YACHT SAILING.

In the height of summer,—by the Sporting Almanack, from the conclusion of Ascot races to the commencement of grouse-shooting,-when the thermometer in inland situations stands at 80° in the shade during the greater part of the day; when anglers are too much relaxed to make a long cast with ease, and when trout have no appetite to rise at a fly; when cricket has become a "toil of a pleasure;" when the "Turf" is parched and withered; and the "Road" is intolerably dusty, where can the gentleman who wishes for coolness and pleasure find these desiderata except at sea? "Ye gentlemen of England,"-and of Scotland and Ireland also,—who possess wives and yachts, hasten to enjoy yourselves in single-blessedness in your single-bedded berths; and all ye other gentlemen who have neither the one nor the other, but are under obligations to your friends, obtain, if possible, an invitation from some old acquaintance to accompany him on a yacht excursion ;-which, for fear you should lose the first day of grouse-shooting, ought not to extend farther northward than the Bell-Rock, nor more to the westwardtaking your departure from Cowes-than St. Michael's Mount. Gentlemen who think of taking a trip to St. Petersburg to pay their respects to the Czar, or to Algiers to see how the French manage matters in Africa, ought not to be later in getting under weigh than 1st April-that is if they hope to be back in time to make a loud report on the moors on the 12th August. But let me be liberal:-every single gentleman who can bring proof of having hunted last season with a regular pack of foxhounds in Great Britain or Ireland, and is in want of a birth, shall be accommodated by applying to me, Edward Steerwell, on board of the Nautilus schooner-known by a fox's brush at the peak-Cowes, or elsewhere, any time between 1st and 15th. of July. Boots and leathers-worn by the applicants-will be received in proof of hunting service; and gentlemen appearing in scarlet will immediately receive an appointment in the marines of the Nautilus, and be provided with a handsome glazed hat having in front, in gold letters, the appropriate motto "Per mare per terras."

My yacht's well manned and ready,

In the breeze her colours play;

'Tis blowing fresh and steady,

And our squadron's under weigh:

How gallantly the wave they cleave

With motion light and free!

The land awhile then sportsmen leave,

And come to sea with me!

It seems to be as natural for natives of the British Isles to take to the

sea as it is for young ducks to take to the water as soon as they have chipped the shell. The Sussex clod-hopper when he first gets a sight of the sea from Portsdown-hill, on the fair day, feels strongly inclined to enter as a marine on board one of the ships of war which he perceives lying at Portsmouth; and the Sheffield cutler, when he first visits Scarborough, laments his unhappy Fortune that confines him to the wheel, and regrets that he is not a sailor on board of one of the numerous colliers that he hourly sees sailing pleasantly by within a league of the Spa, where he imbibes chalybeate water by the quart,-not with the intention of case-hardening his bowels, but for the purpose of mollifying their lining of steel:-O Fortuna cultrariorum suis ilibus durior!

During the war, when prime seamen were in great demand, and when a yacht which might venture on a long trip ran a considerable risk of being captured by a privateer, the amusement of yacht-sailing was by no ineans so prevalent as it is at present; but no sooner did peace spread her halcyon wings over land and sea, than vessels for pleasure began to be fitted out almost as fast as ships of war were laid up in ordinary; and many a hard-riding fox-hunter, who had acquired a distinguished name from his equestrian feats in Leicestershire, now built himself a yacht wherein he might take pleasant recreation on the sea, while his hunter was resting in the stall. Cavalry officers*, who had witched the world with noble horsemanship, now entered on a noviciate in anotherdep artment, and in a short time became as expert in managing the ocean-steed that is guided by the tail, as they had previously been famed for their management of the noble quadruped that paws the ground in his strength, and rushes forward at the sound of trumpets to the battle.

66

It

The Royal Cork Yacht Club, from the length of time that it has been established, is entitled to take precedence of all other yacht clubs. was first called the Water Club of the Harbour of Cork;" and there can be no doubt of its having been in existence in 1730; and there appears reason to believe that it had then been established for at least ten years. The field of the ensign was green—as all fields, more especially Irish ones, ought to be-with a harp surmounted by a crown in the centre. The present club, though the name be slightly altered, still retains the old distinguishing flag, which formerly used to be displayed from the castle of Hawl-bowline Island, then the property of the members, every day that the club met for an excursion. The castle, which was used as the club-house, was under the care of one of the officers, called the Knight of the Island; and no person was permitted to enter the rooms unless introduced by a member, or on the production of a written order signed by five members of the club. On the sailing days

Among whom we beg to particularize the Marquis of Anglesea.-ED.

the yachts used to assemble between nine and eleven o'clock in the forenoon; and every member who neglected to attend was fined an English crown towards gunpowder for the use of the fleet, unless he could show sufficient cause for his absence. By their early regulations it was ordered that the Admiral should not bring more than two dishes for the entertainment of the club; and that unless the company should exceed fifteen, no man was to be allowed more than one bottle of wine for his own share*. There are at present about eighty yachts belonging to the club; and the days of meeting are every Thursday, from the first Thursday in May, to the last in October.

The Royal Yacht Squadron, whose chief rendezvous is at Cowes, was first established under the title of "The Yacht Club," in 1815. The Prince Regent became a member of the club in 1817; and a few months after his accession to the throne it was honoured with the appellation of "Royal;" and in 1833 it was designated the "Royal Yacht Squadron." The Earl of Yarborough is at present commodore, and the vice-commodore is the Earl of Belfast. The number of vessels belonging to the squadron is about a hundred, of various rig-ships, brigs, schooners, luggers, and cutters, though principally the latter-and their aggregate tonnage is about nine thousand tons, according to the old admeasurement; being greater than that of the mercantile shipping of Portsmouth. The greater number of the yachts are between forty and eighty tons; one of the smallest, a yawl, is about twenty; and the largest, a ship, about three hundred and seventy tons. The field of the ensign of the Royal Yacht Squadron is white.

The Royal Northern Yacht Club was first established at Belfast in 1824. It consists of two divisions-the Irish, whose rendezvous is at Belfast; and the Scotch, which has its rendezvous at Greenock. The total number of yachts belonging to the club is about seventy; and the field of their ensign is blue. The Annual Regatta of the Irish divsion is generally held in Belfast Lough, in June; and that of the Scotch in the Clyde, in the month following.

The Royal Western Yacht Squadron, which was first established under its present regulations in 1834, also consists of two divisions-the Irish, having its rendezvous at Limerick; and the English, at Plymouth. The total number of yachts belonging to the squadron is about a hundred and thirty. Their aggregate tonnage is small compared with that of the Royal Yacht Squadron; as nearly one half of them do not exceed twenty tons each, old admeasurement. The field of the ensign of the Royal Western Squadron is white; yachts belonging to the Irish

*The "Old Rules and Orders of the Cork Water Club" have been reprinted at the expense of Thomas Hewitt, Esq., a member of the present Royal Cork Yacht Club.

division have a wreath of shamrock in the centre; and those of the English division a wreath of roses.

The Royal Thames Yacht Club was first established in 1823. The total number of yachts belonging to it is about seventy, and, as the regattas and sailing matches are chiefly confined to the Thames, two thirds of them do not exceed twenty tons each; and there are about thirty which do not exceed ten tons each. They are chiefly cutters; and the distinguishing ensign of the club has a blue field, with a crown, and the letters R. T. Y. C. in the centre. There are several admirable sailing vessels belonging to this club; and its various matches during the season, both above bridge and below, afford great amusement to all lovers of aquatic sports resident in the Metropolis.

Though the yacht clubs previously noticed be the most considerable in the kingdom, they are by no means the only ones. There are others of minor importance established at various places on the coast; and many gentlemen, both in Great Britain and Ireland, keep yachts without belonging to any club. Though there are regattas and sailing matches at several places on the eastern coast of Great Britain, between the mouth of the Thames and the Frith of Forth, yet the amusement of yacht-sailing prevails much more generally, and is regarded with greater interest, on the southwestern coast, between the Isle of Wight and Falmouth. The inhabitants of the coast of Devonshire are in particular attached to this species of amusement, and look forward with as much anxiety to the sailing for the Torquay cup or the Plymouth Regatta, as the natives of Yorkshire to Doncaster races, or the stalwart sons of "canny Cumberland" to the wrestling for the belt at Carlisle. At a future opportunity, I, perhaps, may resume this subject, when I shall have a few observations to make respecting rowing matches, in which I may perchance touch on the performances of the youths of Westminster and Eton, and of the men of Oxford and Cambridge,--not forgetting those of the Thames watermen, the keelmen of the Tyne, and the strongarmed boat-women of Saltash. E. S.

ON RIFLE-SHOOTING.

BY THE BARON DE BERENGER.

BESIDES tendering you many and due apologies for obtruding my request that you will grant the following an early place in your Magazine, I beg to assure you that I do so not only very reluctantly, but almost compulsively. To ride our hobbies is deemed pleasant enough by most of us, so long as our vaulting into the saddle is in obedience to our whim, the latter generally running in couples with our conscience;—not so if

the stirrup is held to us, although politely, still with the broad hint of "now, go it, you must!" and still less, if we are spurred to show off our hobbies, at a time too when ourselves are in imminent danger of breaking down from over-exertion. Since firing and blistering are considered as tending to avert such a calamity (from our game nags at any rate), we ought to be safe, for fired we certainly are, and at this time of the year especially; that is by enthusiastic anxiety to insure a good view holloa to our Stadium's again breaking cover. And as to blistering, envious and dastardly, because treacherous, aspirants to monopoly, apply it to us in plenty-in return too for courtesy ! That (like the more friendly veterinary blisters) these torments will prove all for the best, by exciting in our favour warm and extended support from all lovers of fair play, is next to certain; but meanwhile we suffer, and severely. Although most others would suspend exertion, thus to accelerate a perfect recovery, we dare not think of such relief, conscious as we are that the feeding, not only of a motley stud of hobbies, but of ourselves and our rather numerous biped hobbies, depends upon our undivided and selfdevoting labours. Accordingly, when you are assured that, although we should hail a little ball-practice as a well-timed relaxation, we dare not think, just now, of loading, with powder and patched ball, our rifle, -favourite hobby as it is with us, as much as with your facetious correspondent “Crack*"-you will readily believe that to be compelled to load it with ink instead—even if we were as likely to make as good hits with it as we are with Bartholomew Schwartz's compound and with home cast bullets, for we scorn to employ Conrad's cabalistical casting apparatus-is in reality forcing us to mount our hobby on the wrong, we mean the lame side; for, to a good horseman the off-side should be as convenient as the near. Having had, malgre nous, by far too much desk-firing of late, we quite long to exchange gunpowder smoke (with or without that of a prime Havannah, manufactured, perhaps, after all, by an Israelite "Schelm," in Goodman's-fields) for the smoke of our greasy lamp, the trimming of which we would gladly exchange for the sponging of our rifle. Still, many are the points in Crack's manly and shrewd letter, that we should like to make some observations upon; the more especially as he not only cracks his rifle ably, but all the while, also, cracks good-humoured jokes in plenty-entirely free from all squibbing and bouncing; and above all, because he advocates (as ourselves more zealously than ably have done for nearly forty years) the individual benefits which cannot fail to result from a scientific and more general cultivation of our hobby, the rifle; and he might have said much more in favour of a practice which must strengthen incalculably our national defence.

* "On Rifle Shooting by Crack," New Sporting Magazine for March, 1837, page

145.