as far as Southend Pier, which is the last
agency.  In Ireland the same division is
observed—the duties however are there
discharged by twenty-four agents.

It becomes the duty of all these four
hundred and forty-three agents, at home and
abroad, to ascertain the particulars of every
casualty of any kind occurring within their
respective agencies to ships or cargoes, and
to report the same with the least possible
delay to the secretary of Lloyd's.  The necessity
which exists for such early and authentic
intelligence will be apparent, when it is
remembered that both ships and goods are
frequently insured long after their departure
from the country, and in the event of a vessel
not having been heard of at the expected
period, insurances effected upon her are often
increased, of course at a much higher rate
in proportion to the supposed risk of the
transaction.

The home establishment consists of a suite
of rooms set apart for the use of the Committee
and officers; and another range of apartments
appropriated to the various subscribers to
Lloyd's, in the Royal Exchange.  There are, of
course, a secretary's room, clerks', and waiting
rooms, committee and record rooms, as well as
an admirably arranged lavatory.  The public
apartments consist of five rooms.  The largest
of them is the underwriting room, where the
underwriters and brokers transact the
multifarious business connected with marine
insurances.  It is a busy scene towards the
afternoon, when persons willing to take risks of
insurance deal, through the medium of brokers,
with those who have ships or cargoes to insure.
It is quite impossible to form any accurate
estimate of the value of property, of all kinds,
insured through the year by means of
underwriting at Lloyd's: it may be sufficient to
observe, however, that by far the greater
portion of British shipping and goods
imported into and exported from this country,
as well as into and from many foreign
countries, are here insured.  The insurances
of America, France, Germany, Spain, and
indeed of all other trading nations, are
principally effected through the instrumentality
of this one body.  No other country possesses
such an institution.  There is, indeed, the
"Austrian Lloyd's," but much less important
in nature and extent than ours.

It may be readily imagined that with
agencies spread over the four quarters of the
globe, with mails constantly arriving from
beyond sea, the amount of correspondence
involved in the getting together the shipping
news of the world, which Lloyd's List
really is, must be very considerable, and
oftentimes exceedingly heavy.  In the winter
and spring months the advices of casualties
multiply; and, on the arrival of an Indian or
American mail, the work is necessarily much
increased.  By special arrangements made
with the Post-Office, all letters and packets
addressed to Lloyd's are promptly delivered
to their messengers. Railways and steamboats
are not rapid enough for the news which has
to be transmitted from various parts of the
coast, relative to shipping.  The electric
telegraph is in daily use during stormy
weather; and a few hastily deciphered words
received at the telegraph branch, at one end
of the merchants' room, frequently chronicles
the loss of thousands of pounds to the busy
men around.

At half-past eight in the morning, the
opening of the first receipt of letters
commences.  By a well digested method the
clerk who opens them assorts them as to
locality, and others immediately begin the
work of copying the various names, dates,
and incidents.  So rapidly and systematically
is this done, that by ten o'clock—when men
of business are usually at their offices—a
perfect list of arrivals, &c., is made up and posted
in one of the public rooms.  Simultaneously
with this registering, the list is put into type
at Lloyd's printing-office below, and rough
copies printed on slips of paper, which, are
marked with the hour and minute when
issued; and these, which form the foundation
of the daily list published in the afternoon,
are dispatched to the several Assurance
Companies, as well as posted in the reading-room
at Lloyd's, so that any error in names, or
otherwise, may be seen and rectified before
the perfect and final list be published.
Inasmuch as mails arrive in London during all
hours of the day, a succession of these slips are
printed and issued until late in the afternoon.

Lloyd's Books, which are in fact
transcripts of these slips, are kept closely written
up as intelligence comes to hand.  They are
placed in conspicuous parts of the
underwriting room, and are of necessity highly
interesting to all persons connected with the
shipping interest. In former days every
item of intelligence was posted in these huge
volumes in the order in which they were
received, the accidents and disasters being
distinguished by having the words written in
large characters, or double lines, as they
were technically called.  Now, however,
that the business of this establishment has
so largely increased, it has been found
expedient to adopt something of classification, in
order to facilitate the researches of
underwriters and others through such a mass of
intelligence.  The lists, which also contain
the sailings and speakings at sea, are therefore
transcribed into the two distinct volumes:
the one, containing arrivals in all parts of
the world, is called the Arrivals' Book; the
other, recording losses and casualties, is
termed the Loss Book.

Towards the afternoon the various printed
slips, with any corrections that may be needed,
together with all electric despatches
received, are thrown together, and thus form
the daily publication known as Lloyd's
List.  Occasionally shipping news is
received by other parties, and communicated