The

chinery invented by Mr. Brunel, who offered his services to construct the same for the French government and the United States of America, without success; but the British government availed themselves of it, and caused it to be done, according to his design, in the year 1800, it is the only one of the kind in Europe. Blocks of all sizes are manufactured here, from the first process of cutting the wood, up to the completion of the block, done by the machinery. rapidity and precision with which the operations of boring, mortising, scoring, &c., are performed, is truly astonishing; ten blocks of four inches are manufactured in the short space of five minutes. The shives for the blocks are also cut, turned, the brass bushes let in, and polished, in less than two minutes. The iron pins which pass through the shives are wrought and turned, when they are put between three pieces of iron, so contrived as to go round the pin, in order that it may be polished; but at the same time they exert a pressure of more than a ton on all parts of the pin, by which its quality is put to the test, as those of inferior make were sure to split in two by this enormous pressure acting against them.

The whole of the machinery was made by Mr. Maudsley the engineer, and is put in motion by a thirty-horse power engine. A duplicate of the block machinery is kept in readiness at Chatham

yard, in case of any derangement taking place with the original.

In addition to this, copper sheets and metal sheathing nails are also manufactured for the service of the navy at this yard, the former works, however, were not in operation when we were there. Iron and copper bolts are also made here, and the process is very simple. A quantity of red hot iron is presented to two large iron rollers, which revolve round their own axes, having graduated grooves, either semi-circular or rectangular; these rollers, therefore, when brought in contact with each other present sections either of a series of complete circles or squares, through which the iron is successively passed till it is reduced to the size required. Copper being a more pliable metal than iron is first cast into thick pieces of certain weight, and passed through the grooves in a cold

state.

The mast and rigging houses are upon extensive scales. The rope house is of a great length and four stories high, on the lower floor of which is the machinery for making large cables, the three others are used for the manufacture of cordage and twine.

We here saw the "Imaum" 74 gun ship, which was built at Bombay for his Highness the Imaum of Muscat, who made her a present to King William the Fourth.

The worthy master shipwright of the yard, Richard Blake, Esq., was kind enough to show us the model room in which very many beautiful models principally of his own inventions are deposited, many of them were calculated to economize the conversion of timber for building ships, with which we were very much gratified.

There is a naval college at Portsmouth yard for seventy students; thirty, the sons of commissioned officers in the navy, pay in proportion to their rank for board, clothing and education; and forty sons of noblemen and gentlemen, who pay £120. per year, and at the end of two years if the students are qualified they are appointed midshipmen in the navy. There is a semaphore here by which intelligence can be conveyed to the Admiralty in London in a few minutes. A school of naval architecture for rearing respectable young men as theoretical and practical ship builders, was established in this dock yard in 1809, and our kind friend John Fincham, Esq., to whom we owe so much for his kind attention was the instructor here for many years. It was found, that more young men were here produced qualified for shipwright officers than situations could be found for, and the system has been given up for the last ten years.

Portsmouth and Portsea are both enclosed with strong and extensive fortifications, the latter is a more modern town, but irregularly built; Ports

mouth contains a mechanics institution, which is a great source of amusement to many of the mechanics in the yard who wish to combine recreation with instruction. The principal street, which almost in every country town in England is called High Street, is very wide and regular, and has a great many shops well supplied with goods of every kind. A steam bridge plies between Portsmouth and Gosport every quarter of an hour, besides which a great many boats are always in readiness at that part of Portsea called the Common hard, to convey people to and from the shore to the ships of which there is always a large number lying in the harbour, principally of the navy, and merchant men which touch at Portsmouth in their way to or from the port of London.

The boatmen here are apt to take great advantage of strangers, by demanding more than they ought to have, but they have with them a book given by proper authorities in which all the established fares to the different places are written, and the stranger must ask to see the book whenever he thinks himself overcharged, as they are liable to punishment if they hesitate to produce it, or demand more than the book directs. Portsmouth Harbour is said to be one of the finest in England; it is sheltered from the winds, and is capable of containing almost the whole of the British navy. The entrance to the mouth of it is nearly two miles in width, and the celebrated roadstead,

called Spithead, which lies between the coast of Hampshire, and the Isle of Wight, is denominated by sailors "the King's bedchamber," on account of its capaciousness, and the safety with which ships may anchor here.

We saw nothing remarkable in Portsmouth and Portsea, except the Dockyard and the fortifications. The trade here principally consists of cattle from the Isle of Wight and West of England. Irish corn is also brought hither, and wine is sometimes imported direct from the continent of Europe, but it has considerably declined since the cessation of the last French war.

The town of Gosport is situated on the west side of Portsmouth harbour, and it carried on considerable retail trade at the time of the late war. The population is about 7000; but the streets are narrow and irregular, and the houses are small and without any architectural beauty.

Gosport, however, is much benefitted by the removal of the victualling yard to it from Portsmouth, because hundreds of people find employment in this establishment. A large quantity of provisions are here deposited for supplying the ships in the navy.

This establishment is also called the Royal Clarence yard, and here ship biscuits for the whole royal navy are manufactured by steam; the several processes for making them are carried on entirely by steam, and the rapidity and precision with