e spot where Nelson fell. We then went far down into the
midshipmen's berth, in the cockpit. How dark and gloomy it seemed; and
yet it was here Nelson, while the guns were thundering overhead, lay
dying. How very different from the mess-rooms of young officers of the
present day! Here another inscription, fixed on the ship's side,
pointed out where the hero breathed his last. Going into the cabin on
the main deck, we saw one of the very topsails--riddled with shot--which
had been at Trafalgar. After being shifted at Gibraltar, it had been
for more than half a century laid up in a store at Woolwich, no one
guessing what a yarn that old roll of canvas could tell.

We also saw an interesting picture of the "Death of Nelson," and another
of the battle itself. We felt almost awe-struck while seeing these
things, and thinking of the gallant men who once served on board that
noble ship. Papa said that he hoped, if the old ship is not wanted for
practical purposes, that she may be fitted up exactly as she was at
Trafalgar.

We afterwards called on an old lady--a friend of papa--who told us that
she clearly recollected going off from Ryde in a boat with her father
and mother, and pulling round the Victory when she arrived from
Gibraltar at Spithead, on the 4th of December, 1805, with the body of
Nelson on board. In many places the shot were still sticking in her
sides, her decks were scarcely freed from blood, and other injuries
showed the severity of the action.

After this, the Victory was constantly employed until the year 1812,
from which time she was never recommissioned for sea; but from 1825
until within a few years ago, she bore the flags of the port-admirals of
Portsmouth.

Late in the evening we crossed the harbour to the dockyard, where papa
wanted to pay a visit. A curious steam ferry-boat runs backwards and
forwards between Portsmouth and Gosport. We passed a number of large
ships coated with thick plates of iron; but even the thickest cannot
withstand the shots sent from some of the guns which have been invented,
and all might be destroyed by torpedoes. We could hardly believe that
some of the ships we saw were fit to go to sea. The most remarkable was
the Devastation. Her free-board--that is, the upper part of her sides--
is only a few feet above the water. Amidships rises a round structure
supporting what is called "a hurricane-deck." This is the only spot
where the officers and men can stand