FOREST AND STREAM. 



323 



lie found himself and yacht out-sailed by our whole fleet in rota- 

 tion, What web the consequence ? When he returned ho brought 

 the J.ivonio. Was shea cutter? No, nil who ever saw her 

 would not hesitate a moment in pronouncing her an American 

 type of vessel of the usual characteristics— largo hulk arid email 

 displacement." Tho italics are my own. "Corinthian" hat) 

 scored against himself in his anxiety to BBore against tho cutter. 

 Cambria— as I mnBt Bay he ought to know, was never a cutter, 

 hut always a schooner— U a schooner now, and was one when she 

 raced in New York. Liconia, again, waa a compromise between 

 the American and English types of a schooner-yacht, and though 

 fast, as he says, wa3 by no means at the top of the tree in England 

 any more than Cambria had been. Sappho and America were 

 the best of their class on this side— tho Ashbury yachts were not 

 in the same position with regard to their rivals in England. 

 I would like to seo the recent English schooner-yachts, sneh as 

 Oeionia, Sea Belle, or Miranda, racing with our crack American 

 sohoonera of equaltonnago. I think " Corinthian" would open 

 his eyes then. I wonder, too, the match between Vision and 

 Oraciedid not strike him as containing valuable lessons as to rig. 

 But of this more anon. I shall return to the subject in some of 

 your future issues. Meantime, Ih'e mora discussion we have on 

 these points thebalter for our grand sport. Winter is the time to 

 write, and Fobebt and Stbkam, the American yachtsman's organ, 

 the paper to writo to. RocaE-Caorx. 



CORINTHIAN CRUISERS. 



San Fbancisco, Cal., Nov. 4, 1878. 

 Emtob Fobest and Steeaji : 



As I sat myself down this evening in my old leather easy chair, 

 with a fresh oharge in tho brown old meerschaum, and unfolded 

 tho last number of the Foiiest amd Stream, Ifelt "at peace with 

 all the world and the rest of mankind." Turning first to the 

 Yachting columD, as is my wont, the letter of "Corinthian'' on 

 " C.jriuthian Crnisers" met my eye, and to its perusal I gave 

 "marked attention," and saw in tho art ialo some very sensible 

 ideas. Then followed your ooraments. I couldn't stand it, and 

 have hung up old ''brown;" and opening my desk, have just 

 dipped my lance (pen) in rest (inkstand) to come to the rescue. 



Let me premise my arguments by stating that, combined with 

 a very decided weakness for guns, dogs and rods, last but by no 

 means least ia my fondness for boats, yachts and yachting. 

 Claiming to be a Corinthian in the fullest sense, with thirty years' 

 constant practice and experience in all sorts of boats, in all sorts 

 of waters, in all sorts of yachts, from the 20ft. oat-boat to craft of 

 100 tons, it may not be egotistical to claim some familiarity with 

 the question. 



Beginning with a review of "Corinthian's" suggestions, I will 

 Bay that in the main I agree with him, but am somewhat amused 

 at the evident timidity with which ho approaches the question of 

 beam. He saya be would give a boat of 30ft. keel 12 or 13 ft. 

 breadth. Don't be afraid, my boy, nor dread ridicule. Give her 

 13>^ft. — not an inch less. And you are sound also on the question 

 of depth ; give her not loss than 4>£ft., and you will never regret 

 it ; for if there is any one craft to be despised it ia a shallow boat 

 —a tea sauoer— with your lee deck under water whenever you have 

 a wholesale breeze. 



With ISJft. beam and 4Jft. depth you will have an able, staunch 

 and comfortable boat, that will stand up and cany sail when the 

 abominable English cutter is dragging her lee rigging in the water, 

 and her deck presents the angle of a Bteep barn roor, capsizing 

 everything below dock, and playing grand smash with the crockery. 

 Give her a long floor and breadth, for of floor therein you get 

 Bpeed; not over 6in. deadrise, and carry the beariDgs well out: 

 Bhurp knuckle, so aa to gain every inch possible of bearings— 

 don't fear she will be ugly, it don't show, being under water — gives 

 you width of cabin and berths, and makes her a tiff and able. 

 Don't out your onda away ; let your bearings run well aft ; it adds 

 materially to her stiffness, hol.ls her up, and makes her buoyant 

 in a sea-way. Don't mind when people tell you she will thrash. 

 She won't ; nor will it make her stoer badly. And while on that 

 Bubject, don't cut your deadwootl off too short. Let it run well 

 aft, for it insures steadiness, and takes tho strain from your 

 rudder, Now you have a good, buoyant bottom with a long floor, 

 which means speed as well. And don't be humbugged by those 

 Who will tell you a broad boat can't sail ; breadth of beam is not 

 detrimental to speed, malgre tho accepted opinion. 



The next point is yonr centreboard. Your ideas are oorreot as 

 to leDgth. It ia also unnecessary to build it high ; SJ^ft. from 

 keel is quite sufficient. Put a water-tight cap on the top lOin. wide, 

 and a coaming each side, liu. high, to keep your lamp and dishes 

 from sliding off when oarryiug a preBB of canvaa ; and attach 

 swinging table-leavea each side of your centreboard case, with 

 brackets to awing out to support them when in use, If you want 

 your boat to ateer like au arrow, add a small centreboard aft by 

 building your deadwood up to the cockpit floor, with a slat for tho 

 board, Builders will tell you this cannot be done ; that it weakena 

 your boat, because it cuts off your floor timbora that should run 

 serosa. Boab ! It oan bo done. The floor timbers that run 

 aoroaa forward between the forward centreboard and tho after one 

 are quite sufficient for strength ; and again, abaft the after board 

 there ia ample chance to strengthen. The after board ia worked 

 by an iron stiff rod, with an eye in tho board, which permits of its 

 lying flat in the groove in the cockpit floor. Now, you have the 

 option of using it or not. It ia good on the wind, and when Tun- 

 ing free. Shovo it down, and you need acatcoly touch tho tiller. 

 Your boat will not yaw nor broach to, and all the usual strain and 

 pressure on tho rudder is relieved. I do not claim the after board 

 aa original with myaolf, but experience in ita use I do claim, and 

 if I was to build fifty boats would never omit it. It is no experi- 

 ment, but the experience of e, dozen years' Btanding. 



Now as to rig. The sloop rig has unquestionably the advantage 

 in Bpeed, aB it has been demonstrated over and over agtiin that 

 themore canvaB yon get in or e sail, the more speed ; but it also 

 involves labor, and as comfort and an absence of crew is the desid- 

 eratum, it is sensible to make a little concession to that object, 

 i. e., cruising light-banded. There remains, then, the choice of 

 two Jigs— that of the schooner, and the yawl or dandy— the latter 

 originally English, but if modified in some particulars, ia handy, 

 and posse«a6s the merit of rendering reefing unnecessary. Let 

 your jib be in one piece— not according to the English idea, with 



one coming down to tho heel of the bowsprit, which (ben becomes 

 a staysail ; but give her a good sized jib, and. the usual length of 

 bowsprit ; get your mainmast well forward ; then place a second 

 mast abaft the cockpit, with considerable rake (2in. to tho foot 

 at least). Ban out astern a bumpkin, or short bowswrit— or atern- 

 eprit, more properly— a good stout spar, properly secured inboard, 

 requires no guy or bobstay to support it. On this driver-mast 

 put a leg-of-muiton or Bermudian sail about one-fourth smaller 

 than your jib, with a boom, a block on the end of the bumpkin 

 through which your sheet reeves, and comes inboard to a cleat at 

 the foot of the mast, and easily reached from the cockpit. Tho 

 boom of your mainsail should just clear your driver-aiast. The 

 sail on the driver-mast baa a short jack-yard or piece of wood 

 eimilartothe "sliding gunter," a block on same through which 

 your halliards are rove, the standing part made fast to the becket 

 in your topmast single block, by which means you can carry up the 

 peak of your sail nearly as high aa the truck of your topmast, in 

 place of an unnecessarily tall must. 



The sail being shaped precisely like yonr jib— i. e., leg-of-mutton 

 — the advantages of tho rig oan only be appreciated by actual use. 

 When the breeze admitB, you can carry all sail. When it cornea 

 on too heavy, lower your mainsail, and run under jib and driver; 

 or you can lower both jib and driver, and run uuder mainsail alone. 

 It is seldom that you cannot carry either Jib and driver or main- 

 sail, and if your Bail is properly balanced your boat will work 

 equally well under either. In coming about, if tho breeze is light, 

 or the sea so rough that it is doubtful if she will do it, a little pull 

 on your driver to windward will throw her around immediately. 



In cloBe work, getting under way, or coming in to a wharf, 

 you can handle your boat uuder the reduced sail of jib and driver 

 easily and safely. If yon want to deaden headway, haul your 

 driver square around, like throwing a topsail back. This is the 

 handiest rig for amateurs— in faot, the easiest handled of all rigs 

 I ever tried, and there are none that I have not experimented with. 

 One man can easily hoiat and manage all three sails. 



The schooner rig everybody knows too well to render it neces- 

 sary to refer to it, it ia tbe next best to the yawl or dandy rig ; but 

 don't you be pertrraded to adopt that of a sloop when either of the 

 others are open to you. That great thrashing boom ia a dreadful 

 affair in a blow and rough water. Your sail is too largo, requiring 

 reef a. 



The San Francisco Yacht Club are adopting the dandy rig 

 almost universally, and you could not porauade any one of the 

 owners of yachts in our waters who have onae tried it to use any 

 other. It is striotly a Corinthian rig, and dispenses with two out 

 of three men before the mast. The owner and one man are quite 

 force enough to handle a yacht of 50ft. if bo rigged, and ia demon- 

 strated with us constantly. 



Now as to that English cutter or tapeworm. Of all the mean 

 uncomfortable (below and on dock), wet, nasty, disagreeable crafts 

 that ever floated, they can take the palm. If you want to toko 

 a perpetual bath— half the time under and half the time out ; if 

 you want a diving-bell, then build a cutter. They havo no stabil- 

 ity, they go down on their sides without feeling the influence of 

 their lead keela and tona of iron until leverage is obtained, and 

 thou they atop ; but by that time the lee rigging is in tbe water, 

 and half the deck under. A nice, comfortable craft for pleasure, 

 certainly ! Of what uso is a modeled bottom to ttiem, when they 

 do all their sailing ou their sides? And aa for Bafety and stability, 

 I will take the centreboard flat-bottomed craft I havo described, 

 and drown out the cutter in any weather or any sea ! My flat- 

 bottomed craft will neither dive nor thiash with 6in. deadrise ; 

 she has buoyancy, and stays on top of the water. Tho prejudice 

 against centreboards and flat-bottoms has arisen from the great 

 defect not in their model, but the fact that they aro too shallow. 

 AU i hey want is more freeboard ; give them the sama freeboard 

 you give a cutter, and then try them side by side. 



In a cruising yacht, in the Eastern waters as well as here, it 

 often happens that you want to run close in shore, or into a sho»l 

 bay for shelter. Your long-legged cutter oan't go in ; or if she 

 does, when the tide falls she tumbles down on her side, and when 

 it rises there is a good chance for her filling if a hatch or sky-light 

 is kept off, before she will right. 



I will pass on tho question of cabin comforts, the accommoda- 

 tions being reduced to the dimensions of an omnibus, and come 

 to the objectionable cockpit. The Bay of San Francisco at times 

 oan show some water aa rough aa Long Island waters probably. 

 Our winds are heavy, but in all my cruising— and I have kept up 

 a pretty lively gait at it for twenty years in California— I never 

 took a barrel of water into the cockpit. Again, I sent a eohooner- 

 yacht of 47ft. over all (centreboard, with a bottom ; 16ft. beam, 

 Buch as I desaribe ; with just 6in. deadrise) on a voyage to the 

 South Sea Islands, Her first port was the Sandwich Islands, 2,000 

 miles; thence to the Navigatore, 3,000 miles; thence to the 

 Marshall group, 1,500 miles further ; and in all that cruise, with 

 all sorts of woather, she never took water in her cockpit. Another 

 instanoe: I Bold a schooner-yacht of 80ft. over all, with open 

 cockpit, 7in. deadrise ; built so lightly that the wise ones said she 

 never would get over the Bar, viz.— bent oak frames, 2x3 ; plank- 

 ing, l}£in. before planing ; deck plank, 1>£. She sailed for the 

 Bouth Sea Lsl.nds, making the fastest passage ever made, with 

 one exception, to Honolulu and to the Navigators ; and waa used 

 for a year subsequently, beating up against a rough sea and strong 

 trade winds at the Islands ; and the oaptain wrote me that he 

 never pumped her or took a bucket of water in the cockpit, and 

 Beldom on deck, So much for buoyancy and flat bottoms. 



Wo have in our bay a class of vessels called the square-toed- 

 flat bottoma as flat aa a house floor, centreboards, square bows, 

 with simply sloping ends— that go outaide all along the coaat, and 

 invariably out-aail and out-weather the round-bottom eratt ; and 

 there ia not a solitary record of one of them ever having foundered 

 or come to grief, They lay to with more ease to themselves and 

 comfort to their crewa than the round-bottomed vessels; and there 

 are several inetaucea of rouDd-bottomed schooners laying to in 

 company with these vessels, losing their deck loads, while old 

 square-toes bobbed up and down , retiring gracefully from an ugly 

 sea, taying, "No, I thank you; I am not ambitious to book at 

 you," then- buoyancy keeping them on top of the sea all the time 

 instead of plunging into it. The seas may occasionally strike the 

 square bows heavily, but they are strong andean stand it, and do. 

 The sea never gets aboard, however, and old Jaok paces the deck 

 smoking his pipe, dry and comfortable. 



And now, if I have not cooked the goose of cutter advocates 

 effectually as 1 hope, it is all beoaoae Borne paople areeostubbor 

 and obstinate that they are not open to conviction, But I say to 

 you, my Corinthian friend, don't you be perauaded to bnild a cut- 

 ter ; build just such a craft aa you desoribe (I will send yon 

 a drawing, showing the after cenh-ehoard and rig, if yon desire), 

 and you will not only have a staunch, able, powerful and comfort- 

 able boat, but a fast cue ; and you can carry sail and woar yonr 

 store clothes, whilo your cutter friend in his oil skins will look like 

 a chicken in a thunder storm. Take the advice of one who has 

 tried them all, and has learned all he knows about the Bubject from 

 personal experiment as a Corinthian, doing a good ahare of tho 

 work at that. 



I omitted to say that your frames, as yon give dimenaionB, aro 

 unnecessarily heavy, 2x3 at butts, and 2x2 at top would be ample ; 

 plank, 1 rf. Don't make the great and usual error of loading your 

 boat down with timber j it makes her lazy and heavy. Another 

 point : paint every stick that gees in her as it goea in ; it prevents 

 water soaking, preserves your boat, and makes her lively and! 

 buoyant. 



Now let the cutter fiend strike back and I will come at him 

 again. ^ Podoebs. 



For Forest and Stream and Rod and Gun, 

 CANOEING ON LAKE SUPERIOR.— No. 2. 



OUR stores for tho trip consisted of 200 lbs. bacon, 410 lbs. 

 flour, 2 bush, beans, 2 hush, peas, 3 buth. com, with coffee, 

 tea, sugar, lard and butter— tho latter articles being considered 

 effeminate luxuries. Also, five gallons of spirits and a keg of 

 tobacco for the Indians. It is customary on these voyages to oat 

 only twiao a day, and it is astonishing to see the quantity the men 

 will dispose of. They make a very nutritious and palatable soup 

 of porlt and peas, and the usual bread is made of flour, water and 

 lard, baked in a frying-pan. 



A gill-net is very useful on this lake. This is arranged with 

 stones and floats of wood, to keep it expanded, so that tho white- 

 fish getting their heads into it are caught by the gills. The white - 

 fish of this lake are very large, weighing from three to ten pounds, 

 and they have been taken of fifteen. They are much, firmer and 

 falter than those of the lower lakes. They have very few bonea, 

 but otherwise resemble the shad in appearance. They are, how- 

 ever, not so oily, and one can eat them for a long time without 

 tiring of them. Mr. Agnew, the Collector of the port, tells us 

 that two-thirds of the population subsist entirely upon whitefish 

 and potatoes. The Indiana on the lake subsist on tbem almost 

 exclusively, and I have never seen amore healthy and comfortable 

 looking tribe than the Chippewas. 



It ia a beautiful sight to witness the taking of the whitefiah in 

 these rapids by the Indians. Two of them propel a canoe into the 

 midst of the rapids, and the one in the bow, when he Bees a flab, 

 directa his companion to it by a signal, and when near enough he 

 seizes his large-bowed scoop-net, and generally Becures it. It ia 

 curious to see one of them resting his whole weight on his pole, 

 and pushing tho canoe along with his feet, apparently a part of tho 

 canoe itself. They also kill sturgeons of large size with the spear 

 in these rapids. 



Having broken camp and loaded our canoe, we started, and 

 being relieved of about SOOlbe. of stores sent on by the brig Asior, 

 she glided through tho water with great speed. Aa wo passed 

 from behind a projecting rock, Pierre exolaimed, " Voila Grog 

 Cap .'" and we beheld the lofty chain of primitive rocks jutting 

 boldly out into the lake, and severed by the action of the descend- 

 ing waters from ita continuation at Point Iroquois, on the south- 

 ern side, by the St. Mary's River, which is here about four miles 

 wide, although from tbe height of the land it appears to bo much 

 less. The bay which wo had to traverse being shoal, is dangerous 

 in rough weather, but the wind, though adverse, was not strong 

 enough to give ua any trouble. A sail was seen in tho distance, 

 which we concluded must belong to a surveying party under Dr. 

 Houghton, who have been exploring the Upper Peninsula for 

 copper mines. Their Mxciuac boat came down before the wind at 

 a great rate, and was soon alongside of us. We lauded together 

 on the Point, and they ehowod us their field books and surveys cf 

 the coast, and gave us minute directions for finding the various 

 objectB of interest ou our way to the head of the lake. They had 

 been three montha in the wilderness, and knew nothing of the 

 Harrison campaign, then going on, and WBre even ignorant of the 

 virtues of "hard cider." Their dress and appearance was very 

 rough, aud their leader was so hirsuto that the Indians gave him 

 the name of " Muckwa," or the Bear. It is their custom to nanla 

 all strangers from their personal peculiarities, and at the Sault I 

 myself waB called "Nee-wus-keen-zhe," or Four Eye, from my 

 spectacles. 



After smoking a pipe together we parted, they going down to 

 the Sault, and wo heading northward. After a pull of two hours 

 against a strong wind we arrived at the Cape, and coasted along 

 its precipitous shores, which rise to the height of several hundred 

 feet ; here clothc-d with the deep green aud massive foliage of the 

 pine, and agniu showing the naked and weather-stained rooks, 

 which, as you approach the point, aro of an iron-rust color, and 

 covered in many places with yellow moss. A tiny rivulet fouud 

 ita way over the masB of rock, and fell, broken into foam, from a 

 point throe hundred feet above us almost at our foet. Two small, 

 rooky headlands inclose a beautiful little bay, which afforde 

 a complete shelter for canoes, and a safe place for unloading 

 thent, which must be done at some distance from tho shore, tho 

 voyageurs getting into the water and holding the frail vessel 

 away from the rocks. 



At the farther end of this bay our voyageurs had pitched our 

 tent, and were cooking at a blazing fire, the smoke of whioh 

 curled lazily up in deep blue wreaths, which contrasted finely with 

 the dark-green pines and firs in the background. The towering 

 crags, rough and serrated, came down to the water's edge iu sne- 

 oeBeive projections, clothed with evergreen foliage, tbe rugged 

 Outlines of Gros Cap terminating tbe range. I tried to sketch 

 this charming scene, but the mutquitoes and sand flies 

 attacked me in such swarms that I was glad to retreat to the tent 

 and envelop myself in a cloud of tobacco smoke. 



August 1 — Iiose at an early hour, and started without breakfast, 

 so as to make the traverse of the wide arm of the lake from Gros 

 Cap to Point Poisson Blanc, a distance of twenty-one miles. Niaev 



