THE STADE.
Hastings had formerly a good harbour, a. large wooden pier that ran out in a south east direction below where the fort now stands, admitting large vessels to lie, and unload alongside ; but about the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign, this pier was destroyed by a storm, since which time it has remained a Stade, as it now is. Camden says, in his Britannia, " that Queen Elizabeth granted a contribution towards the making a new harbour at Hastings, which was begun ; but the contribution was quickly converted into private purses, and the public good neglected." - Very large pieces of timber, the remains of the pier, are still to be seen at particular times, at low water, when the tide has swept away the beach, covered by enormous rocks, which were brought there to form the foundation ; and three or four long rows of piles are visible every day at half ebb, which shew the direction in which the pier ran.
The method of getting the sloops and cutters -
