CHAP. TV. SMEATON'S LIGHTHOUSE ON THE EDPYSTONE. 43 



far different purpose. After a rough night at sea, lie 

 had no eye for the picturesque beauties of the Sound : 

 his sole thought was of his lighthouse ; for though he had 

 done all that human care, forethought, and skill could do 

 to root his column firmly upon that perilous rock, he was 

 not yet altogether free from anxiety as to the security 

 of the foundation. There were still many who persisted 

 in asserting that no building erected of stone could pos- 

 sibly stand upon the Eddystone ; and again and again 

 the engineer, in the dim grey of the morning, would 

 come out and peer through his telescope at his deep-sea 

 lamp-post. Sometimes he had to wait long, until he 

 could see a tall white pillar of spray shoot up into the 

 air. Thank God ! it was still safe. Then, as the light 

 grew, he could discern his building, temporary house 

 and all, standing firm amidst the waters ; and, thus far 

 satisfied, he could proceed to his workshops, his mind 

 relieved for the day. 



At the end of the third year's operations the en- 

 gineer returned to London to proceed with the designs 

 for the iron rails of the balcony, the cast and wrought 

 iron and copper works, as well as the glass for the 

 lantern, all of which were, like the rest of the work, 

 manufactured under his own eye. The ensuing season 

 proved so stormy that it was the 5th of July before 

 the workmen could land upon the rock and recom- 

 mence their building operations for the year ; but 

 from this point they proceeded with such rapidity 

 the whole of the stones being now in readiness to be 

 placed that in thirteen days two entire rooms with 

 their proper coverings had been erected upon the 

 column; and by the 1.7th of August the last pieces of 

 the corona were set, and the forty-six courses of masonry 

 were finished complete. The column was now erected 

 to its specified height of seventy feet. The last mason's 

 work done was the cutting out of the words "LAFS 

 DEO" upon the last stone set over the door of the Ian- 



