ve attained their
culminating exemplification here, and yet the captain said to me that
his 35-ton and 38-ton guns are mere pistols to the things which are
being prepared for vessels of our navy yet to come.

"My dear fellow, do you know what a 38-ton gun means? Have you ever
seen one? Can you appreciate the fact that its weight is equal to
thirty-eight carts of coals? Did you ever see the powder with which
it is fed? One grain of it was given to me as a great favour, by the
chief gunner's mate--I think that is his correct title, but am not
quite sure. He presented it in a cardboard box. I now send you its
portrait."

[_Facsimile of a grain of powder for the 38-ton guns of the
Thunderer--actual size_.]

"Here it is, as large as life--really so, without a touch of
exaggeration. I have measured it carefully with a tape foot-rule, and
I find the dimensions to be five inches and a quarter in
circumference.

"It is a solid cube of gunpowder. The cartridge which holds this
powder is a pillow, an absolute bolster, of some three feet in length
and twelve inches in diameter. It had need be, for the shell which it
is meant to propel is the size of a small boy and the weight of an
average ox, namely 814 lbs. The length of each 38-ton gun is nineteen
feet, and its range about 6000 yards. Just try to imagine an ox being
propelled through space, between three and four miles, at a rate which
I don't recollect, and which doesn't signify. Try also to remember
that each gun costs between 2000 pounds and 3000 pounds, and that,
every time a turret lets fly a shot from one of her guns, the expense
is 12 pounds, 10 shillings. The 80-ton guns which are to supersede
these will, it is said, cost upwards of 10,000 pounds each. This will
enable you to form some idea of England's `greatness.'

"The drill and working of these guns is magnificent. Nearly
everything in the fore-turret is worked by steam and hydraulic power,
so that comparatively few men are required to move the iron monsters.
Let me ask you to imagine the men at their stations. Some are inside
the turret, and as guns and turret move in concert the men inside move
with them. Those outside the turret stand at its base, and are
therefore below the iron deck and protected by the iron sides of the
ship. The insiders revolve, aim, and fire the gun; the outsiders
load. The first lieutenant,