ROC ( 760 ) ROC

carry into action, in any situation wheremusketry can act, 300 rounds, and 10frames, from each of which four roundsmay be fired in a minute. And of thesame description of case shot for theuse of cavalry, four horses will carryninety-six rounds and four frames, fromwhich may be fired sixteen rounds in aminute—each horse not having morethan the ordinary burthen of a dragoonhorse. Can any other species of am-munition give such powers and facili-ties ?

The carcass rockets were first usedat Boulogne in 1805, in consequence ofa demonstration of their powers madeat Woolwich by Mr. Congreve , in thepresence of Mr. Pitt, and several otherCabinet Ministers, in the month ofSeptember. Sir Sidney Smith was ap-pointed to command this expedition,but from the lateness of the season, itbeing the end of November, before thepreparations were completed, nothingwas done that year. In 1806, however,Mr. Congreve renewed his propositionfor the attack of Boulogne by rockets,and it was ordered, in consequence ofLord Moira, then master general of theordnance, and Lord Ilowick, then firstlord of the Admiralty, having attendedan experiment at Woowich, and havingsatisfied themselves by their own obser-vation of the powers of the weapon. Theattack was accordingly made under thecommand of Commodore Owen, latein October, 1806; having been put offduring the summer months in conse-quence of the negociation for peace atthat time pending. From this delay,however, instead of being carried onupon the great scale at first intended, itbecame a mere desultory attack, inwhich not more than 200 rockets werefired. The town, however, was set onfire by the first discharge, and continuedburning for nearly two days : it is alsobelieved that some of the shipping wereburnt, but the greater part of therockets certainly went over the basininto the town.

Since this period the rockets havebeen used in almost every expedition,and the importance of their effect in theever memorable battle of Leipzig is inthe recollection of all Europe . Theuse of this weapon is now extended tocavalry, as well as infantry and artillery.

The great general point of excellenceof the rocket system is the facility with

which all the natures of this weaponmay be conveyed and applied.

Its peculiar applicability to navalbombardment hinges on this property,that there is no re-action, no recoil inthe firing of the largest rockets; so thatby this means carcasses, equal to thoseprojected from the largest mortars, maybe thrown from the smallest boats. Andits peculiar fitness for land service, is,that it is a description of extremelypowerful ammunition without ordnance,so that the burthen of mortars and gunsis dispensed with, and all that is to becarried is actual available missile matter,capable of the range, and of many of themost important effects, of the heaviestartillery.

There has been much misapprehensionas to the expense of the rocket system;and it is therefore proper to explain,that, in fact, it is the cheapest of allammunition depending on the projectileforce of gunpowder; for the proof ofwhich it will be only necessary brieflyto state, that the 32-pr. carcass rocketcosts only 1 l. 11s. 0 \d. complete inevery respect for service; whereas itsequivalent, the 10-inch spherical car-cass, with the charge of powder neces-sary to convey it 3000 yards, whichpower is contained in the rocket, costs1 1. 2s. Id. independent of any chargefor the mortar, mortar bed, platforms,difference of transport, tkc. &c. attach-ing to the spherical carcass and not tothe rocket, which actually requires noapparatus whatever to use it in a bom-bardment, and has therefore no chargeattaching to it, beyond the first cost,but that of transport; and a vessel of300 tons will carry 5000 of them atleast. We have indeed seen a calcula-tion, by which it appears, that in every10-inch carcass, so thrown, there is anactual saving of Si. In fact, when ourprevious observation is carried in mind,that “ the rocket system is a system ofammunition without ordnance,” it cannotfail to strike every one reading the abovestatement, that, in all its applications,the rocket must be the cheapest possi-ble arm.

Rocket Light Ball, also invented byMr. Congreve , is a species of light ballthrown into the air by means of one ofhis rockets, where having reached thesummit of the rocket’s ascent, it isdetached from it by an explosion, andremains suspended in the air by a small