total expense was £26,000, of which sum £22,000 was subscribed by Mr. Burdon.[5] Although many ships are loaded direct from such staiths as are at a short distance above the bridge, yet the greater part of the coals are brought down in keels from staiths situated higher up the river. The keels of the Wear, though of the same tonnage as those of the Tyne, are somewhat differently built, being flatter in the bottom, and of a lighter draught of water. The Sunderland keels are managed by only one man, who usually has a boy to assist him. In the Wear the coals when in bulk are cast from the keel into the ship by men called coal-casters; while on the Tyne, where the crew of each keel consists of three men and a boy, the coals are always cast by the keelmen. Within the last few years, a considerable quantity of coals, in order to prevent the breakage occasioned by discharging them into the keels from the spout, and then casting them into the ship, have been put on board the keels in _tubs_, which are afterwards raised by machinery to the vessel's deck, and then discharged into the hold. These tubs are exactly like coal waggons without their wheels, and contain the same quantity--one Newcastle chalder, or fifty-three cwt.[6] Each keel carries eight of these tubs. The number of keels employed on the Wear is above 500. [4] The inscription on the foundation-stone contains a bad pun: "Quo tempore civium Gallicorum ardor vesanus prava jubentium gentes turbavit Europeas _ferreo_ bello, Rolandus Burdon armiger, meliora colens, Vedræ ripas, scopulis præruptis, ponte conjungere _ferreo_ statuit." [5] Surtees's Hist. of Durham, vol. 1, p. 226. [6] Evidence of Sir Cuthbert Sharp before the Lords' Committee on the Coal Trade, 1829, p. 23. [Illustration: ENTRANCE TO SHIELDS HARBOUR.] SHIELDS. ENTRANCE TO THE HARBOUR. The view of the entrance to Shields Harbour is taken from the bank a little below the Spanish Battery, on the north side of the Tyne, and about a quarter of a mile to the south-westward of Tynemouth lighthouse. To the left, a part of South Shields is seen, with a vessel "dropping up" the Narrows, just before entering the harbour. Towards the middle of the Engraving are the two lighthouses at North Shields--distinguished by their flag-staffs--which, when taken in a line, are a guide for vessels in passing the bar. To the right of the low lighthouse is Clifford's Fort, enclosed by the line of embrasures, and commanding the entrance to the harbour. To the right are the banks, of clay, which extend from the Spanish Battery to the Low Lights, and upon which the sea is every year gradually making encroachments. The present Engraving, independent of its beauty as a work of art, possesses the merit of containing the only correct view of the entrance to Shields Harbour which has hitherto appeared.