principal promoters of that association now proposed to send him out on a distinct expedition to another spot, although in the same quarter of the globe. Eventually, as it has already been stated, he went out as the servant of Messrs. Graham, Herring, and Powles; and it was his intention, when he had attended to their business, to enter on the work of the Mining Company.

After many delays the agent of Messrs. Herring, Graham, and Powles, and Engineer-in-chief of the Colombian Mining Company, received orders to proceed immediately to Falmouth, and there take ship to Carthagena. The principal goods and the first lot of miners had already quitted England, and the interpreter to the expedition was already en route for Falmouth. Obeying his instructions, Robert Stephenson had actually mounted the Falmouth coach, and had loaded it with extra luggage, to the amount of a £30 fare, when he received orders to descend, to unload the coach, and to start for Liverpool. Of course he complied.

On reaching Liverpool he wrote to his father (June 8, 1824), giving an account of his journey from town that affords a striking picture of the troubles of the good old coaching days.'

We have arrived safe in Liverpool, after an extremely fatiguing journey. I never recollect in all my travels being so terrified on a coach. I expected every moment for many miles that we should be upset, and if such an accident had happened we must have literally been crushed to pieces. We had 21 cwt. of luggage to remove from London to Liverpool by coach. This may serve to give you a faint idea of the undertaking. This weight was sent in twice. The coach-top on which we came was actually rent; all the springs, when we arrived at Liverpool, were destitute of any elasticity, one of them absolutely broken

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ARRIVAL IN LIVERPOOL.

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and the body of the coach resting on the framework, so that, in fact, we rattled into this town more like a stage-waggon than a light coach.

On June 12, George Stephenson arrived in Liverpool to bid his son farewell, and took an affecting leave of him on the 18th.

During his stay at Liverpool with his son, George Stephenson, by the hand of a friend, wrote the following characteristic and entertaining letter to Mr. Longridge:

next.

Liverpool: June 15, 1824.

DEAR SIR, I arrived here on Saturday afternoon, and found Mr. Sanders, Robert, and Charles, waiting for me at the coach office. It gave me great pleasure to see Robert again before he sails. He expects to leave the country on Thursday We dined with Mr. Sanders on Saturday, and with Mr. Ellis yesterday. He had three men-servants waiting in the entrance-hall to show us to the drawing-room. There was a party to meet us, and kindly we were received. The dinner was very sumptuous, and the wine costly. We had claret, hock, champagne, and madeira, and all in great plenty; but no one took more than was proper. It is a good custom not to press people to take so much as does them harm. We dined at seven and left at twelve o'clock. Sanders and Ellis are magnificent fellows, and are very kind; Mrs. Sanders is a fine woman, and Mrs. Ellis very elegant. I believe she is niece to Sir James Graham, M.P.; I must say that we have been very kindly received by all parties. I am teased with invitations to dine with them, but each indulgence cannot be attended by me. What changes one sees this day in the highest life, and the next in a cottageone day turtle soup and champagne, and the next bread and milk, or anything that one can catch. Liverpool is a splendid place-some of the streets are equal to London. The merchants are clever chaps, and perseverance is stamped upon every brow. There is a Doctor Trail, a clever mineralogist, and some famous mathematicians that we have dined with. I was much satisfied to find that Robert could acquit himself so well amongst them.

He was much improved in expressing himself since I had seen him before; the poor fellow is in good spirits about going abroad, and I must make the best of it. It was singular goodfortune that brought us together at this time, but the weather is very bad; it has poured with rain for the last three days. Today I am going over part of the line, but have not been able to commence yet. Robert will endeavour to write to you before he sails, and desires his kindest remembrance.

God bless you, Sir!

Believe me to remain
Yours sincerely,

G. S.

As soon as his father had said farewell, Robert Stephenson, before he went on board, wrote a hasty line, full of filial tenderness, to his mother, explaining that he had directed Messrs. Herring, Graham, and Powles to pay £300 per annum, i. e. three-fifths of his salary, to his father. For several years after their establishment the works at Newcastle did not pay their George Stephenson's partners were far from sanguine as to their ultimate success, and George, confident as he was that they would prove a source of great wealth, was often pinched for ready money to meet his share of the capital required to feed them: Robert Stephenson knew this well, and did his utmost to meet the difficulty.

expenses.

On the evening of that same June 18, on which he took leave of his father, Robert Stephenson wrote in his log-book:

June 18, 1824. Set sail from Liverpool in the 'Sir William Congreve,' at three o'clock in the afternoon: wind from the south-east, sea smooth, day beautiful; temperature of the air towards evening in the shade, 58°. Made some experiments with Register Thermometer' to ascertain the temperature of the sea at various depths, but failed on account of the velocity

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77

of the vessel through the water not allowing the instrument to sink. The temperature of the surface water appeared to be 54° at seven o'clock in the evening - this ascertained by lifting a bucket of water on board and immediately immersing the thermometer. This was considered as sufficiently accurate, as the temperature could not sensibly change in the time occupied by the experiment.

Pursuing the system commenced on that first lovely evening at sea, Robert Stephenson jotted down in his log-book the mutations of temperature and light, and other natural phenomena, until on July 23, 1824, he records :

Early in the morning saw the Colombian coast, and at two o'clock cast anchor opposite La Guayra; observed with silence the miserable appearance of the town. The hills behind the town rise to a height that gives a degree of sublimity to the scenery in the eyes of a stranger.

The voyage was at an end.

CHAPTER VI.

Ꮮ

SOUTH AMERICA.

(ÆTAT. 20-24.)

La Guayra-Caraccas - Proposed Breakwater and Pier at La Guayra- Survey for Railroad between La Guayra and Caraccas Santa Fé de Bogota-Mariquita-Life on the Magdalena- Explores the Country Road between the Magdalena and the Mines - Santa Ana-Descriptions of Scenery - Arrival of the Cornish Miners — Insubordination of Miners-Friends, Pursuits, and Studies- Inclination and Duty - Disappointment of the Directors - Their Secretary.

ANDING in La Guayra on July 23, 1824, Robert

Stephenson had to direct his attention to three important affairs and report thereon to Messrs. Herring, Graham, and Powles-the propriety of constructing a breakwater before the harbour of La Guayra, the cost and policy of building a pier for the same port, and the possibility of uniting La Guayra and Caraccas by a line of railway.

His reports on these three propositions were full and decisive. Having ascertained the characteristics of the harbour, the nature and declivity of the bottom of the shore, and the direction and force of the seas at different seasons, he pronounced that the construction of the breakwater would be a dangerous experiment.

A correct idea of the seas (he wrote) sometimes experienced in this port cannot well be conveyed by description.

One