26 Book of Steamships 



great difficulty in the way of its extension 

 as the force brought to bear was the 

 sum of several pairs of hands. Originally, 

 two or three men would be placed at a 

 cranked handle and this they would turn, 

 but in later vessels of the paddle-wheel 

 type a capstan was used. Here, again, 

 the number of men who could be em- 

 ployed was limited, therefore the size of 

 the ship was limited. 



An interesting survival of the cranked 

 handle-propulsion may be seen at some 

 seaside resorts. At Ryde, in the Isle of 

 Wight, there is a canoe lake on the sea 

 front, and one of its chief attractions for 

 the younger generation are the numerous 

 hand-driven paddle-wheel canoes. These 

 develop a really surprising speed in 

 capable hands, and canoe races are quite 

 the fashion. That is a link with the past 

 and the pre-steamship days which may 

 last some time. 



Four years after the experiments made 

 by the French marquis, a Scottish banker 



