ay the men could pass to and fro at all tides, and during
any time of the day or night.

This was a matter of great importance, as the men were no longer so
dependent on tides as they had been, and could often work as long as
their strength held out.

Although the work was regular, and, as some might imagine, rather
monotonous, there were not wanting accidents and incidents to enliven
the routine of daily duty. The landing of the boats in rough weather
with stones, etcetera, was a never-failing source of anxiety, alarm, and
occasionally amusement. Strangers sometimes visited the rock, too, but
these visits were few and far between.

Accidents were much less frequent, however, than might have been
expected in a work of the kind. It was quite an event, something to
talk about for days afterwards, when poor John Bonnyman, one of the
masons, lost a finger. The balance crane was the cause of this
accident. We may remark, in passing, that this balance crane was a very
peculiar and clever contrivance, which deserves a little notice.

It may not have occurred to readers who are unacquainted with mechanics
that the raising of ponderous stones to a great height is not an easy
matter. As long as the lighthouse was low, cranes were easily raised on
the rock, but when it became too high for the cranes to reach their
heads up to the top of the tower, what was to be done? Block-tackles
could not be fastened to the skies! Scaffolding in such a situation
would not have survived a moderate gale.

In these circumstances Mr Stevenson constructed a _balance_ crane,
which was fixed in the centre of the tower, and so arranged that it
could be raised along with the rising works. This crane resembled a
cross in form. At one arm was hung a movable weight, which could be run
out to its extremity, or fixed at any part of it. The other arm was the
one by means of which the stones were hoisted. When a stone had to be
raised, its weight was ascertained, and the movable weight was so fixed
as _exactly_ to counterbalance it. By this simple contrivance all the
cumbrous and troublesome machinery of long guys and bracing-chains
extending from the crane to the rock below were avoided.

Well, Bonnyman was attending to the working of the crane, and directing
the lowering of a stone into its place, when he inadvertently laid his
left hand on a part of the machinery where it was brought into contact
with the chain, which passed over his fore