"If they," said Picket, as he one day stood by me at the helm, instructing me how to steer through this passage, will not have a knowledge of the "tide, and be beforehand with the tide, what "must they expect, Sir?"

To pass here with security, they must both "mind "the run of the tide, and keep the rock of the Bea

con-tower close aboard;" and if the vessel does not answer her helm, to keep her off the Herring rock, I ask, "what's anchors for ?"

The camel is called in the East, the ship of the desert; and a ship was called by the ancient Scandinavians, the horse of the ocean. Now, what should we say of any one who called himself a fox-hunter, and who, if he found his horse running away with him, and drifting him towards a gravelpit, or a crag, or the verge of a cliff, should choose to forget that he had a bridle in his hands? And in the very same manner, if a Pilot, finding his horse of the ocean running away with him in a current, towards some shoal ground, or a rock, or another vessel-what should we say of him, if, finding himself in this situation, and being without wind to command his vessel, he should choose to save himself the trouble of remembering that there was an anchor at the bows?

I introduce here, for its practical force, a precept given me by the same Pilot; an admirable one in practical navigation, and not less admirable as a metaphor in the navigation of a certain tide of

"ruffian billows" mentioned by Shakspeare-the "tide in the affairs of men :"You must take 'the tide BEFOREHAND, Sir: its no use to be a

Pilot, even though you know the rocks, unless you have the knowledge of the tide BEFOREHAND, and to be BEFOREHAND with it.'

The reason is this:

The importance of the light, for giving an increased security at night at this part of the river, will be more manifest by a single glance at the chart; for although the tide in the Narrows be so vehement in the ebb, the ebb-tide at the Beeves is still more so; and that tide sets down directly upon the Herring rock. some miles above them, opposite Grass island, the two rivers, the Ougarnee and the Maig, empty themselves into the Shannon; and the channel of the Fergus is above them too. I say the channel of the Fergus, which is between the Horse rock, Moylan's rock, and Moylan's children.

It is to be further observed, that the mouth of the channel of the river Fergus being on the north side of the Shannon, there is consequently here a cause not only of the increase of the force of the current, by the additional body of water of the three rivers, but an additional impulse of that current towards the Herring rock on the south side.

I have purposely let my boat drift through the passage by the Beacon-tower, to ascertain for myself the direction of the current, and its velocity; and although I should have no more apprehension

for the security of a vessel passing here by daylight, with any of the Pilots who were in the habit of attending me, than I should feel if she were at anchor in the Pool of Limerick-I again urge the necessity of a light in the tower, during the long and dreary winter nights.

"But chiefly spare, O, King of Clouds,
The seaman on his airy shrouds."

CAMPBELL. Ode to Winter.

F

CHAP. III.

DIMINISHING THE DANGER OF THE NORTH

CHANNEL.

"This passage is never made use of, except when vessels are dragged "down upon the Big Bird by the heavy tide."

(Extract from Notes of Conversations on the River, with Pilots and Fishermen).

to me,

66

you

LET me now imagine that it were to be said have examined the state of the Navigation of the Shannon, you say, with great care, and you hope with great accuracy, as in

your several excursions on the water, you made "it a point to be attended by some of the best "Pilots of the port of Limerick, and by Fishermen "familiarized with every part of the river. You

66

say too, that these Fishermen know the situa"tion of rocks and shoal grounds with extraordinary accuracy, by the infallible experiment of "often touching them with their nets. You say "furthermore, that you have sought information "in every other quarter in Limerick and Clare, "where you could hope to obtain it. Now, there"fore, as the practical result of all this, what do

you propose as the most important improvements "which could be effected in the Navigation-im

provements which would require the application "of some fund for carrying them into execution? "That at the Beeves, viz. the light during the "winter months, would be paid for, you say, by "the Masters of vessels, without encroaching on

any sum which might be appropriated to the "improvement of the other parts of the river. "State those improvements, in what appears to

56

you to be the order of their relative importance." To this I should immediately reply:

First, The work of the greatest importance, without any question, would be clearing the tail of the Cock rock, opposite Conoh-point, by reason of the length and extreme narrowness of that rocky passage; and because the whole of both tides sets a vessel right in on it.

Secondly, Next to this, the work of the greatest importance would be, the removal altogether of the Kippen rock on the north mud, near the fort of Cratloe.

Thirdly, After this, the most important improvement which could be effected, would be to diminish the danger of the north passage, between the middle bank of Sod island and Tradree, in the county Clare. There are other points, of minor importance, which I shall notice in transitu.

Let me now imagine that it were to be inquired of me" Do you therefore propose that, in the first "place, the tail of the Cock rock should be cleared,