250 DESCRIPTION OF DESERTED BOA T. Chap. XV. 



was built by contract, numbered 61, and received into Wool- 

 wich Dockyard in April, 184 — ; the fourth figure to the right 

 hand was lost, as the stem had been reduced as much as 

 possible in order to lessen her weight ; from this cause part 

 of the Roman numerals indicating her length were also 

 lost. 



The weight of the boat alone was about 700 or 800 lbs. 

 only, but she was mounted upon a sledge of unusual weight 

 and strength. It was constructed of two oak planks 23 feet 

 4 inches in length, 8 inches in width, and with an average 

 thickness of 2J inches. These planks formed the sides or 

 runners of the sledge ; they were connected by five cross- 

 bars of oak, each 4 feet long, and 4 inches by 3J inches 

 thick, and bolted down to the runners ; the underneath parts 

 of the latter were shod with iron. Upon the cross-bars five 

 saddles or supporting chocks for the boat were lashed, and 

 the drag-ropes by which the crew moved this massive sledge, 

 and the weights upon it, consisted of 2f-inch whale-line. 



I have calculated the weight of this sledge to be 650 lbs. ; 

 it could not have been less, and may have been considerably 

 more. The total weight of boat and sledge may be taken at 

 1400 lbs., which amounts to a heavy load for seven strong 

 healthy men. 



The ground the sledge rested upon was the usual lime- 

 stone shingle, perfectly flat and probably overflowed at times 

 every summer, as the stones were imbedded in ice. 



The boat was partially out of her cradle upon the sledge, 

 and lying in such a position as to lead me to suppose it 

 the effect of a violent north-west gale. She was barely, if at 

 all, above the reach of occasional tides. 



One hundred yards from her, upon the land side, lay the 

 stump of a fir-tree 12 feet long, and 16 inches in diameter 

 at 3 feet above the roots. Although the ice had used it 

 roughly during its drift to this shore, and rubbed off every 



