“Quite a number of the Popoff type of floating batteries were built, and a dry-dock was constructed for their special accommodation when repairs might be necessary. The ‘Livadia’ was the last production of Admiral Popoff, who, as I have already remarked, designed her with the assistance of Dr. Zimmerman, of Holland. She was not circular like her predecessors, but was oval in shape, the transverse diameter being almost but not quite equal to the conjugate, and she was fitted with three screws entirely under the bottom. Captain Semetschkin informed me that the Grand Duke was much impressed with this new design, and that nothing could shake his belief in its success. Being thus forewarned, I could avoid giving him an adverse criticism in case he brought the subject up by simply exercising a little diplomacy, as it was not my desire or intention to cross his predilections in any way. When I called on the Grand Duke at the Russian Legation, I found him reclining on a sofa, having severely injured his leg in a fall. He arose as I entered and invited me to take a seat in front of him. Being full of the subject, he immediately asked me if I would visit Glasgow soon, and when I stated that I intended to go there at an early date he gave me a letter to Captain Goulaieff, Russian Naval Constructor, who he said had charge of the construction of the new ‘Livadia,’ and that he had had prepared a working model fifteen feet long with engines complete as an experiment, and he wanted me to see it. “I am sure he fully believed in the successful future of this type. He stated that he was confident that it would revolutionize merchant-ship as well as war-ship construction, and his enthusiasm was unbounded in the contemplation of it. “When he had exhausted the subject, which took some time, in elegant English and with fascinating fluency of speech, he changed the subject, and I was subjected to one of the most severe examinations in naval construction, equipment, and technical practice that I ever encountered. Of course, there was a change from my attitude of listener to that of a sort of principal in the conversation that followed. “In referring in a complimentary way to the new fleet that we had turned out,—the outcome of the ‘Cimbria’ expedition,—the Grand Duke stated that one quality in them that impressed him more than any other was the large coal carrying capabilities of the vessels, and he asked me how I explained it. I stated that the models of the ships were of the best American type with certain improvements of our own. “Expressing himself in a complimentary manner as to what we had done and as to what I said, he then put the question to me with much ‘empressement’ and sympathetic interest of manner: ‘Mr. Cramp, from what school of naval architecture did you graduate?’