my recollections of the great armour-clad and other war vessels of the past, and of the enormous merchant vessels, steered and propelled by steam, some of them ten and twelve thousand tons burthen, with their great engines and boilers, great holds for cargo, with enormous cabins, and with every accommodation for cooking and sanitary purposes. These aerial vessels were mere pigmies in comparison with our steamers. Before I describe their construction, I must try and explain to you the means by which they were propelled, as explained to me by the Recorder, and as I am neither an engineer nor a scientist, you must, my dear reader, excuse anything that may not be quite scientific or quite in keeping with mechanics. Put all this want of explicitness and correctness down to my shortcomings in describing these wonderful triumphs of human invention. Or failing this latitude to me, you must attribute your non-comprehension to the imperfect faculties you yourself possess for understanding such things. Those of you who
