16. Longitudinal Section, Plan, and Midship Section of the ‘Great Eastern’ Steam-Ship.....397 17. Monkwearmouth Dock Gates.....421 18. Bristol Dock Gate.....430 19. Plymouth Great Western Dock Gates.....435 20. Briton Ferry Dock Gate.....439 21. Brentford Dock Gate.....441 22. Renkioi Hospital.....470 LIFE OF ISAMBARD KINGDOM BRUNEL. CHAPTER I. _EARLY LIFE._ A.D. 1806--1828. BIRTH OF MR. BRUNEL, APRIL 9, 1806--SIR MARC ISAMBARD BRUNEL--THE BLOCK MACHINERY--MR. BRUNEL’S SCHOOL LIFE--THE THAMES TUNNEL--SINKING OF THE ROTHERHITHE SHAFT--DESCRIPTION OF THE SHIELD--EXTRACTS FROM SIR ISAMBARD BRUNEL’S JOURNALS FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE THAMES TUNNEL TO THE DATE OF THE SECOND IRRUPTION OF THE RIVER, JANUARY 12, 1828--_NOTE A:_ THE BOURBON SUSPENSION BRIDGES--_NOTE B:_ EXPERIMENTS WITH CARBONIC ACID GAS. ISAMBARD KINGDOM BRUNEL was born on the ninth day of April, 1806, at Portsmouth, and was the only son of Sir Marc Isambard Brunel.[1] Most biographies commence with an account of the parentage of the person whose life is about to be written. If this be permitted in any case, no apology can be needed for prefixing to a Life of Mr. Brunel some particulars of his father’s career, since he was indebted to him, not only for the inheritance of many natural gifts, and for a professional education such as few have been able to procure, but also for a bright example of the cultivation of those habits of forethought and perseverance, which alone can ensure the successful accomplishment of great designs. Sir Marc Isambard Brunel was a native of Hacqueville, a village in Normandy, where his family had been settled for several generations. He was originally intended for the priesthood; but, as he showed no inclination for that calling, and a very decided talent for mechanical pursuits, he was permitted to enter the French Navy; and he served in the West Indies for six years, namely, from 1786 to 1792. On his return home, at the expiration of his term of service, his strong Royalist sympathies made it unsafe for him to remain in France, and with great difficulty he managed to escape to America. He landed at New York in September 1793, and soon obtained employment as a civil engineer. A few years afterwards he was appointed engineer to the State of New York; and, while holding that office, he designed a cannon foundry and other important public works. In January 1799, when Sir Isambard was in his thirtieth year, he came over to England, and shortly after his arrival married Miss Sophia Kingdom, a lady for whom he had formed an attachment some years before.[2] The first great work undertaken by him in this country was the machinery for making blocks, which he designed and erected for Government at Portsmouth.