THE FIRST ARCTIC STEAMSHIP 195 



Sir John Franklin went on board and said uncompli- 

 mentary things about it, as also did the Duke of 

 Orleans (afterwards King Louis Philippe) and the 

 Duke of Chartres, though the Frenchmen were more 

 gentle in their phrases. From Woolwich to Margate 

 this remarkable engine, aided by the sails, took the 

 Victory in just over twelve hours, the boiler leaking so 

 much that the additional forcing pump had to be kept 

 working by hand all the time. Passing the Lizard, the 

 piston-rod was found to be so much worn on one side 

 by friction against the guide-wheels that a piece of iron 

 had to be brazed on to it. Then the keys of the main 

 shaft broke and the substitutes made on board broke 

 one after the other. " The boilers also continued to 

 leak, though we had put dung and potatoes in them by 

 Mr. Ericsson's directions." The air-pump drew quan- 

 tities of water ; the feeding pump was insufficient to 

 supply the boiler. The big bellows nearly wore out ; 

 so did the small one. Off the Mull of Galloway the 

 stoker fell into the machinery and had his arm crushed 

 and nearly severed above the elbow. Then the teeth 

 of the fly-wheel of the small bellows were shorn off, 

 and the boiler joints gave way, and the water, or 

 rather the potato soup, flowed out of the furnace 

 doors and put out the fire. 



Enough has been said to show the difficulties under 

 which Ross first used steam on a voyage to the 

 northern seas. The list of damages need not be con- 

 tinued. Every constituent part of the apparatus gave 

 way in turn ; and when the Victory became imprisoned 

 for the winter, and the engineering staff had some time 

 on their hands, they employed it in taking what was 



