PORTS AND HARBOURS 3 
Endeavours have been made to promote ports, for instance, 
on the South coast of England in admirable situations 
as regards harbourage, overlooking the consideration that 
there is no trade inducement to shipping to visit such 
ports, and the schemes have accordingly fallen through. 
Unless there is a favourable hinterland ” to a port it 
cannot prosper. Hinterlands—the term is borrowed from 
Germany—are tributary areas of various kinds, and we 
may define them very briefly as contributory and dis- 
tributory, according as they feed or absorb, i.e. export or 
import. For exporting purposes, they may consist of 
coalfields as in South Wales, of wheat-producing regions 
as in Canada and the Argentine, of ore mining areas as in 
France and Spain, of manufacturing districts as in Belgium, 
and so on. For imports, there must either be a large 
population to be fed and supplied with the necessaries 
and luxuries of life, or there must be extensive industrial 
works absorbing large quantities of raw material for 
manufacture. One or two exceptions may be noted. 
Southampton is a great port because of its passenger 
traffic. Travellers arriving from America and anxious 
to reach London speedily are prepared to disembark at 
Southampton and finish their journey by train. Unless 
goods are what is termed ‘‘ perishable goods,” i.e. subject 
to deterioration through delay, it is not an economical 
proposition to unload such goods, intended for London, 
at Southampton, and despatch them by train, in com- 
parison with the through voyage to their destination, 
since it involves an additional handling of the goods and 
the cost of the journey by rail, while the few extra hours 
of the voyage to the Thames are of little account. Hence 
Southampton is not at present a great merchandise port. 
Its hinterland is as yet undeveloped ; it may be developed 
in course of time. 
Cherbourg is a notable port of the same kind. It 
receives a very large proportion of the passenger traffic 
between Northern Europe and North America, but it 
3