hip
and the power required to drive it at the enormous speeds that had been
indisputably attained by the _Flying Fish_. And this emotion was
further increased by contemplation of the machinery by means of which
these high speeds had been attained. The main engines, consisting of a
set of three-cylinder compound engines, constructed throughout of
polished aethereum, and consequently presenting an exceedingly handsome
appearance, suggested rather the idea of an exquisite large-sized model
in silver than anything else, the set occupying very little more space
than those of one of the larger Thames river steamers. But the
impression of diminutiveness and inadequacy of power merged into one of
astonishment nearly approaching incredulity when the professor casually
mentioned that the vapour by which the engines were driven entered the
high-pressure cylinder at the astounding pressure of five thousand
pounds to the square inch, and that, although the engines themselves
made only fifty revolutions per minute, the main shaft, to which the
propeller was attached, made, by means of speed-multiplying gear, no
fewer than one thousand revolutions per minute in air of ordinary
atmospheric pressure!

From the engine-room the professor led the way up the spiral staircase
for a considerable distance, passing landings here and there, with doors
in the bulkheads, giving access, as von Schalckenberg explained, to the
several decks of the vessel. Arrived at length at the top of the spiral
staircase, the party found themselves in a spacious vestibule extending
the whole width of the ship, and lighted on each side by a large,
circular port. The vestibule floor was covered--with the exception of a
margin about three feet wide all round--with a magnificent carpet, the
margin of floor beyond the edge of the carpet being occupied by a number
of beautiful flowering plants and shrubs in spacious and ornamental pots
and boxes. From the centre of the vestibule floor sprang the grand
staircase--a magnificent example of sculptured aethereum--leading to the
pilot-house and promenade deck above; and immediately opposite the foot
of the staircase, forming, in fact, one side of the vestibule, was a
bulkhead of aethereum decorated with a series of Corinthian pilasters
surmounted by a noble cornice, from which sprang the coved ceiling of
the apartment. The panels formed by the pilaster were enriched with
elegant mouldings of scroll-work and painted in