The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1878-07-02 00:00:00

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Iron musters lie ail—arott----n:i-ta ;-tite-riTiX.the great
ltesistance with 480 men and 16 guns, a 6 e conic ,at
to the little gunboat Tay, es hods looks like • boat
within ship; the lower part of her projecting especially
at the bow, a greet dietance into the water beyond the
inner which is high and dry. She has about 33 men
and two guns., and would be eery useful in plans
where the great ships would never and water. Now
we peas Cyclops, one of those turret-.hip-', looking
something like • durupty Chinese pagoda of one story
built upon • low seedy inland; she has only 15 men.
but her two turrets carry each two great guns, though
two sizes below thou of Glatton and Thanderer. The
grey covering is worn off in places from Cyclops, and
when you are near her, the enorm..us strength of her
armour gums to peep through the paint, and warn
you that • very substantial giant is hiddrn behind
that grey shroud. But a more noble-I Acing giant is
Hercules, where flies the Admiral's flag, she has 14
guns and 6:30 men, and looks every inch • model of
strength. Beside her lies • diminutive vessel, a mere
" water-tank," Captain Ayleo says, the Peiter, and
she seems to be yielding the necessary sucti in to the
giant, for • sound of pumping goes on. We come
alongaide the little "tank," awl pass over to her the
Admiral's Italian cook; when we are humiliated to
find that the little water-steamer is as near as possible
the length and breadth of our Commodore. Steam
on, Captain Ayles, comparisons are odious in this
case, but the Commodore oerteinly does look prettier
than the two-turreted ship with h bears the name of
Hecate, and grins grimly enough to be the queen of
Hades. A broadside giant is not far off, we fancy 'tis
Valiont,with 530 men and 18 guns ; but next we reerh our
.4,1 friend Warrior with 705 men and M guns, hot so
large as those of othsr ship& but melting up in number
for their want of weight.. Scar ely have we time to
observe her square stern and generally older build thin
the whistle sounds, and away the sailors ocunper into
the tops, most of thsm, I oboerve, going through
" lubber's" hole, though a few climb over he ratlioes
outside, and are up the topmost shrouds before the
rest. What • figurechead the Warrior has! aurely it
wu modelled from the " viligiu" in some Surrey-skis
theatre, waving his (tinted and poisitless sword.
Another old acquointance is the B hung with
clothes as if the Laundry Company, limited. bolt iksie
up headquarters there tor • month, and forgotten to
return the clothe& But the lines ani build of
Boocawen been their foil in Gorgon, ano•her of the
giants in whited arns,ur. fit to ihi as her antitype is
fabled, and frighten foes into irgine hy the mere sight.
See her marines are mustering under the hurricane !
deck. Yet she need not have been 110 'Aire:y frightful,
for here is the most powerful of the turret-ships the
terrible Thunder's., and surely tide leader is quite •
beau among the spectres. Perhaps Lrd Charles
Bereeford'a, her late c immander, !sting married to-day. ,
ham something to do with her smart appearance, for I
note a pretty bridal bouquet, a wi cab of evergreens, I
a lard or two across., sod with coloured KIIOOO2 isl
fathoms long, harming from • rope which in another I
ship I obould cell a stay. I ler fore and inisen poles,
•n•I her m tinniest, are also decked wi h silvery lulls
and, pointed aa clue is in blink owl red, and svnlently I
well looked after everywhere, the Thuoilerer is ulna at ,
• dendy compared with ter ghastly followers. Anil
on bo tr.l of her every' hing is so clean that you c mid
eat off her deck, the steel rivet* f her 16t.iing guns
shiniiig like silver end the brass pots like gold ; hr I
men everywhere in their b behovi acid evidently
proud f their .hip. I have told my re mien all about
Thunderer • year ago • and can only ow compare her
with the other turret-ship.. While she boa two turrets
carrying, the one two 35-ton go s, and the ,
other two 38 ton-guns, G etton has only two ,
25-loin guns, Gorgon, Hecate, Hydra, and Orclops
have two turrets, each with 18-too guns. and Prince !
Albert. the queerest, and I think one of the oldest,
they tell me has four turrets, with an 18-ton gun in
each. While wears waiting here, the signal for sail
drill goes up on board thegHercules, hot the flagship
Isn't the emorte-t, thou' she m be the he oriest-
esmourel, linewif-bsttle ship Agri,-n there towards
the Breakwater is the smart corvette B indices, one of
those rapid vessels 6: to be mimed as by Nelson. "the
eyes of the Fleet" She curies 363 msn an 116 411116.
and so con fight well ; but should she be overpowered
she may show • good pair of h els for slie can steam
17 kmvs an hour. Her crew, too, ihouals a f esh
are very smart ;and note iiow, when the signal is given
, for crossing royal and topg.llAnt 7.rd., how the yards
' fly up elm ist as quick as the guns' fired, s.u.d the vi-.,k
is done first of all the fleet. 'Ds the pride of the
Boalioeu fo be the smartest crew, sui they believe
their 'hip to be the swiftest of the whole A love'y
steam yacht near catches my eye' surely that is
another friendly acquaintance? Yes, the Argus
Trinity yacht, whose charming lines show • grace
surpassing vven the most beautiful of the war-vessels,
say, the dc-patch boat Lively, whose ram bow
marks her out as • modern vessel of war,
projecting beneath, instead of over the wat-r,
as does the cutwater of the )scht of peace.
The Lively steams out through the Breakwat fr opening;
she is going to Devonshire to fetch the ealeta from the
Britannia training ship, and give them an opportunity
of seeing the Reserve Squadron, and the exercises in
gunnery, with the manceuvres of the Squadron.
Among them will probably be the Queen's grand-
children, Prince Albert Victor and Prince George
Frederick Ernest Albert sons of the Prince of
Wales, two sharp young sailors, who are qualified to
tell " mamma " all about the ship, and point out to
her the position of the water-line. When we renumber
that the Tay gunboat has three consorts here, the
Tweed, Bastard, and Britomart, there is only one
more clans of independent vessels left. Just under the
shore, away towards Portland, are two white craft,
smaller than the gonbuts with little to attract
&thistle@ ; but these I am more curious about than
any, for they are the celebrated torpedo boats, of
which it is reported that the Lightning can steam 21
to22knotal Enquiries are checked by the muster of
the Thunderer's crew, and Commander Swinton
Holland, who has succeeded Commander Lord Charles
Beresford, stands bareheaded overlooking what might
be the quarterdeck in a liner, and Iva& the prayers
of the Church of England. Moralising may be
impertinent; but I c infer that the appeals before all
those daring men to the Dineen Protector and Saviour
Improved me with an idea of the source of England's
strength.

Alter" church" they hoisted up the Gatling guns to
Lh.. hurricane deck and the tope, our l.tter came from
Capt. Wilson, and we hurried a to the other ships,
picked no the passengers kr the 13n I. and, just
noticing flouriabinr ' window-garden "iii rho 'tern ..f
Resistance, steaued away from the Lord Warden's
stern chasers till we spied the board which still inside
the Extension pr MialMs "no passage here," escaped
the lumbering ballast lighter which mirrors while it
tries to deepen the liarb..nr entrance, paddled up to
the Pilepler, and bade farewell and good luck to Capt.
Arles, the Commodore, and all the c)mpany's steamers,
officers, and crew.