The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-05-03
THE THAMES BMBANKMENT.
A wonderful Work Of Engineering. the History
Of Which Is Forgotten.

AS the seat of. an extensive commerce and
internal trade Roman London was as emil
nent. In antiquity as tits to-day. It's mon
ments, the memorials Of It's greatness,
prove its prominence. One OF these, IL it is
Roman work, which Is uncertain, Is the
embankment of the River Thames. ThiS
immense work is quite unequaled by any
of the labors Of the modern English
engineers. For thirty-seyen miles along
the course of the stream. lofty mounds
confine the river within fixed bounds, and
offer secure path to the navigator. On
each side the country spreads out far below
the embankment, and more than once the
waters have broken through, overspread the
lowands, and left desOlation around them
The English had neglected to repair and
strengthen the. bankS.of the river, and were
indebted to the skill of a Dutch engineer for
/ the restoration Of the Roman work. "The
Thames from Richmond" says Mr.. Smiles.
lis an artificial river. How many years Of
ceaseless TOLL Of acute engineering skill,
aud vast expense were employed on this I'M
equaled work no history relates, no record
even suggests. Some authorities attribute
the embankment to the Belgic traders,
before the Roman INVASION; others, even to
the monks'Of the middle ages But there is
good reason to suppose that the true authors
of the chief improvements on the Thames
were the Romans. Similar works on almost
gu equal scale exist In other parts of En-
gland, and we have the complaint of thesub-
jeet Britons that they were worn out and
consumed in clearing the woods and en-
banking the fens. Not that the hapless
natives were ever treated by their Roman
taskmasterS as harshiy as were the savages
of HayN and Cuba by the Spanish dis
coverers. But they have outliYed their con-
QuerOr.
Before these embankments were made,
the country below London was an immense
fen, or marsh, over which the tide flowed
necessarily. The town could have been
only collection of rude houses seated on
the rising ground above the river. 1t was
already seat of considerable trade even
before the. Roman conquest But the genius
and skill OF the Roman engineers, IL the
Romans built the embankment, gave It
those unequaled facilities for traffic that
have secured its commercial supremacy in
every age. By the embankment the
Thames was confined within bounds; many
acres of land were added to the agricultural
domain, while along the fine highway of
the river eeaSeless procession Of vessels OF
every size and form moved up and down.
They came, as StraOO tells us, from the
mouths of the Loire and the Garonne, the
Seine and the Rhine. Some were war-ships,
moved usually by oars, and distinguished
by their. sharp beaks of iron, and their
crews armed with spears and Shield SONS
were huge merchant vessels, propelled By
oars and sail, laden with rich cargoes Of
Eastern manufactures, with the wines Of
Italy and the artistic wares of Greece; some,
sailing down the river from the docks of L0n-
don. would carry the tin, lead furs and the
corn and cattle of the west to the ports Of
Gaul and Spain. Julian found in Britain the
necessary supplies for his perishng soldiers
in Germany, and the immense stores hs
drew from il when famine prevailed on the
Continent show the general cultivation and
prosperity of the island. His eco corn ships
were hastily built in the forest of Ardennes.
and possibly landed only on the southern
shore; if we allow thema burden Of 100 tons
each they would equal tie capacity of at
least six Umbrias or Etrurias, and the very
names of our modern argosles recall the
italian teachers of our ancestors.-From
"Roman London" by Eugene Lawrence, in
Harper'S Magazine for May.