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The loss of this boat turned my attention to the practicability of making aniron boat which could not be sunk by any ordinary means, and, having maturedmy ideas on the business? I sought the means of putting them to a practicalresult; and for that purpose, in the year 1817, I made an agreement with thebrother of Mr. Horton, the builder of my first boat, with the view of his settlingin Liverpool, as an iron ship and boat builder. A suitable yard was taken, and arent paid upon it for six months; but this project was frustrated by the death ofMr. Horton, by typhus fever, before he could remove to Liverpool. Thisdisappointment checked my efforts for a time ; but, determined not to let thesubject rest entirely, and believing my invention a valuable one and worth whilesecuring to myself, X lodged a Caveat in the Patent Office, in April, 1818, with aview of taking out a Patent, and thereupon proceeded to have a model constructedof a life-boat , to be built of iron, and which, from its peculiar form would possessto a great degree the property of righting itself, in case of being blown over bya squall of wind, and also of baling itself of any water it might ship fromthis or any other cause. This model, which, for convenience sake, was made ofcopper instead of iron, but which substitution of metal of course made no differencein displaying the principle of my invention, was exhibited in the Under-writers’Room at Liverpool, and its properties allowed to be tested in a tank of water inwhich it floated for that purpose.

The Caveat which I lodged in the Patent Office, I renewed several times ;but, circumstances not favouring my again attempting the building of iron boatsand ships for my own benefit, I at length sent my model boat to the same indi-vidual who had built my first boat, and from that model was constructed thesecond iron boat that ever floated on the salt sea, and which boat was a completelife-boat.

In September, 1822, I wrote a description of this life-boat, which was pub-lished in the Kaleidoscope , vol. iii., page 105, and a reprint of it was afterwardsgiven by Mr. Egerton Smith, in his publication, entitled Desultory Suggestionsfor Prevention from Shipwreck ; and as that description points out many of thesuperior properties of iron for the purpose of ship-building, which have since beenpractically proved to be true, although only yet, I believe, known to but veryfew, I beg leave to enclose you a copy.

The iron life-boat met with no better treatment than the first iron boat ; for,having been lost for a long time, it was at length discovered imbedded in sandat dead low water of a remarkably low spring tide. The cause of its so lyingbeing manifestly occasioned by some holes drilled into her chambers by someunknown hands. But this boat, having been found again, and not otherwisematerially injured, was repaired and sold for use in the West Indies, where, nodoubt, it is still doing good service to its owner.

I am, dear Sir,

Yours very truly,

John Grantham , Esq., Liverpool. THOS. JEYONS.

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