Steam-ships now find their way to India and even to Australia, though the necessity of taking in coals at depôts supplied from England not only prolongs the time, but adds so materially to the cost, as to render steam communication with those distant places scarcely practicable with profit, since no freight can pay for the expense of coaling under such circumstances. To overcome that difficulty, it was proposed to build ships large enough to carry a supply of coals sufficient for the voyage there and back. One of those ships has been built for the Eastern Steam Navigation Company by Mr. J. Scott Russell, from the plans of Mr. Brunel, which is 675 feet long, 83 feet broad, and 60 feet deep. It is adapted to carry 6,000 tons burthen, in addition to the engines and requisite quantity of fuel, and to accommodate 2,000 passengers. This monster ship has been built on what is called the "wave principle" of ship-building, with long concave bows. It is to be propelled by the combined powers of the paddle-wheel and the screw. The engines for the former consist of 4 oscillating cylinders, 16 feet long and 74 inches in diameter, and the screw is to be worked by 4 separate engines, with cylinders of 84 inches in diameter. The speed which the "Great Eastern" is estimated to attain is 24 miles an hour, and it is calculated that the voyage to Australia will be accomplished in 30 days. There seems, at present, but small prospect of those calculations being realized, for the great cost incurred in launching the vessel and other expenses have exhausted the funds of the company by whom the ship was constructed. Another company has, however, been formed for the purpose of completing, if possible, this great experiment in Steam Navigation; and the opinion so strongly expressed by Mr. Fairbairn at the recent meeting of the British Association at Leeds, of the strength of the monster ship, will give additional stimulus to their exertions. The ship is built on the same principle of construction as the Britannia Bridge over the Menai Straits, and it was stated by Mr. Fairbairn that it might be supported out of water, either in the centre or at each end, without injury. STEAM CARRIAGES AND RAILWAYS. No invention of the present century has produced so great a social change as Steam Locomotion on railways. Not only have places that were formerly more than a day's journey from each other been made accessible in a few hours, but the cost of travelling has been so much reduced, that the expense has in a great degree ceased to operate as a bar to communication by railway for business or pleasure.