THE NAUTILUS 51 



war to be made ; those that are being made now have first an 

 inch of iron, then fifteen inches of oak and on the outside five more 

 inches of iron. On one of these ships at [sic] America there were 

 a lot of floating batteries firing away with the largest cannons, but 

 she passed through them without any men killed. The cannon 

 balls smash on their sides. Mr Gray says that one of these ships 

 could come right up to London without being hurt at all. 

 So I shall plate the Nautilus. 



The vessels referred to were, of course, the Merrimac 

 and Monitor, whose engagements during the American War 

 caused a world-wide sensation and practically initiated 

 the era of armour-plating. It seems strange to have lived 

 at a time when those ships were deemed wondrous novelties 

 and to be alive and equally interested in all manner of 

 warships at the present day. The progress has been 

 indeed marvellous. 



The beautiful faith in Mr Gray's knowledge of naval 

 construction and its possibilities is rather amusing. 



It may seem rather incredible that at the age of eleven 

 I should have produced anything like a decent model of 

 a two-decker from a block of wood, but I had a good 

 tool-chest and had spent many hours gaining knowledge 

 of how to use it from Frank Hudson, the Kilvington 

 village carpenter. The Nautilus was not an attractive 

 model, for she was just on the lines of the bluff -bowed 

 vessels that I saw on visits to Whitby, in the harbour 

 there, but she was a correct brig as regards masts, sails 

 and yards. In one of my letters from Cundale, written 

 in 1862, it is rendered evident that the making of the 

 Nautilus was wearing out my available supply of tools, 

 for it ends thus : 



When you send the magic lantern, will you send two sharp 

 chisels, two gouges, a spokeshave and a plane ? 



Give my love to everybody and believe me your affectionate 

 brother. W. A. 



It is evident from an entry in the Memoranda of my 

 Diary for 1863 that the Nautilus had encouraged me to 



