A Floating City, and The Blockade Runners

PAGE One would have taken her for a small Island Frontispiece Carpentering, Rigging, and Painting 6 Then began the slow interminable Ascent 17 Every Man at the capstan-bars was...

On the 18th of March, 1867, I arrived at Liverpool, intending to take a berth simply as an amateur traveller on board the “Great Eastern,” which in a few days was to sail for Ne...

The deck was still nothing but an immense timber-yard given up to an army of workmen. I could not believe I was on board a ship. Several thousand men—workmen, crew, engineers, o...

The “Great Eastern” was indeed preparing to sail. Already volumes of black smoke were issuing from the five chimneys, and hot steam filled the engine-rooms. Some sailors were br...

Fabian left me, to look for his cabin, which, according to the ticket he held in his hand, was number seventy-three of the grand saloon series. At this moment large volumes of s...

The work of weighing anchors was resumed; with the help of the anchor-boat the chains were eased, and the anchors at last left their tenacious depths. A quarter past one sounded...

The next day, the 27th of March, the “Great Eastern” coasted along the deeply-indented Irish shore. I had chosen my cabin at the bows; it was a small room well lighted by two sk...

I said that the length of the “Great Eastern” exceeded two hectometres. For the benefit of those partial to comparisons, I will add that it is a third longer than the “Pont des...

On Wednesday night the weather was very bad, my balance was strangely variable, and I was obliged to lean with my knees and elbows against the sideboard, to prevent myself from...

It must be confessed the Doctor’s words were not very comforting, the passengers would not have heard them without shuddering. Was he joking, or did he speak seriously? Was it,...

In spite of the ship’s disorderly conduct, life on board was becoming organized, for with the Anglo-Saxon nothing is more simple. The steam-boat is his street and his house for...

This signified that at noon we were three hundred and twenty-three miles from the Fastenet lighthouse, the last which we had passed on the Irish coast, and at 51° 15´ north lati...

The next day, Saturday, 30th of March, the weather was fine, and the sea calm; our progress was more rapid, and the “Great Eastern” was now going at the rate of twelve knots an...

The next day, the 31st of March, was Sunday. How would this day be kept on board? Would it be the English or American Sunday, which closes the “bars” and the “taps” during servi...

At lunch Dean Pitferge told me that the reverend gentleman had admirably enlarged on his text. Battering rams, armed forts, and submarine torpedoes had figured in his discourse;...

The next day, the 1st of April, the aspect of the sea was truly spring-like; it was as green as the meadows beneath the sun’s rays. This April sunrise on the Atlantic was superb...

As may be seen, it was a complete concert, with a first part, entr’acte, second part, and finale; but it seems there was something wanting in the programme; for I heard some one...

During Monday night the sea was very stormy. Once more the partitions began creaking, and again the luggage made its way through the saloons. When I went on deck, about seven o’...

The next day, the 3rd of April, from early dawn the horizon wore that peculiar aspect which the English call “blink.” It was of that misty white colour which signifies that iceb...

Leaving the brilliantly lighted saloon I went on deck with Captain Corsican. The night was dark; not a star in the firmament; an impenetrable gloom surrounded the ship. The wind...

Corsican and I could no longer doubt but that it was Ellen, Fabian’s betrothed, and Harry Drake’s wife. Chance had brought all three together on the same ship. Fabian had not re...

At four o’clock, the sky, which had been overcast, cleared up, the sea grew calm, and the ship was so steady, one might almost have thought oneself on _terra firma_—this gave th...

From Thursday night to Saturday the “Great Eastern” was crossing the Gulf Stream, the water of which is of a dark colour, the surface of the current forcing its way against the...

Some moments later I met Captain Corsican, and told him of the scene I had just witnessed. He understood, as well as I did, that the situation of affairs was growing more and mo...

The night was stormy, the steam-ship, beaten by the waves, rolled frightfully, without being disabled; the furniture was knocked about with loud crashes, and the crockery began...

Scarcely had the “Great Eastern” tacked and presented her stern to the waves, than the pitching gave way to perfect steadiness; breakfast was served, and the greater part of the...

In the meantime the pumps were exhausting the lake which had been formed in the hold of the “Great Eastern,” like a lagoon in the middle of an island; powerfully and rapidly wor...

The next day, at break of dawn, I went in search of Captain Corsican, whom I found in the grand saloon. He had passed the night with Fabian, who was still suffering from the sho...

At noon, Drake had not sent Fabian his seconds to my knowledge, and these were preliminaries which could not be dispensed with, if Drake determined to demand immediate satisfact...

The next day, Monday, the 8th of April, the weather was very fine. I found the Doctor on deck basking in the sun. He came up to me. “Ah well!” said he, “our poor sufferer died i...

It was no longer possible to put off the duel. Only a few hours separated us from the moment when Fabian and Harry Drake must meet. What could be the reason of this haste? How w...

The land announced at the moment when the sea was closing over the corpse of the poor sailor was low-lying and of a yellow colour. This line of slightly elevated downs was Long...

Dean Pitferge left me, but I remained on deck, watching the storm rise. Corsican was still closeted with Fabian, who was undoubtedly making some arrangements in case of misfortu...

The storm was gathering, and a black arch of clouds had formed over our heads; the atmosphere was misty; nature was evidently about to justify Dr. Pitferge’s presentiments. The...

The next day, Tuesday, the 9th of April, the “Great Eastern” weighed anchor, and set sail to enter the Hudson, the pilot guiding her with an unerring eye. The storm had spent it...

A week to spend in America! The “Great Eastern” was to set sail on the 16th of April, and it was now the 9th, and three o’clock in the afternoon, when I set foot on the land of...

The “St. John,” and its sister ship, the “Dean Richmond,” are two of the finest steam-ships on the river. They are buildings rather than boats; terraces rise one above another,...

The Niagara is not a stream, not even a river; it is simply a weir sluice, a canal thirty-six miles long, which empties the waters of the Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Er...

The next day, the 13th of April, the Doctor’s programme announced a visit to the Canadian shore. We had only to follow the heights of the bank of the Niagara for two miles to re...

Some minutes later we were descending a long flight of steps on the Canadian side, which led to the banks of the river, covered with huge sheets of ice. Here a boat was waiting...

The Clyde was the first river whose waters were lashed into foam by a steam-boat. It was in 1812, when the steamer called the “Comet” ran between Glasgow and Greenock, at the sp...

The “Dolphin” was rapidly equipped, her rigging was ready, and there was nothing to do but fit her up. She carried three schooner-masts, an almost useless luxury; in fact, the “...

The “Dolphin” had a good crew, not fighting men, or boarding sailors, but good working men, and that was all she wanted. These brave, determined fellows were all, more or less,...

It was not long before the whole crew knew Miss Halliburtt’s story, which Crockston was no longer hindered from telling. By the Captain’s orders he was released from the capstan...

The “Dolphin” was then in 32° 51´ latitude and 57° 43´west longitude. For forty-eight hours a fog which now began to rise had covered the ocean. If this mist favoured the “Dolph...

Two days after the meeting with the “Iroquois,” the “Dolphin” found herself abreast of the Bermudas, where she was assailed by a violent squall. These isles are frequently visit...

The “Dolphin” on arriving at the Charleston quay, had been saluted by the cheers of a large crowd. The inhabitants of this town, strictly blockaded by sea, were not accustomed t...

Miss Jenny, sitting at the poop of the “Dolphin,” was anxiously waiting the captain’s return; when the latter went up to her she could not utter a word, but her eyes questioned...

The boat, pulled by six robust oarsmen, flew over the water. The fog was growing dense, and it was with difficulty that James Playfair succeeded in keeping to the line of his be...

The next day at sunrise the American coast had disappeared; not a ship was visible on the horizon, and the “Dolphin,” moderating the frightful rapidity of her speed, made quietl...