1874.] Loss of Life at Sea. . 481 
What will happen in a ship with weight concentrated on 
her sides, high centre, and low freeboard, say on the 
L’Aghulas’s bank, with a weather current and steep waves, 
will be that the great inertia of her sides will resist their 
rising to the wave, but finally it will lift her suddenly, but 
a large body of water will break on board, and will rush over 
to the other side. She will then have three forces tending 
to turn her, the beam sea lifting the upper side, the weight 
of water weighing down the lower side, and the current 
running to windward below, making an adverse couple to 
roll her over, all which will be facilitated by the empty cells 
in her bottom. If she is not rolled over, it will be that a 
good Providence has intervened; if she does capsize, we 
shall know who to hang. 
The same danger will arise from a weather tide or current, 
and from great tidal and solitary waves. 
There are two other elements that materially affect the 
rolling motion, viz., length and depth: the greater these are 
the greater is the resistance to rotatory motion. Then, in 
proportion to the height of the waves, the depth of agitated 
water increases, and so does the portion of the ship down in 
unagitated water decrease, and with it the limitation to great 
motion decreases. 
It is universally admitted that the lower the centre of 
gravity is, when once the ship is inclined by a force, the 
more rapidly wiil this low centre bring the ship back to 
the perpendicular, but then, also, in contradiction to 
Mr. Froude’s view, must its power, of necessity, be greater 
to resist the force of the waves, acting through the solids of 
immersion and emersion to rotate the ship: also, the wider 
the plane of flotation, the greater will be the leverage and 
power of the sea to put a ship into greater motion ; and, 
ceteris paribus, the higher the centre of gravity, the less 
will be the leverage and power of the ballast, or low 
centre of gravity, to resist motion. Therefore it is that in 
proportion as the centre of gravity is high, and the vessel 
broad, the effect of the sea in rolling the ship both rapidly 
and through large arcs is greater! But obviously it is not 
desirable that a ship should roll through large arcs, for in 
that case the armour to be a real protection must cover the 
whole side thus exposed from time to time at each roll, while, 
in addition, to a greater degree, would the unarmoured deck 
be presented to the enemy, and the employment of guns on 
such a deck would be made proportionably difficult ; still 
less is it desirable that these large arcs should be performed 
rapidly. Therefore the plane of flotation should not be 
