This view represents both the West India Import and Export Docks, with the canal, as they appeared when completed in 1805. I should here state that in 1829 the Corporation of London sold the canal to the West India Dock Company for £120,000; and, until converted into the existing South Dock, it was used by the Company as a timber pond, and for the accommodation of an important grain trade. The Government was so impressed with the necessity of removing the shipping from the river, that for a period of twenty-one years they made it compulsory upon all vessels from the West Indies to discharge in these docks. Not only so; but the Commissioners of Customs were empowered to order vessels from other parts to discharge here. And all vessels outward bound for the West Indies were compelled either to take in their cargoes in these docks or else in the river below Blackwall—an arrangement more costly than the payment of dock dues. As a further illustration of the interest which the Government took in these docks, I may add, that the wall surrounding them was built at a cost of £30,000, advanced by the Government; and that for a considerable time the premises were under the protection of troops sent down for the purpose, and that circumstance accounts for the existence of the guard-houses to be seen facing the inner entrance to the West India Docks. You will have observed that the West India Docks were established, almost exclusively, in the interest of the West India trade. Their location in the Isle of Dogs had, of course, been in opposition to the views of a powerful party in the City. The result of this feeling was the establishment of the London Docks, which followed so closely upon the West India Docks that scarcely twelve months elapsed between the passing of the two Acts; the London Dock Act passing on June 20, 1800. Commenced on June 26, 1802, the first stone being laid by Lord Hawkesbury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, the ‘Western’ Dock of 20 acres, the first completed, was opened on the last day of January 1805, at a cost £140,654 an acre: and this view represents the dock as it then appeared. This is a remarkably fine view, as you will observe, the sinuous course of the river and the Isle of Dogs in the distance, coming out very distinctly. This view represents the dock, when opened, as seen from the river. All vessels entering the port with wine, brandy, tobacco, and rice were compelled to unload here for a period of twenty-one years from the date of completion, under a penalty of forfeiture of the ship to the Crown, and a fine of £100 from the owner or master. The Hermitage Basin and entrance were opened in 1820, the Eastern Dock and the Tobacco Dock in 1828, and the original Shadwell entrance and basin in 1832. The fine jetty in the Western Dock was built in 1838, and the new Shadwell entrance and basin were constructed at a vast outlay and opened on October 13, 1858.