the finest river in Great Britain, which takes its rise from a copious spring, called Thames Head, two miles south-west of Cirencester in Gloucestershire. It has been erroneously said, that its name is Isis till it arrives at Dorchester, 15 miles below Oxford, when, being joined by the Thame or Tame, it assumes the name of the Thames, which, it has been observed, is formed from a combination of the words Thame and Isis. What was the origin of this vulgar error, cannot now be traced. Poetical fiction, however, has perpetuated this error, and invested it with a kind of classical sanctity. "It plainly appears (says Camden), that the river was always called Thames or Temis, before it came near the Thame; and in several ancient charters granted to the abbey of Malmesbury, as well as that of Enfield, and in the old deeds relating to Cricklade, it is never considered under any other name than that of Thames." He likewise says, that it occurs nowhere under the name of Isis. All the historians who mention the incursions of Ethelwold into Wiltshire in the year 905, or of Canute in 1016, concur likewise in the same opinion, by declaring, that they passed over the Thames at Cricklade in Wiltshire. It is not probable, moreover, that Thames Head, an appellation by which the source has usually been distinguished, should give rise to a river of the name of Isis; which river, after having run half its course, should reassume the name of Thames, the appellation of its parent spring. About a mile below the source of the river is the first corn-mill, which is called Kemble Mill. Here the river may properly be said to form a constant current; which, though not more than nine feet wide in the summer, yet in the winter becomes such a torrent as to overflow the meadows for many miles around. But, in the summer, the Thames Head is so dry, as to appear nothing but a large dell, interspersed with stones and weeds. From Somerford the stream winds to Cricklade, where it unites with many other rivulets. Approaching Kempsford, it again enters its native county, dividing it from Berkshire at Ingleham. It widens considerably in its way to Lechlade; and being there joined by the Lech and Coln, at the distance of 138 miles from London, it becomes navigable for vessels of 90 tons. At Enfield, in its course north-east, to Oxford, is the first bridge of stone; a handsome one, of three arches, built by the earl of Abingdon. Passing by the ruins of Godstow nunnery, where the celebrated Fair Rosamond was interred, the river reaches Oxford, in whose academic groves its poetical name of Isis has been so often invoked. Being there joined by the Cherwell, it proceeds south-east to Abingdon, and thence to Dorchester, where it receives the Tame. Continuing its course south-east by Wallingford to Reading, and forming a boundary to the counties of Berks, Bucks, Surry, Middlesex, Essex, and Kent, it washes the towns of Henley, Marlow, Maidenhead, Windsor, Eton, Egham, Staines, Laleham, Chertsey, Weybridge, Shepperton, Walton, Sunbury, Eel and Weir Mouffley, Hampton, Thames Ditton, Kingston, Teddington, Twickenham, Richmond, Isleworth, Brentford, Kew, Mortlake, Barnes, Chiswick, Hamermith, Putney, Fulham, Wandsworth, Battersea, Chelsea, and Lambeth. Then, on the north bank of the river, are Westminster and London, and, on the opposite side, Southwark; forming together one continued city, extending to Limehouse and Deptford; and hence the river proceeds to Greenwich, Erith, Greenhithe, Gray's Thurrock, Gravesend, and Leigh, into the ocean. It receives in its course from Dorchester the rivers Kennet, Loddon, Coln, Wey, Mole, Wandle, Lea, Roding, Darent, and Medway. The jurisdiction of the lord mayor of London over the Thames extends from Coln Ditch, a little to the west of Staines, to Yenall or Yenleet to the east, including part of the rivers Medway and Lea; and he has a deputy, named the water-bailiff, who is to search for and punish all offenders against the laws for the preservation of the river and its fish. Eight times a year the lord mayor and aldermen hold courts of convenance for the four counties of Surry, Middlesex, Essex, and Kent. Though the Thames is said to be navigable 138 miles above the bridge, yet there are so many flats, that in summer the navigation westward would be entirely stopped, when the springs are low, were it not for a number of locks. But these are attended with considerable expense; for a barge from Lechlade to London pays for passing through them 13l. 1s. 6d. and from Oxford to London 12l. 18s. This charge, however, is in summer only, when the water is low; and there is no lock from London Bridge to Bolter's Lock; that is, for 51½ miles above the bridge. The plan of new cuts has been adopted, in some places, to shorten and facilitate the navigation. There is one near Lechlade, which runs nearly parallel to the old river, and contiguous to St. John's Bridge; and there is another a mile from Abingdon, which has rendered the old stream toward Culham Bridge useless. But a much more important undertaking has lately been accomplished; namely, the junction of this river with the Severn. A canal had been made, by virtue of an act of parliament in 1730, from the Severn to Wall Bridge, near Stroud. A new canal now ascends by Stroud, through the Vale of Chalford, to the height of 343 feet, by means of 28 locks, and thence to the entrance of a tunnel near Sapperton, a distance of near eight miles. The canal is 42 feet in width at top and 30 at the bottom. The tunnel (which is extended under Sapperton Hill, and under that part of earl Bathurst's grounds called Haley Wood, making a distance of two miles and three furlongs) is near 15 feet in width, and can navigate barges of 70 tons. The canal descending hence 134 feet, by 14 locks, joins the Thames at Lechlade, a distance of above 20 miles. In the course of this vast undertaking, the canal, from the Severn to Froome to Ingleham, where it joins the Thames, is a distance of more than 30 miles. The expense of it exceeded the sum of 200,000l. of which 300l. are said to have been expended in gunpowder alone, used for the blowing up of the rock. This new canal was completed in 1789, in less than seven years from its commencement. A communication, not only with the Trent, but with the Mersey, has likewise been effected by a canal from Oxford to Coventry; and an act of parliament has passed to extend another canal from this, at Braunston, to the Thames at Brentford. This is to be called The Grand Junction Canal. On the extensive advantages resulting from these navigable communications from the metropolis with the ports of Bristol, Liverpool, Hull, &c. and the principal manufacturing towns in the inland parts of the kingdom, it is needless to expatiate. The tide flows up the Thames as high as Richmond, which, following the winding of the river, is 70 miles from the ocean; a greater distance than the tide is carried by any other river in Europe. The water is esteemed extremely wholesome, and fit for use in very long voyages, during which it will work itself perfectly fine.

Thames is also the name of a river in the state of Connecticut in America. See the article Connecticut.