with scrupulous exactness. There is one important part of a ship's provisions concerning which new arrangements are about to be introduced. We will dwell a little upon it.

Measures are now in contemplation which may lead to a change in the allowance of spirits to the navy. In March of the present year the Admiralty appointed a committee of eleven flag-officers to inquire into "the expediency of reducing the daily ration of spirits, and the equivalent to be paid to the seamen for such reduction." One of the first paragraphs in the Report of this committee, is a striking one: "The concurrent testimony of all whom we have examined on the subject of drunkenness in the navy, proves the necessity of some remedial measures: and we consider the step now contemplated, with a view to its prevention, not only expedient, but imperatively called for, as well for the safety as the credit of Her Majesty's fleet." The committee examined about fifty witnesses, some of whom were seamen. The committee say"The seamen, without one exception, admit in their evidence that drunkenness is the prevailing crime on board Her Majesty's ships; and they acknowledge with equal frankness, that drunkenness is the cause of almost every punishment." Down to the year 1824, the allowance was two gills of spirits per man per diem. In that year the Admiralty, with the sanction of many experienced officers, reduced the quantity to one gill per day; the evening service of grog being discontinued. In 1826, the old wine-measure was abolished, and the new imperial-measure established; this gave to the gill one-fifth more in quantity than before; and as it was deemed too much to serve out this larger gill at once, the custom of an evening allowance was renewed, with disastrous results, as the committee show. "Tea, introduced into the navy in 1824, as a part of the substitute for the diminished allowance of rum, is served at the same time as the evening grog; and men who prefer the tea, sell their allowance of grog to others of less temperate habits. This is one source of drunkenness." After due consideration the committee arrived at the following recommendations, which were forwarded to the AdmiraltyThat the daily rations of spirits be reduced to one half of that which they have been since 1826: the evening ration being withheld; that the spirits shall not be issued raw, but mixed with three times their quantity of water; that an allowance, omitted to be drawn on one day, shall not be drawn on any subsequent day; that admirals, captains, and ward-room officers, from their position and general feelings, would probably not require money-compensation for this lessening of the quantity of spirits allotted to them; that no allowance of spirits be made to midshipmen, masters' assistants, clerks' assistants, cadets, and boys; that mates, assistant-surgeons, second masters, midshipmen, masters' assistants, clerks, clerks' assistants, naval cadets, and boys, be awarded compensation for the withdrawal or the diminution (as the case may be) of the allowance, to the extent of the present savings' price;

that seamen and marines, by whom the change will be more felt than by any of the other classes, should receive an amount of compensation more than equal to the money-value of the spirit saved; and that any petty-officer or seaman may relinquish his remaining half of spirit, at pleasure, and receive its value in money, in addition to the larger compensation for the other half. The compensation to the seamen and marines would be 2s. 6d. to 3s. 6d. per month. The committee estimate that these compensations, for the whole British navy, would amount to £55,000 per annum; that the value of the spirit saved would be £10,000 per annum; and that therefore the increased annual charge to the public would be £45,000— a cheap bargain, if it results in the higher moral and physical condition of the seamen generally.

THE HOE; THE CITADEL; THE HAMOAZE. The Hoe and the Citadel, (represented in the Cut No. 1,) belong to the Plymouth section of this important triple town. The Hoe, as we have before observed, is a hill which boldly overlooks Mill Bay and the Sound. Its surface is partly clothed in grass, partly strewed with loose stones, and partly laid out in gravel walks; but there are as yet very few houses on it. The Hoe is larger and higher than Mount Wise, and it reveals many points in the view out sea-ward which are not visible from the latter. The inhabitants of Plymouth are at the present time fighting a corporate battle against a wealthy proprietor, who has planned some terraces of fine houses on the Hoe; he naturally wishes to make the most of his land; they naturally wish to retain their beautiful Hoe in its present open state; and a correspondence has arisen out of these differences of view. A small number of houses might possibly be so built as to be an ornament rather than a detriment to the Hoe; but it is to be feared that if stone, brick, and timber be once admitted, these interlopers will know no reasonable limits. The eastern end of the Hoe is occupied by the Citadel. This is a regular fortification, with bastions and ravelins, curtains and horn-works, ditches and counterscarps, covered-ways and palisades, parapets and ramparts, and all the other defensive arrangements common to such a place. It completely commands sea and land on all points of the compass, and is bristled with about a hundred and twenty cannon.

There are not many places in England which contain such a number of Government establishments as this. We have described a tolerable range of them already; but there are still several that call for a passing glance. We will go to the north of the three towns, near Higher Stoke, and look at the Blockhouse. This is a small but strong structure, situated in an enclosure on a piece of rising ground. It has ramparts, ditches, and a bridge, and is sufficiently elevated to command the whole of Devonport-and therefore to be very troublesome, unless in friendly hands. Devonport itself is completely girt on the

land side with fortifications, called the 'Lines.' These lines consist of wall, rampart, and fosse, with guard-houses at particular points, and three gates to give entrance to the town.

Situated not far distant from each other, in and near Stonehouse, are three large Government establishments-the Royal Naval Hospital, the Royal Military Hospital, and the Marine Barracks. Their names indicate how these buildings are occupied. The Naval Hospital was built about ninety years ago; it is a very large establishment, covering with the open grounds which belong to it, no less than twenty-four acres. The chief buildings are arranged on the four sides of a very large quadrangle; they have corridors running round them, and have every convenience for the reception of twelve hundred patients at a time. In days of peace, when arms and legs do not often come into contact with cannon-balls, this hospital is only in small part occupied. On the side of Stonehouse Creek, opposite to the Naval Hospital, is the Royal Military Hospital. This consists, instead of a quadrangle of buildings surrounding an open court, of four blocks or clusters of buildings, arranged in a line. The Royal Marine Barracks, situated on the isthmus which connects Cremill Point with Stonehouse, is like most other barracks; ranges of buildings surrounding the four sides of a gravelled parade-ground.

Let us now turn for a time from the land to the water-from the fixed to the floating property of the nation in these parts. And first of the Harbour or Hamoaze. This is in truth a fine expanse of water. A line of rock, only a short depth below the surface of low water, runs across from Cremill Point to Mount Edgcumbe, in such a way as to induce a belief that these were once connected, and that the Tamar has cut

an outlet for itself in this part. Within the rocky line commences the Hamoaze, and thence up to Saltash, a distance of four or five miles, there is a wide sheet of water, in which a large number of fine ships of war are always lying "in ordinary." This lying in ordinary is a sort of figurative "putting on the shelf," till the vessel is wanted. The guns and ammunition are taken out, the masts and sails and rigging are removed, the sailors are paid off, the officers take their departure, and the huge floating mass is placed under the care of one particular officer and a handful of men who reside in it. This officer receives orders only from the admiral of the port, and is responsible to no one else. The old officers, who have perhaps lived and fought in the vessel for many a year, have now nothing to do with it; it lives only in their memory. Strange do these floating masses appear! They contain so few stores, and are thus so much lightened, that they rise to a great height above the water. Their long ranges of port-holes, their numerous cabin-windows at the stern, their stumpy mastless summits, their lifeless silence, their stern immovability-all tend to give them a remarkable appearance. The guard-ship is the sentinel over these sleeping giants. This guardship receives instructions from the port-admiral, by

means of the semaphore on Mount Wise, before alluded to, and is empowered to control all the ships in the harbour. There is no difficulty in obtaining admission to the guard-ship, or to some of the other ships in the harbour; and half an hour may be spent, not unprofitably, in seeing the ingenuity displayed in packing so many hundred human beings, with all that is required for their comfort, in one of these great floating receptacles. The number of ships laid up in ordinary in the Hamoaze has remained pretty constant for some years past; in 1847 they were as follows:-two of 120 guns each, one of 104, one of 92, four of 84, one of 80, four of 78, one of 76, four of 72, three of 50, four of 44, five of 42, two of 40, one of 36, three of 26, one of 24, two of 18, one of 14, one of 10, five packets, and eight small brigs, schooners, and cutters-making a total of fifty-four vessels; and we presume the number is about the same at present. But besides these fifty-four vessels in ordinary, there are always others, more or less in a fitted state: some just arrived and about to be paid off; some receiving their complement of men and stores for services on some foreign station; some waiting oaly for Admiralty orders that they may take their departure. It is a pleasant trip on a bright day to take a boat for a row up the Hamoaze towards Saltash, passing between and among the noble old hulks of the ships in ordinary. Carrington's lines here come to thought:

"We glide"

Through lines of stately ships; and as we pass
The tale goes quickly round of glories old,
Of battles won in the great sea,—of chiefs
Whose daring flags triumphantly were borne
By this or that famed vessel. Noiseless now
Is each forsaken structure; save when sounds
The listless keeper's foot, nought else invades
The deep impressive silence of those decks,
Where lately trod a thousand gallant men!”

We believe there is a sort of rough estimate that a man-of-war costs at the rate of about £1,000 per gun; that is, the complete ship costs as many thousands as it carries guns. But whether this includes the entire stores and provisions for the crew we cannot say; perhaps after all the estimate is merely a wild. round sum. The following, however, is an exact estimate, founded on the Admiralty experience; that the daily expenses of a 36-gun frigate, carrying a complement of 330 men, are £64 17s. 5d.: viz., pay of officers and men, £26 3s. 2d.; provisions, £16 1s. 3d. ; wear and tear of vessel, stores, clothing, &c., £22 13s. From a Parliamentary paper just published (May, 1850), it appears that there are at the present time among the ships in ordinary at the several Government depôts, no fewer than seventy-two ships of war which have never been in commission; that is, have never seen any active service. Their ages vary from two to thirty-eight years. It appears strange-at least to one of the uninitiated class-that new ships should be built every year, while old ones remain in idleness.

Drake's Island, or as it is often called Nicholas Island, situated in the middle of the Sound, claims a word of notice. It is a small and moderately elevated island, occupied wholly as a fortified post. Its guns command every point of the horizon; so that a ship, before approaching the Hamoaze and the Dockyard on the west, or the Catwater and Plymouth on the east, must pass under the guns of this fortress. With Mount Edgcumbe on one side, Cremill Point on another, the Hoe on another, and Mount Batten on another, this small island presents a formidable defensive work. (Cut No. 5).

THE BREAKWATER; THE EDDYSTONE.

But the Breakwater, now stretching out before us to the south, demands to be noticed. A truly great work is this; perhaps the greatest work of its kind in the world. It seems strange to spend a million and a half sterling in throwing huge stones into the sea; yet there can be no question that the money has been well laid out, because safety to hundreds of vessels has been secured thereby.

In order to understand the necessity for, and the nature of, this breakwater, we must look a little closely at Plymouth Sound. This Sound is bounded on the east by a portion of the Devonshire coast, on the west by the Cornish coast, on the north by the towns of Devonport and Plymouth, and on the south by the

open sea. It is three miles across at the widest part, and about the same in depth. The coast on both sides, except at Cawsand Bay, which is on the Cornish side, is rocky and abrupt. The Hamoaze and the Catwater used to be exposed to the heavy sea which rolled into the Sound with gales from the south, and great damage was done at various times; hence it was conceived that if a great embankment were thrown across a portion of the entrance to the Sound, it would break the force of the sea, while ample room might be left at the two ends for vessels to enter and quit the Sound. In 1812 the works for such a break water were commenced, and for nearly forty years they have been continued. The expenditure has now reached within a fraction of £1,500,000, and there is still a little more work to be done to it.

The breakwater (represented in Cut No. 2) may be thus described. It is a straight line of stonework, with two wings or arms inclined a little inwards towards the Sound. The straight portion is about 1,000 yards in length, and the two wings 350 yards each; making up the total length to about a mile. The width of the line of stonework at the bed of the sea varies from 300 to 400 feet; whereas it slopes so rapidly upwards that the breadth at high-water mark is only fifty feet. The top is a flat horizontal surface, elevated a small distance above the surface of the water. total depth varies from forty to eighty feet. The mode of forming it was singular. Mr. Rennie formed the

The

plan, and carried it out in spite of all opposition and difficulties. This plan consisted in hurling into the sea masses of stone weighing from one ton to ten tons each, sufficiently heavy to resist the force of waves, tides, and currents. A promontory of compact closegrained marble, belonging to the Duke of Bedford, was purchased as a storehouse of materials for the sum of £10,000. This promontory is situated at the north-east corner of the Sound, at a place called Oreston, where the Plym joins the Catwater. Quarries were opened at this spot, and for many years the business of quarrying was carried on. When Baron Dupin was visiting the naval depôts of England, he was struck among other things by the magnitude of the operations at Oreston. He says, "The sight of these operations (which he had just described); those enormous masses of marble which the quarrymen strike with heavy strokes of their hammers; and those aërial roads of flying bridges which serve for the removal of the superstratum of earth; those lines of cranes all at work at the same moment; the trucks all in motion; the arrival and the loading and the departure of the vessels; all this forms one of the most imposing sights that can strike a friend of the great works of art. At fixed hours, the sound of a bell is heard, in order to announce the blasting of the quarry. The operations instantly cease on all sides, all becomes silence and solitude; this universal silence renders still more imposing the noise of the explosion, the splitting of the rocks, their ponderous fall, and the prolonged sound of the echoes." The huge blocks of marble, extricated from the quarries, were conveyed in trucks along iron railways to quays, where they were received in vessels built expressly for this purpose. On arriving over the line of the breakwater, a sort of trapdoor was opened in the vessel, and the load of stone fell into the sea, where it lay upon and among the stones previously thrown. Thus days, weeks, months, years, passed away while these Herculean works were being carried on. All the lower stones were left to settle as they might; but the upper layers consist of smooth masonry, better calculated to resist the action of waves. At the western end is a lighthouse, an elegant structure of granite, recently completed; it is about fifty-five feet high, by fourteen in diameter at the base; at the top is a large lantern, through which is exhibited a white light towards the north, and a red light towards the south.

Bravely has the breakwater done its work. In 1817 and in 1824 it was visited by storms which, had not the breakwater been there, would have brought awful destruction on the vessels within the harbour; as it was, some of the surface stones were loosened and washed away, but the main structure remained wholly uninjured. The value of the breakwater is wholly shown by negative results: ships are not now driven on shore within the Sound and Hamoaze; but this negative result has a very positive effect on the national resources, one for which we may thank the Admiralty and Sir John Rennie.

A still greater work than the breakwater looms out far in the distance to the south-west: greater, not in the amount of capital which it has cost, or the time consumed in its execution, or the quantity of material absorbed in its construction, but in the difficulties which the indomitable spirit of the engineer had to overcome. We of course allude to the Eddystone Lighthouse. When standing on the Hoe, and looking through a telescope of moderate power, the Eddystone can be just descried at a great distance, rearing its head towards the sky at the extreme verge of the horizon. It is too far distant to form an immediate subject of our present paper, yet it is too important to the interests of Plymouth and to seafaring men to be passed unnoticed.

In the midst of the British Channel, about twelve miles from Plymouth, is a rock which just emerges above the level of low-water, but is covered at highwater. On this Eddystone rock many a gallant ship, after perhaps a return from a distant and long-continued voyage, has been wrecked; and many a hardy seaman lost. To point out the locality of this hidden danger nothing but a lighthouse on the spot seemed available; but what a work-to construct a lighthouse on a rock in such a lonely and sea-beaten situation. A Mr. Winstanley, a man of great mechanical ingenuity, constructed a wooden lighthouse on this spot, just a century and a half ago; and it is a proof of no small skill that, in that age of comparatively little engineering talent, a lighthouse should be begun and completed on such a spot. But a storm swept away the whole on one fearful night, with all who were within it, including the bold constructor. Mr. Rudyerd, who, like Winstanley, was an amateur engineer, was more fortunate than his predecessor: he built a lighthouse which stood from 1706 till 1755; and even then it was conquered not by storms but by fire. Mr. Smeaton, who speaks with great admiration of Rudyerd's talent, was then applied to to build a more permanent structure; and the present Eddystone lighthouse was the result. The difficulties were enor mous. The distance from the land is so great, the area of rock so small, and the washing of the sea so frequent, that the labours of the workmen were of a harassing kind. In order to secure the masonry, the granite rock was partially worked to form a foundation, and every stone was dovetailed into those beneath and around it in the most immoveable manner. The works were commenced in 1756, and course after course of masonry was built up; and the construction went on steadily, in spite of winds and waves, to its completion. The Eddystone Lighthouse is really a beautiful object, on account of its form. It is a circular tower of stone, sweeping up with a gentle curve from the base, and gradually diminishing to the top, somewhat similar to the swelling trunk of a tree-indeed it is said that a tree-trunk suggested the idea of this form to Smeaton. The upper extremity is finished with a kind of cornice, and is terminated with a lantern, having a gallery around it with an iron balustrade.

K