ot far off when the fiat, "Thus far, and no
farther," must be pronounced not only on the speed of steamships, but on
the breathless rush and hurry of the age in general.

THE CZAR'S YACHT "LIVADIA."

Undoubtedly one of the most remarkable craft afloat is the Russian
Czar's steam-yacht the _Livadia_. To a Scotch shipbuilding firm belongs
the credit of having constructed this unique and splendid vessel, and it
is certainly a feather in the cap of Messrs. Elder and Company, the
well-known Glasgow shipbuilders, from whose yard the _Livadia_ was
launched in July 1880.

One would imagine that the highest point of comfort and luxuriousness
has been reached in the accommodation offered by the _Livadia_; but this
is far from being the only or even the chief respect in which the vessel
is remarkable. She is notable from a purely nautical point of view--
being the outcome of principles that may be said almost to revolutionise
all pre-existing ideas of shipbuilding, though something like the same
principle may be found in the circular ironclads of Admiral Popoff.

Hitherto the plan which naval architects have followed, where the
desideratum was exceptional speed, was to give the vessel in course of
construction length in combination with as fine lines and as perfect
proportion as possible. But in the case of an imperial pleasure-boat,
like the _Livadia_, it was an object to obtain an ampler and more
drawing-room like accommodation than is compatible with length,
narrowness of beam, and fine lines; and the constructors of the Czar's
new yacht have succeeded in securing not only this internal spaciousness
and comfort, but also a satisfactory degree of speed.

It was to the united exertions of Admiral Popoff of the Russian navy,
and Dr Tideman of the royal dockyard, Amsterdam, that the design of the
_Livadia_ was due. It is not easy in words to convey a distinct
impression of this curiously-shaped craft, but our description will, we
hope, give the reader a pretty correct idea of the vessel.

The constructors of the _Livadia_, it is believed, chose a turbot as
their model for the hull; and in thus taking a flat fish as a suggestion
for their vessel, the builders, as a recent writer on the subject points
out, followed no extravagant, though certainly a novel, fancy. In broad
terms the _Livadia_ may be described as a wide and shallow oval in
shape, half submerged, while over this turbot-shaped raft a
superstructure is erected,