THE ROYAL ALBERT. THIS noble ship, undoubtedly the most perfect specimen of a first-class three-decker hitherto constructed, was built at Woolwich by the late Mr. Oliver Lang, for many years the respected master-shipwright of that dockyard. Of stupendous size, but elegant proportions, she is an example of the mproved construction of the present day, uniting extraordinary strength with beauty of form and roominess of quarters. The use of iron is daily becoming more general in the oyal navy. Hempen cables, which were apt to chafe and cut upon a rocky or coral bottom, have been superseded by chain cables, each about 150 fathoms long. The iron tanks which contain the water, and preserve it pure, were not in use during the late war; and the still greater improvement of distilling fresh water from the sea, first adopted by the French, is a prodigious economy of space. It saves the principal part of the main hold, formerly filled by perhaps 500 tons of water, and, with a small additional length to the vessel, leaves room sufficient to hold the engine, stoke-hole, and boilers. By an improved disposition of the various hatchways in the Royal Albert large numbers of her crew will be able to repair instantly on deck, on any sudden emergency, or to board an enemy. Provision is also made for the rapid passage of powder from the magazine, and for conveying, without confusion, during the heat of an engagement, the various ammunition requisite for the different decks armed with guns of dissimilar calibre; and every facility is afforded for the prompt removal of the wounded to the fore and after cockpits. The Royal Albert is 220 feet long on her lower deck, and 60 feet 10 inches wide in her greatest breadth. Her length of keel is 180 feet; her depth of hold, 25 feet; and her height from keel to taffrail, 65 feet. She is pierced for 140 guns, and carries 131, placed as follows:-32 sixtyeight pounders on her lower or gun-deck, each gun weighing 65 cwt., and measuring 9 feet long; 34 thirty-two pounders on her middle-deck; 34 thirty-two pounders on her maindeck; and on the quarter-deck 16 thirty-two pounders. The forecastle is furnished with 14 thirty-two pounders, and one large gun, weighing 95 cwt., and measuring 10 feet in length, on a traversing carriage, shifting on fighting centres, and throwing a shot of 68 pounds. The Royal Albert is thus able to discharge a broadside weight of 4000 lbs. Her crew, including officers, seamen, and marines, will consist of a thousand men. For the sustenance of this company, she will stow for six months of the following articles, viz., bread, beef, pork, flour, suet, raisins, butter, cheese, sugar, cocoa, tea, lime-juice, tobacco, barley, peas, oatmeal, rum, wine, vinegar, oil, candles, soap, and slops (i. e. seamen's clothing), a total weight of 296 tons 4 cwt. For warlike purposes she will carry 125 tons 15 cwt. of shot and cases, and 32 tons 5 cwt. of gunpowder. To these must be added the weight of guns and carriages, amounting to upwards of 300 tons. And yet, so vast is the space, that this enormous bulk is hardly apparent, and everywhere we find abundant air, daylight, and room. A thousand men can live with comfort on board; and, should the necessity arise, her 131 guns will be manned as efficiently and as easily as the like number of fieldpieces would be handled on shore. Besides her crew, she has accommodation for five or six hundred troops. Her main-mast is 124 feet 8 inches long, by 40 inches in diameter. The main-topmast is 75 feet 6 inches, and the main-topgallant, with the pole above, rises 55 feet-a total height from keel to truck of 256 feet 2 inches, or a THE SECTION DESCRIBED. 331 clear elevation from the water's edge of 231 feet, or 29 feet more than the Monument on Fish Street Hill. The mainyard is 111 feet long. When under full sail she will spread 10,850 yards of canvass. Her large ensign, or battle-flag, will require 270 yards of bunting. The engines have a nominal power of 400 horses, but may be worked up to 1200. The entire cost of the vessel and engine is about 200,000%. In our section, an attempt is made to convey a popular view of the interior arrangement of this ship, and of the relative situations of the cabins, the division of the decks, and the communications between them. The first mast on the right hand is the foremast; that in the middle, the mainmast; and that to the left hand, the mizen-mast. On the first range, extending on each side of the foremast, is the forecastle; and next to it, between the foremast and mainmast, are the waist and gangways, with the booms and boats. Between the main and mizen-mast is the quarter-deck; and to the left of the mainmast is the captain's cabin; above which is the poop. The second range is the main-deck, at the right end of which is the sick bay; and next to it the galley, or cooking apparatus; at the left end, beneath the captain's cabin, is the admiral's cabin. The third range is the middle deck, at the left end of which is the ward-room. The fourth range is the lower deck, at the left end of which is the gun-room. The fifth range is the orlop-deck, on which, between the main and mizen-masts, is the cockpit. The sixth range is the hold, which exhibits, in separate divisions, beginning at the right hand, the boatswain and carpenter's stores, the powder-magazine, the water, the stoke-hole, engine-room, the shot, the well, the salt provisions, the wine and spirits, the after powder-magazine, the bread-room, and, lastly, outside all, the screw and well, with apparatus for hoisting it on deck. C. L. P. PAPERS ON THE AIR AND SKY. No. V. THE WAY OF THE WIND. WHEN He who knew all things said to the Jewish Rabbi, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth," he said what was true of all the learned men of that age: but the discoveries of Halley, and the very recent observations of Reid and Dove, have thrown much light upon the subject; and, although we cannot make all necessary allowance for the great number of interfering agencies, yet the main courses of the wind are well understood. It is scarcely needful to remark that wind is nothing but the air in motion. We may learn our first lesson respecting it from the breezes that are frequently noticed on the shores of our own country in the hot summer weather, and which occur, with greater constancy, in tropical climates. Many of us must have observed how a cool sea-breeze sets in during the day, and a warmer land-breeze begins to blow shortly after sunset. The cause of this is easily explained. The land absorbs the heat from the sun to a far greater extent than the water does; and, becoming thus hotter, it naturally causes the air above it to be warmer than that which overlies the sea. Now air expands by heat, as other things do, and thus becomes lighter, and ascends, its place being supplied by colder air, which, in the instance before us, must come from the sea, thus forming the refreshing sea-breeze, which moderates the heat of the summer noon. But at night the reverse is the case. The land cools much |