88 APPENDIX. 



have been adopted in the Medea, had its benefits been commensurate with the in- 

 convenience. 



The first trial of sailing after the Medea joined the squadron was on the 3rd of 

 November, in company with Her Majesty's ships Scout, Childers, and Columbine. These 

 vessels being ordered on some detached service, it was considered a good opportunity, as the 

 wind blew directly into the Bay of Smyrna, for the steamer to test her qualities of " beating" 

 to windward with such fast-sailing ships ; and we accordingly find that, although labouring 

 under all the disadvantages of a first experiment, which the seamen will not fully appreciate, 

 she was, with wheels revolving loosely in the water, nearly equal to both the first-named 

 vessels, and only beaten in any very decided degree by the Columbine, built by Sir William 

 Symonds, the present Surveyor of the Navy. Having gained the outside of the bay, the ships 

 proceeded towards their destination, and the Medea remained for some hours exercising the 

 crew, in performing the evolution of " tacking," and in developing such modifications as might 

 be applicable in the performance of her duties as a sailing ship of war, of which she had 

 hitherto had no practice. It was ascertained that, with the moderate breeze then blowing, 

 she made nearly a straight course at five points from the wind, and meeting with two Greek 

 polaccas, well known to be fast vessels, she joined company, beat them both " on a wind," 

 and returned to the anchorage at Vourla. 



Several trials of sailing were afterwards made in company with the squadron, and on the 

 20th of November and 16th of December the Medea beat through the narrow entrance of 

 Smyrna harbour, against a strong wind in both cases ; in the first instance alone, and on the 

 second occasion, in company with Her Majesty's ships Beacon and Mastiff, both of which she 

 considerably outsailed, and " weathered" upon. 



On the 8th of January, 1835, the whole squadron left Vourla, and gained the open sea by 

 " tacking" out of the bay, and on that day the following entry appears in the steamer's 

 log-book : "Tacked occasionally find we both 'weather' and 'fore-reach' on every ship in 

 the squadron," the wind at the time being moderate. During the passage to Malta it was 

 thought necessary, in order to preserve her exact position in the order of sailing, in light 

 winds particularly, to use the steam from one boiler, with one wheel occasionally. The 

 connecting and disconnecting of the paddle-shaft with the machinery occupied in no 

 instance more than twenty minutes, and on some occasions as little as five ; the expense of 

 coal when at work being somewhat less than three bushels an hour, and while the fires were 

 " banked up," (t. e. sufficient fire retained under the boiler to keep the water nearly at boiling 

 heat, ready to generate steam at short notice,) half a bushel per hour sufficed. The whole 

 quantity of coals expended during this voyage of eleven days was sixteen tons, about one- 

 third of which quantity was used in keeping the water warm while the steam was not in 

 operation. 



ship's progress, so much as the boards would do, their being displaced must therefore, to a certain extent, be 

 beneficial ; yet it is but fair to state, on the authority of Mr. Morgan, that " it will occupy about the same time 

 for the removal of each board from the patent wheel, as the common one ; and as the patent wheel has fewer paddles, 

 they can of course be sooner removed." To the above we may add the opinion of Captain Austen : " The radius rods 

 and principal working machinery of Morgan's wheel may be displaced or reinstated with great ease ;" in which case 

 the bare skeleton would afford less resistance than the naked framing of the common wheel. 



