the Mersey, and has an excellent harbour, formed with much labour and expense.

We were told that about a hundred years ago Liverpool was an insignificant place, and contained a few thousands of inhabitants, but so rapidly did it increase in size, commercial importance, and population, that at present the inhabitants are said to be 200,000 in number, and the large docks with ships from all parts of the world, at once indicate the extensive trade of the port, and it is at present said to be the second port to that of London, and from the daily increasing traffic, and the enterprize of the merchants, it is impossible to say to what greatness this place may arrive in half a century more.

Liverpool is not a manufacturing town, but it is a great commercial mart, and from its proximity to Birmingham, Preston, Manchester, and Glasgow, large manufacturing towns, as well as the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland, it attracts innumerable ships from all America, West and East India, and other parts of the world, for the accommodation of which large docks are constructed at a great expense, and the number of ships that are to be seen here is truly astonishing, they appear almost as a forest of masts, yards, and rigging, and the town, as well as the river Mersey presents a scene of considerable degree of activity, bustle, and

real business.

The largest of all the docks is the Prince's dock, which was opened in 1821. It is 500 yards in length, and 106 yards in breadth, and covers an area of 57,000 square yards. On one end of it are vessels discharging their cargoes, while the other end is devoted to the foreign ships taking in their freights principally of the American flag. Large sheds are also erected all round to protect the valuable goods from the ever-changing and inclement English weather, the entrance to this magnificent dock is by gates 45 feet wide and 34 deep, and vessels can be admitted at half tide.

The Trafalgar, Adelaide and Waterloo docks, are also very fine, the latter was opened in the year 1834, and contains an area of 30,764 yards. These three are named, one from Lord Nelson's victory, one in honour of the Queen Dowager, and the other from the victory of the Duke of Wellington.

Besides these, there are the King's, the Queen's, the Brunswick dock, which communicate with each other, and near them are several merchant building yards. The Clarence dock is entirely appropriated to the use of the steam packets, that leave daily from Liverpool to Glasgow and Dublin; it has an area of more than 29,300 square yards, and 900 yards of quay room. There is also a basin of considerable size attached to this dock, and the steamers which lay here are all open for inspection to strangers.

The facility and the convenience these docks afford in loading and unloading the ships is extremely beneficial to the commerce and to this may be attributed the rapid advancement of the trade of Liverpool.

We were very much amused, and quite astonished at the enormous quantity of the valuable property that was deposited under the sheds near the docks, and the bustle that we witnessed here, hundreds of waggons were hurrying along loaded with cotton bales, piece goods, tobacco, hemp, rum, wine, spirits, sugar, and a great many other articles. Ships from every part of the world were taking in and emptying out their cargoes, and thousands of men, all full of business and activity were moving about in every possible direction, and we could not but help thinking what an advantage it would be to our own country where docks such as in England constructed there, and we hope that sooner or later our countrymen in India will in conjunction with their European brethren take this into their consideration, and make a beginning. The advantages of these docks manifest themselves in what we have spoken about this flourishing port.

The town of Liverpool is any thing but regular, and the streets most of them are confined, narrow and dirty. There are some however wide and straight, with fine shops and well lighted with gas. Some of the private buildings

buildings are good, and the part nearest the docks is like the "city of London," entirely open, devoted to the mercantile offices, shops, and immense warehouses for cotton, coffee, and other staple articles of trade. The Town Hall is a noble building, where the town council meet and public dinners take place; it is inspected by applying at the treasurer's office for a ticket. Our guide Mr. Littlejohn kindly procured admission for us, and we were conducted through a suite of rooms by a person paid for the purpose by the council, and who does not expect (as is the case in a great many public establishments in England) any gratuity. The saloon contains some very good paintings, and we were much pleased with the large dimensions of the ball room; it is 81 feet long, 41 feet 6 inches wide, and nearly as high. All the rooms are very well furnished and kept in excellent order.

After viewing the interior we went up to the gallery which surrounds the outside of the cupola, by ascending a flight of winding stairs. The prospect from this height is very good; the river, docks and shipping, together with the town and the country round can be seen from here, but it being a foggy day we could not see any thing to perfection.

At a short distance from the Town Hall is the Exchange, where all the merchants congregate, and where mercantile transactions are carried on; it is a fine regular building, and the exterior is very neat and elegant. It embraces three sides of a quadrangle, in the centre of which stands a well

executed monument of that great and immortal man, Nelson. It was erected in 1813 by private subscription, and is said to have cost £90,000. There is a news-room in this building which astonished us very much, it is 92 feet by 54, and we saw upwards of three or four hundred people, some talking, some walking about, while a great number were busy in reading papers, principally foreign. This is a very excellent plan, because a merchant can here learn all foreign news of trade, and know every thing that is going on at home; he can also gain much information, and cultivate acquaintances, and all these advantages can be secured by the annual payment of a small sum. On a slate in this room we saw arrivals and departures of shipping, and intelligence of vessels either at sea or in other ports.

The people of Liverpool are, strictly speaking, a money making set, yet they have not neglected literature, the fine arts, and patronizing places of amusement; for there is a fine exhibition of paintings, a mechanics institution, a public library, a zoological garden, three theatres, and several charitable institutions and places for recreation. The Theatre Royal is the principal one, and the other two are called the Liver Theatre, and the Amphitheatre, but we do not think it necessary to notice them after having described the theatres of London. They are not very large, and the admission to the boxes is only 3s. In the principal one, Mr. Carter, of whom we have spoken in