough with four horses
abreast ; taking hold of the two innermost by their heads,
and walking backward themselves, watching the way of
the ploughshare, to prevent its striking against the rocks;
which, in many places, are to be seen just above the sur-
face. But the soil, even of the corn-lands, is, in some
places, so shallow, that, instead of ploughing, they dig it
with a wooden spade. The horse, however, is ahvays
employed to drag the harrow, which, without harness, is
cruelly fastened to the dock of his tail; and, when the
tail becomes too short, they lengthen it with twisted
sticks."

We are all well acquainted with specimens of these
Highland horses, which Ave knoAv by the name of Shet-
land ponies; but, hoAv fat, how sleek, and well-fed, and
Avhat new lives befal these animals, Avhen they arrive in
our southern counties, from the Scottish wilds, either of
the mainland, or of the islands still further to the north !

" The stature of the Highlanders," continues our
author, " is rather beloAV the standard; especially that of
the women, Avho are, in general, very small. But, though
the common Highlanders," he adds, " are squalid and
miserable, yet the gentry are a handsome people.

" In these northern parts of Great Britain, the tra-
veller Avill always find the cattle and the carts diminish in
their size, as he leaves the south yet further behind him.

THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS. 183

" In the streets of Inverness, the -women and maid-
servants, in the severest frosts, are seen without either
stockings or shoes ; and here and there a man dragging
along a half-starved horse, scarce bigger than an ass, in
a cart, about the size of a wheel-barrow. The load is often
not more than miefht be carried under his arm: but he
must not degrade himself by bearing a burden ; and per-
haps his wife is stooping under twice its weight; for the
women carry heavy loads, as the pedlars carry their packs.

" Some of these carters have ropes for halters, and
harness made of the manes and tails of their horses, which
are shorn in the spring for that purpose; but, in general,
they make use of birchen twigs twisted and knotted to-
gether; and it is from these bands, that they have learned
to call all ropes, woodies. The collar and crupper are of
plaited straw ; and, to save the horses back, they put a
few old rags under the cart-saddle. The beasts are never
either dressed or shod, and it is Avith great dif&culty that
they keep their footing, Avhen the carter has occasion to
turn the carriage, which he does by taking it up and tur-
ning it quite round.

" The wheels are made of three pieces of plank, pin-
ned together at the edge, like the head of a butter-firkin.
The axletree turns round with the wheels, which, Avhen
they are new, are about a foot and a-half in diameter, but
are soon worn very small: and as part of the circumfer-
ence is with the grain, and part against it, they wear un-
equally; and, in a little time, become rather angular than
round.

" In summer, Avhen the horse has done his Avork, the
driver attends him Avhile he grazes by the sides of the
roads, and the edges of the fields, holding him all the
while by a halter, lest he should encroach, for there are no
enclosures; and, in Avinter, many of them are famished to
death ; and may be seen from day to day craAvling along,
hanging doAvn their heads, and reeling Avith Aveakness
till they drop. Hay, indeed, is, even in the LoAvlands, a
scarce commodity; for, as soon as the grass is cut doAvn,
they bring it to toAvn, green^ for sale; and, at Edinburgh,
the place allotted for this traffic, is called the Grass-market."

184 ROADS OF SCOTLAND.

Descending from the Highlands to the Lowlands we
shall find that the roads of the last century, -were bad in
the extreme. The former modes of communication in
Scotland have been treated of, in an able volume, by Mr.
Buchanan, who has shown that, although the progress of im-
provement in Scotland was rather late in its beginning, it has
advanced with extraordinary rapidity; and is now keeping
pace with her richer neighbour. It is scarcely a century
since there was nothing deserving the name of a " road,"
in any of the great thoroughfares of Scotland; the whole
inland trade of the kingdom was carried on by means of
pack-horses ; and " persons," says he, " are still alive, who
remember, perfectly, the carriers between Edinburgh and
Glasgow, going regularly with five or six horses in a train;
and so narrow was the track, that the leading one had a
bell at his head, to give warning of their approach to the
party travelling in the opposite direction, that the one
micrht have time to <fet out of the wav, while the other
was passing." In this way they jogged along, over all the
inequalities of an extremely unequal country, through
which the road passed; and fording the difi^erent rivers
and streams, on which bridges were, as yet, unknown.
Carts were then used onl}^ in the principal toAvns, and
coaches or carriages rarely in the country; travelling
being, almost universally, performed on horseback. The
roads, too, were often impassable in low and wet grounds.
It is stated that, when Lord Hermand Avas sent, in 17^50,
from Ayrshire to the College at Edinburgh, the road was
in such a state, that servants were frequently sent for-
ward with poles to sound the depth of the mosses and
boQ"S which lav in their way. Mr. Chambers also states
that, when John Earle, of Londoun, was sent, in his youth,
to Edinburgh, about the year 1730, he travelled with his
baggage in a pair of panniers, across a poncy's back ; him-
self in the one pannier, and his baggage in the other.

Some of the Scottish roads were formerly kept in re-
pair by statute-labour, which originated in the early part
of the last century. In the fifth year of the reign of
George L, an act was passed, which made the following
regulations : —

KOADS OF SCOTLAND. 185

The justices of peace and commissioners of supply, in
the several counties, were ordained to assemble at the
chief towns in the county, on the third Tuesday in May,
in each year; with power to choose clerks, surveyors, and
other officers, for the management of the high-roads.

The justices, or their deputies, were empowered to
convene the tenants, cotters, and other labouring men,
■within their district; and to cause them to work on the
high-ways, three days before the last of June, and three
days after harvest, in each year: this Avas to continue until
the roads were sufficiently repaired.

Any tenant, cotter, or labouring man, Avho failed to
make his appearance, after due notice, and render his quota
of the work, was to be fined eighteen pence per day, until
he fulfilled his duty, or sent some one else to do it for him.

Up to this time then, and for a good while after, the
Scottish roads are represented as being so bad, that they
went in straight lines, up one side of a hill, and down
another ; crossed bogs, Avhich were impassable during Avin-
ter, and Avere so badly laid, that that Avhich is noAV a
journey of a fcAv hours, formerly consumed days. Robert-
son, in his Rin-al Recollections^ tells us, that the common
carrier from Selkirk to Edinburgh, thirty- eight miles dis-
tance, took two Aveeks for his journey between the tAvo
toAvns, going and returning. The road Avas, originally,
most perilous and fatiguing, oAving to the AA^ater and the
hills. The felloAA'-toAvnsmen of this individual, on the
morning of his going aAvay, took leaA^e of him, as if going
upon an undertaking of doubt and danger.

Such alarm did the people of Scotland feel at the first
idea of making and improving roads in their country,
that the landed gentry, Avith the farmers and tenants, at
the starting of a ncAv road, sought to have it carried as far
away from their premises, as possible: but time soon
pointed out the error of these foolish \-ieAvs and Avishes.

But, bad as the internal communications of Scotland
Avere, they seem to have kept pace Avith the progress of
trade, and general intercourse throughout the country.
The mail Avas regularly despatched betAveen Edinburgh and
London, on horse-back, and Avent in the course of five or

186 TRAVELLING IN SCOTLAND.

six days; but so limited was the communication between
the two capitals, that, during the rebellion of 1745, when
an order Avas sent from London to open all the letters in
the post-office, with the view of detecting treasonable cor-
respondence, there were not, in all, above twenty letters in
the London bag. — " Such," says Mr. Buchanan, " was the
low state of trade and business; the true cause of the back-
ward state of the roads, and of all the other accommoda-
tions which distinguish a rich and improving country."

Between 1750 and 17^0, a coach travelled from Lon-
don to Edinburgh in thirteen days. About the year 1770,
roads were so much improved, that carts came into general
use, particularly on farms, and in conveying grain to mar-
ket. With a cart, one horse could draw five or six
hundred-weight, while the pack-horse could only carry
three. In the year 1790, the construction and manage-
ment of the roads began to excite great public attention,
and improved lines were formed in all parts of the country;
which lines Avere made of better materials ; so that,
generally, the load of a single cart-horse was increased to
eight or ten hundred-weight, and travelling in carriages
became very common. Since that period, improvements
have advanced with accelerated rapidity, and such have
been their effects on the powers of draught, that on
almost every public road in Scotland, a single cart-horse
can easily draw sixteen hundred- weight; and, on many
roads, a stout horse will draAv as much as twenty-five
hundred-weight. Such has also been the effect of the
velocity of motion, that the London mail now performs
the journey in forty-three hours and a-half. Between
Edinburgh and Glasgow, nearly twenty coaches run daily,
and the journey is completed in five hours. The ori-
ginal coach between these two places, which was com-
menced in 1765, occupied twelve hours on the road;
and a swifter vehicle, afterwards introduced, was called
the Fly, on account of its great velocity, — it went the
journey, from Edinburgh to Glasgow, in ten hours; a
shorter time than had been before occupied in the jour-
ney:— but now our coaches, as we have just said, com-
plete the distance in half the time !

ANCIENT ROADS. 187

Before we leave tlie subject of Scottish roads, we can-
not refrain from giving the reader the general information
regarding tlie roads of Caledonia, at the commencement
of the Christian era.

The Roman roads in Scotland exhibit the same inde-
fatigable spirit, which distinguished that extraordinary-
people elsewhere. They built a wall from the Clyde to the
Forth, and another from the Tyne to the Solway; and,
between these two walls, roads intersected the country in
various directions.

The Western-road, as it was called, ^vas the first of
these which was constructed. It commenced at the
southern wall, near Carlisle, and, crossing Solway-moss,
entered, what is now called, Scotland. After proceeding
towards the Annan, a branch-road turned to the left, to-
Avards Nithsdale. The principal branch proceeded onward
to the hilly region, which furnishes the sources of the
Clyde, the Annan, and the Tweed, and then went through
Clydesdale, towards the river Calder. It afterwards ended
at the northern-wall, near the spot now occupied by the
city of Glasgow.

The road, called watling-street, which led through
the eastern portion of Scotland, commenced at the southern
wall, near Portgate, and entered Scotland near the source
of the Coquet. After crossing the rivers Jed and Teviot,
it passed near Melrose, and crossed the Tweed. It then
passed near Lauder, Oxton, and Bowbridge, at the east
end of the Pentland-hills. After passing over one or two
more rivers, it joined the east end of the northern- wall at
Caeridden.

Laplanders on a Journey.

CHAPTER XIII.

Glances at the modern Roads of Foreign Lands. — Travelling in
Lapland. — Roads, and Travelling in Norway — Aljiine Roads.
— Simplon. — Great Saint-Bernard. — The other Alpine Roads.
— Mount Brenner. — Cornice. — Aurelian Road. — GasparStoeri.
— Roads of France.

The world which Ave inhabit offers on its surface greater
or less facility for the motions of man. In many cases
absolute difficulties present themselves to the traveller;
but these are overcome by the exertion of that distinguish-
ing faculty of reason, Avhich enables man to understand
the laws Avhich govern the universe, and to apply them to
his own purposes. If the waters of the ocean oppose his
passage, he constructs ships, avails himself of winds and
tides, and floats with ease and rapidity to the land to
which business or pleasure calls him ; if wind and tide
oppose him, he calls to his assistance the wondrous force
of steam, and defies both wind and tide: if a gulf yawn
at his feet, and seem to forbid his further advance, he
throws a bridge over it, and thus continues his road with
ease and safety; he passes over the mightiest and most
rapid rivers by similar means; and if this cannot be done,
he builds a road in spite of danger and difficulty under the
very bed of the stream; if hills oppose him he cuts through

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 189

them; if marshes and bogs threaten to sink under him, he
drains them; if his burdens be drawn at too great cost and
expense, he constructs canals, and thus lessens his outlay
for draught; and if he himself move too sluggishly for
his impatient zeal over the rough and uneven ground, he
smooths it, and by constructing rail-roads, moves along
with renewed velocity.

Man has done all this, and can do still more. His en-
terprise prompts him perpetually to devise new schemes
for facilitating his itinerant wants and wishes. But his
power is, to a great extent, limited or modified by the
nature of the ground over which he purposes to travel:
thus his roads must partake of the diversity of the soil
and climate in which they are constructed. Soil and
climate, too, are for the most part the powerful means of
deciding, or greatly influencing, the manners and customs,
the dress, and even the language of nations; hence it
naturally follows that the roads and patliAvays of foreign
lands are of a very diverse character: they are made, doubt-
less, in conformity with the wants of the natives who travel
over them, whether on foot or in litters, in open carts and
carriages, in chairs fastened to men's backs, on the camel,
or on the horse or elephant. The roads are, in short,
adapted to the nature of the country, and the beasts of
burden found therein, and the carriages are adapted to the
roads.

But of carriages we shall speak more hereafter; our
present purpose is to bestow a few hasty glances on the
roads ofJurelg?i lands, and to extend the objects for which
the second chapter of this book was written.

Let the reader accompany us on an imaginary tour
through several foreign lands. We Avill first take "him to
Lapland, where we find the ice frequently serving as a
road of passage, like the canals of the Dutch, which are
cleaved by the boat in the summer, and by the skate in
the winter. The beast of draught Avith the Laplanders is
the rein-deer, which, when they have occasion to make an
expeditious journey, is yoked to a sledge, which it draws
up hill and down dale, with amazing rapidity, over the
snow-bound surface of the country. This, in consequence

]90 ^•ORWAY AND SAVEDEN.

of the frosts, is tolerably level, and furnishes a suitable
road. The natives are in the habit of travelling from
place to place, and moving their families at the beginning
of winter and summer, for the sake of the pasturage, and
to mitigate the rigour of the climate. The snow covers
the ground for nine months of the year.

We will now pass on into Norway. We select this coun-
try for the continuation of our tour, because in it the first
Sfood modern roads Avere constructed. We are too much
in the habit of associating the primitive manners of bar-
barism with these nations of the north: let not the reader
fall into this mistake ; for we can assure him that, although
the proud empire of Rome owed its downfal mainly to
the people of the north, yet modern civilization has much
to thank them for.

The kingdoms of Sweden and Norway cover a space of
292,700 English square-miles, of which the larger part
belongs to Sweden. From the eastern extremity of SAveden
to the Norwegian precipices, which overhang the northern
ocean, the surface is continually rising ; and Norway upon
the west of S^veden is, for the most part, to the latter, Avhat
the Scottish Highlands are to the Scottish Lowlands, ex-
cept that the NorAvegian heights exceedingly surpass the
Scotch. Of the space above-named nearly 4000 square-
miles are above the line of perpetual snoAv; but of these
more than three fourths belong to NorAA'ay.

The Norwegians, like the Scottish Highlanders, have a
small but hardy race of horses, Avhich, heavily laden, go
up and down the mountain-roads with an ease that often
astonishes strangers. Upon the steep sides of the moun-
tains, and AA^hat is Avorse, upon the smooth sides of the
rocks, and among the large and moveable stones, they
seem exposed to an incessant danger of falling and break-
ing their legs. They lead the rude lives of their masters,
so that, though the latter are usually kind and considerate,
they strike a stranger as enduring both great and needless
hardships. They cross, with Avonderful success, SAA'ift
rivers, over Avhich, perhaps, the simple bridges consist
onlv of two coarsely hcAvn trees, laid down from bank to
bank; but Avhere the rider, loosening the bridle freely

NORWEGIAN MOUNTAINS. ]9]

upon the animal's shoulder, the latter bends its nose to the
surface of the logs, and carries the former safely. In
other cases (and this may happen at the very end of a
hard journey, and when the horse is heated and relaxed
from fatigue,) it reaches a river where it has no bridge at
all, and the stream of which it must therefore swim; and
afterwards remain shivering all night in the open air.

The Norwegian mountains are single, or else in chains
or ridges extending many miles from north to south. The
ascent to the top of some of these ridges is often as much
as thirty-six English miles; and the perpendicular height
of the summits, or their elevation above the level of the
sea, is computed to be about three English miles. At
this height, the air is always as cold as in the depth of
winter lower down, and all the waters continue frozen,
though exposed to the summer's sun.

The tops of these ridges, which are usually fflat and
even, are always covered with snow; and the public roads
to many places, but particularly to the city of Kongsberg,
run over them; yet in travelling them, great caution is
required for avoiding the chasms of the numerous cliffs,
many of which, in winter, are often concealed by drifted
snow, and into which, whoever falls, if he be not killed on
the spot, must perish of hunger; except he can find his
way out at the foot of the mountain, by some hole which
has been made by bird or beast.

Of the single mountains, the elevation is less; but
many are from 3000 to 4000 feet in height, with their sides
covered with fields and woods, and their feet washed mth
navigable streams; the summits covered with pasture, and
the centres filled with treasures of silver, copper, iron, and
other metals.

On these latter mountains are frequently situated the
farm-houses and cottages of the peasantry, some of them
standing so near to the brinks of precipices that the in-
habitants go up to them by means of ladders; and when
a clergyman is sent for, he makes his visit at the risk of
his life; especially so in winter, Avhen the frost has made
the steps or rounds of the ladders slippery. The corpses
of the dead, sent forth for burial, are let down by ropes,

J 92

MOUNTAIN ROADS.

and then carried upon men's backs to the spots where
they can reach their coffins; and at some distance inland
from the sea-port town of Berghen, the mail itself is drawn
up with ropes, over the steepest of the mountains.

Besides the roads on the flat summits of long ridges of
mountains, there are many which run along the sides of
the narrow defiles, formed of natural craggy rocks, with
huge inaccessible cliffs above them, and impassable wastes,
which lie at amazing distances below. Few of these
roads, though some of them are the post-roads, are broader
than a common path or footway; and many project over
the precipice, and are shored up from beneath, to prevent
their falling under the weight of the traveller: and in
places where the rock has already given way, loose planks
are laid over iron bolts driven into the sides of the rock
still standing; no part of these fearful passages being
secured by rails, it being impossible to fix any.

Norwegian Mountain Road.

KOADS OF NORAVAY. 193

A roacl or passage of tliis rude kind, but nevertheless a
■o'ork of art, (for nature liad denied any or mucli assistance
here,) is the narrow pass of Naeroe, leading to the river
Waas, and constructed by the famous Norwegian king,
Suerre, in the year 1200, as a military road; that is, as a
passage for his army.

Between Scogstadt and Vaug, also, in Yolders, there is
a road on the side of a lofty and steep mountain, and
along the border of a fresh- water lake, so narrow, in many
parts, that if two travellers meet, they must either stop
short Avithout being able to pass each other, or even to
alight; their only expedient being that of one of them
catching hold, from his horse's back, of some crag of the
mountain, Avhile clinging to which he must push his horse
headlong into the lake, and thus make way for the other
traveller.

Nor are the narrowness and steepness of these roads
the only sources of danger to those who travel them. The
clefts and caverns of the rocky mountains are the habita-
tion of innumerable beasts of prey; and bears, and especi-
ally wolves, are to be continually expected.

Along these passes, too, and the sides of the mountains
over Avhich they lead, it often happens that both goats and
black cattle fall into places whence they can neither ascend
nor descend ; but in these cases, the peasants, accustomed
from their birth to the difficulties of the roads, and of the
climate, encounter almost any risk for their recovery. A
stick being fastened by the middle to the end of a rope,
the man puts his legs over it, on each side of the rope, and
is let down several hundred fathoms from the top of the
precipice, swinging himself to and from the face of the
rocks till he can set his foot on the place Avhere his sheep
or goat is lodged; when, fastening his rope around it, both
he and his prize are drawn up together.

" That men should thus venture," says a native histo-
rian, " to descend Avith no support but a mere rope and
stick, from such tremendous heights, and hang over
abysses, Avhich a stranger could not behold except Avith
terror, is a strong instance of the force of habit ; but that
they should aggravate, as is their practice, the dangers

194 NORWEGIAN BIRDMEN.

they incur, by taking with them but one assistant, is a
still stronger; especially as it sometimes happens, that he
who holds the end of the rope finds himself unable, not
only to draw it up again, but to sustain the weight
attached to it. AVhen such extremities, however, arise,
this latter has been known, not to quit his hold, but to
suffer himself to be dragged do-\vn ; choosing rather to
perish with his friend, than to betray his trust."

In the same daring spirit, the Norwegian birdmen are
found climbing precipices propped upon a pole, hanging
by a cord over cliffs thrice as high as the cross of St.
Paul's Church, or scrambling at that height from one
crag to another, holding, by one hand, by some craggy
prominence, and groping with the other after birds in the
crevices of the rock. A restraint upon these excesses by
force of law was once attempted, but to no purpose.

If a birdman fell from the rock, and was killed, it was
proposed to his next of kin to climb to the same place, by
the same way. If he accepted the offer, and succeeded in
the task, the deceased was acquitted of presumption ; but
if he refused, the latter was condemned, as having ven-
tured where it was deemed rashness to repeat the under-
taking ; and, as a punishment, his body was treated as
that of a suicide, being denied Christian burial. The law,
however, which was as rude in its provisions as the prac-
tices it aimed to remedy, fell early into disuse.

The horses of Norway, like the horses of the Scottish
Highlands, are small ; but it is otherwise with the Nor-
wegian people. Though fed in a manner that must seem
the most impoverishing to an English observer, the Nor-
wegian peasantry are tall, well-proportioned, and of hand-
some features; or, if they have any defect of personal
symmetry, it is because the muscles of their thighs and
legs, particularly of the latter, are peculiarly full, a cir-
cumstance to be accounted for from the incessant and
great activity of their lives on foot. They are of a race
quite distinct from the race of Scottish Highlanders.

One living, but more than ordinary, example of this
Norwegian strength and stature, as well as of the prevail-
ing goodness of moral character, and of the general toil

ROADS OP NORAVAY. 195

required for the formation and improvement of the Nor-
Avegian roads, is to be found in Eystein Hansen, the dis-
tinguished tenant of the farm of Ingolfsland, in the parish
of Dal, at a little distance from Lake Tindsjben.

The roads in Norway are still made and repaired upon
the system anciently universal ; that is, within a certain
distance of the towns, the towns are at the needful expen-
diture ; while, in the country, the inhabitants make and
maintain them according to customary allotments, both of
space and time.

In Hansen's district, a piece of road, of twenty yards
in length, was divided between two peasants; but (on
account of the numerous blocks of stone which required
to be either broken or removed, and, among others, two
of immense size,) those persons considered it beyond the
limit of human strength to do the work in less than two
days, and refused to undertake it with an allowance of
less time. Sevei-al other peasants were then applied to,
some of the strongest in the neighbourhood inclusive, but
all refused the piece of work, liansen, however, declared
that it was no greater task than he could perform alone,
and not in two days, but in one ; and then, to prove his
words, began to work at sun-set, after his neighbours had
finished their day's toil, and were gone home. In the
first place, he broke into pieces the largest of the two
blocks, or " boulder-stones," such as in England are some-
times called " gray-wethers," and cast the latter over the
side of the lofty rock, along the ledge of Avhich the road
was to be carried ; and next, with only the assistance of
his crow-bar, he removed the other off the line of road.
Completing the job before him, he then dug the level
road required, two yards in breadth, one in depth, and
twenty in length, and all in the short space of six hours
only; besides working cheerfully and equally with his
neighbours on the following day. The rock, or " boulder-
stone," which he removed, and which still remains a monu-
ment below the road, cannot Aveigh less than two tons.

It gives the crowning-grace, however, to this story, to
add that this man, of such extraordinary bodily strength,
has been just as much remarked through life for the

k2

196 IIOADS OF NORWAY.

modesty, gentleness, and unassuming character of his
manners ; and, that though like a lion when really irri-
tated, his consciousness of his superior force has been
often known to make him overlook insults, particularly
from strangers, who could not be aware of his powers ;
and also, as a general principle, to avoid all occasions of
quarrel. He is at present gro\ving old, and is an object
of general respect with those Avho know him.

Often, the Norwegian roads are a thousand feet above
rivers, lakes, and valleys, which they skirt; but such
roads, and even paths that are sometimes frequented
more from curiosity than need, are readily traversed by
this bold and practised people. To look upon the cata-
ract called the Rikand, and to reach its top, it is required
either to go round the mountain Gousta, by a road four
English miles in length, or else to ascend by a zig-zag
path along its side, to the height of seven or eight hun-
dred feet, and in some places so narrow that the visiter
cannot place his two feet by the side of one another,
■while one false step would cause him to plunge into the
gulf beneath. Here, the travellers that are apt to be
giddy crawl their way upon their hands and feet ; the
Norwegian guides at the same time going up and down
with swiftness and entire facility.

It takes off, perhaps, somewhat from the merit of that
Norwegian tenderness for their diminutive horses, already
adverted to, thus to relate the strength, the powers, and
the general activity of the men themselves. " Norwegian
carriage-drivers," says a recent tourist, " keep up with
ease by the side of a carriage at full speed, for ten or
twelve miles together. Their consideration for their
horses is such, that I never remember seeing them rest
themselves behind the carriage, except, perhaps, for a few
minutes ; and in this way will they continue running to
the end of the stage."

A bad posting system prevails in this country, by
which the farmers of the way-side are compelled to be
ready with horses to serve the wants of travellers. The
rate for each horse is only about a penny a mile ; the
effect of which interference with the rights and property

ROADS OF NORAVAY. 197

of the people are attended, Mr. Laing says, with manifestly
bad results.

But it must not be imagined that in Norway there are
no situations adapted for the formation of good roads, or
that where good roads are practicable, the Norwegians do
not make them. Here, as in Sweden, though both are
mountainous countries, there are man}'- good roads at in-
tervals, such as may be easily travelled in a four-wheeled
wagon, like that of the Swedish country-people, as seen
in the chapter on wheel-carriages. The northern shores
of the Baltic sea, which include many of those of Norway,
and.all of those of Sweden, are as rocky and mountainous
as the southern are flat and sandy : from the Baltic to
Moscow there is not a single hill.

It is not in Norway, or in Scotland, that the surface
of the country gives occasion for the most difficult roads
of Europe : for these Ave must turn our thoughts to the
Alps, the most considerable mountains in this division of
the globe, and which offer the severest obstructions to
travel between the great and populous countries of France,
and Germany, and Italy,

Alps is but another Avord for hills or mountains. The
Celtic Avord alp^ or alb^ signifies high; and, if applied to
land, signifies Avhat, through derivatives from other voca-
bularies than the Celtic, we call a high land, or eminence,
or hill, or mountain. Alp, therefore, is, first, a general
name for a mountain; and, secondly, and through the
accident of ancient local language, traditionally preserved,
the Alps (at least Avith geographers) are those particular
mountains in the South of Europe, remarkable alike for
their elcA^ation, their extensive range, and the great im-
portance of their position.

The Alps divide France and Germany from the North
of Italy, and the North of Italy from the South ; and upon
the north side of the central and highest part of their
range, or chain, is the SavIss Alps (noAV commonly so
called), which comprise the most important places of the
Alpine passes, and almost confine to their single share
the European celebrity of the Alps.

Over the Alps at the present day there are ten com-

198 ALPINE ROADS.

modious carriage-roads. The roads or passes, taken col-
lectively, and remarkable either for the number of those
who travel upon them, the skill and labour of their works,
or the beauty of their features or prospects, are twelve in
number ; and of these the road or pass of Mount St. Ber-
nard, and the great road of the Simplon, are the most
celebrated and conspicuous.

" Ten carriage-roads," says an indefatigable explorer
and admirable illustrator of the passes of the Alps, " are
now completed across the Alps, and others are in the
course of formation ; and over those barriers, which were
once considered impassable without danger, some of the
best roads on the globe are at present carried ! But the
prejudices of nations occupying the two sides of the Alps,
as much or more than the difficulties of nature, had re-
quired to be conquered, before those works could be ac-
complished ; and that conquest has been achieved only
within a few years passed by. It is to these prejudices,
or to those fears of danger from the construction of roads,
which, overcoming the natural obstacles, opened passes
alike for friends and foes, that allusion is made in the re-
cent inscription upon a bridge close to the baths of Pignon,
about a league from the Via JMala, and in which is re-
corded the opening of the neAv road, begun in the year
1818, and completed in six years, and measuring tAventy-
six leagues and a half: —

JAM VIA TATET
HOSTIBUS ET AMICIS.

CAVETE RH^TT !
SIIIPLICITAS MORUM

ET UNIO

SERVABUNT AVITAM

LIBERTATEM*."

The Alpine road, called " the road of the Simplon," or
that which crosses the alp or mountain of this name, com-
mences in Switzerland, and leads out of the Valais, or

* Brockedon's Passes of the Alps. The translation of this
inscription is as follows : —

" The way now lies open to friends and enemies. Beware, ye
Swiss ! Simplicity of manners and union will preserve your an-
cestral liberty."

THE SIMPLON. 19&

valley of tlie Rhone, into the plain of Lombardy, in Italy,
and puts the traveller upon his way to Dome d' Ossola and
Milan.

At Martigny, where the valley of the Rhone begins to
grow narrow and marshy, and lose itself in the ascent of
the mountains, the roads of the Great Bernard and the
Simplon take their opposite directions ; the one leading
westward, to Aosta and Turin, in Piedmont, or the terri-
tory of the king of Sardinia, upon the Italian side of the
Alps ; and the other eastward, and therefore, as was inti-
mated, into Lombardy, or to the cities of Dome d' Ossola
and Milan. Around the small but very ancient Swiss
city of Sion, the valley spreads again to the breadth of
about ten miles, with a fertile soil and beautiful appear-
ance ; but a little beyond that city, the road of the Sim-
plon begins to wind up the hill-side. Brig is a small
town a very little above its foot ; but its important works
begin but at a little further still ; that is, at the smaller
village of Glys.

At this point, a torrent, or rapid mountain- river, called
the Saltine, descends from the mountain, through a ravine
more remarkable for its size than for any real terrors.
Through this broad and retiring vista, the eye is carried
upward as far as the gate, or to the summit of the pass.
The road proceeds some distance before it joins the ravine,
but then skirts its edge for a few miles, and finally turns
round its upper end. The distance, in a straight line,
from Brig to the head of the ravine, which is at the greatest
elevation of the road, cannot much exceed six miles, even
if it is so much; but the windings give to the traveller
an ascent of thirteen.

Above Brig, the valley of the Rhone is rapidly nar-
rowed; and here the height of the land above the level of
the sea is about 2400 feet. From this spot, there is a
fine view of a glacier of the Viescherhorn, one of the peaks
of the Oberland mountains, nearly opposite to Brig. To
the distance of thirteen miles, from Brig to the summit of
the road or pass, is to be added five to the village of Sim-
peln, (the name Simplon in its German form,) and thence
to the frontier of Italy, five more. After this, it proceeds

200 THE SIMPLON.

to Crevola, on the level of the first Italian plain, at ten
miles from the frontier, and then four miles further, to
Domo cl' Ossola, which is four more; thus giving to the
entire route thirty-five miles, of -which the last three or
four are on a perfect flat.

" It does very well," sajs the tourist already cited, "to
talk, hy way of poetical embellishment, about trotting up
and down this celebrated pass. But even six horses, at-
tached to the common travelling vehicle, seemed very
well disposed to take the matter much more leisurely."
There were level portions of the road, he admits, Avhere
this trotting was possible, and v.'here, in his own instance,
it Avas actually performed; "but much the greater part of
the ascent was made on a walk."

The same traveller " much doubts," whether there is
"anything so delightfully horrible" as is usually described,
as far as regards the Swiss, or northern side of the moun-
tain. At the head of the ravine called the Ganter, he and
his companion alighted, in order to lessen the fatigue of
the horses, and Avalked the rest of the distance to the
summit, preceding the carriage the whole way, with great
ease to themselves; "a pretty good proof," he insists,
" that there was not much trotting I Indeed, the postilions
soon after dismounted, walking by the side of their horses
most of the time. I do not think, however," he concludes,
" it would be necessary to lock the wheels much of the
way, in descending; or that it would be at all dangerous
to go do}V7i the whole declivity, on this side of the moun-
tain, at a reasonable trot."

Arriving, next, along the edge of a larger and deeper
ravine, or that in which the Saltine flows, he still thinks
that the dangers, as well as the recent works, upon the
route of the Simplon, (and especially as concerning the
ravines of the Ganter and the Saltine,) a,re described in
too florid terms: " I\Iany writers," says he, "speak of
the terrific appearance of these two ravines; of trees
growing in a line with their sides; of their vast depth,
and of the nervousness with which one gazes dovrn-
wards, into the gloomy abysses. All this struck me as
being singularly exaggerated. From Brig to the sum-

THE SIMPLON. 201

mit, I did not see a single point ^vllere there could have
been any great difficulty in constructing a road, or a single
spot ■where a man of ordinary nerA'^es might not stand
with great indifference on the extreme edge of the road.
The mountain was of vast scale; the road was certainly
laid out Avith great science and method; the ravines, if
not frightful, were yawning, and of great depth; and
there can be no doubt that in many places, torrents, land-
slips, avalanches, and falling rocks, may occasionally do
much mischief. One of the latter had done material in-
jury this very summer; but none of these dangers obtrude
themselves on the eye of the traveller in ascending.
Here and there a small stone ' Refuge' stands by the road-
side, a place of shelter in the winter, and during storms.
At the head of the ravine, the mountain above it rises more
abruptly to a peak, crowned with a glacier. As the road
is here necessarily cut into the earth, a roof of stone has
been built over it, in order to cast the avalanches into the
ravine. It is a damp and disagreeable gallery*."

A little below the summit is a toll-house, and at the
precise summit a cross; and here the elevation is about
6600 feet above the sea, and four thousand above the
town of Brig. " Not far from the cross," continues our
tourist, " an Aoi'p^'cet is constructing, for the purpose of
giving travellers shelter. An old building of the same
nature, but of very inferior pretensions, stands in a little
valley hard by, deserted and dilapidated. The latter, it
Avould seem, Avas a private charity; but the ncAV edifice
belongs to the brotherhood of the Augustines of the Great
Saint Bernard.

" There is little interest in the summit of the Simplon.
It has breadth and A'astness; but its aspect is that of a
rocky mountain-pasturage. The descent to the village of

* It is necessary to observe liere, that what in England is
called a tunnel, has, in France and Italy, the name oi gallery. In
German, and in GeiTuany, it is hohle, or hole ; and such is the
" Hole of Uri."

t Literally " an hospital ;" hut understood only as a house for
the temporary lodging gf travellers meeting Avith misfortune upon
the road.

k3

202 THE SIMPLON.

Simpeln * is easy, and the distance is near five miles, the
ivhole of which may be said to lie virtually on the summit
of the passage; for, though Simpeln is 600 or 700 feet lower
than the hospice, it is reached before the main descent
commences. To sum up the details of the northern side
of the Simplon, I shall add, that they fell materially short
of the grand and terrific efi"ects we anticipated from the
descriptions we had not only heard, but read."

In descending the Simplon, upon its southern or
Italian side, the same writer still- complains of extrava-
gance in the customary descriptions: " We soon reached,"
says he, " the first of the celebrated galleries, which are
also features of the route which I think exasperated.
The mere effect of passing through these artificial caverns,
amid frowning precipices and foaming torrents, and along
a road that, in reality, is as smooth and as safe as a
garden- walk, is, beyond doubt, both exciting and strange;
but as mere public works, these galleries are neither extra-
ordinary nor unusual. The ' Hole of Uri' is precisely
the same thing, and much more ancient, though smaller t.
Were the rock entirely blown away, these passes would
create much less wonder and conversation, while the
labour and cost would have been materially increased.
But you can more easily appreciate the labour, if not the
effect in a picturesque sense, by learning the dimensions.
The longest of these galleries is a little more than 600
feet, the height is about twenty, and the breadth twelve.
The single cutting on the Erie Canal near Lockport %, as a

• That is, the village ou the Simpeln, or Simplon. Simpeln
is the German form of the name, as Simplon is the French, and
Sempione the Italian. The later Romans were well acquainted
with this pass, and doubtless they more or less improved it; and
some are of opinion that its name must be derived from the
Roman name Semprouius.

-j- The Hole of Uri, as suggested in a preceding note, is what
in England would be called a tunnel. It is situated in a gorge of
the mountains, where the Reuss finds its way out of the valley of
the Ursern. The tourist describes it as " a dark gallery, about
two hundred feet long, and of ten or twelve in height and
breadth."

+ In the State of New York.

THE SI3IPL0N. 203

I

mere public work, materially surpasses all the cuttings and
blastings on the Alpine passes put together, although
there are now two other roads but little inferior, if any,
to this of the Simplon*.

But, here, however, the writer does not omit to sub-
join, that " notwithstanding all the mistakes which have
arisen from indiscriminating descriptions, poetic feeling,
or popular error, no passage of the Alps can possibly be
other than grand, and at certain seasons dangerous. The
magnificent aspects of nature, among which the Simplon
road is compelled to pass, coupled with its extent, form its
principal peculiarities. These is, perhaps, no one insulated
point on the Avhole route, which, taken by itself, merely
as a gallery, bridge, or road, is not surpassed, even in its
own way, by some similar object, in some other part of
Switzerland. Thus, no bridge is equal in boldness, thread-
like lightness, and giddy altitude, to that of the Reuss,
near Ursern-f-, nor do I know that there is any greater
cutlingX than at that point; but there is so much of this
labour, and skill, and hardihood, compressed into a single
route, in descending the Simplon, that while one is pass-
ing rapidly through such a scene, the mind, without stop-
ping to analyze the parts, is apt to carry away an impres-
sion of an entire undivided whole. You are kept for
hours among some of the grandest objects of the sublimest
scenery of Europe, if not of the world; and few pause to
detect the means that conspire to produce the impressions
that all feel.

" Soon after quitting the village of Simpeln, we com-
menced descending, by a road that made a wide sweep,
and at the end of a mile or two we entered the gallery.
At this point the descent became more gradual, and we
trotted on, at a good pace, for some distance further.
The gorge § , through which the road runs, deepened as

* " Tljat of the St. Gotliard makes a fourth, and that by Nice
a fifth." The last is called the Corniche, or Cornice.

t This is the celebrated Swiss Bridge, called the Devil's
Bridge, of which more liereafter.

X Gallery, or tunnel. Tliis " cutting," gallery, hole, or tunnel^
is the " Hole of Uri," mentioned already in a former note.

§ Or hollow between the mountains.

204 THE SIMPLOX.

■\ve proceeded, until tlie clifts impended over it, in places,
and in the form of walls that were absolutely projecting, I
should think, fully a thousand feet. Here the scenery
became wildly, not to say avrfully, grand; and one certainly
feels a strange sensation of wonder, at finding one's self
travelling through such savage passes, along a road with a
surface like a floor!

" I cannot pretend to give you a very accurate notion
of distances, for the moments flcAV swiftly, and my atten-
tion Avas too much attracted to the scenery, to take notice
of their passage. I should say, however, it w^as at a point
less than two leagues from the village, that we passed the
portion of the road with Avhich I Avas most struck, con-
sidering it merely as a work of art. At this spot, it had
become necessary to descend from one level of the gorge
to another that lay at some distance beneath. This object
the enjrineers had been obliged to achieve witliin a very
short space, and over a broken and steep surface of ragged
rocks. It was done by short zig-zags, so admirably cal-
culated, both as to the inclination and the turns, as to
enable old Caspar* to Avheel his four grays, on a gentle
trot, through the Avhole descent, with as much accuracy as
he, or any one else, could have wheeled a squadron of
dragoons. The beauty, precision, and judgment Avith
which the road had been constructed among these diffi-
culties, drew exclamations of delight from us all.

" On reaching the bottom of this descent, we crossed
the stream (a torrent that was raging in a rocky dell, the
whole of the Avay, at no great distance from us) by an
admirably bold bridge, and passed beneath beetling cliifs
that rendered the head dizzy to gaze at. The appearance
of these cliffs instantly explained the nature of the chief
dangers that beset the traveller, in crossing the Alps.
Without adverting to the avalanches in the spring and
autumn, here was a long bit of the road where, at any
moment, pieces of the rock, weighing from one pound to
a dozen, might fall, from a height of several hundred feet,

"" Caspar, the voiturier, had in charge two carriages, of which
one was drawn by six liorses, and the other by four.

THE SIMPLOX. 205

on the head of the passenger beneath : I saw a hundred
fragments, that had been half-detached from their native
beds by the frosts, suspended in perpendicular lines nearly
a thousand feet above me ; and little freshly-made piles,
that had been raked together by the workmen, lined the
roadside for some distance. Occasionally, a small chip
was shaken down by the passage of our own carriages ;
and in one instance a pjiece fell quite near the caleche,
though it was too small to do any injury, had it even hit
it. Old Caspar looked up, and shook his head, as we
went beneath these sublime crags ; intimating that it was
fortunate for us it was not spring, which is the season of
danger. Apart from the snow falling, the alternate freez-
ing and thawing of that period of the year, detaches con-
siderable masses from the rocks themselves."

It is to be understood that the Alps, upon the north
and east of the semicircular, or bow- like figure, which
they form, slope with more gentleness from their summits
to the plains upon the outside of their range than upon
the inside ; that is, toward Germany and France, than
toward Italy ; while upon the west, they slope the gen-
tlest inward, or toward Italy, and are the most preci-
pitous outwardly, or toward France. Thus, in ascending
the Alps on their Swiss side, we ascend (though Avith all
its difficulties) the side least difficult ; while toward Italy,
the same parts of the Alps present an interior compara-
tively precipitous. But our tourist, having passed the
summit of the Simplon, on his way to Italy, was now
descending the steepest side of these northern, or north-
western Alps, where he found a swift and uninterrupted
descent accordingly.

" Every one," he says, "has a tolerably accurate
notion of what it is to descend a long hill ; but all other
descents sink into insignificance compared A\ith those of
the Alps. We were constantly and steadily going down,
literally, for hours ; nor do I remember, on the Avhole
route, after quitting Simpeln, a single foot of ascent.
Perfectly level ground, even, was very unfrequent ; if,
indeed, strictly speaking, it occurred anywhere." That is,
there Avere none of those natural terraces, or at least occa-

206

THE SIMPLOX.

sional levels and hollows, wliicli are so often seen to
diversify the faces of mountains ; and Avhich, upon the
northern side of the Alps, though too small and too ele-
vated for the constant residence of men, form those
alpine or mountain-pastures of summer resort, ■which,
according to our tourist, usurp, among the Swiss, the very
name of alps; while in Norway they have that oi sceters.

" As a matter of course," continues the writer, " the
glens grew deeper and deeper ; and there were parts of
the road which resembled yawning and frightful entrances
into the very 'bowels of the land.' We passed a tall,
quaint, deserted building of stone, seven stories in height;
and an hospice, whose roof has been beaten in, most pro-
bably by snow. These were nearly all the signs of the
abodes of men that relieved the savage wildness of the
desert for miles; as, unlike the Jiorihern face of the moun-
tain, there was neither pasturage nor anything else to
induce human beings to dwell amid these sterile crags."

But now Italy itself was entered ; and soon the proper
Italian landscape and climate, upon this sunny side of the
Alps, began to be manifest ; and the penury, the humble
buildings, and the scanty resources of the alpine decli-
vities, on their northern aspect, to be exchanged for
Italian fertility, costly edifices, and a gay and abundant
population. It is easy to understand the cause of this
vast change as to the two regions ; for we can observe the
same things in miniature every day, in comparing the
northern and southern sides of a garden-wall, and the
beds at their respective feet, with all the attendant difter-
ences of flowers, and fruits, and herbs, and of the hum-
ming and busy nations of insects which either inhabit or
frequent them.

" "We drew near," proceeds the narrative, " a small
chapel in a rock, where Caspar flourished his whip, c.iUing
out the talismanic word ' Italie ! ' I pulled off my cap
in reverence; nor do I believe one of the party passed
this frontier without a throbbing of the pulses a little
quicker tlian common. All this was produced purely by
the imagination ; for there was nothing yet visible to
denote a change of country, beyond the little chapel

THE SIMPLON. 207

already named. At length we reached a hamlet of a few
houses, called Isella, Avhere there is a custom-house and
a post station.

" "We had a continuation of the same scenery for some
time after quitting Isella, when suddenly we burst upon
a little verdant opening, that gave us a foretaste of the
peculiarities of Italy. The valley widened, and on one
side the mountain became less abrupt, in a way to admit
of cultiA'ation, and of the abodes of men. The habitable
district was very limited, being no more than a sharp
acclivity of some two or three thousand acres ; but it was
literally teeming with the objects of a rural civilization.
The whole cote * was a leafy cloud of lively foliage, above
which peeped the roofs of cottages, wherever a cottage
could stand. Tall, gaunt-looking church-towers rose out
of this grateful forest in such numbers as to bespeak at
once the affluence of the Romish worship, and the density
of the population. The glimpse was soon over, but it left
a lively impression of the principal objects, as well as of
the crowded character, of ordinary Italian life.

" The mountains approached each other again, and we
went rolling down a gentle descent for miles, through
gorges less wild than those above, but gorges that were
always imposing and savage. Here the torrent was
spanned by some beautiful bridges, that were intended to
receive the foot-passenger, or at the most a pack-horse.
They were of hewn stone, with pointed arches, and of
extreme lishtness and boldness. One or two Avere in
ruins, — a fact that bespoke their antiquity, and contri-
buted to their interest.

" At length the mountains terminated, and an open
space appeared to denote the end. A transverse valley
spread across the jaws of the gorge, and a massive bridge
was thrown across the torrent at right angles to our
course. Old Casper cracked his whip, and soon whirled
us into an entirely new region. The country was still
alpine, the valley into which we now entered being com-
pletely embedded in high mountains ; but the severity of

* Cote, side (French). In this case, the side of a hill or moun-
tain.

208 THE SIMPLON.

the scenery had disappeared, and Tvas now succeeded by
softer hues, and a gentler nature, even the naked rocks
appearing less stern and repulsive than those we had left
on the banks of the Rhone. The vegetation was naturally
more exuberant, and it had been less nipped by frosts;
the fruits were much more generous, and all the appear-
ances of civilization were more abundant, and, if I may
so express it, more genial.

" It was Sunday, and the road was lined with peasants
in their holiday attire. Fair complexions and blue ejes
were the common peculiarities. We saw little obvious
misery ; but, on the other hand, every appearance of gaiety
and contentment. As we drove into the town of Domo d'
Ossola, the crowds in the streets were like bees before a
hive ; and Caspar was compelled literally to walk his
horses, to prevent an accident *."

Thus, in a lively and intelligent description, from the
pen of a transatlantic visiter, we have furnished a view of
the distinguished alpine route of the Simplon, leading out
of France, through Switzerland, into Lombardy, and to
the city of ]\Iilan ; a route so important in, its history,
with reference to military movements and political revolu-
tions, and again to the happier, because peaceful, progress
of commercial traffic, and of the liberal intercourse of
travel. The Alps, in Italy, in this direction, are at length
finally lost upon the banks of Lake Maggiore.

We have been so generally led to connect Avith the
idea of the roads over the Alps, only impressions of terror,
of difficulty, and of misfortune, relating to the severities
of the northern aspects, and of the least favourable sea-
sons, that we have thus far thought it useful to offer some
correction of these exclusively darker views. We pass
on, now, to notice another of the celebrated alpine tracks.

The road or pass of the Great Saint-Bernard is one of
those by Avhich travellers enter Italy over what were
anciently called the Pennine Alps ; and is the next, per-
haps, in modern celebritj', to the passage of the Simplon.
It ascends from the valley of the lihone, and descends into

* Cooper's Excursions in Switzerland.

THE GREAT SAINT-BERNARD. 209

the valley of Aosta, through which is the road to Turin?
the capital of Piedmont, and thence to Rome and Naples-
From the earliest periods of communication between,
the inhabitants of the respective sides of these mountains,
this passage has been constantly frequented, and as con-
stantly dreaded for its dangers. Here, at the height of
eisht thousand two hundred English feet above the level
of the sea, stand the celebrated hospice and conA^ent of
Saint-Bernard, the express purpose of which is that of
affording all practical safety and relief to travellers in the
winter season. All the funds of this establishment are,
therefore, devoted to its one great work of charity.

Strangers, (it has been remarked,) upon their arrival
at the convent, are generally surprised at the youthful
appearance of the juonks they find there ; for not a single
member of the community, in number from twelve to
fourteen, appears to have attained the age of forty. They
are monks of the order of Saint- Augustine ; but they
enter upon their duties at the convent of Saint-Bernard
when only eighteen years of age, after voAving a period of
fifteen years' duration to this life of active benevolence,
in a spot where but fcAV of them turn out robust enough
to endure the severity of the cold Avithout a fatal influence
upon their health and length of life. In the year 1816
the ice of the lake Avhich is upon the summit of the
Great Saint-Bernard, and close to the convent, never
melted at all ; and not a week passed Avithout a fall of
snoAV. The greatest heat knoAvn in any simimer is sixty-
eight degrees of Fahrenheit ; and thoughout the summer
there is alAA^ays ice at an early hour in the morning. The
greatest cold recorded is that of tAventy-nine degrees of
Fahrenheit below zero ; but eighteen or tAventy degrees is
frequent.

In every case Avhere it is possible to render the assist-
ance at AA'hich they aim, the monks of the Great Saint-
Bernard go abroad, instead of staying at home, Avhen the
storms rage, usually accompanied by dogs of which the
sagacity is such ^that they often discover a suffering tra-
veller under his covering of drifted or fallen snoAv; and
even the dogs themselves, as if conscious of their powers,

210

THE GREAT SAINT-BERNARD.

and intent upon their noLle duty, roam alone, by day and
night, about these desolate regions ; and if they find a
man or -svoman not to be roused, and apparently near
death, or if they find a child which they cannot carry
away with them to the convent, they will lie down upon
the body, applying their warm bellies to the heart of the
sufferer, and bark or howl for better assistance. At the
convent, in the mean time, in snow-storms, or in other
seasons of peculiar danger, a bell is kept continually ring-
ing, for the chance that it may direct to the convent some
one who is in distress on the road, and who may either
have lost his way, or be yielding to despair through igno-
rance that he is so near a human habitation.

Dog cf Saint-Bernard.

Sometimes the monks of the convent, the servants,
or the dogs, are themselves the victims, in their efforts to
save those in danger or afiliction. On the 17th of De-
cember, 1825, three servants of the convent, with three
travellers and two dogs, had descended to the vacheries,
or cow-pastures, at St. Remy, a league down the Italian
or Piedmontese side of the mountain ; which place they
reached in safety, and were returning with a fresh tra-
veller under their care, when an avalanche overwhelmed

THE GREAT SAINT-BERNARD. 211

the party, and all perished except one of the dogs, which
escaped through its prodigious strength, after being thrown
over and over several times by the force of the falling
snow. None of the bodies of the dead were found till
the melting of the snow of the avalanche, at the ensuing
midsummer. It has been lately reported, but, as we
hope, upon no solid foundation, that, through a succession
of accidents like the foregoing, the whole stock of these
interesting dogs has perished, and the breed (which has
been called that of the Alpine spaniel of the Great Saint-
Bernard) become extinct.

English readers are so apt to hear of the road and
convent of the Mountain of the Great Saint-Bernard,
only as these are visited by tourists in the summer season,
that they may suppose all other travellers upon the same
route to be drawn thither only by the love of amusement;
and may, therefore, ask why, since so many hardships and
dangers are to be encountered, the monks live at the con-
vent, or the travellers take this road, and especially when
it is cold and snowy ?

But the route of the convent of Saint-Bernard is, in
reality, a great high-road, or common line of travel,
leading to and from Valais upon the one side, and Pied-
mont upon the other; and is passed over like other roads,
through business and necessity, still more than for plea-
sure. To cross this part of the Alps, even in the winter
season, is by no means certainly fatal, or even disastrous.
Of those that undertake the journey, by much the greater
number meet with no serious difficulty ; and though acci-
dents are but too frequent, and sometimes but too serious,
yet still they are but accidents; and neither numerous
enough, nor, generally, serious enough, to deter such as
have strong motives for the journey, from undertaking its
performance. Some are led to it by the urgency of their
affairs; but the greater part are either smugglers or ped-
lars, driven by the pursuit of subsistence and of profit,
either lawful or unlawful. These persons make the
traverse of the mountain, in defiance of storms and avalan-
ches, always promising themselves to fulfil their task with
safety, though sometimes lost, or thrown into difficulty at

212 THE GREAT SAINT-BERNARD.

moments when theyleast expect it. In regions of extreme
cold, like those of the heights of the Alps, the snow falls
in minute particles, frozen hard, and formed into micro-
scopic crystals, and not united into large and soft flakes,
resembling feathers, as usually happens in countries like
England. The fallen snow is thus a bed of dust or pow-
der, instead of a substance consolidating under the feet of
such as tread upon it; and into this bed of dust or powder,
where it lies unexpectedly deep, the traveller sometimes
sinks up to his middle. Yfith nothing firm, too, upon
any side, or even beneath, of which to avail himself, it
may then happen that, but for the assistance of others,
his extrication is impossible, and that all his struggles do
but increase his danger, or even hasten his destruction.

At other times, it is to the winds, in addition to the
snow, that he owes his misfortune. The snow, owing to
the wind, falls or rises about him in clouds or showers of
dust. His sight is obscured, he misses his path, and falls,
the next moment, over a precipice.

Add to this, the dangers from the avalanches, or masses
of snow, which frequently slide down the sides of the
mountains, and are sometimes so vast in their bulk, as to
sweep before them things much better able to resist them
than even a whole company of travellers. In the spring,
avalanches are occasioned by the melting of the snow
beneath the surface, so that the masses above it lose their
support. In the winter, accumulations of snow upon the
steep sides of the mountains, become too heavy for the
supporting power ; and as, from the intensity of the cold,
in the manner I have before described, the particles have
little adhesion to each other, enormous masses slide off
into the valleys beneath, wdth a noise, suddenness, and
violence, Avhich have been compared to the discharges of
cannon. The approach to the hospice^ or convent of
Saint-Bernard, particularly upon the northern side, or that
of the ascent from the Valais, is a labour of considerable
risk, at the seasons I have mentioned. Among the latest
of the sufferers were a poor travelling woman and her child.

This pass of the Alps, is one of those most anciently
used; and its dangers, as we may reasonably believe, have.

THE GREAT SAINT-BERNARD. 213

at all times, occasioned it to be the scene of the same
local marks of charity and piety. The mountain had once
the name of Jupiter, or Jove, or -Joux. Remains of a
temple of Jupiter are still extant upon it, close to the
convent; and the modern building of the convent of
Saint-Bernard, stands upon the site of an older one, Avhich
■was called the convent of Mont Joux. There is historical
mention of a convent here, as early as the year 832 ; and
it bore, even then, according to some, the name of Ber-
nard, derived from one or the other of t\vo Bernards, of
the royal family of France.

But the actual hospice was founded in the year 962,
by a Bernard, of a noble family in Savoy, Avho also founded,
about the same time, a similar establishment upon
the more westerly pass, called that of the Little Saint-
Bernard. -It has been conjectured that he was particu-
larly induced to form establishments at these places, by
the coincidence of his own name with the names they
bore. But, this, perhaps, may be doubted, Avhen it is
known that the name given to them by himself, instead
of continuing that of "Saint-Bernard," was "Saint-Nicholas
de MjTe." He died in lOOH, after having presided over
his convent of the Great Saint-Bernard, forty years; and
being subsequently canonized himself, he became the
second " Saint-Bernard" of the place.

In the time of the pious founder, and for many sub-
sequent years, the safety of the pass was, at least, as
important as now, and its dangers almost infinitely
greater. Besides its value as to aflPairs of traffic, it was
the route to Rome for the pilgrims from all the north of
Europe; and besides dangers far greater than at present,
derived from all its difficulties of nature, it was harassed
by robbers, and by all the evils of barbarian Avarfare.
Before the eleventh century was closed, the Saracens,
penetrating into this part of Europe, carried fire and
sword into the valleys of the Alps; and, burning the
edifice raised by Saint-Bernard, left its ruins to be a den
of marauders, who set a barrier across the passage, and
who, if they did not plunder the travellers, at least obliged
them to pay heavy tolls. The Normans, attempting to put

214 THE GREAT SAINT-BERNARD.

an end to at least a part of these afflictions, attacked and
killed the banditti stationed to enforce the tolls, and
broke down the barrier. The relief, however, was either
incomplete or only temporary. Outrages were still prac-
tised; and Canute, king of England and Denmark, Avas
among the princes of Northern Europe, who made an
appeal to the Pope, upon the horrors and grievances
endured by their subjects in their pilgrimages to Rome ;
and who, from the danger of enemies and robbers, could
venture to cross the Alps only in companies of four or
five hundred pei'sons at a time.

The complaints, thus made, were not unattended with
success. The court of Rome, after a time, found means
to put down the robbers, to abolish the tolls, to make
the country peaceable, and to encourage the monks of
Saint-Bernard to rebuild their convent; and Canute was
able to write to the bishops in his two kingdoms, inform-
ing them that he had ensured the safety of pilgrims
through all the route of the Pennine Alps.

The roads, or passes of the Alps, as well as the Alps
themselves, are frequently peopled with Romish pilgrims
to this very day. England may now send few, perhaps
none; but the shrines of Rome and of Loretto are still
frequented by way of the Alps, especially from the Romish
parts of Germany; while, for those w'ithout the means
of long and expensive travel, there are shrines within
the bosoms of the Alps themselves. One of these is that
of Einsiedeln; and, by citing two or three traits of the
travel of its pilgrims, to assist in the solemnities observed
at it once in every three years, we shall obtain some par-
tial notion of the scenes of pilgrimage upon the Alpine
passes, in the time of Canute, and through other ages.

" Near Rotenthurm," observes the tourist, to whom
we Avere lately indebted, " Ave overtook a party of pil-
grims proceeding toAA'ards the shrine of Einsiedeln, where,
it Arvas supposed, many thousands Avould soon be collected,
to assist at a solemn triennial ceremony. There Avere
thirty-tAvo in this company; tAvo-thirds females; and they
had come from Alsace, or more than a hundred miles, to
be present on this great occasion. A feAV Avere barefooted;

SHRINE OP EINSIEDELN. 215

and all prayed aloud, without ceasing, one repeating after
the other. Deeper voices were heard in the rear; and
another party, of sixteen, mostly men, ascending a knoll
in the road, advanced toward the shrine in the same
manner. The effect of these little processions, and the
beautiful blending of prayers, was singularly touching.

" Einsiedeln, unlike Loretto, has never been much fre-
quented by the great. Italy has attractions in these
matters, which Switzerland can scarcely hope to rival;
but, at the present day, Einsiedeln has, probably, more
votaries than Loretto; though they are poorer persons.

" Pilgrims were arriving throughout the day, in parties
varying from a-dozen to a-hundred. Their approach was
always announced by the untiring repetitions of the prayers,
which, in the distance, especially when male and female
voices alternated, was poetical and plaintive. Most of the
pilgrims were Germans. A large portion were from the
Black Forest, though there were also a good many Alsa-
cians, and a few Italians, in the different groups,"

Thus pilgrimage is now, as it was more than a thou-
sand years ago, one of the great features of travel in the
regions of the Alps.

We proceed now to point attention to some of the
other principal roads over the Alps.

The Romans, who, before the reign of Augustus
Caesar, were but little acquainted with the Alps, or with
any part of the region which these mountains enclose,
reckoned, in the time of the republic, four principal roads

216 ALPINE ROADS.

or passes. The moderns, as was mentioned, take notice
of at least twelve roads, pursued between the Gulf of
Genoa upon the west, and the head of the Adriatic upon
the east. Of the roads of Mount Simplon, and the Great
Saint-Bernard, we have afforded some description ; and,
to complete the list of twelve, there should be added,
those of the Little Saint-Bernard, xilount Saint-Gothard,
the Grimsel and Gries, the Bernardin and Spliigen,
Mount Brenner, ]\Iount Stelvio, Mount Cenis, Mount
Genevre, the Col-de-Tende and the Argentiere, and the
Cornice; the last carried along the feet of the Maritime
Alps, and, therefore, coasting the Mediterranean.

The pass of the Little Saint-Bernard crosses the Alps to
the southward and westward of the Great Saint -Bernard,
and between both rise the magnificent and celebrated
Mont Blanc, and Monte Rosa.

The Little Saint-Bernard is in comparative neglect,
both as to the number of travellers frequenting it, and as
to the labour bestowed upon its improvement. A high
interest, nevertheless, attaches itself to this particular
route between France and Italy, or between what were
once the Transalpine and Cisalpine Gauls ; both for its
picturesque beauty, and for the historical recollections
which belong to it, if, with the best modern authorities,
we believe it to have been the scene of Hannibal's cele-
brated passage over the Alps.

The road of the Saint-Gothard is one of the most
frequented passes of the Alps. A new road, as well as a
new bridge, less romantic than " the Devil's Bridge," but
so substantial as to be secure for carriages, have lately
been completed upon it. The tourist gives the subjoined
accounts of both, while in their progress : " Travellers, it
is true," he observes, " do not cross the Saint-Gothard so
often as they cross by the Simplon and Spliigen, for as a
carriage-road it is imperfect *. Fifteen thousand persons,
it is calculated-^, however, go into Italy, or return by that

* The " Devil's Bridge" having been adapted only for foot-
passengers, and for pack-horses, or pack-mMte.

f " Calculated " is the word constantly substituted iu the
United States, for reckoned, or supposed.

TUE devil's bridge. 217

route annuall}'. The distance from Fluelen, on the Lake
of Luzcnie in Switzerland, to Bellinzone near Lake
Maggiore, in Italy, is seventy miles; nearly the whole
distance being either a continual ascent, or a continual
descent. Three hundred pack-horses or mules, cross the
mountain "weekly, for a portion of the year.

liie Duviis Biid|e.

" The cantons of Uri and Tessino, in which the Avhole
of this pass lies, have partly (this was in the year 1828,)

L

218 THE devil's bridge.

completed an excellent carriage-road, with the hope of
attracting some of those who are distributing their money
so freely in the country, and of making their commercial
communications more perfect. The plan comprises not
only a new road, but a new bridge in this gorge ; and
men, slung in ropes, were then at work blasting rocks
above the present road and bridge, with this object.
The new bridge is to be both longer and safer than the
present." The " present," or old bridge, it may here
be added, consists, as the figure Avill show, of a single
arch. Of this arch, the span is eighty feet ; and the
bridge stands at about seventy-five feet above the bottom
of that fall of the Reuss over which it is carried.

Without noticing every track, let us now proceed to
the Brenner.

The road which leads from Germany into Italy by the
pass of Mount Brenner, is the lowest, even at its greatest
elevation, of any of those which cross over the great chain
of the Alps ; for it is nowhere more than four thousand
seven hundred feet above the level of the sea. Before
the formation of the route of the Tende, this was the only
pass by means of which travellers could gain the opposite
side of the mountains without quitting their carriages.
The route lies directly through the Tyrol, from Innspriick
upon the German side, to Verona upon the Italian ; that
is, to the plains of Lombardy.

The importance of a free communication between the
German possessions of the House of Austria and its
Italian states, led, it is probable, to the construction of a
good road by the Brenner at an earlier period of this por-
tion of the Austrian sovereignty.

Inspriick, the chief city of the Tyrol, is situated in the
valley of the Inn, nearly midway between the source of
that river, and its confluence with the Danube. At this
spot, the waters of the Inn are more considerable than
those of the Danube.

From the summit of the passage, the road speedily
carries us by an easy descent, to Stei-zing, where, emerg-
ing from the high banks of the Elsach, we find the coun-
try opening widely to our view ; and already the products

MOUNT BRENXER. 219

of the soil mark the southern side of the Alps. Soon,
however, after leaving Sterzing, the road enters a narrow
valley, deep, and darkened by mountain-pines; and
scenery of this character continues almost uniformly to
Mittenwald.

But we are here upon ground for ever to be celebrated
in respect of an incident in modern military history, which
we shall relate in the words of a tourist to Avhom we are
chiefly indebted for the preceding topographical particulars
of the Brenner.

" Every step," says he, " of this passage was disputed
by the Tyrolese, in their fearful and unequal contest with
the French and Bavarians in the year 1809; but a spot,
about two miles below the post-house of Mittenwald, is
pointed out to the traveller as the scene of a ritse de
guerre of the famous Andrew Ilofer, when he attacked
the Bavarians from an ambuscade.

" The spot is not such as a stranger Avould at first
suppose was well-chosen for the fearful purpose for which
it was selected. The mind would picture to itself a situa-
tion overhung with precipices; but here the narrow valley
suddenly spreads out on the left of the river into a little
plain, about a quarter of a mile broad and half a mile
long, around which the mountain- base sweeps like an
amphitheatre. A little church, and a village through
which the road passes, occupy the left bank of the Eisach.
On the right, the mountain rises abruptly from the bed of
the river.

" This was the spot chosen by Hofer for the ambus-
cade of the Tyrolese. He had caused to be j)repared
rocks, trunks of trees, and other heavy bodies, on the rise
of the mountains above the plain, which were so placed,
that when the props were withdrawn which supported
them, these masses rolled down the declivity, and across
the plain, overwhelming and destroying everything in their
way.

" The French and Bavarians, who had entered the
Tyrol to suppress the insurrection, proceeded in pursuit of
a small party, who retreated step by step, fighting as they
fell back, into the passes of the Brenner, and the forests

L 2

220 MOUNT BRENNER.

of Mittenwald. Circumstances had excited in the in-
vading army some fears of an ambuscade ; these had been
reported to the Duke of Dantzic, -who commanded the
troops, but he ordered the pursuit to continue, though he
prudently retreated to a place of security. About four
thousand Bavarians, Avho had been ordered to advance,
having entered the fatal spot, a cry was suddenly heard in
the mountain, — ' Hans ! in the name of the Holy Trinity,
cut all loose ! ' In less than a minute thousands were
crushed by the falling masses ; the remainder, in their
terror, attempted to retreat ; but the unerring balls of the
Tyrolese increased the numbers of the slain.

" Observing the effect of their ruse upon the terrified
enemy, the Tyrolese descended from their fastnesses, — •
even young boys and girls joined in the attack, — and,
rushing upon their invaders, further thousands of the
Bavarians and French were killed. They retreated about
fifteen miles before they could be rallied; but, so great
■was their terror, that when Hofer again appeared, they
fled before the Tyrolese, who fell with redoubled fury
upon their invaders, and completed the victory."

The modern road of the Cornice, the last of the roads
before-mentioned, is part of the Aurelian road of the
ancient Romans. It runs along the feet of the Maritime
Alps, and along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea,
between Genoa and Nice.

The Aurelian road was the principal as well as the
most ancient of the roads which led from liome into
Gaul in this direction. It was constructed by the Consul
Aurelius, about the year of Rome 605, and from him
called Via Aurelia; and at the period of its greatest ex-
tent, was described as forming the route from Rome to
Arelate, the modem city of Aries, in Gaul or France.

" Strictly speaking," says a recent tourist and topo-
grapher, " the Cornice is not a pass of the Alps, but
rather a road by which the Alps are avoided. It was one
of the earliest passes known between France and Italy;
and, from its recent completion as a carriage-road, is
likely to become one of frequent use, particularly for
invalids. Hitherto, from the necessity which existed for

THE CORXICE. 221

travellers performing part of the journey on mules or on
foot, ladies, and persons in delicate health, have been
generally withheld from the enjoyment of this delightful
route in their passage into Italy, and have been compelled
to pass over the High Alps, by the routes of the Simplon
or the Cenis, "where all that the art of man could accom-
plish has been effected to render the passes fit for com-
munication by carriages ; but where barriers of clouds,
and snow, and storms, often oppose the progress of the
traveller. By the route of the Cornice, the invalid, Avho
leaves England even in the depth of winter, may reach
the w^arm and oenial climate of Italv without encounterinc:
the Alps in his passage. From Nice to Genoa the tra-
veller seldom loses sight of the Mediterranean, and then
only for short intervals. The road is carried along the
shores, or round the bold and beautiful capes whose pre-
cipitous fronts sink abruptly into the sea. From these
capes, the bays, which indent the coast, are successively
presented to the view of the traveller, as he winds in his
carriage around the promontories, over a road of admirable
construction, where, a few years since, a mule's back
would have been a dangerous station on the narrow paths
and giddy heights which overhang the sea*.

The modern improvements of the Cornicet were begun
by Napoleon Buonaparte, during his sway in Italy ; but it
■was not till the summers of the years 1826 and 1827, that
by the care of the Sardinian government it was made
passable for cai-riages throughout. There is some embar-
rassment in reconciling the recent difiiculties of the Cor-
nice, with the ancient character of the Aurelian road;
but it is a pass of extreme interest, at once for the facili-
ties which, at this day, it offers to all the west of Europe
for travelling into Southern Italy ; for its true, and even

• Bkockedon's Passes of the Alps.

f The Corniclie of the French, and Cornice of the Italians, is
so called in the same sense as that of the English architectural
term cornice, and implies a road which is carried along a ledge
upon the side of a precipice, so as to have heights above it, as
well as depths below it; like the Norwegian road, (page 192.) A
road like this is described by the French as en corniche ; or over-
hanging, in the manner of a cornice.

222 THE AL'RELIAN ROAD.

for its fabulous history ; for the Augustan triumphs of
"which it has been the scene, and of which it bears the
memorial ; and for its beautiful and healthful features of
prospect, both by sea and shore, charming to the eye, and
cheering to the spirits.

We cannot better close our account of Alpine roads,
than by laying before the reader the following narration,
with the substance of which a modern traveller has sup-
plied us.

Caspar Stoeri and two of his friends were one day
chasing chamois on Mount Limmereu. While they Avere
traversing the snows Avith that confidence which the idea
of perfect safety inspires, Stoeri sank into a deep abyss of
dissolving ice. His friends Avere horror-struck ; they con-
ceived that instant death awaited him, of that he Avould
survive only to contemplate its slow but inevitable ap-
proach; pierced as he was by cold; bruised, bleeding, mo-
tionless. Despairing of success, they yet reflected on the
means by which they might effect his deliverance ; they
could not leave him to perish ; their struggles to save him
■would, for a few minutes, assuage their agony. They
fled to the nearest cottage, which was three miles distant,
to procure ropes ; none Avcre to be found ; a wretched
counterpane was the only thing that could prove useful to
them ; they cut it into strips, and hurried from the cot-
tage.

Poor Gaspar Avas almost perishing Avhen they returned
to the brink of the chasm ; he lay Avedged in the bottom
of this rugged, deep, and narroAv cleft ; nearly one half of
his body Avas plunged in ice-Avater, and such Avas the depth
of it, that he could not see its bed ; Avith his arms ex-
tended on the broken and melted ice, he aAA'aited approach-
ing death. We might picture his situation; but the
horrors of his mind must be for ever confined to his oaa'u
breast.

He AA'as yielding to the excess of his sufferings,
and Avas commending his soul to the Deity, when the
voices of his companions fell upon his ears ; and as they
spoke, they lowered the bandages Avhich they had fastened
together. Although dying a few minutes before, the

GASPAR STOERI. 223

prospect of speedy deliverance, gave him energy and
courao-e, and lie was enabled to fasten the bandage around
his body. His friends drew him gently from the chasm,
he was approaching the verge of the precipice, he had al-
most embraced his deliverers, when the bandage broke,
and he again sank.

If deliverance was almost hopeless before, what was
now poor Stoeri's situation ! One-half of the bandage had
fallen with him, his blood was freezing, the second shock
had almost rendered him insensible, and, to consummate
the terrors of his situation, and for the extinction of the
last faint spark of hope, one of his arms was broken by the
fall. What less than a miracle could save him ! With
sinkinp; hearts, his friends renewed their endeavours to
preserve him ; the bandage in their hands was again cut,
and lowered into the chasm. The pain and distress with
which poor Gaspar made one last and desperate exertion
to save himself, may be conceived when it is stated, that
with one arm he supported himself from sinking, and Avith
the other, broken as it was, he twisted the bandage round
his body, and fastened it. He was then drawn to the sum-
mit of the precipice a second time, and life seemed ebbing
fast from him as he fainted in the arms of his companions.
He was conveyed to a cottage, where he slowly recovered
from the effects of his sufferings.

If we now visit France, " the land of beautiful sites and
bad roads," as one of its most talented writers calls it, we
shall find the roads, bridges, harbours, and light-houses to
be all under one especial board of engineers. Youths are
educated at the Polytechnic school in every branch of civil
engineering, and are then employed by the board. This
centralization is productive of many valuable results.

The general declivity of the new road over Mount
Cenis, one of the Alps, is one inch in fifteen or twenty ;
and it is never greater in the steepest part, that is, in
the fourth and fifth turns that wind up over Lansle-
bourg, than one in twelve. The road over the Simplon
was likewise executed jointly by the French and Italians,
under the government of Napoleon, from 1801 to 1805.
The greatest declivity is one inch in twenty-nine ; so that

224 ROADS GP FfiANX'E.

an English stage coachman might trot his horrc up almost
the whole way. The longest gallery or tunnel is about
500 feet under ground.

" The roads in France are generally rough in their
original formation, and still rougher from Avant of care in
repairing them, as the traveller feels to his cost in pass-
ing over the primitive mountains in the south of that
country, where the roads are certainly very diitcrent from
those which are made by 3[ac Adam across a bog; although
some of the more recent French and Flemish pavements,
as long as they remain unimpaired, are truly excellent.
The new pavement between Cologne and Brussels, for
example, is far more perfect than some of the unpaved
parts of the continuation of the same line of road to Calais,
although the civil postmasters are in the habit of congra-
tulating their English guests on the ' fine gravel road' they
will have to pass over. In Germany they have few pave-
ments, and the roads, except in sandy countries, are gene-
rally kept, or keep themselves, in good repair; that is in the
south and west of Germany. Mr. Cripps informs us that
the great roads in Sweden are beautiful ; they are very
slightly convex, and are made of granite broken to the size
of a walnut."

There is, perhaps, no more striking instance of the bad
effect of want of unity of purpose, than is shown in the
road from Hamburgh to Lubeck. This distance (less than
thirty miles), is the property of three different states, and
a consequence is that the road is execrably bad, although
it serves to connect two populous and important towns.
Mr. Barrow says, "Nothing can be imagined more
execrable than the state in which we found the road.
It lies over a loose sandy soil, through which we were
dragged at the rate of about three miles an hour; Avhich
we certainly did not exceed at any one period of the journey,
although our carriage was of a very light construction, and
the luggage trifling. Large rough stones lay about in
every direction ; they might once have helped to form the
road in the shape of a pavement, but were now loose in
the sand. The tardiness of the journey was occasioned
partly, but not wholly, by these stones ; for independent

ROADS OF FRANCE.

225

of the momentar)'' necessity of turning aside to avoid them,
the carriage Avas every now and then either jolting against
them -with consideral)le force, wlien, from the jerk, away
went the harness as a matter of course ; or else it Avas up

to the axle-tree in deep-sand In short,

though a public road between two large cities, it is per-
haps the very worst in civilized Europe."

Yet we are told that Avhen England was in a very un-
favourable condition, as related to j-oads, France, and the
other principal countries of Europe Avere comparatively so
well off in this respect, that the English sought foreign
lands, mainly for the greater facility of travelling. If the
English were behind the French and other continental
nations in the art and practice of road-making, one or tAVO
hundred years ago, they are noAV decidedly superior ; and
not alone in road-making, but in most of the other arts
and professions, Avhich conduce to the comfort and conve-
nience of life.

r 'I

Tartar Palanquin, -with Warriors.

CHAPTER XIV.

rrimitive oModes of Travelling. — Pack-horses, Sledges, Sedans,
Palanquins, Litters. — Introduction and Improvement of the
"Wheel Tavo and Four-wheeled Carriages. — Springs. — An-
cient Chariots. — Fore and liiud-wheels. — Old Coaches, &c. —
Vehicles of Africa, of Russia, of Sweden and Norway, and of

* Italy. — Irish Jaunting Car.— Vehicles of England. — The Dray,
the Gig, Tilbury, &c. — State Carriage of England.— The Mail
and the Post Office. — Stage Coaches, Hackney Coach, and Cab.
—The Omnibus. — French Diligence. — Consti-uction of Wheel-

We -will not spend time in discussing the question —
" Which is the most important to a land-traveller, the
velucle in which he rides, or the road on which the vehi-
cle moves ?" We shall not be much in error in referring
to the case of the bellowa-blower and the organ-player,
and in deciding in the present case, as in that, that the
one cannot do without the other. We have been attend-
inf to roads of various kinds, and we must not now
neo-lect to introduce our readers to some of the various
species of carriages which assist the land-traveller.

The most obvious means of locomotion for a land-
traveller are the two legs which nature has given him ;
and if he want to carry a burden, his shoulders, his back,

PRIMITIVE MODES OF TRAVELLING. 227

his head, or his arms, become the depository thereof.
From this point, then, we set out : the legs were the first
travelling carriage, and the shoulders, &c., the first bag-
gage wagon. But this could not long continue ; man is
prone to avail himself of the assistance of other things
when opportunity offers, and he could not be long in per-
ceiving that the form of four-footed animals enables them
to carry a burden with more ease than man; consequently,
from early times, animals of various kinds have been used
as " beasts of burden," such as the horse, ass, mule, ox,
camel, dromedary, &c. The muleteer of Spain still con-
tinues to dispense with a wheel-carriage ; indeed a car-
riage could not possibly pass over the mountains which
the muleteer traverses. In many other countries, animals,
instead of drawing vehicles, containing baggage, &:c., carry
that baggage on their backs, or in hampers, slung on each
side of them. This is especially the case in Iceland ; Mr.
Barrow states that there is not such a thing as a Avheel-
carriage in the island, nor scarcely a road on which a
carriage could pass. Two oblong boxes are formed, and
slung across the back of a horse, and into these boxes are
put provisions, merchandise, clothes, and everything else
necessary to be transported from one part of the island to
another. There is, perhaps, no other part of the world
equal to Iceland in civilization, which is without wheel-
carriages, except in purely mountain districts.

But, from a very early period, it must have been held
desirable to free the animal — the horse, or whatever else it
might be — from the task of bearing the burden as well as
drawing it. The first approach to a carriage was made
with this view. This we observe to be the case with the
vehicle used by the Poles, which seems to be only an im-
proved condition of the sledge, a vehicle ordinarily used
in the earliest stages of society ; but perhaps nothing can
be more absolutely primitive as a carriage for bearing the
weight of traveller and baggage, instead of throwing it on
the animal, than the sledge. This vehicle is seen in the
streets of London, where a brewer, if he have to send a
small cask of malt liquor some short distance, does not
think it necessary to employ a wheel-carriage, but places

228

SLEDGES.

tlie cask on a little sledge, whicli slides merrily over the
rough stones. But the most important examples of the
sledge are seen in those northern countries, -^vhere the ground

Polish Cariole.

is covered with ice and snow the greater part of the year.
Wheels would sink in the snow, would be dangerous over
ice, and would possess other disadvantages likewise ; but

Lapland Sledge and Reindeer.

a simple sledge, with smooth surfaces for touching the
ground, and with reindeer harnessed to it, runs on with
amazing swiftness. The sledge is extremely slight, and

SLEDGES.

229

covered at the bottom witli the skin of a young deer, the
hairy side sliding on the snow. The person in the sledge
guides the reindeer with a cord fastened round the horns,
and encourages it to proceed with his voice, Avhile he
drives it with a goad. When urged strongly, the reindeer
will travel fifty or sixty miles at one stretch; but in such
a case the poor creature works itself to death, and gene-
rally dies in a day or two afterwards. As a general rule,
they can go thirty miles Avithout stopping, and without
being over- fatigued, and frequently perform 120 English
miles in a day. The best state for the motion of the
sledge is on a bed of snow coated with ice. In the northern
parts of Russia, the sledge is frequently used by the boors
with a horse, instead of a reindeer.

jriussian Sledge.

But in those countries where the irregularities of the
ground render a sledge useless, travellers must either go
on foot, or on the back of some animal, or in a vehicle of
some other kind : and as the back of an animal, hoAvever
pleasant and convenient it may be for the young and
healthy, is but ill calculated for the aged or infirm, a
motive at once exists for devising a vehicle for the use of
the latter. The most simple, perhaps, is a sledge, lifted
from the ground, and borne by tAvo or four bearers. This
principle once established, the modifications of it might be,
and have been, numerous. The English sedan chair* of
the last century was one specimen of such a vehicle ; the
palanquin of the East Indies at the present day, borne by

* Mr. Hudson tells us that sedan-chairs are very much used
m China, the ground being " cultiA'ated to such an extent that
the roads Avere not left Avider tliau a narrow footxjath.''

230

PALANQUINS AND LITTERS.

two, four, or eight Hindoos, is another instance ; which
rehicle, when used for the purposes of war, or state gran-
deur, is mounted on the hack of one or more elephants,
as shown in the engraving, p. 225", so that the next advance
would be to make animals perform the parts of men, and
bear the sledge, sedan, litter, or whatever else the vehicle
might be, by means of two poles, one on each side of the
horses. This mode of conveyance in a litter is much in
vogue in the south of Europe, the litter being supported
by two mules, one before and one behind, with the poles

Litter borne "by Mulea*.

fastened to their pack-saddles. One advantage of such a
vehicle is, that it is capable of passing along narrow paths,
as nothing but the feet of the mules touch the ground.
A litter borne by horses was used in this country at the
beginning of the fourteenth century.

Early English. Horse Litter.

But still the animal has likewise to hear the weight of
the vehicle which it draws, and the gradual introduction

INTRODUCTION OF WHEELS. 231

of nlieels was the means by Avhicli this inconTenience was
ultimately overcome. If a plumber wishes to move a roll
of lead, or a mason a block of stone, he finds how much
his labour is lightened by placing a roller under the
moving body, so as to remove it from contact with the
ground ; and if a mass of any substance whatever is to be
moved along the ground, we find how much more easily
this is accomplished when the body approaches in form to
the cylinder, or still better to the sphere. Now these
well-known facts were the circumstances which led to the
origin of the wheel. If a sledge^ litter, cart, or other
vehicle, couM be sa plaee<i on a roller that while the
latter Avas rolling along the ground^ the former would
maintain its proper position, an important improvemeiit
would be made. But if the vehicle were actually nailed
or fastened! to the roller, it would necessarily rotate as
often and as fast as the roller rotated. Thus sprung up
the necessity of having an axle distinct from the roller,
but working in a hole through the middle of it, and of
attaching the vehicle, not to the roller, but to the axle.
This is at once exemplified by our garden roller, in which
the frame-work of the vehicle, be it slight or complex, is
attached to an axle passing through the middle of the
roller, and not to the roller itself.

But a continuous roller is neither necessary nor de-
sirable ; if the two ends rest on the ground they will sup-
port the vehicle, which may be attached to a pole or bar,
or axle connecting those two ends. This is the first germ
of the roller being superseded by the wheel ; instead of a
roller, two slices from it would suffice, and these two
should be connected by an axle, on which the vehicle
should rest. "What can be a more primitive example of
such a vehicle than the Highland cart represented in page
176? But primitive though it be, it possesses the general
principle that belongs to all our wheel-carriages. In some
parts of America, and in other places in the old conti-
nent, the wheels are literally nothing but transverse slices
cut off from the trunk of a larce tree. Such is the case
with the common cart, still used by the people of the
lower part of Italy, for removing the fruits of the ground.

232

IMPROVEMENT OF WHEELS.

Calabria ^Yas one of the divisions of ancient Italy, and
forms now part of the kingdom of Naples. Carts with
wheels of this nature were observed by Mr. Hudson in
China.

Calabrian Cart.

Afterwards came the conviction that wheels might be
made larger, and in every respect more convenient, by
having them hollow instead of solid ; that is. having a
central nave, from which spokes radiate in every direc-
tion, the remote ends of the spokes being encircled by a
rim. This was the more desirable, since it soon became
evident that a large wheel moves with less friction than a
small one. By degrees, this form of hollow wheel became
generally approved, and the skill necessary for its con-
struction was gradually developed. In some parts of the
world, not only these wheels, but the whole vehicle, is
made Avithout the aid of a morsel of iron, or any other
metal. Such are the wagons and carriages of Chili, as
described by Mrs. Graham. The wheels have a double
felly, or rim, placed so that the joints in the one are
covered by the entire parts of the other, and these are
fastened together by strong wooden pins ; the rest is all
of firm wooden frame-work, bound with hide, which being
put on green, contracts and hardens as it dries, and makes
a very secure band. The flooring of both coach and cart

SPRINGS.

233

consists of hide. The cart is tilted with canes and straw,
neatly wattled.

^*f-^

Wagon of Chili.

The next improvement for a vehicle is a contrivance
for breaking the violence of the concussion occasioned by
the motion of vehicles made of so many separate parts.
One such contrivance is to have a seat for the traveller
swung by cords, or straps, from the sides of the vehicle,
instead of being nailed to it ; such is the case in the very
numerous light carts of the London tradesmen. Another
and more important means of attaining the same object is
to allow the whole bodv of the vehicle to swina", or to be
suspended, by applying springs of various kinds between
the vehicle and tlie axle. Such springs are extremely
diversified. First, Ave begin with the heavy wagon, which,
in consequence of the enormous weights it has to bear,
must be built with every attention to strength, so that
elasticity is but little attended to ; this we see exemplified
in th^ following cut of a rural wagon of Switzerland, which
may be regarded as a common model of the sort in civi-
lized life. Then we have the spring van, in which the
body of the vehicle rests on springs which intervene be-
tween it and the axle. Of these there are many varieties.
Lastly, we come to the private carriage, and vehicles of a
similarly elegant and commodious class, in which the

234

ANCIENT CHARIOTS.

body is not only separated from the body by springs, but
those springs have such curved and variable forms, that
the body literally swings, and effectually breaks the effect
of any sudden concussion.

Swiss Hay-Wagon.

Before entering further into the forms and uses of
modern carriages, it will be desirable to cast a glance at
the structure and purposes of those of ancient date in the
most civilized nations of the world of antiquity. In these,
the Egyptian, the Grecian, and the Roman, there is a
general resemblance, as far as relates to their chariots.
The Eg3'ptiaii cliariot is, in all probability, such as "was
used in the days of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, -when he pur-

Ancient Picture cf an Egyptian Chariot.

A^'CIENT CnARIOTS.

235

sued the fuizitive Israelites. The chariots of the Jews
were similar to those of the Egyptians ; for the former
sent for their chariots from Egypt, the great mart for
them. Such a chariot as is represented in the foregoing
cut, was used for the purposes of war or chase. The
chariot was usually made of wood, though the frame-
work was often made partly of brass. It was mounted on
two wheels, which were made sometimes of wood, and
sometimes of metal.

The chariots usually carried two Avarriors ; one of
whom chiefly attended to the management of the horses,
while the other wielded the weapons of war. In our
figure, the charioteer is seen pierced with an arrow. The
ancient chariots were open at the back, and without a
seat. They were regarded as the most valuable part of an
army's equipment in very ancient times ; and seem to
have been most chiefly in use, before that of cavalry or
mounted horsemen. Their use was confined to the prin-
cipal men in the army.

The accompanying figure, which is that of a Grecian
chariot, shows the manner in which the Greeks frequently
yoked their horses at a race ; which was one division of
the Olympic games.

Ancient Picture of a Grecian Chariot.

The Roman, contending at the Olympic games with
five horses yoked abreast to his chariot, is given in the
annexed cut.

"With the later Greeks, and with the Romans, chariots

236 MODERN VEHICLES.

were chiefly used at the races of the Olympic games in
Greece.

Ancient Roman Charioteer.

Let us now revert to the condition and uses of modern
vehicles, Avhether having two or more Avheels.

So long as a vehicle is moved on two Avheels, the task
of turning round a cornfer, or in other ways altering the
direction in which the vehicle is moving, is no difl&cult
matter ; but if four wheels be employed, the vehicle must be
proportionably lengthened, and the difficulty of moving it
becomes increased. The necessity of having four wheels
obviously arises from the great weight which vehicles are
often required to draw. This weight, if only two Avheels
Avere used, must be poised nearly over the axle which
unites tbem, and the horse or other animal drawinc it.
would have to bear a considerable part of the burden, in
addition to the labour of drawing it. By having two
additional wheels, the vehicle is placed in a condition of
wholly supporting itself on the wheels, and the animal
has only to drag it along, and not to bear any of the
burden, except the shaft or shafts to which it is fastened.

Now, in order to turn a vehicle on four wheels, if they
were so united as always to maintain the same relative
positions, the labour of the horses would be tremendous,
arising from the large amount of friction which would
necessarily result from the formation of the vehicle. To
obviate this, attention was turned to the practicability of

FOUR-WHEELED VEHICLES. 237

making a kind of hinge or pivot in tlie bar which joins
the front wheels and their axle to the back. This is the
plan which Ave see adopted : the axle of the front wheels
turns upon a pivot, so that when the horse is required to
take a new direction, and his head is turned accordingly,
the front wheels move round to the required direction
very readily, with very little friction, and the hinder
wheels are allowed time to turn more gradually.

But to effect this turning of the front wheels, a parti-
cular arrangement of the parts is necessary. If the front
wheels were of the same size as the hinder, and the body
of the vehicle were placed within all of them, the front
wheels could not turn round on their central pivot without
striking against the sides of the vehicle, and their range
of motion Avould be extremely small. On this account,
therefore, the general rule has been, to make the front
wheels so small that they can go under the body of the
vehicle in the act of turning, and thus keep a clear range
for their motion. This has the good effect of greatly faci-
litating the power of the vehicle to turn, and the bad
effect of greatly increasing the amount of friction, for the
smaller a wheel is, the greater number of times must it
revolve to pass over a given distance, and the greater is
the amount of friction at its axle. Whether this defect
is or is not unavoidable, is a point on which we shall speak
hereafter.

The foregoing are what Ave may perhaps term the
natural steps by Avhich man has improved his modes of
conveyance from place to place. First, the backs of ani-
mals— the sledges, litters, sedans, &c., slid along the
ground, or carried by men or by animals — then vehicles
Avith the semblance of a Avheel under them — then im-
provements in the Avheel — the adaptation of springs of
various kinds — tAA'o additional Avheels — facilities for
turning the vehicle, &c.

Vehicles of various descriptions have been in use from
very early ages and are depicted on coins, marbles, fres-
coes, and other monuments Avhich hand down to us the
usages of the ancients. The AA-ar-chariot just given Avas a
form as simple as it Avas Avell knoAvn ; and the practice of

238

PRIVATE CARRIAGES.

inserting scythes in the axles, and driving the chariot
among the enemy, was one means of increasing the
havoc which marks the progress of war.

At what time, and by what nation, private carriages
drawn by horses Avere established is by no means certain,
nor is it of much importance ; suffice it to say that Eng-
lish, French, Italians, Spaniards, and Hungarians, lay
claim to the honour ; so we Avill leave the learned in these
matters to discuss and settle this point, and proceed to
speak of the introduction of wheel charriages for pleasure
into England, which took place in the reign of Queen
Elizabeth. We are told, however, that a clumsy kind of
car, upon four wheels, was used by the Saxons to carry
great personages. The first vehicle, however, which was
distinctly called a coach, was Queen Elizabeth's.

Queen Elizateth's Coach..

In this coach she went from Somerset-house to Paul's
Cross, to return thanks for the destruction of the Spanish

Carriage of Queen Elizateth's Attendants.

ANCIENT COACHES.

239

Armada, The subjoined is the carriage of her attendants,
in Avhich may be noticed two odd-looking seats, called
hoots, where two of the officers sat, as the Lord Mayor's
do now, back to back.

We have heard of a lady, who lived during the civil
wars of the seventeenth century. Her husband being
detained a prisoner in London, she set out to effect his
ransom. All the horses having been taken away by the
other party, she put eight oxen to her carriage, and got
from Somersetshire to London in a fortnight ! If she had
used horses, she might have accomplished the journey in
a week, which now takes a day.

Somersetshire Lady on her Journey,

These coaches were very clumsy and uncomfortable.
They had no springs ; and the state of the streets and
roads occasioned sad jolting. As fashion, however,
brought them into use, the nobility vied with each other
in the number of their horses, which were often increased
from two to eight. But, in the early days of coaching, it
was deemed to be disgraceful to any of the male sex to
ride in a coach. Coaches and chariots were not introduced
into Scotland till the early part of the last century^ Before

240

OLD ENGLISH PHAETON.

that time, we are told, the nobility used to travel in a
vehicle similar to a Noah's Ark,

English Phaeton of the Ei.^hteentb Century.

The annexed cut represents the English Phaeton of
the early part of the last century.

The form and convenience of vehicles are dependent
as much on the nature of the country which they are to
traverse, as on the intelligence of the nation who use
them ; and those two circumstances combined, give a great
diversity to the modes of travelling by different nations.
The annexed represents an ancient covered carriage, much
in use at Milan, in the North of Italy.

Ancient Milanese Carriage.

The vehicles used in South Africa by the settlers,
planters, &c,, are nearly always wagons drawn by oxen ;

VEHICLES OF AFRICA. 241

clumsy in shape, and capacious, they often serve as a
complete kitchen, in which the culinary operations of the
traveller are carried on, and in which he likewise frec^uently
passes the night.

In Northern Africa, vehicles are very various, according
to the rank or intelligence of the people ; but, in general,
vehicles are not much employed, the camel in the deserts,
and the horse in other parts, being a much more prevalent
mode of conveyance. When Captain Lyon was in Africa,
the Bey of Fezzan consulted him about making a coach,
and the Captain offered that if the Bey would procure
wood, his man, who was a handy fellow, should make the
coach. A rough sort of box was made, six feet long,
three feet Avide, and four in height. This was covered
like a higler's cart, with an arched top, having a door
behind, by which a person could enter ; " but Mukin,"
says the Captain, " finding that he could squeeze himself
into a smaller compass, had it reduced in such a way as
to render it necessary for him to be pushed in and shot
out like a sack of coals." The body was made, and
mounted on two poles, as shafts, springs being an unat-
tainable luxury, and the poles were fixed to two wheels
taken from a piece of artillery. The Bey and numbers
of his people came to witness the progress of the M^ork,
and asked whether the king of England and his wives
rode in such a carriage. " I was frequently puzzled what
to answer," continues the writer ; " for, to say the truth,
though Belford, considering his want of materials, had
done wonders, it very much resembled one of those market-
carts Avhich are dragged about London by donkeys. It
soon, however, lost that appearance, being covered Avith a
splendid hood of scarlet cloth, and having a bed laid
inside it." The Bey had it painted with verdigris mixed
with vinegar, and made it quite smart. One consequence
of the smallness of the wheels was, that when a horse
was harnessed to the shaft, the Bey's head, Avhile lying
down, was a foot lower than his feet, but he managed to
get over this difficulty. The whole affair gave as much
delight to the Bey as amusement to Captain Lyon, and

j\i

242

THE RUSSIAN DROSKY.

will afford some proof of the scarcity of carriages in that
part of Africa.

There is a kind of vehicle much in use in Russia,
which, as it has a form different from everything of the
kind in England, we will shortly notice. This is the
DrosJi-y. This is a four-wheeled carriage, of which the

Russian Travellin,^ Carriage.

body is so near the ground, that the lower part of a rider's
dress is apt to be either smothered Avith dust or covered
with mud. It consists of very little more than a narrow
bench, at the hinder part of which is a small back, about
on a level with the middle of the body, and against which
the rider leans sitting across the bench as if he were on
horseback, Avith his legs hanging down on each side. In
front is the driver, with his legs also across it, and sepa-
rated from the person next him by a slight bar about six
inches high. These vehicles, which are hired as public
conveyances, as well as being the form of private vehicles,
are described by English travellers as being very unsafe
and disasrreeable.

A very different looking vehicle, and one extremely
light and pleasant is the Car'wle of Sweden and Norway.
The descriptions of Mr. Laing and Barrow perfectly agree ;

NORWEGIAN CARIOLE.

243

and from these it appears that the cariole is a little gig
just large enough for one person, and resting between

Norwegian Cnriole.

light wheels upon two cross-bars of wood, morticed in the
shafts ; they are sometimes with iron springs, but their
construction is so light and elastic, that wooden springs
are found very pleasant and convenient. They are made
in such a simple manner that, if any accident happen on
the road, the peasants, who have generally some skill in
carpentry, are enabled to repair it. One of these vehicles
can be purchased for four or five pounds. The other
vehicle is also much in use in that part of Europe.

Swedish Carriage.

Far infei-ior to the cariole is i\\Q jaunthig-car of the
. Irishman : it is neither pleasant to look at, nor to ride in.

M 2

244

IRISH JAUNTING CAR.

The car is of two kinds, an outside car and an inside car,
the former of Avhich is thus described by JMr. Barrow : —
" A platform or floor of a few boards has two sides which
are raised up and down on hinges, raised for no other use
that I can see except it be to grease the Avheels. These
sides are of canvas stretched on wooden frames, which
drop from the edge of a seat and have a foot-board at the
bottom of the frame. The backs of the two seats form
a narroAv ivelJ^ as it is termed, for the stowage of luggage
in the centre, a name by no means inappropriate, as it is
generally full of water when it rains — and when does it
not rain in Ireland ? The passengers, of course, sit back
to back. If a single person hires it, the driver asks,
" which side of the country would your honour like to
see ? " and quitting his box, perches himself very much
at his ease, cross-legged, on the opposite side. But my
objections to them are, that they are positively dangerous,
inasmuch as the legs of the passenger, being outside the
wheel and totally unprotected, are liable to be struck, and
and perhaps broken, through the carelessness of the
driver, especially when he has posted himself as I have
stated."

Irish Jaunting Cax.

But the limits of this chapter will not permit us to
conduct the reader from country to country, and show
him the wheel carriages of all nations ; having, pre-
sented our readers, therefore, with a view of the dashing
style of the Italian vehicle, of a genteel description,

VEHICLES OP ENGLAND.

245

Italian Ca"briolet.

■\ve must now confine ourselves principally to " home,
sweet home," and talk about English vehicles ; of which
there is so great a variety, from the state-coach of the
monarch to the donkey-cart of the vender of vegetables,
that we shall find abundance to occupy our attention.

The smallest approach to the name of a vehicle is,
perhaps, shown in the Brewer's dray. Here neither

£rewer's Dray.

covering nor sides are required: — nay, the bottom itself
is composed of mere bars, Avith openings between them.

246

VEHICLES OF ENGLAND,

These openings are much more fitted for the reception of
the circular form of casks, than a flat uniform bottom would
be, as the)' afford two edges against which the cask can
rest. The same may be said also of the carriage used for
the removal of timber.

Carts, vans, and wagons of different kinds, vary so
much from one another, and are connected by such imper-
ceptible degrees, that it is scarcely possible to separate
them one from another; nor is it necessary to do so: all
we have to consider with respect to them is, that the great
requisite in their construction, is strength and convenience,
and that elegance of form, and beauty of colour, are not so
much required, or attended to.

Let us take a glance at the lighter kinds of vehicles in
use, that is, such as are used chiefly for purposes of plea-
sure. The one-horse chaise, the gig, tlie stanhope, the
tilbury, the cabriolet, and some others, are different names
for light vehicles, all having only two wheels. To the
eye, and the taste of the generality of persons, the differ-
ence between them is so very gradual and trifling, that
they attract not much notice; but to those versed in the
matter, the points of difference are sufficiently marked.
The true gig is not much used at present. It was very

Gig.

little more than a railed chair fixed upon the shafts, and
supported on two side springs. It was calculated to run
very easily, and the whole was well adapted for travelling
purposes; a space being left under the seat to contain a
portmanteau.

VEHICLES OF ENGLAND.

247

The stanhope and the tilbury are forms that diflPer
yerv slightly from each other. The latter was named
after its inventor, a coach-builder ; and the former after
a brother of the Earl of Harrington. The stanhope was
intended as an improvement upon the tilbury. The tilbury
is extremely light and airy in its appearance, but is said
to be uncomfortable to the rider; a fault which does not
belong, in so great a degree, to the stanhope; there are
two or three varieties of the stanhopes.

Tilbury.

The cabriolet, of which the name and the vehicle are
derived from the French, is a one horse-vehicle, that
possesses the advantage of a covered head, which can be
let down or opened at pleasure, thus protecting the rider

^ (\\ — — '"'■ ,

CaTDriolet.

from rain; but not excluding fresh air. It has, generally,
likewise, a foot-board behind, on which a servant can
stand ; a convenience which does not belong to the lighter

248

VEHICLES OP ENGLAND.

forms of the stanhope, &c. The form of the body of the
cabriolet admits of being very elegant; and the overhanging
head is likewise susceptible of great variety of form. The
chief objection to this vehicle seems to be, that its great
■weight is almost too much for a single horse.

This latter remark is exemplified by the hackney cab-
riolets, which ply in the streets of London. One horse is
harnessed into these vehicles for the whole day, and the
wear and tear which the poor animal undergoes, is often
excessive, and soon brings him to a useless state.

The dennet is a vehicle differing only in some slight
respects from the cabriolet, and often used instead of it.

The curricle differs from all of which we have hitherto
spoken, in being drawn by two horses a-breast, instead of
by one ; but as it only has two wheels, and, consequently,
one seat, it is not necessary to describe its form.

A four-wheeled vehicle, called a phaelon, was very
much in use some time back, and was chiefly remarkable
for the great height at which the driver was perched from
the ground. This excessive height, and the absence of
any utility resulting from it, has led to the combination of
the form of the phaeton and the cabriolet, under the name
of the cabriolet-phaeton. It has four w^heels, like the
phaeton, but the shape of the body somewhat resembles
that of the cabriolet.

A carriage called a pony-phaeion, has been much used
by ladies. It is built low, on four wheels, and has a seat
for a servant behind ; and its general construction is such
as to make it a safe vehicle, and, therefore, well calculated
for ladies, or inexperienced drivers.

Within the last dozen years, a form of vehicle called
a britzschka, has become very prevalent. The great con-
veniency of this carriage is, that the inmate can enclose
himself completely from the Aveather, and can recline at
full length. The head di-aws over to a considerable de-
gree, and a screen or curtain covers, if desired, the opening
which is then left; whereas, if the weather be fine, the
traveller can have the vehicle as open as he pleases. In
such a case it will hold four, but when closed in, only two
can sit in it.

VEHICLES OF ENGLAND.

249

Britzschka.

We have described a Russian carriage, under the name
of the drosJcy. The proper name for this vehicle is
droitzschka, and the same name has been applied to a
vehicle recently introduced into England. But it has very-
little resemblance to the Russian drosky, being much
more like the Britzchka. The latter vehicle was intro-
duced into England from Germany, about twelve years ago.

An open summer carriage, called a Barouche, was much
in use before the Britzschka became known, and is still
agreeable and convenient in fine weather. It is, in fact,
a coach without the upper part, and is provided with a
folding cover, which can be drawn over part of it in rainy
weather.

All the vehicles latterly described are ope7i carriages,
of which it will be seen there are a great many varieties.
The close carriages are much fewer in variety. There is
the coach, including pleasure, stage, and mail, coaches;
the chariot, which includes the post-chaise; and the
laiidau.

What a coach is, every one knows. It is a closed
vehicle, with two seats opposite each other, each of which
will hold either two or three persons; two doors, one on
each side; a box in the front for a coachman; and a foot-
board, for a servant, behind. These vehicles are not
made to throw open overhead. A landau resembles a
coach in form, but the upper part is miide to throw open,
by wdiicli the whole assumes the form of an open car-
riage; as is represented at the close of this chapter. The

M 3

250 THE LORD mayor's STATE-COACH.

chariot may be said to be one-half of a coadi, — the
hinder half. It is a close carriage, with only one seat,
and has windows in front, toward the horses. A post-
chaise differs from a private chariot but little in the body;
but is without a coach-box, the postilion taking his station
on the back of one of the horses.

Such vehicles as we have been describing, are the
usual conveyances of the wealthy in this country. Those
w^hich are used on state occasions, are more profusely
decorated, and are as much intended for show, as for use.
The late coronation, presented some elegant specimens of
the art of coach-building: indeed " Marshal Soult's car-
riage," was almost as much talked of as the Marshal him-
self. It is evident, however, that we cannot dwell on
these topics : all we can spare room for is, a few remarks
on the two most splendid vehicles in England, — the
" Lord Mayor's state-coach," and the " royal state-coach."

From the time when King John gave permission to
the citizens of London to choose their own mayor, in
]215, it was customary for the person chosen to goto
Westminster for approval ; and he used to travel then on
horseback: but, in 1452, the mayor, Sir John Norman,
commenced the water-pageant, which has been continued
to this day, the distance to the water-side being traversed
on horseback. But, in J712, a state-coach, drawn by four
horses, was first used instead of the equestrian part of the
pageant; and, in 1741, the number of horses was in-
creased to six. The coach then employed is represented
in some of Hogarth's pictures; and in 1757, the present
state-coach was built. The expense was defrayed by a
subscription among the aldermen; and the lord mayor, for
every successive year, applied a certain sum to keep it in
repair. It afterwards became the property of the cor-
poration; and has had various sums expended on its
repair and renovation from time to time. The coach is
richly carved and gilt, the panels being painted with alle-
gorical subjects, by Cipriani, which are now somewhat
difficult to decipher. Four figures, representing the quar-
ters of the globe, are at the four corners, and other alle-
gorical subjects are represented in carved work.

ROYAL STATE-COACH.

251

The royal state-coacli is represented in the annexed
cut. This' was built in 1762, five years after the city
state coach. This carriage is supported by two carved
cables, fastened to four Tritons at the corners. The frame-
work of the body consists of eight palm-trees, Avhich ex-
pand at the top, and support the roof; while the spaces
between the palm-trees form the panels, which are glazed
above and painted below. On the centre of the roof are
three figures, representing England, Scotland, and Ireland,
supporting the imperial crown, and other insignia of
royalty. The length of tlie coach is about twenty-four
feet, and its weight four tons, being al)out four hundred-
weight more tluin that of the city coach. It was designed
by Sir William Chambers, and painted by Cipriani; and
the following has been given as the original expense of its
manufacture.

Coaehmaker, Wheel-
wright, &c. . . 16/3 15
Carver .... 2")04 0
Gilder .... 9.33 14
Painter .... 315 0
Laceman . . . 737 10
Chaser .... 665 0

d.

6
0
6
0

7
0

Harness-maker
fiercer . . ,
Bit-maker . .
Milliner . . ,
Sadler . . . ,
Woollen-draper
Cover-maker

£ s.

385 15

202 5

99 6

30 4

107 13

4 3

3 9

d.
0-
10
0
0
0
6
6

Total £7,661 17 5

TheHoyal Stale Coach.

252 THE MAIL-COACH.

We must now bid adieu to these costly vehicles of
pleasure or state, and say a few words about commercial
carriages.

We have already had occasion to speak of the intro-
duction of mail-coaches for the conveyance of letters

Mail-CoacTi.

From the date of their invention by Palmer, various im-
provements have been made from time to time in their
construction, both for the convenience of passengers, and
the stoAvage of letters, and for the rapidity of travelling.
These improvements, and the excellence of the horses
employed to draw them, together with certain advantages
which mail-coaches have always had over others on the
public roads, have had the effect of making them, for a
long series of years, — indeed, until a very few years past,
— faster vehicles than any pubUc coaches; as the mails
travelled at the rate of eight miles an hour, when stages
were content Avith six. But no av things are changed: ten
or tAvelve miles an hour is not an uncommon rate of
travelling by the best stage coaches. This has been
brought about by superiority of construction, the employ-
ment of better horses, the improvement of roads, the
desire of quick travelling on the part of those engaged in
commercial pursuits, and the emulation of rival stage-
coach proprietors: all have had some influence on the
rate of travelling. Before the ncAv order of things conse-
quent on the establishment of railroads, the mail-coach
couA'cyance, and that of stage* subordinate to it, Avas car-
ried in one connected chain, fron one end of Great Britain
to the other, — from Falmouth in CornAvall, to Thurso iu

THE MAIL AND THE l^OST-OFFICE. 253

Caithness, the distance betAveen which, taking London in
the way, is considerably more than one thousand miles, by
the most direct route. There appears reason to expect,
however, that the prevalence of stage-coaches, at least for
long journeys, Avill be much interfered with by the rail-
roads; but if the latter yield those commercial advantages
which it is supposed they will, we shall have no reason to
regret their superseding stage-coaches.

Whatever may be the wishes of the majority of per-
sons respecting the rate of the postage of letters, it is in-
disputable that the regulations of the general post-office,
are, in many respects, superior to those of any other public
establishment in the kingdom. The regularity with which
letters are delivered, and the comparatively few mistakes
which are made, certainly call for our approbation. The
general practice has been, so to arrange the horses for the
arrival of the several mails into London, that they shall
reach the metropolis nearly at the same time. By this
arrangement, the clerks and other persons employed at the
central office in St. Martin's-le-Grand, are enabled to sort
the letters from all parts of the kingdom at the same time.
When this sorting is completed, and the letters are to be
delivered, various contrivances have been, from time to
time, made to expedite the delivery. The postmen used
to receive their budget of letters at the central office,
and then trudge to their several stations on foot. But
they are now provided with vehicles, which are a kind
of open omnibus, to convey them to the boundaries of
their " beat," by which much time is saved. Again, in
the afternoon, when the postmen have collected the letters
from the various receiving-houses, they have not, as for-
merly, to walk to the central-office with them; but mail-
carts are placed at certain stations to receive them, and
forward them, Avith great rapidity, to the central office.
One of the most remarkable changes in metropolitan
public conveyance, is the substitution of the ovmibus for
the stage-coach. A few years back, the streets of London
contained few public conveyances, but hackney-coaches;
those remnants of the last century, — the last resort of
worn-out coach -horses. These carriages were usually the

254

HACKNEY-COACHES.

rejected vehicles of the noble and Avedthy ; — thus en-
during, like the horses, a second and lower grade of ser-
vice. Hence it is, that Ave often see the arms of a distin-
guished family painted on the door-panels of this vehicle.

Hackney-Coach.

After a time, the cabriolet, or, with that clipping of words
to Avhich the English are so prone, — the "cab," Avas
established. If one person hired a hackney-coach, he had
to pay as much as if four persons rode in it; and it Avas
principally to accommodate parties of one or two persons,
that the "cab" Avas introduced; its slight make, and the
employment of one horse instead of two, enabling the
proprietor to let it at tAvo-thirds of the fare of a Imckney-
coach. The kind of " cabs" Avhich our cut represents are

Hackncv-Cnl).

now nearly superseded by more safe and convenient dote
vehicles, some on two Avheols, and others on four, of Avhich
the forms are very various.

THE OMNIBUS,

255

But a still greater change was made when vehicles
performing stated and fixed journeys, were allowed to tra-
verse the London streets. This was not much the case
before the introduction of the omnibus'-. Several " short
stages" used to enter London from the surrounding villages,
and stop at certain fixed places, leaving the streets of
London as a bounty to the hackney-coachmen. But the
omnibuses have worked a great change in these respects.

Omnibus.

These vehicles were first brought over from France by a
stage-coach proprietor at Paddington, who drew upon him-
self (as usual in such cases) the vigorous opposition of
the other stage-masters, and ultimately, we believe, ruined
himself by the speculation, — no uncommon thing in such
cases. But it was soon found that these vehicles, clumsy
as they are, possess great conveniences. The passengers
can enter and alight with great ease, and without the
necessity for that unpleasant and dangerous climbmg pro-
cess, necessary to mount the outside of a stage-coach.
They were first used on the Paddington-road, — then on
other roads near the metropolis; and ultimately, they
commenced running from one end of London to the other,
through the public streets. Great have been the com-
plaints against these vehicles : many have been the fines
imposed upon drivers for furious driving ; and much has
been said of the impudence of " cads," — or to use a more

* This word, which is the Latin for " for all,^^ jirobahly de-
notes the universal accommodation afibrded by this vehicle.

256

FRENCH DILIGENCE.

genteel word, " conductors ;" — but the vast number of
them now plying, and the use of them by all ranks of
persons, show that the convenience of traversing London
from one end to another for so small a sum as sixpence,
and of entering or leaving the vehicle with so little trouble,
have been sufl&cient to neutralize all the unfavourable cir-
cumstances connected with them.

rrench. Diligence.

The " diligence" of France is a much heavier and more
cumbrous vehicle than the stage-coach of England, and
infinitely • slower in its movements. The same may be
said of a diligence (the only one) which runs from St.
Petersburgh to Moscow. A late English traveller speaks
of it in the most rueful terms ; his aching bones constantly
reminding- him that he was not on or in an English stage-
coach ; and for three days and nights he could not allow
himself to sleep, for fear of either knocking his luckless
head a<^ainst a suspicious-looking wooden bar that formed
part of the coach, or of tumbling oft" his seat. No stage-
coaches in Europe are, taken as a whole, ec^ual in comfort
to those of England.

There is a class of stage-coaches (if the term be pro-
perly applied to them), which have come much into use
within a few years; we mean those employed on the
various railroads. These vehicles have never to make

CONSTRUCTION OF WHEEL-CARRIAGES. 257

any of those sudden turns which are required on common
roads ; so that it is not necessary to have the front wheels
smaller than the hinder ones, but all four are of the same
size. The general form of the vehicle depends upon the
rank which it holds. Some are shaped nearly like private
carriages, and are fitted up with nearly as much elegance ;
but the greater number are a kind of open omnibus, hav-
ing seats, generally speaking, across the vehicle. On the
" Great Western Railway," some of the carriages are of
such an immense length as to require six wheels, and
taken in conjunction with the unusually wide gauge, or
width between the rails, of that railway, form perhaps
the largest vehicles at present in use in England, for land
travelling.

We have now enumerated as many different kinds of
wheel-carriages as our limits will permit, and have offered
a few remarks on most of them, of a general nature. We
now proceed to say a few words on the component parts
of most vehicles.

The wood of which vehicles are made, depends greatly
on the purposes to which they are to be applied. Ash,
beech, elm, and oak, are those of which the greatest use is
made ; mahogany and other fancy woods being used only
for the more elegant kinds of pleasure- vehicles.

The springs form a very important part of most ve-
hicles ; since their object is to give elasticity, at the same
time that they must possess considerable strength. What-
ever possesses elasticity may be made subservient to the
purposes of a spring, in some way or other ; but the sub-
stances employed by carriage-makers are, metal, wood,
whalebone, leathei", and caoutchouc. Leather forms slings
and braces for suspending the different parts of a carriage;
wlialebone is sometimes used in shafts. Wood is often
used as a material for springs, to avoid a certain tax laid
upon metal-spring carriages.

But steel springs are the most prevalent, and the most
valuable ; and the manufacture of them constitutes a dis-
tinct branch of business. The steel for this purpose is of
a peculiar quality, and is rolled into sheets, from one and

258 CONSTRUCTION OF AVHEEL-CARRIAGES.

a lialf to three inches wide, for different sorts of springs.
Sometimes a single plate forms a spring ; but generally
several are riveted together, so as to increase the power.
When two or more plates have been combined, they are
bent into various shapes, to suit the several purposes to
which they may be applied ; there is the straight spring,
the elliptic-formed spring, the regular-curved spring, the
reversed-curved spring, the spiral spring, and some others ;
springs are again distinguished by certain technical names,
arising principally from the sort of vehicle to which they
are generally attached, such as tilbury, mail, dennet,
cabriolet, phaeton, telegraph, nut-cracker, &c. springs.
Any one who inspects a number of different vehicles, will
perceive how extremely diversified are the forms into
which the springs are bent, according to the weight to be
borne, the velocity to be attained, the shape of the body of
the carriage, or the taste of the maker.

The wheel is a very important part of a vehicle, and
has undergone numerous improvements from time to time.
Not only have the solid wheels given place to those made
of spokes springing from a central nave, but the form of
the wheel, viewed at right angles to the line of the axis,
has been changed from a flat surface to a conical, or, as it
is termed, a rfz.y/i-shape. Originally the spokes all lay in
one plane, springing out at right angles from the nave; but
increased strength has been obtained by dishing the
wheels, or, making them concave on one side, and convex
on the other ; this is especially observable in the wheels of
heavy wagons. The principal advantage of this shape is,
that the space between the wheels is enlarged for the re-
ception of the body of the carriage, and that the mud
which collects on the rim of the wheel is thrown off away
from the carriage, when the wheel is at the highest point
of its revolution.

Hinder wheels are generally from four to five feet in
diameter, and have about fourteen spokes ; fore-wheels
from three to four feet in diameter, with twelve spokes.
A felly, or connecting piece of wood, joins the outer ends
of every two contiguous spokes, and keeps them in their
places. The nave of the wheel is made of elm, and the

CONSTRUCTION OF AVHEEL-CARRIAGES. 259

mortice-lioles for tlie reception of the spokes are cut all
round its circumference. The spokes are made of dry oak;
and one end of each is fitted to the size of the mortice
prepared for its reception, and driven in by a mallet. The
spokes are not all driven in in the order of their position,
but alternately; and are shaped to their proper form after
they are fixed in their proper positions. The remote ends
are then fitted into the felloes, by whicli a circular rim is
obtained. An iron tire, or hoop, is then Avelded to the
proper size ; so that when expanded by heating, it is just
large enough to encompass the Avheel. As it cools, it con-
tracts, and in the act of so doing, compresses and binds the
various parts of the wheel with a prodigious force. Iron
pins are afterwards driven through both tire and felloes,
by which all is rendered tight and secure.

There are various causes which render wooden wheels
extremely liable to get out of order ; and which have led
to the partial adoption of iron wheels. Wheels have been
cast in iron in one solid piece. In others, the spokes
liave consisted of tubes arranged in a circle ; in others,
again, (and these may frequently be seen in London,) there
are two sets of iron spokes, fixed at each extremity of the
nave.

The axle-trees and other parts of a vehicle we must be
content to pass over, as our limits Avill not permit us to
enter into any details respecting these. But there is one
point of considerable importance in the construction of a
vehicle, and which well deserves attention; this is, how
far it is necessary to have the two front wheels smaller in
size than the hinder wheels.

We have said that it is for convenience of turniiig
a corner that this disparity of size is admitted. If the
front wlieels could not pass under the carriage, the power
of the latter to turn, or to "lock," as it is technically
termed, would be but very limited ; and it is almost wholly
for this reason that the fore wheels have been made
smaller than the hinder wheels. But this benefit is not
unattended Avith great evils ; the noise is increased, and
the small wheels wear out fast, for the reason before stated;
and it remains to see whether the wheels cannot be made
of equal size, and yet allow the vehicle to turn.

260 CONSTRUCTION OF WHEEL-CARRIAGES.

This subject has been fully treated of by Mr. Adams,
in his excellent Treatise on Pleasure-carriages ; and he
has come to the decision that it would be perfectly prac-
ticable to make a pivot or bolt in the centre of the perch
under a vehicle, round which pivot the whole could turn,
instead of having the pivot, as at present, at the front axle-
tree. He first studied the principles which regulate the
motion of wheel-carriages, and then proceeded to put
them in action.

In order to make a vehicle turn on a central pivot, not
only the perch, but the body itself, must turn on a kind of
hinge ; and Mr. Adams proceeds to show that that may
be done with vehicles of nearly all kinds. In an ordinary
carriage, while the horses are in the act of turning, the
face of the driver is not directed in the same way as the
heads of the horses, but obliquely to them. Now, if the
pivot could be placed further back than the position of the
driver, it might enable him to be constantly in a line with
his horses. Mr. Adams made an equi-rotal (or equal-
wheeled) phaeton, in which the pivot was between the
driver on the box, and the sitters in the body of the
vehicle ; it turned with greater ease than common car-
riages, and had the advantage of distributing the wear and
tear equally among all four wheels, by having them of
equal size.

He applied the same principle to an " equi-rotal
droitzschka," in which the pivot was just behind the seat
for the driver, and in front of the principal seat. The next
application was to a close carriage, a town-chariot. Here
the pivot was placed immediately in front of the body of
the carriage; so that the front-wheels, the coach-box, the
place for luggage, and the lamps, turned with the horses,
while the hinder >vheels, and the body of the vehicle,
turned somewhat later.

After showing its capability of being applied to various
kinds of vehicles, he proposes to apply it to omnibuses, of
which he says, " It is jointed in the middle, where the
circular sides are made flexible like a leathern head or
hood. It will turn with facility in the narrowest streets,
without impeding the passage-way along the interior, as
the flexible sides move in a circle. With this omnibus.

CONSTRUCTION OF AVHEEL-CARRIAGES.

261

two horses Avould do the work of three ; there would be
great fecility of access and egress; perfect command over
the horses; increased ease to the passengers; greater head-
room, and more perfect ventilation ; greater general dura-
bility, and absence of the usual rattling noise, accompanied
by entire safety against overturning. This design is cal-
culated for the accommodation of twelve inside passengers,
but it might easily be lengthened to hold twenty; and
two horses would draw it Avith the same facility as four-
teen are draAvn on the present plan, on account of the
height of the wheels, which so much aids the draught."

We are not prepared from our own experience to offer
an opinion on this new mode of building vehicles ; but the
subject is certainly one of sufficient importance to recpire
that we should have given an outline of the objection to
be ovei-come, and the mode which Mr. Adams has pro-
posed of overcoming it. Having done this, we must quit
the subject.

Scene on the Manchester anJ Liverpool 5,ail-ilo3.d..

CHAPTER XY.

The Steam-Engine. — As applied to Sea and Land travel. — Early
Attempts at Steam Locomotion. — Advantages of Rail- Roads. —
Rail-Roads in the Collieries. — Wooden and Iron Rails. — Pro-
posed Prime Movers. — Stockton and Darlington Rail-way. —
Steam-Carriages and Steam-Boats compared. — Resistances to
their Motion. — Skidding of Wheels. — Stationary and Loco-
motive Enijincs.

The production of the steam-engine is undoubteclly one of
the greatest triumphs of modern science; whether we con-
sider the vastness of its power, so far excelling any mechani-
cal contrivance which had previous to its invention been

THE STEAM-ENGINE. . 263

discovered, or even thought of; or whether we regard this
versatile agent with respect to its application to the arts,
manufactures, and sea and land travel. In our own day,
throuQ;h tiie jjcnius of Watt, and the inventive talents of
other engineers, the steam-engine has become stupendous
alike for its force and its flexibility, — for its prodigious
power, as well as for the ease, precision, and ductility,
with which such power can be varied, distributed, and
applied. " The trunk of an elephant," says an eloquent
writer, " that can pick up a pin, or rend an oak, is as
nothing to it. It can engrave a seal, and crush masses of
obdurate metal before it ; draw out, without breaking, a
thread as fine as gossamer; and lift up a ship of war, like
a bauble, in the air. It can embroider muslin, and forge
anchors, cut steel into ribands, and impel loaded vessels
against the fury of the winds and waves. It would be
difficult to estimate the value of the benefits which these
inventions have conferred upon the country. There is
no branch of industry that has not been indebted to
them; and, in all the most material, they have not only
widened most magnificently the field of its exertions, but
multiplied a thousand-fold the amount of its productions.
Our improved steam-engine has increased indefinitely the
mass of human comforts and enjoyments, and rendered
cheap and accessible, all over the world, the materials of
wealth and prosperity. It has armed the feeble hand of
man, in short, with a power to which no limits can be
assigned, completed the dominion of mind over the most
refractory qualities of matter, and laid a sure foundation
for all those miracles of mechanic poAver which are to aid
and reward the labours of after-generations."

But not one of the uses to which steam-power has
been applied exceeds, in extent and importance, its appli-
cation to locomotion *, connecting, as it does, the most dis-
tant points of the country, and promoting that facility of
intercourse which of all improvements is the greatest;
since, by bringing the different parts of a country together,
its strength is increased, and that unity of action and in-

* jMotiou from place to place.

264 THE STEAM-ENGINE.

telligence ensured, which brings all, even the most remote
and widely scattered districts, into the way of improve-
ment, both moral and mental. It was an important era
in the history of civilization, when, about forty years ago,
steam was first applied to navigation ; the remarkable
facilities which this application afforded to trade and
general intercourse, and the great changes it has actually
effected, and is still effecting, in our commercial and
social relations Avith other countries, are appreciated by
all. Previous to this discovery, navigation was impeded,
and its utility vastly curtailed, by the uncertain and often
opposing actions of wind and waves, which often made
a voyage of a few miles a matter of toil, uncertainty, and
delay. Rivers and other great inlets of the sea were of
little or no advantage to commerce, and the grand benefits
which we generally associate with the very name of river
were then scarcely known, because no craft could ply
constantly on any of the great streams, when they could
proceed with certainty in one direction only. As an
example of the mutilation and imperfection of water-
communications in all countries before the application of
steam to navigation, the writer of an able article on this
subject, in the Quarterly Review, mentions that " on the
great river Mississippi which flows at the rate of five or
six miles an hour, it was the practice of a certain class of
boatmen, who brought down the produce of the interior
to New Orleans, to break up their boats, sell the timber,
and then return home slowly by land; and a voyage up
the river from New Orleans to Pittsburgh, a distance of
about 2000 miles could hardly be accomplished, Avith the
most laborious efforts, within a period of four months."
But now, mark the change: — the influence of wind and
tide, when opposing, is defied; when influencing, it is
allowed to co-operate with and assist the new agent,
whose available power seems limitable only by the strength
of the material which confines it; yet is it perfectly
manageable, and acts with equal efficacy against, as well
as with, the current: so that voyages that once bafiled the
navigator, and embarrassed commerce, are now performed
with all the certainty and celerity of land-journeys. The

STEAM-LOCOMOTION. 265

rapid rivers, on whose surface a solitary ferry-boat was here-
tofore only occasionally seen, are now crowded with ships,
bearing the produce and the intelligence of all climes, to
distribute among, to benefit, and to enlighten, the inhabi-
tants of the shores of those rivers, whose opposing waters
had so long prevented the entrance of those blessings.
Steam-boats are now plying on all the great rivers of the
civilized world, and rapidly diminishing that portion of it
which we call uncivilized. The four months' journey
above alluded to, from New Orleans to Pittsburgh, is
now easily performed in about fifteen days. Steam-ves-
sels have long plied on the Ganges, and other great rivers
of the east. The rivers, lakes, inlets, and narrow seas of
Europe have long since made acquaintance with this ad-
mirable invention. The intercourse between Britain and
Ireland, between Britain, France, Germany, and even
America, is now carried on by steam-boats, thus tending
to make the several people of several climes better ac-
quainted, and tending to promote that peaceful union of art,
science, and intellect, with love, good-will, and peace, which,
more than aught besides, will tend to beat " swords into
ploughshares and spears into pruning hooks: nation shall
not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn
war any more." Is. ii. 4. The promise, " that the Gospel
shall be preached among all nations," seems to be more
and more on the point of perfect fulfilment, at the present
time, when the Almighty seems to have so far favoured
the inventive talents of man, in enabling him to contrive
and improve means for international intercourse, and that
facility of communication among the individual members
of the whole human family, whereby, we should hope,
Christianity and civilization would be, hand in hand, every-
where diffused.

It is probable that the first successful performance of a
steam-boat suggested the important problem, how far the
same power could be employed in impelling carriages by
land. So early as the year 1 769, Mr. Watt, in his original
patent for his improved steam-engine, mentions its ap-
plicability to domestic improvement, — a suggestion made

N

266 STEAM-LOCOJIOTIOX.

to liim by Professor RoLison, although. Watt does not
seem even to have imparted motion to a carriage by steam.
Symington, also, who had so much to do with the original
invention of steam-boats, contrived a steam-arrangement
for propelling carriages; and is said to have exhibited iu
1787, in Edinburgh, the first model of a steam-carriage
that had yet been seen. From this time the attempts
were numerous, but for many years unsuccessful; not so
much from want of skill, but from the existence of some
radical difficulty, which was long insurmountable.

The cause of these foilures was probably the great
weight of the engines, and the resistance to the motion of
the carriages by the inequalities of the roads. In the
steam-boat this difficulty did not exist, since a large
amount of weight is buoyed up by the water, without add-
ing much resistance to the motion of the vessel, but every
additional weight to a land-carriage produces additional re-
sistance, arising from inertia, friction, and such like impedi-
ments, in proportion to"its weight. The undulating nature
of our roads, too, presented insuperable obstacles; and
even though the line of road could be exactly levelled, }'et
the softness of the materials would allow the wheels of the
ponderous machines to sink; and even if this difficulty
were obviated, the roughness and irregularity of road-
making materials present a series of elevations and de-
pressions, on which the wheels on advancing are con-
tinually rising and falling. It is the incessant lifting of
the whole mass of the carriage over these protuberances,
which occasions that drag which is felt even on the best
roads. In order, therefore, for steam-carriages to move
on common roads, it would be necessary, _y?/-i-^, to make
them level, or nearly so; and secondly, to make them
harder and smoother than they now are.

In order, therefore, to apply steam with success to the
general purposes of land-travel, it Avas necessary to make
a new and improved species of road, such as would be
free from all the obstructions of common roads. Thus, it
is generally supposed, originated the rail-way or rail-
r:oad, now so extensively adopted in this country; but

THE RAIL-ROAD. 267

the fact is that railways had been in use, as we shall
presently see, long before steam-power was applied to
locomotion.

The rail-road has this grand advantage over the com-
mon road, that, for the soft and unequal surface of the
latter, there is substituted a smooth, hard surface of wood,
or more commonly of metal, fixed in two narrow tracks
along which wheels of carriages roll with an ease and a
velocity, as much exceeding the effect of the most perfect
modern road, as the latter exceeds the Avorst roads of
olden time. These tracks, or rails, were at one time made
of Avood, but now iron is the material universally em-
ployed. They are laid in lengths of from four to sixteen
feet, united firmly together by joints at their extremities,
and resting at every two or three feet on a heavy block of
stone, fixed firmly in the ground. There is, of course, a
track of these rails for each wheel throughout the line;
and the two tracks together form what is called a single
line of railway. But it is most usual to have another line
running parallel with the first, and placed at a few feet
distance from it, for the purpose of allowing carriages
moving in opposite directions to pass each other without
interference: this is called a double line. In some cases,
Avhere the traffic is considerable, a third or a fourth line is
laid down, with communications between them at inter-
vals, to enable one carriage moving in the same direction,
but Avith greater velocity than another, to pass it by mov-
ing on to a separate line, Avithout either of them stopping.
A third line of rail-Avay is also useful, in case one of the
others should be undergoing repair.

Such, then, is a brief, but sufficient introductory
description of a modern rail-road, Avhich Ave Avill sup-
pose preserves a horizontal position throughout the
whole of its line. The inexperienced reader may noAV
think a rail-road to be a very simple affair, and Avonder
not only that its construction should be of so modern an
origin, but that so many men of first-rate science and in-
genuity should devote their high poAvers to Avhat Avould
seem so easy and practicable. In answer to this, Ave must
remind him that simplicity is one of the noblest features

N 2

268 THE RAIL-ROAD.

in the results of a great mind : the works of the Almighty,
"when we thoroughly understand them, are found no less
simple, than beautiful and eifective; complication always
bespeaks Aveakness, and a want of that mature knowledge,
which, with small means, accomplishes great ends. But
simple as the execution of a rail- way may appear, it is an
expensive and difficult undertaking, requiring for its full
effect, an advanced state of knowledge of the arts and
sciences. Indeed, the difficulties of rail-road travel are
perhaps known only to the engineer and the practical
philosopher. What seems so easy to an ordinary observer,
has been the result of much costly expenditure, of much
high intelligence, and is yet capable of vast improvement.
When we regard the ponderous machine Avith carriages
attached to it, containing hundreds of human beings, and
thousands of tons of goods, moving with a velocity of
thirty miles an hour, exciting the wonder and admiration
of spectators, we are too apt to applaud injudiciously, and
to think we have attained perfection in locomotion. But
what is the sober truth? However calculated the per-
formances of modern locomotive engines may be to excite
our admiration, yet it cannot be denied that they are still
awkward and cumbrous, not only in their form and appli-
cation, but also in their performances. The art of con-
structing them is still in its very infancy; and on so re-
cent an occasion as the completion of the Liverpool and
Manchester rail-road, the Company thought seriously of
erecting large steam-engines at different points of the line,
to pull the carriages from station to station, the engines
themselves being fixed; so great was the want of expe-
rience nine years ago an the construction of locomotive
engines! We shall speak more in detail on this subject
hereafter; but we think it right to warn the reader thus
early, to refer any disparaging observations he may meet
with, to the right source ; for the present chapter is written
with the full feeling and assurance, that great as are and
have been the benefits of rail-roads and locomotive en-
gines, they are but as the rippling of the waters of a be-
calmed sea, waiting for the exertion of those mighty in-
fluences which shall excite it to action, and produce those

WOODEN RAILS. 269

tidal "vvaves, whose influence the whole world shall feel
and acknowledge.

The first railways were of wood, and the earliest ac-
count of their introduction occurs in the account of the
life of the Lord Keeper North, wherein it appears that
about the year 1670, they were employed at Newcastle-
upon-Tyne, for transporting coals from the mines to the
barges in the river Tyne ; in which service, even at that
time, when the demand for coals was so limited, nearly
five hundred carts Avere constantly employed. It became,
therefore, an important object to reduce the expense of
maintaining so many horses, carters, and roads, as these
conveyances required ; and the plan of wooden rails was
the best method which at that time could have been
adopted. The situation too was favourable, since it pre-
sented, for the most part, an easy descent towards the
river. These roads soon became generally introduced in
the coal districts. Strips of ground of the required length
were laid out between the mouths of the coal-pits and the
river, and were leased to the coal-owners, or purchased by
them of the land-owners, through whose property the road
extended. The line of road was varied in its direction, so
as to meet the unevenness of the ground, and thereby to
obtain an easier and more regular descent ; in some cases,
embankments and cuttings were made, and a regular slope
obtained. The ground being thus prepared and smoothed,
large logs of wood, called sleepers, cut in lengths equal to
the breadth of the road, were fixed across it, and em-
bedded firmly at short intervals, to which the wooden rails
were fixed, on which the wheels of the carriages were to
run. These rails were generally formed of beech, and
were placed end to end, so as to form two parallel lines,
one for each wheel ; the ends of these rails being secured
to the wooden sleepers, which served as foundations. The
coal-wagons Avere of large size, with small Avheels, the
smoothness of the road rendering high wheels unnecessary.
An ordinary horse drew three tons of coal on this road
without difficulty. When a more than usually steep de-
scent occurred, it was called a run; and the too rapid
descent of the wagons was prevented by a species of

270 IROX RAILS.

crooked lever, or brake, called a convoy^ attached to the
Avagon and regulated by the driver. Along the steep
banks of the Tyne, the railway was continued on a wooden
stage, raised to the height of the top bank of the river,
and carried forward until it came over the river side,
■where a Avooden platform, called a sfailk, was erected for
the purpose of delivering the coals through shoots or
spouts directly into the holds of ships moored underneath,
or into a store below, from which the ships might after-
wards be conveniently loaded.

The defect of these rails arose from the decaying
nature of the substance composing them, and the expense
of maintaining them in repair greatly detracted from their
value. They were much improved by fixing flat bars of
iron to their surfaces ; but the grand improvement of all
consisted in forming the rails altogether of iron, and sub-
stituting stone sleepers for those of wood. The first con-
struction of iron rails is said to have originated in a
curious circumstance. The proprietors of the Colebrook
Dale Iron Works first determined to cover their wooden
rails with cast-iron, not that they thought to improve the
rails thereby, but they hoped that, if their plan were gene-
rally adopted, the sale of iron, in which they were so
much interested, would be promoted. " But it happened
some time after that the price of pigs'" became very low,
and their works being of great extent, in order to keep
the furnaces on, they thought it would be the best means
of stocking their pigs to lay them on the wooden rail-
ways, as it Avould help to pa}^ the interest of expenses by
reducing the repairs of the rails ; and if iron should take
any sudden rise, there was nothing to do but to take them
up and send them away as pigs." This is the account of
the first adoption of iron rails, about the year 1767, as
given by Hornblower to a committee of the House of
Commons on the subject of roads and carriages.

The first substitution of iron for wooden rails was at-
tended Avith some inconveniences ; the resistance or adhe-
sion to the surface in descending inclined planes was so much

* " Pigs of irou " are m.isses of tlie metal, of a certain form
and weight, as delivered from tlie foundry to the workers in irou.

PROPOSED PKIME .MOVERS. 271'

reduced, that the ordinary brake ^vas found quite insuffi-
cient to oppose the descent. This led to a very admirable
improvement ; double, or self-acting, inclined planes were-
invented, by Avhich the surplus force of gravity, in the
case of a load descending one plane, was employed
to draw up the empty wagons on the ascending plane.
This plan Avas found efficient, and was soon extensively
adopted in all the collieries of the North of England.

The reader is so apt to associate rail-roads with steam,
that in what is emphatically called the rail-road, he in-
cludes generally not only a level road laid out with iron
rails, but also a number of carriages propelled by means
of a locomotive steam-engine. But a rail-road is not less
a rail-road, if the prime mover be animal power instead
of steam. Indeed, we have just seen how i\\Q force of
gravity is made to act as a prime mover when inclined
planes are employed, and it has even been proposed that
an extensive line of road shall be made to consist of a
series of ascents and descents. In such case, if a carriage
were started from one of the elevated points, it would
descend by its own weight alone, and acquire sufficient
momentum to mount part of the adjoining ascent; if,
therefore, a small propelling power were added to the
force of gravity, the acquired momentum would be
sufficient to bear the carriage to the summit of the
ascent; and thus, by a series of descents and ascents,
a journey of any extent is proposed to be made ; such is
the undulating railway. Another proposal has been to
employ compressed air as a prime mover, as also carbonic
acid gas in the act of liberation from a solid carbonate
(marble, for example) by the action of an acid. Indeed,
Sir Humphry Davy did not think it beneath him to be-
stow a portion of his attention on liquid carbonic acid as
a prime mover. This substance exists in the liquid state
only under very intense pressure ; as soon as the pressure
is removed or relieved, the liquid bursts into its gaseous
form with amazing force; and it was thought that, by
allowing small portions of the liquid to escape from pres-
sure, the expansive force might be converted into a prime
mover. Another projector has directed attention to what

272 PROPOSED PRIME MOVERS.

lie calls a p7ieumatic railway^ where a long cylinder is
employed containing air rarefied by means of stationary
steam-engines. The carriages are to move along the upper
surface of the cylinder; and the front carriage is connected
with a piston working air-tight within the cylinder, there
heing rarefied air before it, and air of the common pressure
behind it, by which it is propelled forward. A combination
of electro-magnetic actions is also looked forward to as
a prime mover.

Some of these proposals, and many more tending to
the same end, are calculated to excite a smile ; but it is
necessary to be cautious how we smile, since most of these
projects proceed from ingenious and thinking men, and
we have a full tide of experience to assure us that plans
now in extensive use, whose success is beneficially expe-
rienced by every one, were subject in their infancy to all
the derision which startling novelty is calculated to excite.
As the dominion of mind over the most refractory qua-
lities of matter becomes more complete, we shall find the
feeble arm of man furnished with new powers, of which
we can now scarcely form an idea. Some of the above
proposals for prime movers are, perhaps, in the present
state of our knowledge, utterly impracticable; but our
children, or our children's children, may live to see much
of our art and science freed from the many imperfections
which, to a great extent, are inseparable from humanity :
but, as the grand truth becomes more and more fully im-
pressed upon us, that the progress of science is not less
ensured by the search after error than by the search after
truth, in order to eradicate the one and extend the other,
it is not too much to say that great and mighty changes,
bearing with them, we should hope, all the blessings of
vast improvements, are on the eve of consummation ; and
it is only the consciousness that this Avorld is but a scene
of preparation for a better, that checks the rising regret
of the Christian philosopher, that he has been born too
soon to participate in that more perfect state of know-
ledge, which to his ardent fancy appears to be dawning
upon the world.

In the year 1825, the Stockton and Darlington rail-

STOCKTON AND BARLINGTON RAILWAY. 273

way Avas opened, at which animal power was the prime
mover employed for propelling the carriages. This line
was calculated to show the wonderful superiority of rail-
roads over the very best common roads. A carriage con-
taining six passengers inside and from fifteen to twenty
outside, with a due proportion of luggage, was constantly
drawn by a single horse at the rate of ten miles per hour,
without more exertion to the animal than if the draught
had been that of a small gig on a common road. The
coach was not mounted on springs, and yet the motion
was perfectly easy. The coach was not made to turn on
the railway, but was drawn backwards and forwards, the
horse being unyoked from one side and yoked to the
other. Such was the ease with which the loaded vehicle
moved, that it was not possible for the coachman to " pull
up," as he calls it, without the assistance of a brake at-
tached to the wheels. The cheapness of this mode of
travelling was not its least recommendation; the fare
outside between Stockton and Darlington, a distance of
twelve miles, was one shilling, and for shorter distances
at the rate of one penny for each mile. The inside fares
were exactly one half more.

These illustrations are calculated to remind us of the
advantages of the rail-road over common roads. The
rail-road enables us, even in its present imperfect state,
to increase the power of draught more than ten times,
and even with horses alone to travel with extraordinary
speed and economy. These effects arise from the supe-
rior hardness and smoothness of the metallic surface
compared with the common road, so that the carriage-
wheels roll without the usual impediments to their mo-
tion. Even on common roads, the grand desiderata are
those very two qualities which so much recommend the
rail-road. A horse will perform one-third more work
upon a clean road than upon one which is slightly muddy;
more than four times as much as upon newly-spread
gravel, and almost seven times as much as upon a heavy
sandy road. These, then, are the advantages of hard
smooth common roads compared with such as are soft and
uneven. The comparison of the best constructed common

N3

274 STEAM-CARRIAGES AND STEAM-BOATS.

roads wltli rail-roads is yet more instructive. It appears,
from experiments made by Mr. Wood, "with a well-con-
structed model, that the whole of the resistance to the
motion of a carriage on a Avell-constructed railway is
capable of being reduced to the five hundredih part of the
weight to be drawn. If, therefore, we estimate the power
of draught of a common cart-horse through a day's Avork
at 150 pounds, moving at the rate of two and a-half miles
an hour,' we shall find the same horse competent to draw
on a well-constructed rail-road (500 x 150) 75,000 pounds,
or about 33^ tons, at the same rate. This is supposing a
perfection of Avorkmanship in the rail-road which in prac-
tice is not attained ; but, from the great improvements
which are being yearly effected, it is more than probable
that a single horse Avill be capable at some future time of
draAvinjx at least 20 tons.

The resistance to the motion of a carriage on a well-
constructed rail-road is exceedingly small compared with
what a steam-boat has to encounter in moving through its
fluid support. Many persons are in the habit of express-
ing surprise that while a steam locomotive engine moves
at the rate of thirty miles an hour, the utmost speed of a
steam-boat does not exceed ten or twelve miles an hour.
Let us consider this question Avith respect to the two
modes of conveyance, and the reader will see that a com-
parison between them in point of speed is unfair.

The resistance to the motion of a heavy body is its
weighty or, in other words, the action of gravity upon it ;
to overcome which force, a greater force must be em-
ployed ; and this, in the cases before us, is the elasticity
of steam. But the question is not how the body is set in
motion ; but Avhat are the impediments which retard that
motion Avhen once begun, supposing the moving force to
be constant. These are friction and adhesion : also the
resistance of the air through Avhich the locomotive engine
moves ; and of air and water through Avhich the steam-
boat moves. Now, with respect to friction and adhesion,
we may resolve them into one ; since, generally speaking,
the first is produced by the second. Friction may be
defined as the rubbing of the parts of engines or machines

RESISTANCES TO MOTION. 275

against eacK other, Avhereby much of their effect is de-
stroj'ed. A body upon a horizontal pLine would be
capable of motion by the application of the smallest
amount of force, Avere it not that the contiguous sur-
faces are more or less rough, and the points of contact
always more or less irregular in form. Now, attraction,
or adhesion, operates Avith a varying amount of force ; and
extraneous bodies such as dust, moisture, &c., intervene.
To overcome these impediments, a far greater amount of
force is necessary, than if a perfectly round and smooth
body were to be moved over a perfectly smooth and
horizontal plane. Adhesion is but a modified example of
the grand and universal principle of gravity, which go-
verns and regulates all matter. As the planetary bodies
exert a mutual attraction for each other, so the smaller
masses of matter upon this earth exhibit effects of the
same law. Now, it has been proved by scientific men
that adhesion is greater between the surfaces of bodies of
the same material, than between those of different mate-
rials. This adhesive force is greater, for example, be-
tween two similar metals, than between two of different
kinds. It is greater between any two metals than be-
tween metal and Avood, or between metal and stone.
It follows, therefore, that the metal wheels of locomotive
engines have a greater adhesion Avith the iron rails, than
if the wheels moved on a turnpike-road. But the power
required to set a steam-carriage in motion is first employed
to overcome the inertia of the Aveight : this being done,
the friction continues the same throughout ; for it has
been found by experiment, that this impediment is not
increased by the motion of the bodies themselves, how-
ever rapid this motion may be. The next impediment,
viz., the atmosphere, is, with respect to any velocity
hitherto attained, of comparatively less import*. But
hoAv different is the case of the steam-boat ! The Avater,
it is true, supports upon its surface the most enor-

* The subject of atmospheric resistance upon railways is, at
the present time, engaging the attention of eminent engineers,,
with the vieAv of determining the ratio of the resistance to the.
velocity.

276 KESISTANCES TO MOTION.

mous "weights -with admirable effect ; and seems to
remove every impediment to their motion, except the
mere inertia of matter ; so great is the ease Avith which
they can he moved about with only a slight force. The
man who descends in the diving-bell to construct sub-
marine foundations, or to recover the treasures of a
wrecked ship, appears as if endowed with giant strength ;
he can lift blocks of stone, or pull up sunken cannon,
as if they were deprived of their distinguishing pon-
derosity. Such is the effect of fluid support. We have
already seen the advantages of canals, when the slow
pace of two miles an hour is preserved ; but let us
attempt to accelerate that motion, and we shall soon,
experience the resistance of the dense medium to such a
degree, that however great may be the amount of im-
pelling power, whether a gigantic steam-engine, or the
most capacious sails swelled by the most favouring breeze,
a limit of speed is soon attained, beyond which it is im-
possible to advance. The power of the engines of many
steam-boats is equal to that of two or three hundred
horses ; and yet ten or twelve miles an hour is the
maximum speed ; because the water through which the
boat moves offers a resistance which constantly increases
with the velocity of the vessel itself, and soon counter-
poises any increase of power which may be intended to
counteract it. But, on a railway, the several resistances
cannot be said to increase with the velocity : they are for
the most part diminished ; because, time being an ele-
ment in all the operations of nature, the more we dimi-
nish the time, the more we escape the operation of all
retarding forces.

The reader must not, however, suppose that the resist-
ances which tend to diminish the effect of machinery, act
always with injurious effect. We have seen that when,
on a railway, the iron tire of the wheel is in contact with
the iron rail, adhesion is greatest, because there are two
metals of the same kind in contact : this adhesive force,
while it tends to oppose any change of mutual contact,
also retards the horizontal passage of the lowermost point
of the wheel along the plane of the rail ; and this latter

SKIDDING OP AVHEELS. 277

retarclatioii is of so great an advantage, that although it
may appear at first sight as a defect, yet without it the
railroad would be shorn of much of its value. To under-
stand this subject, we must request the reader to follow
us through a few details. When a carriage is drawn in
the usual way by a horse, the road, upon which the
wheels move, acts as a fixed point, which offers a certain
resistance to the circumference of the wheels ; and these
necessarily revolve on their axle as the carriage advances :
all that is necessar}^ being that the resistance on the road
shall exceed that at the axle. But, if the moving powder
be within the carriage itself, and its effort be to turn the
■wheel on its axle by means of a pin or handle attached to
a spoke of the wheel between the centre and the circum-
ference, then, if the face of the wheel and the surface of
the rail be quite smooth and free from friction, the
•wheel will slide round, or slip upon the road during its
revolutions ; and the carriage must, in consequence, re-
main perfectly stationary. This is called the .skidding of
the wheels. If, however, the pressure of the tire of the
wheel upon the rail be such as to produce adhesion
between them, to such an extent as to prevent skidding,
the wheel can then only turn round by causing the car-
riage to advance : the wheel then rolls upon the rail, and
the carriage moves through a space equal to the circum-
ference of the wheel during every one of its revolutions.
In practice, it is found that sufficient adhesion is pro-
duced to prevent skidding ; but, in the early attempts at
locomotion by steam, the inconvenience of this skidding
was rather anticipated than felt; and hence arose many
ingenious contrivances and inventions, which a little
practical experience would have shown were quite unne-
cessary. A few of these we will briefly detail.

Two different modes have been proposed for propelling
carriages on railways by the force of steam. First, to
draw the carriages along on the rails by ropes or chains
attached to stationary engines, placed at short distances
along the road. Secondly, by means of a portable engine
capable of imparting motion to the wheels which bear it.
The first of these proposals would be the more difficult,

278

LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES.

or rather the more expensive ; and the second Avas cer-
tainly the more desirable in every respect, Avhen once
such an engine was invented, and found to be practicable :
but this plan had its difficulties : for it was necessary to
produce an engine on a new construction, essentially
differing from the stationary engines employed to work
machinery. The objects to be attained were lightness
and compactness, Avhich were of secondary consequence
in fixed engines ; but became matters of first-rate im-
portance in locomotives. It was necessary to dispense
with all the cumbrous apparatus of the cold-water cistern,
the condenser, the vai-ious pumps, and the weighty beam
and fly-Avheel, Avhose motions in the fixed engine act with
such tremendous effect. All these were to be rejected ;
and the light and simple locomotive engine was to depend
solely for its force and efi'ect upon the elasticity of high-
pressure steam. Such an engine was made ; and in the
early engines provision was also made for preventing the
skidding of the wheels. Teeth or cogs fitting into each
other, like those of a rack and pinion, were cut both in
wheels and rails : but this plan was soon abandoned ; for
the motion was rough, jolting, and noisy ; and the wear and
tear immense. Propellers were then attempted: these con-
sisted of jointed poles, projecting from the back of the
engine, and imitating on a large scale the motions of a
horse's hinder legs. The engine thus pushed itself along, as
a person in a boat may do by thrusting a pole or oar against
the bed of a river. But it w^as ultimately found that all
these contrivances were unnecessary ; for, after all, as we
have before stated, the difficulty was imaginary; the friction
being quite sufficient to prevent skidding, however smooth
the rails might be. Since this time locomotive engines
have been the subjects of constant improvement : the
speed of forty miles an hour is not uncommon ; and the
consumption of fuel has gone on gradually diminishing.

But enough of Railroads in general. Let us now
contemplate the details of that mighty poAver ; that tri-
umph of ingenuity ; that emblem of peace and national
prosperity, — the Steam Engine !

The Novelty Steara Locomotive.

CHAPTER XVI.

On the Steam-Engine in general, and as applied to locomotion in
particular. — Steam; its elasticity ; how estimated. — TheSteam-
Engine; its general construction. — The Atmospheric Steam-
Engine. — The high-pressure Steam-Engine. — The low-pressure
or condensing Steam-Engine. — Watt's improvements.— The
principal details of a Steam-Engine. — A Locomotive Steam-
Enjrine described. — Steam-Locomotion on Common Roads.

When we are travelling by a stage-coach at the rate of
eight or ten miles an hour, we can understand the nature
of the force which sets the vehicle in motion: we under-
stand in a general way the nature of animal power : we
see how soon it is exhausted; every successive hour do we
watch the panting and reeking animals to their stalls, and,
in the course of a day's journey, we can appreciate the
enormous succession of efforts required to transport a
loaded vehicle from London to a distant town.

But, when proceeding on a journey by the rail-road,
we are seldom allowed to get a sight of the wondrous
power which draws us so rapidly along. The scene is
altogether changed ; there are no animals yoked to the
car, to excite our pity by their apparently short, but really
severe labour ; we hear the steam gushing from the
safety-valve, Avhile the machine is for a short time sta-
tionary; then we hear a number of rapid beatings : we
feel that we are moving; the motion soon increases
rapidly, and the journey which by the stage-coach is so
tedious, is here, long before we are aware of it, at an end.
The traveller then wonders, not only at the rapidity of

280 THE STEAM-ENGINE.

his journey, but often -wishes to inspect and comprehend
the means by which it was eflFected ; he is not allowed to
go up to the engine to examine it; and if he were, he
w^ould probably be little the wiser. He has, therefore,
as yet only obtained hasty glimpses of the locomotive, as
it whirled rapidly by or under the spot where he has
stood to gaze upon it ; he knows nothing, but desires to
know something, of the application of steam-power to
locomotion.

It is for such a reader as this that the present chapter,
and indeed the present volume, is written: we propose to
take a view of the steam-engine in general, and of its
application to locomotion in particular, sufficient to convey
to the general reader a clear notion of the power employed
in rail-road travel.

The vapour arising from water boiling in an open ves-
sel is always equal in elasticity or pressure to the atmo-
spheric air ; that is, it exerts a pressure of about fifteen
pounds on every square inch of surface exposed to it ; and
if the column of mercury in a barometer were sustained
by the pressure of such vapour, instead of the atmosphere,
it would stand at the same height ; that is, the length
of the column of mercury would equal about thirty inches.
But, if water be boiled in a close vessel, such as a steam-
boiler, the force or elasticity of its vapour will go on con-
tinually increasing ; because, since there is no outlet
whereby the vapour can escape, as it is formed, it neces-
sarily becomes more and more compressed ; and unless the
pressure of this vapour against the interior sides of the
boiler be relieved, they Avill eventually burst out with a
tremendous explosion. This is the cause of the fear-
ful accidents produced by the bursting of steam-boilers ;
examples of which are unfortunately too common. Now,
in order to measure the elastic force of steam in a boiler,
Ave employ a bent tube called a barometer-gauge. This
tube is open at both ends, which point upwards ; one end
communicates with the interior of the boiler, and the other
end is left exposed to the air ; but all communication be-
tween the steam in the boiler, and the air without, is pre-
vented by a quantity of mercury occupying the bend of

THE STEAM-ENGINE. 281

the tube, and rising a short way up its upright branches.
It follows, therefore, that if the steam in the boiler be
equal in elasticity to that of the air, the pressure in both
legs of the tube will be equal, and the mercury will re-
main at the same level in both. But, if the steam in the
boiler exceed in elastic force the external air, the mercury
in the steam-leg will be depressed, while that in the air-
leg will be elevated. The steam is then called high-pres-
sure steam. If, on the contrary, the elasticity of the steam
in the boiler be less than that of the external air, there
will be a partial vacuum within the boiler, the air without
will have a tendency to enter it, and will depress the mer-
cury in the leg exposed to its pressure, and elevate it in
the steam-leg. The steam is then called loiv-pressure
steam. High-pressure steam of course exerts a pressure
of more than fifteen pounds on every square inch of sur-
face exposed to its action, and supports a barometric
column of mercury more than thirty inches in height ; but
low-pressure steam exerts a force of less than fifteen pounds
on the square inch, and does not support so high a column
of mercury. The force, elasticity, or pressure of steam is,
therefore, estimated either by the number of inches of
mercury which it will support ; or by the number of
pounds pressure which it exerts on a square inch of sur-
face.

Sometimes very highly elastic steam (such as is em-
ployed in the steam-gun of Mr. Perkins) is estimated at a
certain number of atmospheres : that is to say, the steam
exerts a pressure so many times as great as that exerted by
the atmosphere. Thus, steam of five atmospheres sig-
nifies steam that is capable of supporting a barometric
column, 5 times 30, or J 50 inches high, and which exerts
a pressure on every square inch of 5 times 15, or 75
pounds.

With these preliminary remarks we proceed to de-
lineate the principal features of the steam-ejigine.

The most important part of the steam-engine is the
cylinder, a round upright case of iron, closed at both ends,
except a small circular opening in the centre of the top,
through which an iron rod passes, bearing at its lower end

282 ATMOSPHERIC STEAM-ENGINE.

a solid plug, or piston, ^vhich fits so accurately as to pre-
vent all communication between the upper and lower
parts of the cylinder, but at the same time moves easily
up and down within it. Now the object of all tlie other
mechanism of the steam-engine, is to move this piston
with a forcible, regular, and alternate up-and-down stroke.
This is effected by causing the spaces above and below the
piston to be filled Avith fluids of different densities or
elastic forces ; so that when the elastic force of the upper
fluid predominates, the piston is forced down, and when
the lower fluid is the more elastic, the piston is forced up.
The force of the stroke, which constitutes the power of the
engine, will of course depend conjointly on the superficial
area of the piston ; and on the difference of density in the
two fluids above and below it.

All the various modes of working the steam-engine
may probably be resolved into three general principles,
each of which we will briefly detail.

I. The Atmospheric Steam-Engine first brought into
practical operation by Newcomen in 1 705. In this engine
the cylinder was open at the top, and at the bottom was a
tube passing to the boiler, which, however, was prevented
from communicating therewith, unless by the opening of a
cock or valve. Suppose now that the piston is resting at
the bottom of the cylinder, and that this cock is opened ;
the steam will rush up from the boiler, and lift the piston
up to the top of its stroke ; the steam-cock is then shut by
an attendant, and another cock called the iyijcction-cock,
opening into the side of the cylinder, is opened, whereby
a jet of cold water is admitted from a cistern above, which
is always kept full by a pump worked by the engine.
This cold water immediately condenses all the steam in
the cylinder, and produces a vacuum below the piston.
The exterior air then acts Avith its full force of fifteen
pounds per square-inch on the upper surface of the piston,
and forces it down to the bottom, ready to be again lifted
up, as soon as the attendant has opened the cock to let up
the steam from below. The up-and-down motion of the
piston was communicated by a long rod to one end of a
large beam, poised in the middle like a see-saw ; and to

ATMOSPHERIC STEAM-ENGINE, 283

the other end of this beam was appended the rod of a
pump for draining a mine ; which was the office which
the steam-engine at that time performed. The atmospheric
steam-engine has long been out of use.

The circumstance of this machine requiring an at-
tendant for the purpose of opening and closing the valves,
led to a singular, and at the same time, a truly valuable
invention. A boy named Humphrey Potter was appointed
to attend the engine, and soon growing weary of the mono-
tonous task of continually turning the cocks backwards and
forwards for hours together, he contrived, by a combina-
tion of rods and strings, to make the engine work its own
valves. The boy, whose name has been immortalized for
perhaps the most useful act of his life, is spoken of by se-
veral writers on the steam-engine as " an idle boy, whose
invention was one of the resources of idleness ;" but this is
unjust; this poor and uneducated peasant had evidently a
mind superior to the mechanical and wearying task
allotted to it ; and his invention, which has continued to
the present day, was one of the resources of his genius,
which education and study would doubtless have made
valuable both to himself and to his country. Invention is
never a result of idleness ; but it is the result of an active
and original mind ; there are hundreds of improvers to
one inventor ; the former require talent, the latter genius;
and we think that Humphrey Potter possessed both.

II. Th£ High-pressure Steam-Engine is now prin-
cipally employed in the propulsion of locomotive carriages,
in preference to the low-pressure engine, the arrange-
ments of which are too numerous and complicated, and
occupy too much space for carriages. The former kind
of engine is by far the most simple. A rude approach to
it was invented by Leupold in 1720, and applied in an
improved form to locomotion by Trevithick and Vivian in
] 804. In this form of engine, both ends of the cylinder
are closed; and one department consists of a steam-tight
iron box called a valve-box^ from whence branch four pas-
sages : one leading into the boiler, another into the chim-
ney, a third to the top, and a fourth to the bottom of the
cylinder. In this box is a contrivance called a sliding-

284

HIGH-PRESSURE STEAM- ENGINE.

valve, Avhich is moved by the engine. When the piston is
at the bottom of its stroke, a communication is opened
between the boiler and the bottom of the cylinder ; and
also between the top of the cylinder and the chimney.
The steam, therefore, rushes from the boiler into the lower
part of the cylinder ; and as it is high-pressure steam, it
predominates over the pressure of the air, and thrusts up
the piston : at the same time, the steam or air above the
piston is driven out through the chimney into the open
air. But this same upward stroke of the piston alters the
position of the sliding- valve ; so as to make the bottom of
the cylinder communicate with the external air, and to al-
low the steam from the boiler to be admitted at the top of
the cylinder, whereby the piston is pushed down ready for
another up-stroke. There are many modes used for pro-
ducing this alternate passage of the steam to and from
the top and bottom of the cylinder. We will describe one
mode, which we prefer on account of its simplicity ;
although it is by no means the best; it is called ih.Q four-
nay cock.

In each figure let A represent the induction-pipe, or
that by which the steam enters from the boiler ; b the
eduction-pipe, or that which conducts to the chimney; and
c and D the passages to the bottom and top of the cylinder
respectively. During the upward stroke of the piston,
the cock, which is a round plug having two passages
bored through it, is in the position of fig. 1, where a com-
municates with c ; and D with b ; as we have just de-
scribed ; but, during the down stroke, the cock is placed

LOW-PRESSURE STEAM-ENGINE. 285

in the position shown in fig. 2, and a reverse action
ensues. It will readily be seen, by an inspection of the
figures, that the cock or plug has only to be moved round
one quarter, that is through an arc of 90° , to effect this
great change ; and this motion can easily be imparted to
it by means of a bent lever connected with the piston-
rod, or with the working-beam of the engine.

III. In the engine just described high-pressure steam
only can be employed ; because it has to overcome the
pressure of the air, before it can move the piston, which
is forced up and down only by the difference of force
between the steam on one side and the air on the other.
But in the Low-pressure, or rather the Condensing
Engine, steam is on one side of the piston, and a vacuum
on the other : the steam therefore acts with its full force,
and it matters not what kind of steam is employed, whe-
ther high or low pressure. This is the form of engine now
universally used for propelling machinery, and generally
for moving ships. It was the offspring of the fine genius
of "Watt, whose object Avas to retain and combine all the
advantages of the two engines just described, and yet to
avoid those disadvantages which to a certain extent seem
inseparable from them. The first defect of Newcomen"'s
form of engine, was the necessary cooling of the cylinder
produced by the injection -water at every down-stroke.
Unless the cylinder be kept as hot as the steam which
enters it, a great deal of steam will always be condensed,
and an immense waste of heat, and, consequently, of fuel,
will result from this alternate heating and cooling. To
remedy this defect, "Watt drew off the steam during the
down-stroke into a separate vessel, where it was con-
densed. This vessel was kept constantly cold, and the
cylinder constantly hot : so that by this simple and ele-
gant invention a vast saving of fuel ' was the immediate
result.

There was yet another great defect in Newcomen's-
engine. This was the cooling produced by the great mass
of cold air, which entered the cylinder from the top at
every down-stroke. To obviate this, Watt closed the top
of the cylinder, and forced the piston down, not by air.

286

DETAILS OF STEAM-ENGINE.

but by hot steam, let in above the piston; and during the
up-stroke, this steam was drawn off and condensed, as the
lower steam had been before. The engine now assumed
a new character : its action was quite independent of
the atmosphere, and for the first time could it really
and truly be called a STEAM-engine ; for it was now
moved solely by the direct force of steam. This form of
engine is called double-acl'mg, in contradistinction to the
single-acting engine in which the piston is acted on during
its down-stroke only ; it being returned to the top by a
counterweight at the other end of the beam. To under-
stand the general mechanism of this engine, let us first
imagine an engine like the high-pressure engine already
described, except that the last passage conducting from
the valve-box or fourway-cock, instead of leading to the
chimney, leads into a cylindrical vessel called the con-
denser^ represented at u in the following figure.

Fis

This vessel, as well as the rest of the apparatus about
to be described, is kept cold by immersion in the cistern
of cold water cc, which is kept always full by a pump
(not shown in the figure) Avorked by the engine itself.
During the down-stroke of the piston, the steam below it
is forced into the condenser ; and during the up-stroke
the same result is obtained for the steam above the piston.

DETAILS OF STEAM-ENGINE. 287

At the same time the injection-valve d is opened by a rod
connected with it, and a jet of cold water is let in to con-
dense the steam. But the condenser would thus become
soon full of hot water, by the mixture of the condensed
steam with the injection-water. The mixed contents of
the condenser consisting of hot water, uncondensed steam
and air are, therefore, all drawn off at every stroke, by
the air-pump E placed by the side of the condenser. This
pump is constructed in two different modes ; we will
describe the simpler of the two. It consists of a hollow
cylinder, having a solid pistoa fitting tight, Avhich derives
its motion from the great beam by means of an attached
rod. This cylinder is closed at the top, through which the
rod Avorks air-tight ; but at the bottom there are two
passages f and g furnished each with a valve. AVheu the
air-pump piston is elevated, a partial vacuum is formed in
the space below it ; and the air, water, and steam, in the
condenser B, open the valve f and rush into the air-pump
cylinder, the piston of which then falls and drives them
out through the valve G. They cannot, of course, escape
by the way they entered, because the valve f opens in-
wards : they are, therefore, forced up the tube i into a
small cistern n, called the hot }veU, from which the hot
water is pumped up by another pump into a cistern above,
ready to descend, when wanted, into the boiler by means
of a self-feeding and self-adjusting apparatus. All these
three pumps, for hot water, cold water, and air, are
worked by rods connected with the working-beam. To
the further end of this beam is hung a long stout rod, the
lower end of which turns a crank on the main axle, which,
after passing through a wall from the engine-house into
the apartments, sets in motion any sort of machinery.

In contemplating these and other beautiful arrange-
ments, (with which every Englishman ought to be ac-
quainted ; since the steam-engine has been a grand
source of wealth and prosperity to his country,) and
seeing the tranquil readiness with which this engine sup-
plies itself, as it were, in its own Avants and necessities,
we can scarcely reject the idea that it is a creature en-
dowed with life, sense, and intelligence, exerting its

288 DETAILS OP STEAM-ENGINE.

gigantic powers for the good of man with untiring per-
severance ; promptly performing labours which to our-
selves would be slow and toilsome, and perhaps impossible.
The subject of the present volume does not allow us to
linger over the details of this Avondrous machine, beyond
a sketch of its principal features ; but if what we have
already Avritten and have yet to Atrite on the subject,
should excite the interest of any of our readers, they are
earnestly advised to study the subject in detail : they
will find the steam-engine of Watt, with its subsequent
improvements, to contain a vast fund of knowledge of
the most valuable complexion.

Another important improvement of Watt is what is
called working expcmsivelij. In the ordinary mode of
working the engine, the induction-valve is left open
during the whole of the piston's stroke, until the cylinder
is filled with steam equal in density to that in the boiler.
But, by working expansively, the induction-valve is closed
after the piston has descended part of its stroke, and it is
forced through the remaining part simply by the expan-
sion of the steam in the cylinder, which is quite cut off
from communication Avitli that in the boiler. Thus the
required quantity of steam, of heat, and consequently of
fuel, is greatly diminished ; and this alteration, trivial
as it may seem, has thus been productive of great benefit.

A vast number of contrivances have been made by
Watt and others, for economizing fuel and labour, and for
rendering the engine more and more independent, and
self-supplying. This it is which gives the modern steam-
engine much of its apparent intricacy. We can only find
space to describe one or two of these arrangements, and
Tve will, therefore, speak of the means whereby the ma-
chine is made to regulate the force and rapidity of its
action.

On the main axle is fixed a large cast-iron wheel,
sometimes thirty feet in diameter, called a fiy-wheel. Its
rim is extremely thick, so as to throw the weight thereof
as much as possible to the circumference. The inertia of
so large a mass of metal spread over so large a surface,
renders it difficult either to set it in motion, or to accele-

DETAILS OF STEAM-ENGINE,

289

rate its motion ; and its momentum, wlien once called
forth, renders it equally difficult to arrest or retard its
motion. These properties give it a remarkably equalizing
power : for, when once fairly set going, it has so great a
tendency to go on in one uniform state of motion, that all
the little variations and irregularities in the velocity of
the machine, are, as it Avere, absorbed and neutralized, so
as to produce no sensible effect. Even were the forma-
tion of steam to stop for a short time, the want of this
prime mover would not be felt, because the momentum of
the fly-wheel would continue to bear it round with appa-
rently undiminished velocity. This simple regulator is
not, hoAvever, found sufficient of itself ; and there is intro-
duced in all stationary engines another contrivance called
a gover?io7\ This consists of an upright axle a b con-
nected with some rapidly revolving part of the machinery.

In the upper part of this axle is a fixed collar, to Avhich are
hung by joints the pendulums cc, of which there are two
and sometimes four. These are furnished with balls of brass
or iron ; which, when the engine is at rest, hang down and
touch the upright axle: but when the axle ab revolves.

290 LOCOMOTIVE STEAM-EXGIXE.

they fly out (as represented in the figure) by virtue of their
centrifugal force ; and the more rapidly they revolve the
greater becomes this force, and the greater becomes their
distance from their centre of motion. Each of these arms
or pendulums has attached to it at p q, a link or bar of
iron 7K n, and the two or four links all meet in a move-
able ring, or collar E, which slides up and dowTi the axle.
Now, when the engine is working too rapidly, the balls •
c c fly out, and lift up the collar E above its usual posi-
tion : this elevates one end of a long lever d, the other
end of which partially closes the throttle- valve, diminishes
the supply of steam from the boiler to the cylinder, and
thus retards the speed of the engine. But if, on the
contrary, the balls and collar, owing to an insufficient
velocity, sink, the collar depresses the lever, the throttle-
valve is opened wider, and the supply of steam and con-
sequent velocity of the engine is increased.

We stated in the last chapter that lightness and com-
pactness were the grand desiderata in a locomotive engine,
and yet that it depended for its power upon the elastic
force of high-pressure steam. Let us now inquire into
the arrangements of this form of engine, referring the reader
to the accompanying figure, which represents an approved
form of railway locomotive.

We observe a strong cast-iron frame, A a, supported
on four Avheels, of which the two hinder and larger are
are called the drivifig-w/ieels. On this carriage rests the
boiler, b b, which is cylindrical in form, and is made of
plates of wrought-iron. The furnace, or stove, is at the
hinder end, and the chimney in front. The former is a
cubical iron box, the lower part of which is seen at c ; its
sides and top are double, enclosing between them a layer
of water about tlu-ee inches thick, which is constantly
replenished by water descending from the boiler ; for, as
the top of the stove is rather below the level of the water
in the boiler, this layer of Avater is always preserved of
the same thickness, and the steam as it is generated passes
up into the boiler. The smoke and hot air from the fire
escape into a number of small tubes (of which there are
about ninety) which completely traverse the lower half of

0 2

LOCOMOTIVE STEAM-ENGINE. 293

the boiler on their way to the chimney. So that nearly
all the heat, smoke, and hot air, from the furnace is turned
to the useful purpose of assisting to heat the water ; and
the draught is increased by the waste steam being projected
up the chimney. Any pieces of ignited fuel, which may
be carried up with the draught, are prevented from es-
caping into the air, and doing mischief, by a wire-net
capping on the top of the chimney. At E is the throttle-
valve, which is moved by the engineer by means of a long
rod F F, so as to regulate the supply of steam, and con-
sequently the speed of the engine. From this valve the
steam passes by a large tube into the valve-box g, and
thence into the top or bottom of the cylinder to work the
piston ; it then escapes by the pipe H, into the chimney.
The cylinder in this engine preserves its usual upright
position, but in other engines almost every variety of
situation and position has been tried for it ; it has been
placed horizontal, sloping, and vertical, with the piston-
rod pointing in various directions. Of course, all the
apparatus shown in our figure on one side only of the
boiler is repeated on the other side ; so that there are, in
fact, tAvo engines, one for each driving-wheel. Each
piston-rod i, bears at the top a cross-piece, from which
hangs a rod connected by a joint at the lower end to one
corner of the moveable iron triangle K k', whose centre of
motion is at l; to the other corner of this triangle is
joined the rod M, which, by means of a crank, works the
wheel. The action of the triangular frame k k', is similar
to that of the brass quadrants used at the corners of rooms
to alter the direction of the bell- wire; it converts the verti-
cal motion of the piston-rod at one corner into a hori-
zontal motion at the other corner.

The water and fuel are carried behind in the first
carriage, which is called the tender^ and the water is
drawn through the feed-pipe by means of the horizontal
pump p, Avhich is worked by having its rod attached to
the triangle at k.

At N are the handles of two levers, by which the
course of the steam may be so altered as to reverse the
action of the engines, and consequently of the wheels,

294

LOCOMOTIVE STEAM-ENGINE,

SO as to move the engine backwards or forwards, at
pleasure.

The following is the simplest species of sliding-valves,
and is free from the objections which pertain to the four-
way cock. Each of these figures represents a section of

Fig. 6.

F\s.

/- 'J

n

a i

the valve-box, consisting of a cylindrical tube, rather
longer than the cylinder of the engine, and having Avithin
it a smaller tube c, which slides up and down by a rod
passing out at the top ; near each end of this tube is a
projecting rim, or collar, which fits air-tight in the larger
tube. The passage a is connected with the boiler ; d leads
to the top, and e to the bottom, of the cylinder : B is the
eduction-pipe, leading to the condenser in a condensing
engine, and to the chimney in a locomotive or high-pres-
sure engine. This last opening may be either at the top
or bottom of the valve-box, as they communicate through

LOCOMOTIVE STEAM-ENGINE. 295

the small tube c. Fig. 6, represents the position of this tube
during the down-stroke. The steam from the boiler passes
round on either side of the small tube c, and enters the en-
gine at E, below the piston, to force it up, while the steam
above it returns to the valve-box by d, descends the tube c,
and passes out at the chimney. But, during the up-stroke,
the tube c is in the position shown in fig. 7, whereby the
steam from the boiler passes through d, above the piston,
forcing it down, Avhile the steam below it passes out through
E, and escapes by the eduction-pipe b. As this valve-box
is usually placed close by the side of the cylinder, and
sometimes cast in one piece with it, its rod may be moved
up and down by the piston-rod : — thus the rod of the valve-
box may be prolonged upwards, and have two flat disks
attached to it, the distance between them being rather less
than the stroke of the engine ; the piston-rod has also a
horizontal arm projecting from it : Avhen it comes to the
bottom of its stroke, this arm strikes upon the lower disk
on the rod of the sliding-valve, and thus pushes it down
into the position of fig. 6 ; and when the piston-rod is at.
the top of its stroke, the arm strikes against the upper-
disk and thrusts the valve up again into the position
shoAvn in fig. 7-

In our figure of a railway locomotive there are a few
very useful appendages, which, although we have reserved
a notice of them for this part of our subject, are by no
means peculiar to locomotive engines. The barometer-
gauge has been already described ; but, although this
contrivance shows exactly the elastic force of the steam,
it furnishes no means for regulating that force, or protect-
ing the boiler from explosion. Both these purposes are
served by that invaluable contrivance the safety-valve,
whose origin and use bear a much earlier date than the
steam-engine. It consists of a plug fitting into a small
hole in the boiler, as at a in the annexed figure, and at-
tached by an upright stem to a kind of steelyard, which

FiK. 8.

VC

296 LOCOMOTIVE STEAM-ENGINE.

moves on a hinge at B, and bears on its arm (whicli is
graduated into a number of parts) a ■weight made to slide
backwards and forwards, so as to press the valve do'vvn
with any required force. When different weights are
used, they are hung on the hook c. Now if the plug, or
valve A^ have a superficial area on its under surface of two
inches, and the engineer wish the steam to attain a force
of twenty pounds on the sc[uare-inch, he so adjusts the
weight on the graduated arm c b, as to press down the
plug with a force of forty pounds, or twenty pounds for
each inch ; and so long as the elasticity of the steam does
not exceed that limit it Avill not open the valve. When,
however, it does attain that degree of elasticity, it will
force open the valve by lifting up the weight, and a por-
tion of steam will go on escaping until the density of the
remaining portion is reduced to a pressure of twenty
pounds per inch*. The value of this arrangement is, that
if the valve be not loaded above the pressure which the
boiler will bear, there is no danger of bursting. Some-
times, in very low-pressure engines, there is danger of the
boiler being crushed in by the external pressure of the
air, owing to the partial vacuum within ; to obviate this,
internal safety-valves are contrived, so that, should the
elasticity of the enclosed steam become too low, a portion
of air is admitted, which increases its density.

The locomotive engine described above has no internal
safety-valve, because A ^o■/^ -pressure steam is alone em-
ployed, but it has two external safety-valves. One has a
moveable weight, and is enclosed under the case D, and
can be regulated by the engineer, to enable him, within
certain limits, to direct the force of the engine and the
velocity of its motion. But the engineer might occasion-
ally be ambitious to proceed at a rate far beyond his usual
speed, and this he can only do by increasing the elasticity
of his prime mover — the steam in the boiler — and loading

* This is, in ]\leclianics, a specimen of a lever of the third
kind, where the power is at a, the fulcrum at b, and the resis-
tance at c. In this sort of lever, power is most disadvantageously
employed ; and, in this instance, great must be the power of the
steam at a, to raise the loaded bar b c.

LOCOMOTIVE STEAM-ENGINE. 297

tte valve accordingly ; there would then be danger of the
boiler bursting. To prevent such a catastrophe, another
valve, with a fixed weight attached, is provided under the
case Q, the cover of which is firmly bolted down, but con-
tains holes for the escape of the steam. This valve,
therefore, being inaccessible to the engineer, will prevent
danger, however much he may overload the other valve
at D.

The two small cocks, represented at o, are called gaitge-
cochs; their use is to show the height of the water in the
boiler. They communicate with two small tubes within
the boiler which turn do-\\Tiwards, and are not quite equal
to each other in length ; so that one reaches just below,
and the other just above, what ought to be the level of the
water. If the water be at its proper level, these cocks,
on being opened, will discharge, the one water and the
other steam. But if they both discharge water, the boiler
is too full; if they both discharge steam, it is not full
enough ; the engineer, therefore, acts accordingly.

In the lower part of the same figure is shown the latest
improvement in the construction of the rails. They are
supported at short intervals by sleepers, or square blocks,
of granite, let into the ground. Each rail is made of an
inverted arch form between the sleepers.

The application of steam to locomotion on common
roads, is an art yet in its very infancy. It was practised
by Trevithick and Vivian at the beginning of the present
century; but their success was small, and they had re-
course to a railway. Since that time steam-carriages have
been made and successfully applied by Messrs. Ogle,
Hancock, Gurney, and others. Mr. Gurney constructed,
in 1831, a steam-carriage which plied between Glouces-
ter and Cheltenham regularly for four months, like a com-
mon coach. These attempts were soon abandoned on ac-
count of the excessive tolls demanded by the turnpike-
trusts, the opposition of interested parties, and the pre-
judice of the public generally. Mr. Gurney petitioned
Parliament on the subject, a committee was appointed to

o ;>

298 STEAHr-LOCOJIOTIOX.

investigate the matter, and a very favourable report re-
sulted, Avhich concluded -with the following summary:

" Sufficient evidence has been adduced to convince your Com-
mittee, 1. That carriages can he propelled by steam on common
roads at an average rate of ten miles per hour. 2. That at this
rate they have conveyed upwards of fourteen passengers. 3. That
their weight, including engines, fuel, water, and attendants, may
be under three tons. 4. That they can ascend and descend hills
of considerable inclination with facility and safety. 5. That they
are perfectly safe for passengers. C. That they are not (or need
not be, if properly constructed) nuisances to the public. 7- That
they will become a speedier and cheaper mode of conveyance
than carriages drawn by horses. 8. That, as they admit of greater
width of tire than other carriages, and as the roads are not acted
on so injuriously as by the feet of horses in common draught,
such carriages will cause less wear of roads than coaches drawn
by horses. 9. That rates of toll have been imposed on steam-
carriages, which would prohibit their being used on several lines
of road, were such charges permitted to remain unaltered."

The principal obstacles to the introduction of loco-
motive carriages, on common roads, were considered to be
the weight of these carriages themselves, and the mode of
propulsion, which no common road would be able to bear
for any length of time without great injury. In the
above Report, the Committee state that, however strong
their conviction may be of the comparatively small injury
which properly-constructed steam-carriages will do to the
roads, yet this conviction is founded more on theory, and
perhaps what may be considered as interested evidence,
than practical experience ; they therefore recommend
that the House should not make, at that time, any per-
manent regulations in favour of steam. The experience
of a few years would enable the legislature to form a more
correct judgment of the effect of steam-carriages on com-
mon roads. They therefore recommend that the tolls im-
posed on steam-carriages by local acts, where they shall
be unfavourable to steam, be suspended during three years,
and that in lieu thereof, the trustees shall be permitted to
charge toll according to a rate agreed on by the committee.

It was not anticipated by the Committee, that steam
would be used as a propelling power on common roads for
heavy wagons. It seemed to be the general opinion of wit-

LOCOMOTIVE CARraAGES. 299

nesses that,' in proportion as the velocity of travelling by
steam on common roads is diminished, the advantages of
steam over horse-power are lost. The efficiency of horses
in draught is rapidly diminished as their speed is increased;
while on the contrary, the weight Avhich could be carried
or propelled at any great velocity, by steam, could not be
more cheaply convej^ed were the speed decreased to that
of the slowest Avagon. Indeed, Mi-. Gurney considers that,
under four miles per hour, horses can be used in draught
more economically than steam.

From other parts of this report it appears that the
greatest speed attained by Mr. Ogle's carriage amounted
to between thirty-two and thirty-five miles an hour; that
it has attained sixteen and a-half miles an hour on a slope
rising one in six; that thirty-six persons have been in one
carriage; and that it has drawn five times its own weight
at from five to six miles an hour. Steam-carriages have
been lately made by Mr. Hancock and Mr. Gurney,
exactly resembling in shape an omnibus, a stage-coach, a
britschka, and even a gig. The chief merits and differ-
ences in the carriages of these gentlemen consist in their
boilers and fires. In Guimey's the bars of the grate are
made hollow and contain water. The construction of his
boiler is shown in the following side and front views of it.
It consists of two cylindrical vessels a and b, placed in
front of the fire, and above them is the vessel c called the
separator; this latter vessel alone contains steam, the
others being full of water. These three vessels commuJii-
cate by means of the passages d d d d, and from the back
of the lower vessel a proceed twelve tubes which serve as
a grate for the fire; one of these is seen at e, fig. 10.
Below them, at r, is the ash-pit. After traversing the
back of the fire-box, they arrive at the vessel b, as seen in
the side-view. The flame and smoke play round and be-
tween these tubes, and vaporize very rapidly the water in
them. The steam, as it is formed, passes up into the
separator c, and its place is supplied by cold water de-
scending through the passages D D. Thus a very quick
circulation is regularly kept up. The chimney is at G,
and the opening of the main steam-pipe at h.

LOCOMOTIVE CARRIAGES.

301

In Hancock's boilers the water is contained between
a number of upright plates of iron, as in the following
lateral view. The water is thus distributed into thin

Fig. 11.

sheets, between which the flame and smoke pass up from
the fire below to the chimney. The plates are connected
together by tubes at the bottom and top, the former for
the water and the latter for the steam.

In all steam-carriages, either for rail-roads or common
roads, and in almost all steam-packets there are two dis-
tinct engines working two cranks on the main axles,
which bear the driving-wheels in carriages, and the paddle-
wheels in vessels. The chief object of this is to obviate a
defect in the crank, which we will explain. Let the fol-
lowing figure represent a crank with its rod in difl^erent
parts of its revolution. When the crank is at b, suppos-
ing it to revolve in the direction indicated by the arrow,
the rod is exerting its full force to pull it round; and
when it is at the opposite point the rod will be acting on

302

LOCOMOTIVE CARRIAGES.

it in a similar manner. But it is obvious that there are
two parts of its revolution, where neither direct pulling
nor pushing will tend to make it revolve; these are the

Fig. 12.

points c and D, called the dead poiiils, at which, when
the crank has arrived, it is carried past them simply by
its momentum, for the rod has as much tendency to pull
in one Avay as the other. When irvo cranks, therefore, are
placed on the same axle, they are set at right angles to
each other, so that the fveak or dead jmnls of the one may
correspond Avith the strongest points of the other. There
is, of course, a difference of half a stroke between the two
engines, to accommodate them to this arrangement ; one
engine is always half a stroke later than the other: so
that there is no danger of both the cranks arriving at
once at the dead points. If this were to happen, the
motion w'ould not only be uneven, but the cranks would
probably be broken oft" short.

Locoiaotive Carriage.

Openiag of the Liverpool and Mancliester Rail-road.

CHAPTER XVII.

The Liverpool and Jlancliester Rail-road. — Necessity for the
undertaking. — Plan and estimate of the Line. — Edge-hill Tun-
nel.— Sankey Viaduct. — Chat-moss. — Laying the Rails. — Pas-
sage of the first Locomotive over part of the Line. — Prize
offered by the Company for the best form of Locomotive Engine.
— Adjudication of the Prize. — Opening of the Road. — Accident
to Mr. Huskisson. — Commencement of Traffic.

To the reader who is interested in the subject of rail-roads
generally, we cannot offer a more instructive and admira-
ble specimen of this mode of conveyance, than that Avhich
connects the two great towns of Liverpool and Manchester.
Whether we regard the perseverance of the spirited indi-
viduals, who projected, and after much opposition obtained
parliamentary permission for, the undertaking; or whether
we consider the gigantic nature of the work, and the na-
tural difficulties, the removal of which would have appeared
to require more than human skill and power ; the final
triumph over all of them ; and the success of this grand
experiment, which for the first time excited the Avonder
and admiration of a whole nation at the marvellous power
of steam thus applied ; in whatever light we consider the
Manchester and Liverpool railway, admiration and grati-

304 LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAIL-ROAD.

tude must be the most prominent emotions whicli it is cal-
culated to excite.

The necessity for an easy and prompt means of com-
munication between Lirerpool and Manchester, had long
been desirable, not only as a local, but as a national bene-
fit. Liverpool is the port from which Manchester procures
all her raw materials, and to which she returns vast quan-
tities of manufactured goods for exportation. Before the
construction of the railway, heavy goods had to be first
sent up the Mersey to Runcorn, a distance of about
twenty miles ; and thence by one of the two canals to
Manchester ; thus making the distance between the two
towns fifty miles. In warm weather there was frequently
a deficiency of water, in consequence of evaporation, and
boats could only go half-loaded ; and in cold weather the
navigation was often impeded, or suspended, for weeks to-
gether by ice ; to say nothing of the efi*ects arising from tem-
pestuous and contrary winds, which often arrested the pro-
gress of the vessels in the Mersey. The average length of
time for the passage was thirty-six hours ; but, from the
operation of impediments such as those just cited, goods
have been known to be longer on the Avay by water from
Liverpool to Manchester, than from New York to Liverpool!

It will serve as a useful antithesis to these examples,
to state that the transit of goods is now effected in about
two hours, Avhich is about one- eighteenth j)art of the ave-
rage time previously occupied by the water-conveyance,
besides a saving of fifty per cent, in the cost per ton of
carriage ; producing an annual saving in carriage to the
cotton manufacturers of dP20,000, and rendering it unne-
cessary for them to keep a large stock in hand to supply
sudden orders.

In 1824, the following plain statement of the incon-
veniences of these delays and difficulties was made by Mr.
James. " Notwithstanding all the accommodation canals
can offer, the delays are such, that the spinners and dealers
are frequently obliged to cart cotton on the public high-
road, a distance of thirty-six miles, for w^hich they pay
four times the price which would be charged by a rail-
road, and they are three times as long in getting it to

LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAIL-ROAD. 305

hand. The same observation apjilies to manufactured
goods, which are sent by land-carriage daily, and for
■which the rate paid is five times that Avhich they >yould
be subject to by the rail-road. This enormous sacrifice is
made for two reasons : — sometimes because conveyance
by water cannot be promptly obtained, but more fre-
quently because speed and certainty, as to delivery, are of
the very first importance."

About the same time, a declaration, embodying the
sentiments of the above passage, was signed by more
than one hundred and fifty of the most respectable mer-
chants of Liverpool, who expressed the general feeling,
" that a new line of conveyance has become absolutely
necessary, to conduct the increasing trade of the country
with speed, certainty, and economy."

It was, therefore, determined to form a company for
the construction of a double railway between the two
towns. This was done, and a prospectus issued in
October 1824. In the following February, parliament
was petitioned for leave to bring in a bill, which, how-
ever, was soon lost, chiefly through the powerful oppo-
sition of the proprietors of the canals in the vicinity of the
proposed line. Early in 1826 a second bill was introduced,
and passed into a law.

So gigantic and dif&cult did this work appear to be,
that it was declared, in evidence given before parliament,
to be impossible ; and some of the opponents of the first
bill stated that, from considerations of kindness to the
promoters of so wild and impracticable a scheme, the bill
ought to be rejected. Let us now consider the nature of
the difficulties Avhich v/ere to be overcome, and trace
briefly the progress of the works which were begun in the
year 1827. _ ^

The turnpike-road between Manchester and Liverpool
measured thirty-four miles ; but, proceeding in nearly a
straight direction, the proposed line of railway would
measure only thirty-one miles. At Liverpool the docks are
sixty-six feet below the level of Manchester ; but in the
vicinity of the former place the land rises one hundred
and sixty- nine feet above the docks : and the surface of

306 LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAIL-ROAD.

the land between the two towns alternates considerably ;
the highest point being two hundred and five feet above
the docks, and the lowest twenty-six feet. Now the
whole line, passing through this ground, was to be made
as level as possible ; and to avoid interfering with the
town of Liverpool, it was determined to cut a tunnel
under it. The length of this tunnel is 1970 yards; and
in some places it had to be carried through solid rock.
In several parts of the line a perfect level could not be
obtained ; so that manv ascendinir and descending incli-
nations occur ; the particulars of which may be seen in
the following statement : —

The Tunnel, from Wapping
to Edge-hill, being an inclined

plane whose length is - - - - 1970 yards with a rise of 55

Level by cutting - - - - looO —

Edge-hill to Wavertree to

Ilayton 5| miles with a fall of jg'aa

Wiston inclined plane - - \\ — rise „'„

Kain-liill level ----- l| —

Sutton inclined plane ^ - - \\ — fall j'^

Parr-Moss to Saukey canal

and viaduct 2^ — — 20*40

Sankey Viaduct to Bury-Iane Gi

880

Chat-Moss 51 — rise 7200

Baston, Eccles, Munches
levels -- 4i —

Tliese inclinations were, of course, only allowed to
exist in order to save expense and labour : but much of
both was required ; as, indeed, may be supposed, when
we state that among other works sixty-three bridges were
to be constructed ; cuttings to the extent of nearly twenty-
seven millions of cubic yards; and embankments to the
amount of two hundred and seventy-seven thousand cubic
yards to be made ; which, with tunnelling and other
works, " presented a charge," as a modern writer remarks,
" which none but British merchants could have ventured
to have undertaken, and perhaps only British engineers
could have executed."

The tunnel under Liverpool, Avhich we have already
noticed briefly in our chapter on Tunnels, was constructed
in about eight separate lengths, each communicating with

LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAIL-ROAD.

307

the surface above by means of perpendicular shafts. During
the year 1827, this work was carried on with untiring in-
dustry. The excavation proceeded night and day ; and
the difficulties, Avhich constantly arose, Avere very great :
sometimes a soft blue slate with quantities of water ap-
peared ; and at other times wet sand, which required to
be supported with much masonic skill. In one part a
large mass of moist earth and sand fell in, and choked
up the tunnel. Sometimes these formidable obstacles
alarmed the miners, and they refused to work; and it
required much personal encouragement, on the part of the
engineer, to keep them to their posts. However, diffi-
culties did not always occur : they sometimes met with
a fine red sandstone easily cut through, and so substantial
as to require no props, and no arching of masonry for
support. In June 1828, it was reported to the directors
that the tunnel was nearly completed. The appearance of
this tunnel is singular and picturesque : it being white-
washed throughout, and lighted with gas. The roof and
sides, near each gas-burner, are so strongly illuminated,
that the whole vista appears like a succession of superb
arches formed through massive parallel w^alls, the inter-
vening spaces being left in comparative obscurity.

Sankey Viaduct.

308 LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAIL-ROAD.

In 1828 preparations were made for the erection of
the great viaduct over the Sankey valley. About two
hundred piles, from twenty to thirty feet long, were
driven firmly into the foundation-site of each of the
ten piers. The Sankey viaduct is shown in the last
figure. It is a massive, but handsome structure, consist-
ing of nine arches, each having a span of fifty feet : the
height of the viaduct is seventy feet above the Sankey
canal ; a lock of which is shown in the figure. The
structure is chiefly of brick, with stone facings : the
breadth of the railway between the parapets is twenty-five
feet.

One of the most difficult parts of this line was that
over Chat-Moss, a huge bog, comprising an area of twelve
square-miles, so soft as to yield to the foot of man or
beast ; and in many parts so fluid, that an iron rod laid
upon the surface would sink to the bottom by its own
weight. It varies from ten to thirty-five feet in depth,
and the bottom is composed of sand and clay. On the
eastern border, for about a mile and a-half, the greatest
difficulty in the construction of the road occurred. Here
an embankment of about twenty feet above the natural
level was formed, the weight of which restins: on a soft
base pressed down the original surface : many thousand
cubic yards gradually and silently disappeared, before the
desired level was attained : but, by degrees, the whole
mass beneath, and on either side of this embankment,
became consolidated by the superincumbent and lateral
pressure, and the work was finally completed. Hurdles of
brushwood and heath are placed under the wooden
sleepers, which support the rails over the greater part of
this moss ; so that the road may be said to float on the
surface.

So impracticable had it been deemed to carry the road
over this bog, that even a civil-engineer denounced the
project in his evidence before parliament ; and afforded
an instance of incautious pre-judgment, as the folloAving
amusing extract from the parliamentary proceedings will
show : —

Questiofi. Tell us whether, in your judgment, a rail-

LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAIL-ROAD. 309

road can be safely made over Chat-Moss, without going to
the bottom of the bog ?

Answer. I say, certainly not.

Q. Will it be necessary, therefore, in making a per-
manent rail-road, to take out the whole of the moss to the
bottom, along the whole line of road ?

A. Undoubtedly.

Q. Will that make it necessary to cut down the
thirty-three or thirty-four feet of which you have been
speaking ?

A. Yes.

Q. And afterwards to fill it up with other soil ?

A. To such a height as the railway is to be carried;
other soil mixed with a portion of the moss.

Q. But suppose they were to work upon this stuff,
could they get their carriages to the place ?

A. No carriage can stand on the moss short of the
bottom.

Q. What would they do to make it stand, — laying
planks or something of that sort ?

A. Nothing would support it.

Q. So that if you could carry a rail-road over this
fluid stuff, — if you could do it, it would still take a great
number of men, and a great sum of money. Could it be
done, in your opinion, for 6000/. ?

A. I should say 200,000/. would not get through it.

Q. My learned friend wishes to know what it would
cost to lay it with diamonds ?

With this jeering query we may well conclude our
extract from such evidence, given by such a witness, who
must, indeed, have been surprised, if not mortified, at
seeing, a few years afterwards, a fine line of rail-road
thrown over the very bog which he declared to be impass-
able; to see carriages going over it without going to the
bottom; — carriages laden with tons of merchandise : and,
instead of common diamonds forming the pavement, to
see " black diamonds" whirling over it, to feed the furnaces
of thousands of factories, which this fine road benefits;
and to reflect that the road, which this witness declared

310 LIVERPOOL AND HIANCnESTER RAIL- ROAD.

■would cost more than two hundred thousand pounds,
actually cost, from the first draining of the bog, to the
subsequent completion of the line over its surface, no
more than thirty thousand jiounds.

In the spring of 1829, another set of labourers were
taken on, in order to accelerate the completion of the
"whole line, by -working night and day. The effect of this
plan was soon apparent; and had it not been for the
extremely wet summer and autumn of that year, the whole
road would have been completed by the beginning of 1830.
The long and heavy rains greatly impeded the work, and
pumps were often in constant action, to clear the cuttings,
which frequently assumed the appearance of a canal, in-
stead of a railroad.

Let us now say a few words respecting the rails, and
the mode of fixing them. So little experience had been
obtained with regard to this novel mode of conveyance,
that it was long a matter of doubt, whether the rails
should be made of cast or of wrought iron. The former
was cheaper, but the latter more durable. After much
consideration, wrought iron rails were adopted, 3847 tons
of which were required: and the cast iron pedestals, to
which they were to be fastened, amounted to 1428 tons
more. The rails Avere made in lengths of five feet each.
The blocks, or sleepers, were sometimes of stone, at other
times of wood; as circumstances required. Those of
stone, extend about eighteen miles, and contain about four
cubic feet each : those of wood, are laid chiefly across the
embankments, where it was expected the road would
subside to a small extent. The stone sleepers are let
firmly into the permanent road, at intervals of three feet.
In each block two holes are drilled, for the reception of
oaken plugs. At every three feet the rails are supported
on, and securely fastened to, cast iron chairs or pedestals,
which latter are spiked down to the plugs. The rails are
about two inches broad, and rise about an inch above the
surface. There are tivo lines of road throughout; but, at
Liverpool, under the warehouses, there are four lines, on
account of the greater traffic at that particular spot.

On the 1st of May, 1830, the Rocket steam-engine,

LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAIL-ROAD. 311

with a carriage full of company, passed over the road- way,
along the whole extent of Chat- Moss, thus affording the
first triumphant proof of the possibility of forming this
much-contested road.

We stated in the last chapter, that the company, even
up to the time of the completion of the line, had not
decided upon the means of transporting the carriages,
whether by horses, by stationary steam-engines, or by loco-
motive engines. Numerous schemes were proposed to
the directors, recommending imjjroved powers or improved
carriages; and these schemes came from persons of all
classes; from professors of philosophy, down to the hum-
blest mechanic; all were zealous in proffering assistance.
A writer in one of the periodicals of the time, thus"
amusingly suras up these schemes: — "Every element, and
nearly every substance, were brought into requisition, and
made subservient to the great work. The friction of the
carriages Avould be reduced so low, that a silk thread would
draw them ; and the poAver to be applied was to be so vast,
as to rend a cable asunder. Hydrogen gas and high-
pressure steam, — columns of water, and columns of mer-
cury,— a hundred atmospheres, and a perfect vacuum, —
machines working in a circle, without fire or steam,
generating power at one end of the process, and giving it
out at the other, — carriages that conveyed every one its
own railway, — wheels Avithin wheels, to multiply speed,
without diminishing power, — with every complication of
balancing and countervailing forces, to the 7ie plus ultra
of perpetual motion. Every scheme, Avhich the restless
ingenuity or prolific imagination of man could devise, was
liberally offered to the company; the difiiculty was to
choose and to decide."

Previous to this time, the theatre of practical experi-
ence on railways, was the Stockton and Darlington line,
spoken of in the last chapter; and the railways in the
Newcastle collieries. All the modes, heretofore in use, of
propelling carriages on railways; viz. by animal power,
by fixed engines, and by locomotives, had been there
exemplified. Facts, then, were Avanting to lead to a
correct decision; and the personal inspection of some of

312 LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAIL-ROAD.

the company's engineers seemed necessary to produce a
satisfactory result. Accordingly, the directors empowered
four experienced engineers to visit the different railways,
and observe the comparative values of stationary and
locomotive engines, and then to report on the relative
merits of the two methods. This was done ; and the
decision of the directors, guided by the reports of the
engineers, was in favour of locomotives. Their next ob-
ject was to stimulate the inventive genius of the country,
to supply them with the best form of engine for the pur-
pose. They, therefore offered, in the spring of 1829, a
prize of five hundred pounds for the best locomotive
engine, and appointed the following October, for a public
trial of the claims of the competitors. The conditions
of the prize were, that the engine should produce no smoke,
that the pressure of the steam should be limited to fifty
pounds on the square-inch ; that the engine should draw at
least three times its OAvn weight, at the rate of not less than
three miles an hour; that it should be supported on
springs, and not exceed the height of fifteen feet.

In the following October three engines competed for
the prize: — the Rocket, constructed by Mr. Stephenson;
the Sanspareil, by Mr. Hackworth; and the Novelty, by
Messrs. BraithAvaite and Ericson. Of these engines, the
KocKET gained the prize. A line of raUway was chosen
for the trial, on a level piece of road, about two miles in
length, near Rain-hill: the distance between the two sta-
tions Avas a mile and a-half; and the engine had to travel
this distance backwards and forwards ten times, thus
making the journey thirty miles. The Rocket performed
this journey tAvice ; the first time within tAvo hours and
a-quarter, and the second time Avithin two hours and
seven minutes. Its speed varied at different parts of the
journey: its swiftest motion being rather above tAventy-
nine miles an hour; and its sloAA'est pace about eleven
miles and a-half an hour. This AA'as the only engine
which performed, in complete style, the proposed journey;
the others having become disabled from accidents, Avhich
occurred during the contest. •

We come noAV to the time, when the rail-road ap-

LIVERPOOL AND iMANCHESTER RAIL-ROAD. 313

proachecl its completion. Little more than three years
had been occupied in this work; in which more than
ordinary difficulties had been met and overcome. The
total cost, from the commencement, to the time when
warehouses, machinery, and carriages were completed, and
the railroad ready for active operations, is estimated at
820,000/.

Previous to the 15th of September, 1830, extensive
arrangements had been made for the important ceremonial
of opening the railway on that day. All the loose stones
and rubbish, Avhich obstructed the tunnels in different
parts of the line, were removed; the rails Avere well swept;
and strong fences were erected along the high ground, on
each side of the deep cuttings, for several miles, to prevent
the spectators from intrusion, and to protect them from
danger in their eagerness to witness the procession. There
were also many constables and soldiers to assist in keeping
the railroad clear; and places were assigned to a large
number of persons, who had previously been so fortunate
as to procure tickets. Each engine, and its train of car-
riages, had distinguishing flags; and the number of these
locomotives was eight: the Northumbrian, the Phoenix,
the North Star, the Rocket, the Dart, the Comet, the
Arrow, and the Meteor. All these engines were built by
Messrs. Stephenson, of Newcastle. It was expected that
three patent engines, built by Messrs. Braithwaite and
Ericson, would have been also in readiness; but not having
arrived from London early enough to be subjected to a
preliminary trial, the directors thought it would not be
prudent to alloAV them to make part of a procession, which
it was of the utmost consequence, should be exposed to
as few risks of failure as possible. Messrs. Stephenson's
engines had been repeatedly and successfully tried several
weeks before.

The ceremony was honoured with the presence of the
Duke of Wellington, Sir Robert Peel, and many other
distinguished individuals. The Northumbrian was ap-
pointed to take the lead of the procession, drawing a
splendid carriage appropriated to the Duke and Sir Robert,
and about thirty other eminent men. Each of the other

P

314 LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAIL-ROAD.

locomotives drew four carriages, containing between eighty
and ninety persons; thus making the total number of in-
dividuals, accommodated with seats in the procession, to
be about six hundred.

At twenty minutes to eleven o'clock, the procession
commenced its progress towards Manchester, the North-
umbrian taking exclusively one of the two lines of rail,
and the rest of the engines the other. A periodical writer
of the day, who was present, states that the brilliancy
of the procession, — -the novelty of the sight, — and con-
siderations of the almost boundless advantages of the
stupendous power about to be put in motion, — gave to the
spectacle an unparalleled interest. On every side the tumul-
tuous voice of praise was heard; and countless thousands
waved their hats, to cheer on the sons of enterprise in this
their crowning effort. The engines proceeded at a mode-
rate speed toward Wavertree-lane ; when, increased power
having been added, they went forward with great swift-
ness, and thousands of people then fell back, whom all the
previous efforts of a formidable police could not move
from the road. Numerous booths and vehicles lined the
various roads; and were densely crowded. After passing
"Wavertree-lane, the procession entered the deep ravine at
Olive Mount, and the eye of the passenger could scarcely
find time to rest on the multitudes that lined the roads,
or admire the various bridges thrown across this great
monument of human labour. Shortly afterwards, Eain-
hill-bridge was neared, and the inclined plane of Sutton
began to be ascended, at a more slackened pace. The
summit was soon gained, and twenty-four miles an hour
became the maximum of the speed. About noon the pro-
cession passed over the Sankey- viaduct. The scene at
this part was particularly striking. The fields below were
occupied by thousands, who cheered the procession, in
passing over this stupendous edifice: carriages filled the
narrow lanes; and vessels, on the water, had been detained,
in order that their crews might gaze up at the gorgeous
pageant, passing far above their mast-heads. At Park-
side, seventeen miles from Liverpool, the engines stopped
to take in a supply of water and fuel; and many of the
company having alighted in the interval, were walking

LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAIL-ROAD. 315

a"bout, congratulating each other on the truly delightful
treat they were enjoying, all hearts hounding with joyous
excitement, and every tongue eloquent in the praise of
the gigantic work now completed, and the advantages and
pleasures it afforded.

At this point of the proceedings occurred the sad acci-
dent which we are ahout to relate, and which threw a dark
cloud over a day, devoted to honourable triumph and well-
earned festivity.

The Phcenix and North Star, having taken in their
supplies of water and fuel, had resumed their journey, and
passed the Northumbrian, which remained stationary on
the other line, in order that the whole train of carriages
might here pass in review before the Duke of Wellington,
and his party. Several gentlemen had embraced the
opportunity of alighting from the state- carriage, and were
walking about on the road; among which number was
Mr. Huskisson, who caught the eye of the Duke of Wel-
lington. A recognition immediately followed, when the
Duke extended his hand, which Mr. Huskisson advanced
to take. At this moment the Rocket came rapidly for-
ward upon the other line, and a cry of danger was raised.
Sevefal gentlemen succeeded in regaining the state-car-
riage ; but Mr. Huskisson, who was in a weak state of
health, became flurried; and after making two attempts
to cross the road upon which the Rocket was moving, ran
back, in great agitation, to the side of the Duke's carriage.
White, the engineer, saw the unfortunate gentleman, as
the engine approached, in a position of imminent danger,
and immediately endeavoured to arrest its progress, but
without success. Mr. Holmes, M. P., who had not been
able to get into the carriage, stood next to Mr. Huskis-
son, and perceiving that he had altogether lost his pre-
sence of mind, called upon him "to be firm!" The space
between the two lines of rails is just four feet; but the
state-car, being eight feet wide, extended two feet beyond
the rail on which it moved, thus diminishing the space to
two feet between its side and the rail on which the Rocket
was moving. This engine, also, projected somewhat over
the rail on which it ran; thus still further diminishin"-

316 LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAIL- ROAD.

the standing room to not more than a foot and a-half.
when the vehicles were side by side on the opposite rails.
In addition to this, the door of the state-car happened to
be wide open; so that it was impossible for the Rocket
to pass without striking it. Mr. Huskisson had just
o-rasped hold of this door, when he was warned of the
approach of the Rocket. INIr. Littleton, M. P., had sprung
into the state-car, and had just pulled in Prince Esterhazy,
when he saAV Mr. Huskisson alarmed and agitated, grasp-
ing the door with a trembling convulsive hold. At this
moment the Rocket struck the door, and Mr. Huskisson
was thrown to the ground across one of the rails of the
line, on which the engine was advancing, the wheels of
which went over his leg and thigh, and fractured them
in so dreadful a manner, as to produce death before the
lapse of many hours.

After this melancholy accident, the Duke of Welling-
ton and Sir Robert Peel desired to terminate all festivity
and return to Liverpool, instead of going on Avith the
procession to Manchester. A magistrate, however, stated
that, if the procession did not reach Slanchester, where an
unprecedented concourse of people was assembled to Avit-
ness it, he should be fearful of the consequences to the
peace of the town. The directors likewise stated that
they were but trustees for property to an immense amount;
that the value of that property might be affected if the
procession did not go on, and thus demonstrate the prac-
ticability of locomotive travelling on an extensive scale;
and that, though the illustrious Duke and his cortege
mi"ht not deem it advisable, as a matter of delicacy, to
proceed, yet it was the duty of themselves, the directors,
to complete the ceremony of opening the road. This
reasonin"- being just, the Duke consented to proceed, but
expressed his wish to return as soon as possible, and re-
frain from all festivity at Manchester.

The procession accordingly resumed its onward pro-
cress, and arrived at Manchester at a quarter before three.
The Duke and his party did not alight, but the greater
portion of the company in the other carriages descended,
and were shown into the large upper rooms of the Com-
pany's warehouses, where they partook of refreshments.

LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAIL-ROAD,

317

The Company returned in detached parties, after con-
siderable delays on the road, to Liverpool. The melan-
choly accident, which deprived an estimable man of his
life, and the country of a talented statesman, broke up the
union of the party, and made the termination of the day
as melancholy as its dawn had been propitious.

However, as far as the rail-road was concerned, the
triumph Avas complete. On the following Thursday
morning public traffic on the line commenced; the Nor-
thumbrian left Liverpool with 130 passengers, and arrived
at Manchester in one hour and fifty minutes. In the
evening it returned with 120 passengers, and three tons
of luggage, in one hour and forty-eight minutes. This
was the first journey performed for hire. The fare
charged was ^s. for each passenger.

On Friday the 17th, six carriages commenced running
regularly between the two toAvns.

Such, then, is a brief account of the rise, progress, and
completion of probably one of the grandest efforts at
social impro\^ement, Avhich has been witnessed in modern
times. The business of the Liverpool and Manchester
railroad has continued up to the present time in success-
ful operation; its commercial value to the two towns
and indirectly to the country at large, has long been ad-
mitted; its success, too, has been such as to remunerate
the spirited individuals who contributed their means to
the undertaking; and it has been undoubtedly the source
of a spirit of emulation which has led to the construction
of many other lines of rail-road which, in various parts of
the country, are now completed or are advancing rapidly
to completion.

Tka Rocket, with a tram of Carriages attached.

Railway Scene.

CHAPTER XVIII.

The Rail-road system. — Province of the Legislature. — Formation
of Railway Companies. — Economy of Railways. — Station-
houses. — Supply of water and fuel, &c. — Locomotive Engine
and its attendants. — Two Engines to one train. — Mile-stones. —
Rapidity of transit. — Signals — day and night. — Police. — Im-
proved Signals. — Telegi-aphs. — Steam-whistle. — Winds, effects
of. — Anemometers. — Tunnels, salubrity of. — Variations in the
construction of Railways. — Liverpool and Manchester, — London
and Birmingham, — Great Western, — London and Brighton, —
Loudon and Greenwich Railways. — Railways in Ireland. —
Conclusion.

In continuing the subject of rail-roads from the esta-
blishment of the line which connects the two great toAvns
of Liverpool and Manchester, the natural course of our
inquiry would lead us to trace the origin and progress, not
only of the principal rail-roads of our own country, but
those also of other lands; and to conclude our volume
with a comparative view of rail-roads, their statistics,
their political influence, and the probable effect they will
have on social Improvement: but the subject of rail-roads
is a vast one, into which much speculation must neces-
sarily enter, on account of its novelty ; and setting aside
the fact, that such an inquiry is above the j)urposes of the

PROVINCE OF THE LEGISLATURE. 319

present volunie, we ■would rather wait until the import-
ance and influence of rail-roads have been more fully appre-
ciated. We propose, therefore, to occupy the remainder
of our space Avith a few details on the general manage-
ment and economy of rail-roads — details which form con-
stant subjects of conversation with rail-road travellers,
among whom information is not always of the most accu-
rate or precise description.

Many persons are at a loss to knoAv why an Act of
Parliament is necessary before a railway can be con-
structed; Avhy the enormous sums of 70,000/, with respect
to the London and Birmingham, and 80,000/ with respect
to the Great Western railways, should have been spent
in obtaining the Acts of Parliament. We shall soon
perceive a reason for this, when we consider the enormous
powers with which the railway directors are invested ;
that proprietors of land are compelled to sell their property
to the railway companies, so much of it as may be required.
The proprietor may ask a large price for his land,
and, generally speaking, the price paid is very liberal ;
but still this circumstance does not remove the somewhat
startling fact, that the sale must take place, whether the
proprietor desires it or not. Now so much respect do the
laws of England pay to private property, that a special
Act of Parliament is required before a company can thus
have a command over the property of other persons.
The proprietors of land have an opportunity of stating
their opinions, either for or against a railway, which is
proposed to pass through their estates: and the Houses
of Parliament weigh well the proportion between those
who do, and those who do not, object. The legislature is
also bound to see that the natural resources of the country,
such as rivers, mineral treasures, &c., are not unduly in-
terfered Avlth. Again, as the constitution of a raihvay
has a strong tendency to drive other vehicles off the old
turnpike-road, which it is intended to supersede, it is
necessary to take such precautions as shall prevent the
raihvay company from possessing the ohnoxious tendency
of a monopoly. There are many minor points which it is
necessary to make binding on a railway company ; and

320 ACTS OF PARLIAMENT.

these can only be placed on a right footing by a special Act
of Parliament.

But this being granted, it cannot but be lamented that
the cost of obtaining an act is so enormous. It is not our
business to point out what reforms would produce economy
in this respect ; we will only allude to the unfavourable
light in which the legislature is placed, by a system which
requires such a vast dead loss to the shareholders of a
company ; for it must be remembered that the purchase-
money for the land is altogether distinct from, and in
addition to, the parliamentary expenses. Another evil
arises from the same source : — when a company have ob-
tained an Act of Parliament, they seem disposed to adopt
a higher scale of charges to the public, as a kind of retalia-
tion for the annoyance and expense incurred before the
railway can be commenced. It has been stated, that in the
year 1836, the passengers on the Liverpool and Manchester
railway Avere 522,991 ; and that those on the Brussels
and Antwerp railway amounted, in the same year, to
872,893. Now, in order to obtain data for a comparison
of these numbers, we must take the population of the
principal towns on the line: — it is found that the popu-
lation of Liverpool, Manchester, and Warrington, amounts
to 486,812; and that of Brussels, Antwerp, and JMechlin,
to 209,200. If, then, we compare in each case, the num-
ber of passengers with the number of inhabitants, and
bring them to the same ratio, there will be 2,025,100
passengers on the Liverpool and Manchester railway, in-
stead of 522,910. A very large portion of this difference
has been attributed, by a recent writer, to the far higher
rate of charge on the English than on the Belgian rail-
way.

The mode of obtainincf an Act of Parliament for a rail-
way, is sufficiently evident to those who pay the slightest
attention to the proceedings of the Houses of Parliament,
and need not be detailed here. A railway company con-
sists of a number of shareholders, who embark their capital
into one common stock ; and the inducement to do so is
very simple and palpable : — those who have spare capital,
put it out to interest, in some way or other, and are always

RAILWAY COMPANIES. 321

on the look-out for a mode of investment which will yield
more than the government interest of about 3^ per cent :
if, therefore, there be reason to believe that the receipts
on a railway Avili, after defraying all expenses, yield more
than the above per centage of profit, nothing further is
required to induce capitalists to embark in such a specula-
tion : M'hen, therefore, we look at the " prices of railway
shares" in the daily journals, they Avill always afford us
indications of the state of hope or of fear in which the
shareholders are at that time, respecting the ultimate profit
of the various undertakings. The high price which a
capitalist is willing to give for a share in the Stockton and
Darlington, the Liverpool and Manchester, the London
and Birmingham, and a few other railways, shows the
opinion which he entertains of the high rate of profit to
be derived from them : — while, in many other instances,
which we do not wish to name, the slender hope of profit
renders the sum offered for a share very small. This is
the key which opens to us the motives of monied men,
and which enables us to understand the astounding fact
that icfi miUions sterling Avill be spent on two only out of
the large number of railways: i.e.: — the London and
Birmingham, and the Great Western.

A company, then, being formed, and funds supplied,
the future operations, — and indeed, all those from the very
commencement, — are placed in the hands of a managing
committee or directory; — a principle of government which
we find to prevail in every age, in every country, and in every
grade of life. The management of a company is, for many
reasons, not placed in the hands of one individual; the prin-
ciple that " two heads are better than one," is felt and
acted on. A board of directors is generally appointed,
who superintend the whole management of the under-
taking, and present periodical reports to the shareholders
at general half-yearly meetings. These directors are
chosen by the shareholders, and act, in some cases with,
and in others without, salary.

But we have abundant evidence in common life, that
to determine that a thing shall be done, and to see that it
is done, are two difltrent things, and often require dif-

P3

322 EAILWAY COMPANIES.

ferent powers of mind. This is felt in the management
of a railway, in which, although the directors, if well
chosen, are ahle to lay down excellent rules, they are too
many in number, and perhaps not well fitted by talent, to
see those rules strictly acted on : they, therefore, usually
appoint an experienced, responsible executive officer, who
has nothing to do with making laws and rules; but who
sees that those which are made are put in execution: — to
do this, the stations, the engines, the police, the ware-
houses, must all be under his supervision, and the re-
spective managers of them must act under his orders. If
the reader were to devote five minutes' thought to this
subject, he would see how strongly the principle of a con-
stitutional government is acted on in these matters ; there
is an elective body, a legislative body, an executive, or
ministry', and an extensive train of paid servants, who
receive their salaries out of the funds of the elective body;
and in the commercial as well as in the political body, the
principle of ultimate responsibility to the elective body is
strongly marked, although its operation may not always
be visible at the surface.

This, then, is the corporate machinery by which the
shareholders of a company proceed to attain their object ;
and in all the details which we have hitherto given re-
specting railways, the reader will understand that the
directors of a company, having received general instruc-
tions on the more important points at the half-yearly
general meeting, act on their own responsibility in every-
thing else, — select the persons who shall construct the
rail-way, — consult with and direct the engineer in his
progress, — call for money from the shareholders, Avhen re-
quired,— disburse it Avhen and where they may deem it to
be most necessary, — and invest the unemployed portion
in bankers' hands ; — being accountable for all this to the
shareholders, at the next half-yearly meeting.

Let us suppose, then, that under the orders of such a
board of directors, a railway has been constructed, — loco-
motive engines, adapted to the width, or gauge of the rails,
tuilt^ — strong vehicles for the conveyance of luggage and
merchandise, and lighter ones for passengers, more or

RAILWAY STATIONS. 323

less commodious according to the fare charged, con-
structed and fitted to the raihvaj^, — and all prepared for
running the vehicles on the rails. It Avill be obvious that
much will be required before business can commence, — not
only a disciplined corps of men, but other arrangements
which merit our notice.

In the first place we may mention statio?is, and the
object for which they are required. We must remember
that the two great towns at the ends of a line arc not the
only ones which are to derive benefit from the railway.
The line, in most cases, passes between several large
towns, some of Avhich are a few miles to the left and
others to the right of it. Now, such is the advantage of
quick transit, that even if a town were twenty miles from
the nearest point of a railway, it might be desirable to
travel those twenty miles in a stage coach, and then pro-
ceed via railway, in preference to performing the journey
by the old coach road, which is, in such case, very likely
to be the shorter distance of the two. Now, no person
can go on a railway at an intermediate point in its length,
with that facility which a passing traveller can mount a
stage-coach, — and this for several reasons : — if a steam-
carriage stopped every few minutes, in order to take up a
passenger, a most serious loss of locomotive power Avould
result, not only from loss of steam, but also from loss of
momentum : — if a casual passenger could mount at any
part of the line, it is manifest that the railway would not
be sufficiently railed off:' and guarded, for the prevention
of accidents : — lastly, if a passenger entered and left the
train at any points indiscriminately, the passage-money
must be paid to the engine-man, or to some person ac-
companying the train, a mode, the inconvenience of which
requires no comment. The same remarks apply, and even iu
a still greater degree, to the carriage of heavy merchandise.

For these reasons, therefore, stations are erected at
various distances along the line of road, at each of which
regular officers attend, bavins: well-defined duties to
perform. These stations are arranged with reference,
as much as possible, to the convenience of populous
towns lying on the right or left of the railway. It is

324 RAILWAY STATIONS.

believed, that if these stations were very numerous, not
only Avould the existing rate of traffic from neighbouring
towns greatly increase, hut traffic would even spring up
from places Avhich were, from their seclusion, deprived
of traffic with other towns. The limit to the number of
stations is found Avhen the expense of maintaining them
equals the profit derived from them.

But the advantages of a station at which a train can
stop to take up passengers and goods are not confined to
those we li;ive just mentioned. The consumption of fuel
and water by the locomotive engines is very great; and it
is necessary to liave depots where a supply of these neces-
saries,— this provender for steam-horses, — can be taken
in. The passenger-station may therefore consistently act
as these depots, especially as the supplying of water and
fuel to the engine, and the admission of passengers and
goods to the carriages, may be carried on at the same
moment, and thus time may be economized.

The stations actually in use in our various railways
are of different characters. In some instances, the station
is merely a room, which serves both for office and waiting-
room, from which the passengers and parcels from a small
town or village can be taken upon the railway, Avhen one
of the trains pass. But generally speaking, the stations
are of gi-eater extent : they contain an office for transact-
ing the business of the stations, and one or more "waiting-
rooms. A useful suggestion has lately been made in an
article in the Encyclopcedia Britannica ; viz., that there
should be a separate waiting-room for ladies, with a
respectable female to attend them, and to provide them
with refreshments at a moderate price. Such stations also
generally contain rooms for the inspector of police, and
for clerks and porters ; and also an office for merchandise.
Where the station is an important one, there is often an
engine-house, — a steam-engine to pump Avater, — an en-
gineer's room, — a supply of spare carriages, &c., kept in a
place properly secured and protected from the weather.

The arrangement of these stations is generally, and
ought always to be, if practicable, such that passengers
can step from a platform into the carriages without either

RAILWAY STATIONS. 325

ascending or descending ; and during the stoppage of the
train, the whole of the passengers, while entering or leav-
ing the carriages, should be protected over head by a
roof thrown across the railway. If the station be well
ordered, a great deal may be done in a very few minutes.
The time at which the train begins its journey, together
with the general rate of travelling, being known, the time
of the arrival at the station can be pretty accurately pre-
dicted, and everything should be in readiness just before
the train arrives. In the first place, if the station be a
depot for fuel and water, the engineer is prepared to supply
the tender of the engine with those materials the moment
it arrives : — if any slight repairs are required, tools, &c.
should be at hand . — horses and private vehicles should be
drawn up in readiness to be placed on the trucks or skeleton
carriages : — heavy goods should be so warehoused as to
be hoisted into the train wagons with expedition ; — and
the passengers should be at hand to take their places in
the carriages. On the other hand, there are likely to be
passengers, merchandise, horses, carriages, &c., which quit
the railway at that station ; in such a case it has been re-
commended that all v/hich leaves the train should be landed,
on the opposite side of the railway from that at which
passengers, &c. are taken in, by which means much con-
fusion and loss of time will be avoided. It is recom-
mended that the Avater-tank and crane, and the coke store,
for supplying the engine, should be somewhat in advance
of the passengers' waiting-room, while the conveniences
for attaching or detaching horses, private carriages, Sec,
should be in arrear of it : by these means, all the various
duties which we have mentioned may be attended to
simultaneously. Two clerks, an inspector, four policemen,
and a few porters, are the principal persons required at
such a station.

Such, then, are the purposes for Avhich stations are
necessary, and such is a brief outline of the proceedings
which occur when a train stops at a station.

TVe are so much in the habit of regarding locomotive
engines as self-moving machines, that we are apt to forget
that, like a clever but impetuous child, such an engine
requires more vigilant watching in proportion as it be-

326 DUTIES OP ENGINE-MAN.

comes more powerful. If, on the one hand, we feel the
advantages, in a commercial point of view, derived from a
rate of transit equal to thirty miles an hour, we must, on
the other hand, admit that any accident, resulting from
carelessness and inattention, is likely to be much more
disastrous : — for instance, on one of the embankments of
the Liverpool and Manchester railway, a locomotive engine
on one occasion got oif the rails, and was stopped only
just in time to prevent it from being precipitated down
the embankment, and perhaps dragging the carriages after
it ; and the more rapidly the engine might have been going
at that moment, the more ruinous Avould have been the
effects which followed.

For these reasons a large share of responsibility rests
with the engine-man, not only in taking care of the
management of the engine, considered as such, but in
directing its progress along the road, in its capacity of a
travelling vehicle. Before a train of carriages starts on a
journey, the engine-man examines the engine carefullj^
to see that every part of it is in Avorking order and fit for
immediate use. He also sees that the tender has its
proper complement of coke and water, and that the oil
for lubricating the joints of the engine is properly sup-
plied. It is frequently arranged, that the engine shall be
driven to and fro for a short distance on the rails previous
to being attached to the train, in order to see that every-
thing is in readiness.

When the " steam is up," and the engine ready for
starting, (during which time the carriages are taking their
load of passengers and merchandise,) it is broiight down,
or backwards, to the head of the train, and hooked to the
foremost carriage. The steam is then applied to the pro-
pulsion of the engine, and with it, of all the carriages
Avhich follow it. The engine-man has now to keep a
vigilant look-out, to keep the engine in its right course,
and to watch the various valves, &c. on Avhich his poAver
over the engine depends. He has a gauge, already described,
by which he can tell how much water is in the boiler, and
from time to time he pumps an additional supply into it
from the tank in the tender. He has to see that the fur-

DUTIES OF ENGINE-MAN. 327

nace is properly supplied -with coke, and to regulate the
quantity added according to tlie power of the steam at the
moment.

Whatever may be the rate of travelling, it is consi-
dered desirable to lessen that rate while passing another
train which is standing still, asthe stoppage may indicate that
all is not right. The rapidity of progress, when approaching
towards a station, must also be slackened with much
judgment, in order to bring the train to a stop at the pro-
per place. Besides this, the engine-man has a means of
communicating with the guard at the back of the train, so
that he is prepared to stop the engine whenever the guard
conveys a signal to him so to do.

The journey completed, the engine-man has not ful-
filled all his duties until the engine is laid up in its place :
he sees the fire raked out, and any remaining steam blown
oft". Even when the water in the boiler has become quite
cold, the engine is not yet reduced to a quiescent state ;
for, instances are stated to have occurred in which the
" man-hole" of the engine has been opened when the
water has become cold, and a man has entered ; and upon
introducing a lighted candle, an explosion has taken place,
and the man has been killed : this shoAvs that we do not
yet understand all the phenomena connected with the
generation of steam in a close boiler.

The engine-man, on giving up the charge of his engine,
makes a report of anything which may have occurred on
the road, such as the breaking or displacing of rails, in-
jury happening to engines, carriages, &c., and any other
circumstances which, irom his situation in the train, he
may be supposed to be the best qualified to speak upon.

We may here mention, that when a train is too heavy
to be drawn with sufficient rapidity by one engine, two
are employed. This has given rise to a dift'erence of
opinion, as to whether it would, in such case, be more de-
sirable to have two half-trains, each with an engine, than
one long one with two engines. It has been asserted, that
no two engines work with precisely the same effective
power ; so that it is likely to happen that one of the two
engines attached to a train would tend to move faster than

3 28 RATE OP TRAVELLING.

the other, by which the latter would he dragged along, in
some degree. It is, on the other hand, stated that the two
engines soon equalize their rates of motion, perhaps on a
somewhat similar principle to the known fact that two
clock pendulums hanging on the same wall will soon
oscillate isochronously, or in equal times.

The rate of travelling along the railway may be known
by mile-stones set up at the sides, and which may be seen
from the carriages ; by the aid of these, and of a common
watch, the rate of travelling may be easily noted. The
author of the treatise before referred to, after alluding to
the indistinctness of the mile-posts commonly used, recom-
mends the employment of posts made of iron, with a box at
the top. This box is triangular, with two of its faces pre-
sented obliquely to the road. Inside this box is a small
la,mp ; and the faces of the box are opaque, with the ex-
ception of the openings which constitute the figures or
letters. These figures would sufficiently show themselves
during the day, and at night, the policemen could light the
lamps, and thus make the figures visible then likewise.

A convenient mode has also been pointed out by the
same writer, by means of which the engine may be made
to tell its own rate of progress, provided we have a good
seconds' watch at hand. There are four puffs from the
blast pipe at every revolution of the driving wheels, so that
at every fourth puflF the wheels have made one revolution.
A little common arithmetic would enable a person to con-
struct a table of velocities, according to the diameter of the
wheels, arising from the well-known ratio of 1 to 3.141(3
between the diameter and the circumference. The foUow-
insr table would serve where the Avheels are five feet in
diameter :

Number of fourth

Velocity in miles

Number of fourth

Velocity in miles

puffs in 10 seconds.

per hour.

puffs in 10 seconds.

per hour.

15

- -

-

16.06

23

-

-

- 24.63

16

- -

-

17.14

24

-

-

- 25.70

17

- -

-

18.21

25

-

-

- 26.77

18

- -

-

10.28

26

-

-

- 27.85

19

- -

-

20.35

27

-

-

- 28.92

20

-

-

21.42

28

-

-

- 29.99

21

- -

-

22.49

29

-

-

- 31.06

22

- -

-

23,56

30

-

-

- 32.13

SYSTEM OP SIGNALS.

329

It is very essential that a system of well-understood
sWals be adopted on railways; for if any accident happen
a lihort time before the arrival of a train, it is of the first
importance that the engine-man should have notice of it
at 1 considerable distance from the spot where it has oc-
curied. For instance, a rail may be displaced by the pass-
ing \)f the last preceding train, or the train itself may
haveheen prevented from continuing its journey, either
from \ome accident having happened to the engine, or from
some kher cause. Important as it is to have timely no-
tice ofWy such accident by day, it becomes doubly neces-
sary bynight, when it is so much less in our power to
know, hr the assistance of the eye alone, what is doing, or
what haabeen done, at some distance in front of us. We
need har\ly dwell on the dreadful nature of an accident
occurring <;it night through any unforeseen obstacle to the
progress oia train.

For thfte reasons there have been devised many ar-
rangementsWhich act as alarms, signals, telegraphs, &c.
In the first nace, there is a police force employed along
the line of riilway, whose duty it is to keep a watch at
everything ocoirring, or likely to occur, along the line ;
to prevent intWlers from climbing over the palisades, and
entering uponVhe railway; to see that no stones are
thrown, or sulfeed to fall, on the rails, by which the trains
would be placedVi imminent danger; to render assistance
to passing trainsW case of any accident happening ; to
assist in Avorkinaa system of signals ; and to perform
many other dutiesVf a similar nature. The policemen for
each railway haveV regular uniform, and are under a
systematic code of rft-ulations.

One of the dutiespf the policemen, as we have just
observed, is to assist making signals to approaching
trains. On some of Vq railways it has been customary,
when a train is appr^ching a spot where a policeman
stands, for him to place JUnself in a conspicuous situation,
with one or both arms exVnded, in a certain or understood
manner ; one position of Ve arms is to signify " all right,"
and that the train may prAged without fear of interrup-
tion ; while another positio\ implies that, for some reason

330 SYSTEM OF SIGNALS.

or Other, matters are going wrong, and that the trail
must stop when it approaches the policemen. In otter
instances the policemen are provided with little flag? of
different colours ; and, on the approach of a train, he holds
up one or other of the flags, according to the intiniftion
which he wishes to convey ; for instance, a red flfg to
intimate danger, and a green one as a signal that iiU is
right.

But such modes as these can obviously onl; serve
during the continuance of daylight, and can no loiger be
available when night comes on. As a night-sip^al, the
foUoAving plan is sometimes adopted : — lamps are em-
ployed, which are capable, either of being froited with
stained glass, or by some other contrivance, of shedding
coloured light along the line of the railway, anf by caus-
ing the light thus shed to be red under so^e circum-
stances, and green or blue under others, a syitem of sig-
nals is at once obtained, available for night-ti-ie.

It has been suggested that all railways slould malce a
red light at night, and a red flag by day, t^e symbols of
danger. A green light should be placed at-'ach station at
the spot where the engine-man should sli-ken his speed,
and a red light at the point where he i' to stop. The
police should have hand-lanterns, Avitl a, white glass
and a red one, which latter can be turnd round in an in-
stant, whenever anything obstructs the tissage of the rail-
way; and the light held up at any tran approaching, on
seeing which the train is immediatel; to stop. A green
glass may also be added, the significaion of which would
be, " proceed with caution ;" the trau should then come
slowly on, and ascertain the reason ^i' the signal.

There are other circumstances n which it is requisite
to have signals. It is sometimes lecessary for a train, or
for the engine belonging to it, to "iss from one line of rails
to the other, by means of a diagfial sliding-rail. A little
consideration will show that thi'Sliding rail must be capa-
ble of moving Avithin certain Uiits, so as to present itself
in a certain position when a engine is proceeding from
one line of rails to the other, nfl in another position when
the engine maintains its stnglit course. Now it has been

SIGNALS. 331

Contrived that the sliding rail shall cany a vertical rod
<\nd a square sign-board, on which a lamp may be placed ;
atid that the motion of the rail shall also give motion to
tllp rod. If, then, the lamp be made to shed a red light
on\one side, and a green one on the other, the red light
woVld be visible along the line Avhen the sliding rail is in
one\ position, and the green light when it is in another;
and,\by a previous arrangement of signals, an approaching
traim could tell, by the colour of the light presented,
■\vhetfter the sliding rail were in the proper position to
enable the engine to pass straight onward, or to go on to
the otlter rail, as the case may be.

Another kind of signal is one that shall act as an alarum,
by whidi the officers at the various stations may know
that a tr\in is appi'oaching. A man is stationed at a spot
from wheVce he can see the approach of a train; and when
the train las arrived to within two minutes' distance from
him, he sefe an alarum in motion, by which the people iu
the station-Vouse may know that the train is at hand. A
form of alar\m employed is the following: — On pulling a
sort of triggeV a weight, which had been previously wound
up, begins toVlescend. By descending it turns a wheel,
which in its \arn works a pinion, and by some interme-
diate mechanish a clapper is set in motion, and is made
to strike agains\a gong-shaped bell. The ringing of this
bell, therefore, cVitinues until the weight has descended,
and thus acts as \ signal to those in the station-house.

It has been siirgested to institute a kind of telegraph-
system upon raihWs, which would not only be advan-
tageous for the opei^tions of the company, but might also
be made the means Vf communicating messages, &c., for
private individuals, a\so much per word, or on any other
agreed terms. It is Roposed to construct a telegraph at
each station, and adopUuch a system of telegraphic lan-
guage as shall be visilDp at the next adjoining station.
It has been calculated tKt a communication consisting of
one single signal might bVconveyed 100 miles in a minute
and a quarter; and a meshge of some length, requiring
several distinct signals, mrjit be conveyed the same dis-
tance in half an hour. Theutility of this to private per-

332 TELEGRAPHS.

sons, in a commercial point of view, is obvious at once;
and tlie service rendered to the Company may be equally
important. The suggester of the plan makes the foUoT^-
ing suppositive case : — " For instance, an accident happens
to an engine ten miles from an engine station. The tele-
graph Avould send out another engine in a minute, vith
any commonly good look-out; whereas to send on foot
would require two hours; thus deranging the time «f all
the succeeding trains. As another instance : a train start-
ing from one end to the other of the line, perhaps leaves
fifty passengers at some intermediate town; the tele-
graph might immediately make this known to tie clerk
of that station, who, if he had few passengers jeady for
the train, could prepare goods' wagons to pit on, so
that the engine should not go with half a load,— a matter
of great importance, for the power absorbed byan engine
before it can put itself in motion being one-tdrd of its
whole power, it follows that the relative exjenditure of
power per ton, is nearly six times greater wlh a load of
ten tons than it would be Avith a load of one hundred
tons."

Medical assistance, in case of accident? to passengers,
might be procured in a very much shorter time if a tele-
graphic system of communication were enployed, than if
an advice-carriage were sent, even at ife highest speed.
If this system were put into operation, t Avould of course
involve increased expense in several w.ys; but if it were
afterwards made available for the con eyance of private
messages, in the way above stated, -t seems extremely
probable that the cost of the telegrapi would be repaid.

There is also an ingenious kinc'of alarum or signal
adopted, under the name of the 'Steam Whistle," by
which the ear is brought into requisition, as a means of
obtaining warnings in case of darker. The instrument is
a whistle sounded by the gushin, of the steam from the
boiler through a simple piece (f mechanism, and can be
cut off or put in action as ?eed may require. These
whistles are sometimes hearr at a distance of several
miles, on a calm day. It hasJeen suggested that it Avould
be desirable to have two of tiese whistles with totally dis-

STEAM WHISTLE. 333

tinct sounds, one to be used on the arrival line, and the
other on the departure line of rails ; each would then serve
as an alarum, and Avould also serve as a fog and night
signal, -which would at all times and in the densest
fog give perfect notice whenever two engines approached
each other, on which line they were respectively tra-
velling, and thus go far to prevent the probability of a
collision.

The last contrivance which we shall mention, that
can consistently come under the subject of signals,
is a mode of estimating the probable effects of a high,
wind, or the rate of progress of a train. That a high
wind directly in the teeth of the travellers would retard
the velocity, is evident from the slightest consideration of
the effect of a similar power on the sails of a windmill or
of a ship. But this is not all : it is found that a strong
side-wind presses the flanges (or overhanging ledges) of
the wheels against the rails, and gives rise thereby to a
very considerable amount of friction. From these circum-
stances it follows that a certain force of locomotive power
in the engine, Avhich should enable it to draw a train at
the required velocity under ordinary circumstances, would
be unequal to the task when a high contrary or lateral
wind is blowing; and it Avould be desirable at such a time
to obtain the assistance of a second engine.

Now not only ought the engine-man to be aware of the
changes which the wind is calculated to make in the rate
of the engine's progress, but the engineer, or some other
officer at the engine station, should likewise have the
means of correctly estimating its power, so as to provide
a second engine when necessary. The reader is probably
aware that instruments called anemometers, (from two
Greek words signifying wind measurers^ are sometimes
employed to give indications of the force of the wind at
any particular period. We will not here enter into a
description of the various instruments which have been
employed in scientific institutions, and other places, for
this purpose, but we Avill describe a mode which has been
suggested by the writer to whom we lately alluded,
by which both the direction and the force of the wind

384 EFFECTS OF WINDS.

could be oLserved by a person in one of the i-ooms
of the station: — "If a vane with a long tail, high above
the top of the engine-house, and having at its pointing
end a board one foot square, be fitted up in the following
manner, it will be sufficient for all the Avants of the loco-
motive department. The vane should be fixed in a hollow
pole, which should turn with it, and descend through a
tube down to (within) about five feet of the floor of the
engine-house, Avhere there should be a horizontal dial-
plate, on Avhich should traverse a pointer fixed to the
vanc-pole. This pointer Avould ahvays indicate the direc-
tion of the Avind; and in order to ascertain its force, the
board, one foot square, on the pointing end of the vane,
should act on a sj^iral spring and Avork a drum by a wheel
and pinion, communicating by a cord Avith a similar drum
at the bottom of the vane-pole, AA'here a vertical dial-plate
should be fixed on the outside, and opposite to the loAver
drum, on Avhich a hand traversing round the vertical dial-
plate Avould show the force of the Avind. According to
the power of the engine, and the nature of the usual
traffic, experience Avill soon point out Avhen a second
engine ought to be despatched; and a table being formed
for each point of the compass for this, should then be in-
variably acted on at all times, imless other local circum-
stances occasioned any alterations in the general average
of the loads."

Our readers may remember the AA-arm discussions
carried on both in and out of parliament, a foAV years ago,
on the subject of lu7uiels, and the healthy or unhealthy
state of the air in them. When an eleA'ated tract of
country has to be traversed by a railway, one of tAvo plans
must be adopted, viz., there must be a deep excaA'ation
from the surface of the ground to the level of the raihvay,
or there must be a tunnel cut through the elevated
ground. The former plan is ahvays adopted when the
elevation is not too great; but beyond a certain limit,
varying according to circumstances, it is no longer aA'ail-
able, and the plan then adopted is to cut a tunnel.

The tunnel itself is not the only object of labour in
such case; for there are shafts, or vertical openings, cut
from the surface of the ground to the raihvay. The

SALUBRITY OF TUNNELS. 335

object of these shafts is two-fold; 1st. To afford convenient
openings for the excavators while forming the tunnel.
2nd. For the purpose of ventilation, when the tunnel is
finished. But notwithstanding these ventilating shafts,
strono- opinions were expressed as to the insalubrity of the
air in such long underground tunnels. In order to set
this matter at rest, five gentlemen inspected the Primrose
Hill tunnel (London and Birmingham Railway), in order
to ascertain the truth on this point. The gentlemen were,
two physiceans, Drs. Paris and Watson; two surgeons,
Messrs. Lucas and Lawrence; and a professor of chemistry,
Mr. Phillips. Their report, which may, perhaps, be con-
sidered as too unreservedly favourable, is as follows: —

" We, the undersigned, visited together, on the 20th
February, 1837, the tunnel now in progress under Prim-
rose Hill, with the view of ascertaining the probable effect
of such tunnels upon the health and feelings of those who
may traverse them. The tunnel is carried through clay,
and is laid with brickwork. Its dimensions, as described
to us, are as follows: height, 22 feet; length 3750 feet;
width 22 feet. It is ventilated by five shafts, from six to
eight feet in diameter, their depth being 35 to 55 feet.

" The experiment was made under unfavourable cir-
cumstances; the western extremity being only partially
open, the ventilation is less perfect than it will be Avhen
the work is completed; the steam of the locomotive engine
Avas also suffered to escape for twenty minutes, while the
carriages were stationary near the end of the tunnel.
Even during our stay near the unfinished end of the tun-
nel, where the engine remained stationary, although the
cloud formed by the steam was visible near the roof, the
air for many feet above our heads remained clear, and
apparently unaffected by steam or effluvia of any kind;
neither Avas there any damp or cold perceptible.

" We found the atmosphere of the tunnel dry, and of
agreeable temperature, and free from smell; the lamps of
the carriages were lighted, and in our transit inwards and
back again to the mouth of the tunnel, the sensation ex-
perienced was precisely that of travelling in a coach by
night between the walls of a narrow street; the noise did

336 SALUBRITY OF TUNNELS.

not prevent easy conversation, nor appear to be mucli
greater in the tunnel than in the open air.

"Judging from this experiment, and knowing the
ease and certainty Avith which thorough ventilation may
be effected, we are decidedly of opinion that the dangers
incurred in passing through well-constructed tunnels are
no greater than those incurred in ordinary travelling upon
an open railway, or upon a turnpike-road, and that the
apprehensions which have been expressed, that such tun-
nels are likely to prove detrimental to the health, or in-
convenient to the feelings of those who may go through
them, are perfectly futile and groundless."

Were we to proceed wdth the subject of raihvays into
the minutiae of working details, the limits of this small
volume would be wholly inadequate. As we intend it for
the general reader, and not for the man of science, we
have throughout presented only the leading features con-
nected with " roads and rail-roads," in order to show the
links by which a successive chain of improvement has been
carried on — by which a wagon pace of three miles an
hour has become a wagon pace of thirty miles an hour —
by which a journey of several days has become one of the
same number of hours — and by which distances bid fair
to be measured, in familiar conversation, by hours instead
of by miles.

Great as has been the progress in railway construction
within the last ten years, we are still only in the infancy
of the subject. The form and weight of the rails — the
chairs in which they are fixed — the mode of fixing — the
supports, whether stone blocks or continuous timber bear-
ings, on which the chairs are placed — the " gauge," or
width of the rails, by which the width of the carriages
must also be regulated — the best manner of passing a hill,
whether by gradients, or cuttings, or tunnels, and the
proportion in which all three may be combined — the de-
gree of curvature in the direction of the railAvay which
will cause a serious amount of friction — the ratio in which
the air retards the velocity of a train in motion — and
numerous other important elements of the railway system,
are still the subject of serious and earnest inc[uiry among

tRIKClPAL RAILWAYS. 337

the eminent engineers whose powers have been called into
requisition within the last fifteen years.

The reader will understand that, in giving a tolerably
full account of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway,
we intended it as a general type of all the great works
which have succeeded it. This is the only way in which
we could attain the object we had in view, since to de-
scribe in a similar manner the various parts of all the
other railways, would have been utterly inconsistent with
our brief space, and would, at the same time, have in-
volved the repetition of the same kind of details, varied
slightly according to circumstances. The construction of
the Liverpool and Manchester railway comprised instances
of almost every kind of engineering difficulties which
have been presented by the other railways ; it has served
as a model for subsequent construction, and will ever
remain a splendid example of the triumph of perseverance
and science over natural obstacles.

A mere list of the other railways, now constructing,
or lately constructed, would occupy a considerable space,
and would be of but little interest to the general reader.
The most noble one yet opened is the London and Bir-
mingham, which, from the difficulties to be encountered,
and the masterly way in which everything has been con-
ducted, has cost 49,000/. per mile, and by the time every-
thing is completed, will have absorbed a capital of five
millions and a-half sterling — a circumstance to Avhich
there is no parallel in private enterprises of a similar kind.

The Great Western railway, which will probably cost
five millions, and Avhich will extend from London to
Bristol, is distinguished by two deviations from the usual
course pursued in these matters — viz., that the rails and
chairs are laid on continuous timber bearings, instead of on
isolated stone blocks; and that the width of the rails, instead
of being four feet eight inches, as in most other railways,
amounts to the large distance of seven feet. So much
difi'erence of opinion, and, indeed, we may say, so much
ill feeling, has been manifested on the question of the
necessity for these changes from the ordinary course pur-
sued, that we are unwilling to enter into any details on

338 PRINCIPAL RAILWAYS.

the subject, especially as it is at present a speculative
question which, cannot be set at rest by anything short of
practical disinterested inquiry.

The London and Brighton line has been distinguished,
unfortunately distinguished, from all others, by the ruinous
expense incurred without the slightest progress having
been made in the actual construction of the railway. The
source of this is obvious enough — four or five competing
companies besieged the legislature all at once for acts of
parliament ; and as not more than one act can be granted,
it is plain that most, if not all, the competitors must be
worsted. As it will be several years before a railway will
exist between London and Brighton, we will not enter into
details respecting the parliamentary decision on the sub-
ject of that line.

The London and Greenwich railway is remarkable as
being one of the finest specimens of brick-work in Eng-
land. It is wholly constructed on brick arches, running
through the heart of Southwark, and through a tolerably
open country towards Deptford, and from thence onward
to Greenwich. This railway must be classed among those
which have not hitherto yielded an adequate rate of profit.

The subject of railways in Ireland has occupied a large
share of attention, principally with reference to the ques-
tion how far Government would be justified in taking
into its own hands the arrangement and construction of
Irish railways. Nothing of that kind has occurred in
England, because where capital exists abundantly among
the commercial and manufacturing classes, the less Govern-
ment interferes with mercantile transactions the better;
but in Ireland the same circumstances do not present
themselves. This country, for reasons which we need not
here discuss, is in an unfortunate condition, and its natu-
ral resources being not yet brought into requisition, the
question of Government interference assumes a different
character. Some able reports have been prepared by
commissioners, but as no legislation has yet taken place
on the subject, we need not consider it at greater length.

CONCLUSION. 339

In concluding the subject of Roads and Rail- roads, the
reader may probably expect to find a comparative view of
the dangers attending the two modes of locomotion. A
few observations will, we think, be sufficient to remove
the common prejudice, that steam is a more uncontrollable,
and consequently less safe, prime-mover than animal
power. This subject has been considered* under four
distinct heads; viz., 1. The dangers of the road. 2. The
dangers of the carriage. 3. The dangers of the locomotive
power. 4. The dangers arising from momentum, or from
the weight of the burden, multiplied by the velocity at
which it is conveyed.

1. It certainly appears that a rail-Avay must be less dan-
gerous than a high-road: because it is flat instead of hilly;
because a surface of iron is smoother than a surface of
broken stones; because the lip of therail which confines
the wbeels is an extra security not obtained on the com-
mon road; and because wagons, vans, carts, private car-
riages, and all other vehicles, as well as horses and cattle
belonging to the public, are rigorously excluded.

2. A railway car is less dangerous than a stage or mail-
coach, because its centre of gravity, when empty, is low
instead of high; because its passengers sit low instead of
high; inside and not outside; because its axles, receiving
no jerks, are less liable to break; and consequently be-
cause, altogether, it is less liable to overset.

3. A locomotive engine must be less dangerous than
four horses, because it is not liable to run aAvay, tumble
down, or shy at strange objects or noises; because it has
no vice in it; because it is not, like a horse, retained and
guided by numberless straps and buckles, the breaking of
any one of which would make it take fright; and, lastly,
because by the opening of a valve, its restless, enterpris-
ing spirit can at any moment be turned adrift, leaving
nothing behind it but a dull, harmless, empty copper
vessel.

4. If a railway train at full speed were to run against
the solid brickwork of a tunnel, or to go over one of the
steep embankments, the effect would, mechanically, be

* See Quarterly Review, vol. Lxiii., p. 14.

340 CONCLUSION.

infinitely greater, but perhaps not more fatal, to the pas-
sengers than if the mail at its common pace were to do
the same. Besides, a coach is exposed to numberless
chances of accident, from which the railway train is alto-
gether free. We learn, too, from the official reports of
ten railways, that out of more than forty four millions of
travellers not more than about ten have been killed ;
whereas the records of stage-coach travelling are, as the
reader knows, abundantly supplied with accidents of the
most disastrous kind.

The efi"ect of roads, bridges, and canals, &c., upon
civilization can be estimated with suflScient accuracy, be-
cause, in treating of them, we are fortified by centuries
of past experience: but it is not so with rail-roads; they
are yet infants, — gigantic infants it is true, — and we can
scarcely tell what tremendous consequences may not result
from their vigorous growth. " Supposing," says an accom-
plished writer, " that rail-roads, even at our present sim-
mering rate of travelling, were to be suddenly established
all over England, the whole population of the country
would, speaking metaphorically, at once advance en masse^
and place their chairs nearer to the fireside of their metro-
polis by two-thirds of the time which now separates them
from it; they would also sit nearer to one another by two-
thirds of the time which now respectively alienates them.
If the rate were to be again sufficiently accelerated, this
process would be repeated; our harbours, our dock-yards,
our towns, the whole of our rural population, would again
not only draw nearer to each other by two-thirds, but all
would proportionally approach the national hearth. As
distances were thus annihilated, the surface of our country
would, as it were, shrivel in size until it became not much
bigger than one immense city, and yet by a sort of miracle
every man's field would be found not only where it always
was, but as large as ever it was."

LONDON: JOHN W. PABKBR, ST. MARTIN'S LANE.

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POPULAR TALES BY Mrs. GODWIN.

With Engravings. 2s. each.

COUSIN KATE ; or, the Punishment of Pride.
BASIL HARi-OW; or, Prodigality is not Generosity.
ESTHER MORE ; or, Truth is Wisdom.
LOUISA SEYMOUR; or, Hasty Impressions.
ALICIA GREY ; or. To be Useful is to be Happy.
JOSEPHINE ; or, Early Trials.

SELECT BOOKS,

* A FAMILIAR HISTORY of BIRDS; their Nature,

Habits, and Instincts. By EDWARD STANLEY, D.D., Lord
Bishop of Norwich, Pres. Lin. Soc. New Edilion, Two Vols.
With many Engravings, 7*'

* DOMESTICATED ANIMALS considered \\^th reference

to Civilization and the Arts. By MARY ROBERTS. Also,

* WILD ANIMALS ; their Nature, Habits, and Instincts,

and the Regions they inhabit. Both with Engravings. 3s. 6d. each.

♦MINERALS and IMETALS; their Natural History and
Uses in the Arts; with Accounts of Mines and Mining. 2s. 6 J.

THE HOUSE I LIVE IN; or, Popular Illustrations of the
Structure and Functions of the Human Body. With Cuts, 2s. 6d.

" I am fearfully and wonderfully made ! "

CONVERSATIONS ON GARDENING AND NATURAL

HISTORY. With Engravings, 2s. 6d.

* THE BOOK of TREES; describing the Nature and

Products of the principal Timber Trees, and the larger species of
Palms, With numerous Engravings. 2s.

* BOOK of ANIMALS. BOOK of BIRDS. BOOK of

FISHES. BOOK of REPTILES. BOOK of SHELLS.

Is. 6d. each. All with numerous Engravings.

* THREE WEEKS IN PALESTINE AND LEBANON.

With manv Enjrravings. 3s.

TWO YEARS AT SEA : being the Narrative of a Voyage
to the Swan River and Van Diemen's Land ; thence, to the
Barman Empire, and various parts of India. By JANE
ROBERTS. With Engravings. 5s.

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS; his LIFE, VOYAGES,
and DISCOVERY of the NEW WORLD. With Cuts. 2s. 6d.

CAPTAIN COOK; his VOYAGES and DISCOVERIES:

with an Account of Pitcairu's Island, and the Mutiny of the
Bounty. With Engravings. 2s. 6rf.

MUNGO PARK; his LIFE and TRAVELS: to which

are added the Account of his Death, from the JOURNAL of
ISAACO, and the substance of later Discoveries relative to his
lamented fate. With Engravings. 2s. 6rf.

<

FOR REWARDS AND PRESENTS,

FIRST SUNDAYS AT CHURCH, or Familiar Conver-
sations on the Morning and Evening Services. By the Rev. J. E.
RIDDLE, M.A., Author of Luther and his Times. 3s. 6d.

THE YOUNG LADY'S FRIEND ; a Manual of Practical

Advice and Instruction to Young Females, on their entering upon
the Duties of Life, after quitting School. By A LADY. 3s. 6d.

ABBOTT'S READER; a Series of Familiar Pieces in

Prose and Verse. By the Authors of The Young Christian ; The
Corner Stone ; The Teacher ; ^c. 3s.

* CONVERSATIONS of a FATHER with his CHIL-

DREN. Two Vols,, with Engravings, 5s. 6A

PETER PARLEY'S UNIVERSAL HISTORY for the

» YOUNG, on the BASIS of GEOGRAPHY. With upwards of
Two Hundred Engravings on Wood ; handsomely bound. 7*. 6d.

TALES AND STORIES from HISTORY. By AGNES
STRICKLAND. Two Vols., with many Engravings, 7s.

* SCENES AND SKETCHES from ENGLISH HISTORY.

With Cuts, 3s. 6d.

SANDFORD AND MERTON ; adapted to the use of
Young Persons of the present day, by MISS ZORNLIN. With
many Cuts. 3s. 6c?.

SCHEMING: A Tale. By Mrs. GODWIN.

FIVE HUNDRED CHARADES, from History, Geo-
graphy, and Biography. Is. 6d.

* PERSIAN STORIES; illustrative of Eastern Manners

and Customs. Is. By the Rev. H. G. KEENE, M.A. Also,

* PERSIAN FABLES, for Young and Old. 1*.

FABLES and MORAL MAXIMS. Selected by ANNE
PARKER. 3s. 6d.

POPULAR POEMS FOR YOUNG PERSONS; selected
by ELIZABETH PARKER. 3s. 6d

LIGHT IN DARKNESS; or the RECORDS of a VIL-
LAGE RECTORY. 3s. 6d.

The Village. The Village Schoolmaster.

The Retired Tradesman, The Village Apothecary.

The Good Aunt. The Deserted Wife.

The Family at the Hall ; or. Pride and Poverty.

BOOKS FOR CHILDREN.
Pretty Lessons for Good Children ; with some Easy Lessons

iu Latin. 2*.
Easy Poetry for Children. 1*. 6d.
Easy Grammar for Children. By a Lady. 9c?.
Songs for Children. With Engravings. 4d.
Scripture Hymns in Prose. With Cuts. 6d.

* A Little Reading Book for Young Children. With Cuts. 4d.

* Lessons of Praise in Easy Verse. 4c?.

Familiar Lectures to Children ; in which the Truths of the
Gospel are engagingly set forth. \s. 6d.

The Child's Verse Book of Devotion. 1*.

Simple Tales for Children. With many Cuts. 1*.

The Deaf and Dumb Boy; a Tale: with Cuts. 2*. 6d.

The Stolen Child. By Charlotte Adams. 1^. 6d.

* Insects and their Habitations. With Cuts. 1*.

* Sister Mary's Tales in Natural History. With Cuts. 2s. 6d.

SMALL BOOKS for general Distribution.
Daily Readings from the Psalms. 6d.

Faith and Practice 5 or, The Application of Christian Prin-
ciples to the Practical Duties of Life. Is.

Easy Lessons on Christian Evidences. Is.

Confirmation, An Address from a Clergyman. 2d.

The Rite of Confirmation Explained. 6d.

Reading Lessons from the Book of Proverbs & Ecclesiastes. 6d.

A Few Words on the Sin of Lying. 3d.

* Village Annals ; or the Story of Hetty Jones. 9d

* A Colliery Tale, or Village Distress. 4d.

* Susan Carter, the Orphan Girl. 6d.
A Penny Saved is a Penny Got. 6d.

The Old and New Poor Law : or, Who Gains ? and Who

Loses ? 6d.

London : JOHN W. PARKER, Publisher, West Strand

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