a small propeller of brass, which is towed astern, and records its own revolutions on dials. But, to enable one to use the common log-line and glass, the following description is written: The halfminute glass is of the same form as an hour-glass, and contains such a quantity of sand as will run through its neck in twenty-eight seconds of time; or a watch with a second-hand may be used, if the glass is not handy. The log is a piece of thin board of a quadrantal form, about the size and shape of a quarter-section of the bottom of a common water-pail, loaded on the circular side with enough lead to make it swim upright in the water. To this is fastened a line, about one hundred and fifty fathoms in length, called the log-line, which is divided into intervals called knots, and is wound on a reel which turns very easily.

To ascertain the velocity at which the yacht is sailing is called heaving the log, and is performed as follows: one person holds the reel, and another the half-minute glass, whilst a third throws the log over the stern on the lee side; and, when he observes that the stray line has run off (which is about ten fathoms), and the first mark (which is generally a red rag) has passed the stern, he sings out, Turn the glass-holder answers, Turn, and, watching the glass, the moment it has run out, sings out, Stop. The reel being immediately stopped, the last mark run off shows the number of knots that

the yacht has sailed during the last hour, if the wind has been constant.

The log-line is marked as follows: allow ten fathoms for stray line, and then insert a red rag, and at every 47.6 feet mark the line as follows: at one, one leather; at two, two knots; at three, three knots; and also have a small mark at each halfknot, and so on to ten and twelve knots.

The principle of the log-line is, that a knot is the same part of a sea-mile that half a minute is of an hour therefore the length of a knot should be one hundred and twentieth the length of a seamile, or fifty-one feet; but, as it is more convenient to have the knot divided into eight parts of six feet each, the proportional reduction is necessary in the half-minute glass.

BUOYS.

In entering harbors, the red buoys are to be left upon the starboard hand, and the black buoys upon the port hand.

MAN OVERBOARD.

Throw overboard at once any light object that will float, such as a stool, oar, boat-hook, or lifepreserver, for him to grasp; then bring the yacht at once to the wind and heave her to, and pick up the man with the tender, or by going about and standing for him. Don't look out astern for the man where he disappeared, but out on the beam, which will be his position when the yacht is brought to the wind.

CHAPTER VII.

PRACTICAL HINTS ON BOAT-SAILING.

REMEMBER, in the first place, that no small boat fit to be called a sail-boat can capsize, unless the sail is confined by the sheet being made fast.

If the sail is loose, and the boom, or lower leach of the sail, as the case may be, can move in a direction parallel to the wind, or in the "wind's eye" as sailors would say, the boat cannot be upset by an ordinary gust of wind.

In other words, in all fore-and-aft sails, such as are used almost the world over for small sail-boats, the sheet, or rope that confines the after-part of the sail to the stern-part of the boat, is the key to the whole science of boat-sailing.

If one knows how to use the sheet properly, one knows how to sail a boat with comparative safety. Of course it is supposed that he should also understand flaws of wind and their effects.

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It is the flaws of wind caught by the sail than it can bear that capsize a boat; and, if the

wind that has force enough to do this could be "spilled" out of the sail, the boat would be immediately relieved.

Therefore to insure safety, the person steering a boat should never belay the sheet, but keep it in hand, so as to be able to slack it off gradually, or cast it off entirely at a moment's notice. To do this, only one turn should be taken round the cleat; so that the sheet will slip under the force of a gust of wind, when the hand retaining it in place slackens it in the slightest degree.

If the whole sail points towards the wind's eye, it no longer has any effect upon the boat. The sail then shakes in the wind exactly as a flag does from the top of a flag-staff, the wind passing by on both sides. Should the sheet be hauled aft, the sail would be filled with wind upon one side, and, if the wind had strength to overcome the gravity of the boat, capsize her.

Or, if the boat is so heavy ballasted that its gravity cannot be readily overcome, the mast or sail are liable to be carried away, and danger incurred on account of the towing mast and sail. These would most likely draw the boat into the trough of the sea, where she would be swamped almost instantly.

It does not follow, because the slacking of the sheet is a safe thing to do, that it should always be done. With boatmen who are thoroughly practised, it seldom is done; for they can obtain the

same result with the rudder by bringing the boat into the wind until the sail shakes, with the sheet still fast. This gives more control of the boat than would be the case if the boom were out to leeward, perhaps dragging in the water, on account of the pressure of the wind upon the hull and mast.

The very best thing to do in a sudden squall is to use a modification of both these methods; i.e., slack off the sheet for a foot or two, so that the sail, before it can fill with wind, will be at such an angle with the hull, that the shock upon the latter cannot be great. This gives one more command of the boat, and insures quicker movement of the hull, and hence quicker obedience to the helm, should a sudden change occur. This slacking of the sheet also prevents the boat from going about on the other tack, should she be brought too suddenly to the wind.

With an experienced hand at the helm, unless the squall is very severe, there is no need of luffing so as to shake the sail to any great degree. The slightest movement of the tiller will keep the sail just quivering in the wind, the boat still advancing, so that she will not lose steerage-way; thus enabling one to at once luff up nearer to the wind, or change the boat's position rapidly, should the wind, which is often the case, shift its direction suddenly.

Nothing is of more importance than to keep steerage-way on the boat, as it is only in the ut