ean steamers was in the "bar anchorage," a distance of about
fourteen miles from the city. The cargoes were transhipped into
lighters, which brought them as near to the shore as possible, and from
this point they were taken to the Custom House in specially-constructed
carts with very large wheels. Passengers were transhipped in the bar
anchorage into small tenders, and were brought to a point about 500
metres from the end of the passenger mole. From these tenders, when
there was sufficient water, they were taken ashore in small boats,
while, if the water was too low to go alongside the mole, they also had
to be brought ashore in carts. In many cases, however, passengers were
brought on in tenders and landed at the Riachuelo wharves, which were
then under construction. The first steamers that arrived in the River
Plate were those of the Royal Mail Company, followed by the French
Messageries Maritimes, and shortly afterwards by the Lamport & Holt
Line.

Up to the year 1870 these lines, and a few more that were started,
progressed very slowly, although the rates of freight were then very
high; but after that trade increased gradually, and not only a fair
number of sailing-vessels arrived yearly, but the regular lines of
steamers increased their number of sailings. The great drawback was the
deficient state of the port, where steamers had to lie at a distance of
fourteen to sixteen miles, and most of the sailing-vessels at ten to
twelve miles from the shore. There was no channel dredged, and even the
Riachuelo was so scantily supplied with water that lighters drawing
seven to eight feet were sometimes for weeks prevented from getting out
to deliver their cargo to the sea-going vessels in the outer roads. The
discharge was exclusively effected into lighters, which, apart from the
heavy expense incurred by the receiver of the goods, presented the great
objection that a considerable portion of the cargo was often broached
and pilfered before it reached the shore, claims for which had to be
paid by the ship. Another point was that many of these lighters were old
sailing-vessels or steamers, and, in the unseaworthy and leaky state
they were in, often arrived with their cargo considerably damaged. On
the completion of the South Basin on 28th January, 1889, passengers were
able to embark or disembark with a little more comfort, and cargoes were
landed on the quays. Docks 1 and 2 have each a water area of 23 acres,
being 570 metres