A great impetus was given to this part of the Principality by the opening of the South Wales Railway in 1851, and Swansea appears to have received its full share of the advantage which railway communication confers under the most favorable circumstances. The improvement of that part of the town near the railway station is very manifest; several new shops of a superior class having been built, and others improved and altered in order to keep pace with the growing importance of the neighbourhood. At the same time, in various parts of the town, most important improvements have been going forward. The Harbour has been much improved, by floating that part of the river known as the Town Reach: this was very much needed for the larger class of vessels trading from this to foreign ports, and which heretofore were liable to injury from being strained while lying on the mud in a dry harbour; it also gives the advantage of bridges to pass over the river in two places, instead of the tiresome old ferry boat, which happily now is only remembered as belonging to by-gone days. The Swansea docks on the western side of the pier, after a long, and at one time apparently hopeless struggle, are also now actively progressing towards completion. The effect of large works of this kind on the prosperity of the town was soon manifested, for no sooner was the vexed subject of the docks fairly settled, and the contractor had commenced operations, than in an incredibly short space of time, fields in the neighbourhood that were almost valueless, were soon covered with houses and streets; so that a person who has not seen that part of the town for the last two years, would now scarcely know where he was, if set down in the road he was formerly quite familiar with. In other parts of the town the tendency to extension is equally seen; and wherever there is _room_ to extend, the buildings are rapidly covering the ground. Many persons living remember when the town extended westerly no further than Goat Street, Cross Street, Rutland Street, &c.; but the generation now rising up, bids fair to see even a much greater increase than their fathers; and it is quite impossible to form an opinion how far the town will ultimately extend. Three or four projects are now in contemplation, for giving to the public increased railway accommodation, and improving the harbour; and judging from the natural capabilities of the district, and the experience of the past, the carrying out of some of these new schemes of railway accommodation, and the completion of the docks, must exercise an influence on the town and district, of which we can at present form very little idea.