ast-sailing barque.

The peculiar characteristics of the clipper build are, knife-like
sharpness of the cut-water and bow, and exceeding correctness of cut in
the sails, so that these may be drawn as tight and _flat_ as possible.
Too much bulge in a sail is a disadvantage in the way of sailing.
Indeed, flatness is so important a desideratum, that experimentalists
have more than once applied sails made of _thin planks of wood_ to their
clippers; but we do not know that this has turned out to be much of an
improvement. The masts of all clippers, except those of the sloop or
cutter rig, generally rake aft a good deal--that is, they lean
backwards; a position which is supposed to tend to increase speed.
Merchant vessels are seldom of the clipper build, because the sharpness
of this peculiar formation diminishes the available space for cargo very
much.

THE SHIP.

The largest class of vessel that floats upon the sea is the _full-rigged
ship_, the distinctive peculiarity of which is, that its three masts are
_all_ square-rigged together, with the addition of one or two
fore-and-aft sails.

As the fore and main masts of a "ship" are exactly similar to those of a
barque, which have been already described, we shall content ourself with
remarking that the _mizzen-mast_ is similar in nearly all respects to
the other two, except that it is smaller. The sails upon it are--the
_spanker_ (a fore-and-aft sail projecting over the quarter-deck), the
_mizzen-top-sail_ and _mizzen-top-gallant-sail_, both of which are
square sails. Above all these a "ship" sometimes puts up small
square-sails called the _royals_; and, above these, _sky-sails_.

CHAPTER TWELVE.

WOODEN AND IRON WALLS.

The birth of the British Navy may be said to have taken place in the
reign of King Alfred. That great and good king, whose wisdom and
foresight were only equalled by his valour, had a fleet of upwards of
one hundred ships. With these he fought the Danes to the death, not
always successfully, not always even holding his own; for the Danes at
this early period of their history were a hardy race of sea-warriors,
not less skilful than courageous. But to King Alfred, with his beaked,
oared war-ships, is undoubtedly due the merit of having laid the
foundation of England's maritime ascendency.

England under the Normans does not seem to have greatly desired to excel
in maritime enterprise, but it was otherwise during the Plantagenet
period. Henr