208 Miscellanies. 



by the surrounding water, which would greatly add to the health and 

 comfort of those on board. Tliis result was also experienced on 

 board the iron steamer already referred to, which went to Africa. 

 Another advantage, which will be fully appreciated by those accus- 

 tomed to voyages in tropical climates, is the entire freedom from in- 

 sects and other animals which overrun wood vessels, forming in fre- 

 quent instances, a perfect barrier to all comfort. 



9. Iron steamers are less exposed to accidents than wood steamers ; 

 if the latter for instance touches the ground but slightly and only to 

 rub her copper, which is often the case, it is absolutely indispensable 

 in tropical climates, to have it immediately replaced, or otherwise a 

 few weeks will be sufficient for the worms to destroy that part of the 

 bottom so exposed. The expense attendant even on such slight re- 

 pairs, particularly in the absence of docks, would be immense. In 

 an iron vessel, under the same circumstances, no difficulty would 

 arise. Again, an iron vessel in striking a rock, would very likely 

 sutler an indentation in her bottom, but it would not pass through the 

 iron, when a wood plank, under similar circumstances, would, in all 

 probability, be broken and rent. An iron vessel has been thrown on 

 a ledge of rocks, and after beating on it for some time, was saved ; it 

 was found that the bottom was greatly bruised and indented, but still 

 perfectly tight, and it was admitted by the spectators that a common 

 wood vessel, under similar circumstances, would certainly have bilged 

 and gone to pieces. The iron bottom presents a perfectly smooth 

 surface, the heads of the rivets forming a plane with the plates. 



10. It is, I believe, an understood principle, that superior buoyancy 

 makes a superior sea boat, and its application is strong proof in favor 

 of iron vessels for steam purposes. We have the united testimony of 

 many persons who have witnessed the operation of iron steamers in 

 heavy weather, as to their great safety and security. It has been argued 

 by some that this very buoyancy rendered them unfit for high sea use. 

 This argument naturally carries one back to about twenty five years 



ince, when it was considered indispensable, that a vessel of three 

 hundred tons should draw seventeen or eighteen feet of water, to en- 

 able her to hold a good wind and make her safe in a sea way. At 

 present the American packet ships of seven to eight hundred tons, 

 seldom draw, when in their best trim, more than thirteen feet of wa- 

 ter. 



11. It has been urged against iron steamers, that they are subject to 

 extensive vibration by the action of the machinery. I was recently 

 on board the Rainbow, (an iron steamer of one hundred and ninety- 

 eight feet length, twenty-five feet beam, and nearly of six hundred 

 tons,) on an experimental trip from Blackwall to Gravesend and back. 



