In particular, a double tier of vessels--one hundred and fifty in
all--which were moored outside the pier of Boulogne, and protected by
heavy shore batteries, excited while it baulked the rage of our
gallant seamen manoeuvring in the deep waters of the Channel.
Strange diseases suggest strange remedies. Our Admiralty, in the
spring of the year, had been approached by an ingenious gentleman
with the model of an invention by which he professed himself able to
reach these hundred and fifty ships in Boulogne and blow them in air
without loss or even danger to our fleet. This machine consisted of
a box, about twenty feet long by three feet wide, lined with lead,
caulked, tarred, ballasted and laden almost to the water's edge with
barrels of powder and other combustibles. In the midst of the
inflammable matter was placed a clockwork mechanism which, on the
withdrawal of a peg, would in a fixed time (within some ten minutes
or thereabouts) ignite and explode the vessel.
A dozen of these engines, claimed the inventor, if towed within range
and released, to be swept down upon Boulogne pier by the tide, would
within a few minutes shatter and dispel the nightmare of invasion.
The Admiralty sanctioned the experiment, news of which had awakened
some interest not unmixed with derision throughout the British Fleet;
and the business which called the _Vesuvius_ to Portsmouth was to
take in tow the first of these catamarans (as our sailors called
them) and convey it across to the squadron watching Boulogne.
Pages:
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206