The placing of the first of the tubular arches in position between the pier near the shore at Saltash and the central pier, which took place on the 1st of September, 1857, excited great interest, and at least 50,000 persons were assembled from places far and near to witness the operation. The tube, with the roadway and suspension chains, was floated from the yard where it was put together on four pontoons; and it was thus conveyed, and safely deposited on the piers at a height of 30 feet above high water mark. It was afterwards gradually raised by hydraulic presses to the top, a height of 100 feet. The work of raising it commenced on the 25th of November, and was completed on the 19th of May last. The following lively description of the Royal Albert Bridge, and its surrounding scenery, extracted from a recent article in the _Times_, gives a very good idea of the magnitude of the structure, by comparison with well-known objects:--"Though, probably, our readers may care little and have heard less about Saltash proper, it is likely henceforth to receive a fair share of general attention, and we can safely say, to those who will journey down to see the bridge, that the viaduct requires indeed to be a fine one to attract their attention from the lovely scenery of the valley of the Tamar, which it crosses. The banks of this noble river narrow in considerably as the stream reaches Saltash, and, hemmed in there to half a mile or so, suddenly widens out into as fine a sheet of water as any of its kind in the kingdom, its distant banks covered with cottages, and fringed with undulating woodlands down to the very edge. Across this narrow part of the channel, where Saltash, in picturesque dirt and disarray, straggles up the banks on one side, and a steep hill, covered with rock and rock-grown underwood, forms the other, the viaduct stretches high in air. The briefest general way of describing it is to say that it consists of nineteen spans or arches, seventeen of which are wider than the widest arches of Westminster Bridge; and two, resting on a single cast-iron pier of four columns in the centre of the river, span the whole stream at one gigantic leap of 910 feet, or a longer distance than the breadth of the Thames at Westminster. The total length of the structure from end to end is 2,240 feet,--very nearly half a mile, and 300 feet longer than the entire stretch of the Britannia Bridge. The greatest width is only 30 feet at basement; its greatest height from foundation to summit no less than 260 feet, or 50 feet higher than the summit of the Monument. The Britannia Bridge, both in size, purpose, and engineering importance, seems to offer the best comparison with that of Saltash, but the similarity between the structures is far from being as great as might be at first supposed. The Britannia tube is smaller, and cost nearly four times the price of the Saltash Viaduct, though the engineers had natural facilities which Mr. Brunel, for his