A TOUR AROUND THE DOCKS. Supposing that we land at the ferries from the Lincolnshire shore, (as most travellers from the south now do,) we find ourselves at the Ferry-boat Dock. This is a small open dock on the Humber front of Hull, with a pier stretching out from the shore in the form of a T. The pier is a neat and convenient timber structure, with sufficient accommodation for the small steamers which go down the river to Grimsby, across the river to Barton and New Holland, and up the river to Selby, Goole, and York. It is from this Pier, looking northward, that the scene represented in Cut No. 1 presents itself.

This pier lies pretty close to the western margin of the mouth of the river Hull: a river marvellously narrow for the multiplicity of business transacted on it. No bridge crosses it for a distance of half a mile above its mouth; so we will imagine ourselves to be ferried across. We land at a long wooden wharf, or series of wharfs, called Garrison Side; and a bridge from thence over the garrison moat takes us into the citadel. (Cut, No. 2.) This citadel is rather a peculiar adjunct to the town; but certainly well placed for defence, since it commands the entrances to the docks and harbours. Being surrounded by a moat, it constitutes a triangular island; within which are officers' quarters, soldiers' barracks, magazines, guard-houses, ramparts bristling with cannon, and all the paraphernalia and parade of a garrison. Entering this citadel at the south-west corner, and emerging from it at the centre of the north-east side, we find ourselves at once among the stones and scaffolding and excavations of the new Victoria Dock. This dock, when completed, will be very conveniently and judiciously arranged. There will be first an open basin in the Humber, bounded on the east and west by substantial piers; then from this a closed basin, lying eastward of the citadel, and opening from the open basin by two channels and two locks; then the Victoria Dock, stretching nearly parallel to the north-east side of the citadel; and lastly a basin, with locks at both ends, establishing a connection between the Victoria Dock and the River Hull. The consequence of this arrangement will be, two triangular islands, one within another: the Humber, the Hull, and the Victoria Dock will enclose one such island; and within this will be the citadel island, surrounded by its moat.

On returning to the Garrison Side, and walking up the eastern shore of the Hull river to the North Bridge (the only bridge over the Hull within the limits of the town), we cannot but be struck with the amazing activity of the river. Every foot of ground on both sides is occupied as wharf and warehouse, and the vessels lie packed so closely that there is only a mere rivulet of clear space in the middle for the passage of vessels up and down. The timber vessels and barges, especially, cannot escape notice. The eastern wharfs of the Hull, for some distance, are mostly belonging to timber yards; and here, from

morning till night, at certain seasons of the year, may be seen strings of sturdy porters, shouldering the deals and planks in the barges below, and running up the sloping stages which will land them on the wharf above. We might here venture to ask, "Is not this work for powerful cranes rather than for men's shoulders, especially in a crowded river?" Leaving this matter, however, and glancing to the opposite side of the river, we find that it is lined rather with warehouses than with wharfs or timber yards. The vessels, laden with their various treasures, come close alongside the warehouses, and the cargoes are transferred from the one receptacle to the other. After witnessing this scene for a distance of about two-thirds of a mile, we come to a narrow basin on the left, which gives entrance to the Old Dock; and immediately above this is the Bridge, the only land connection between the east and the central portions of Hull. Above the bridge, for the further distance of at least a mile, both sides of the river are still lined with vessels and barges, though smaller in size and more sparing in number than those below bridge.

Entering the Old Dock, which branches out pretty nearly westward from the river Hull, we come to a scene of interminable excitement and activity. The length of the dock is about a third of a mile, besides the basin and lock. There are quays entirely around it; the warehouses occupy upwards of two thousand square yards; the sheds are nearly seven hundred feet in length; and the dock will accommodate a hundred square rigged ships. The sides of the sheds are ingeniously managed: they rest upon wheels which work on a railway, so that they can be drawn aside or closed in at pleasure. In watching the operations which are constantly going on around or within this dock, an intelligent observer may pick up many scraps of information. He will see at one point a range of huge corn-warehouses; these warehouses have been filled with the produce of foreign countries, and he will see how this corn is sent up the country, to York or elsewhere. A shoot or trunk, at an upper window, is filled (say with oats) by men who shovel the grain into it; a man, standing on a stage below, receives the oats into the mouth of an open sack through a canvas hose or trunk; another man takes the sack on his back, and runs along a plank to a weighing-machine, where a third man ascertains whether the proper weight is contained in the sack; the oats are then emptied into the hold of a barge, lying alongside the wharf; and this barge, when laden, proceeds up the Ouse to Selby or York. Advancing along the quay, we come next to the Swedish iron depôt. This introduces us to a remarkable feature in our commerce and manufactures. Good and plentiful as English iron is, it is not good enough for the Sheffield folks; their cutlery requires some peculiar quality of steel, which is furnished by Swedish iron better than by English. A small district called Dannemora, lying about thirty miles from Upsala, in Sweden, supplies us with our best cutlery iron: the produce of the district is said to amount to about four thousand tons annually,

the whole of which is consigned to one house at Hull. Here we may see the long narrow bars of Swedish iron, borne by men from the warehouses to the quay side, and transferred to the barges which are to convey them inland to Sheffield or other places. Proceeding round the dock, we find such scenes as these constantly occurring. The ships (probably for some convenience of loading and unloading) lie longitudinally near the south quay, and transversely near the north quay. The buildings around the dock are either wharfs and warehouses, or such shops as supply the wants of a seagoing population.

Advanced to the western end of the Old Dock, we come to one of the busiest spots in Hull. (Cut, No. 3.) It is the point where a narrow channel connects the Old Dock with the Junction Dock; and over this channel is a swivel bridge which establishes a communication between the centre and the north-western portion of the town-now very extensive. Near this point is a statue of Wilberforce, surmounting a lofty column; it is almost exactly in the centre of Hull, and forms a conspicuous landmark as seen from different directions. Hull had never much to do with slave-grown commerce; but it is nevertheless pleasant to see the abolition of slavery celebrated by the erection of such a column. The Junction Deck is much shorter but a little wider than the Old Dock. It will hold sixty square rigged ships: and it is often difficult to see where an additional vessel could squeeze room for itself. Many of these vessels are larger than those which moor in the Old Dock. Sometimes we may see a fine large merchantman, laden with guano from Callao; or some other vessel which has crossed the Atlantic. But it may be remarked, by any one who ferrets out the names of the vessels as they lie in the docks, that while Liverpool is visited by ships which have crossed all the broad oceans from every direction, Hull is the depôt rather of vessels which have simply crossed the German Ocean, after having, perhaps, traversed a portion of the Baltic: this is, indeed, the kind of traffic which distinguishes Hull above all other British ports. The 'Koning Willem,' steamer; the Lovise, fra Fanöe;' the 'Margaretha, von Emden;' the Kirstine, af Dragöe;'--such names, Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian, meet the eye at every few yards in perambulating the Hull docks.

The southern end of the Junction Dock brings us to another narrow channel, which, like the former, is crossed by a swivel bridge for establishing connection between different parts of the town. This channel opens into the Humber Dock, and extends nearly in a north and south direction. This Dock is intermediate in size between the two former: it will accommodate about seventy square-rigged vessels. It is the dock for the large steamers, in the establishment of which Hull has taken a more active part than any of the eastern ports, except London. Antwerp, Rotterdam, Hamburgh, Copenhagen, St. Petersburg, as well as numerous English ports-all are placed in steam-ship connection with Hull. Sailing vessels, too, of large tonnage, lie in

the Humber Dock, receiving their cargoes of merchandize in countless variety, or bringing their supplies of foreign produce to this country. About half the western side of the Humber Dock is lined by the quays, sheds, and warehouses of the railway company, whose goodsstation is at this spot, admirably arranged for the transfer of merchandize from ship to rail, or from rail to ship.

To aid in the transfer just alluded to, a new dock has been built, called the Railway Dock, branching out westward of the Humber Dock. It is of small dimensions; but the rails are brought quite close up to the southern quay, so that vessels can be laden and unladen with great quickness. The railway goods-station is well placed for the accommodation of the traffic of the Old, the Junction, and the Humber Docks; though the same cannot be said in respect to the Hull Harbour or the new Victoria Dock.

Southward, the Humber Dock ends in a narrow channel or lock, which is crossed by a swivel bridge, and which opens into the Humber Basin. This latter is a convenient receptacle for shipping, open to the Humber, and lined with well-built stone quays and piers, a portion of which is occupied by sheds.

We have now made a tour of the docks; and a busy tour it is. That the Docks should be large and wellmanaged; that maritime affairs should occupy a larger share of the attention of the Hull inhabitants than any other industrial pursuit; and that the wealth of the upper class of its inhabitants should be mainly derived from this source-will appear reasonable enough when we know the amount of shipping which enters and leaves the port. From returns made by order of the House of Commons, it appears that the ships which have entered the port of Hull during the last thirty years, have varied from 600 to 2,600 annually: the average of the last ten years having been considerably over 2,000. These vessels seem to have, on an average, a tonnage of about 160 tons; so that the amount of produce (unless any considerable number of the ships enter in ballast, which is hardly probable) brought into the port must be very large. It is a curious circumstance, and one which must be owing to the spontaneous course of commerce rather than to planned arrangements, that the British and foreign vessels engaged in the Hull trade are almost exactly equal in number. From 1833 to 1845, the British vessels which left the port amounted to 13,089; while the foreign were 13,114 in number. Until 1838, the British vessels almost invariably outnumbered the foreign; but in that year. the balance began to turn in the other direction, and has so continued ever since, with a few exceptions. The British vessels have, however, a much larger average tonnage than the foreign; so that there has never been a year when the aggregate tonnage of foreign vessels at Hull has equalled that of British. The British average is over 200 tons; the foreign is but little more than 100. In the first half of 1849 there were 28,000 bales of cotton twist, and 14,000 of cotton goods, exported from Hull: fully one-half of these quantities went to Hamburgh.

The above numbers tell very little to the mind of one who is not conversant with the proceedings of other ports; but when we find that London, Liverpool, and Newcastle, are the only British ports which take precedence of Hull in the number of vessels despatched therefrom; and that Leith, Glasgow, Greenock, Bristol, and the whole of the Irish ports, are subordinate to Hull in this matter-we may excuse the merchants of the Humber if they are a little proud of their busy port. The nations to which the foreign vessels in the Hull trade mostly belong are Germany, Denmark, Holland, and Sweden. The chief trade is with Russia, the Hanse Towns, Holland, and the North American colonies: the trade with France is but small.

If the Hull merchants were to test the grandeur of their port according to the amount of Customs' duty realized by the Government, it would occupy a somewhat different rank from that which results from taking the number and tonnage of the vessels. This arises from two causes. The Customs' arrangements sometimes require that the duties for a particular river shall be paid at a particular town on that river; and secondly, the kind of commodities mostly imported by any one town may be more amenable to Customs' duties than those of another. This is strikingly exemplified at Bristol, where the imported commodities pay a very high average Customs' duty. Influenced by these causes, the principal ports rank thus, in respect to Customs' receipts:-London, Liverpool, Bristol and Dublin (about equal), Glasgow and Leith (about equal), Hull, Newcastle, Belfast, Greenock, Cork. Hull stands

fourth on the list in respect to tonnage, but only seventh in regard to Customs; Newcastle occupies the third place in tonnage, but the eighth in Customs. Hull contributes rather over half a million sterling annually to the revenue of Customs.

THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY OF HULL.

In looking at the commercial arrangements of Hull generally, exclusive of those of the docks, we find that they are influenced by the peculiar form of the town. The old portion of Hull is, as we have said, an island, bounded by the two rivers and the three docks; and as this portion is incapable of enlargement, no new commercial establishments of any great extent can be established within it. Most of the notable buildings of the town (except those quite modern) lie within this boundary; although it does not occupy more than oneeighth part of the actual area of this constantly growing town. The Market-place, Queen-street, Low-gate, Whitefriar-gate, Myton-gate, Blackfriar-gate, Humberstreet, High-street-the principal commercial streets of the town-are all here situated. The most curious among these streets is High-street, the original main street of the town. It lies nearly close to, and follows the windings of, the river Hull. It is so narrow, the road-paving is so irregularly pebbly, the foot-pavement is so infinitesimally small, the houses are so large and high and old, the staiths or passages leading down to the river are so numerous, that this street is distinguished from all others in Hull. It is a sort of Thames-street or

Crossing the river Hull, and escaping from the timber-wharfs which lie between it and the Citadel, we find a long string of factories and works of great magnitude lining the eastern banks of the river for nearly a couple of miles. Glass-works, pottery-works, alkaliworks, bone-mills, iron-works, and a multitude of others, occupy positions very near the banks of the river. When we depart a little way from the river eastward, we soon reach the private streets, the partlybuilt ground, and the gardens and fields of Sutton, Sudcoates, and Drypool.

Keeping to the west of the river Hull, but extending our walk northward of the Docks, we come to the very extensive suburb, parish, or district of Sculcoates; a district in which many of the wealthier inhabitants have their private residences, and in which new streets and squares are springing up every year. But all the wealthy people, and all the good streets and squares, keep clear of the river Hull. So thoroughly is this river-on both banks, and for a couple of miles in length-given up to commerce and manufactures-that the amenities of private life do not invade the territory. Ships and seamen, smoke and factories, wharfs and warehouses, have it all their own way. There is a narrow crooked street, called Trippet in one part, Wincolmlee in another, and Church-street in a third; it follows the windings of the river Hull; and it presents such an array of oil-mills, glue-mills, bone-mills, horn and hoof-mills, cement-mills, colour-mills, &c., as render it not among the most savoury of thoroughfares. High up in this direction, on the extreme northern verge of industrious and ever-busy Hull, stands a building which we should hardly expect to find there. It is a cotton-mill on a vast scale, replete with all the finest apparatus of such establishments. There are two such at Hull; one on the eastern and the other on the western side of the river; both owned by joint-stock companies, whose shares are sold in the market like those of a railway-company. But (such is the force of habit) though the hundreds of windows, the loftiness of the chimneys, the perfection of the machinery, the excellence of the work, the number of the operatives, may be indisputable, yet one can hardly reconcile it with customary ideas to associate Hull with a cotton-mill. Nay, though Cobden Place presents us with a very pretty range of cottages near the mill, yet even this, can scarcely induce us to regard the mill other than as a "fish out of water." No disrespect to either mill or partners, however; for, after all, it may be a flourishing concern, and a commercial benefit to Hull generally.

We must not think of quitting the commerce and manufactures of Hull, without a word or two about whales and whale-fishers.

Hull has been for generations one of the headquarters of the Greenland Whale-fishery. The northern ports of our island have had far more to do with this branch of enterprise than the southern; and the merchants and seamen of Hull have a whole host of associations connected with the subject. The lively author of the Home Tour in the Manufacturing Districts,' while noticing the arrival of one of these vessels at the port, says: "The interest evinced by all descriptions of persons at Hull, on the arrival of a whaler, is very remarkable; for it may be said that the moral and physical affections of half the inhabitants are more or less excited-some in the hope or reality of profit, direct or indirect; and others by a host of domestic joys and anxieties." He goes on to observe : "An additional cause rendered the present spectacle even still more touching. A custom prevails among the seamen of these vessels, when traversing the polar seas, to fix, on the first day of May, a garland aloft, suspended midway on a rope leading from the maintopgallant-mast head to the foretop-mast head: a garland, not, indeed, bedecked with flowers, but ornamented with knots of riband, love-tokens of the lads for their lasses; each containing, as it were, a little tender history, sanctified in the heart's treasury, and with the details of which they alone are acquainted." This garland remains suspended, "blow high, blow low, in spite of sleet and hail, till the ship reaches once more her port. No sooner does she arrive at the Docks, than, according to long-established custom, it becomes an object of supreme emulation among the boys of the town, seamen's sons, to compete for the possession of the aforesaid symbol: to which end, animated by the gaze of their friends on shore, and a spirit of rivalry among themselves, they vie with each other in a perilous race up the rigging. The contest was at this moment about to take place: the garland being suspended aloft, in the position before described, and containing within its periphery the model of a ship, cut from the heart of an English oak, the type of honest affection."

to that port were engaged in it. But this fishery is no longer what it once was. The whales, like the beavers, are thinning under the influence of man's hunting and fishing propensities. But such whales as are brought to England are treated pretty much the same way at all the ports whither the whale ships are bound. There are establishments at Hull, at the outskirts of the town, where the boiling-down of the monsters takes place. Let the reader imagine a whaleship to arrive at the port, with the hull packed quite full of blubber and barrels. The ponderous animal is cut up piecemeal while at sea, and all the parts which are worth preserving are stowed away in the hold of the ship; and among these parts the most notable is the flesh or blubber, whence the oil is obtained. This blubber, when conveyed to the boiling-house, is emptied from the barrels into large vats, where it undergoes those processes which yield the common lamp-oil,processes which render the boiling-house anything but an Elysium. Another matter of attention is the whalebone: this is not, as many persons suppose, the actual substance of the bones of the whale: it is the material of a sort of screen or comb, within the mouth of the animal, which assists in the collection of weeds and small fishes for the food of the whale. The whalebone having a sort of lamellar structure, is easily split into layers by a cutting instrument. Women then scrape off a kind of pithy or horny substance from the surface of the whalebone; and also a kind of fringy or fibrous edging, which is applied to many such purposes as horsehair. Glue is made from a part of the offal of the whale; and everything which is applicable to no other useful purpose is prepared for manure: so that the monster of the deep is made to contribute to man's wants in many ways. Whether the Messrs. Enderby's South Sea projects will throw the whale traffic into a new channel is an interesting point, to be decided by the future.

We happened to be at Hull on the day when the gallant whaler, Abram,' started on her venturous voyage to the icy regions. There are few newspaper readers who are not aware of the frequent exploits of the whalers among the ice-bergs of the Greenland seas; of the aid which they have often afforded to the hardy Arctic explorers; of the ominous absence and silence of Sir John Franklin; of the plans of the English Government to assist in his rescue, if living; of the recent unsuccessful search made by Sir James Ross; of the tearful but heroic attempts of the wife (perhaps widow) of the veteran officer, to send still more and more assistance to the probable place of his detention; and of the agreement which this lady made with the captain and crew of a Hull whale-ship, to start with provisions and stores on a voyage to Baffin's Bay, to assist the missing navigators. The ship Abram' was ready for her task by the middle of June. God speed the expedition!

THE BUILDINGS AND INSTITUTIONS OF HULL. We have said very little hitherto of the public

buildings of Hull. Let us rapidly glance at some among the principal of them. A few of the larger streets we have named; and a word or two, en passant, concerning the poorer or humbler, may not be amiss. There is a general tendency in most towns for the inhabitants of a particular class or rank to copy each other in the style of dwellings inhabited; and thus, although we may not be able to assign any special reason for the adoption of a certain style of buildings in one town rather than another, yet we may observe a family likeness running through the mass of buildings in one town. Mr. Smith, of Deanston, who examined the sanatory condition of Hull four or five years ago on the part of the Government, tells us that the masters of small vessels and the mates of larger vessels very frequently reside in that town in oblong square paved courts, to which entrance is obtained by smaller narrow arched alleys, which branch out of the principal streets. The entrance-alleys are too often dirty and neglected; but the courts are well paved, and are scrubbed and washed scrupulously clean. Mr. Smith remarks that it is very pleasing, after having passed through these unsavoury alleys, "to find yourself all at once in a court from twenty to forty feet square, or oblong, with a paved area washed as clean as the deck of a ship. The doors and windows of the dwellings are all as tidy as possible; and the windows have all clean muslin screens." He then speaks of the residences of the working classes, which, as in most old towns, houses formerly occupied by a better class." But new rows of houses have been built, which are "set off in oblong courts, open at one end to the street, and generally closed at the other by a wall, and in some cases a dwelling. These courts are from eighteen to twenty feet wide, well flagged on the surface, with a fall towards the centre, where there is a covered sewer to receive all the surface and slop water through openings grated over, or covered with a stone perforated with many small holes. A row of stand-pipes for supplying water is arranged along the middle of the court. No carts are permitted to come into these courts. The dwellings are arranged on each side; they have a living-room below, fourteen or fifteen feet square, with a little scullery in one corner at the back, and a very small back court. . ... Up-stairs are two small bed-rooms. These houses are occupied by artizans and the better class of labourers. The buildings are of brick, with slated roofs: the floors of the livingrooms are flagged, and there are no under cellars.” Luckily for Hull, the near approach of the tide-water in the docks to the general level of the streets will not allow of cellars being made for habitation. Would it were so at Liverpool.

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In a large majority of our towns, a cathedral or church is the most important building. Hull is no exception to this rule. The church of the Holy Trinity at Hull is one of those fine old structures which command our admiration, whether we be commercially inclined or lovers of the picturesque. (Cut, No. 4.) It is grand from its character, and venerable for its age.