196 EXPERIMENTAL CRUISE OF THE 



given Lira (perhaps a little loosely) for the height of the waves in^the neighbour- 

 hood of the Agulhasbank. The Academiciau did not dispute what the sailor alleged, ■ 

 camely, that that is possibly the part of the globe Avhere the waves in bad weather 

 reach their greatest height, but the figures themselves he made fun of. We were 

 all very anxious to try and decide the question, nnd the sea itself served us to the 

 extent of our desires; the offictri were animated with the most laudable zeal, 

 and would doubtless have been very well satisfied if they could have been able to 

 satisfy the Admiral, but, spite of all their good will, aided by the circumstances 

 of the weather, it was not possible to exceed the maximum of 12 metres. 



The storm, then, of the 1st October, Avas one of the most serious, and it did some 

 damage. Let us now see what this amounted to. 



Of the five ironclads which were attached to the squadron, tiiere is not one 

 which has undergone any damage that can be attributed either to their form or to 

 the present plan of theii' coustruction, or to the workmanship or materials em- 

 ployed on their construction. All that they have suffered, — and on the whole it 

 is but a trifle, — is independent of the q\iestion of the ship being of wood or iron, 

 of the ship being armoi-plated or not. They had some boats carried away. 

 Granted ; this is a proof onlj' of the violence of the sea. Tlie Napoleon, notwith- 

 standing its advantage of a greater heiglit above the water, lost two of them, 

 while the hivincible did not lose one, and besides did not undergo damage of any 

 kind; so also with the Gouronne, except the loss of four boats. Th^ Magenta 

 and, still more, the Solferino, experienced accidents which might have become 

 serious, but they arose entirely from damages iu the system of pipes and secon- 

 dary parts of their engines, so that these accidents prove nothing iu the question. 

 The Normandic, which experienced the loughest handling of any, shipped some 

 water while she was in the trough of the sea, having been intentionally put there 

 when the storm was at its height, and she carried away her fore top-gallant mast 

 and jib-boom ; but can we call these damages seiious? And when, after having 

 met with them, she was again put head on to ihe sea, she no longer shipped 

 a drop of water. 



This is the complete bill of costs against the ironclads. All their hulls have 

 remained uninjured, and after the most minute inspection it cannot be discovered 

 that they have been at all shaken or have undeigone any deflection. 



The fate of the vessels not armour-])!ated was very different. The Napoleon 

 had her bows stove in, while making head against the sea, and was com- 

 pelled to go into port to repair. The Talhman^ being less solid and strong, 

 could not follow the evolutions of the squadron on the 2Sth, Avhen it was making 

 10 knots against a head sea somewhat less thun that which rose during the- 

 storm; she was then shipping water fore and aft, and her screw suffered so oa 

 that day that her captain during the gale was compelled to ipcy to and continue 

 hie course without engine to the rendezvous off Ushant. By a chance, curious 

 enough, Jsut especially instinctive, the Taluman was the only vessel of the 

 squadron fitted with a "well" — that is to say, a contrivance intended theoreti" 

 cally to unship her screw for the purpose of examining it, of preserving it iu case 

 of danger and repairing it in case of damage, and she was the only vessel of the 

 squadron which had to go into dock, and that just in consequence of accident to her 



