to give the greatest strength to the fabric; and, having no wing pillars nor officers' store-rooms, as formerly, gives a spacious accommodation for taking troops in time of war, or an opportunity of messing her crew, keeping her guns on the lower deck clear and ready for action. This deck can be lighted by tube scuttles through the side between the beams of the gun-deck, giving ventilation for the benefit of the health of the crew, in addition to light, similar to a frigate's lower deck. The trussed figure is continued below in the hold throughout with strengthening pieces on the floor-heads, the size of the keelson, in the same direction, all fore and aft, instead of the old cross or thwart-ship riders formerly used in the ceiling, and the diagonal trussing being better distributed, not only adds considerable strength to the vessel, but greatly increases her stowage. The wings, which were formerly on the orlop, are now in the hold at the sides, which affords an opportunity of stopping a shot hole seven feet lower under water, and causes a circulation of air round the ship's side in the hold, which was never obtained before. Her main powder magazine is designed in midships, with platforms in the hold for store-rooms, and a grating platform in midships for the hempen cables and a third tier of tanks, which keeps them in a position to allow of every one being used without removing any from their places, as well as increasing the stowage of the water. The shot lockers are taken away from the well, and shot-racks are fitted at the sides of the ship, by which the shot are placed single all round on both sides, keeping them free from corrosion, and always ready when required for action, and that immense weight removed from pressing down the vessel at the mainmast. She is fitted with safety keels, which add much to the strength of the ship as well as her preservation from shipwreck, should she get on shore; the keels may be carried away and the safety of the ship not endangered. She is built with a strong internal round stern, well adapted for fighting her guns, and externally a square stern, presenting a perfect and pleasing appearance, although unadorned with carved work, preserving the form and beauty of the ship without depriving her of the advantage of fighting her guns. The top sides are clear of any projection, no trunks being required to carry off the water over the sides from the several decks as formerly, each deck being delivered of its water by pipes leading into the common gun-deck scupper, by which the water is passed overboard, thus preserving the side from decay and preventing the necessity of cutting scupper-holes in each deck. The head may be fitted with a copper pipe at the side of the stem, instead of the disagreeable appearance of wooden trunks, as usually fitted in men-of-war, which will keep the head perfectly clean, and the pipe so fitted cannot be displaced by any accident. The rudder is fitted very securely, and so remarkably safe that it could not be easily carried away as formerly; even if all the pintles were broken off, the rudder would keep in its place and work on the braces, an instance of this occurred to the Flamer when in the West Indies. The Trafalgar has an iron flange on the rudderhead, with three holes to receive an iron powl-pin, by which the rudder can be secured in midships or on either quarter, and the ship laid-to in case of accident to the tiller. She has pipes in her quarter galleries conducting the water from every stool, similar to internal scuppers, thus conveying the water from every stool by one hole only. The dead lights in the stern are made to slide behind the blank sash, so as to be always ready for closing in an instant, if required, saving the difficulty of hanging them over the stern, as usually done in square stern ships. Tube scuttles are designed to be fitted in the ship's sides on the lower deck for light and air, over the seamen's mess-tables, when the guns are housed and the ports closed in bad weather. Her sides are more substantial than usual, in consequence of there being no chocks under the beams; the inside stuff is thicker and more capable of resisting an enemy's shot than the old sides were, and the chocks being taken away, the danger of splinters is removed. We have not time to give a further description at present, but will state her dimensions, as follows: Length on gun deck Length of keel for tonnage Breadth, extreme Breadth, for tonnage Breadth, moulded Depth in hold Burden in tons, 2,721 20-94. In conclusion we have to add, this noble and splendid man-of-war has been built wholly on the improved principle of Mr. Oliver Lang, the builder, whose experience during the late war, and since the time of peace, has given him the opportunity of performing for his country what has not been equalled in any kingdom. EXPEDITION TO THE EUPHRATES. Some few of our readers may be aware that a vessel belonging to a leading firm of this town was sent to sea under sealed instructions, about 18 months ago, having on board two iron steam-boats, and other cargo of a similar unusual description. The destination of the vessel, as now appears, was the Persian Gulf, the steamers having been constructed by order of the East India Company to act as a flotilla for ascertaining the navigability of the river Euphrates. The expedition has been highly successful, having traversed the course of the stream 1,100 miles from its mouth, an achievement never before accomplished,. and fully establishing the superiority of modern skill and science over the ruder resources of the ancients. We have been favoured with the following extracts from a private letter written by Mr. Floyd, the surgeon of the flotilla, to a professional friend, Mr. Samuel Potter, of this town, and brought by the last overland conveyance. They will, we think, be found well worthy of perusal by those who take an interest in scientific operations, and in the remarkable countries to which they relate. The letter is dated "Belis, June 6.' "I have travelled over the greater part of Mesopatamia, got licked and plundered. I have traced the expedition of the 10,000 Greeks under Cyrus the Younger, and identified many of the cities in their route. I am now near Aleppo with the flotilla, having completed the ascent of the river Euphrates, without doubt one of the noblest rivers of Asia; here, at a distance of 1,100 from its embouchure in the Persian Gulf, it is 400 yards broad and very deep. What a boast for England, upon whose flag the sun never sets, that the British ensign now floats in the breeze in the very centre of the land of the crusades and of the Courtenays, one of whose castles, Jiaber,' said to be founded by Alexander the Great, towers majestically over our heads. 6 "The 31st of May, 1841, was the happy day which crowned our efforts with success, and the distant Taurus soon re-echoed the royal salute which we fired in honor of the occasion. "In the former letter I think I gave you a slight description of the Tigris river, and the surrounding country. The Euphrates differs little from the Tigris up to Hilla, a Turkish Arab town, built near the site of ancient Babylon, except that its banks are much better cultivated, and in some places the date tree (the palma dictiliferus) adds to the picturesque meanderings of the river; while in others a mosque, with its lacquered dome rising from a grove of willows, is a pleasing variety from the monotony of the surrounding district. Winding its way through the ruins of fallen Babylon, the river passes Perisalom, then the field of Cunaxa, where Cyrus fell, and ten thousand commenced their ever-memorable retreat. Then comes Umbar, once the seat of a Christian bishop, then Charmand, some ruins opposite the Pylor of Zenophon; and then Hit, the Is of Scripture, and famed for its fountains of bitumen and naptha, which are in such abundance that they spread themselves over the east. The river now is enclosed within a valley of high rocks, which extends from its source to below Hit, they are composed of gypsum, sandstone, and conglomerates with mica and felspar. The ancient Antho, where Julian lost part of his fleet, is the next place of importance; then comes Enri, the river Chabour of Ezekiel, Al Deir, the Thapsac of Scripture, and the ancient port of Palmyra; and lastly, the ruined castles of Raccaba, Tenobia, Racca, and Jiaber, all situated upon isolated rocks, commanding the passes of the river. These fortresses, from their differing entirely from all others of a like nature in this country, and from the Roman arch prevailing, appear to me to have been the frontier posts of that empire against the Parthians. The natives have a tradition that they were built by the English during the Crusades, and it is not improbable that they were occupied by the enthusiastic followers of Courtenay while he reigned at Orfa. "Besides the towns which I have enumerated, there are several islands, many of which are well wooded; amongst them I may mention Juba, Haditha, and Aloose, strongly fortified, having each 500 inhabitants, and beautifully situated in the valley of the Euphrates, between Hit and Anna. "This climate is delightful, and produces all the variety of Luropean fruit, besides many of the tropical ones lower down the river. Here is the only obstacle to the navigation of this river. It consists in the remains of the water-wheels used for irrigation. In the short space of 130 miles we found nearly 300 of these wheels, about one-third of which are in operation at the present day. They consist of large parapet walls built into the stream, directing the current of the river to the wheels, which are the most clumsy pieces of mechanism, made of branches of trees, and having slung round them 150 clay vessels to raise the water in. The wheels are forty feet in diameter, placed at the end of an aqueduct raised upon well-built gothic arches. They are the nearest approach to perpetual motion that I have seen, and it is surprising the quantity of water which they raise to the surface. They cause a current of six or seven knots, with a fall of two or three feet where they are, so that this part of the river is difficult and somewhat dangerous; but as it is, we have surmounted all; I should rather say the genius and skill of Messrs. J. Laird and Macgregor, who furnished the boats and engines, have overcome obstacles which baffled the welldisciplined legions of Trajan and Julian, when they went to besiege Ctesiphon, and failed to drag their fleets against the stream on account of the current. "The Tigris to Mosul, the site of the ancient Nineveh, and the Euphrates to Baulus,-I might say to the heart of the Taurus (for we may go higher,)-is now proved navigable. May British enterprise drive from this field the barbarians who now occupy it, and may civilization, flying on the wings of commerce, carry with it the blessings of the gospel salvation! Yea, here is a fine field for the missionary and the merchant. To the former it opens up the Christians of a thousand hills-the Armenians, the Chaldeans, the Nestorians, the Maronites, the disciples of St. John, the worshippers of the devil, (who inhabit the Tinjar hills,) and the Arabs; but the time for the conversion of the latter, I fear, has not yet come. To the merchant it offers a market for the cottons of Manchester, the cutlery of Birmingham, and all sorts of trinketry; in return they might get the splendid wool of Arabia, far superior to anything I ever saw at home; the Cashmere wool which is brought to Bagdad, gall-nuts, the gum sandrac, myrrh, the balsams from the south, and pearls, diamonds, and turquoises from Persia; all which might be conveyed by steam up the Euphrates to Belis, and hence to the Mediterranean, a four days' journey. "So much for the commercial advantages to be derived from the opening of the Euphrates; let us now look to the political. A communication is kept up with our Indian possessions independent of that of Egypt-a great advantage in our late broil with that power; India is reached in a much shorter time than that by the Red Sea; the mission in Persia is brought much nearer, and the means exist of throwing an Indian army either into the heart of Persia or Syria in the space of a few weeks."-Liverpool Paper. NOTICE TO MARINERS. Trinity House, London, 22nd July, 1841. NAVIGATION IN THE EAST SWIN.-Notice is hereby given, That this corporation has caused a buoy, painted black and white in circular bands, to be laid about midway between the north-east Gunfleet Buoy, and the Gunfleet Beacon, in five fathoms at low water spring tides, and with the following marks and compass bearings, viz. :— The second house westward of Walton Terrace, apparently midway between two clumps of trees, on the back land, bearing N.N.W. Great Clacton windmill, it's apparent width open westward of a small white ENLARGED SERIES.-NO. 9.-VOL. FOR 1841. 4 N house on the cliff N.W.b.W. W. Naze Tower N.b. W. § W. North-east S. Sunk light vessel J. HERBERT, Secretary. NEW BOOKS. THE INDIA DIRECTORY; or Directions for sailing to and from the East Indies, China, Australia, and the Interjacent Ports of Africa and South America, compiled cheifly from original journals of the Hon. E. I. Company and from observations and other remarks, resulting from the experience of twenty-one years in the navigation of those seas, by James Horsburgh, F.R.S., &c.—Vol 1. W. H. Allen & Co.-Leadenhall Street. The rapid strides which have been made these last few years in the various branches of knowledge, are topics of every day remark; the arenas of our public lecturers describe them, and modern publications record them; so that any one having attained a tolerable acquaintance with science some twenty years ago, and then thrown it aside, would now find on taking it up, a vast stock of arrears to be brought up, and that, in fact, his knowledge of it lay within very narrow limits:-that frequent discovery has opened new sources of information in many cases altering the whole features of it, and making it, if not a new science, one assuming altogether a new character. There is no subject in which this is more apparent than in Hydrography, of which we have ample evidence in nearly every page of the work before us. Discoveries in Hydrography are no less important to navigation, than are those of chemistry to general science, and no less alter the features of that important art. We are glad therefore to perceive that this fact has been seen in its proper light by the proprietors of the East India Directory, a work which we have long looked on as the parent of that valuable class of books which the seaman takes for his guide, in making his voyages from one part of the world to another; as embodying all the knowledge, and all the experience of those who have gone before him. We are glad to perceive that this (leviathan we had almost said) has not been allowed to fall into desuetude, to lie neglected as out of date; and that it has risen from its sleep in its last edition, with fresh acquisitions of information concerning the various coasts of which it treats, strong in its resources to go through another era of useful service, as a sea-bird rises from its bed on the ocean wave, refreshed for another flight. In turning over a few of its pages, and comparing them with those of the last edition, judicious alterations in the shape of omission of old, and introduction of new matter, force themselves on our attention. Among the first introductions, we find the concise and clear directions for finding the amount of local attraction acting on a ship's compass, from our own pages of 1837-this is as it should be, and it affords us much satisfaction to perceive by the numerous extracts from our own, as well as other useful works, that we have contributed so much to the benefit of navigation. In fact there is no part of the navigation between England and Bombay, or Madras which has not received new additions of highly useful matter. Among many which we have not room to enumerate, we may particularize Capt. Owen's remarks on Mozambique, and the clear and excellent description of the islands in the northern part of that channel by Captain Fairfax Moresby of H.M.S. Menai. A description of the Red Sea by the officers of the East India Service is also a most important change from the scanty and limited account we had in the old editions: in fact we congratulate our seamen on the great accession the volume contains to the hydrography of the high road from England to India by sea. It is a happy feature of the present enlightened age, that those stores of knowledge possessed by our public offices, which can in any way forward the progress of geography and hydrography, are unlocked freely to the world,—are accessible in the easiest possible way, and made available to the public good. |