beautiful model and good ship;
made 332 knots in 24 hours, and 1512 knots in 120 consecutive hours.

"Sovereign of the Seas," built 1852; tonnage 2421; ran 6,245 miles in 22
days; 436 miles in one day; for four days her average was 398 miles.

"Lightning," built 1854; tonnage 2084; ran 436 miles in 24 hours, drawing
22 feet; from England to Calcutta with troops, in 87 days, beating other
sailing vessels by from 16 to 40 days; from Boston to Liverpool in 13 days
20 hours.

"James Baines," built 1854, tonnage 2515; from Boston to Liverpool in 12
days 6 hours.

Three of these ships came from the historic yards of Donald McKay, at New
York, one of the most famous of American ship-builders. The figures show
the steady gain in size and speed that characterized the work of American
ship-builders in those days. Then the United States was in truth a
maritime nation. Every boy knew the sizes and records of the great ships,
and each magnificent clipper had its eager partisans. Foreign trade was
active. Merchants made great profit on cargoes from China, and speed was a
prime element in the value of a ship. In 1840 the discovery of gold in
California added a new demand for ocean shipping; the voyage around the
Horn, already common enough for whalemen and men engaged in Asiatic trade,
was taken by tens of thousands of adventurers. Then came the news of gold
in Australia, and again demands were clamorous for more swift American
ships. All nations of Europe were buyers at our shipyards, and our
builders began seriously to consider whether the supply of timber would
hold out. The yards of Maine and Massachusetts sent far afield for white
oak knees and pine planking. Southern forests were drawn upon, and even
the stately pines of Puget Sound were felled to make masts for a Yankee
ship.

**Transcriber's notes:
Page 4: Removed extraneous ' after "Corsairs"
Page 41: changed atempt to attempt

CHAPTER II.

THE TRANSITION FROM SAILS TO STEAM--THE CHANGE IN MARINE ARCHITECTURE--THE
DEPOPULATION OF THE OCEAN--CHANGES IN THE SAILOR'S LOT--FROM WOOD TO
STEEL--THE INVENTION OF THE STEAMBOAT--THE FATE OF FITCH--FULTON'S LONG
STRUGGLES--OPPOSITION OF THE SCIENTISTS--THE "CLERMONT"--THE STEAMBOAT ON
THE OCEAN--ON WESTERN RIVERS--THE TRANSATLANTIC PASSAGE--THE "SAVANNAH"
MAKES THE FIRST CROSSING--ESTABLISHMENT OF BRITISH LINES--EFFORTS OF
UNITED STATES SHIP-OWNERS TO COMPETE--THE FAMOUS COLLINS LINE--THE
DECADENCE OF OUR MERCHANT MARIN