CHAP. IV. SMEATON'S LIGHTHOUSE ON THE EDDYSTONE. 41 



cement was found to have set as hard as the stone itself, 

 and the whole of the building which had been raised 

 was one solid mass. 



The rock-tackle, with sheers and windlass, having 

 been again fixed, the erection proceeded with compara- 



PROGRESS OF THE WORKS TO THE 15TH COURSE. 



tively few interruptions until the 24th of September, 

 1758, when the twenty-fourth course was finished, which 

 completed the solid part of the pillar and formed the floor 

 of the store-room. The building had now been raised 

 thirty-five feet four inches above its base, or consider- 

 ably beyond the heavy stroke of the waves. Above this 

 point were to be formed the requisite apartments for the 

 lighthouse-keepers. The walls of these were twenty-six 

 inches thick, constructed in circles of hewn blocks, sixteen 

 pieces forming each circle, all joggled and cramped, so 

 as to secure perfect solidity. The stones were further 

 grooved at the ends, and into the grooves tightly-fitting 

 pieces (rhombs) of Purbeck marble were fixed solid with 

 well-tempered mortar, making the whole perfectly firm 

 and water-tight. At the end of the season the twenty- 

 ninth course was set, and a temporary house was erected 

 over the work for its protection during the ensuing 

 winter. 



While living at Plymouth, Smeaton used to come out 

 upon the Hoe with his telescope, in the early grey of 



