that “as easy and safe as Wyre water” had for long been a proverb amongst the mariners of our coast, and that the harbour was, and is, perfectly sheltered from all winds, as well as connected with a railway terminus which communicates with Preston, Manchester, etc., we are astonished that comparatively so little encouragement has been given to it, and that now, thirty-five years from the date of this survey, the first dock is only approaching completion. The river Wyre is plentifully supplied with fish of various sorts; in the higher parts of the stream trout and smelts may be found, whilst the lower portion and estuary contain codling, flounders, sea-perch, conger, sand eels, and occasionally salmon. The earliest enactments with regard to the fisheries connected with the last-named fish related to the Wyre, Ribble, and other rivers of Lancashire. In 1389, during the reign of Richard II., a law, which arranged the times and seasons when the fisheries in these rivers should be closed, and other matters affecting them, was passed and brought into force, being the first regulation of its kind. The Ribble is associated with the Fylde only in so much as its tidal estuary is concerned, which forms the southern boundary of the district. Since 1837 great alterations have been effected in the channel of the river by the Ribble Navigation Improvement Company. The stream for the larger portion of its extent from Preston to the Naze Point has been confined within stone embankments, and its bed considerably deepened by dredging. During the progress of these improvements wide tracts of land have been reclaimed both north and south of the current. From Freckleton the river rapidly widens as it approaches the sea, so that a direct line drawn from Lytham to Southport across its mouth would pass over a distance of seven or eight miles. The channel here is shallow, while the sands on each side are flat and extensive, and midway in the estuary, at its lowest part, lies the far-famed Horse-bank, which divides the stream into a north and south current, scarcely discernible, however, after the tide has risen above the level of the bank. About one mile from the town of Lytham, in the direction of Preston, is a pool of moderate dimensions, having an open communication with the river, and formed into a small harbour or dock for yachts and vessels connected with the coasting trade. In the bed of the river, a little higher up than that locality, trunks of large trees are occasionally observed at low water, and many such remains of a once noble forest, which is believed to have extended from near the Welsh coast as far even as Morecambe, have been raised at different times during the operation of dredging. The following descriptions of the Ribble, its source, course, and tributaries, were written, respectively, by the ancient topographer Harrison, and the poet Drayton, whose accounts of the Wyre have been previously quoted:—