6 OUR SMALLER BOAT— THE ALBURKAH. 



work as it were by instinct, and on leaving 

 Fernando Po, although I had lost my engineers 

 upwards of nine months before, it was still in 

 perfect order. 



The smaller boat formed in herself the test 

 of an experiment of the most interesting kind. 

 With the exception of her decks, she was con- 

 structed entirely of wrought iron ; her bottom 

 was one fourth of an inch in thickness, and her 

 sides from three sixteenths to one eighth. She 

 was built at a considerable distance from the 

 water, and was conveyed on a truck through 

 the streets of Liverpool to the river. Her di- 

 mensions were, length 70, beam 13, depth GJ 

 feet, with an engine of sixteen-horse power. 



That such a vessel would be invaluable in 

 river navigation we were quite aware ; but whe- 

 ther she could withstand the wear and tear of 

 a sea voyage of four thousand miles, was at 

 best problematical. The result has added 

 another to many proofs that a theory fairly 

 grounded on scientific principles may safely 

 be brought into practice even against the ad- 

 vice and opinions of those who are generally 

 supposed to be the most able to give the one 



