[90] The gipsies have three villages containing 900 families. The establishment of these colonies was not effected without difficulty, and it required all the severity of a military administration to make them sow their grounds.
[91] Since our departure, the Russian government seems disposed to interest itself on behalf of Bessarabia. We are informed that it is at present turning its attention to the navigation of the Dniestr, a matter of the more importance since the Dniestr washes Bessarabia throughout its whole length, and there is not yet in that province any means of communication practicable at all seasons.
NOTE.
To complete our author's account of Sevastopol, we subjoin an abstract of a paper by Mr. Shears, C.E., which was read at the meeting of the Institution of Civil Engineers, January 12, 1847.
"Sevastopol is very peculiarly situated, amidst rocky ground, rising so abruptly from the shore, that there was not space for the buildings necessary for a dockyard. On account of the depth of water close in shore, and other natural advantages, the emperor determined to make it the site of an extensive establishment, and as there is not any rise of tide in the Black Sea, and the construction of cofferdams would have been very expensive and difficult in such a rocky position, it was decided to build three locks, each having a rise of ten feet, and at this level of thirty feet above the sea to place a main dock with lateral docks, into which vessels of war could be introduced, and the gates being closed, the water could be discharged by subterranean conducts to the sea, and the vessel, being left dry, could be examined and repaired, even beneath the keel. A stream was conducted from a distance of twelve miles to supply the locks, and to keep the docks full; this, however, has been found insufficient, and a pumping-engine has since been erected by Messrs. Maudsley and Field, for assisting.
"The original intention was to have made the gates for the docks of timber, but on account of the ravages of a worm, which it appears does not, as in the case of the Teredo navalis or the Tenebranes, confine itself to the salt water, it was resolved to make them with cast iron frames covered with wrought iron plates.
"There are nine pairs of gates, whose openings vary from 64 feet in width and 34 feet 4 inches in height for ships of 120 guns, to 46 feet 7 inches in width, and 21 feet in height, for frigates.
"The manipulation of such masses of metal as composed these gates demanded peculiar machines; accordingly, Messrs. Rennie fitted up a building expressly, with machines constructed by Mr. Whitworth, by which all the bearing surfaces could be planed, and the holes bored in the ribs, and all the other parts, whether their surfaces were curved or plane. The planing was effected by tools which travelled over the surface, backward and forward, cutting each way; the piece of metal being either held in blocks, if the surface was plane, or turned on centres, if the surface was curved. The drilling was performed by machines, so fixed, that the pieces could be brought beneath or against the drills, in the required direction, and guided so as to insure perfect uniformity and accordance between them.