27 
Mr. Harris has a fine collection of philosophical apparatus; the 
lightning rod of his house communicates by conductors with a 
chime of bells, which are set to ringing whenever an electric cloud 
passes over the house; this happened during our visit. Mr. Har¬ 
ris has published a small pamphlet relative to his ship-conductor, 
of which he presented me with a copy. We were very much 
gratified with his experiments, and were grateful to him for his 
politeness. 
The delay of the Pallas also afforded me an opportunity of see¬ 
ing an East India ship launched. She was called the City of 
Rochester; was built in London, and had sailed on her first 
voyage last autumn, for Bengal, but off the heights of Plymouth 
was struck by a tremendous hurricane with so much power 
as to wreck her to a degree that required rebuilding. I had an 
opportunity of examining her while on the stocks, and was 
pleased with her construction. She is intended to carry pas¬ 
sengers. On the quarter-deck she has a parlour and two state¬ 
rooms, like the captain’s quarters in a ship of the line, and be¬ 
low, the rooms are distributed, as in the wardroom of a ship of 
the line, with this difference, that in a transport ship the cham¬ 
bers are larger and neater than in a ship of war. In each state¬ 
room there is a toilette, with a water-closet, which is exceed- 
ingly good and comfortable. As I had never seen a ship 
launched before, I was much interested. She rested upon two 
ways, and was retained by two wedges; at a given signal these 
were knocked away, and then by her own weight she was slowly 
and majestically launched into the water, amid the acclamations 
of a great crowd of people. 
The celebrated General Mina , a victim of the troubles which 
existed in unfortunate Spain, met with a hearty welcome in Eng¬ 
land. But the humid climate of this island did not agree with 
him, and he was afflicted with rheumatism. Plymouth has the 
reputation of enjoying a very fine climate, and together with the 
great medical skill of Dr. Hammick , who has charge of the Ma¬ 
rine hospital, is very much praised. For both these reasons, 
General Mina had selected Plymouth as his residence. I cul¬ 
tivated his acquaintance, and was witness of a very interest¬ 
ing ceremony in honour of him. The Spanish committee in 
London had voted him a sword, and a member of this society, 
Mr. Boivring , the same person who in 1824 was arrested in 
France, on account of a pretended treasonable correspondence, 
and soon after liberated again, was commissioned to present this 
sword to the general in a solemn manner. It was on the 2d of 
June, when a numerous and selected company met at the Royal 
Hotel of Plymouth, to attend this ceremony. As the general 
was introduced to the company, Mr. Bowring informed the pub- 
