3-017-181 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The International Naval Festival at Cherbourg: illumination of the French ironclad Magenta - from a sketch by our special artist, 1865. 'The illumination of the fleets...was a spectacle of singular beauty. It began about nine o'clock, at which time a very considerable crowd had assembled...The Magenta commenced the display by exhibiting two powerful electric lights, by the aid of which, though at the distance of about two miles, it was possible to read a newspaper. Occasionally the cone of light proceeding from each of these luminous points was made to sweep across the wide expanse of water, and light up with intense brilliancy and in rapid succession spots separated by considerable distances. At times also it was concentrated upon the sides of particular vessels, and immediately their hulls, masts, and spars were brought into luminous relief against the dark sky in the background. Very shortly after this light had ceased the illumination of the fleets commenced. As if by magic, the masts spars, rigging, and hull of a ship - all her contour, in fact - were traced out brightly in lines of vivid light, changing their colours from red to green, blue, and violet...The beautiful exhibition lasted about an hour'. From "Illustrated London News", 1865.