The wind continued in the southward till we reached the entrance of St. George's Channel; cast lead and found sixty fathoms of water; then bearing full, we saw[208] Cape Clear in a few hours. The wind heading us blew down the channel for three days, during which we could make no progress at all. This seemed indeed tedious, being so near our port of destination. The wind springing up, and all sail set, we ran up the channel for Liverpool; took in a pilot at Holy Head, who hove us to at the Old Alms Head that night, and took us in the next morning. As we came along the pier head we hired men to secure the sails, such was our anxiety to be on shore. The next day we were paid off, and took our chests to the boarding-house. Liverpool, at the mouth of the Mersey, on the Irish Sea, is an important commercial city, being next to London, the greatest port in the British empire. It is situated from Manchester thirty-six miles, and two hundred and four from London. The city is irregularly built, but the public buildings are elegant. The Exchange is double the size of the Royal Exchange of London, and cost the immense sum of £100,000. The Town Hall is another noble edifice. Liverpool is the grand medium through which the trade of England with Ireland and with this country is carried on; and a vast quantity of business is transacted by its merchants with the ports of the Mediterranean, East Indies, and other parts of the world. Cotton is the leading article of import, and is extensively used in the manufactures of Lancashire, of which, in 1830, out of 793,695 bales imported into England, 703,200 were brought into Liverpool. The duties paid at the custom-house of Liverpool in[209] 1837, were four millions, three hundred and fifty-one thousand, four hundred and ninety-six pounds, being about a fifth of those paid throughout the whole kingdom. Liverpool is the greatest outlet for the goods manufactured in Lancashire and Yorkshire, for sale in America. The town, thus so extensively concerned in that commerce from which England derives its chief glory, presents many external features not unworthy of its mercantile character. Of these the chief are the docks, the sight of which, bristling with numberless masts, and a scene of constant bustle from loading and unloading, fills a stranger with amazement. The town contains several handsome streets, the chief being Castle street and Dale street. There are many well conducted charitable institutions. About fifteen hundred patients are admitted annually in the infirmary. The Blue-Coat hospital maintains and educates about two hundred boys and girls. The school for the blind is on a most extensive scale. A handsome and spacious theatre, and a circus, are open during a great part of the year. At the Royal Liverpool Institution, public lectures are given; and attached to it is a philosophical apparatus and a museum of natural curiosities.