54 
THE ATLANTIC YACHT RACE, 
[Nature and Art, February 1, 1807. 
excellent artist. If lie desires to visit Quintin [Matsys, 
the painter], and thou canst not spare time to go with the 
man thyself, thou canst let thy servant show him the 
house. Here the arts are freezing : he is going to England 
to scrape together a few angels ( Hie frigent artes, petit 
Angliam, ut corradat aliquot Angelotos).” 
The poor pun, and even the frigid arrogance of 
Erasmus, may be excused ; for he was evidently a 
good friend of the painter’s. As for the English 
angels , we all know that Holbein gathered them in 
a golden harvest. 
In consequence of the statements in the second part of 
the review of Dr. Alfred Woltmann’s work, published in the 
December number of Nature and Art, relative to the 
supposed loss of Holbein’s original portrait of Johann 
Froben, we received a letter from a gentleman claiming to 
be the happy possessor of it. We here give his own words, 
without hazarding an opinion on the subject, as we think it 
may be interesting to some of our readers to follow up the 
clue of the lost treasure thus afforded them. — Ed. 
Sheriff Hutton Park, York. 
Dear Sir, — There is no doubt as to its originality, and if, 
as I understand by the review of Dr. Woltmann’s work in 
Nature and Art of December, Holbein painted but one 
picture of Frobenius, then our picture is that picture. 
This portrait came into oxu 1 possession on the division of 
a large collection of pictures belonging to a gentleman con- 
nected by marriage with our family, and also a kinsman of 
the famous Lord Bacon. In this way, we became possessed 
of some very valuable pictures. I have the inventory 
of these pictures as made on Mr. Bacon’s death ; I do 
not recollect the date, but, I think, in the early part of last 
century. The picture is there described, “ Frobenius, by 
Hans Holbein.” There is not, and never has been, any doubt 
about the genuineness of the picture. Indeed, it is hardly 
necessary to tell you (even if the picture did not speak for 
itself, by its excellence, as indubitably by Holbein, and by 
his signature or monogram being painted, not, I may say, on 
the picture but in the picture), that the fact of what the 
picture was acknowledged to be at the time of Mr. Bacon’s 
death, is strong evidence of its genuineness. 
I am, faithfully yours, 
Leonard Thompson. 
THE ATLANTIC 
C HRISTMAS-DAY, 1S66, will long be remembered by all 
who take an interest in the manly pastime of yachting, 
for on that anniversary of our great national festival there 
was brought to the shores of England by our transatlantic 
cousins as novel a “ sensation,” even in these prolific days 
of sensation novels, as the first arrival of Phoenician g-alleys 
must have been to the ancient Britons. We are indebted 
for this sensation, with all its characteristic originality and 
boldness of execution, to that remarkable “go-ahead” pro- 
pensity which is so peculiar a feature of the idiosyncrasy 
of the American Anglo-Saxon. The abstract notion of a 
yacht race across the Atlantic in the best season of the 
year would, amongst an ordinary people, have sufficed to fill 
Ambition’s measure to overflowing. But, desirous of even 
more than realizing the remark of Horace, — 
“ Plorrida callidi vincunt sequora navit*,” 
the American yachtsmen evidently sought to improve the 
difficulty of their self-imposed task, and to add to the inten- 
sity of the “sensation” by courting all the perils attend- 
ant upon mid-winter navigation. 
A brief description of the three yachts engaged in this 
remarkable contest is deemed worthy of record in the pages 
of Nature and Art, as much from the general interest 
which the event has excited throughout the length and 
breadth of the land, as from the advantages which may 
hereafter be derivable through having- practical data at 
hand, with which to compare the conditions and results of 
any future ocean races. 
Establishing the tonnage of the yachts according to 
American measurement (arrived at by taking length of keel, 
by which multiply extreme breadth, and the product by 
depth of hold, dividing- total by 95), the Fleetwing is 206 
tons; her length on deck being- 106 feet; keel, 93 feet; 
beam, 23 feet 8 inches ; depth of hold, 9 feet 3 inches ; 
draught of water amidships, 11 feet 6 inches. She was 
commanded by Captain Thomas, of the packet ship City of 
Neio Yorlc, and carried a crew of twenty-two men. Her 
owner, Mr. George Osgood, was represented on board by 
Messrs. R. Centre and Staples, members of the N.Y.Y.C., 
and also judges on behalf of the Henrietta and Vesta. The 
Vesta differs from her opponents by carrying 18^ feet of 
“ centre-board,” or false keel (like that of the celebrated 
yacht America), which can be lowered and raised as desired. 
She is slightly inferior in size, being- 201 tons ; her length 
on deck is 105 feet ; keel, 98 feet ; beam, 25 feet ; depth 
of hold, 8 feet 9 inches ; draught of water, 7 5 feet, in addi- 
tion to her centre-board. The Vesta was commanded by 
Captain Dayton, her crew consisting of twenty-six men. 
YACHT RACE. 
Mr. Pierre Lorillard, her owner, was represented by his 
brother and Colonel Bayard Taylor, the celebrated author, 
who also acted as judges for the Fleettving and Henrietta. 
The Henrietta measures 205 tons, and has more rake to her 
masts than either the Vesta or Fleetwing, which latter yacht 
she otherwise closely resembles in form, with the exception 
of having much more sheer. The Henrietta was commanded 
by Captain Samuels, of the well-known clipper ship Dread- 
nought, and carried a crew of twenty-four seamen. Mr. 
Bennett was the only owner who sailed in his yacht, and 
he was accompanied by Messrs. Jerome and Ivnapp, who 
were judges for the Fleetwing and Vesta, and by Mr. Fisk, 
of the New Yorlc Herald newspaper. 
New York was naturally alive with the excitement arising 
out of this unprecedented contest for a week or two preceding 
the day fixed for the race. The intense interest thus mani- 
fested throughout the “ Empire City ” was in some degree 
attributable to the very even chances of the three competing- 
yachts, although the Fleetwing was slightly the favourite. 
When the day appointed for the start — -Tuesday, December 
11th — arrived, the excitement had reached its culminating 
point. At every available position vast crowdshad assembled, 
who vociferously cheered the occasion and each preparatory 
movement made in connexion with it. The vessels in har- 
bour and the craft plying on the East and Hudson 
rivers, and the villas upon Staten Island, off which the 
yachts lay, were gaily decked with flags. Steamers had 
been hired to convey the members of the New York Yacht 
Club, and the numerous friends of the competitors, to 
Sandy Hook, the scene of departure for the hazardous 
enterprise. The day was bright and the wind westerly 
and favourable. The air alternately vibrated with the 
enlivening music of many bands, and the thundering sal- 
voes of many salutes fired in honour of the adventurous 
yachtsmen. 
At eleven o’clock the Henrietta’s racing signal was run 
up, and then the three yachts were taken in tow by their 
respective tugs to the starting-point. The Fleetwing took 
up her position about a mile to the eastward of Sandy 
Hook ; the Henrietta was nearest the shore ; and the Vesta 
was stationed midway between her two antagonists. They 
waited thus until one o’clock p.m., when Mr. Fearing, the 
starter, gave the signal ; and then, at the sight of a little 
puff of smoke and the booming sound of a gun, up went 
foresails and topsails on all three. Scarcely had the wind 
filled these sails when the second gun was fired, and the 
yachts’ whole spread of canvas was shaken out. Before 
the first burst of cheering from the excited spectators had 
