The ports of Devonshire once ranked among the first in England, and her sailors have for many centuries been famous for their enterprise and daring. It was from this county that the first English trading-expeditions sailed to Africa, Brazil, and North America. They were Devonshire men, who, by taking possession of Newfoundland, established the first English colony—in which most of the old families are of Devonshire descent. Devonshire ships were long the terror of the Spanish Main. Devonshire men were among the very foremost in the defeat of the Spanish Armada. A Devonshire captain was the first Englishman to sail round the world; and although we remember with regret that his friend and comrade was the first Englishman to engage in the iniquitous traffic of the slave-trade, we are proud to think that few men did more than he to improve our ships and the condition of our seamen.

In their palmy days, in the century or more following the flight of the Armada, Bideford and Topsham had each of them more trade with the young colonies of North America than any other English town except London. Barnstaple, Ilfracombe, Dartmouth, Brixham, and Appledore were once important seaports. At the present day not one of the whole seven has sufficient trade to be honoured with a separate entry in the Government Shipping Returns. Plymouth is now the only maritime town of commercial importance. Even its traffic, large as it seems, is small in comparison with that of London or Liverpool, and as far as trading statistics go, it stands no higher than thirtieth among the ports of the United Kingdom.

Several causes have contributed to the decay of the Devonshire ports. Most of them are situated on river-estuaries which, in the lapse of ages, have become silted up by mud and sand brought down by the rivers, or obstructed by shingle washed up by the waves. The harbour of Sidmouth was destroyed by the encroachment of the sea and the fall of the cliffs which formerly protected it. Again, the tonnage of ships, and consequently the amount of water they draw, have very greatly increased since Tudor and Stuart times, when these ports were in their prime; and it would be impossible for the large vessels of to-day to navigate the shallow and danger-strewn waters of our estuaries, even if they could cross the bars by which they are obstructed. Nor is it worth while to improve the navigation by dredging, as is done to so great an extent on the Thames, the Mersey, and the Clyde. The industries of Devonshire are now of small importance, and the county has no great manufacturing centres to supply freights. Plymouth Sound is the only busy waterway, and Plymouth is the one populous town requiring large quantities of imports.

The only harbour in North Devon given in the shipping returns is Barnstaple, with which are associated Ilfracombe, Bideford, and Appledore. Ilfracombe, the only port in the long stretch of coast between Bridgwater and Padstow, had formerly a good deal of traffic with Wales and Ireland, but its tidal harbour is now visited only by excursion steamers and small coasting-vessels.

The other three towns are river-ports. Barnstaple is eight miles from the mouth of the Torridge, Appledore is just inside the entrance of the Taw, and Bideford is five miles up the same river, whose estuary is obstructed by a dangerous bar, only to be crossed at high tide. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries all three towns had an active trade with North America; and even in comparatively recent times ships of 1000 tons have been moored at Barnstaple quay. But at the present day only 37 cargo-carrying vessels sail to and from the whole group in a year, and the trade (chiefly in timber and dye-stuffs) of all four together, principally with home ports, but also with Sweden and Norway and some other European countries, amounts to little more than £18,000 in twelve months.