The shores of Tyree, as already often noticed in these pages, and as deplored by Martin 140 years ago, in his Account of the Hebrides, afford few places of safety fit even for boats. It had therefore been determined, by the Commissioners, that any attempt at the construction of a harbour should be strictly confined to the provision of a place of shelter for the vessel which was to attend the Lighthouse. Much attention had been bestowed on the subject, not merely by myself during my five years’ acquaintance with Tyree, but also by Mr Thomas Stevenson, who succeeded me in the charge of the works at Hynish, at the time when I was appointed Engineer to the Lighthouse Board in January 1843, after the completion of the masonry of the Tower. A small sandy beach at Hynish, which lies embayed between rugged rocks, had been selected as the fittest place for the pier; and all the materials had been landed and shipped there, so that we naturally looked to it as the site for the projected harbour, not only as presenting works already finished, which might be made available as part of a more extended plan, but as a place which, during an experience of some years, had justified our anticipations as to its being less frequently disturbed during stormy weather than most of the neighbouring creeks. All that was contemplated in the proposed plan, was to form a small basin in which the vessel could lie sheltered in all states of the weather, and from which she could find an easy departure in any condition of the sea which would permit a landing to be made on the Rock. The Skerryvore Steamer having been sold and a small vessel of 35 tons, named the “Francis,” having been purchased at Deal, the dock accommodation at Hynish was, for the sake of economy, laid out with reference to the shelter of that vessel. It was calculated that a basin 100 feet in length and 50 feet wide, would afford sufficient room for such a vessel; and as her draught of water is between 7 and 8 feet, it was thought sufficient to provide for a depth of about 12 feet at high water of spring-tides, which, it was expected, would render the dock accessible during good springs at about _three quarters flood_.