PORTS AND HARBOURS | 
in all available directions. Inland, these auxiliary services 
will consist of— 
(@) Railways for long distance traffic ; 
(b) Roadways for vehicular traffic, locally ; and even 
economically by motor lorry for distances up to about 
50 miles ; 
(c) Rivers and natural waterways, taking advantage of 
such natural transportation forces as tide, wind and 
current ; 
(d) Canals and artificial waterways with animal or 
mechanical propulsion. 
Seaward, the port is the starting point and home base 
of — 
(a) Liners, or steamships (and motor vessels) carrying 
on regular services with other ports ; 
(b) Tramps, or vessels chartered for specific voyages, 
which vary for each occasion, as trade requires ; 
(c) Coasters, operating between adjacent ports, or 
between a main port and its outlying or daughter ports ; 
(d) Special class vessels, such as colliers, oil tankers, 
and the like, engaged in particular forms of trade. 
Bearing these considerations in mind, we may now 
ask ourselves what is the best situation for a port, so that 
it may fulfil its dual distributive functions to advantage. 
PORT LOCATION 
In accordance with their location, ports have received 
distinguishing prefixes. Those on the seaboard are called 
Seaports ; those on the banks of rivers, River Ports ; those 
on the shores of large inland lakes or seas (such as the Great 
Lakes of North America) are known as Lake Ports; and 
those, such as Manchester and Bruges, which are reached 
by important artificial waterways, as Canal Ports. 
Ports, as a matter of fact, are to be found in almost 
every conceivable locality—except, perhaps, in the midst 
of a range of mountains! Strange as it may seem, the 
most remote and inland countries of Europe possess ports