BUILDING THE YACHT. 23 



was laid, and neatly finished off round the edges with a 

 bulwark of rope stretched on iron uprights. On this was 

 erected a cabin three feet six inches in height, nine feet long 

 and seven feet wide. This was fitted with a door at the aft 

 end, and a row of little windows along each side. Inside 

 were two low broad seats, which were also intended to serve as 

 beds when occasion should require. 



Each pontoon was fitted with a rudder and a helm, and 

 these were connected by a cross-piece of wood, so that both 

 rudders were worked at once. On this cross-piece were two 

 iron loops, that the steersman, holding on by them, might 

 have greater power over the helm. Each pontoon had a 

 strong keel about two inches deep to protect its bottom from 

 injury. Such a keel was not sufficient to enable the boat to 

 sail to windward, so two drop-keels or centre-boards were 

 added, each about seven feet long and two feet six inches deep. 

 These were fixed in a line along the centre two-thirds of the 

 boat, and worked on strong pivots at their foremost corners, 

 so that by means of chains attached to their aft corners and 

 passing through holes in the deck they could be let down to 

 any required depth, or hauled up in the space between the 

 pontoons. 



These were intended to give the yacht a greater hold on the 

 water when beating to windward. The main-mast was stepped 

 close to the bows. Its lower part was weighted with lead and 

 iron, and was so arranged that if it were requisite to pass 

 under low bridges, the mast could be lowered and raised with 

 great facility, working on a fulcrum three feet six inches from 

 the deck. There was no bowsprit, but the fore-stay was made 

 fast to the cross-piece connecting the bows. The mizen- 

 mast was attached to a cross-piece at the stern, and the mizen- 

 sail was worked by a sheet rove through a block at the end of a 

 fixed boom. The main-sail was a lug-sail with a large boom, 

 and did not require to be dipped every time a tack was made. 



The above is a description of the yacht when completed, 

 but it must not be supposed that it was made straight orf with 

 no labour. On the contrary, it took an immensity of time and 

 labour before it was completed. The three boys worked at it 

 manfully, Frank taking the lead and doing the major portion 

 of the work. Indeed, they would have given it up many times 

 had it not been for his pluck and determination. Unforeseen 



