have greatly advanced, if not actually to have originated, submarine navigation. In its application as a means of warfare, we must give him the entire credit of originality; although Worcester in his Century or Hundred of Inventions, vaguely alludes to something of the kind, there is no evidence of its application, and as far as regards benefits to subsequent experiments, it is entirely useless.

The efforts of Bushnell in the revolutionary, and of Fulton during the late war, at the time attracted considerable attention, and greatly excited the fears* of the enemy. Although, for obvious reasons, the anticipated success did not attend these experiments, we must remember that "invention is progressive;" and while we hear them derided as visionary, we should reflect that such has ever been the fate, in their incipient stages, of the most useful inventions. The day may not be far distant, when another Bushnell will arise to advance submarine warfare to such perfection as to render it an important auxiliary in coast defence.

David Bushnell was born in Saybrook, Connecticut, some time about the year 1742. His parents were agriculturists of rather moderate circumstances, and resided in a very secluded part of the town. Here in attendance upon the duties of the paternal farm young Bushnell passed the earlier portion of his life, and is only remembered as being a very modest, retiring young man, shunning all society, and bound down to his books.

On the death of his father, which happened when he was about twenty-seven years of age, Bushnell sold his inheritance and removed to the central portion of the town for the purpose of prepar ing for college, the attainment of a liberal education having long been with him an object of his most ardent wishes. As is customary in the New England villages, the pastor of the society, the Rev. John Devotion, assisted him in his studies.

One of his fellow townsmen Mr. Elias Tully, becoming acquainted with him and admiring his character, very generously offered him a home under his own roof, where he remained until his entrance into Yale college in 1771.

We are ignorant of the origin of Mr. Bushnell's conceptions respecting submarine warfare, but he appears to have turned his attention to the subject in the earlier portions of his collegiate career, so that on graduating in 1775, his plans were advanced to maturity.

* It is well known that during the experiments of Fulton, the British shipping were very cautious in approaching our shores. A gentleman, who was taken prisoner by a vessel of war in Long Island Sound, describes the anxiety of the officers as being so great, that they made a regular practice at certain times of day, of dragging ropes under the ship's bottom. This course, it is believed, was universally practised by the enemy while anchoring off our coast.

"The first experiment was made with about two ounces of gunpowder, to prove to some influential men that powder would burn under water. In the second trial there were two pounds of gunpowder enclosed in a wooden bottle, and fixed under a hogshead, with a two inch oak plank between the hogshead and the powder. The hogshead was loaded with stones as deep as it could swim; a wooden pipe primed with powder descended through the lower head of the hogshead, and thence through the plank into the powder contained in the bottle. A match put to the priming exploded the powder with a tremendous effect, casting a great body of water with the stones and ruins many feet into the air.

"He subsequently made many experiments of a similar nature, some of them with large quantities of powder, all of which produced very violent explosions, much more than sufficient for any purposes he had in view.

"When finished, the external appearance of his torpedo bore some resemblance to two upper tortoise shells of equal size, placed in contact, leaving, at that part which represents the head of the animal, a flue or opening sufficiently capacious to contain the operator, and air to support him thirty minutes. At the bottom, opposite to the entrance, was placed a quantity of lead for ballast. The operator sat upright and held an oar for rowing forward or backward, and was furnished with a rudder for steering. An aperture at the bottom with its valve admitted water for the purpose of descending, and two brass forcing pumps served to eject the water within when necessary for ascending. The vessel was made completely water-tight, furnished with glass windows for the admis sion of light, with ventilators and air pipes, and was so ballasted with lead fixed at the bottom as to render it solid, and obviate all danger of oversetting. Behind the submarine vessel was a place above the rudder for carrying a large powder magazine; this was made of two pieces of oak timber, large enough, when hollowed out, to contain one hundred and fifty pounds of powder, with the apparatus used for firing it, and was secured in its place by a screw turned by the operator. It was lighter than water, that it might rise against the object to which it was intended to be fastened.

"Within the magazine was an apparatus constructed to run any proposed period under twelve hours; when it had run out its turn, it unpinioned a strong lock, resembling a gun-lock, which gave fire to the powder. This apparatus was so pinioned, that it could not possibly move, until, by casting off the magazine from the vessel, it was set in motion. The skilful operator could swim so low on the surface of the water, as to approach very near a ship in the night, without fear of being discovered; and might, if he chose,

approach the stem or stern above water, with very little danger. He could sink very quickly, keep at any necessary depth, and row a great distance in any direction he desired without coming to the surface. When he rose to the top ho could soon obtain a fresh supply of air, and, if necessary, descend again and pursue his

course.

"Mr. Bushnell found that it required many trials and considerable instruction to make a man of common ingenuity a skilful operator. The first person whom he employed was his brother, who was exceedingly ingenious, and made himself master of it, but was taken sick before he had an opportunity to make a trial of his skill. Having procured for a substitute a sergeant of one of the Connecticut regiments, and given him such instructions as time would allow, he was directed to try an experiment on the Eagle, a sixtyfour gun ship, lying in the harbor of New York, and commanded by Lord Howe. Gen. Putnam placed himself on the wharf to witness the result.

"The sergeant went under the ship and attempted to fix the wooden screw into her bottom, but struck, as he supposed, a bar of iron, which passed from the rudder hinge, and was spiked under the ship's quarter. Had he moved a few inches, which might have been done without rowing, there is no doubt he might have found wood where he could have fixed the screw;-or if the ship had been sheathed with copper, it might easily have been pierced. But for want of skill and experience in managing the vessel, in an attempt to move to another place, he passed out from under the ship. After seeking her in vain for some time, he rowed some distance and rose to the surface of the water, but found daylight so far advanced that he dared not to renew the attempt, for fear of being discovered by the sentinels on duty. He said he could easily have fastened the magazine under the stern of the ship, above water, as he rowed up and touched it before he descended. Had it been done, the explosion of the one hundred and fifty pounds of powder, contained in the magazine, must have been fatal to the ship.

"In returning from the ship to New York, the operator passed near Governor's Island, and thought he was discovered by the British stationed there. In haste to avoid the danger, he cast off his magazine, imagining it retarded him in the swell, which was very considerable. The internal apparatus was set to run just one hour; at the expiration of the allotted time it blew up with tremendous violence, throwing a vast column of water to an amazing height in the air, much to the astonishment of the enemy.

"Some other attempts were made on the Hudson, in one of

which the operator in going towards the ship lost sight of her, and went a great distance beyond. The tide ran so strong as to baffle all further effort.

"In the year 1777, Mr. Bushnell made an attempt from a whaleboat against the Cerberus frigate, lying at anchor off New London, in drawing a machine against her side by means of a line. The machine was loaded with powder to be exploded by a gun-lock, which was to be unpinioned by an apparatus to be turned by being brought along side of the frigate. This machine fell in with a schooner at anchor astern of the frigate, and becoming fixed, it ex ploded and demolished the vessel.

"Commodore Simmons being on board of the Cerberus, addressed an official letter to Sir Peter Parker, describing this singular disaster. Being at anchor to the westward of the town with a schooner which he had taken, about eleven o'clock in the evening he discovered a line towing astern from the bows. He believed that some person had veered away by it, and immediately began to haul in. A sailor belonging to the schooner taking it for a fishing line, laid hold of it and drew in about fifteen fathoms. It was buoyed up by small pieces tied to it at regular distances. At the end of the rope a machine was fastened too heavy for one man to pull up, for it exceeded one hundred pounds in weight. The other people of the schooner coming to his assistance, they drew it upon deck. While the men, to gratify their curiosity, were examining the machine, it exploded, blew the vessel into pieces, and set her on fire. Three men were killed, and a fourth blown into the water, much injured. On subsequent examination the other part of the line was discovered buoyed up in the same manner; this the commodore ordered to be instantly cut away, for fear (as he termed it) of 'hauling up another of the infernals!"

"These machines were constructed with wheels furnished with irons sharpened at the end, and projecting about an inch, in order to strike the sides of the vessel when hauling them up, thereby setting the wheels in motion, which in the space of five minutes causes the explosion. Had the whole apparatus been brought to act upon a ship at the same time, it must have occasioned prodigious destruction.

"Mr. Bushnell contrived another ingenious expedient to effect his favorite object. He fixed a large number of kegs, charged with powder, to explode on coming in contact with any thing while floating along with the tide.

"In December, 1777, he set his squadron of kegs afloat in the Delaware above the British shipping. The kegs were set adrift