, 1860-07-04


immense length Of the Great Eastern that she
would ride over the storm,est seas without roll
ing or pitching But her recent trip ACROSS the
Atlantic proves that she rocks and heayes Us
well Is smaller craft, though to u far less de-
gree. We make the following extracts from
the narrative Of the 1ri1uaes reporter, who re-
marks " that the the theory that slips aboye
certain size will nlurch through the ware supe-
rior to the perturbation Of the SEA, is ended by
ou: experiment Forever. No ship Gun be made
large enough to entirely ignore the gigantic
pulsatlon ofthe ocean," lie says:
At o'clock drizslln1 rain set in, and tle
still strengthening wind gave promise cG II
stormy night. Some of us had bren uppr. lien
sire, from the mild munner in which We had
SET out, that The vora4se might run through tue
entire Of its term in the same dull way, and
thus, while it deprived us Of the least possibil-
without any further knowledge Of The ship and
her sea-goipg qui;ies Than we could have
learned By studying her while *nchured in the
1h .tnes. The fear Of such disappointment.
however, was dispeled By the time WE bad
wiped our boards from dinner. for On ascend
ipE to the deck ut o'clock, und taking our 20.
sitlon on the elevated grating in l,er bow, We
sRw the lesiathau, before 80 dead, so apparently
iuett, nnd which Aud been passing through the
wate1s like some spectral Inland. quicken with
If, ard bend With slnw graudcur to the mo-
ton Of the nca- "Thapk God, she rolls - e<-
claimed an experienced oitcer IN her first trial
trip, when she waS caught in Il series Of heavy
billows oil Portland luce, and it was with some.
thing like the same ebul tion OF de i.ht that W.
saw the mighty ship cast her silent disposition eff
aud make her ubelsanc9 to the still mi hitter
deep.
Her motion Was gentle and majestic swing
from side to side, 10 lie extent Of three Gr :cur
degrees, and now and then, when bll1ow fill
away from, her borv, and a atvell at tue same
line waud roll underneath her stern, size would
m'ldlr yield her head. not short and SUDDEN,
with q pcbrian Start, but witt i 1norArth'a
MEASURED grace, n ii she felt herself to be the
master, and ouly yielding to the courteous laws
Of life. 1t was y great treat to sec her Illus
leaning her why from eide to side through the
we're then in >iglt, were rolling uneas,Ey Or
pi'chlnR from stein to stern. 1t was like some
accomplished ss,m'ner who rwteps forward
gracefully hand over hand, compared 10 ! cnr-
~ norcc WHO barely manages 10 Keep at'ot
through the sapidity Of a eh"rt digging moion.
The Great Eastern wss alive, but mighty us she
WIS, still she was aulenab'e to that vast thsob
tt.c Ini:ht,cs.. Nevertheless she pro7cd, b,
the comparison before us. her superiority to u!l
ordiaary thips III wc1l as 10 any disturbing mo-
tim. In fuct, her soft untlulai1nns gave actunl
relief and pleasure TO every one wlo stooa up
on her.
7"tsday, .]nnt 10-1 was awakened little
after midnight By the howiipR OF lie uiud, the
shouts Ct the seatnen taking in sa:I, and 4
tramplinz overhead. The vessel VII. rolling
mote tl.an s1le had At vny time betorc-say
about eight OF nine det,rees-nnd could now
'eel little vibration oi her bow, impaired ly
the screw as it .tno:e und *cudjed int0 the wa
ter whenever the motion Of the vessel lifted its
blades above the surface. l went to my "sn-
div, bu. the night WIS too thick for anything
bu: durkpess ,o sc seen. and al: could distinct
Is hear was 1lie measured vail Of cne hundred
aud twenty men tior both watches lia,l been
cat:el ur) in chnrus, TO haul the
buwline, haul!' while engaged in trying
to take in the na'nsuii and nasntopsa'l;: The
wind seemed to suften little ut two o'clock,
but pei haps that was the notion Ct my draws
ness, for fell asseep at that hour, while tue
men were still us buailv engaged at the lnain-
sai! rs ever, l ul.srward learned that It had
cMpl 'ycd III. m fire huurs to fur1 it., in the fnE.
Gus tempest that prevailed. The cause nf this
difficulty MAS partly owing to the violence ui
the guile ucling UPON the immense area OF tile
sail, mud partly 10 the unhandy tize of the
tackle By which it must necessarily BE- worked.
Everrthing IL exaggerated lu the way OF size On
beard the Great Eastern, aud 10 be handled aott
Us other slips, she requires au extra h1tcu OF
nleu. The gale subsidized little in its fury at 1
O'Clock, but when rose, ut {, l still found 1t
blowing very hard, and the sea covered will
thsFad.f'kc foam, which tiled the hoEIows as
well as wht:ened On the billow tnps. Still the
ship rolled only eight degrees, and her sta'ely
nod did not disturb plate upon the 1uble. The
storm rack was laid ut breakfast to protect the
di>hrF, but it Was not needed, for my full teacup
sai outside Of it ~thout bring in the iii ,Ltess
peril Of slip. Nevertheless, Il three Thousand
tun vessel would have bern pitching sadly.
Tue motiou did not succeed in making single
person sea.hick, though there were ulnoug our
passengers several who had never been to sea
before.
The wind moderated still more during the
afternoon. and we set all our topsails, but the
ship kept up her motion, and went frtlicking
along her path as tull OF lie US clipper, brig
or pilot boat Nothing could be more beautiful!
than 10 stand upon The elevated grating in her
bow. and rec her stern !itt 1tae1t inajcstcat:y
against the SKIS, :s NC -opped into some yield
ing ware before us; or to behold her rising
sideways 10 her cqa:libr um, like some fro1ick-
ing beauty, 1i!tirg her shoulder in lier dnwnv
he'd. ! could hardly 'satize, as l viewed her
buoyant step upon the trep, that 10000 plates
Of iron. representing !: 400 tuns Of inert metal
c'amped by 5.p0O. Quo RI sts, aud bearing within
beside her pondarous .psinea, 5000 tuns Of
coal, 'uld Greer thl ., ccrk-l,ke, upou the
thin and shifting elemet below. Yet there she
rode sh,p Ike and awar:, "a thing Of beauty
and nj fny ft,fksnrT