£100,000. About fifty acres of land are required to grow the oaks that are used in the building of a single first-rate man-of-war-supposing each acre to contain forty of the finest oaks. In other words, two thousand oaks are required to build a man-of-war! every one of which must be a hundred years old. Such an amount of timber would be sufficient to build the wood-work of about seven hundred cottages.

A man-of-war is usually, when about to proceed to sea, provisioned and watered for six months, and is supplied with powder, and shot, sails, and rigging, and spare clothing, sufficient to last during a cruise of three years.

THE CREW.

We have already said that the crew of a first-rate manof-war numbers about one thousand souls. Every one will easily understand that in a ship, where the men are constantly called into sudden action and sent swarming about the decks and rigging, nothing but the strictest discipline can prevent utter confusion.

The discipline on board men-of-war is so rigidly enforced, that the most perfect order and thorough harmony prevails in every part of the busy hive. A glance at the human machinery of such a vessel, is quite as interesting as an inspection of an intricate and beautiful piece of mechanism.

At the head of all stands the Commodore, and the ship of the fleet in which he hoists his pendant is called the flag-ship. He, however, interferes very little with the management of the ship. His duties are to guide and direct the movements of the fleet. Setting him aside, therefore, the chief officer of the ship is the Captain, who orders, directs, and is responsible for everything, including

the ship itself. His power is despotic. The First Lieutenant is perhaps the most important officer in the ship. He sees to having the captain's orders obeyed, and upon his judgment and discretion very much depends. His duties are very laborious. He does not, like the others, keep watch every alternate four hours, but is on duty all day. He thoroughly inspects the vessel alow and aloft at least once every day, to see that all is in good order and kept clean, and makes a report thereon to the captain. The captain speaks to the crew through the first lieutenant, and all who have occasion to make reports to the captain must do it through the same individual, who is, therefore, possessed of great power and influence. In short he superintends everything and commands everybody. quarters, that is, when the ship is prepared for action, the first lieutenant has charge of the quarter-deck. The other lieutenants have charge of the deck alternately every four hours. When at sea the officer of the watch, or of the deck, sails the ship-sees that she is kept on her course— keeps a reckoning of her speed, and deviations from the course, and takes note of the weather and of everything that may occur—whether at night or during the day, within the ship or without it-during his watch. All of which he enters on the log-slate when the watch is relieved.

At

The sailing master is one who cannot be said to rank either after or along with the rest of the officers, inasmuch as his peculiar office is permanent, and does not admit of promotion either into it from a lower, or out of it into a higher rank. His duty is to keep the ship's reckoning, to note the bearings and distance of the nearest land or the port to which the ship is bound, and report the same to the captain. He also manages the storing of the hold, and

has supervision over nearly all the stores of the ship. In fact, he exercises as nearly as may be the functions of a captain in the merchant service.

The purser is, curiously enough, called an “idler," although he is usually one of the busiest men in the ship. The surgeon and his assistants, and the chaplain are also thus styled the reason being that none of the three are expected to keep watch, their professional duties being incompatible with such a routine arrangement. These officers share the same cognomen with the cook and his satellites, and the officer's servants, all of whom, being on constant duty during the day, are relieved from taking part in the regular watches. The purser's office is a highly responsible one. He has special charge of all the cash, provisions, and clothing in the ship, and keeps all the accounts. In fact, he is a nautical accountant and man of business.

They

The midshipmen are boy-officers of the ship, the skylarking, mischievous, dare-anything rascals who order about the men as if they, the mids, were giants, and the others pigmies; whose duty it is to learn their profession, and whose aspiration it is to become first lieutenants, or captains if possible, and admirals if they can. They muster the watch at night; at quarters they muster the guns' crews; and at sea, one of them has charge of the fore-castle. take the sun's altitude at noon, and work out the ship's reckoning by it; they keep journals of the cruise, which are periodically inspected; and in port, one takes charge of every boat that leaves the ship. Their self-imposed duties are innumerable and eccentric in the extreme, ranging-not literally, but metaphorically-from "pitch and toss to manslaughter." There are usually about two dozen of them on board a first-rate.

Next come the warrant officers-the boatswain, gunner, sail-maker, and carpenter. The first of these, the "bo's'n," has charge of the rigging, and is responsible for its efficient condition. He has, moreover, a silver whistle and a stentorian voice, with both of which he calls the men to duty when required to do so. Of the crew, we can only afford space to say that there are quarter-masters, captains of forecastle, captains of tops, &c. Rope-makers, caulkers, armourers, coxswains, coopers, stewards, able-bodied and ordinary seamen and boys.

The marines are a sort of ship-police force in time of peace, and sharp-shooters in action. The sailors are apt to regard them with contempt; but their services on board in the way of keeping order in time of peace, and fighting in time of war, are the reverse of contemptible. When posted on the "tops" and among the rigging, they can keep up a galling fire on the decks of an enemy, in close action. It was a ball from the "mizzen-top" of the Redoubtable that killed Nelson.

Such is a man-of-war, and such the general arrangements and details of that class of vessels which, for centuries past, have been the bulwark of our country, and earned for themselves the title of the "Wooden Walls of Old England."

THE BLACK PRINCE.

"There were giants in those days," is said of the men of old. Truly, in reference to naval affairs, it may now be said, "There are giants in these days." In times not long gone by men clad themselves in steel from top to toe ere they went forth to battle. Now-a-days our ships of war are beginning literally to don coats of mail, and soon our

brave tars will have to change their tune and sing, not of the wooden, but of the iron, walls of Old England.

Magnitude and strength seem to be the ruling passions of the day. The Great Eastern is the climax of the first— the Black Prince of the second. That great instigator to all that is war-like; that ingenious inventor of curious and deadly cannon; that fomentor of discord, disturber of the world's peace, and favourite son of Mars, Napoleon III., some years ago, took it into his head to build a ship of war which should be strong enough to run right into and sink an enemy's vessel, and from whose steel-plated sidescannon balls should rebound harmlessly into the sea, and against which shell should be shattered to atoms. He not only planned, but he built and launched this monster vessel, and most appropriately (so appropriately that we might almost fancy it was sarcastically) called it the "Gloire!"

England was surprised, became alarmed, and followed suit with the Warrior, and now the two countries are vieing with each other in constructing vessels which will sink by means of their artillery, or overwhelm with their gigantic battering-ram charge anything that floats upon the sea. What is to be the result when these steel-clad warriors of the ocean enter the lists against each other, no one can tell-the Yankees would probably "guess" there will be a "universal smash," we trust that we shall be for ever left in ignorance, and that no necessity will arise to test their tremendous powers.

As the general principles on which these steel-plated ships are built are very similar, an account of the Black Prince, the launch of which we described in a previous chapter, will suffice to give an idea of what they are.