THE award of the prize of £600 and a gold medal made by her Majesty's Commis- sioners of the INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES EXHIBITION to the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE- BOAT INSTITUTION for the " best full-sized Life-Boat, fully equipped, and on a car- riage, adapted to aid stranded or wrecked vessels from the shore, in gales of wind, and through heavy broken seas and surf," must have been very gratifying to all interested in and connected with the Society, whether as contributors to its maintenance, or as more actively engaged in the management of its affairs since the self-righting boat was established thirty- two years ago. It should go far to satisfy the first named, that the funds they have entrusted to the governing body have been well and ably administered, if the result is, to find that the description of boat considered by it to be the' best and most efficient, is able to carry off, in open competition, a prize large enough to have remunerated any competitor who could have produced a better. To all who have taken any part in the government of the Institution, or are now doing so, it must be equally satisfactory to find the boat they have hitherto adhered to, and which they still hold to be " all round " the most efficient and best adapted engine for the work required of it, holding the proud position of winner in such a race.

It would be unreasonable to expect that this result will change the opinions of all the opponents to the self-righting boat, because, although " facts are stubborn things," they are not all-powerful.

During the Exhibition we heard many criticisms and statements respecting the Institution's boat, which would have been amusing, had they not been calculated to do mischief, by shaking the con- fidence of the uninitiated in its value, and consequently by weakening the Insti- tution in the public estimation, crippling its usefulness. One stated to us that "hundreds of them capsized"; another, "Do you call that a Life-boat? It has been the curse of the country that it was ever invented." We were also told, in all seriousness and good faith, that our boats could not pull against wind and sea, and we fear that the old fallacy that because a boat will self-right if upset, she must be equally liable to capsize, is not entirely exploded, our boat still being absurdly called in some parts the " roly-poly." The Committee appointed in 1850. to examine into and report upon the models sent in to compete for the Duke of Northumberland's prize for the best Life boat, was composed of able and experienced naval officers and naval architects, who formulated for their own guidance the following table of qualities requisite for a good Life-boat.

1. Qualities as a rowing boat in all weathers.

2. Qualities as a sailing boat.

3. Qualities as a sea boat—stability, safety, buoyancy forward for launching through a surf.

4. Small internal capacity for water up to the level of the thwarts.

5. Means of freeing the boat of water readily.

6. Extra buoyancy, its nature, amount, distribution, and mode of application.

7. Power of self-righting.

8. Suitableness for beaching.

9. Koom for, and power to carry pas- sengers.

10. Moderate weight for transport along shore.

11. Protection from injury to the bottom.

12. Ballast, as iron, water, or cork.

13. Access to stem and stern.

14. Timberheads for securing ropes to.

15. Fenders, life-lines, etc.

We think this list will recommend itself to any impartial mind, as a moderate and correct general description of the requirements needed to constitute a good Life-boat. It will be obvious to all sailors that the conditions necessary for procuring the greatest amount of some of these qualities, are directly opposed to others of equal importance, and- that therefore the outcome, to be of real value, must be a judicious combination of, or rather com- promise with, all in their several degrees of importance.

Of course there are modifications to this; for instance, the largest sized boats, such as those at Ramsgate, Deal, Walmer, Harwich, etc., are too large to be propelled by oars in a seaway, therefore the con- sideration of the first quality loses its great importance, but the eighth quality is equal, if not greater, because some are launched from a beach, and those kept afloat frequently strike the ground, some- times in the trough of a sea, when crossing a shoal, and must therefore be of light draught of water, and have a flat floor.

Again, No. 3, " Buoyancy forward for launching through a surf," as well as No. 7, "Power of self-righting," are directly opposed to No. 13, "Access to stem and stern." We could, if necessary, enumerate other differences.

To bring these different qualities into harmony with each other has been, so to speak, the office of the self-righting Life- boat, and we think the success which has attended its efforts, can best be demon- strated by showing what it has done, and what are the opinions of those who have worked it, as to its suitableness for its task.

The first self-righting boat was placed on the coast in 1852, and there are now two hundred and fifty-six of them at various stations, belonging to the Institu- tion. Between their first establishment and the 15th of last June, they have been launched for service no less than 4,405 times, and have saved 11,716 lives. In doing this only 36 boats, manned by 447 men, and having on board 35 men rescued from wrecks, have been capsized, out of which 49 of the boats' crews, and 12 of the wrecked men have been drowned.

These losses have been confined, however, to 16 of the capsizes, no casualties having occurred in the 20 other cases. The accidents have mostly befallen the smaller classes of Life-boats, none having occurred in connection with the three largest classes. Considering the nature of the seas, and the other risks to be encountered in these services, we maintain that this loss is wonderfully small, and speaks volumes, not only for the qualities of the boats, but also for those of the crews who man them; added to which the fact of no casualty having attended more than half the capsizes, is a very strong argu- ment in favour of the self-righting prin- ciple, showing as it does, that when an accident occurs, the boat's righting again immediately, provides a powerful means of rescue to their crews. It must also be remembered, that in addition to the 20 cases in which no one was lost, in 6 cases the number of the boats' crews lost was only one; in 2 cases two; in 3 cases three; in 2 cases four; in 1 case five; in 1 case six; and in 1 case eleven. On one occasion there were twenty-nine men in the boat, including the boat's crew, tb rescued men, and two women, who were both saved, the proportions of the los being four of the boat's crew, and seven wrecked men. From this it will be seen that in nearly all the 36 cases o: boats capsizing on service, a very large majority of the men on board regained them, and in only one instance has the number lost exceeded one half of those in the boat.

One of the questions on the Wreck Service Return is, How did the boat behave? Taking the replies from one year's returns respecting the self-righting boats, we find they are all satisfactory, being worded, "splendidly," "most ad- mirably," "excellently," "exceedingly well," " very well," and " well." The Institution having, in deference to local feeling, retained at certain stations non-self-righting boats, of more than one type, we think too close a comparison between them and the self-righting boats would be in bad taste, and certainly not gratifying to the men who work the former, and vie with their comrades in the self-righting boats, in the performance of gallant and arduous services in saving life; but we must remind the opponents of the self-righting boats who, although comparatively small. in number, are very persistent, and we believe are very fond of quoting the qualities of the non-righting boats against them, that equally good services are performed by the self-righting boats of the same dimensions, with equal success and immunity from casualty, both belonging principally to the large sailing class, whilst the accidents have occurred to the smaller pulling-boats, of which there are very few indeed not self-righting.

It would be Utopian to expect that such a work as that done by the boats of this Institution, could be carried on with perfect immunity from accident, some- times entailing a sacrifice of life, but we think it cannot be considered excessive, since in thirty-two years only one self- righting boat in every ono hundred and twenty-two launched for service, always in weather more or less bad and when lives were in danger, has been capsized, as well as that, taking an average of ten men to a boat (which we consider fair) only one life in nine hundred of those manning the boats has been lost, whereas eleven thousand seven hundred and six- teen have been saved, during the same period.

We frequently hear of an uncapsizeoble loaf, but this, possessing the form in- dispensable for Life-boat wort, we un- hesitatingly say has never yet been built, or, we believe, invented. It is true this most desirable quality—we had almost said perfection—has been nearly attained in some of the modern racing-yachts, whose stability goes on increasing until they are nearly, if not quite, on their " beam ends," but doing so entails a model quite unsuitable for a Life-boat.

The assertion that the self-righting boat cannot pull against wind and sea, taken in its literal sense, is not correct. The records, without close scrutiny, show saf- ficient indisputable cases of this having been done, to satisfy any reasonable inquiry, and when it is remembered that considerably more than half the services of the smaller class or pulling-boats are always performed under oars, it is only reasonable to suppose that a close scrutiny and inquiry would find many more in- stances. This would necessitate the spend- ing of more time than the result would justify, but, in proof of our assertion that such is the fact, we could produce date and details of more than one such un- deniable case within the last few years, and only refrain from doing so through the fear of bringing into prominent notice some gallant services, to the injury of the feelings of other crews, who have equally distinguished themselves. At the same ime, we do not pretend that these boats can overcome every combination of the lements, nor do we deny that sometimes heir efforts to reach a wreck may be foiled, and they driven back by force of wind and sea; but it is very seldom this occurs, for the failures to succeed in launching 1 and in reaching wrecks do not amount to two per cent.

With such results before them, some people might be inclined to think further advance or improvement very improbable, and not much to be desired, but this is not the case, for although happily the verdict of the jury has been given in favour of the Institution, and shows her position to be what it should, it is quite alive to the necessity for advancement, and has, since the Exhibition closed, made several im- portant additions to the efficiency of its boats, tending to render, if possible, more undeserved than ever the soubriquet of " roly-poly" before referred to, and at this moment the Committee have under consideration a proposal which will, if its adoption proves practicable, still more tend to increase the efficiency of the Life- i boats.