CHAPTER XIII.

_STEAM NAVIGATION. THE ‘GREAT EASTERN’ STEAM-SHIP. COMPLETION AND SUBSEQUENT HISTORY._

A.D. 1858, 1859. ÆTATIS 52-54.

A.D. 1859-1870.

Preparations for completing the Ship--Formation of the Great Ship Company--Mr. Brunel’s Absence from England--Progress of the Works from his Return to his last Illness--Voyage to Weymouth--Explosion of Water-Heater--Storm at Holyhead--Description of the Ship--Her first Voyage to New York, June 1860--Second Voyage to New York, May 1861--Voyage with Troops to Quebec, June 1861--Fracture of Rudder Head and Destruction of Paddlewheels, September 1861--Voyages in 1862--Accident off Montauk Point, August 27, 1862--Voyages in 1863--Formation of the Great Eastern Steam-Ship Company--Remarks on the History of the ‘Great Eastern’ previous to her Employment in laying Submarine Telegraph Cables--Telegraph Expeditions of 1865 and 1866--French Cable Expedition of 1869--Voyage to Bombay and Aden, 1869, 1870--Concluding Remarks--_Note_: Dimensions of the Ship and Engines.....392