{"id":"01KG8AKS80HQ4VPMWR9RABJXS4","cid":"bafkreih4q6yp36vyzvryv7jcbiosda6dq55mtlbsmu53ffib3hp52dx67u","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":6455,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:14.842Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 3","source_file":"01KG89J1GP71YDJ60P8SRH97MF","start_line":6388,"text":"Dock is protected by a long pier of masonry, surmounted by a massive\r\nwall; and on the side next the town, it is bounded by similar walls,\r\none of which runs along a thoroughfare. The whole space thus inclosed\r\nforms an oblong, and may, at a guess, be presumed to comprise about\r\nfifteen or twenty acres; but as I had not the rod of a surveyor when I\r\ntook it in, I will not be certain.\r\n\r\nThe area of the dock itself, exclusive of the inclosed quays\r\nsurrounding it, may be estimated at, say, ten acres. Access to the\r\ninterior from the streets is had through several gateways; so that,\r\nupon their being closed, the whole dock is shut up like a house. From\r\nthe river, the entrance is through a water-gate, and ingress to ships\r\nis only to be had, when the level of the dock coincides with that of\r\nthe river; that is, about the time of high tide, as the level of the\r\ndock is always at that mark. So that when it is low tide in the river,\r\nthe keels of the ships inclosed by the quays are elevated more than\r\ntwenty feet above those of the vessels in the stream. This, of course,\r\nproduces a striking effect to a stranger, to see hundreds of immense\r\nships floating high aloft in the heart of a mass of masonry.\r\n\r\nPrince’s Dock is generally so filled with shipping, that the entrance\r\nof a new-comer is apt to occasion a universal stir among all the older\r\noccupants. The dock-masters, whose authority is declared by tin signs\r\nworn conspicuously over their hats, mount the poops and forecastles of\r\nthe various vessels, and hail the surrounding strangers in all\r\ndirections:— _“Highlander ahoy! Cast off your bowline, and sheer\r\nalongside the Neptune!”—“Neptune ahoy! get out a stern-line, and sheer\r\nalongside the Trident!”—“Trident ahoy! get out a bowline, and drop\r\nastern of the Undaunted!”_ And so it runs round like a shock of\r\nelectricity; touch one, and you touch all. This kind of work irritates\r\nand exasperates the sailors to the last degree; but it is only one of\r\nthe unavoidable inconveniences of inclosed docks, which are outweighed\r\nby innumerable advantages.\r\n\r\nJust without the water-gate, is a basin, always connecting with the\r\nopen river, through a narrow entrance between pierheads. This basin\r\nforms a sort of ante-chamber to the dock itself, where vessels lie\r\nwaiting their turn to enter. During a storm, the necessity of this\r\nbasin is obvious; for it would be impossible to _“dock”_ a ship under\r\nfull headway from a voyage across the ocean. From the turbulent waves,\r\nshe first glides into the ante-chamber between the pier-heads and from\r\nthence into the docks.\r\n\r\nConcerning the cost of the docks, I can only state, that the _King’s\r\nDock,_ comprehending but a comparatively small area, was completed at\r\nan expense of some £20,000.\r\n\r\nOur old ship-keeper, a Liverpool man by birth, who had long followed\r\nthe seas, related a curious story concerning this dock. One of the\r\nships which carried over troops from England to Ireland in King\r\nWilliam’s war, in 1688, entered the King’s Dock on the first day of its\r\nbeing opened in 1788, after an interval of just one century. She was a\r\ndark little brig, called the _Port-a-Ferry._ And probably, as her\r\ntimbers must have been frequently renewed in the course of a hundred\r\nyears, the name alone could have been all that was left of her at the\r\ntime. A paved area, very wide, is included within the walls; and along\r\nthe edge of the quays are ranges of iron sheds, intended as a temporary\r\nshelter for the goods unladed from the shipping. Nothing can exceed the\r\nbustle and activity displayed along these quays during the day; bales,\r\ncrates, boxes, and cases are being tumbled about by thousands of\r\nlaborers; trucks are coming and going; dock-masters are shouting;\r\nsailors of all nations are singing out at their ropes; and all this\r\ncommotion is greatly increased by the resoundings from the lofty walls\r\nthat hem in the din.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 3"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJRKN0AFHV4QZYJCEBMVJ","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1GP71YDJ60P8SRH97MF","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKS808DGBPSZZF0XCQD1M","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:15.616Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:30.452Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}