668 LIFE-PRE 
a rope, extended afterwards In a zig-zag direction before 
the mortar or cannon, or fufpended on a piece of wood 
raifed feveral feet. But, as it was neceffary to know if 
the cord would not break by the force of the explofion 
and the velocity of the motion, the author thought it 
proper to confult profeffional men. He accordingly wrote 
to fome officers of the artillery in garrifon at La Fere in 
France; and they almofc ail replied that the rope would 
infallibly break. 
Not deeming this anfwer fatisfa&ory, he happily con¬ 
ceived the idea of making the experiment on a fma',1 
feale. He caufed a piece of the barrel of a mu Ike t to be 
filed into the form of a fmall mortar of eighteen lines in 
length internally; a/nd, having tied a packthread to a 
common ball of lead, he made an experiment, which per¬ 
fectly fucceeded, as did many others which he afterwards 
repeated, even with the ftrongeft charges of powder. 
This fuccefs he communicated to the officers of artillery, 
who replied, that there was a great difference between a 
quarter of an .ounce of powder and four or five pounds 
employed ’for a bomb ; and were Hill of opinion that the 
rope would break. 
Having already made experiments, he was ftill difpofed 
to doubt the truth of this affertion ; and therefore tried a 
four-inch mortar with a ball of the fame calibre, and 
eighteen ounces of powder, with a rope only three or 
four lines in diameter; and his fuccefs was equally flatter¬ 
ing as before. Thefe experiments were repeated, by or¬ 
der of government, at La Fere, four times with an eight- 
inch mortar, and three times with one of twelve inches ; 
ail of which happily fucceeded. The fame author goes 
on to obferve ; 
“ It ought to be remembered, that a veffel is never call 
away, or perifhes, on the coafl, but becaufe it is driven 
thither againft 1 the will of the captain, and by the vio¬ 
lence of the waves and the wind, which almoll always 
blows from the fea towards the (bore, without which there 
would be no danger to be apprehended : confequently, in 
thefe circumftances, the wind comes always from the fea, 
either d i re til y or obliquely, and blows towards the more. 
-- iff, A common paper kite, therefore, launched from 
the veffel and driven by the wind to the fhore, would be 
fufficient to fave the crew of any {hip. This kite would 
convey to the fhore a ftrorig packthread, to the end of 
which might be affixed a cord, to be drawn on-board by 
means of the ft ring of the kite ; and with this cord a 
rope, or as many as fhouid be neceffary, might be con¬ 
veyed to the fhip. 
“ 2diy, A fmall balloon, of fix or feven feet in diame¬ 
ter, and raifed by rarefied air, would be alfo an excellent 
means for the like purpofe. Being driven by the wind 
from the veffel to the fhore, it would carry thither a firing 
capable of drawing a cord with which feveral ropes might 
be afterwards conveyed to the veil'd. Had the difeovery 
of the air-balloon produced no other benefit, it would be 
entitled on this account to be conlidered as of great im¬ 
portance. 
“ ^dly, A fky-rocket, of a large diameter, would be of 
equal fervice. It would alfo carry, from the veffel to the 
fhore, a firing capable of drawing a rope after it.” 
The author juft quoted fays, that he announced his dif¬ 
eovery in a French journal in January 1794. It is, how¬ 
ever, to be obferved, that, in the year 1792, a bounty of 
fifty guineas was given by the Society of Arts in Lon¬ 
don, to Mr. John Bell, then ferjeant, afterwards lieute¬ 
nant, of the royal regiment of artillery, for his invention 
of throwing a rope on-fhore by means of a fliell from a 
mortar on-board the veffel in difrefs ; the particulars of which 
were publifhed in the tenth volume of the Society’s 
Tranfaflions, page 204. 
The feveral trials made before a committee of the fo- 
ciety at Woolwich, on the 29th of Augnfl, 1791, of throw¬ 
ing a line on-fhore on this principle, were as follow. 
From a boat moored about 250 yards from fhore, the 
SERVER. 
{hell was thrown 150 yards on-fhore, with the rope at¬ 
tached to it; the fliell was of cad-iron, filled with lead, 
it weighed 75 pounds, its diameter eight inches; the rope 
in the trial was a deep-fea line, of which 160 yards 
weighed eighteen lbs. the angle of the mortar from whence 
the fhelf was fired, was 4-5 degrees. By means of the line, 
Mr. Bell and another man woiked themfelves on-fhore 
upon his raft of calks ; the raft was upon the model al¬ 
ready deferibed, and reprefented at fig. 3 of our Plate. 
The fecond trial was repeated in a fimilar manner, and 
with equal fuccefs, the fliell falling within a few yards of 
the former place; the gale of wind was brifk, and the wa¬ 
ter rough. The direction of the fliell was nearly from 
north, to fouth, and the wind blew nearly north-weft. In 
the third trial, the mortar was elevated to 70 degrees ; 
the rope attached to the fliell was an inch-and-half tarred 
rope, of which every fifty yards weighed fourteen pounds 
and a half; the fliell of the kind above-mentioned; it 
fell 160 yards from the mortar, and buried itfelf about 
two-thirds in the ground ; the line or rope run out was 
about 200 yards, and it required the force of three men 
to draw the fliell out of the ground at that diflance. 
Each charge of powder was fifteen ounces. A fourth ex¬ 
periment was made by firing, from the fame mortar, a 
grapnel in a wooden cafe; it did not retain its hold in 
the ground fo well as the fliell, but amongft the crevices 
of rocks, or where the veffel is near fhore, will be ufe- 
ful. A grapnel of this kind may be fired from a com¬ 
mon cannon with an endlefs rope, running in a pulley 
or fmall block fixed thereto, by Which a raft may be fuc- 
ceffively drawn to and from the veffel either by the per- 
f'on on-board the veffel or thofe on-fhore. 
The following are the obfervations made by lieutenant 
Bell, upon throwing a line on-fhore in cafe of a (hip being 
flranded. 
1 ft, From the propofed conftruclion of the piece of 
ordnance, intended to throw the (hot and line on-fhore, 
I fuppofe it will be between five and fix hundred weight. 
The chamber is to contain one pound of powder, and the 
bore to admit a leaden ball of fixty pounds or upwards ; 
the length of range, or diflance, will depend upon the 
fize of the line made ufe of; I fuppofe it will carry a 
deep-fea line between three and four hundred yards 
diflance. 
2d. Ail fhips that have iron ballad may ufe this piece 
as a part of it, and then there would be only the trifling 
difference of caiting fo much of the ballad into the form 
of the piece ; the leaden bails may likeivife be ufed as 
ballall. 
3d. I am of opinion there are various ways, on-board 
of a fhip, that the mortar may be placed in a proper po- 
fition for firing without a carriage exprefsly made for it j 
it may be placed upon a coil of rope, or its trunnions 
refted upon quoins, or any thing elfe, wherebv the muz¬ 
zle can be railed fo high that the groove upon the trun¬ 
nion appears vertical, as the piece in that pofition would 
be elevated nearly 45 degrees. 
4th. As I imagine all fhips carry deep-fea lines, on that 
account I made ufe of it in the experiments at Wool¬ 
wich ; but, if it fhouid be thought too fhort for the dif- 
tance, any other light line may be added to the length 
of it. 
5th. Suppofing a {hip's owner to purchafe fuch a piece 
of ordnance with the leaden balls, and a block carriage ; 
I do not think the whole would amount to more than ten 
or eleven pounds expenfe. 
6th. Where a fhip is driving or unmanageable near the 
fhore, it would be proper to have the piece loaded, the 
line reeled upon hand-fpikes or poles, and laid upon tire 
deck ready for firing at any time it might he judged ne- 
ceffary. The hand-fpikes or poles, the line is reeled upon, 
preferve it in an horizontal form ; and they are not to be 
drawn out until the inflant of firing; in this manner the 
line will deliver itfelf freely. 
7th. 
