BOATS AND BOATING.

President Charles W. Eliot of Harvard tells us that "Rowing is a sport which is absolutely clean and honorable, and there is only one other sport in college of which you can say that, and that is tennis. Another thing that can be said about rowing, it is highly co-operative in its nature. You have got to get eight men to do their level best all together. That is a mighty wholesome lesson for all life. You will hardly get a better lesson than that in your college or your life course. It is the lesson of doing your level best, faithful to your mates. Another thing about it which lasts for life: that is, that in rowing you are not working for money or any selfish object; you are working for fun, for comradeship, for the honor of your college.

"Rowing is the best sport there is. It always has been. It is comparatively an unchanging sport. There is no secret practice, no invisible performance. It is all in the open, and that is a good deal to say about a sport nowadays. All the long-lived sports changed little from generation to generation, and if you see a sport in which there are new tricks from year to year you will know by that fact that it is not a good sport to have in college."

The Component Parts of Boats.

R

OWING boats consist of the bows; the stem, or entrance; the stern where are the rudder and the lines for steering; the rowlocks, for giving purchase to the oars; and the thwarts, or seats. At the bottom are the footboards, which are easily removed, in order to bail out any water which may leak into the boat. Besides these parts there is a board placed across the boat for the feet of the rower, called a stretcher. The whole boat is composed of planks, called streaks, nailed upon a light oak framework, called the timbers, or rigs; and the upper streak, upon which the rowlocks are placed, is called the wale-streak. Boats with two rowlocks opposite each other are called sculling boats, and are propelled by a pair of light oars called sculls, the art being called "sculling." When a boat is fitted with a pair of rowlocks not opposite each other, it is called a pairoared boat. If with two in the middle opposite each other, and two others, one before and the other behind, but not opposite each other, it is called a randan. When a boat has four rowlocks, none of which are opposite one another, it is called a four-oared boat, and so on up to ten oars, which is the utmost limit in common use for any kind of boat but the pleasure barge, which sometimes has twentyfour oars. The rowlock nearest the bow is called the bow rowlock, or No. 1; the next No. 2, and so on; and the oars used in them receive the same number, the one nearest the stern being called the "stroke oar." The rowlocks in river and sea boats are somewhat different in shape though identical in principle, both consisting of a square space of about the breadth of a man's hand, and both lying on the wale-streak; but in river boats being generally bounded before and behind by a flat piece of oak or ash called, respectively, the tholepin and stopper; whilst in sea boats they are merely common round wooden pins dropped into holes made in the wale-streak, but still receiving the same names. The tholepin is for the purpose of pulling the oar against, whilst the stopper prevents the oar from slipping forward when the rower is pushing it in that direction after the stroke.

The Oars and Sculls.

A scull is a small oar used with one hand, and requiring a pair, as in the case of oars, one being placed in the rowlock on each side the boat, and the pair being used by one person with his right and left hands. Oars are used by both hands, and a pair-oared boat consequently requires two oarsmen; a four-oared boat four, and so on. Both sculls and oars consist of the same parts, except that the handle of the oar is made long enough for both hands. In every case there is a rounded handle, a loom, square in form, and extending from the handle to the button, or about one-third of the length of the oar; and beyond the button is the blade, which is first nearly round, and then gradually widens, until it assumes the form best adapted for laying hold of the water, which is now found to be broad rather than long, as was formerly thought to be desirable. The button is a piece of leather nailed on to prevent the oar from slipping through the rowlock, but only used in river rowing, as it is not adapted to the rough work which is often met with in sea rowing.

Boating Terms.

Bow OAR, the starboard upright oar towards the bow of the boat. STROKE OAR, the oar rowed by the strokesman.

STROKESMAN, the sternmost man of the rowers.

STROKESIDE, the port or right side.

BOWMAN, the man nearest the bow of the boat.

COCKSWAIN, the man who steers the boat.

THOLEPINS, the pins which sometimes are used for the rowlocks. HEADFAST, Sometimes called the painter. A rope fixed forward to fasten the boat after landing.

TO UNSHIP THE SCULLS, simply means to take them out of the rowlocks.

ROWED OFF; when this direction is given by the cockswain, all the oars are laid in with their blades forward.

IN BOW; at this phrase, the bowman gets the boat-hook ready to clear away from the shore.

Sea Rowing.

This is necessarily less elegant than river rowing, because of the rough nature of the element on which the exercise is pursued. The oar must be grasped firmly in the hands, both grasping the oar between the thumbs and fingers. The whole art consists in the crew moving backward and forward together, called "swinging," and laying hold of the water as well as they can, taking care to avoid pulling in the air with great force when there is a trough or interval between two waves, and on the other hand equally avoiding a heavy wave, which has a tendency to dash the oar out of the hand. All this requires practice in the rowers, and also in the steersman, called the cockswain, who should watch for the high waves, and warn his men when a heavy

one is coming. He should also take care to cross the roll of the sea as much as possible, so as to avoid being struck on the side of the boat called "the counter," which would either swamp her or else knock the oars out of the rowlocks. In this kind of rowing, the "feathering" of the oar, to be presently described, is not attempted, on account of the roughness of the water, but it is merely pulled steadily, but strongly, backward, and is then pushed forward in the rowlocks.

River Rowing.

The art of river rowing is capable of a high degree of elegance, and few sights are more pleasing to a lover of graceful forms than that of a crew of fine lads, or young men, rowing well together and in good style. To do this requires great practice, and attention to a few essential points, which we will here endeavor to describe.

Management of the Oar.

The rower should, as far as possible, take some good oarsman for his model, and endeavor to imitate him in every respect, which is the only mode of acquiring a good style. Description is useful in putting the learner in the way of acquiring what is to be taught, but it is not all-sufficient for the purpose. In the first place, the learner should place himself square on the seat, with his feet straight before him, and the toes slightly turned out. The knees may either be kept together, or separated considerably, the latter being in our opinion the better mode, as it allows the body to come more forward over the knees. The feet are to be placed firmly against the stretcher, which is to be let out or shortened, to suit the length of the individual, and one foot may be placed in the strap which is generally attached to the stretcher in modern boats. The oar is then taken in hand, raising it by the handle, and then either at once placing it in the rowlock, or else first dropping it flat on the water, and then raising the handle it may gently be lowered to its place. The outside hand is placed upon the handle, with the thumb as well as the fingers above it, while the other hand firmly grasps it lower down, keeping the nut toward the person. The arms are now quickly thrust forward until they are quite straight at the elbows, after which the back follows them by bending forward at the hips, carefully avoiding any roundness of the shoulders. When the hands have reached their full stretch they are raised, and the blade quietly and neatly dropped into the water; immediately after which, and with the water just covering the blade, the body is brought back with a graceful yet powerful action, till it reaches a part a little behind the perpendicular of the back of the seat, when the hands are brought back to the ribs, the elbows gliding close by the hips, and at the last moment, as the hand touches the rib, the wrist of the inside hand is depressed, the knuckles being at the same time brought against the chest, and the oar is made to rotate in the rowlock, which is called "feathering" it, and by which

it is brought cleanly out of the water. The next action is to push the oar rapidly forward again, first however restoring it to its origina position in the rowlock, which is effected by raising the wrist, and then darting the arms forward till the elbows are quite straight, which brings the rower to where we started from in the description. In "backing water," the reverse of these actions takes place. The oar is first reversed in the rowlock, and then it is pushed through the water with as much power as is needed, and pulled through the air. When the oars on one side are pulled, and those on the other are backed, the boat is made to turn on its own water. "Holding water” is effected by the oars being held in the position of backing without moving them.

Six Essential Points in Rowing.

1st, To straighten the arms before bending the body forward; 2d, to drop the oar cleanly into the water; 3d, to draw it straight through at the same depth; 4th, to feather neatly, and without bringing the oar out before doing so; 5th, to use the back and shoulders freely, keeping the arms as straight as possible; and 6th, to keep the eyes fixed upon the rower before them, avoiding looking out of the boat, by which means the body is almost sure to swing backward and forward in a straight line.

Management of the Boat.

Every boat without a rudder is manœuvred in the water, either by pulling both sides alike, in which case it progresses in a straight line, or by reversing the action of the oars, equally on both sides, pushing them through the water instead of pulling them, and called backing water, when the boat recedes; or by pulling one side only, on which the boat describes a segment of a circle, which is made smaller by pulling one car, and backing the other. By means of a rudder the boat is made to take a certain course, independent of the rowers, called "steering," the chief art in which consists in keeping the rudder as still as possible, by holding the lines "taut," and avoiding pulling them from one side to the other more than is absolutely necessary. Some steersmen think it necessary to swing backward and forward with a great effort, but this is quite useless, and the more still they keep the better. Every cockswain should know the course of the stream or tide; and when meeting other boats, he should, if he is going down stream, give them the side nearest the shore, so as to allow them the advantage of the slack water, which is quite prejudicial to him. When a crew are steered by a competent cockswain, they ought to be perfectly obedient to his commands, rowing exactly as he tells them. His orders are communicated by the following words, viz.: when desiring his crew to row he says, "Pull all"; or if wishing any one oar to be pulled, he says, "Pull bow," or "Pull No. 3," or 4, etc., as the case may be. If they are to stop rowing, he says "Easy all," or for