_Great Marlow, Bucks_. M.L.B.
* * * * *
THE GATHERER.
_Congreve Rockets_.--When the Congreve rockets were first introduced into
the navy, the admiral on the Brazil station proposed to exhibit to the
king, Don Juan VI., the effect of these formidable projectiles. His
majesty consented, and the whole court were accordingly assembled in the
balconies of the palace, at the Rio, for the purpose of witnessing the
spectacle. By some mishap, of very frequent occurrence in the early
history of these missiles, at the moment of firing the tube veered round,
and the rocket, instead of flying over to Praia Grande, took the opposite
direction, and fell and exploded in the great square, almost beneath the
windows of the palace. The consternation of the king was only equalled by
the mortification of the admiral, who immediately despatched an officer on
shore to explain the cause of the _contretemps_ to his majesty; and
offering to let off another, but the terrified monarch would not hear of
it.
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