The lantern was undertaken directly the stonework was completed. The landing of this apparatus was an exciting task, for, the season being advanced, it was decided to run unusual risks, lest the rock should become unapproachable. It was accomplished successfully, and the various parts were stored on the rock in what was considered a safe place. The weather looked fine and gave no signs of breaking; yet two hours after all had been inspected and secured for the night a terrific gale sprang up, and the rock was enveloped in water, which dashed right over it. The waves caught some of the lantern apparatus and smashed it; other parts were carried away and never seen again. This was an unexpected catastrophe. The remaining damaged parts of the apparatus were sent back to Birmingham to be overhauled and the missing portions replaced. As there was no possibility of being able to complete the lantern that winter, and the authorities did not like to entrust the marking of the rock solely to the temporary lightship lights--the lantern of the Halpin tower had been taken down meanwhile--it was thereupon decided to erect the dismantled old lamp in the new tower for the time being. [Illustration: _By courtesy of Messrs. Chance Bros. & Co., Ltd._ THE LANTERN OF THE FASTNET ROCK LIGHTHOUSE. It consists of two tiers each of four panels of 920 millimetres focal distance.] The next summer the new apparatus was got on to the rock and erected safely. The light is of the dioptric type, derived from a series of incandescent burners, giving a total power of 1,200 candles. This part of the installation is the invention of the chief engineer to the Commissioners, Mr. C. W. Scott, and it has proved to be one of the most perfect and economical devices of this type yet submitted to practical operations. The oil is vaporized by being passed through a spraying device under pressure, similar to the forced carburation in automobile practice, and the gas is fed to the Bunsen burners. The lenses, together with their revolving apparatus, weigh 13,440 pounds, and rotate upon a bed of mercury under the fall of a weight of 290 pounds, which descends 40 feet per hour, this being sufficient to secure three complete revolutions per minute. In case the incandescent gas installation should break down from any cause, a four-wick oil-burner is held in reserve, and can be brought into action instantly. The power of the rays thrown from the 1,200 candle-power burners is intensified by the lenses to some 750,000 candle-power, of extremely white brilliancy, recalling the beam thrown by an electric searchlight. The flash, of three-twenty-fifths of a second’s duration, recurs every five seconds, and on a clear night the light is readily distinguishable from a distance of twenty miles, while its reflection in the sky may be observed from a considerably greater distance.