sed in the Thames by a Gravesend boat.
The only peculiarity about her progress was the three distinct lines of
frothy water which the screw and paddles made, and which, stretching out
in the clear moonlight like a broad highway, seemed as if the _Great
Eastern_ had fulfilled her purpose, and really bridged the sea.

For a considerable part of the way the paddles were working easily at
from nine to ten, and the screw at from thirty-two to thirty-four
revolutions per minute. It will give most readers a better idea of the
tremendous nature of the size and speed of the engines which worked so
easily, when it is said that, at ten revolutions, the paddle-wheels
dashed through the water at something like 1600 feet per minute, and the
screw revolved at 2500. When accomplishing this, the consumption of
fuel was at the rate of 250 tons a day for both engines, the indicated
power being above 5000 horses--about 2000 horses for the paddles, and a
little over 3500 for the screw. In order to secure her going at full
speed, however, under such circumstances, the great ship should have
been down by the stern at least eighteen inches more than she really
was, for not less than a foot of the screw-blades was out of the water,
and the slip or loss of power was of course very great. Off the coast
of Cornwall, the swell caused her to roll very considerably, as long as
she was a-beam of the long swell.

Soon after this a small brig was seen right under the starboard bow. As
usual with these small coasters, she was showing no light and keeping no
look-out, and but for the anxious vigilance exercised on board the big
ship, the brig would have been under the waves in two minutes more. Her
escape was narrow enough, and nothing short of the instant stoppage of
the engines and actually reversing the screw saved her from swift
destruction. She drifted from under the starboard paddle within twenty
yards--quite close enough to enable Captain Harrison to speak to her
master, and to express a very strong opinion on his style of navigation
and conduct generally.

Towards the close of the trip all the fore and aft sails were set. The
look of her vast spread of canvas and the extraordinary effect it
produced, as one stood at the wheel-house and gazed beneath the long
vista of brown sails stretched to the very utmost, and sending off the
wind with the sustained roar of a volcano, was something almost
indescribable. No mere description could conve