IN consequence of more than one of the lifeboats of the NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTI- TUTION having upset and broken adrift when in tow, through being to«red without any one on board to steer them, the following Instructions have been prepared and for- warded to the life-boat stations in connection with the Institution, for the guidance of the several local committees and coxswains in charge of the Society's boats:— 1. On no account is any life-boat belong- ing to the NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION- to be towed, either by a steamer or sailing-vessel, without her crew being in her, or at least a sufficient number of men to manage her, in the event of her breaking adrift, or having to cast off" from the towingvessel.

2. A life-boat may be towed by either one or two tow-ropes. If the former be adopted, it is recommended to tow with a long scope, from forty to sixty fathoms, the tow-rope being rove through a fair-leader or lizard at the stem-head, and secured to a bollard shipped in the trunk or tabernacle of the foremast.

If towed with two ropes, one from each quarter of the towing-steamer, they should not be taken to the stem of the boat, but be made fast, one to each bow, for which purpose some life-boats are fitted with a bollard on each bow. In either case the crew should be seated well aft in the boat to weight her by the stern, excepting one man forward with a small hatchet by him, ready to cut the tow-rope in a moment if it should become necessary.

The Liverpool life-boats, which are very frequently taken in tow, always use a single tow-rope, and in a heavy sea tow with a long rope, sometimes as much as sixty fathoms.

They are always towed with their crews on board who well aft to weight them at the stern. When towed by a paddle-steamer, they usually sheer off and tow well on the quarter, so as to out of the wash of the paddle wheels.

3. A life-boat will always be found to tow better against a heavy head-sea than as there will be a more state that, in a long, heavy sea, they consider a boat more safe in tow than under sail, but in a short sea with irregular break, as at the meeting of currents or on the edge of banks, the contrary. before a running one. The Liverpool coxswains in reply to queries put to them on the subject by the Marine Surveyor to the Mersey Dock Board state that, in a long, heavy sea, they consider a boat more safe in tow than under sail, but in a short sea with irregular break, as at the meeting of currents or on the edge of banks, the contrary. They also consider it safer to tow against a heavy sea than before a running one.

4. The masts, oars, and other gear of a life-boat should be always lashed when in tow, but in such a manner that they can be quickly released when necessary.