| 1844. | 1845. | 1846. | 1847. | 1848. | 1849. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colonial deals and battens (in pieces) | 2,025,000 | 2,349,000 | 2,355,000 | 3,339,000 | 2,740,000 | 2,722,000 |
| Foreign ditto (in ditto) | 2,130,000 | 2,290,000 | 1,242,000 | 1,996,000 | 2,044,000 | 1,903,000 |
| Total pieces | 4,155,000 | 4,639,000 | 3,597,000 | 5,335,000 | 4,784,000 | 4,625,000 |
| Colonial timber (in loads) | 57,200 | 55,800 | 53,600 | 49,600 | 38,300 | 38,600 |
| Foreign ditto (in do.) | 58,200 | 68,100 | 86,000 | 79,100 | 69,000 | 61,400 |
| Total loads | 115,400 | 123,900 | 139,600 | 128,700 | 107,300 | 100,000 |
The consumption of the metropolis has been little less than the quantity imported. In the six years above enumerated the total importation of foreign and colonial deals and battens was 27,135,000 pieces, of which 26,695,573 were consumed in London; and the total importation of foreign and colonial timber was 714,900 loads, of which 644,224 were consumed. This gives an average annual importation of 4,522,500 deals and battens, of which only 73,238 have been sent out of the country every year. Of timber, the average annual importation is 119,150 loads, and the average annual exportation only 11,779 loads.
The number of wood-laden ships that have entered the port of London since 1840, together with the countries whence they came, is given below. By this we shall perceive that our trade with Norway in this respect has sunk to exactly one-half of what it was ten years back, while that with Sweden and Finland has been very nearly doubled in the same time. The timber-ships from the Prussian ports have increased little less than one-third, while those from Russia have decreased in the same proportion. The trade with Quebec and Montreal also appears to be much greater than it was in 1840, though compared with 1841 there has been a considerable falling off; that of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia remains very nearly the same as it was at the beginning of the decennial period. Altogether the great change appears to have been the decline of the Norwegian and Russian timber-trade, and the increase of that with Sweden and Prussia. It is also worthy of notice, that notwithstanding the increase of population, the number of wood-laden ships entering the port of London every year has not materially increased within the last ten years.
THE NUMBER OF CARGOES OF TIMBER, DEALS, AND BATTENS, IMPORTED INTO LONDON IN THE FOLLOWING YEARS.
| 1840. | 1841. | 1842. | 1843. | 1844. | 1845. | 1846. | 1847. | 1848. | 1849. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christiana and Christiansund | 49 | 50 | 47 | 27 | 36 | 27 | 22 | 32 | 39 | 23 |
| Other ports of Norway | 52 | 43 | 38 | 36 | 49 | 39 | 17 | 28 | 25 | 27 |
| Gothenburg | 61 | 64 | 49 | 59 | 59 | 66 | 30 | 67 | 55 | 41 |
| Swedish ports and Finland | 85 | 84 | 85 | 102 | 90 | 149 | 103 | 101 | 138 | 154 |
| Russian ports | 181 | 108 | 130 | 119 | 163 | 115 | 146 | 91 | 113 | 134 |
| Prussian ports | 70 | 70 | 52 | 104 | 143 | 124 | 109 | 167 | 108 | 100 |
| Quebec and Montreal | 168 | 224 | 188 | 230 | 206 | 206 | 166 | 216 | 179 | 195 |
| New Brunswick and Nova Scotia | 104 | 97 | 62 | 134 | 90 | 102 | 127 | 145 | 108 | 105 |
| Sierra Leone, Maulmein, &c. | 16 | 20 | 29 | 31 | 5 | 10 | 20 | 21 | 13 | 20 |
| 786 | 760 | 681 | 842 | 841 | 838 | 740 | 868 | 778 | 799 |
The next step in our inquiry is, What becomes of the 800 wood-laden ships that annually enter the port of London? Whither do they go to be unladen? to what docks, or places of “special security,” are they consigned to be discharged and to have their cargoes delivered or bonded?
For this purpose there are five docks, three of which lie on the Surrey side of the river. These three are the Commercial Docks, the Grand Surrey Canal Dock, and the East Country Dock, and they are almost contiguous to each other, the Surrey Canal Dock lying immediately alongside the Commercial, and the East Country at the upper end of it. They are situated in, and indeed occupy, nearly the whole of that small cape of land which is formed by the bending of the river between the Pool and Limehouse Reach. The docks on the Middlesex side of the river, which are used for the reception and unlading of timber-ships, are the West India and the Regent’s Dock, or the entrance to the Regent’s Canal.
The number of wood-laden ships that have entered the three principal docks for the last ten years is given below. I am informed by Mr. Jones of the Commercial Docks, that for every ship above 100 tons six men are required to sort and pile away. Rafting from ships of the above burden requires one or two men daily, according to circumstances.