SAILING CRAFT 81 



over the decline went on at an ever-increasing 

 rate. In 1875 Canada built nearly 500 vessels, 

 and, if small craft are included, the tonnage 

 must have nearly reached 200,000. In 1900 

 she built 29 vessels, of 7751 tons — steam, 

 steel, wood, and sail. Shipowning does not 

 show such a dramatic contrast, but the de- 

 cline has been very marked. Within twenty- 

 two years, from 1878 to 1900, the Canadian 

 registered tonnage was almost exactly halved. 

 The drop was from a grand total, sail and 

 steam together, of a million and a third, which 

 then made Canada the fourth shipowning 

 country in the world and put her ahead of 

 many nations with more than ten times her 

 population. 



A. A. 



