The Sun.
London, England, 1846-04-06 00:00:00

LARNE.

This port is the safest and the easiest of access of any
on the N.E coast of Ireland. Since my last report on
Lame, in 1836, a very correct chart of it, by Commander
Mudge, R.N., has been published by the Admiralty. A
lighthouse has been erected, and lit up, by the Irish
Ballast Office, on the eastern side of the entrance ; and
a quay of two hundred feet long, with jetties, projecting
on piles, having sixteen feet water alongside them, at
low springs, have been constructed inside the entrance,
by Mr. Agnew, the proprietor of the port, at an expense
of only 1,350/. These improvements have rendered
Larne the most eligible port of communication with
Scotland, of any on the N.E. coast of Ireland. If a rail-
road, tending to create a mercantile traffic, were con-
structed from Larne, either to Belfast, or the north of
Ireland, the port of Larne contains the most eligible
sites for docks, quays, and ova-ehouses ; which, from the
abundance of materieds at hand, and cheapness of labour,
might be constructed, as Mr. Agnew's works prove, at
a very moderate expense.
While sounding and examining Larne, I had an ex-
cellent opportunity of observing the effects of a heavy
gale, from the northward right into the harbour on the
11th of December last. I watched the entrance during
the continuance of the gale, and at all heights of the
tide ; very little swell entered ; the regular trading
steamer, from Portsmouth, came in after dark, dis-
charged part of her cargo, took in another, and departed
for Liverpool, in the height of the gale. During her
stay in the port, which was only one hour and a half, she
perfectly- tranquil alongside Mr. Agiletv', jetty.
The old rubble walls and cottages on the beach, just in-
side the entrance of the port of Larne, distinctly prove,
that, for ages, no sea of any violence could have entered
the harbour, or, situated as they are, barely clear of
high water mark, they would have been washx. away,
LOCH RYAN.

This port, which, in winter, frequently affords shelter
to three or four hundred sail, riding in perfect t.e:turity,
is safe of approach, and easy of access, day or night, in
any weather.
Since I reported on Lochryan, in 1836, a tower has
been built on Cairn Point, and I am informed, that a
lantern is to be placed on it this sumn3er. When tl i,. is
lit, the Cairn Point, which has seven fathoms' water
close to it. can be approached on the darkest night,
without hesitation ; and nothing will be required to
make it the most eligible port of communication with
the North-East coast of Ireland, but a pier or jetty, for
the accommodation of passengers and goods.
opinion,
packet
There are three plaees in Lochryan which have been
spoken of as eligible for embarking mails, passengers,
and goods, viz. Finnert Bay, Cairnryan, and Stranraer.
Having had a very good opportunity of observing the
effects of the heavy gates of last month (December,
1845) en the different localities of this loch, I have no
the hesitationi3es t in
place,dthat Cairnryan is
station, or the ter-
minus of a railroad for goods or passengers. Finnert
Bay, which is tao miles nearer the entrance of the loch
than Cairnryan, is too exposed, and would require a very
eeeilathreinrgfornrya
extensive and solid breakwater, the expeese of whin h
would far outweigh any advantage the two mile.; might
afford; independent of which, from the nature of the
present bay, it would, in all probability, be soon filled
up with shingle. Stranraer has certainly very good
anchorage; but the present pier is dry at low water,
and would require to be considerably extended. The
Scaur shoal is very much in the way of vessels going up
to Stranraer, in thick weather or dark nights, and pas-
sengers going to Ireland, from Glasgow and the North,
would have to pass Cairnryan on their way to Stranraer;
thus adding five miles by land, and the same distance
back again by water, to their journey,
I therefore feel justified in giving the preference to
Cairnryan, where a very eligible site for a pier or jetty
presents itself at the Claddy-house point. A pier might
be constructed in a N.W. direction from the Claddy
point, extending about halt a•cable's length, which
would have from 14 to 18 feet alongside of it, at low
springs, for nearly its whole length, as the Claddy point
is steep too. This pier might be constructed of wood or
stone, there being no pressure of sea to injure it. The
Claddy point has also the advantage of a rivulet of fresh
water, which might be conveyed in pipes along the pier,
for the use of the vessels, filling the boilers, &c., &c., and
the level ground about the Claddy point offers a most
desirable site fur the terminus of a railroad.
PORTPATRICK.

After a careful examination of this port, I see no
reason to altar the report I made of it in 1836, and
which has been confirmed by every naval officer that
has been subsequently applied to—viz., that Portpatrick
is not, nor ever can be made, a safe harbour, either to
run for, or depart from, in westerly or south-westerly
gales, without incurring a most enormous expense. The
plan which I have the honour to submit will show the
nature of the port better than any description I can
give of it in writing. It will be seen, that it lies open
to the prevailing winds from the westward and south-
west, which cause a heavy sea to roll into it, and with
such violence, as to prevent any vessel lying in the
outer harbour, or even the inner one, without sustaining
injury to her hull, fastenings, or engines. The only
way to subdue the swell, in the inner harbour, would be
to remove the old pier that tends to direct it there; but
the doing so would leave no place of shelter to the few
small vessels trading to that port.
The present small steamers employed to convey the
mails cannot get in or out of Portpatrick at low water,
there being only three feet water over the bar leading to
their berths. In spring tides they.lie aground, even in
their berth, at low water. This circumstance not only
prevents any regularity in the arrival or departure of the
mails, but would render any attempt at acceleration by
railroad useless. During westerly and south-westerly
pigales,ta btreio kleovwwe
without
hsaot
water, they
imminent
yc amn
un
must
trt
serknu enter
of life.
al
g iorfreo. (
jodduenpa
nr
on
fromon
nttehrei
nP o r t -
and lie exposed to the sea ; if there be water over the
them,
,thtpehaesyy dependsimnrguunstmthr.erisk
cocatchingovosonfcbreaiing;
g the check ropes,
when
kfoooro,
keifd thtoe y
Against the cliff. On departing, there is so little room
-to get way on the vessel, that if she be struck with two
following seas at the entrance, she would, in all proba-
bility, lose her way, and fall off with her head towards
the pier or rocks, rendering it impossible to give her
either head or stern way with the engines ; so that she
.must either be dashed against the piers, or driven into
Ithe harbour, against Mr. Cook's Craig, there being no
-room to turn her, either by dropping her anchor or the
use of sails or engines. Should any accident occur to
the engines, on the first shock they receive in going out
between the pier heads, the vessel must be dashed to
pieces.
The lighthouse, which was erecting on the South-pier
head when I was there in 1836, has not been lit since
1839. It cannot be approached in bad weather ; the
g seen sea breaks thirty feet over the lantern, and the
p; ter it stands on is so frequently under water, that it has
ti le appearance of a half-tide rock. I understand that,
in consequence of tho foundation of the South-piergiving
wr ay, which threatened the destruction of the lighthouse,
1, vast quantity of atones, weighing several tons each,
.I,:ere, a few pan ago, thrown into the outward angle

of the South-pier and jetty. These large blocks, instead
of protecting the masonry, during the westerly gales,
actel as battering-rams for its destruction, being
hurled against the angle with such force as to cause
considerable damage. They finally disappeared, hav-
ing been driven in various directions, after pounding
themselver to pieces. The North-pier, as will be seen
by the plan, fortunately has not been finished ; for, if it
were, it would be a very hazardous experiment to steer a
vessel into the harbour, during a south-westerly gale.
At present the swell which rebounds from the south
pier and jetty, across the entrance of the harbour, ex-
pends itself amongst the rocks on the north side ; but,
where the north pier finished, there would be a check
and rebound from it, that would so agitate the entrance
as to defy any man to steer through it.
In short, however suitable Portpatrick might have
been, and no doubt it possessed great advantages, when
small sailing sloops were employed to convey the mails,
it is clearly manifest that, after the introduction of
steam-vessels, it should have been abandoned, not only
from its incapability of admitting steam-vessels of suffi-
cient length and power to insure a regular and safe
passage across these stormy seas, but because there
were other ports, not far off, better situated with regard
to mail deliveries, and which might be entered or de-
parted from in perfect security in any weather, and by the
largest class of steamers—namely, Lochryan and Loch
Larne. Were Lochryan and Loch Larne adopted, it
would only be necessary to erect a jetty at Cairnryan, as
Mr. Agnew offers the use of his, at Larne, gratis. Should
a fair trial be given, to ascertain the relative merits of
the present route, via Portpatrick and Donaghadee, and
the route I have the honour to propose, by Lochryan
and Lochlarne, the mails and passengers could be em-
barked at Cairnryan, in any weather, and the pier need
not be constructed till the result of the trial wouldenable
a decision to be formed.
DONAGHADEE.

I beg to submit a plan of this harbour, which will
give a much better idea of it than any description of
mine. A reference to the soundings, marked red, which
I took last month, will show the extent the harbour has
silted up, since I sounded it in 1836. I found a quantity
of large stones extending from just inside the entrance
to a "puddle dyke" in the centre of the harbour, that
had never been removed ; those stones had been
washed into the harbour from the glacis, during
easterly and south-easterly gales, and ought, together
with the puddle dyke, to have been removed. Don •
aghadee in its present contracted and shallow state,
will not admit of larger steamers than those now em-
ployed, and even they find great difficulty in entering it
at low water, during easterly gales. There is no serious
objection to Donaghadee as a packet station, it being
situated on a weather-shore, during the prevailing
winds, and frequented by the packets during daylight
only ; it might be deepened to ten feet all over ; but it
is evident, however, that it is too small to be of any ser-
vice as a harbour of refuge. It will always require an
annual expenditure to keep it up, and has not capacity
for admitting that length of vessel which alone could
ensure regularity and safety in conveying the mails
across those seas.