A Lecture, Or Essay On the most efficacious means of Preserving The Lives Of Shipwrecked Sailors And The Shipwreck

14 tion, the violent impulse occasioned by velocity of flight in the shot; and so indispensably necessary is this pliancy, that if it be inter- rupted even by a single kink, from its being hard twisted, the rope will assuredly break, even when of considerable circumference ; the necessity of strength and durability is so self-evident, that it is needless to treat on them. No part of the service requires so much attention as the laying of the rope ; if the beach be even, and free from large stones, it may be laid in compartments with certainty, thus : The advantages of this method are, that it will allow the eye rapidly (yet correctly, just before firing) to pass over the different compart- ments, and discover if any fake has been displaced by the storm, or has by any casualty come in contact with another part, which would at once defeat the effect by breaking the rope. Jt may also be coiled in the manner used in the whale-fishery, thus: