1775, 140l. 5s.; 1785, 490l.; 1795, 965; 1805, 1,2727. 10s.; 1814, 17014. 10s. 3d. Their amount in the following years is seen in the Table below. It is essential also to bear in mind, that while the income has rapidly increased, the rates of charge have been very considerably reduced. The customs revenue in the undermentioned years has been Years. 1792 1833 1837 1838 1839 Revenue. 76,150 1 3 Years. 1840 1845 1848 1849 1850 Revenue. £63,346 8 9 46,325 0 0 60,150 0 0 92,557 18 10 64,072 0 0 65,183 10 3 The amount of customs duties does not, however, afford any thing like a true criterion of the extent of the trade of Dundee, as flax and hemp, the chief articles of import from foreign countries, are not subject to any duty. The greater part of the sugar used in Dundee being either refined or of the sort called crushed lump, which is partially refined, there is scarcely any revenue derived from sugar, there being no refineries here, and no direct importation of raw sugar. When there was a duty on foreign corn, a considerable sum was received at this port, but now that the duty is only 1s. per quarter, the sum received from that source is very small. The number and tonnage of vessels belonging to the port at different periods has been — Table showing the Size and Berthage of the Docks finished and projected at Dundee. 270 feet in length, 70 feet wide at top of walls, 35 feet at bottom. {600 feet in length, capable of taking up a ship of 800 tons, worked by an engine of 16 horse power 40 feet length of lock, 160 feet betwixt the gates. 55 ⚫ The Graving dock and Patent slip are capable of taking 3 vessels on each at one time, each vessel being 350 tons. The docks are accommodated with three sheds, having 15.400 sq. ft. of floor, and seven cranes. Imports. The staple articles are flax, hemp, and jute, from foreign countries, and coals and lime, Linens and lineu yarn. coast wise. Exports. An Account of the Dundee Harbour Revenue, from May, 1822, to May, 1850. Statement of the Principal Imports and Exports in the Years 1849 and 1850. 133 539 3,007 25,660 480 3,171 191 618 3,294 319 554 3,158 25,381 24,499 24,036 24,041 22,803 The number of vessels which entered the port of Dundee in 1850 was 3,815; registered tonnage, 299,043 The port of Goole on the Ouse, a little above its junction with the Humber, about 22 miles more inland than Hull, has a considerable trade. Previously to 1820, Goole was but an insignificant hamlet. It communicates by means of canals with Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Wakefield, &c. Though so remote from the sea, vessels drawing 15 or 16 feet water may, by taking advantage of the flood, reach Goole in safety. It has 2 wet docks and a basin. The first, or ship dock, is 800 feet long by 200 in breadth. The second, or barge dock, is 900 feet long by 150 in width, and is intended for the accommodation of the small craft which ply upon the canals and rivers. The warehouses at Goole are extensive and convenient; and it has been admitted to the privileges of a bonding port. There belonged to it, in 1850, 311 sailing vessels of 50 tons and upwards, of the aggregate burden of 24.361 tons, and 201 small river craft of less than 50 tons. She has also 8 steamers. The nett customs revenue received at Goole in 1850 amounted to 34,2581. VIII. LEITH DOCKS, SHIPPING, ETC. Leith, which may be called the port of Edinburgh, has 3 wet docks, containing about 15 acres of water room. Two of these were constructed several years ago for the accommodation of the vessels ordinarily frequenting the port. The other, which is not yet quite finished, is intended for the use of steamers. These docks have cost large sums; and owing to the harbour drying at low water, large sums have, also, been expended in the extension of the pier. The latter, which is partly of wood, is of very great length, the object in carrying it out being to arrive at such a depth of water as would enable vessels of considerable burden to come to its extremity at all times of the tide. We are not aware whether this object has, after all, been fully attained. But, whether or not, we are disposed to regard the outlay upon it as little better than thrown away. The harbour of Leith, or rather of Edinburgh, should in fact have been constructed at Trinity or Granton, about orm. W. from Leith, being, however, nearer to it than the extremity of the new pier. And a deep water harbour, accessible at all times, having been already constructed at Granton, the late and present outlay at Leith seems not a little preposterous. The harbour at Granton has been formed by the duke of Buccleugh. A pier, constructed in the most approved manner, projects into the sea about 1700 feet. It is shaped like a T with its head to the N., and has harbours and landing-places on both sides. It has been open for some years; but hitherto it has been principally resorted to by steamers. The duke is now constructing a breakwater, which will add much to the security of the shipping. The commerce of Leith, from its being the port of Edinburgh, is very considerable, and has been slowly but steadily improving. It carries on a limited trade with Australia, the E. and W. Indies, China, the Mediterranean, Canada, and the United States; but its chief foreign trade is with Holland and the N. of Europe. With regard to its domestic trade, there are companies, which have vessels trading with London; and other companies have vessels trading with Hull, Newcastle, Liverpool, Greenock, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Montrose, Wick, Helmsdale, Orkney, Shetland, Dundee, Stirling, &c. The communication by steam with London is twice a week during the entire year, but more vessels sail in summer than in winter. There is also a communication by steam with Newcastle and Hull twice a week; with Stirling twice a day; the opposite coast of Fife 3 times a day; and a regular communication with every important place on the E. of Scotland, from Lerwick in Sheiland, and Kirkwall in Orkney, to Berwickupon-Tweed. The steamers sail from Leith, Newhaven, the chain pier at Trinity, or Granton, but now mostly from the latter. Leith formerly sent 8 or 10 vessels to the Greenland whale fishery, but such has been the decline of the business that she no longer sends a single ship. We subjoin An Account of the British and Foreign Ships which entered Inwards and cleared Outwards at Leith in 1848, 1849, and 1850. Declared value of exports from Leith in 1850, 366,5521. Years. 1836 1837 18.38 1839 Gross Amount of Customs' Dues collected at Leith during the following Years. There belonged to Leith, in 1850, 102 vessels of 50 tons and upwards, and 85 of less than 50 tons, the aggregate burden of the former being 16,952, and of the latter 2,438 tons, exclusive of 15 large and 8 small steamers. ton. For all foreign vessels from any of the before-men- . d. For all loaded vessels not breaking bulk, and for all For every ship or vessel going from the port of Leith 2 - 0 101 from within the Straits of Gibraltar, or from America -1 4 DOG (Fr. Chien; Ger. Hund; It. Cane; Lat. Canis familiaris). ped, emphatically styled "the friend and companion of man," there is a vast variety of species. But to attempt to give any description of an animal so well known, would be quite out of place in a work of this kind; and we mention it for the purpose principally of laying the following account before our readers, with a remark or two with respect to Asiatic dogs. An Account of the Number of Dogs entered, and for which duty was paid in Great Britain, in the Year 1841; distinguishing the Number of Packs of Hounds, and the Number of each Description of Dog, the Rate of Duty on each, and the aggregate Amount paid. Cuvier, the great French naturalist, says, “The dog is the most complete, the most remarkable, and the most useful conquest ever made by man: every species has become our property; each individual is altogether devoted to his master, assumes his manners, knows and defends his goods, and remains attached to him until death; and all this proceeds neither from want nor constraint, but solely from true gratitude and real friendship. The swiftness, the strength, and the scent of the dog have created for man a powerful ally against other animals, and were, perhaps, necessary to the establishment of society. He is the only animal which has followed man through every region of the earth." It is singular, however, that neither Cuvier, nor any one of those by whom his statements have been copied, should have mentioned that this account is applicable only to Europe. All Mohammedan nations regard the dog as impure, and will not touch it without an ablution. The same is also the case with the Hindoos. From the Hellespont to the confines of Cochin-China, dogs are unappropriated, and have no master. They prowl about the towns and villages; and though they are naturally more familiar, they are in no respect more domesticated, than the carrion crows, kites, vultures, &c. which assist them in performing the functions of scavengers. In China and CochinChina, the dog is eaten as food; its flesh being, with the exception of that of the hog, the most common in their markets. The unnecessary multiplication of dogs, particularly in large cities, is a very great nuisance: coming, as they often do, into the possession of those who are without the means of providing for them, they are frequently left to wander about in the streets; and from ill usage, want of food and of proper attention, are apt, during hot weather, to become rabid. In several districts of the metropolis the nuisance has attained to a formidable height; and it is singular, considering the numerous fatal occurrences that have taken place, that no efforts should have been made to have it abated. It has grown to its present excess, partly from too many exemptions being granted from the duty, and partly from a want of care in its collection: but besides lessening the number of the former, and more rigidly enforcing the latter, it would be proper to enact that all dogs found wandering in the streets without masters should be destroyed. DOWN (Ger. Dunen, Flaumfedern; Du. Dons; Fr. Duvet; It, Penna maita, Piumini; Sp. Flojel, Plumazo; Rus. Puch; Lat. Plume), the fine feathers from the breasts of several birds, particularly those of the duck kind. That of the eider duck is the most valuable. These birds pluck it from their breasts and line their nests with it. Mr. Pennant says that it is so very elastic, that a quantity of it weighing only of an ounce, more than fills the crown of the largest hat. That found in the nest is most valued, and termed live down; it is much more elastic than that plucked from the dead bird, which is comparatively little esteemed. The eider duck is found on the western islands of Scotland, but the down is principally imported from Norway and Iceland. DRAGON'S BLOOD. See BALSAM. DRAWBACK, a term used in commerce to signify the remitting or paying back of the duties previously paid on a commodity on its being exported. A drawback is a device resorted to for enabling a commodity affected by taxes to be exported and sold in the foreign market on the same terms as if it had not been taxed at all. It differs in this from a bounty, that the latter enables a commodity to be sold abroad for less than its natural cost, whereas a drawback enables it to be sold exactly at its natural cost. Drawbacks, as Dr. Smith has observed, "do not occasion the exportation of a greater quantity of goods than would have been exported had no duty been imposed. They do not tend to turn towards any particular employment a greater share of the capital of the country than would go to that employment of its own accord, but only to hinder the duty from driving away any part of that share to other employments. They tend not to overturn that balance which naturally establishes itself among all the various employments of the society; but to hinder it from being overturned by the duty. They tend not to destroy, but to preserve, what it is in most cases advantageous to preserve- the natural division and distribution of labour in the society." -(p. 29 Were it not for the system of drawbacks, it would be impossible, unless when a country enjoyed some very peculiar facilities of production, to export any commodity that was more heavily taxed at home than abroad. But the drawback obviates this difficulty, and enables merchants to export commodities loaded at home with heavy duties, and to sell them in the foreign market on the same terms as those fetched from countries where they are not taxed. Most foreign articles imported into this country may be warehoused for subsequent exportation. In this case they pay no duties on being imported: and, of course, get no drawback on their subsequent exportation. Sometimes a drawback exceeds the duty or duties laid on the article; and in such cases the excess forms a real bounty of that amount, and should be so considered. It is enacted by the act 3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 52., that no drawback or bounty shall be allowed upon the exportation from the U. Kingdom of any goods, unless such goods shall have been entered in the name of the person who was the real owner thereof at the time of entry and shipping, or of the person who had actually purchased and shipped the same, in his own name and at his own liability and risk, on commission, according to the practice of merchants, and who was and shall have continued to be entitled in his own right to such drawback or bounty, except in the cases her in-after provided for. - § 86. No drawback shall be allowed upon the exportation of any goods, unless such goods be shipped within 3 years after the payment of the duties inwards thereon. And no debenture for any drawback or bounty upon the exportation of any goods, shall be paid after the expiration of 2 years from the shipment of such goods; and no drawback shall be allowed upon any goods which, by reason of damage or decay, shall have become of less value for home use than the amount of such drawback; and all goods so damaged which shall be cleared for drawback shall be forfeited; and the person who caused such goods to be so cleared shall forfeit 2007., or treble the amount of the drawback, at the option of the commissioners of customs. § 90. No drawback or bounty shall be allowed upon goods exported and cleared as being press-packed, unless the quantities and qualities of the same be verified by oath of the master packer thereof, or, in case of his unavoidable absence, by oath of his foreman. — § 93. No goods cleared for drawback or bounty, or from any warehouse, shall be carried to be put on board ship for exportation, except by a person authorised for that purpose by licence of the commissioners of customs. 94. (See IMPORTATION AND EXPORTATION.) DUBBER, a leathern vessel, bottle, or jar, used in India to hold oil, ghee, &c. Barrels, as already observed - -(see BARRELS), are entirely a European invention. Liquids, in Eastern countries, are for the most part packed for exportation in leathern vessels. Dubbers are made of thin untanned goat skins; and are of all sizes, from a quart up to nearly a barrel. DUNNAGE, in commercial navigation, loose wood, consisting of pieces of timber, boughs of trees, faggots, &c., laid in the bottom and against the sides of the ship's hold. either, 1st, by raising the cargo when she is loaded with heavy goods, to prevent her from becoming too stiff-(see BALLAST); or, 2d, to prevent the cargo, should it be |
