higher degree than any other vessels that have ever been built.
The Melbourne, already mentioned, was perhaps the fastest ship ever built in Great Britain. In 1875, commanded by Captain Marsden, she made the passage from London to Melbourne in the not very remarkable time of 74 days, but when running her easting down in strong westerly gales she sailed 5100 miles in 17 days, an average of 300 miles a day, and her best twenty-four hours' run was 374 miles, an average of over 15½ knots. She was an iron vessel of 1865 tons register; length 269 feet, breadth 40 feet, depth 23 feet 7 inches, and while not an extreme clipper, was a finely designed ship.
It should be remembered that both the American and the British clippers were dependent upon the form of their lines for stability; this problem in their design was therefore a far more intricate and difficult one to deal with than that of producing stability by hanging a huge mass of lead below the body of a hull, as is the custom with our modern racing yachts.
Yachting is the grandest of sports when yachtsmen handle their yachts themselves, and there are a good number of yachtsman who are excellent seamen and navigators. It is pleasant to recall that in the race for the Emperor's Cup in 1905, four of the competing yachts were sailed and navigated by their owners; and although there is far too much wasteful extravagance and enervating luxury in yachting, still, the increasing number of yachtsmen who show a keen interest and are amateur experts in the design, construction, rigging, and sailing of
