CHAPTER I.

_EARLY LIFE._

A.D. 1806--1828.

Birth of Mr. Brunel, April 9, 1806--Sir Marc Isambard Brunel--The Block Machinery--Mr. Brunel’s School Life--The Thames Tunnel--Sinking of the Rotherhithe Shaft--Description of the Shield--Extracts from Sir Isambard Brunel’s Journals from the Commencement of the Thames Tunnel to the date of the Second Irruption of the River, January 12, 1828--_Note A_: The Bourbon Suspension Bridges--_Note B_: Experiments with Carbonic Acid Gas......1