Thames

temz, the chief river of Great Britain. Although but 217 miles in length, 180 miles are navigable. It is a drowned river. Its mouth is an estuary of the North Sea twenty-seven miles in width. The largest ships ascend as far as London Bridge. The tide ascends as far as Oxford. It rises and falls at London through a height of ten or fifteen feet. The upper part of the river has been connected by extensive canals with the Severn and with central England. The Thames is the most frequented, the busiest river, in the world. The lower part of the river would be more attractive were it not a common sewer for all London. See Oxford; London; London Bridge