Afbil 28, 1894. | 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



869 



STEAM YACHT "SEMIRAMIS." Owned 



Anthony J. Drexel, Philadelphia 



river, hidden by the early morning mists, beyond the broad expanse 

 ot Lake Teuiiscaming, shimmering in the morning dew, and beyond 

 that again, a sea of hills rising one beyond the other into the blue dis- 

 tance. Almost at our feet as it seemed, though really more than a 

 mile away, was the last vestige of civilization which some of the 

 boys saw for some months, a clearing and farmhouse on the table- 

 land above the river, which farmhouse was also the Montreal River 

 Post-office. 



The portage cuts directly across a mountain ridge to a lake formed 

 by an expansion of the river which finds its way around the ridge by a 

 somewhat circuitous route in a series of wild rapids and falls, aggre- 

 gating 250ft. of descent. The lake is one of a chain of four, named the 

 Bass Lakes, extending inland some four miles; between them are 

 small rapids and swift current. No portaging was necessary but 

 some wading and tacking had to be done. 



The morning was still young when the little fleet set out, the Nora 

 loaded to the gunwales, and her birchen satellites, designated for the 

 sake of alliteration the Dora, Cora and Flora, following in her wake. 

 Shortly after noon each canoe had made her two trips, and the Nora, 

 as the faster, three, and packing began again. For the next five miles, 

 to Rabbit Lake, the river is a series of rapids and falls with short 

 pools between. Some of these had to be carried round, past others 

 we tracked the canoes with a half load, the crews working up to their 

 waists In water. Some of the scenery is grand, and the uppermost 

 fall, at the outlet of Rabbit Lake, is especially beautiful. 



On Friday at noon, three days after leaving Montreal River, the last 

 oad was dumped at the upper end of the last portage, with a sigh of 

 relief to think that for a time at any rate the odious pack strap would 

 no more gall our foreheads, and in high spirits the boys set out for 

 Rabbit Point, seven miles up the lake, with the camp impedimenta, 

 leaving some of the heavier stuff en cache on the portage. Just before 

 leaving we met an Indian descending with letters from Temagami 

 Post with a fine bark canoe, and after some parley we persuaded him 

 to exchange it for one of our smaller ones, enabling us to get on much 



Three o'clock found us out on the broad lake, breasting a strong 

 head wind which forced us to hug the shore to avoid the heavy sea. 

 Sweeping down the center, in two hours' hard work we were ashore, 

 and soon had a splendid site selected for the camp, which was to be 

 our home for a couple of weeks and a permanent base of supplies. 

 The tents were soon rigged up, and while the cook was getting supper 

 all hands turned into the water and enjoyed a glorious swim. 



The Chief. 



[to be continued.] 



Bucket Wells in Canoe Yawls. 



Although an American invention, one of the many for which canoe- 

 ing is indebted to the ingenuity of Mr. Paul Butler, the bucket well 

 has come into more general use in England than in this country ; being 

 here confined exclusively to racing canoes, while abroad it is exten- 

 sively used, in one form or another, in canoe yawls which, though used 

 for racing, also aspire to the possession of cruising qualities. One side 

 of the question is brought out in the following letter to the Field: 



"I quite agree with your remarks in the last two issues of the Field, 

 that the idea that a bucket well, when applied to a shallow and easily 

 capsizeable type of canoe-yawl, makes a safe seagoing craft of it is a 

 notion as dangerous as it is unfounded. It is also quite true that any 

 seaworthy type of canoe-yawl, of which all but the 7ft. middle com- 

 partment is snut off by watertight bulkheads, requires no such con- 

 trivance. But it appears to have been overlooked that there is a third 

 case, apart from either of these, in which the useof a bucket well may 

 be most valuable. I allude to wnat, in my opinion, is by far the most 

 comfortable and efficient boat for all-round purposes, an otherwise 

 seaworthy canoe-yawl that has no compartments. In this case it is 

 easy to demonstrate that the objections to the bucket well, well 

 founded as they are as applied to other kinds of craft, entirely disap- 

 pear. Firstly, when the well lining is in use the crew need not sit on 

 deck. The lining may be shaped to the form of the well over the two 

 seats and fitting close to its bottom and sides, the cushions, which, of 

 course, are also life-buoys, being inside the lining, and the seats being 

 as comfortable as ever. 



"Secondly, what charts and food are required for a few hours, with 

 glasses, etc., can undoubtedly be conveniently carried in the two 

 waterproof pockets, and as to this arrangement being considered 'a 

 nice jumhle for single-banded night work at sea,' I do not know that 

 the position would be materially improved by access to the whole of 

 one's stores, the fact being that the navigator of so small a craft as 

 even the most seaworthy canoe yawl, who finds himself single-handed 

 at night in so high a sea as to risk filling his well, is in a somewhat 

 false position, whether he relies on bulkheads or canvas. 



"Thirdly, as to the point not mentioned by Mr. Brand, as to the pos- 

 sibility of getting at oars, anchor, etc.. I, at any rate, have never had 

 any difficulty on this head, for the simple reason ttmt I always carry 

 them on deck when at sea or in a tideway, whether the canvas lining 

 is in use or not, the oars fitting into chocks along the waterways, 

 where, though perfectly firm, they are immediately available, the 

 cable passing through the fairlead at the bows, and being stopped 

 along the outside of the gunwale, and is coiled and secured on deck aft 

 of the well, the anchor being either secured in the same place or 

 brought down into the well. This, I think, meets all the objections 

 that nave been brought against the use of bucket wells at sea, and 

 disposes 'of the argument that they cannot be called 'sea going' 

 because no yawl requiring one can be itself fit to go to sea, the fact 

 being that every yawl, to" be safe at sea, must have either a bucket 

 well or watertight bulkheads, and that the former, properly fitted, is 

 by no means an inefficient substitute for the latter. 



"So much for work at sea, but it is when we come to consider the 

 yawl as an inland cruiser, and as a home, that the advantages of hav- 

 ing no compartments becomes overwhelming. The capabilities of the 



canoe-yawl on these points is the merit and the attraction of the type, 

 apart from which, for sea work alone, it would be easy to design an 

 altogether safer and more commodious kind of craft. It is impossible 

 to overestimate the advantage, for living and sheltering in, of having 

 a craft of which the whole interior is available for all purposes, or to 

 question the superior comfort, say after a wet day and during a rainy 

 and squally night, of being able to sleep under a solid deck or hatch in 

 a spot that has been dry all day, instead of having to lie under the 

 shelter of a tent in a well that has been open to a whole day's ram. 

 And, though I am alluding now to inland work. I can remember at 

 least one occasion when this arrangement has scored even more heav- 

 ily at sea, both for comfort and safety. A rainy night coming on on a 

 coast where dangers are many and tides strong, where it became 

 necessary to anchor till dawn, is not a position one would willingly 

 choose, and yet I remember that, lying dry under decks, with sails and 

 all gear ready for an immediate start should the wind rise, we slept by 

 turns the sleep of the just and the tolerably secure, and I fancy were 

 far ahead of the man of compartments, who, unless he ventured to 

 hamper himself with a tent— and there was an occasional heavy puff 

 off the land— would have had to Bpend his night in the open. But, for 

 inland work at least, the advantage of an undivided interior is obvious 

 — we never capsize, remember — and considering how often one profits 

 by the comfort and stowage capacity of one's craft, and how com- 

 paratively seldom even the most seagoing of yawls is in danger of fill- 

 ing her well at sea, I think we may fairly claim that a temporary con- 

 trivance like the bucket well is more in accordance with the spirit of 

 such an all-round type of craft than are permanent bulkheads. W." 



Mahnahbezee. 



(THE WHITE SWAN.) 



On the Massachusetts holiday, April 19— Patriot's Day— the Puritan 

 C. C.'s new war canoe was christened. The crew leaving Boston at an 

 early hour reached the Robertson factory at Riverside in good season. 

 The canoe was launched on the river without formality, as the Puri- 

 tans deigned not to christen their canoe in the fresh water of Charles 



The reason assigned for the failure of Mr. Bennett to purchase the 

 yacht is that no satisfactory arrangement as to courses could be 

 made with the owner of Britannia. This sort of cock and bull story 

 is absurd on its face, while in any club races which she might enter 

 abroad, Vigilant would have to take her chances over the regular 

 courses on the Thames, the Solent and the Clyde, there is no reason 

 to believe that she would be limited to the same courses in any special 

 matches with Britannia; and in any event she would have the cer- 

 tainty of fair and open courses in the races for the Royal Victoria 

 and Cape May cups. 



Another reason given that is much 'nearer the truth, is that Mr. 

 William B. Douglas, who made the offer of $30,000 on behalf of Mr. 

 Bennett, had the yacht surveyed and then declined to accept her on 

 account of the condition disclosed by the survey. 



The exact intentions of the new owners of Vigilant are as yet un- 

 known, but it is certain that the yacht will be fitted out and raced, and 

 there is a possibility that she may be sent abroad. 



One important item of news is the positive statement of Gen. Paine 

 that Jubilee will not fit out this season, Gen. Paine intending to 

 accompany his family to Europe in June to remain until September. 

 Such a visit would of itself seem to offer a special opportunity for 

 sending the yacht across and taking part in the British races. The 

 deficiency in rig which resulted in her poor performance last year 

 might be remedied in time by a month's racing on this side, with 



STKAM YACHT -JflOCB4JUia, fa 



River. The trip down the Charles was without incident, and the 

 fifteen miles to the harbor was covered in two hours and a half. 

 When the canoe felt the crisp salt water of Boston Harbor all felt at 

 home, and the commodore spilled a bottle of "bock" (which had acci- 

 dentally broken in his bag) down his throat and gurgled "I dub thee 

 Mahnahbezee, the swan." The commodore having set the pace and a 

 bottle of bock beside each of the crew every one gurgled "Mahnah- 

 bezee," and the formality having been finished, the paddles were re- 

 sumed and the Great White S n an (which is painted green by the way) 

 swept proudly over the wrinkled face of the bay until City Point and 

 the house of the Puritan C. C. was reached. About fifteen men will 

 practice a bit for the final crew, and it is hoped that a fair crew may 

 appear at Springfield on May 30. The canoe is precisely similar to 

 those of the Hartford and Springfield clubs and a pretty race should 

 result. Ilex. 



A. C. A. Membership. 



Atlantic Division: Theodore H. Bridgman, Nelson F. Griffin, New 

 York city; Reuben A. Heller, Newark. 



§zcJ(Httg. 



FIXTURES. 



1. New Jersey, Open, N. Y. Bay. 

 5-6. San Francisco Cor., Cruise to 



McNear's. 

 12. Atlantic Oity Cor., Trophy 



Race, Atlantic Oity. 

 12-13. San Francisco Cor., Cruise, 



California Oity. 

 19. Baltimore, Opening, Baltimore 

 19. New Rochelle, Cabin Cats, L. I. 



Sound. 



19-30. San Francisco Cor., Cruise, 

 Vallejo. 



. St. Lawrence, Squad. Cruise. 



. Portland, Cruise. 



. San Francisco Cor., Sail to 

 Quarry Cove. 



. San Francisco Cor., Sail Out- 

 side. 



. Atlantic City Cor., Trophy 



Race, Atlantic City. 

 . So. Boston, Open, City Point. 

 . Racine, Opening, Racine, Wis. 

 . San Francisco Cor., Annual 



Cruise, Tiburon. 



The past week has produced three or four items of news of more 

 or less interest which tend to shape more definitely the prospects of 

 the approaching racing season. In the first place the negotiations on 

 the part of James Gordon Bennett for the purchase of Vigilant are 

 positively at an end, the yacht having been sold on April 18 to George 

 J. and Howard Gould. The price paid was $25,000. 



Capt. Haff and young Mr. Paine to work her up, giving time to reach 

 Cowes in May. 



As matters now stand, there will be three of the large yachts in the 

 racing— Vigilant, Navahoe and Volunteer. The first two will prob- 

 ably start in the spring regattas, but Volunteer will not be seen with 

 the fleet until the August cruise. 



The last bit of news is to the effect that Mr, Tankerville Chamber 

 layne, owner of Arrow, has again offered the Queen's Cup wen by the 

 yacht in 1852. In view of Mr. Chamberlayne's peculiar action in the 

 same matter in 1887, American yachtsmen are not likely to fit out at 

 once for Cowes in order to race for this cup. 



On April 21 the schooner Lasca, Mr. John E. Brooks, left New York 

 for Glasgow, her owner and two friends being on board and Capt. 

 Unas Rhodes in command, with Capt. Mackintosh as navigator. The 

 racing gear and other fittings have been already sent by steamer. 

 Just what opportunities for racing maybe met with is a matter of 

 doubt, as there are no longer any racing schooners in British waters; 

 but there is no fear that the yacht will not do credit to her designer 

 and owner, whether racing or merely sailing with the fleet. 



It ia reported that Decima, ten-rater, is soon to sail from South- 

 ampton for New York; a very risky experiment in view of the fact 

 that the yacht is smaller than any racing craft which has made the 

 Atlantic passage, and that she is of comparatively light construc- 

 tion, intended for home racing, and not, like Minerva, Uvira and 

 Jessica, for the ocean voyage. 



Union des Yachts Francais. 



We have just received a copy of the handsome year book of the 

 Union des Yachts Frangais (the Union of French Yachts), containing 

 t he rules, list of members and yachts, and other particulars of this 

 flourishing organization, The new rule, recently adopted after much 



discussion, is as follows: T = ^ L ~^P) X T . g the measurementi 



P the perimeter of the hull, measured by running a chain from 

 planksheer to planksheer, wherever the greatest measurement can be 

 found, to which is added the extreme beam wherever found, L repre- 

 senting the load waterline and S the sail area, both being measured as 

 in Y. R. A. rules. The Union now includes 50 clubs. 



