Improvement of the Highlands.
About the middle of the last or eighteenth century, the true value of the Highlands of Scotland, and the best interests of these extensive districts, may be said for the first time to have been understood. Since that period, the object of the Government has been more especially directed to the industry of the inhabitants, in giving every encouragement and facility to the establishment of fisheries, towns and harbours, along the shores of the north and west of Scotland; and in opening interior communications, by the introduction of a system of roads, the formation of an extensive inland navigation, and the execution of other national works.
Extension of Trade.
Soon after the internal disturbances which marked the year 1745, the trade on the coast of Scotland with sloops or vessels of small tonnage, became considerable, in consequence of the bounties and encouragement given to the extension of the British fisheries. About this time also, the important manufacture of kelp or marine alkali, from certain species of fuci abundant on the northern and western shores of Scotland, was introduced. Besides carrying the kelp to market, a considerable number of small vessels was employed in conveying salt and other articles required for the fisheries,—in the Irish coasting trade,—in carrying slates from Argyleshire,—and in transporting the rich iron-ore of Cumberland to the foundries on the eastern shores of the kingdom. A trade was likewise carried on from the Firth of Clyde, Liverpool, and the west of England in general, and north of Ireland, with Norway, the Baltic, and the other States in the north of Europe, in timber, iron, tar and other commodities; and in exchange for these were received coal, salt, and the various exports of Britain. These all became sources of commerce, which created a demand for shipping, and promoted numerous voyages along the northern and western coasts of Scotland, which now became more known and frequented. But such was the length and peril of a voyage round the coast of Scotland, by the Orkneys and Western Islands, without the aid of light-houses, or even of correct charts, that the traffic along these shores was still comparatively small.
Inland Navigation.
It was to remove these difficulties in some measure, that the formation of a navigable canal between the Friths of Forth and Clyde, had long been in agitation; and in the year 1767, the measure was brought forward in the House of Commons. This canal, upon a voyage from the Forth to the Clyde, is calculated to save no less than about 628 miles; the distance, by the inland navigation being reduced to about 35 miles. This work having been carried into execution, was opened from sea to sea in 1790, forming an important step in the progressive intercourse by water-carriage, a system which has since been so remarkably extended to all parts of the united kingdom. But the usefulness of the Forth and Clyde Canal was greatly marred by an unfortunate error in its construction, its depth having been limited to 9 feet, and its consequent incapacity for carrying sea-borne ships of large burden; so that the inconveniences of a circuitous voyage round Scotland still remains for all the larger classes of shipping. In the formation of the Caledonian Canal, the error of the Forth and Clyde navigation has been avoided; this noble work being capable of receiving ships which draw 21 feet of water.
Voyage of James V. in 1540.
Notwithstanding these great improvements, it was still found necessary, from the increasing state of trade, to give further facilities to the navigation of the northern shores, by the Orkney and Western Islands. The first step taken towards this object, was to procure accurate surveys of the coast; for it is a curious fact, deserving of notice, that the little journal and chart of the enterprising voyage of James V., with many of the Scottish Nobles, from the Firth of Forth to the Solway Firth , by the Orkneys, was long consulted as the only guide for these seas. This voyage, so honourable to the naval annals of Scotland, was undertaken by James with twelve ships in the year 1540, under the direction of Alexander Lindsay, the most skilful pilot of his time.
Original Charts.
At the request of the Philosophical Society (now the Royal Society) of Edinburgh, the Rev. Alex. Bryce of Kirknewton, about the year 1740, made a geometrical survey of the North-west coast of Scotland, including the shores of Caithness and Sutherland. This paved the way for the more extensive labours of Mr Murdoch Mackenzie, who, after finishing his excellent charts of the Orkney Islands in the year 1750, was employed by Government in a survey of the whole of the Western Highlands and Islands, from Cape Wrath in Sutherlandshire to the Mull of Kintyre. But long after the publication of these valuable charts, the navigation of the sounds and sheltered seas of this district was seldom ventured upon by the larger class of shipping employed in foreign trade. The danger of falling in prematurely with the land during the night, and the rapidity of the tides on these shores, induced the mariner to keep along the extreme points and headlands of the coast, holding his course even to the northward of Orkney and Shetland, and to the westward of the Lewis Isles by St Kilda, exposed to the heavy seas of the Atlantic Ocean. In this way, much hazard to shipping, and loss of time, were incurred; and when overtaken with gales of wind, such vessels were unable to avail themselves of the numerous bays and anchorages of the Highlands;—considerations of much importance to heavy laden ships, but especially to the smaller classes of coasting and fishing vessels. It therefore appeared, that nothing but the erection of Lighthouses, by which the mariner might identify the land under night, would render this navigation at all a safe one.