The boats, in general, of this descrip tion, are painted white on the outside : this color being more conspicuous when rising from a hollow of the sea. The bot tom of the boat is varnished. The oars are made of fir, of the best quality. In the management, she requires twelve men to work her, that is, five on each side, rowing double-banked, with an oar slung over an iron thole, with a grummet, so as to enable the rower to pull either way, and one man at each end to steer her, and to be ready at the opposite end to take the steer-oar, when wanted. The best method, if the direction will admit of it, is to head the sea. steersman should keep his eye fixed upon the wave or breaker, and encourage the rowers not to give way, as the boat rises to it ; being then aided by the force of the oars, she launches over it with vast rapidity, with out shipping any water. When a wreck is reached, if the wind blows to the land, the boat will come in shore, without any other effort than steering.
Scheerboom & Co. have recently in vented an apparatus for converting any boat or vessel into a life-boat, in cases of danger, and it is recommended by high authorities.
Mr. Holbrook,. of Hull, England, con structed a life-boat, the hull of which is broad, and the framework composed of wrought iron covered with net. The body is divided into six compartments, containing bundles of floaters, perfectly air-tight, and separate from each other so that injury to one will not affect the rest. The peculiarity of the boat is, it has no bottom except a slight framework of cor dage or netting, the object of the arrange ment being to allow the water to rise within the boat to the level of that with out, and so secure a permanent ballast of water which precludes the possibility of being capsized in a heavy sea. Thus the countervailing properties of buoyancy and steadiness are perfectly secured. The internal arrangements include means for carrying water, spirits, matches, wood, articles of wearing apparel, with appara tus for boiling coffee and broiling meat. The boat also carries a reflecting lamp, fire balls, blue lights, rockets, 300 feet of line, a horn, and alarm bell, and is steered by means of an oar. This boat has been satisfactorily tested in severe weather.