Tat frequt the small craft of our THE frequent recurrence of losses coast, induces me to offer some observations on a plan that might be adopted in that class of vessels, and likewise on a mode of constructing them. Our attention cannot be directed to a more interesting class of men than those employed in our Coast Fisheries, either as to our admiration of industry and courage, or looking on the Fishery as the parent of Navigation, and, consequently, as the origin of our maritime splendour. Of the frequent recurrence of these losses at sea, I would beg to notice, that there was an account, the other day, of the fishing-boats belonging to a port in Ireland being all lost, and in which were eighty persons. I need not dwell on the number of lives that are lost in this way, to enforce how desirable it is that some measure of safety could be adopted in fishingboats and small craft. Nor do I think the difficulty lies in pointing out a imethod by which it can be effected, or even of obtaining the acknowledged advantage of the means advised, by the very persons themselves, on whose behalf we take so much interest. But the difficulty will be, to persuade or direct men differently from the modes in practice, and to introduce any alteration or any innovation; and which difficulty, therefore, I can only hope to overcome, by interesting individuals who are possessed of the means to aid the plans proposed. Fishermen and Boat-builders probably will object to every thing proposed, differing from their own methods and their old styles; and nothing but the exertions of patriotic and humane persons, who by their example in adopting the plan, and of building boats upon the construction/ recommended, and exhibiting the advantages at sea-ports, can be expected to overcome the prepossession in favour of old systems, and induce the adoption of those proposed. The means by which greater safety, and we do not speak of perfect secu. rity, is to be attained in boats, consists in what can be adopted in all sorts of built, and which is what I term bulk-heads, or cabins, with small hatchways to make fast down, fore GENT. MAG, June, 1813. and aft, each occupying a full third either end, and made completely waor more of the length of the boat, at ter-tight; and the head and stern being hollow, and kept free of water, she would, although à boat had shipped a heavy sea, swim and rise to the wave; and were the open part filled with water, the boat would not sink, and the danger of swamping would be avoided; and, though a heavy sea might be shipped, the crew would have an opportunity of saving their vessel and themselves. The centre part, or waist, to be left open, will serve for stowage, and which will have all the air and convenience of an open boat where that convenience is wanted. It is proposed, that the gunwale should surmount the bulk-heads, to protect, in some measure, the crew from the common effects of waves, and to prevent the crew from slipping overboard, as well as oars, spars, and such like, from falling out of the boat. In large vessels, the gunwale should be very high, as the crew would stand and work upon the deck. The other source of safety will be in the construction of vessels, by having greater buoyancy, carrying none, or very little ballast, and therefore being of less specific gravity than a vessel in ballast, and conse quently rising to the wave better. And for this sort of vessel I shall advise a flat floor. In respect of the flat floor, I am aware it will be objected to; but I beg to observe, that all our coastboats have bottoms so nearly flat, that there is little difference in the bottom of the present coast-boats and the complete flat floor. And I beg to observe, that the perfect flat form is the best of all for firmness, or is that form which is called bearing; which consists of resistance to depressure, and of a lever to counterpoise, and which no vessel can sail without: for however sharp-built a boat may be, she never can sail, till, by ballast, she is sunk so deep, as to be brought to a considerable breadth; which is tantamount to a broad flat surface exposed to the water. No vessel can sail without bearing, and all the most famed sailing-vessels possess this property in the greatest degree. The disadvantages of exposing flat surface to the water instead of a sharp form, are the cause of a boat going going to leeward, there being no hold on her side against the water equal to the lateral action of the wind: and if a flat vessel is sunk deep, then it is the cause of making a vessel too heavy from its increased size, and sluggish for want of being finely run under her bottom, and then she will not rise well to the wave, nor will she be fast, and which is consequently avoided by what is termed fine bottoms: but, as our plan is to sail light, these latter objections will not apply to the form of boat we recommend. Confident in the fitness of a flat sur face for sailing, I have no hesitation in saying it will be the best suited for the sort of boat alluded to; that is, a light, or open sailing-boat. I am confident in saying the flat floor is the form best adapted for open sailing-boats, whose principle of safety must depend on their lightness, or great buoyancy, and whose power of sailing must depend on the immediate bearing therefore brought on the water, without being sunk deep by ballast or lading; and no form can equal a flat surface in this respect. The accounts given of the Balsa, of South America, verify this, and are our authority for assuming that the flat floor is well adapted for sailing and for buoyancy; and the construction now recommended is, indeed, but a scientific construction of that primitive sort of navigation. With respect to keeping to windward, lee-boards and sliding-keels will effect this: but I shall propose another mode, which is, by extending very considerably the depth of keel which shall be extended to that depth, in proportion to the size of the boat, with corresponding substantiality, that shall be found effectual to answer the purpose. This I propose as a more effectual, and more convenient mode, than lee boards and sliding keels. It is to be recollected, that we are speaking of fishing-craft, that are to take the shore, and that are to be launched and hauled up, as occasion requires. The convenience, then, of the mode of built proposed is, that the boat will draw less water, and being lighter than other boats in ballast, will be more easily hauled up and launched, and will save the trouble of lading and unlading ballast: and if it be found necessary to throw in a little ballast, to aid the form and construction proposed, in sailing, it will be so trifling, comparatively with the size and strength of a boat constructed in this manner, as not to render it necessary to be removed. Another advantage offered, in the flat floor, is this: that the floor being formed of separate plank from the sides of the vessel, the plank composing the floor may be introduced of any thickness thought to be proper, or upon experience found necessary. By increasing the thickness of her floor, we shall increase the power of carrying sail, by throwing a greater weight into her bottom, which will act with the greatest efficacy as ballast; and the specific gravity being less, she will be more buoyant, and more safe in this respect, than a boat that is ballasted; and her bottom being stronger, she will be less liable to injury in taking the ground, and be ing hauled up or launched, and generally less liable to damage at the bottom than other boats. And in regard to the safety arising from buoyancy, no part of the vessel being reduced below the specific gravity of water by reason of ballast, she would not labour as vessels in ballast do; but, on the contrary, would swim light, and always be disposed to keep the surface of the water, and rise more readily upon the wave. Another advantage, in the flat floor, is the simplicity and ease of construction; and the floor, from its great substance, may be composed of almost any wood, and elm or fir may be used. That we may not be misunderstood, we shall again observe, that we do not offer this mode of construction for vessels of burthen, but for small-craft, or what we term light sailing-boats, and that are to take the shore; and it may be applied to the largest dimensions of fishing-boats that are used on the coast, and for taking the ground. And though we do not recommend it either for ships boats, or boats that are wanted of light construction, as indeed nothing can exceed the present modes and style of building adapted for such lastmentioned boats, according to the nature or service they are intended for: we do not mean to say, that the flat floor is not a form that experience may prove is very fit for vessels of certain description, such as coast-traders, or where little draft of water is required, equired, or the advantage of taking the ground is sought for. We shall conclude these observations by giving directions for the construction, and the reasons and advantages of some parts of the construction. With respect to the fineness of the run, this we consider necessary for fast-sailing, because it is to be considered that, being flat-floored, she is brought immediately on her bearings, and a great substance is immediately opposed to the water on her bows, instead of being relieved at the bottom by that being rounded off, as in sharp vessels and round bottoms; therefore sharp-run bows will be requisite to give her ease; though the water, and a sharp run aft, will also be requisite, for similar reasons, to give her easy discharge and steerage; therefore I would take the length for the run at her bows full that of her beam, and at stern a similar length of ruu. The waist, in length, may be from one half her beam to a length equal to it; this would be giving a total length of from two and a half of her beam, to thrice her breadth of beam but the waist of large vessels might be considerably reduced in proportion to small vessels. A more bluff form certainly may be adopted, such as making her length only two breadths, and which would not defeat the ob ject of a sailing-boat, except as to fastness. The bulk-heads I would advise always to be extended, so as to contract the open part or waist as 'much as possible, with regard to convenience; and her gunwale should be sheered to a level with her deck; as by this means, should she ship a sea to fill her waist, the water would run off, and would not overflow her decks, and she would roll over all that was cumbersome at her sides, and in a great measure empty herself. But the gunwale might be continued of equal height all round her; and, in addition to scuppers, a large sliding port might be made in the aft part, or side, to aid the discharge of a heavy sea, in the event that it was shipped. The bulk-head, at the fore part, to meet the sea and pressure of sail, of course should be the greatest, and should always be extended so far as to occupy her greatest breadth of beam; and by this means a good bearing would be always ensured, although her waist was filled with wa ter. As to her sides, they should flaunch out a little, for the purpose of throwing the water from her; probably a twentieth part of her beam, on each side, would be more than sufficient: but it should not be too much, as it would diminish the proportionate bearing of her floor, in which the advantage of the construction chiefly consists. The depth of hold is recommended, in small boats of six feet beam, or thereabout, never to exceed one third of her beam; and, in large boats, this proportion of depth may be yet decreased; for three feet depth of hold we should think quite enough, if not more than sufficient, for twelve feet, or any breadth of beam. As to the depth of keel, six inches might be sufficient for small boats; and this may be extended to any depth large boats might require, On the depth of keel, we must observe, that it is by this, and the bearing of the sort of construction recommended, that the vessel will sail well. The thickness of timber for the floor, inch to inch and a half plank, might be quite sufficient for small boats, which might be increased for large boats, for which two inches or more might not be found too cumbersome. The floor to be laid smooth, with a rebate in each plank; the sides, however, to be of thin plank, and wea thered, or laid in the clinch-built style; and there should be on the bottom, near each side of the vessel, a small keel or cradle, of equal depth with the main keel, to keep her upright, and support her floor on taking the ground, and which would likewise aid her in holding to windward. As to rigging, we may leave that to the fancy of people; but loftiness, or taunt rigging, must by all means be avoided. Possibly, a fore lug-sail, or lateen-sail, constructed in a particular way, and a sprit-sail aft, would be found the most proper and convenient. (See Plate 11. Figs. 1, 2, 3.) Since the above was written, I see, by.the newspapers, that a new fishery is talked of being established at Hove, a village near Brighton. Possibly, it might not be a bad opportunity to introduce a boat or two of the con struction here recommended. PHILONAUT. **The platform and section are drawn for a boat of nine feet breadth of floor. Mr. Mr. URBAN, Lambeth Marsh, Murch 5. N p. 112, you have noticed an in scription in the Church of Eye, in Suffolk. The inclosed print of" As an tique inscription, engraved on stone, taken out of the ruins of a Chapel near Eye, in Suffolk," (see Fig. 4.), is from a plate which came, with a few others, some time since, into my possession. Yours, &c. J. M. FLINDALL. HE outside square a brick wall, set with fruit trees; gravel walks 204 paces long, seven broad; the circular walk 485 paces, six broad; the centre square, a bowling green, 112 paces one way, 88 another;-all, except the first, double set with quickset hedges, full grown and kept in excellent order, and indented like town-walls. (Fig. 5.) Mr. URBAN, Trinity Hall, Feb. 22. SEND you a few particulars respecting two interesting fragments of antiquity, discovered in the vicinity of Cambridge. (Fig. 6, 7.) In the month of October last, my attention was excited by an oblong stone, projecting from a bank near the high road between Cambridge and Huntingdon, nearly three miles from the former town. On investigation, it proved to be the mutilated remnant of a Roman Monument, partly covered with large, but rude and irregular characters, which are considerably injured by the corroding effects of the atmosphere. Some of the lelters, particularly in the third line, which is not so deeply relieved as the rest, are almost illegible. The substance of the stone is a marine aggregate in a calcareous matrie; and it weighs probably two cut. Its form is cylindrical, and its dimensions are, 33 inches in length, by 12 in diameter. The following is an accurate transcript of the inscription; the characters of which, with the assistance of Mr. Harding, of Pembroke College, I partly succeeded in restoring. IMP. CAES. FLAVI. constANTINO. V. Professor Clarke, of this Univerity, to whose inspection I submitted the Monument, politely undertook to decypher the imperfect characters; and ascertained that it was erected in the reign of the Emperor Constantine, by the fifth legion, and dedicated to his son, Constantinus Pius, to whom many memorials of this nature were inscribed, in various parts of the Roman Empire *. On referring to Lysons's Britannia, I observe that the present highway from Cambridge to Huntingdon is of Roman origin, having been the line of communication between Duroli pons and Granta, which were both important military stations under the Cæsars. The monument may therefore have been simply commemorative of some local incident of trivial moment, perhapy of the formation or repair of the road, since its unadorned simplicity almost precludes the supposition of its being a memento of any very im portant transaction.-I do not imagine that it was designed for a milliare, or mile-stone, as the inscrip tion has no reference to distance or situation. This monument is the only one of the kind hitherto discovered in Cambridgeshire; which is rather surpri sing, since the Romans formed numerous military positions in Granta and the circumjacent country, considerable traces of which are now dis cernible in the Northern part of the town, in the village of Chesterton adjoining, and on the hills of Gogmagog, four miles from Cambridge. A few weeks subsequent to the discovery of the singular monument just described, I was induced to renew my search, and succeeded in bringing to light another fragment, on which the letters LISSIMVS CAESAR are distinctly legible. These characters appear to have been traced with greater accu racy and precision than those inscribed on the other fragment, of which, on a cursory view, it might be supposed to form the base, particularly as it was lying immediately contiguous:but a closer examination forbids that conjecture, the substance of the stones being different, and their dimensions by no means corresponding +. * Grüter's Roman Antiquities. + It is an aggregate of sand, intermixed with numerous marine depositions. Its dimensons are, 44 inches long, by 14 broad. It 1 It would be altogether fruitless to conjecture the design for which this monument was erected, from the very imperfect data which the inscription affords: it is perhaps contemporary with the memorial first discovered, as the concluding words, nobiLISSIMUS CAESAR, refer to one of the Roman emperors, probably to Constantine, to whom the other was dedicated. I should not omit to mention, that numerous fragments of pottery were found on the spot, indicating that a funeral vase was deposited there, perhaps by Roman soldiers, as a tribute to some deceased companion in arms, whose ashes the urn may have contained. It has been suggested, that there may have been a Roman station where these antiquities were discovered: but that is scarcely admissible, from the vicinity of Granta, which was a considerable military position under the Cæsars. The adjacent country, moreover, is a level plain for several miles, on which neither tumuli, nor any traces of an encampment, are visible. HENRY L. BIDEN. Mr. URBAN, March 1. HE following Procession is thus THE prefaced in the hand-writing of the late Rev. George Ashby: "At the Rev. Thos. Gough's, of Risby, man and maid marrying, in Autumn, 1774.-Mr. Pate, the attorney, tells me, at the funeral, 13 Jan. 1786, that the plan and contrivance was Mr. Henry Bun bury's; which is likely enough, as they were all (Pate too) Free-masons; and they have a notion of spectacle. G.A." What follows, with the slight sketch of the two butchers (Fig. 8.), is believed to be in the handwriting of the celebrated Mr. H. Bunbury. Two men with staves, to clear the way. Four Morris-dancers. A trumpet. Two men bearing spit and dripping-pan. The Master Cook in all his glory come stewpannis, saucepannis, &e. Two men bearing faggots. Two men bearing blocks of wood. The corpse of a sheep, borne on a tray by two Butchers. Two drums. Two fifes. A cart bearing two barrels of beer. A sword-bearer. Two men with staves. A sword-bearer. Free-masons, two and two. A sword-bearer. The Priest on horseback. A band of music. Six girls with flower-staffs. A Bridemaid. The Bride. A Bridemaid. Attendant. Bridegroom. Attendant. Doves. Relations, two and two. Gentlemen, ladies, and rabble, in order." Mr. URBAN, Banwell, Somerset, some verses said to have been written I have thought it my duty, Mr. |