I had nearly forgotten a beautiful
and extraordinary invention--a rifle, not heavier than the common one,
that will discharge twenty-four balls in succession without reloading.
Where the ramrod is usually placed, is a smaller barrel, containing,
when filled, twenty-four ball-cartridges, and, after discharging, the
action of recocking introduces another cartridge, and so on, until the
whole are discharged; the whole twenty-four can be discharged in as
many seconds!
After leaving this interesting exhibition, where I could have lingered
a whole day, I was joined by a friend, an American--a gentleman of
great attainments in science--to whose remarks I am indebted for the
following scraps. The Merrimac, when low--as when I saw it--is a
trifling stream, having a bottom of laminated rock, worn in channels
by the stream. At spring and fall, there is ten or fifteen feet of
depth; and to remedy this inequality, an important work was undertaken
and executed: to this we bent our way. It is a canal in form, but
should more properly be called a reservoir. It is 1-1/4 miles long, 100
feet wide, and 15 feet deep; of solid granite, sides and bottom--equal
in durability to any work, ancient or modern.
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