206 REMARKABLY LARGE SHIPS. 



is^ however, true, that the bulk^ substance^ 

 and body of every vessel is timber ; but the 

 quantity of iron used in cramping those in- 

 numerable beams together is enormous. 



A Mr. Wood, of Port Glasgow, in the 

 isle of Orleans, in the gulf of St. Lawrence, 

 constructed, I believe, the largest ships that 

 ever were borne upon the ocean. His great 

 ship, the Columbus, was three hundred feet 

 long, more than fifty feet broad, and almost 

 thirty feet deep. Her actual tonnage, or 

 weight, that she would carry, was five thou- 

 sand tons ! She came to England, from Ca- 

 nada, with timber, in 1825 ; but went to pieces 

 on her return." 



" O, what a sad thing !" said Harriet. ^' I 

 should have thought myself safer in that, than 

 in any other." 



You would not have judged correctly, my 



