SHIPS begin life with a retrograde movement. They imitate the crabs, in other words they are launched stern foremost. Whether great or small, long or short, whether clothed in patrician copper, or smeared with plebeian tar, they all start on their first voyage with their stern-posts acting the part of cut-water, and, also, without masts or sails. These necessary adjuncts and a host of others are added after they have been clasped to the bosom of their native sea. One notable exception there is to this rule, the launch of

the far-famed Great Eastern, which monster of the deep was forced into her element sidewise, of which a full account will be found in another part of this volume.

The cradles on which ships are launched are wooden frameworks, so constructed as to slide down an inclined plane, called the ways, bearing their burdens along with them into the water. When the ship is ready for launching, the shores, or supports that have kept her so long in position are knocked away one by one, until the entire weight of the ship rests on the cradle. The ways are then well greased, and it only remains to knock away one or two remaining checks to allow the vessel to seek her future home by means of her own weight.

But before this last act is done, a day must be fixed for the launch; friends of the owners must be invited to go on board during this her first voyage; a fair maiden must be invited to go through the ceremony of giving the ship her name; paragraphs must go the round of the newspapers; as the hour draws near, crowds of human beings, young and old, male and female, must húrry to the spot to witness the great event, and hundreds of little boys must beg leave from school (if they can); in short, a great stir must be made, and a great day must dawn before the last shores are knocked away, and the noble structure be permitted to rush down that inclined plane, and for the first time cleave the waves.

Many are the launches that have taken place since shipbuilding began, and were we to search among the records of such events for the most striking and interesting, we should have to leave this work, perhaps, unwritten. Unquestionably the most interesting and peculiar of all launches was that of the Great Eastern, but as an account of that will be found in its proper place we will at this time con

tent ourself with giving one of the most recent, as well as interesting, that has come under our notice, namely, the

LAUNCH OF THE BLACK PRINCE.

This is a vessel of war, of a species which has been invented very recently. It is sheathed with armour of iron, so as to be impenetrable by cannon shot. A full account of her will be found on page 247. At present it will suffice to say that she was built by the Messrs. Napier of Glasgow, and is upwards of 6000 tons burden.

On the day of the launch the weather was most unpropitious. Rain fell in torrents, but the launch of a great ship-of a more than usually heavy and peculiar ship—was too great an event to miss on account of the bad weather. Rain might moisten the clothes, but it could not damp the enthusiasm of the good citizens of Glasgow. Umbrellas in thousands darkened the very earth, and long before the appointed hour, a patient and expectant crowd of certainly no less than 50,000 persons thronged the neighbourhood of the building-yard, and lined the banks of the Clyde.

Every kind of vehicle was engaged to convey sight-seers to the scene, and special steamers were hired, and crammed to suffocation, with people who could not find other means of transit. As the hour approached, (half-past two), great excitement prevailed; while a magnificent display of gay flags, and the enlivening strains of musical bands, united their influences to wage a spirited war with the depressing showers of rain.

"The arrangements for the launch, both to ensure safety and expedition were very complete. The Messrs Napier had previously taken the precautionary measure of getting the river deepened opposite their building-yard, thereby securing

a depth of water at high tide of more than thirty feet. The chain, cable, and hawsers used in checking the vessel were of a massive and heavy description. The bars composing the links of the chain cables were 24 inches in thickness, and the hawsers, which were made of hemp, were 24 inches in circumference. Two chain cables, and one large hawser, were attached at one end to the bow of the vessel; the cables were fastened at the other end to large anchors, weighing five tons each, which had been imbedded in the north side of the river; and the hawser was attached to an anchor of similar dimensions, which was imbedded not far from the bow of the vessel. Checking hemp hawsers and a chain cable of equal strength were also attached to the vessel's quarter, and two anchors also of five tons in weight. The anchors were so solidly fixed in the ground that it would have been difficult to conceive how they could have been dragged from their position, even though the combined weight and velocity of the vessel had been brought to bear upon them. At the bow of the ship was an 18-inch hydraulic machine, capable of exerting a pressure of nearly 900 tons upon the vessel, if she did not slide away by her own weight on the removal of the dogshores. The ram was placed so as to act right upon the breast of the vessel, at the point where the bow rounds itself into the keel. For hours previous to the time fixed for the launching, spectators were moving in all directions through Messrs. Napiers' yard, to gratify a curiosity very natural on an occasion which had drawn together many thousands of all classes. As two o'clock approached, the anxiety of the spectators increased, and two spacious stands, erected to accommodate ladies, with covered seats, were speedily filled with fair occupants, while the gentlemen, with heroic patience, were submitting to a

thorough drenching from the unceasing rain outside. At two o'clock the carpenters began to knock away the bilge blocks, and were occupied in this operation nearly threequarters of an hour. The vessel was then held firm for a minute or two, by means of two dogshores,' till the interesting ceremony of naming the ship was performed. For this purpose a covered stand had been erected at the bow of the vessel which was named the Black Prince by Miss Elizabeth Malcolm Napier, grand-daughter of Mr. Robert Napier, and daughter of Mr. John Napier, of the firm of Messrs. Napier.

"The expectation and excitement had reached its height when the signal was given to remove the dogshores. This was done, but the vessel did not move. The hydraulic machine was immediately worked, and slowly the heavy ram was seen to advance, easing up the bow by its tremendous pressure of 900 tons. For several minutes the distance travelled by the vessel was almost infinitesimal, but gradually the speed quickened; she rushed along the ways with tremendous and ever-increasing velocity, and darting stern foremost through the water, was floating like a cork in a few seconds more than five or six hundred yards down the river.

"All fears of any hitch in the launch were now over, and the spectators on the south side of the river relieved their feelings by loud and renewed cheers, which were re-echoed from the spectators on the opposite bank.

"The graceful and easy movement of the vessel down the ways into the water was the theme of general remark. There was no lurch or unsteadiness in her whole progress into the river. Several of the checking chains and cables were never put to the strain, and the noble looking vessel