Course end ifilluen11.—Tbe Trent rises in the hills of North Stafford shire, near the Cheshire border. It is formed by the confluence of several streams in an extensive pond or reservoir near Kuiperalcy or Knyperslay Hall, and flows south, through the Pottery district, by Hanley and Stoke-upon-Trent, to the junction of the little river Lyme (about five miles long) from Newcastle; and thence through Trentham Park, where it expands into a noble pool of 80 acres. After passing through Trentham Park it flows past Stone to the junction of the Sow, at the village of Great Haywood. From the junction of the Sow the Trent flows south-east, turning gradually towards the east, and receiving the Blythe on the left bank, to the junction of the Tame, which joins the Trent on the right bank a little below Alrowas; and with its feeders, the Anker, the Blythe (which is not to be confounded with the river of the same name just mentioned), and the Rea, drains the south-western part of the basin, the seat of the great iron and hardware manufacture. From the junction of the Tame the Trent turns northward, and flows by Burton-on-Trent to the junction of the Dove. It then flows eastward to the junction of the Derwent, which joins it on the left bank. From the junction of the Derwent the Trent flows to the junction of the Soar, on its right bank, and thence to the junction of the Erowash, on its left bank. The course of the Trent gradually changes from an eastern to a north-eastern direction ; the change commences above the junction of the Derwent, and becomes more decided near the junction of the Erowash. After the junction of the Erewash the Trent receives several important tributaries, includ ing the Doyen or Devon, and the Lene, and passing Gaineborough and Burton-upon-Strether, is joined by the Ouse on its left bank. In Lincolnshire it receives on the left bank the Idle, which joins the Trout by en ancient cut, called Byker's Dyke,' at West Stockwith, below Gainsberough. A navigable cut, called the new river Idle,' joins the Trent at Keadby considerably lower down.
Tho Yorkshire rivers which form the system of the Ouse are des cribed under Yoassninz. It is enflIcient to notice hero that tho length of the Ouse is from 130 to 135 miles; and that from the im portance of this river and its tributaries it may dispute with the Trent the pre-eminence among the rivers which flow into the Humber. From the confluence of the Trent and Ouse the river (or rather actuary, for the tide flows up both rivers above their junction) assumes the name of ]lumber, and taken an eastward direction. It expands in some places to the width of a mile, and below Barton Ferry acquires a permanent breadth of more than a mile. The channel in however occupied by shoals, or by the mud or sandbanks which line the shore, so that the low-water channel is narrow. A little below the town and port of Hull, the Humber turns south-east, and gradually increasing in width till it acquires, below' Patrington, a breadth of 4 or 5 miles at high water, and 2i to 3 miles at low-water, enters the German Ocean at Spurn Head, where, on what would bo an island, were it not connected with the =Inland by a narrow cause way a mile and a half long, are two lighthouses. The projection of Spurn Head narrows the high-water channel of the river from about six mile. to less than four miles ; the low-water channel is also con %ratted by It, but not In so great a proportion to its whole width. The length of the Humber, from the junction of the Trent and the Ouse to the sea, is about 42 miles.
The !lumber receives on the left, or Yorkshire bank, the Hull River, at the town of I lull, to which it gives moue. On the right. or Lincoln. shire bank, It receives the Ankholm, or Ancholine, which joins the ]lumber above Barton; and some other streams of smaller linport allea% The whole length of the Trent Is about 143 miles, of the Humber 42 miles, in all 190 miles. The Trent and Humber yields in length
to the Srviree, which fa estimated at 200 miles, and to the THANES, which is estimated at 220 miles. But, with the exception of these two, no river in Great Britain can compare with it.
The feeders of the Trent and Humber, with their tributaries, are more particularly described elsewhere :—the Sow, the Blythe, and the Tame, under STAFFORDSHIRE; the Dove, the Derwent, and the Ere wash, under DERBYSHIRE; the Soar, under LticEsrEitsniriE ; the Deven and the Idle, under Norse:mm=11m ; the Ouse, with its tributaries, and the Hull, under YORKSHIRE; and the Ankholm, under LINCOLNSHIRE. Different portions of the Trent, or Humber, are also described iu the same articles.
Narigation.—The navigation of the Trent commences at Burton upon-Trent, in Staffordshire, where a cut from the Grank Trunk, or Trent and Mersey Canal, joins it, and opens a communication with the complicated canal system of the Midland counties, and ultimately with the Mersey, the Severn, and the Thames. This canal follows the valley of the Trent from the junction of tho little river Lyne in the Staffordshire Potteries, and it continues to follow the course of the valley below Burton, till it finally joins the Trent at Wilden Ferry, at the junction of the Derwent. Nearly midway between Burton and Wilden Ferry the Derby Canal opens into the Trent, and communicates with the town of Derby, and (by a railway) with the collieries near Belper. The river Derwent is also navigable up to Derby, but the navigation of it has been in a great degree superseded by the Derby Canal. The Soar is navigable by the help of some artificial cuts beyond Leicester, and is connected with the Leicester Union Canal and the Grand Junction Canal, and so with the metropolis. The river Wreak, or the Melton Mowbray Navigation, and the Oakham Canal, connect the eastern part of Leicestershire and the county of Rutland with the navigation of the Soar and the Trent. Nearly opposite to the ontfall of the Soar, the Erewash Canal opens into the Trent. This and the Nottingham Canal (which opens into the Trent near Nottingham) convey to the Trent the produce of the coal- and iron district of the valley of the Erewash, as well as the manufactures of the town of Nottingham. The Cromford Canal, which joins the Erewash and Nottingham canals, and the Cromford and High Peak railway, open a communication between the Trent and the great manufac turing district of Southern Lancashire. The Granthnm Canal con nects the town of Grantham and the adjacent agricultural district with the Trent, into which the canal opens just opposite to the Not tingham Canal; and the ancient Fosse Dyke connects the Trent with the Witham, and so with the agricultural districts of central Lincoln shire. The Idle is navigable to East Retford: it joins the Trent at West Stockwith, where also the Chesterfield Canal opens into the Trent, and brings down the produce of the coal- and iron-works of Chesterfield and its neighbourhood. The Stainforth and Keadby Canal, which connects the Don below Doncaster with the Trent, joins that river still lower down, at l'i.eadby tide-lock.
The navigation of the Yorkshire rivers and their connected canals is described under YontisntRE. The navigation of the Ankholm, which extends upward nearly to 31arketeliaaen; and the Louth Navi gation, which commences at the town of Louth, and opens into the Humber just within Donuts Nook, belong to Lincolnshire.
The value of the Trent and Humber as a moans of inland com munication is very great. The tide flows up the Trent as far as Gainaborough, to which town seaborne vessels of considerable size can ascend. The lowest bridge over the Trent is at Gainaborough. The whole length of the Trent navigation from Burton to the junction of the Ouse is about 100 miles, that of the ]lumber 42 miles: together 142 miles.