The boat which we illustrate recently made the run from the Thames to Portsmouth, and, the weather being bad, was taken through the somewhat intricate but more sheltered fairways and channels of what is known as the "overland passage." Off Margate she managed to get on the ground--a result by no means to be wondered at; and, as the sands here are very hard, she smashed her propeller. After a time she was got off and beached, when a new propeller was fitted. We mention this incident, as it is generally supposed that these craft are of a very fragile description; "egg shell" is the favorite term of comparison. One distinguished naval officer--retired--has said he would never willingly go on board these craft, for fear of putting his foot through the bottom; and there is a very funny story extant about a sailor with a wooden leg. It would seem, however, from the experience of No. 50, that steel vessels are of much more robust constitution than is generally supposed, and, indeed, there is ample testimony to the fact. We recently witnessed the efforts of a small working party to get one of these vessels over a bank. She was pushed as high up as the strength of the party would allow, and in this position her fore part was over the bank for about a third of the length of the boat. A tackle was then put on the bow, which was bowsed down until the boat could be dragged straight ahead. A few words may appropriately be added here as to torpedo boat policy generally. Admiral Colomb, in the opening remarks of his excellent little manual, "The Naval Year Book," refers to the torpedo boat question in the following terms: "The fleet, the flotilla, the cruiser, and the harbor attack and defense have each had (_i. e._, during the past year) their share of attention, and developed exercise, and opinion has been advanced, guided, or turned back by the observation of facts which these exercises have brought out. While it cannot, perhaps, be said that the torpedo, as torpedo, has much altered its position in naval estimation, it seems fair to assume that the torpedo boat, as boat, has fallen in repute. In the first, it has grown very much larger, and has, in point of fact, ceased to be a boat. In part this may have come about because the _role_ which some proposed for the torpedo boat, of being an entirely defensive weapon confined to territorial localities, and operating only within a short distance from its port, has never been generally accepted. Boats which were never intended for voyages have been sent on voyages, and, being found more or less unsuited for that kind of service, supposed improvements have been made, so that they should be capable of executing it. The 'harbor defense' instrument has become a 'sea attack' instrument, and in some sense an unrecognized rival to the undoubted sea-going torpedo vessels like the Archer, the Fearless, and the Rattlesnake."