that these prophecies did not originate with them. The engines for the screw propeller by James Watt and Co. were horizontal and direct-acting, and were of 1800 nominal horse-power and 4886 horse-power indicated. They weighed 500 tons. Six double-ended tubular rectangular boilers gave steam at 25 lb. pressure. The propeller was a four-bladed cast-iron screw 36 tons in weight, and of 24 feet diameter and 44 feet pitch. The shaft of the propeller weighed 60 tons and was 150 feet in length. So as not to interfere with her speed when the screw should not be working, two small auxiliary engines were fitted to keep it revolving when disconnected from the main engines. Her speed under the screw alone was about nine knots. Her longitudinal bulkheads were carried to the uppermost deck, which was perfectly flush and extended from one end of the ship to the other. An iron deck connected the head of each longitudinal bulkhead with the ship’s sides and this, being at the greatest possible distance from the bottom of the girder, was in a position to contribute most to the longitudinal strength. The Britannia Bridge over the Menai Straits has its top and bottom flanges of cellular construction, and Brunel practically repeated this formation in the _Great Eastern_, by making both the bottom and the upper deck cellular. The launch of the _Great Eastern_ was arranged for November 3, 1857, and it was not till then that it became known that this was to be the vessel’s name and not _Leviathan_. The vessel moved only a few feet and then stuck. One of the causes of the hitch was that the ship was being launched sideways, thereby greatly adding to the difficulties of the operation. Another attempt a few days later did not move her an inch. On January 11 she was got a little nearer the water and the next day was moved a little farther; she was finally launched at the next spring tides at the end of the month. [Illustration: MODEL OF THE PADDLE-ENGINES OF THE “GREAT EASTERN.”] “It is incomprehensible how so eminent an engineer as Brunel should have made such a mistake as to attempt to force so huge a fabric broadside-on into the river. The costly experiment added £120,000 to the cost of the ship, and practically ruined the company.”[89] [89] Kennedy’s “History of Steam Navigation.” As the company had not the money to finish her, it was wound up and the ship was sold to another company, formed to take her over, the price being £160,000. It was necessary to raise another £300,000, and as the financiers would not find the money, the public was appealed to and responded to the extent of £50,000 from some of the humblest classes in the community, “without any expectation of profit, but solely that they might hear of the great ship, which they looked upon as the pride of England, being fairly afloat on the deep waters.”[90] [90] _Illustrated London News_, August 13, 1859.