Page:A tour through the northern counties of England, and the borders of Scotland - Volume I.djvu/318

 which we had passed, as drew from V— a similar observation with the stranger at the Athenian theatre, that though the inhabitants of other places may know what courtesy is, yet those of Warden-Row practice it.

Sunderland, situated on a tongue of land, descending steeply to the river, is not seen till it be nearly approached, and offers an handsome entrance through a street of modern houses, a new creation grown out of the improving trade of the place. It consists chiefly of one good street of great length, another of less consideration in a parallel direction, and several lateral ones diverging from the principal one at right angles. An immense increase of population had arisen from the successful prosecution of the coal trade, which was rapidly increasing till the war checked the spirit of speculation. It numbers, however, at present, under every disadvantage, including the adjacent hamlets of Bishop-Wearmouth, Monk-Wearmouth, and the north side, are estimated at forty-two thousand inhabitants.

Four different bodies of people extract a profit from the Sunderland coals, before they appear in a foreign market:— The colliers, who dig them; the proprietors of the mines, who sell them to the third description of people, the fitters, a sort of middle-