THE YORKSHIRE COBLE

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Having endeavoured to describe these grand craft—in which the fishermen prefer to go off, rather than in a lifeboat, so thoroughly do they know them and how to handle them-we must leave the thoroughbreds and refer to a recent innovation. At Filey or Scarborough these boats are now built without the double keels or "skirvels," giving them whaler sterns, and the appropriate name of "mules." We think, with the old fishermen, that the "coble" pure is the better craft at sea, the long deep rudder having immense leverage.

"Eheu Fugaces." The last two old cobles at Berwick-on-Tweed suffered so severely in the recent gales that they have since gone to pieces, but there are still some at North Sunderland and Beadnell.

It was in one of the square-sterned cobles that Grace Darling went off to the wreck of the "Forfarshire" steamer from the Outer Farn Island Lighthouse, with her father, the old lighthouse keeper—a feat of daring and dash to save life, about sixty years ago, in 1838, but not yet forgotten; for the coble is still preserved, and was exhibited at the Fisheries Exhibition at South Kensington, in 1886.

SAILING BARGES.

THERE is probably no class of vessel so familiar to the eye of the Londoner as a good old-fashioned Medway barge. Colliers have passed away, but the barge holds her own and is still running. It is worth while to go down the river and see the fleet come out of the Medway to catch the young flood to go up the river. The variety of colour in the tanned sails, varying from yellow ochre to deep vandyke brown and madder, offers a grand scheme of colour either to a connoisseur in art or a casual observer. Frequently a new untanned cloth may have been put in, or at other times there may be gaff topsail much the worse for wear and ready for the paper mill-still all picturesque. The pride the skipper takes in his vessel is generally indicated by the art decoration, for barges are gaily painted. The centre of the big sprit which supports the mainsail has generally bands of bright colour, then forward the wash-board has a pattern to match the pattern aft. Their chief characteristic is the lee board, without which she would not be a Medway barge. When we take together the lee board, the bright painting, and the shallowness of draught, we can but come to the conclusion that there is close affinity to the Dutch, with whom large sprit sails were in great favour, and still are. Considering the tonnage and size of a barge, the land lubber can hardly understand the facility with which these craft are navigated, and with how few handssome say a man and a boy, some a man and a dog.

The regular rig is a huge mainsail set with a sprit, so that the canvas is brailed up in a twinkling, a gaff topsail, a mizen with occasionally a mizen staysail set on the long tiller, a foresail and jib-this is the true barge. Some years ago barge sailing matches were started, and to see what these craft can do in a hard wind is not only instructive but astonishing. The barges have surprising sea capabilities; they may be seen thrashing through the Downs, battened down, with the deck all amast, smothered in spindrift, just as if they liked it. Latterly some of them come up the river without a bowsprit, setting a jib staysail over the fore