The model-room contains a collection of curious plans, &c. among others the model of the famous Bucentaur, upwards of 100 feet long, in which the Doge on Ascension-day embarked for the ceremony of espousing the Adriatic. The last of these magnificent gallies was burnt by the populace in 1797; a small piece of her main-mast is alone preserved.

In the armoury is a singular mortar, made of rope, with bands of iron; a first attempt at artillery, and said to have been used against the Genoese in 1349.

About 500 men are employed in the dock-yard. On the slips are two transports and four gun-brigs, building; a 46-gun frigate hauled up for repair, and another in the basin; besides a fine corvette ready for sea, and some small vessels.

No great supply of timber is in the arsenal, yet the stores, well arranged, have every thing ready for use; thanks to the exertions of Admiral Paulucci, the commander-in-chief, who is an active officer, and indefatigable in his attention to the dock-yard; nor would it be just, if I did not notice the extreme civility I have met with from him, from his flag-lieutenant, Baron Accurti, and all the officers connected with the public naval establishments here, and their readiness to give information in every thing relating to the profession. The navy coasists of 28 vessels of war: 4 frigates, of 46 guns; 6 corvettes, of 20 guns; 5 brigs, and the rest small craft; the whole manned by 3000 seamen, 800 marine artillery, under the immediate command of Colonel Vitaliani, who has suggested several valuable improvements in locks, sights, &c. and about 1000 marines.

Adjoining the dock-yard is the naval college, where 50 boys are instructed in every requisite branch of education; the course occupies five years, and two months of each year are passed cruising in a corvette, thus enabling them to add practice to theory. The superior professor, Emilio Tipaldo, is well known in the literary world in Italy; but the active superintendant is Signor Bordigni, Capitano di Fregata, and under his management the whole appears orderly and well conducted. The young men are obliged to learn French and English, or German; a rule not unworthy imitation nearer home; as to no one is the knowledge of foreign languages of such practical use as to a sailor. I conversed with several who spoke English fluently. The expense to government is about 1000 florins, or £100 per annum each boy; to which the parents contribute about £45: all who enter the navy are brought up here.

Venice, you may remember, was declared a free port in 1829; since which her trade has much revived. In 1831, the value of merchandise imported into Venice amounted to £850,000, of which £115,000 came from England, and £240,000 in olive oil from the Ionian Islands, during which time the exports were £350,000.

In 1833, the imports had increased to £1,460,000, of which £860,000 were from Great Britain.-Exports £528,000, of which £220,000 were to Great Britain.

In 1833, arrivals including coasters

sailings.

3162
2123

A steamer of 50 horse-power, fitted with Morgan's paddle-wheels, runs twice a week to Trieste, and in 1833 carried 7000 passengers to and fro. The port-charges upon a national vessel of 250 to 300 tons about 5 guineas; upon a foreign vessel 20 guineas, including a tonnage duty of 8d. per ton.

The population of the Venetian provinces, in the year 1832, was 2,011,852; of the city of Venice 113,364; in the province 17,000 sailors, including gondoliers and fishermen. In Venice are 149 canals, crossed by 386 bridges, and it is surrounded by three great lagunes, or salt-water lakes, covering upwards of 400 square miles; unfortunately these lagunes have very shallow water, so that large ships, as the Rivoli, &c. are obliged to be borne over the shoals upon camels to the port Malamocco, distant six miles. But if the great dyke, a colossal work, begun by the French at that port, should ever be finished as proposed, a deep-water channel will be obtained; an invaluable gift to a city so singularly situated in the midst of the sea as Venice.

Ever, Mr. Editor, your sincere well-wisher,

JOHN WASHINGTON.
Commander, R.N.

TEMPORARY RUDDERS.

To the Editor of the Nautical Magazine.

SIR,-H.M S. Pique having been brought home without a rudder, (some account of which I read in your number for this month,) reminds me of doing that which I have often before thought of; namely, requesting that you would give, or obtain for us, some information as to the best method of steering a ship with a temporary rudder. This is a subject which sea-going people are, generally speaking, little acquainted with; indeed, it is one of those remote contingencies which we speculate upon as too far distant to require our attention. Your Magazine should contain an article upon this subject, which, if none of your correspondents supply you with, you, Mr. Editor, can readily produce yourself; and I hope you will let us have a good account, with drawings, of the most approved plans. The account in this month's Nautical Magazine alluded to, mentions those of Captain Symonds and Pakenham, of both of which I confess myself quite ignorant; therefore, pray oblige us with an article on this head, which shall do for a reference or guide, when such a misfortune occurs as loss of a rudder at sea. Your valuable publication is indeed

already becoming a collection of such useful nautical information, that we have only to consult the index of the volumes already published, to find one's knowledge increased on almost any subject connected with nautical affairs, and I expect to see it acknowledged, (and, what is better, adopted,) as a complete seaman's library; therefore, pray give us something on rudders that shall embrace all the existing knowledge on that point.

As I praise your work, it must be supposed I read it, and therefore it cannot have escaped me, that you have given upon one occasion a very complete description and drawing of a "real seaman's" rudder; the proper production of a boatswain. Mr. Unwin is an ingenious man, and no doubt a good boatswain, his rudder is just what a man of his station would naturally think of, and is, in description, a very seaman-like and especially boatswainlike job; a rudder produced upon the forecastle-but little, I think, fit for the other extreme of the ship. To say nothing of the whole mass becoming soon in the state of old rope in a paper mill, there is nothing in the shape of a rudder, so completely depending upon rope both for its security and guidance, as Mr. Unwin's; it would be adrift in twenty-four hours bad weather, from chafing. I have myself been steering (the main-piece of the rudder being broken) with rudder, pendant, and tackles, brought over the quarters to the capstan; and any one who has ever had to depend upon such means, knows that nothing will long stand the chafe of rope so used; much less, when, as in Mr. Unwin's plan, the rudder itself has to be attached to the sternpost with a multitude of brackets, and guys, and tackles; the brackets, crossed, would not endure twenty-four hours, however parcelled and served. I fear, indeed, that more or less all the schemes for temporary rudders, to be fixed in the place of the original one, must be too much dependent upon guys, pendants, &c. for any great reliance to be placed upon them, which, however, may perhaps be in some measure obviated by the substitution of chain for rope; but I question even if this would stand long, as it must necessarily be small: the chafe in every thing connected with a temporary, and necessarily in some degree a loose rudder, is beyond any thing that can be provided against; and this, no doubt, was found to be the case in the Pique, when she was obliged to cut away two temporary rudders-and those doubtless of the best known construction.

Pray tell us, Mr. Editor, how was the Pique steered "one thousand four hundred miles without rudder." She seems to have gone like a witch, and without difficulty, when before the wind, and when found broached to by the French brig, and by her got before the wind, she was off like a shot without saying good-by. Your information might have been a little more complete, and * Perhaps an officer of the Pique will answer our correspondent.

have told us how she was steered "one thousand four hundred miles across the Atlantic :" you do inform us, that when she weighed, and left the position where she anchored off the Casketts, that she was steered by a cable with a gun-carriage at the end of it; this said gun-carriage, (if such with the cable was the rudder by which she was steered "one thousand four hundred miles,") must have kicked up "the devil's own delight" when towing in bad weather.

I will only now add my own idea about steering a ship by temporary means-and that is with a moderate scope of iron stream cable, without any thing attached to the end, payed out over the stern right amidships, rove through a large iron viol, or rouse about block, lashed to the taffrail (a block large enough, and fit for this purpose, all ships should have) with tackles upon it, close into the side, and the falls brought to the wheel, or capstan, if necessary; if these tackles were attached to an outrigger, say a spare topmast passed through the two aftermost ports of the quarter-deck, so much the better, a smaller helm would then be required.

I don't see why a ship may not be as well steered by such means, as with the ordinary rudders; she could hardly broach to, with much way upon her; and if in a lull she loses her way, as the Pique appears to have done, and becomes unmanageable, the chain hanging up and down, the ship's head must pay off when there is the least wind; or even the sea alone, if running heavy, would prevent the necessity of recourse being had to towing, as in the case of the Pique, to get her before it again.

If it should become necessary to heave to in a vessel so steered, rouse in the chain abaft, and pay out of the weather hause a small scope of the bower chain; which will keep her to, without any after sail. This plan, however, of managing a ship after loss of rudder, I only submit to the criticism of such of your readers as may take the trouble of favouring the public with something better; to obtain the knowledge of which, is the object of this communication.

A MASTER OF A BRITISH MERCHANT SHIP. November, 1835.

We thank our correspondent, and will adopt his suggestions; indeed, we had meditated collecting some materials on this important subject, and, in the mean time, shall be thankful to any of our readers who will forward us their own plans of a temporary rudder.-ED.

SUSPENSION PIER.

To the Editor of the Nautical Magazine.

SIR,-The several projects now in agitation for the erection of landing piers on the banks of the Thames, although matters of great public convenience from the increasing adoption of steamboat traffic, will probably be productive of some inconvenience to the navigation of the river Thames. It therefore becomes a consideration of great importance to take such measures for effecting the desired object, as will be the least liable to the creation of the evil above alluded to; and, having myself, on the first agitation of these projects, given much consideration to the subject, perhaps the following remarks may be acceptable to some of your readers.

As obstacles to the current of the river Thames is an evil which should be particularly avoided, it is unnecessary to make any mention of piers built of brick or stone, as they must necessarily occupy much space below the surface of the water; wooden piers must also be excluded, from their want of durability; and I have, therefore, confined my observations entirely to a comparison of the merits of those on the suspension principle, and of cast iron, both of which have been proposed.

Since the first introduction of suspension bridges, although a late period, their application has increased very rapidly, and we are much indebted to Captain Brown, and others, for the service thus rendered to the country. They possess the advantage of being independent of the bed of the river, and may thus be constructed over chasms, and in situations where it would be impossible to construct any other bridge. Another valuable quality is, the facility and expedition with which they can be built, the small amount of materials required, and the consequent economy.

These advantages, as Drewry remarks, in his work on this subject, added to the elegant lightness of suspension bridges, have combined to throw a degree of charm over them, which is, perhaps, becoming exaggerated, and may lead to their adoption in unfitting situations.

The economy of suspension bridges proceeds chiefly from the great spans of the arches which may be employed, and the saving of intermediate supports or piers which in stone bridges form commonly the chief part of the expense; in chain bridges, no other masonry being required than is sufficient to form a proper support for each end of the chains on the banks of the river, and where the shores are rocky, and afford natural facilities, the economy of these constructions is very great.

A pier jutting out into a river has, however, none of these advantages; the length is short, and an artificial support has to be constructed below low-water mark, to retain one end of the