Sept. 29, 1887] 



NATURE 



509 



July 26, but nothing more than could, under the conditions 

 of weather, be expected. 



I cannot find out anything about other steamers meeting 

 an exceptionally big wave. 



"440 a.m. Sea came on board over the bows, breaking 

 No. 2 companion hatch, twisting the forward bridge, 

 breaking some iron stanchions on the bridge, breaking 

 the short bridge between the forward end of the promen- 

 ade deck and the break of the forecastle, and bending the 

 brass rails on the port side of the main upper bridge, 

 leaving the lower bridge intact. 8 a.m. Fresh gale, 

 force 9, with a heavy, confused sea. Noon. Gale moder- 

 ating and the sea going down, but still confused." 



So much from the log-book ; but the following particu- 

 lars are from the chief officer's report, and the statement 

 of the second officer, who was in charge at the time the 

 sea came on board. 



At midnight on the 25th the wind was freshening from 

 weot by north, and the weather becoming squally. A 

 long, heavy sea was coming from west-south-west, but 

 the ship was only taking an occasional spray over all. 

 At 2 a.m., 26th, the wind was west-north-west, a gale, 

 with heavy and frequent squalls, sea rising fast from north- 

 west. At 4, the wind had veered to north-west, with 

 heavy and frequent squalls. At this time the west-south- 

 west sea was still very heavy, with a high north-west sea 

 running across and over it, making a very high and con- 

 fused sea ; but the ship was making 16 knots, and though 

 the spray was flying fore and aft, she had not up to this 

 time taken a drop of solid water on board. 



At 4.40 a.m., lat. 50° 50' N., long. 27° 8' W., the 

 officer of the watch noticed a heavy-breaking sea coming 

 from the north west ; he ordered the officer at the engine 

 telegraphs to reduce to " half speed," but before this 

 could be done the top of this sea came on board, but did 

 no damage. The ship rose quickly to it, but as this wave 

 passed under the stern she plunged heavily, and dipping 

 her bows into the second wave— not breaking, or as the 

 officer of the watch expresses it, " dead water,"— scooped 

 up a mass of water which, running aft over the break of 

 the forecastle, fell upon No. 2 companion hatch, breaking 

 it to pieces, also breaking the short bridge between the 

 fore-end of the promenade deck and the break of the 

 forecastle. The look-out bridge between the lighthouses 

 was twisted, and five iron stanchions and 20 feet of the 

 iron rails on it broken, and four brass stanchions on the 

 port side of the upper main bridge were bent ; the middle 



{)art of the topgallant forecastle deck for 40 feet in a 

 bre-and-aft line, was sent down 2 inches by the weight of 

 water passing over it. Some water got down No. 2 

 hatchway and frightened a few passengers. 



The second officer is certain that the first sea did no 



damage, as only the top of it broke over the ship, but he 



describes the plunge the ship took, as this wave passed 



n astern, as very heavy, and that she went bows into the 



I solid water of the second wave, which he is quite certain 



was not breaking, but " coming smoothly along." This 

 made the ship " stagger, and the sensation was as if she 

 had struck something hard." After the sea came on 

 board the speed was reduced to 10 knots, and was not 

 increased till noon. 



The canvas screen on the port side of the upper main 

 bridge was spread, and the spray striking this bent the 

 brass stanchions. The lower bridge escaped, through thefe 

 being no canvas screen spread. 



Although the wind was three points on the starboard 

 bow, with a heavy sea from the same direction, it seems 

 to me, from the brass stanchions on the upper main 

 bridge having been bent aft and to starboard, and from 

 certain marks on the forecastle deck, that the second 

 officer's statement, as to the damage being done by the 

 second wave (in my opinion the west-south-west sea, 

 which was still running high and fast), is correct ; and in 

 my own experience I have seen, on more than one occa- 

 sion, serious damage done by a sea coming up on the lee 

 bow and breaking on board hours after the wind had been 

 blowing three or four points on the other bow. 



If we take into consideration along and heavy sea from 

 west- south-west, a north-west gale, and heavy sea from 

 the same quarter,, we shall have an ugly, confused sea. If 

 a very powerful ship with very fine lines is driven at the 

 rate of 16 knots through this confused sea, I do not 

 think there is the least occasion to call in the aid of tidal 

 or earthquake waves to account for any damage the ship 

 would receive. 



In the engine-room there was no shock felt, and the 

 sailors and firemen say they did not notice anything 

 unusual save only some passengers making a noise. 



The masthead light was extinguished through the 

 chimney being unshipped and falling across the wick. 



Yours very truly, 



W. Watson. 



Huskisson Dock, Liverpool, August 18. 



THE GARDEN ROSES OF INDIA. 



T^HE principal garden roses cultivated in Europe and 

 -*■ in India may be traced to Western Asia and China. 

 The old-fashioned summer roses, which were the orna- 

 ment of gardens in Europe forty to fifty years ago, are 

 mostly referred to Rosa gallica, which has its home in 

 South Europe and Western Asia, and to Rosa centifolia 

 and damascefia, which probably came from the mountains 

 of Armenia and Northern Persia. All these are dis- 

 tinguished by the incomparable delicacy of their aroma, 

 and of the two last-named kinds one or the other is 

 cultivated on a large scale in Southern France, Italy, 

 Macedonia, Asia Minor, Persia, and Northern India, for 

 rose-water and essence of roses (attar). The flowering 

 season of these kinds is short, lasting a i&w weeks only, 

 and it was an important event for horticulture when, 

 towards the close of last century, the China roses were 

 introduced in Europe. The most important of these was 

 Rosa indica, thus called by Linnaeus because it was 

 brought from India, where it has long been grown in 

 gardens. Its home, however, is not India, but China, 

 and its great value consists in this, that it flowers through- 

 out summer and autumn, hence the name autumnal rose, 

 also monthly rose {Mona(srose). For this reason a 

 variety was called Rosa semperflorens. Another variety, 

 described under the name of Rosa fragrans, distinguished 

 by its strong though not always very delicate scent, 

 became the parent of the tea-roses. By crossing these 

 kinds and other species with the old garden roses, the 

 numberless varieties of hybrid perpetuals and tea-roses 

 have been obtained, which now ornament our gardens in 

 Europe as well as in India. 



In India nine or ten species of roses are indigenous, 

 but with the exception of Rosa moschata, a magnificent 



