172 THE CHOPS OF THE CHANNEL,

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AND HOW THEY ARE LIGHTED.

landing on the rock was seized, it was only possible
for the workmen to get 302 hours of work on it.
A mast of oak, twelve inches in diameter, which
surmounted the beacon, was carried away in less
than three months: another of wrought iron 72
inches in diameter was prepared, but could not be
placed on the rock until 1842; in the first winter
it was bent three feet from the perpendicular from
w. to E., a proof of the force of the Atlantic gales
in that direction, and in 1844 it was carried away
altogether. In 1860 the authorities of the Trinity
House ordered a lighthouse to be erected, and in
1861, Mr. I. N. Dundas, C.E., landed to survey the
rock, the sea got up, and he had to be hauled
through the surf to the boat by a line round his
waist, a method frequently adopted afterwards.
A yard was rented in Penzance, 17 miles distant,
where every stone was worked and fitted and then
placed in barges in the order in which it would be
wanted for laying in its permanent bed. Every
stone is dovetailed into adjoining ones, and the
lower courses are also bolted with metal bolts. In
order to use every moment of time which it would
be possible to spend on the rock, a schooner was
chartered, which served as a barrack for the men, and
she was moored as near to the rock as was possible.
In 1862 twenty-two landings were effected and
eighty-three hours’ work was done on the rock.
The work was continued with infinite skill and
perseverance through eight summers, until, on July
19, 1869, the last stone was laid : 266 landings in
all had been effected and 1809 hours had been
spent in work on the rock. The light was first
exhibited on New Year’s Day, 1870, since which,
from sunset to sunrise, alternate flashes of red and
white light have been pointing the course of safety
to the pilot every half-minute. The whole cost of
this lighthouse was 62,7261. and it was erected
without accident to any one engaged. The height
of the pillar to the top of the vane is 116 feet, and
its diameter at the base 41 feet 8 inches; at the
lantern 17 feet. The first 39 feet are entirely
solid, with the exception of the water tank for the
use of themen, Above this are seven stories, which
are separated by iron ceilings. The first is the en-
trance-floor, the door of which is of gun-metal,
proof against rust, and not requiring to be painted ;
then in order, the coal-cellar, the store-room, the
oil-room, the living-room, the bed-room with three
berths, and the service-room. Above the service-
room is the lantern, and on the gallery which runs
outside is a bell, weighing 5 ewt., the hammer of
which, worked by machinery, rings three sharp
blows every fifteen seconds during foggy weather.

In the chart given (p. 171) it will be seen that
at the Seven Stones the lights are on board a ship.
This is a contrivance used when sandy shoals are
to be marked, or when the rock does not afford a

favourable surface on which to build. A lightship
is as different from a sea-going ship as it is possible
to conceive. The one is built for speed—the other
must remain stationary. Its masts are short and
stumpy and are surmounted by huge balls. At
the Seven Stones the lightship rides in 240 feet
of water—a cable 1800 feet long lies on the sea-
bed with a mushroom anchor at each end ; in the
middle of this chain a swivel is attached, and from
this a cable of 600 feet is fastened to the lightship.
Few instances of a lightship breaking from her
moorings have occurred, but if it should happen, a
reserve ship is always ready at the head station of
the district, and would at once be towed to the
spot where danger lurked. These ships have each
a master, a mate, and a crew of nine men. The
master and mate take turns, month about, on shore
and afloat ; of the crew one-third is always ashore.
In the lighthouses which are not erected on the
mainland three men are always on duty and one
man ashore. Their life is a dreary and monotonous
one, and their discipline is strict as on board a
man-of-war. Every evening at sundown the lamps
are lighted, and on board the lightships are wound
up by the windlass to the mast-head. Every morn-
ing at sunrise they are extinguished, and on board
ship lowered to the deck and immediately cleaned
and trimmed for use, and while burning they are
never left for a moment.

Tt is not the duty of lighthouse men or the crews
of lightships to go to the rescue of ships in danger,
but they are provided with rockets for signalling,
and, especially on the Goodwin Sands, they haye
frequently been instrumental in saving life by sig-
nalling to life-boats on shore. We have now in the
United Kingdom 456 lighthouses of all sorts, and
fifty-eight lightships. There are also about 1400
buoys posted around the coast and in the channels
of our chief rivers. To keep all these in due
working order involves much skill and energy, and
not a little peril. The position of every buoy is
verified once a quarter, and every buoy is removed
and replaced by a freshly painted successor in
spring and autumn. Such a service requires a
large staff and costs much money—but it is money
well spent, for hundreds of human lives are saved
by it annually. Statistics prove that since lights
were erected at the Scilly Islands, the number of
wrecks in that locality alone is one-fourth what it
was before such precautions were taken, although
our tonnage is now four times what it was then.

Let us thank God then for the lighthouse,
whether on the mainland or on the otherwise
hidden rock, or whether it take the form of the
clumsy lightship.

Sail on, it says, sail on, ye stately ships,
And with your floating bridge the ocean span;

Be mine to guard this light from all eclipse,
Be yours to bring man nearer unto God.