Great care has been taken to make the vessel proof against very heavy seas. The hull is double, and is made of iron plates. Ten thousand tons of iron were used to build the hull, and it took no less than 3,000,000 rivets to fasten on the iron plates. The Great Eastern carries a cargo of 28,500 tons; and can accommodate 10,000 passengers. So, if you went across the ocean in her, when she has her full complement of passengers, it is not at all likely that you would know all your fellow-voyagers. It would be very strange if you were even to see them all. [Illustration: PREPARING THE VESSEL FOR A VOYAGE.] [Illustration: PASSENGERS GOING ON BOARD.] She is an English vessel, and has been to this country several times. She was visited by crowds of people while lying at the wharf in New York. She also went to Norfolk, and Baltimore. And, everywhere she was an object of curiosity and wonder. But the expense of sailing so monstrous a vessel is very great, and her owners have not always known exactly what to do with their ship. She was very useful in laying the Atlantic Telegraph Cable a few years ago. She was the only ship that could conveniently carry such a tremendous weight as this cable which was to cross the Atlantic Ocean, and connect two continents. The vessel, as you see her in the picture, does not lie close to the wharf, and small steamers are employed to take the passengers out to the ship when she is ready to sail. These steamers seem like baby vessels when they are lying alongside the Great Eastern. Her great hull rises far above their chimneys. The “gangway” is a long flight of stairs; and it is quite a slow process to get all the people out of the small steamers, up the stairs, and on to the deck of the Great Eastern. The great deck is pretty well filled during the embarkation. The passengers are all there; and their friends who have come to bid them good-bye; and there are piles of baggage of every description. But, after the small steamers have gone back to the shore with the visitors, the decks are cleared, and the baggage stowed away in the proper places for it; and everything is trim and orderly. Every arrangement is made for the comfort of the passengers. There are two saloons, a large, and a small one. These are beautiful rooms lighted by sky-lights, and elegantly ornamented, and furnished. There are a great number of state-rooms; and three dining-rooms. In these last are long rows of tables. But one of the advantages that the Great Eastern possesses is that she does not roll and pitch much, even in stormy weather, because she is so large and heavy. Consequently people are not so apt to be sea-sick on this ship, as on most of the ocean steamers.