90 ALL AFLOAT 



the rudder, and many other essentials. Finally, 

 there is all that is needed in every well-found 

 vessel which is 'fit to go foreign.' No vessel 

 would go far unless its under-water parts were 

 either sheathed, tarred, or tallowed; for sea- 

 worms burrow alarmingly, and ' whiskers ' 

 grow like the obnoxious weeds they are. These 

 particulars, of course, leave many important 

 gaps in the process. 



Then the hull has to be transferred from 

 the inclined plane of block piles, on which 

 it was built, to a cradle, on which it moves 

 down the sliding-ways into the water. 



When everything is ready, the christening 

 of the ship takes place. A bottle of wine 

 is broken against her bows and her name is 

 pronounced by some distinguished person in 

 a formula which varies more or less, but which 

 is generally some version of the good old 

 English benediction : * God bless the Dread- 

 nought and all who sail in her.' No matter 

 what the name may be, the ship herself is 

 always ' she.' Many ingenious and mistaken 

 explanations have been given of this supposedly 

 female ' she.' The schoolboy ' howler ' on the 

 subject is well known : ' All ships are " she " 

 except mail boats and men-of-war.' Had this 

 schoolboy known a very little more he might 



