Dec. 6, 1888.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



399 



equilibrium and was still safe. Once I was carried bodily side- 

 wise down a huge fall, over a reef some Are or six feet deep, with 

 an enormous roller coming up at the foot; but the Frankie with a 

 buoyancy undreamed of carried me through safely. 



Just ahead rose a huge rock against which the waters reared 

 themselves like a wall, and then fell over with a thunderous roar 

 into the lee below. With the strength of a struggle between life 

 and death 1 succeeded in backing clear of it, and shooting by it on 

 the right hand. 



As I hung poised a moment before passing it George came shoot- 

 ing by me, straight down upon it, ran square up on its lofty crest, 

 hung suspended upon its verge an instant, grasped his gunwales 

 with both hands, dropped his paddle, gave me one helpless glance, 

 then toppled over, bow first into the depths below, and was lost to 

 sight. I only had time to take a fleeting, backward glimpse of 

 him, as I was whirled resistlessly on, below the rock, and to my 

 surprise and delight he was riding right side up on the lee of the 

 !■:, still grasping his gunwales, with his boat full of water, his 

 silk pennant still flying from its staff in the back end of the cock- 

 pit as it had been throughout the entire cruise. 



It was but a couple of boat-lengths to shore, so I shouted to him 

 to paddle himself ashore with a hatch, and was whirled away, per- 

 fectly powerless to help him around a massive point of stone, jut- 

 ting out from the face of the mountain, and lost sight of him. I 

 found a little piece of smooth water on the lee of the point, and a 

 ivw yards below, the stern of a skiff, projecting from among the 

 rocks denoted a landing of some sort, or at least a foothold along 

 the face of the perpendicular cliff we had been skirting for a long 

 distance, so I hung close to the lee and paddled carefully back up 

 under the point to try and find George. I picked up ni's floating 

 batch, then his foot-rest , and, at these signs of wreckage, mv 

 heart rose m my mouth, and my spirits went down, down, as I 

 I cured what had happened to him. Carefully peering around the 

 point I was greatly relieved to see him seated- on a projecting 

 rock at the foot of the cliff, with his boat half ashore, dipping the 

 water out of her. 



soon appeared, picking his way cautiously along the base of 

 the cliff, leading his canoe, and when he reached the point where 

 t was L shouted to him to wait a minute (conversation being im- 

 pt ibs: ble a boat's length away on account of the mighty roar of the 

 torrent), so I dropped down to the skiff previously mentioned, 

 where I found a rude, single-bladed paddle, with which I returned 

 to him, and in five minutes we were standing on the rocks hold- 

 ing a council of war. 



Our position was not inviting. We stood on a small level plat- 

 form of rocks; behind us rose Loudoun Heights towering 1,000ft. 

 and more to the summit of the Blue Ridge almost perpendicular; 

 in front of us the roaring, raging river; above us the rapids we 

 had come through; between us half a mile of still worse rapids. 



Directly m front of us the water was comparatively smooth 

 though exceedingly swift-a sort of resting place between the 

 rapids above and those below. A stone dam, a relic of the Gov- 

 ernment works, began a few yards out in the river from us, ex- 

 tending clear across to the other shore, where it curved down 

 stream and ran for a long distance parallel with the bank, serving 

 tor both dam and race. On looking over the situation we saw 

 several ways out, One was to paddle across the river to the other 

 side where lay the town and the railroads, our destination, a dif- 

 ficult, exceedingly hazardous undertaking at best, in view of the 

 swift i current and the dam and rapid below, and one simply im- 

 possibly for George to perform with the apology for a paddle 1 

 gave him. Another was to continue to run the rapid, also hazard- 

 ous and for George impossible. Another was to lead the boats 

 a |8S*« tne snore i a vei T difficult and tedious job, in view of the 

 cliffs, rocks and bushes, Another was to go into camp where we 

 were, as it was growing dusk, and the place offered really good 

 facilities for camping, plenty of driftwood and a nice spring being 

 at hand and trust to the morning to get us out of our scrape. 



We were ."about to accept the latter alternative, and had begun 

 to unpack the canoes preparatory to drawing them upon the 

 rock for the night, when one of these mountaineers, a "poor 

 white" who are alwaj s found living in such wild inaccessible, 

 places as we were now in, in wretched, patched up, pieced up 

 hovels that would bring discredit upon the celebrated precincts 

 ot Shantytown, appeared on the scene. After consultation with 

 him during which he suggested, and tried leading the boats 

 down, a plan which I promptly vetoed on seeing how clumsily 

 and unskillfully he handled the Frankie, a bargain was struck 

 in which he agreed to carry the canoes, assisted by his boys, 

 down the rough path along the shore, below the rapids, and while 

 he was gone for the boys, I prepared a hasty supper of bacon, 

 eggs and coffee, which we disposed of while they were carrying 

 the canoes; and in due time we found ourselves in camp, half a 

 mile further down the river, below the worst of the rapids and 

 in position to easily reach the to wn in the morning. 



F. R. Webb. 



THE CAT YAWL EMPRESS. 



ONE of the most practical and serviceable rigs for singlehand 

 sailing is the "main or mizen," or as it is usually called in 

 America, the "cat yawl" rig, the same that is generally used on 

 canoes. Though common enough on small craft in England, it is 

 comparatively a novelty here, its introduction about five years 

 ago being due to Mr. N. G. Herreshoff, of Bristol, R. L, at least 

 he was the first to test the rig thoroughly and put it into working 

 shape. In England the two sails are usually lugs, but in this 

 country the ordinary boom and gaff is retained, the boom bein" 

 shortened, biit the details of rigging being the same as in the 

 ordinary catboat. In 1883 Mr. Herreshoff built for his own use 

 the cat yawl Consuelo, now owned by Mr. Lorillard, of Newport 

 a keel boat 32ft. over all. 28ft. 6in. l.w.l., 8ft. 8in. beam and 5ft 9in' 

 drait, with all her ballast in a lead keel. Though fitted with 

 partners for cutter rig she was tried with a large mast in the 

 bows and a small one on the counter, the sails both being boom 

 and gaff. Under this rig she handled admirably, as the many- 

 yachtsmen who have seen her picking her way through a dense 

 fleet of yachts m Newport Harbor can testify, and the change to 

 cutter rig was never made. Mr. Herreshoff 'used her a great deal 

 tor singlehand cruising about Bristol and Newport, sailing her 

 alone, but taking his wife and family with him, the boat being 

 very roomy and well arranged below. In the same year the 

 Romp, a centerboard boat 29ft. over all, 27tt. 6in. l.w.l lift 4in 

 beam and 3ft. draft, was built by the Herreshoffs for Mr. Geo. A' 

 lhayer, her cruising ground being about the western end of Long 

 Island bound, where by her trim appearance and excellent pel* 

 lormance she has attracted general attention. In 1S87, after sell- 



..- - - :- ----- — r ~-'ity of this boat is" that 'her 



sails are battened as m a canoe and of the Chinese shape She 

 has been used a good deal about Newport and Narragansett Bav 

 and has proved a success— like her predecessors. 

 Though the ordinary cat rig is very common on craft of SOft. 



w ""^■" 6 f; ul3C "' oiumuw wcamci, uue single sail Demg heavy 

 to hoist, difficult to reef or shake out, and too large to be readily 

 trimmed on all occasions by one man. The sloop and cutter rigs 

 are both open to the objections of many lines and of a jib, with 

 bowsprit and all the accompanying head gear, a serious disadvan- 

 tage in many cases when working in crowded harbors or narrow- 

 waters, unless well manned. The cat yawl is a medium between 

 the two, possessing the advantages of simplicity, little Bear 

 quickness in handling, and sails small enough to be trimmed and 

 hoisted by one man; while at the same time the bowsprit and jib 

 are dispensed with. Whether the rig is quite as speedy for a 

 racing craft as the plain catrig, or on the other hand the sloop 

 or cutter rig, is perhaps an open question, but on anything but 

 the most extreme racing craft , the difference in speed is so slight 

 as to be immaterial. 



The yacht whose lines are given herewith, the cat yawl Em- 

 press, was designed by her former owner, Mr. Geo. A Ballard 

 Of b all River, Mass, for singlehand work, partly in the. rou°-h 

 water that is so often found within a very short distance of 

 Newport Harbor. She was built by Reed Bros., of Fall River 

 in 188/, and after being used for two seasons was mold to her 

 present owner, Mr. Hugh Boyd of Brooklyn, N, Y., a member of 

 the Atlantic Y C. She was designed for a cruising boat, to be 

 easily handled by a crew of one, and at the same time to give 

 ample accommodation for a larger number, Her dimensions are 

 as follows: 



Length, over all 33ft 



L.W.L 26ft.'. 



Beam, extreme , 9ft 



r> ~ L : w - L 7.7.7.7.7. aft. Tin. 



Draft extreme , 5ft. 3in. 



Least freeboard 2ft 4in 



Ballast inside, lead, long tons 2 00 



keel, iron 3 52 



Mainmast, from stem 2ft. 6in 



deck to truck , ,34ft, 



