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