Determination that the Ship should be launched broadside to the River--And that the Launch should be slow--_Extracts from Mr. Brunel’s Report of February 1855_--Reasons for the Adoption of Iron Sliding Surfaces--Description of the Ways and Cradles--And of the Motive Power provided for launching the Ship--_Memorandum on proposed Arrangements for the Launch_ (September 26, 1857)--_Letter to Captain Harrison on River Tackle_ (September 30, 1857)--_Letter on the Nature of the Operations_ (October 23, 1857)--_Memorandum on general Arrangements and intended Mode of Proceeding_ (October 30, 1857)--History of the Launch, Nov. 3, 1857 to January 31, 1858--_Letter to the Directors_ (November 26, 1857)--_Report and Memorandum on the Launching Operations_ (December 17, 1857)--Floating the Ship--_Note A_: Experiments and Observations on Friction--_Note B:_ Letter to W. Froude, Esq. (February 2, 1858).....340 CHAPTER XIII. _STEAM NAVIGATION. THE ‘GREAT EASTERN’ STEAM-SHIP. COMPLETION AND SUBSEQUENT HISTORY._ A.D. 1858, 1859. ÆTATIS 52-54. A.D. 1859-1870. Preparations for completing the Ship--Formation of the Great Ship Company--Mr. Brunel’s Absence from England--Progress of the Works from his Return to his last Illness--Voyage to Weymouth--Explosion of Water-Heater--Storm at Holyhead--Description of the Ship--Her first Voyage to New York, June 1860--Second Voyage to New York, May 1861--Voyage with Troops to Quebec, June 1861--Fracture of Rudder Head and Destruction of Paddlewheels, September 1861--Voyages in 1862--Accident off Montauk Point, August 27, 1862--Voyages in 1863--Formation of the Great Eastern Steam-Ship Company--Remarks on the History of the ‘Great Eastern’ previous to her Employment in laying Submarine Telegraph Cables--Telegraph Expeditions of 1865 and 1866--French Cable Expedition of 1869--Voyage to Bombay and Aden, 1869, 1870--Concluding Remarks--_Note_: Dimensions of the Ship and Engines.....392 CHAPTER XIV. _DOCK AND PIER WORKS._ A.D. 1831--1859. ÆTATIS 26--54. Monkwearmouth Docks, 1831--Bristol Docks--Floating Harbour, 1832--Proposed Works at Portishead--New Lock at Bristol, 1845--Bristol Dock Gates--Plymouth Great Western Docks, 1847--Briton Ferry Docks, 1851--Brentford Dock, 1856--Pier at Milford Haven, 1857.....417 CHAPTER XV. _MISCELLANEOUS WORKS._ The Great Exhibition of 1851--The Crystal Palace Water Towers, 1853--Polygonal Rifle, 1852--Gunnery Experiments, 1854--Floating Gun-Carriage, 1854--Renkioi Hospital Buildings, 1855.....445 CHAPTER XVI. _MR. BRUNEL’S PROFESSIONAL OPINIONS AND PRACTICE._