260 MONTHLY SUMMARY. 



promise, for In the course of this spring there arrived at Rother- 

 hitlie for Kew a second spar, fully 40 feet longer than the first, 

 as straight, and of much greater bulk ; this, too, was landed at 

 Kew free of all cost, and immediately transported to the site of 

 its ill-fixted predecessor. This noble spar measured, before clean- 

 ing and rounding, 159 feet in length, the diameter of the butt 

 end being 29 inches, and that of the top end eight inches. It 

 contained about 150 annual layers, which were close and well 

 defined by broad brown resinous rings. Immediately on its 

 arrival, Sir William Hooker represented to the Chief Commis- 

 sioner of Works the advisability of requesting the aid of the 

 Admiralty in its erection, which was at once accorded by His 

 Grace the Duke of Somerset. Ten mastmakers and riggers were 

 despatched from Woolwich dockyard, under the superintendence 

 of Mr. John Isaac, the able inspector of mastmakers at that yard, 

 under whose skilful directions the operation of cleaning and 

 rounding the spar, fitting it with rigging, and coating it with a 

 composition of wax and tar, proceeded with celerity, precision, 



and order. 



** Meanwhile, Mr. Isaac matured his plan for raising the spar, 

 which was with him a labour of love ; such a spar for size or 

 beauty having never been seen at any of Her Majesty's dock- 

 yards ; and that intelligent officer s experience having taught him 

 the wisdom of treating such enormous lengths of timber with due 

 respect, he wisely devised a plan of letting it help itself into its 

 place, instead of hoisting it up to disport itself like a fishing-rod 

 in the air, as its predecessor had done. To this end he placed 

 the spar at the foot of the hill, with its butt end pointing to its 

 final resting-place. He then had a cut made through the side of 

 the hill to its centre, in the direction in which the spar lay ; the 

 latter was then dragged butt-end foremost into the cutting, and 

 the butt strongly propped in its final position. On Thursday, 

 the 2nd of May, by means of stout ropes attached about the 

 middle, and passing through blocks on the adjoining trees, the 

 flagstaff was slowly and steadily reared aloft from the horizontal 

 to the upright position. A large concourse of people had assem- 

 bled to witness this somewhat nervous operation of raising a spar 

 of such length and weight that any untoward strain or sudden 

 jerk might have caused it to snap across the middle. To guard 

 against this, the top was steadied with ropes, and other pre- 

 cautions were adopted as the strain was felt most at one or 

 another point in the length of the spar; and though with such 



