in the scheme of defence, as to serve for the flanking defence of collateral works, or whose seaward range is only open to distances at which shell firing may be used with effect, there shell-guns, or other howitzers, or 68-pounder carronades, may with advantage be placed.

"The British shell-guns, as analogous ordnance to the French canonsobusiers (Art. 215), are well adapted to the sea service; the British 8-inch gun of 65 cwt. is superior to the French canon-obusier No. 1 (Art. 224, and Note), and is perhaps the best chambered gun ever produced, here or elsewhere. But, as has been shown in Art. 218 and the Note, great objections attach to all chambered guns, which, though, in part, obviated by the expedient of the cork wad (Art. 411), are not removed-the defects being inherent in their construction. Chambers are, however, necessary evils in the naval service, in ordnance of such large calibre as 8 inches and 10 inches; because, if their bores were cylindrical throughout, they would be too weak round the seat of the powder to stand the explosion of even a very diminutive charge; and it would therefore be necessary to fortify an unchambered gun of that calibre by casting it at least 30 cwt. heavier than it now is. But this additional weight, for vessels of equal displacement,' would disable them for carrying an equal weight of ordnance without greatly reducing the number of guns; and, in the vessels, there would not be space, even if they could carry the same number of the heavier gun, to stow the additional number of men required to work such heavy ordnance.

"But why impose the evil of chambered ordnance on the land service? The cork wad must, in that case, be adopted in the land, as well as the sea, service, for without it there would be frequent miss-fires.* Objections to weight as limited by displacement,' and want of space for the accommodation of additional men required for working the guns, do not attach to the land service; and consequently the question, cleared of those conditions, rests solely upon the comparative merits, faculties, and capacities of the chambered and unchambered guns, as best adapted to the distinct purposes for which they were designed-the one to fire shells or hollow shot, within limited distances-the other to fire solid shot with superior power of range, accuracy, and penetrating force, at great distances.

"To place in fixed batteries chambered 8-inch guns, in lieu of unchambered solid-shot guns, on account of the difference of weight, since neither displacement, transport by sea, nor conveyance by land enters there into the question, were a grievous error, which, much we fear, may have been committed, particularly with respect to 8-inch shell-guns of 50 and 52 cwt.— a very inferior class of that tribe-seeing that more than one-third of the ordnance appropriated to the armament of our coast defences are shell-guns, and that so large a proportion can scarcely be required for shell-firing only. "Extent of range, with the least elevation, the greatest accuracy at long ranges, and penetrating force, are pre-eminently required of guns appropriated to batteries, wherever they command long sea-ranges, or are in enfilading positions."

"In 8-inch guns with conical chambers, to insure the reduced cartridge being set sufficiently home it is most essential that spherical cork cartridge tops of 5 inches diameter and 21 deep, should be fitted inside these cartridges when sent on board, without which the guns will frequently miss fire."-Instructions for the exercise and service of great guns and shells.

But no cork or other tapering wads are provided for this ordnance in the land service (fig. to Art. 411), where there is more need of that expedient than in the sea service, because land batteries, which should always have some command over the object or plane in front, are necessarily often placed in such elevated positions for coast defences as to require great depression in firing at any object upon the plane of the sea, by which a reduced cartridge would be far more liable to slide from its place in a conical chamber than in horizontal firing, and thereby occasion miss-fires more frequently than on board a ship.-AUTHOR.

Our difficulty in dealing with this admirable work is to select its salient points; for if we were to endeavour to take up all the topics of interest in its pages, we should have to write a running commentary on the whole book. Its European, and even world-wide celebrity, will be increased by this new edition, in which the author has displayed an amount of military science seldom equalled, and never surpassed. To speak of its minor, though not unimportant merits, as a composition-in respect to its style and method of arrangement, its force, clearness, and felicity of expression, we feel something of pride in asserting that this military classic, the work of a British officer, may compare with the highest literary productions of the age. It is the whole art of war reduced into a simple and comprehensive system, which should be in the hands of every officer, and, if possible, of every intelligent seaman and soldier.

We shall conclude our notice with the following remarks of Sir Howard on the Lancaster guns:

"The author has ever entertained an opinion that Mr. Lancaster's elliptically-bored gun is a dangerous piece of ordnance. The reader will find, on referring to Arts. 190 and 335, that, in the earliest trials of that gun, the shells broke to pieces on leaving it; and the author felt confident that if, with the maximum charge and an elevation of 18o, there were propelled from the gun solid shot or shells so strong as not to break, a great risk of the gun bursting would be incurred. This opinion has been verified by the results of the experimental trials recently carried on at Shoebury Ness, of which an account has been received while this sheet is in type, one of Lancaster's 68-pounder guns having burst while firing one of its peculiar shells, though a reduced charge of 12 lbs., instead of 16 lbs. of powder (the maximum charge), was employed. The fragments were thrown to considerable distances; but, happily, no one was injured, the firing party having, from some distrust of the gun's strength (see Art. 335), been placed under cover: had it been otherwise a fatal catastrophe must have ensued, as in the bursting of the guns at Malta and Gibraltar (pp. 291, 292). It was observed that the vent had become much enlarged; but this circumstance, as well as the reduced charge employed, must be considered as having dimi nished the danger of the gun bursting. This accident, together with those which have since occurred on service, can only be ascribed to the peculiar formation of the bore, which causes the shot, in forcing its way through, to exert a great strain on the gun. In a former experiment a shell stuck in the bore while the gun was being loaded (p. 172); and it is easy to conceive, therefore, that a shell might stick in going out; in which case, if the shell do not break, the gun must inevitably burst.

"To the vast force with which the projectile rubs and strikes against the surface of the bore, while following the spiral turn, and thus acquiring the properties of a rifle-shot, may be attributed the frequent breaking of the projectile, even when made of wrought iron. It requires much habitual skill or knack in serving the gun, to introduce and set the shell home, through the turning of the bore, and it is not unlikely that, in some instances, the bursting of the Lancaster guns may be occasioned by the oval ball leaving a space between it and the gunpowder, or by getting fixed in the gun by change of position whilst it is being propelled through the oval Lore. Without the utmost care in loading, these guns must be liable to burst at every round, and the firing must be very slow. The strongest gun bursts readily if the ball be obstructed in its progress when near the muzzle, which, no doubt, was the cause of the bursting of one of the Lancaster guns near the muzzle at Sevastopol. With respect to leaden shots fired from the

Lancaster elliptically-bored muskets, no such accident can happen with them; but, as has been shown in p. 517, they often strip, or pass straight out of the barrel, which must happen when, being heated in the flame, they change their form and do not follow the windings of the spiral bore. Iron shots are incapable of changing their form, and must, therefore, either follow the spiral bore, or cause the gun to burst. The withdrawal of the Lancaster elliptically-bored guns from the 'Pelter' gunboat at Portsmouth, and from the Despatch-gunboats Arrow' and 'Beagle' at Sevastopol, and the judicious order to arm all the new gun-boats with the 68-pounder guns of 95 cwt., are necessary consequences of the very unfavourable reports which were made of those guns at Bomarsund, as being deficient in precision, and not to be depended on (p. 376, line 16 from bottom), corroborated, as these reports have been, from very high authority on the spot, of the very bad practice made by the Lancaster guns at 1300 yards at Sevastopol in the land-batteries, and the fact that two of them burst! In firing into the town they are said to have done great dainage to the place, when loaded with their own peculiar shells; but few of these having been supplied, the oval guns have been chiefly used in firing round projectiles, shot and shells, grape and canister-shot, all of which would have been more efficiently and appropriately used from 68-pounder guns. So confident were the expectations entertained of the alleged powers and the assumed precision of the Lancaster guns to destroy any works at a distance of 5000 or 6000 yards, that it is actually intended to rebore 68-pounders and 8-inch shell guns into the elliptical spiral form! This transformation must weaken them so much, that the danger of bursting, to which elliptically-bored guns are already so liable, will be greatly increased:-it will undoubtedly spoil a capital 8-inch gun, and make a very bad and dangerous elliptical howitzer; because, being chambered, it is incapable of receiving the large charges requisite to produce the long range, in which, together with their alleged superior precision in distant firing, the peculiar merits of the Lancaster guns were supposed to consist; these were, in fact, the sole reasons for which they were introduced into the naval service. Though executed at enormous cost, and equipped with their peculiar shells, they have failed to accomplish on service the special purposes for which they were designed. They cannot, as has been proved, resist the charge (16 lbs.), nor stand the high elevation (180) necessary to produce the vaunted range of 5600 yards; they are proved to be defective in precision in distant firing, and even at short ranges; and they have been withdrawn from the Despatch and other gun-boats. No other uses that can be made of that particular gun, whether it be to fire spherical shot from its elliptically spiral bore (pp. 363, 364) or, with its own projectiles, to bombard towns, can redeem it from the verdict which men of science in general pronounce that they have failed to accomplish the great objects for which expressly they were made. The bombardment of towns can be more effectually accomplished by mortars (p. 361) of equal weight, projecting much heavier shells with equal bursting charges, and producing very nearly equal

ranges.

It is no doubt a great desideratum to obtain for the cannon the advantages which the musket has derived from elongated projectiles; but the author believes that this may be obtained by some vastly better, safer, and far cheaper method, than by firing from an elliptically-bored gun elongated shells, manufactured of wrought iron, at a cost of twenty pounds each, and which nevertheless frequently break when fired."

PETROPAULOWSKA AND KAMTSCHATKA.

PETROPAULOWSKA, or St. Peter and St. Paul, to which recent events have given a melancholy interest, is the chief town of Kamtschatka. The harbour is small, but very convenient. Half a dozen ships may be moored here in safety, head and stern, and receive any kind of repairs. The south side of the harbour is formed by a low sandy neck, exceedingly narrow. It is here that the ostrog, or town, is built. Close in with this neck of land the water is three fathoms deep, so that ships going in are quite close to the town. The channel is about 278 feet across, and mid-way is six fathoms and a-half deep. The bottom is uniformly muddy.

The harbour of Petropaulowska is, properly speaking, enclosed within Awatska Bay, a description of which we borrow from one of the most celebrated navigators of these seas. The term "bay," indeed, says our authority, is perhaps not applicable, properly speaking, to a place so well sheltered as Awatska, but then it must be observed, from the loose, undistinguishing manner in which navigators have denominated certain situations of land and sea, with respect to each other, bays, roads, sounds, harbours, &c., we have no defined and determinate ideas affixed to these words, sufficient to warrant us in changing a popular name for one that may appear more proper.

The entrance into this bay is in 52° 31′ north latitude, and 158° 48′ east longitude, and lies in the bight of another exterior, formed by Cheepoonskoi Noss to the north, and Cape Gavarea to the south. The former of these headlands bears from the latter north-east by east, three quarters east, and is distant thirty-two leagues. The coast, from Cape Gavarea to the entrance of Awatska Bay, takes a direction nearly north, and is eleven leagues in extent. It consists of a chain of high, ragged cliffs, with detached rocks frequently lying off them. This coast, at a distance, presents, in many parts, an appearance of bays or inlets, but, on a nearer approach, the headlands are found to be connected by low ground.

Cheepoonskoi Noss bears, from the entrance of the bay, east northeast, a quarter east, and is seventeen leagues distant. On this side the shore is low and flat, with hills rising behind to a considerable height. This striking difference of the land on each side Awatska Bay, with their different bearings, are the best guides to steer for it, in coming from the southward; and in approaching from the north, Cheepoonskoi Noss will make itself very conspicuous. It is a high projecting headland, with a considerable extent of level ground, lower than the Noss, uniting it to the continent. It presents the same appearance, whether viewed from the north or south, and will warn the mariner not to be deceived in imagining Awatska Bay to lie in the bight which the coast forms to the northward of this Noss, a mistake which might easily arise from the striking resemblance there is between a conical hill within this bight or bay, and one to the south of Awatska Bay.

"I have been thus particular," says the same authority, "in giving a minute description of this coast, from our own experience of the want of it. Had we been furnished with a tolerable account of the form of the coast on each side of Awatska Bay, we should, on our first arrival,

have got safely within the bay two days before we did, and thereby have avoided part of the stormy weather which came on when we were lying off the mouth of the harbour. Besides, from the prevalence of fogs in these seas, it must frequently happen that an observation for ascertaining the latitude cannot be got. To this we may add, that the deceptive appearance of land when covered with snow, and when viewed through a hazy atmosphere, both of which circumstances prevail here during the greater part of the year, renders the knowledge of a variety of discriminating objects the more necessary. Should, however, the weather be clear enough to admit a view of the mountains on the coast in its neighbourhood, these will serve to point out the situation of Awatska Bay with a great deal of precision.'

To the south of Awatska Bay are two high mountains; that lying nearest to the bay is of a conical form; the other, lying further inland, does not appear so high, and is flat at the top. There are to the north

of the bay three very conspicuous mountains. The most westerly is, in appearance, the highest; the next is volcanic, and may be easily recognised by the smoke that it emits, as well as by some high tablelands, stretching northward, and connected with it. Both these mountains are somewhat peaked. The third and most northerly may more properly be called a cluster of mountains, presenting to the sight a number of flat tops. Once within the capes, and in the outward bay, the navigator perceives a perpendicular headland, on which is erected a light-house, pointing out the entrance of Awatska Bay to the northward. Stretching into the sea to the distance of two or three miles to the eastward of this headland, are many sunken rocks, whose presence becomes apparent in a moderate sea or swell. To the south of the entrance there is a small round island, composed of high pointed rocks, and presenting a singular appearance. One of these rocks is particularly conspicuous, being much larger, more peaked and perpendicular than the others.

To this description we will add, that the entrance to Awatska Bay is at first nearly three miles wide, and in the narrowest part one mile and a-half. It is four miles long in a north-north-west direction. Within the mouth of the bay is a noble basin, twenty-five miles in circuit, and within this, to the north, lies the harbour of Petropaulowska. To the west of this vast basin lies the capacious harbour of Tarcinska, and to the east that of Rakoweena. The harbour of Tarcinska is about three miles in breadth, and twelve in length. It stretches to the east-southeast, and is separated from the sea at the bottom by a narrow neck of land. The road into this harbour is quite free from rocks or shoals. The harbour of Rakoweena might be considered better than either Petropaulowska or Tarcinska, were it not for a shoal lying in the middle of the channel, which, in general, will make it necessary to warp in, unless there be a leading wind. This harbour is three miles long, running at first in a south-east, and afterwards in an easterly direction. It is one mile in width, and from thirteen to three fathoms in depth.

The navigator must be careful to avoid a shoal that lies off the eastern harbour, as well as a spit within the entrance, stretching from the south-west shore, and over which there are only three fathoms water. In order to steer clear of the spit, a small island, or perhaps it may