From River to Sea 45 



ship, if I may coin a term for so describing 

 these hybrid vessels. 



David Napier had noticed what very 

 heavy weather the old blunt-nosed sailing 

 vessel made of it. If to-day you compare 

 the bows of the ordinary canal boat and 

 the smart little steam launch you will be 

 able to realise in what the revolution 

 consisted. The ship before Napier made 

 his experiments had the canal-boat nose 

 afterwards the steamer's hull became 

 similar to that of the present-day steam 

 launch. 



Not only was Napier's idea copied for 

 most of the coming generation of steam- 

 ships or steam-sailing-ships but also for 

 the fastest wind-jammers. 



Without in the least intending it, Napier 

 gave us the famous clipper type of ship, 

 which for many years until the opening 

 of the Suez Canal, in fact was a serious 

 rival of the young steam-driven vessel. 



The name clipper is said to have been 

 given to this type of stem because it 



