our author describes them, should forthwith be employed in the construction of canals, railroads, public roads, aqueducts, viaducts, bridges, harbours, villages and cities on the glorious tabula rasa of their native Ireland? No such thing" that they should take the first occupation offered on their arrival in Quebec, and have no difficulty in settling in Upper Canada."

There are few old women who have not at one period or other of their lives needlessly distressed themselves with a search for the spectacles which were already on the unconscious nose. Great Britain, in her search for new markets and new fields of enterprise, has been not less blind to the market at her very door. While the League on the one side, and Agricultural Protection Societies on the other, have been fighting out the question of extending our foreign relations at the risk of depreciating the property of the English landowner, while the Charles Buller party have endeavoured to compromise the matter by directing attention to the systematic colonisation of our distant, even antipodal, possessions; and Mr. Coningsby and the Times have discovered that Conservatism without maypoles will not conserve-all parties have entirely forgotten that Ireland is but partially cultivated; that in reclaimable acres, as well as civilizable savages, she possesses equal attractions with some of the backwoods of America, with the inestimable advantage of proximity. But instead of reclaiming the soil, or that moral wilderness which has been no less fruitful in weeds, one party has grown fat and ambitious upon the very evils of Ireland, while English politicians of all parties have endeavoured to promote its civilisation and happiness by appropriation clauses, and regis. tration bills, and mere legislation. The present government, more especially the practical Premier, appear at length to have become awake to the immense importance of Ireland as a field for commercial investment and agricultural enterprise; the only drawback, now, is the inertness of the Irish landlords, and even here also there are, now, some encouraging symptoms. commissioners for the drainage of Ireland have officially stated, that nearly 50,000 acres, to begin with, might be at once protected from liability to flood, and be made to return from 9 to 19 per cent. on judicious investment. Since the passing of the Drainage Act in 1842, they have received several applications from land-owners, with deposits amounting in the aggregate to about £1500, out of an estimated expenditure of £150,000, the districts embracing, in Leinster, the Blackwater river, the Ballytigue Lough, Ardee, Athboy river, Kilmannock, the Loughans, the Glyde and Lagan rivers, Brusna river, Camlin, Cahore,

The

and Dodder; in Munster, the south slob of Cork, Templemore and Burrisokane in Tipperary; and in Connaught, Islandmore and Oranhill in Galway, and the Strokestown and river Lung districts of Roscommon. Of all these, surveys have been made, and a preliminary report printed and distributed, while Lough Corrib, one of the most important districts of colonial Ireland, and upon which a very important correspondence lately appeared between Sir Robert Peel and the marquis of Clanricarde, will be surveyed and reported on forthwith.

From the summary, then, it appears, that nearly 50,000 acres have been surveyed, and measures devised for their improvement, including works extending along near 300 miles of river drains; the remaining districts from whose owners applications for survey have also been received, amount to 25,000 acres. It is to be observed, however, that perfect unanimity on the part of all the landowners has not yet been arrived at; and it is possible that objections and dissents may thwart the great national work, unless, which is hardly to be hoped, a vigorous government will disregard individual opposition for the sake of national benefit.

The objects provided for by the provisions of the Drainage Act, embrace the drainage of flooded and injured lands along rivers, and lakes, and wastes, in the interior of the country; embankment of lands from the sea; the conservancy of river navigation, and the improvement of mill-power.

The greatest difficulty in the way of analysing or thoroughly apprehending the purpose and utility of the proceedings of this commission is its relation with various other Irish improvement commissions, the number of which perhaps unjustly attaches to each new one the suspicion of a job. There is an Irish bog commission, as well as this Irish drainage commission; a Shannon navigation commission an Irish public work commission; a landlord and tenant commission, and others; besides, all necessarily intruding into each other's province. However, we can. readily give credence to

the statement of the commission under review that "the information already obtained, coupled with that contained in the Bog Commissioners' reports, indicates an almost unparalleled state of neglect of these districts, which will be found to form no inconsiderable proportion of the lands available for agricultural purposes, particularly throughout the central or interior parts of Ireland:" and yet these very lands, adds the report, "are well known to be amongst those capable of being most economically brought into a highly productive state of cultivation.

EVILS AND REMEDIES.

We learn from the Report that not only

several of the rivers and streams, the main ducts or drains of the country, not only many of them, but the greater number of them, have their channels encroached upon and choked up with artificial obstructions, in addition to natural causes, to an extent which would be scarcely conceivable in the sister country, where agricultural improvements and manufactures have made so much greater an advance. Dams and banks, we are told, originally erected for raising a head of water for small mills, and massive stone walls placed across river-courses, with a few small openings for the taking of eels, have been from time to time increased in size and height, to such an extent, that in many instances, their level is higher than that of much of the land on the banks of the river above them, which is thus rendered liable to flood on the occasion of every fresh in the river. In this way, the value of large tracts of land becomes annually deteriorated, and their crops, in some instances, are totally lost, whilst the annual value of the small mill or eel-weir frequently does not exceed a few pounds; and it often happens that a more valuable mill-power, and an equally efficient mode of catching eels, may be obtained in the same locality without producing any such injuries.

The subject of the removal of these obstructions, and the general improvement of Ireland, promises at length to be urged on with energy and practical method. One of the most zealous friends which Ireland ever boasted, the Earl of Charleville, has put his shoulder to the wheel, has drawn together the inhabitants of the central districts of Ireland, and explained to them the great importance of the question of Irish reclamation to the whole of Ireland. In a correspondence with Sir Robert Peel which appears in the Leinster Express of Saturday last, in the course of which the Premier states that there is no public matter in which he takes a deeper interest than in those connected with the internal improvement of Ireland, by means of the energetic co-operation of persons interested in that great object, Lord Charleville mentions that in one limited district alone, "the quantity of land to be recovered by reducing the river to its natural level, would exceed eighteen thousand Irish acres, mostly alluvial." This correspondence, and the speech of the nobleman referred to, are of more value than all the Conciliation Hall or House of Commons harangues of the last twelvemonth, and should be in the hands of every friend of Ireland.

In conjunction with the drainage of Ireland, the subject of railways cannot be overlooked. Whether as regards its primary reclamation, or the development of its commercial resources, no consideration can be more important than the means of

a cheap as well as efficient intercommunication which must pave the way to exten sive traffic, and to the general development of the immense natural capabilities of that island.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN RAILWAYS.

From the appendix, No. 2, to the 5th Report of the Select Committee on Railways just published, it appears that to travel 100 miles by railway in England, costs on the leading lines, about 25s. by first class: 17s. by second class, in a carriage partially open, and without windows, and 10s. by third class in an entirely open carriage, travelling once or twice a day, often at inconvenient hours, at a much lower rate of speed, and with numerous stoppages on the road; while to travel the same distance on the continent, with second class carriages entirely closed, and third class carriages partially or entirely so, and travelling by the ordinary trains at the usual speed, the comparative fares are as follows:Railways

1st Class S. d.

2nd Class. 3rd Class.

The first class fares in Belgium being thus exactly the same as the third class in England.*

To the enormous disproportion in the prime cost of construction is principally attributed this commensurate disproportion of fares. It, therefore, becomes a question of first importance as regards Ireland, which in traffic must for some time to come be far behind England, how to reduce this first cost of construction, especially in subsidiary and branch lines. Whilst it is to be acknowledged that the Ulster line has been constructed at a less expense, the Dublin and Kingston has cost more than almost any

line in Great Britain-viz., £70,000 per mile. It has occurred to many persons interested in the prosperity of Ireland, that it would be the wisest economy, for Irish branch lines at least, to adopt either the principle sanctioned by Parliament on the Guildford Junction line-the employment of metallised wood instead of iron for the rails-or to lay down wooden tramways metallised by the same process; thus greatly reducing the prime cost, with the security of a perfectly durable as well as safe mode of transit. It may be mentioned that by the Dublin and Cashel Railway Bill, the owners of adjoining lands will be empowered to construct branches to the main line.

It is well known that in the year 1831, a

*[Appendix to 5th Report from Select Commit

tee on Railways, (p. p. 552.) page 5.]

+ A detailed account of the process here menzine. tioned appeared in the May number of this maga

parliamentary committee, after examination of many witnesses of first-rate scientific eminence, reported in the most decided terms in favour of a system of steam-carriages on less expensive roads than iron railways: and held it as proved that carriages can be propelled by steam on common roads at an average rate of ten miles per hour; and that the weight, including engine, fuel, water, and attendants of each carriage, containing fourteen passengers, need not exceed three tons; that in economy such carriages would be superior to horse-carriages, and in efficiency scarcely inferior to railway conveyances, while they would tend to maintain many existing interests, including those vested in near 20,000 miles of broad road and highway, which railways threatened to destroy. Several difficulties, however, presented themselves as regarded the construction of roads, which, it is presumed, are fully met by the invention here referred to: and, although it may perhaps be too late to interfere with existing railway investments in England, the tabula rasa of Ireland appears to present a most promising field for enterprise in the extensive introduction of such a method.

On wooden roads or tramways, the durability of which is insured by the process here referred to, steam carriages can maintain a speed of thirty miles an hour; and while the first cost of a railway is from £15,000 to £70,000 per mile, that of a wooden line would not exceed one-fourth of the expense.

WOODEN RVILWAYS.

It is to be acknowledged that wood, even when metallised, will not secure all the properties of iron; and, accordingly, experience has shown that the flange, in ordinary use on locomotive wheels, threatens the abrasion of the wooden rail. This apparent difficulty has given birth to a new discovery, which has, as it were, grown out of the experience presented by the experiments made to test the purposes to which the present invention might be made subservient; and the patent bevel wheel of Mr. Prosser effectually supersedes the use of the flange, and not only protects the wood from this solitary peril, but gives a new security to the lives of passengers by railways, and the safety of goods.

a

A series of experiments made at the Adelaide Gallery, in London, upon wooden railway, prepared of metallised wood, established the following results:

In the first place as to the capability of sustaining pressure: a piece of prepared beech, three inches and a half by three inches and a half, was submitted to the pressure of 140 tons, upon a segment of an iron wheel four feet diameter and three inches in the tire, which indented it only three-eighths of an inch, of which, when

the pressure was removed, it immediately recovered one-eighth; showing that its elasticity was in no way impaired.

The

Its capability of resisting pressure has been further demonstrated by an engine having passed over 177 yards of wooden rails, near Vauxhall Bridge, 28,000 times; on which short space there was a curve whose radius was 720 feet; and gradients of one in nine, one in twenty-four, and one in ninety-five; the steepest of which ascents the engine overcame without any previous impetus by the steam being turned on at the commencement of the incline. brake, too, was constantly in use, without producing the least abrasion; and all this was done during the space of two months without even obliterating the saw-marks. The following scale is the result of experiments relative to its superiority over unprepared timber, in sustaining weight horizontally, at a bearing of two feet ten inches. A piece of pine, one inch by one inch, under an impress of six inches long, bore seven pounds more than the unprepared piece, similar in all respects; one and a quarter inch, by one and a quarter inch, 28ĺbs.; one and a half inch by one and a half inch, 70lbs. And in perpendicular pressure, the prepared wood has an advantage of twenty per cent.

The introduction of wooden railways would be not less advantageous to existing railway interests than to the public. Not only in Ireland, but in England, it will give facility to the construction of branch lines, connecting parishes, towns, and villages, which, under the present system, would be for ever deprived of easy access to the great lines, and would promote the interests of all classes by re-opening a communication by the existing highways of Great Britain. It is well known that many of the present railroads, to avoid mechanical difficulties and great expense, have been carried through barren and unpeopled districts; not only this, but vast cuttings, tunnellings, and similar expensive works, have been incurred to avoid gradients and curves, which the greater bite of a wooden rail would render totally unnecessary.

From such saving in expenditure, it has been calculated that fares of twopence and one penny would be amply remunerative; thus extending to all classes an advantage which has been hitherto confined almost exclusively to the middle and higher sections of society.

Before passing from this subject, a short description of Mr. Prosser's invention, to which we have already referred, may be excused. The rails of beech or fir, six to eight inches square, are let into wooden sleepers, and secured thereon by wooden wedges, forming one great frame or wooden grating of longitudinal and cross sleepers

The principal carriage wheels are flat, without flanges; but before and behind each carriage, are placed two bevel wheels upon axles, at angles of 45 degrees; by a deep groove in their circumference, they move along the upper and inner angle of the wooden rail, and thus guide the carriage with perfect safety, either on a straight line or the sharpest curve; and in the event of any accident to the main wheels, would carry the whole machine of themselves. An engine of this construction, weighing ten tons, running in wood, has more tractive power than one weighing eighteen tons running in iron; and a locomotive, running on wood, will wear longer than three running in iron. The converse of the advantage of iron wheels running upon wood has been successfully shown in the care of her majesty's special train, on the Great Western, where wooden wheels are made to run upon iron.

WOODEN DRAINS.

In this paper we have thought it useful to urge together two great objects, the affinity of which to one another will be strikingly increased by the application of the process here advocated. For it is highly probable that it will be extensively made use of in drainage as well as in railway operations, and those connected with house and ship building, and indeed in all works in which wood is generally employed, and for which the commonest wood is thus rendered equally applicable with the hardest and dearest. To employ wooden lengths, cut from the abundant forests of Scotch fir, as substitutes for tiles and stones, both for top and bottom, in ordinary drainage, will not appear Utopian, wheu the incorruptible qualities of paynized wood are taken into account. The advantages in point of cheapness and convenience will at once suggest themselves, and the suitableness of such a mode, and the prospective mutual benefit to the Scotch landlords and the Irish people which would accrue from its adoption, has indeed occurred forcibly to an English nobleman of great influence and practical acquaintance with agricultural operations.

To enter further into detail on this subject appears to us unnecessary: especially as we are given to understand that Mr. George Stephenson, the Commissioners of Woods and Forests, and various other eminent authorities, have given their sanction to the use of the process: while certain distinguished friends of Ireland are deeply impressed with the necessity of some modification of existing railway arrangements to meet the peculiar circumstances of that country.

CONCLUSION.

To sum up, then, the advantages of employing wooden lines:-they would act as auxiliaries to feed the great and central lines already formed; reduce the preliminary ex

penses by parliamentary contests; render unnecessary deep embankments, cuttings, and tunnels; insure to shareholders a handsome return on their investment; preserve to the inhabitants of towns, to innkeepers, and others, their traffic and existing interests; secure to landowners a home consumption for their plantations, to the Scotch landowner in particular, for his abundant firs, for which, and similar porous woods, the process of metallization is peculiarly adapted; prevent the possibility of accidents to passengers or property from the breaking of either wheels or axles; above all, would render available to the poorest class the comfort as well as the other benefits of railway travelling; and as regards Ireland, would not only give immediate employment to the people, but by its economy would leave scope for, while it would directly promote the developement of her unmeasured resources, open markets for her produce, unite her more closely with other countries, and increase the happiness and comforts of her inhabitants.

If we have been successful in directing the attention of the public to this important topic, we shall be more than satisfied; to more practical minds must be left the task of organising such experiments as may be necessary.

SCENES ON THE MEDITERRANEAN.

NO. II.-GIBRALTAR.

Few have visited this celebrated rockthe Fretum Herculaneum or Graditaneum of the Romans, the Estrecho de Gibralter of the Spaniards-without being struck with awe and wonder at the magnificence, the sublimity of nature's works;;-no one can allow his eye to wander from the promontory of Calpe or Gibraltar, over two seas and five kingdoms-Seville and Granada in Spain, and Barbary, Fez, and Morocco, in Africa-without inwardly acknowledging the vastness of the workings of the Omnipotent.

On casting our eye over the kingdoms of Granada and Seville, the lofty ridges of the desert Del Cuervo, the mountains of Hagen Sanorra, and to the east the new town of Algeziras, the chain of mountains called the Sierra de Ronda, abounding in fruits and aromatic plants, meet our view. Near there stood Munda, celebrated in Roman history as the scene of the battle which took place between the sons of Pompey and Augustus, when they were disputing the empire of the world.

The name Gibraltar is derived from Gabel, an Arabic word, signifying mountain; and Tarik, a Moorish general, who conquered Spain, and disembarked near this place. The origin and foundation of the town are lost in obscurity. It is certain

however, that the Phoenicians and Egyptians landed at Gibraltar; and the name of the Pillars of Hercules, by which appellation this place was known, is nothing more than a tradition preserved among the Phoenicians, who came to people this coast, and

who brought their gods and religious worship with them.

Gibraltar is 5,200 yards long, and 1,500 broad; the perpendicular height is 500 yards, and the circumference, including angles and bays, 13,200.

We were highly gratified by the batteries, with which the rock is completely studded. On the side nearest Spain, the internal fortifications made since the time Gibraltar was besieged by the combined armies of France and Spain, are truly astonishing; the excavations effected by means of gunpowder in the centre of the mountain, and in the solid rock, form vaults of such height and extent, that during a siege, they are capable of containing the whole garrison. The most considerable of these excavations is the hall of St. George, which communicates with the other batteries established all along the mountains, and passable throughout on horseback.

Along the mountains several grottos or natural excavations create a feeling of astonishment and wonder. The grotto of St. Michael is four hundred and thirtyseven yards above the level of the sea. The cavern below is about seventy feet. To succeed in descending, a rope is fastened round the body. The grotto contains columns of chrystallizations and stalectites, imitating all the orders of architecture. About a hundred paces further on is another beautiful cavern. The regularities of the caprices of nature in the second excavation are remarkable, and give it the appearance of a temple. From the entry of this grotto, we see the whole of the bay of Gibraltar, and command a view of the country

houses and gardens, which the inhabitants have formed, one above another, on the side of the mountain.

Gibraltar, which is more a military colony than a commercial one, was taken from the Spaniards in 1704, and was ceded to the English by the treaties of Utrecht and Seville.

There are three religions tolerated in Gibraltar-English, Catholic, and Jewish; still tranquillity and social harmony exist with the inhabitants.

The marriage ceremony of the Jews here is worthy of remark. The hall of the house of the betrothed, where the union is celebrated, is generally highly ornamented. At the end a stage is erected, on which seats are placed, one for the bride, and others for the mother and married sisters. The other women who are invited sit round the saloon. The bride then enters with her mother and sisters, her face covered with a long veil, through which her features are distinguishable. The bridegroom enters, accompanied by the rabbi and the bride's father. A cup of wine is brought, which the new-married couple drink. They then pass it to the rabbi, who performs the marriage ceremony, then passes the cup to the father, who, to show that no one can share the affections of the two lovers, breaks it in pieces in the presence of the whole company.