greater than by steamer, as the charge for warehousing at home is
saved, and in the meantime the cargo while at sea is negotiable.

We have accordingly, during the last few years, built some of the
largest iron and steel sailing ships that have ever gone to sea.

The aim has been to give them great carrying capacity and fair
speed, with economy of working; and the use of steel, both in the

hull and the rigging, facilitates the attainment of these
objects. In 1882 and 1883, we built and launched four of these

steel and iron sailing ships--the Waiter H. Wilson, the W. J.
Pirrie, the Fingal, and the Lord Wolseley--each of nearly 3000

tons register, with four masts,--the owners being Mr. Lawther, of
Belfast; Mr. Martin, of Dublin; and the Irish Shipowners Company.

Besides these and other sailing ships, we have built for Messrs.
Ismay, Imrie and Co. the Garfield, of 2347 registered tonnage;

for Messrs. Thomas Dixon and Son, the Lord Downshire (2322); and
for Messrs. Bullock's Bay Line, the Bay of Panama (2365).

In 1880 we took in another piece of the land reclaimed by the
Belfast Harbour Trust; and there, in close proximity to the

ship-yard, we manufacture all the machinery required for the
service of the steamers constructed by our firm. In this way we

are able to do everything "within ourselves"; and the whole land
now occupied by the works comprises about forty acres, with ten

building slips suitable for the largest vessels.
It remains for me to mention a Belfast firm, which has done so

much for the town. I mean the Messrs. J.P. Corry and Co., who
have always been amongst our best friends. We built for them

their first iron sailing vessel, the Jane Porter, in 1860, and
since then they have never failed us. They successfully

established their "Star" line of sailing clippers from London to
Calcutta, all of which were built here. They subsequently gave

us orders for yet larger vessels, in the Star of France and the
Star of Italy. In all, we have built for that firm eleven of

their well-known "Star" ships.
We have built five ships for the Asiatic Steam Navigation

Company, Limited, each of from 1650 to 2059 tons gross; and we
are now building for them two ships, each of about 3000 tons

gross. In 1883 we launched thirteen iron and steel vessels, of a
registered tonnage of over 30,000 tons. Out of eleven ships now

building, seven are of steel.
Such is a brief and summaryaccount of the means by which we have

been enabled to establish a new branch of industry in Belfast.
It has been accomplished simply by energy and hard work. We have

been well-supported by the skilled labour of our artisans; we
have been backed by the capital and the enterprise of England;

and we believe that if all true patriots would go and do
likewise, there would be nothing to fear for the prosperity and

success of Ireland.
Footnotes for Chapter XI.

[1] Although Mr. Harland took no further steps with his lifeboat,
the project seems well worthy of a fair trial. We had lately the

pleasure of seeing the model launched and tried on the lake
behind Mr. Harland's residence at Ormiston, near Belfast. The

cylindrical lifeboat kept perfectly water-tight, and though
thrown into the water in many different positions--sometimes

tumbled in on its prow, at other times on its back (the deck
being undermost), it invariably righted itself. The screws fore

and aft worked well, and were capable of being turned by human
labour or by steam power. Now that such large freights of

passengers are carried by ocean-going ships, it would seem
necessary that some such method should be adopted of preserving

life at sea; for ordinary lifeboats, which are so subject to
destructive damage, are often of little use in fires or

shipwrecks, or other accidents on the ocean.
[2] A full account is given in the Illustrated London News of the

21st of October, 1868, with illustrations, of the raising of the
Wolf; and another, more scientific, is given in the Engineer of

the 16th of October, of the same year.
CHAPTER XII.

ASTRONOMERS AND STUDENTS IN HUMBLE LIFE:
A NEW CHAPTER IN THE 'PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE UNDER DIFFICULTIES.'

"I first learnt to read when the masons were at work in your
house. I approached them one day, and observed that the

architect used a rule and compass, and that he made calculations.
I inquired what might be the meaning and use of these things, and

I was informed that there was a science called Arithmetic. I
purchased a book of arithmetic, and I learned it. I was told

there was another science called Geometry; I bought the necessary
books, and I learned Geometry. By reading, I found there were

good books in these two sciences in Latin; I bought a dictionary,
and I learned Latin. I understood, also, that there were good

books of the same kind in French; I bought a dictionary, and I
learned French. It seems to me that one does not need to know

anything more than the twenty-four letters to learn everything
else that one wishes."--Edmund Stone to the Duke of Argyll.

('Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties.')
"The British Census proper reckons twenty-seven and a half

million in the home countries. What makes this census important
is the quality of the units that compose it. They are free

forcible men, in a country where life is safe, and has reached
the greatest value. They give the bias to the current age; and

that not by chance or by mass, but by their character, and by the
number of individuals among them of personal ability."--Emerson:

English Traits.
From Belfast to the Highlands of Scotland is an easy route by

steamers and railways. While at Birnam, near Dunkeld, I was
reminded of some remarkablecharacters in the neighbourhood.

After the publication of the 'Scotch Naturalist' and 'Robert
Dick,' I received numerous letters informing me of many

self-taught botanists and students of nature, quite as
interesting as the subjects of my memoirs. Among others, there

was John Duncan, the botanist weaver of Aberdeen, whose
interesting life has since been done justice to by Mr. Jolly; and

John Sim of Perth, first a shepherd boy, then a soldier, and
towards the close of his life a poet and a botanist, whose life,

I was told, was "as interesting as a romance."
There was also Alexander Croall, Custodian of the Smith Institute

at Stirling, an admirablenaturalist and botanist. He was
originally a hard-workingparishschoolmaster, near Montrose.

During his holiday wanderings he collected plants for his
extensive herbarium. His accomplishments having come under the

notice of the late Sir William Hooker, he was selected by that
gentleman to prepare sets of the Plants of Braemar for the Queen

and Prince Albert, which he did to their entire satisfaction. He
gave up his school-mastership for an ill-paid but more congenial

occupation, that of Librarian to the Derby Museum and Herbarium.
Some years ago, he was appointed to his present position of

Custodian to the Smith Institute--perhaps the best provincial
museum and art gallery in Scotland.

I could not, however, enter into the history of these remarkable
persons; though I understand there is a probability of Mr. Croall

giving his scientificrecollections to the world. He has already
brought out a beautiful work, in four volumes, 'British Seaweeds,

Nature-printed;' and anything connected with his biography will
be looked forward to with interest.

Among the other persons brought to my notice, years ago, were
Astronomers in humble life. For instance, I received a letter

from John Grierson, keeper of the Girdleness Lighthouse, near
Aberdeen, mentioning one of these persons as "an extraordinary

character." "William Ballingall," he said, "is a weaver in the
town of Lower Largo, Fifeshire; and from his early days he has

made astronomy the subject of passionate study. I used to spend
my school vacation at Largo, and have frequently heard him