The Sun.
London, England, 1838-01-20 00:00:00

STATE OF THE THAMES.

The state of the river on Thursday was such that business was almost
entirely suspended. The river was completely blockaded for four
hours between the lower part of Wapping and Rotherhithe ; two
brigs and two schooners only came up, and got stuck fast among
the ice, with not less than twenty coal barges, on which fires were
burning, without which the bargemen would have been unable to re.
main on board, so intense was the cold. But the most extraordinary
circumstance of Thursday was that a man, without the hope of emolu-
ment er gain, walked from the south to the worth shore over the ice,
acrd landed in safety. His situation was frequently one of most immi.
trent peril, and the adventurer was watched with the most intense
anxiety over the " block," as it was termed, along shore. On approach-
ing the north side of the river he found a channel between him and the
shore, and waited until an iceberg came up the stream, on which he
boldly stepped, and it drifted close to the causeway, and he landed in
safety There are not less than 300 ships on butts shores, the
masters and crews of which are unable to get upon land, the ice, which
is not strong enough to go over in safety, cutting off all communication.
Several colliers, which have been sold and meted, are unable to get into
the pool to discharge their cargoes The whole of Blackwall.reach is
blocked with the ice, and no boats or craft of any description can put
off from either shore; there is a narrow channel in the middle of the
river, free from the enormous blocks of ice and congealed snow,
along which a few vessels were enable to pass. There is a good
deal of ice in the lower parts of the river, and indeed all the way
clown to Gravesend, the Thames is scarcely navigable. The heavy
fall of snow of Wednesday night and Thursday, has very much in.
creased the size of the ice-bergs. Soon after the tide began to flow
Thursday, the river, from Wapping Old-stairs to Princes-stairs, on
the opposite shore, had the appearance of one field of snow, the
tide flowing beneath it, and the ice covered with the snow remaining
still until nearly the period of high water, when a few barges were set
afloat by the division of the ice.
The communication between the two shores by means of the ferry-
boats has been closed fur four days, and hundreds in the daily habit of
crossing the stream from Execution.dock to Princes stairs, and vice
versa, have been compelled to travel by land, and take the circuitous
route of Ratcliff-highway, Tower-hill, London bridge, Tooley-street, and
Bermondsey, to Rotherhithe. The wind blew almost a gale from the
northward Thursday morning, and the severity of the frost and the
snow-storm on the river drove almost every one between decks. The
coal-whippers, who were exposed to the weather, could scarcely pro-
cecel with their laborious work, and many of the old. st among them
stated that they never felt the cold more intense. fhe Tower moat has
been for some days frozen over, and on Wednesday a number of ama-
teurs got over the railings and began skating. They were soon followed
by a number of men and boys, and the scene became very animated, the
ice being very thick. Unfortunately for the East-enders the people
were soon driven away, and tine fine sheet of ice is now unoccupied.