2

CHAPTER I.

APPOINTMENT OF THE AUTHOR TO HER MAJESTY'S
CIVIL SERVICE IN Sheerness DOCKYARD.

I

HAVE already narrated the first portion of my history.

I have told of my birth, my youth, my early manhood,
my enlistment in the East India Company's Service,
and voyage to India; my marches from Calcutta to Hazaree-
baugh, Ghazeepore, Benares, Allahabad, Cawnpore, Delhi,
and the Sutlej, together with my experiences as a barrack-
room author; the part I took in the State Reception of the
Army of Affghanistan on its return to India; the march of
our regiment back to Delhi, and thence to Meerut; my
retirement by purchase from the army, appointment to the
clerical staff of the Lieutenant-Governor of the North-West
Provinces, departure to Agra, and despatch on duty by dak
to join the Governor-General at Simla; my summons home,
journey overland to England, and arrival in Bath, my native
city. And now I may proceed with my story.

Nearly two years had passed away. I had married, and
found it impossible to return to India to resume the duties
of my civil appointment. I resorted again to my pen for a
living, and realized the pains and anxieties, as well as the
successes, of an author. It occurred to me one day to write
to Lord Ellenborough, who had succeeded to the office of
First Lord of the Admiralty. I reminded him of my service
in India, and requested the favour of an appointment. His
lordship replied immediately, and, in a note written by his
own hand, requested me to call on him at the Admiralty. I
did so, and Lord Ellenborough at once appointed me to a
clerkship then vacant on the establishment of Sheerness
Dockyard.

VOL. II.

CHAPTER

XVIII. THE AUTHOR'S RETURN TO SHEERNESS.-IRON SHIP-

BUILDING AT CHATHAM

XIX. PROGRESS IN NAVAL ARCHITECTURE

XX. ARMOUR-PLATING.CONVERSION OF WOODEN SHIPS

INTO IRONCLADS.-LAUNCH OF THE "ACHILLES"

XXI. THE FIRST BRITISH TURRET SHIP.-ROYAL SCHOOL

OF NAVAL ARCHITECTURE. — ENLARGEMENT

CHATHAM DOCKYARD

XXII. NOTABLE EVENTS OF 1865

XXIII. A YEAR OF COMMOTION AND A YEAR OF GLOOM

XXIV. SHEERNESS IN ALARM

XXV. THE RELIEF OF SHEERNESS

XXVI. CHANGE UPON CHANGE. THE DECADE 1861-70

XXVII. STABILITY AND PROGRESS.-ROYAL SORROWS

ΟΙ

XXIX. GREENWICH COLLEGE.-NAVAL EVENTS.-THE SHA

REVIEW

XXX. ACTIVITIES, FESTIVITIES, AND SOLEMNITIES.

N

ROYAL COMMISSION ON THE CIVIL SERVICE.

XXXI. A LAST LOOK AT SHEPPEY: ITS NAVAL PORT, DO

YARD, FORTIFICATIONS, TOWNS, ATTRACTIONS,

WONDERS

XXXIII. CIVIL SERVICE, FURTHER PROGRESS.- THE

LENGER" EXPEDITION.—FREE LIBRARY AND O

XXXV. MEMORABLE INCIDENTS

XXXVI. MORE MEMORABLE EVENTS. THE DECADE 187

XXXVII. PROSPERITY AND DEVASTATION

XXXVIII. HERE AND THERE.

XXXIX. ABROAD AND AT HOME.-COMPLETION AND ΟΙ

OF THE GREAT BASINS AND DOCKS AT CH

XL. FINALE.

I returned to Bath direct. We prepared forthwith for our departure. A post or two brought the official missive:

"SIR,

"ADMIRALTY,

"April 28th, 1846.

"I am commanded by my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to acquaint you that you have been appointed a Third-Class Clerk in Sheerness Dockyard, and you are to repair to your duties without delay.

"MR. R. G. HOBBES."

"I am, sir,

"Your very humble servant,

"(Signed) H. CORRY.

I thus became a member of H.M.'s Civil Service, and of the Civil Department of our glorious British Navy.

W

CHAPTER II.

DOWN THE THAMES TO SHEERNESS.

E were soon on our way from Bath to Sheerness, inaugurating our connection with the waters by taking the morning steamboat from London Bridge to that port. It was delightful weather, and we were in high spirits. It is pleasant for the Briton, as he steams down the Thames, and looks around him on the innumerable vessels of all sorts that crowd the river, to think of the progress of our marine architecture, from the little boat of wicker* to the stately ships that dare the stormiest seas, bring to our shores the products of every clime, sustain our national industries, and convey our people and our produce to every region of the earth. He

"The coracle is, perhaps, the most ancient and the most primitive of all floating craft, and it is still in large and constant use in Wales. Caermarthen is a great place for coracles. They are made of tarred leather stretched over a sort of wicker-work, and are very light to carry. About the size of a washing-tub, they hold only one occupont, who works the frail craft with a single paddle, which is used by twirling it round while it is plunged straight down into the water. They are carried on land by means of a strap which passes across the bearer's chest. When a dozen or more of these coracles are being carried about on the backs of men, the whole seems to you, as you walk behind the itinerant boats, to resemble the huge beetles or spiders which belong to the entomology of a Christmas pantomime. The fishermen manage these singular craft with the great dexterity of lifelong practice; but I am advised that they are insecure vessels, and that an ambitious essayist who should try to navigate one would quickly upset the boat. At Caermarthen Regatta there was a coracle race; ten started, and one only won. Almost as broad as they are long, great speed is not attainable, but the winner, I fancy, paddled at a rate of between three and four miles an hour. It is curious to see a form of boat in use long before the Romans came to these islands fishing and racing to-day on the stream of the Towey, and close to Sir Richard Steele's Caermarthen."-Picturesque Europe.