Excerpt from Old Sea Wings, Ways, and Words, in the Days of Oak and HempI have to thank Messrs. Harper for allowing this article to be incorporated with the present work. Most of it has however been entirely rewritten and rearranged, with much additional matter. In treating a subject of such vast dimensions as the build and rig of the ships and boats of the past, I have found it quite impossible to do so in a modern, exhaustive, or even in a systematic way, so that, to use a family motto, I have-merely tried to grip fast or hold on to those few facts which, during many years devoted to the study of marine stores, I have chanced to fall in with, in reading, painting, or travelling, or from observation and experience a¿oat, or when at work among practical boat-builders in the boat-yard, build ing, repalring, or fitting out my own boats.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.