THE GREAT EASTERN.

Grey River Argus, Volume XVI, Issue 2251, 26 October 1875, Page 2

THE GREAT EASTERN.

Mr Henry Lee contributes an interesting paper to Land and Water on a visit lately ■ made to the Great Eastern, which is at present in dock at Milford Haven. The visit •was made with a view of favorably inspecting " an enormous quantity of barnacles and other marine. animals," which it was rumored had been found attached to her bottom. So far as barnacles were concerned, there were only traces of a few here and there ; but almost the whole of the huge hall was clad with an enormous multitude of mussels, clustered together in one dense and- continuous deposit, extending over a surface of 52,000 square feet of iron plates, and in some parts the mussels were six inches thick. "It was found: by careful experiment that the average weight of those on each square foot was from 121bs to 131bs, therefore the vessel -was encumbered with not less thau 300 tons of Hying marine animals adhering to her— mussels enough, in fact, to load with full cargoes two ordinary collier brigs ! Although the mere weight of this mass ■would not, perhaps, much affect the buoyancy of a vessel of 25,000 tons burthen, it will be readily understood that the friction of such a rough jagged incrustration passing through the water would materially diminish her speed. As these troublesome adherents were scraped off with shovels by workmen employed under contract to remove them, they were carried away by cartloads and boatloads, and buried along the shore of the haven. The mussels had taken possession of every inch of plate-surface, to the exclusion of almost every, other living thing,"