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The Life of Thomas Telford-Part45_Samuel Smiles(1812-1904)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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business with excellent ability."



After inspecting the little harbour of Bervie, one of the first

works of the kind executed by Telford for the Commissioners, the



party proceeded by Stonehaven, and from thence along the coast to

Aberdeen. Here the harbour works were visited and admired:--



"The quay," says Southey, "is very fine; and Telford has carried

out his pier 900 feet beyond the point where Smeaton's terminated.



This great work, which has cost 100,000L., protects the entrance

of the harbour from the whole force of the North Sea. A ship was



entering it at the time of our visit, the Prince of Waterloo.

She had been to America; had discharged her cargo at London; and we



now saw her reach her own port in safety--a joyous and delightful

sight."



The next point reached was Banff, along the Don and the line of the

Inverury Canal:--



"The approach to Banff is very fine,"*[4] says Southey, "by the

Earl of Fife's grounds, where the trees are surprisingly grown,



considering how near they are to the North Sea; Duff House--

a square, odd, and not unhandsome pile, built by Adams (one of the



Adelphi brothers), some forty years ago; a good bridge of seven

arches by Smeaton; the open sea, not as we had hitherto seen it,



grey under a leaden sky, but bright and blue in the sunshine; Banff

on the left of the bay; the River Doveran almost lost amid banks of



shingle, where it enters the sea; a white and tolerably high shore

extending eastwards; a kirk, with a high spire which serves as a



sea-mark; and, on the point, about a mile to the east, the town of

Macduff. At Banff, we at once went to the pier, about half finished,



on which 15,000L. will be expended, to the great benefit of this

clean, cheerful, and active little town. The pier was a busy



scene; hand-carts going to and fro over the railroads, cranes at

work charging and discharging, plenty of workmen, and fine masses



of red granite from the Peterhead quarries. The quay was almost

covered with barrels of herrings, which women were busily employed



in salting and packing."

The next visit was paid to the harbour works at Cullen, which were



sufficiently advanced to afford improved shelter for the fishing

vessels of the little port:--



"When I stood upon the pier at low water," says Southey, "seeing

the tremendous rocks with which the whole shore is bristled, and



the open sea to which the place is exposed, it was with a proud

feeling that I saw the first talents in the world employed by the



British Government in works of such unostentatious, but great,

immediate, palpable, and permanentutility. Already their excellent



effects are felt. The fishing vessels were just coming in, having

caught about 300 barrels of herrings during the night....



"However the Forfeited Estates Fund may have been misapplied in

past times, the remainder could not be better invested than in



these great improvements. Wherever a pier is needed, if the people

or the proprietors of the place will raise one-half the necessary



funds, Government supplies the other half. On these terms,

20,000L. are expending at Peterhead, and 14,000L. at Frazerburgh;



and the works which we visited at Bervie and Banff, and many other

such along this coast, would never have been undertaken without



such aid; public liberality thus inducing private persons to tax

themselves heavily, and expend with a good will much larger sums



than could have been drawn from them by taxation."

From Cullen, the travellers proceeded in gigs to Fochabers, thence



by Craigellachie Bridge, which Southey greatly admired, along

Speyside, to Ballindalloch and Inverallen, where Telford's new road



was in course of construction across the moors towards Forres.

The country for the greater part of the way was a wild waste, nothing



but mountains and heather to be seen; yet the road was as perfectly

made and maintained as if it had lain through a very Goschen.



The next stages were to Nairn and Inverness, from whence then

proceeded to view the important works constructed at the crossing



of the River Beauly:--

"At Lovat Bridge," says Southey, "we turned aside and went four



miles up the river, along the Strathglass road--one of the new

works, and one of the most remarkable, because of the difficulty of



constructing it, and also because of the fine scenery which it

commands.....






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