The Sun.
London, England, 1861-09-12 00:00:00

2BIAL TRIP OF THE PRINCE OF
WALES.

A very satisfactory trial trip was made yesterday
from Tilbury to the Mouse Light and back in a new
paddle steamer called the Prince of Wales, built by
Mr. C. Lungley, of Deptford, for the Hunter River
Steam Navigation Company. In obedience to the
requirements of the well-known Australian river,
the Prince of Wales is of light draught, but presents
a very beautiful appearance in the water. Her
lines ate peculiarly good, and her whole appearance
rather that of a first rate steam yacht than of a
vessel intended for commercial purposes. She is a
paddle steamer, worked with oscillating cylinders,
and her dimensions and specifications are as follows:
Length between perpendiculars, 216 ft; breadth
extreme, 25 ft ; depth, 13 ft ; register tonnage, 530;
builder's tonnage, 650, with a raised quarterdeck
2 ft 9 in. Her after cabin is 8 ft 3 in. between decks
and her fore-cabin 6ft 9 in. The vessel was designed
and built to float on a draught of 6 ft water, with
30 tons of coals on board, and to carry a dead
weight of 200 tons at 7 ft draught, at a speed of 13
knots per hour. She has accommodation for 36 pas-
sengers in her first-class cabin aft, and 12 in ladies'
cabin ; 40 in forward cabin, and 10 in ladies' cabin.
This boat is No. 66, built by Mr. C. Lungley, who has
constructed vessels for all parts of the world, includ•
ing the Thunder for Calcutta, the Cape mail boats,
one of which, the Briton, is built on his patent un-
sinkable plan, and will be ready for trial in a fort-
night. This vessel is exciting much attention,
being so constructed as to give perfect sfcurity
against the liquid fire, for protection against which
no provision has been made in the royal navy. Be-
sides the advantage above referred to this unsink-
able plan as adopted in the Briton claims several
others, two of which are, perfect security against
fire, and freedom from any accident in case of colli-
sion. Mr. Lungley some short time since read, at
the Institution of Civil Engineers, a paper elucida
ting his unsinkable plan, and received the marked
attention and approbation of that scientific body.
The engines are a pair of oscillating ones of 175
horse-power ; diameter of cylinders, 451 inches;
length of stroke, sft.; fitted with tubular boilers
and with feed heating apparatus of a novel construe..
tion. Thenumber of revolutions made were 35, with
steam at 301bs. pressure, and vacuum at '4,6 deg.
The engines were made by Messrs. J. and W. Dud-
geon, of Millwall.

The vessel started from Tilbury punctually at 12
o'clock, having on board Messrs. Redfern and Alex-
ander, the agents of the company; Mr. Dudgeon,
the engineer ; Mr. Brett, Mr. Lang, Messrs. Joseph,
Hartnoll, Bristow, Bateman, Gibb, Lungley, Clarke,
J. S. Holland (Admiralty), and several other scien-
tific and commercial gentlemen who take an interest
in steam navigation. There was some little delay in
starting in consequence of the crowded state of the
river, but as soon as the ship got sufficient sea room,
her performance was unexceptionable, the speed
reaching against tide the maximum which had been
expected, and the engines working without the
slightest vibration. The weather was beautiful, and
the trip was a source of enjoyment to everyone on
board. On reaching the Nore, Mr. Bowman, the
surveyor, commenced marking the time, and it was
ascertained that between the Nore and the Mouse,
a distance of eight geographical miles, and back
again, a mean speed (with and against) of 14 miles
an hour was attained. In the course of the after-
noon the company sat down to an excellent cold
collation, provided by Mr. Farr, of the Ferry-
house, Tilbury, and at 6 o'clock the excursion ter-
minated.

The trade for which the Prince of Wales is in-
tended is one which of late years has be, n rapidly
growing in importance. The vessels of the Hunter
River Company navigate the Hunter at all periods
of the year from Sydney to a terminus situated
about 50 miles up in the interior, and find abundant
freights both ways in English " stores" and colonial
wool, live stock, and other produce. The number
of passengers is also very great, and is annually in-
creasing.

Another proof of the Norman origin of the
Cinque Ports is to be found in the use of the terms "Jurats"
and " Barons," in lieu of the analogous Saxon names of
"Aldermen" and "freemen" so familiar to English ears,
and so redolent of English liberties. In former days, under
the Norman and Plantagenet Kings, and indeed to a
much later date, the civil and municipal rulers of ports
used to meet and transact their business in a parlia-
ment of their own, the framework of which still remains
in the " Brotherhood" and " Guestling," which is
convened from time to time for purposes of internal regula-
tion. It was assembled during the present century in 1811,
and again in 1828, and more recently on two occasions, and
according to present arrangement it is ordered to be con-
vened 'once, at least, in every seven years. When the
Brotherhood is convened, the barons and combarons still
meet in the parish church at Newßomney to elect a speaker
with the ancient solemnities, which are celebrated with a
scrupulous adherence to an3ient precedent, that, pleasing
as it may be to the lover of old associations, can
scarcely fail to raise a smile on the lips of those who care as
little as most men in the middle of the 19th century care
for shadows whose substance has departed. It is remark-
able
that to the present day the members returnedteo,Paanrd-
Par-
liament by the boroughs of Hastings, Dover, th
Sandwich, are still termed "Barons" of the Cinque Ports,
and that they still claim to exercise, in virtue of the origi-
nal grant, the honoraryoffice of holders of the canopy over
the head of the sovereign at every successive coronation,
—Once a Week.