state-rooms, bath and smoking rooms are placed in the centre of the vessel, and their occupants therefore have considerable advantages in regard to a decreased amount of motion, and no annoyance whatever from the vibration of the screw. It is not astonishing to find that the White Star vessels are particular favourites among the Americans, not the less because of their speed, but because of several American improvements which have been introduced into them. For instance, each vessel possesses what every American considers to be a positive necessity, namely a splendidly-appointed barber's shop. In addition, it should be mentioned that some of the ships have Newall's patent swinging berths, which are suspended upon the same principle as Mr. Bessemer's celebrated saloon in the vessel which was constructed for the passage between Dover and Calais.

As a practical guarantee of the care and forethought exercised by the Company, it may be stated that they take a large amount of the risk of insurance on each vessel, and insist upon a complete inspection by the commanding officer before every voyage. At these inspections, one of the owners and the marine superintendent are, as a rule, present, and the men are then put through the boat service drill and the drill in defence of fire. The same is also performed once or twice at sea, in which instances the men are always called upon without notice. The discipline is hardly less pronounced than on board one of Her Majesty's ships. The same solicitude is exhibited by the owners in their instructions to commanders. They enjoin them" to remember that whilst they are expected to use every diligence to secure a speedy voyage, they must run no risk which might, by any possibility, result in accident to their ships. It is to be hoped that they will ever bear in mind that the safety of the lives and property entrusted to their care is the ruling principle that should govern them in the navigation of their ships, and no supposed gain in expedition and saving of time on the voyage is to be purchased at the risk of accident. The Company desires to establish and maintain for its vessels a reputation for safety, and only looks for such speed in the various voyages as is consistent with safe and prudent navigation." Again, there is an înstruction: "A wide berth to be given to all headlands, islands, shoals, and the coast generally; and the commanders are particularly enjoined, on all occasions when nearing the land, or in places of intricate navigation, to heave the lead and to take frequent cross-bearings of any well-marked objects that may be visible and suitable for verifying the position of the ship." The question of safety being ever held paramount over all other considerations, the owners of the White Star boats have enjoined their commanders to follow strictly laid-down tracks for the various seasons of the year. Thus in the months from February to July, inclusive, when the ice is drifting with the Gulf Stream, the White Star vessels are navigated by a southerly track, being taken south of the Banks. In the months from August to January, inclusive, when the ice has drifted, and the northern parallels are

clear of ice and fog, the boats take the northern route. These tracks apply to the outward voyages from Queenstown to New York; but as regards the homeward passages, an uniform extreme southern route is followed, taking the steamers about a hundred miles south of the Banks, so as to altogether avoid meeting the outward-bound boats.

The White Star Company, very soon after its commencement, was selected by the United States Government to carry the United States mails. Up to the year 1875, the speed of the vessels of this line had been celebrated in particular by the passage of the 'Adriatic' from Queenstown to Sandy Hook in 7 days 23 hours 7 minutes, and of the 'Baltic' from Sandy Hook to Queenstown in 7 days 20 hours 9 minutes. The highest day's run ever accomplished was made by the 'Adriatic,' which ran 396 knots, or 455 statute miles, during the twentyfour hours, on the 10th April, 1873. The following are the most remarkable passages in each year:

These passages, remarkable as they are, have however been completely eclipsed by that since made by the Germanic.' Total distance traversed 2,894 knots, equal to 370 knots per day, 15.8 knots per hour. Duration of passage from Sandy Hook to Queenstown, 7 days 15 hours 17 minutes. This goes to show that in their last ship, the White Star Company have been able to improve even upon their former models.

The White Star Company have had the compliment paid to them of having their commanders selected by the Government to fill posts of responsibility on shore. The Board of Trade, in the year 1873, chose Captain Digby Murray, the commodore of the fleet, and then in active service, to take the important post of Marine Adviser to that department; and another of their commanders, Captain W. W. Kiddle, of the 'Celtic,' has been appointed Chief Surveyor for Ireland, under the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act. The marvellous success of the White Star Line is one of the most remarkable instances upon record of what pluck and business ability will do under apparently adverse circumstances.

THE COASTGUARDSMAN, PAST AND PRESENT.

"AMONG the most agreeable objects that enliven the shores of our island," writes the Saturday Review, "are the groups of cottages occupied by the Coastguard. Picturesque one can scarcely call them, for the architecture is simple to baldness, and suggestive of Government contracts kept down by close competition; and yet they have generally the picturesqueness of comfortable contrast with surroundings that are often bleak and inhospitable. Dating from the days when our coasts were regularly picketed and a blockade was methodically established against the enterprise of the free-traders, we come upon them in every variety of situation. Now they are arranged bastionwise on a commanding eminence in the suburb of some seaport or watering-place, in a snug, compact little square, with a tall flagstaff in the centre. Again we stumble on them unexpectedly, sheltered in the recess of some 'gap' or 'chine,' where a little stream comes trickling down to the sands, through the deep cleft that time seems to have worn in the chalk cliffs. Most frequently they are perched on the crest of the line of sand hills, with a broad look-out in all directions over 'promontory, cape, and bay.' And often they form a conspicuous landmark on some flat stretch of grass-grown sand, where the slow-shelving shore is intersected by a labyrinth of changing channels, and where mud-banks submerged by the rising tides are a perfect paradise for the clamorous sea-fowl. But whatever the situation, the general effect is almost invariably the same. They are substantial and weather-tight; suggestive of cheery shelter in bright interiors when the wind is howling through the shrouds of the flagstaff, driving the sand and gravel in flying scud along the beach, and churning and grinding the pebbles in the surf with dull, monotonous roar. There are low flat roofs with projecting eaves, and small, strongly-secured casements, and the gleam of their spotless whitewash catches any sunlight that may be going. In the neatly-palisaded little gardens that stretch before the doors, a hard and not unsuccessful struggle is always going on with the unfriendly elements, while the shell-strewn walks are invariably kept in the most perfect order. As you approach them of a warm summer afternoon you are conscious of the briny breeze being just tainted with a faint amphibious smell of tar. It may not be so balmy or romantic as the resinous odours that breathe from the pine-woods of Bayonne or Arcachon, under the fiercer rays of the sun of Gascony; but it is decidedly wholesome, and rather savory than otherwise. The promiscuous use of pitch and tar gratifies the nautical affections of the inmates. Everything is paid, caulked, and seamed, from the keels of the white-painted boats that are hauled up bottom upwards, to the felt-covered shingles over the outhouses, and the frames of the cottage windows, and the pailings of the enclosure. Everything, even to the concealed refuse heaps, is trim and shipshape,

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showing the presence of an easy discipline and the predominance of habits of tidiness and order.

"As for the occupants of these oases in the wilderness, the lines would seem to have fallen to them in very pleasant places. The sturdy women are blooming in the redundancy of vigorous health, and the chubby children who are tumbling about on the sand are in as sleek case as turtles or porpoises. Even were less attention paid to sanitary details, it would be difficult for the most perverse ingenuity to make these breezy places unwholesome. Ordinary ailments can scarcely lay hold of constitutions enjoying a perpetual air-bath, where brine, oxygen, and iodine are the chief ingredients; and the most remote association with disorders of the nerves would be on the face of it absurdly impossible. The husbands and fathers of the little households are just what one might expect in men who lead the most salubrious lives in the world and have as few cares as may be. Unless you are of unusually robust make yourself, you are disposed to envy them their stalwart frames, their broad shoulders, their deep chests, and the solid under-limbs on which they roll themselves along. Their easy uniform of dark woollen jersey, with broad collars flung back to let the breezes play round the muscular throat, looks the very picture of serviceable comfort. You can tell at a glance that life sits lightly on them, nor are their duties by any means onerous. They have to keep a bright lookout in the day-time for nothing in particular, which comes very naturally to them; for they have got into the habit of gazing into vacancy. Now and then they are taken out for some gentle exercise in the long-boat of the station, and take a leisurely pull along the coast, which has a good deal of the character of a pleasure trip. They have some night patrolling to do, which is very much a matter of form, now that smuggling has become a thing most unheard of. The night walk may not be always agreeable, when they have to face wind and rain in broken weather, or swallow down mouthfuls of the damp sea fog that is swathing everything in a watery mantle. Those heaps of white stones which mark out their beats along the southern chalk cliffs are suggestive of promenades that must often be dreary, and occasionally have a dash of danger as well; for a blunder in their bearings might precipitate them down a depth of a few hundred feet among the shingle and seaweed on the beach below. But on such weather-beaten headlands they have shelter-houses erected where they may seek temporary refuge in the wildest nights; and, on the whole, these solitary nocturnal walks must be a rather agreeable variety in their existence.

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'No human lot is perfect, however, and the drawbacks to theirs are its routine and monotony. They may, indeed, look forward nowadays to an annual cruise in one of Her Majesty's ships, when they enjoy complete change of scene, and revive their old nautical associations. And occasionally when vessels are in distress on the coast, they have the excitement of putting out to

the assistance of the crew, or working the patent rocket apparatus that is to establish means of communication. But, as a rule, they are driven to betake themselves to desultory lounging, in which, with incessant practice, they become highly accomplished. Occasionally this habit, conspiring with circumstances, tends somewhat to demoralise them. The experienced visitor to famous points of view in the vicinity of popular watering-places learns to sheer away as he sees the preventive man standing off and on with an elaborate air of attention to everything except the stranger advancing in his direction. For when the unwary wanderer comes within easy hailing distance, the look-out is apt to bear down suddenly and grapple him. Then the customary observations as to the weather are followed by the friendly tender of the telescope, and you know that before you may pursue your way you must pay your shilling if you care not to be considered shabby, But the Coastguard watch in less frequented places is usually a well-informed local guide, of frank but by no means obtrusive manners, with a fair share of intelligence, and possibly a store of professional traditions. He will not only explain the geography of the neighbourhood, and enlighten you as to aquatic matters generally, but he will confide to you, as you grow friendly, how time hangs heavy with him, and will indulge in half-grumbling, reminiscences of those good old times when the duties of the preventive guard were no sinecure."

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Then the Review goes on to describe the exciting and perilous post of the Coastguard, when import duties were excessive, and lucky smugglers made rapid fortunes: "The sympathies of the whole adjacent country were against them. Half the country people were employed from time to time in running illicit cargoes, and made a very profitable thing of it. Those were the days of hard drinking, and farmers almost openly encouraged a trade that dropped kegs of cheap Hollands and runlets of pure French brandy at their very doors. As for the women, of course-to say nothing of their romantic sympathies with daring law-breakers-they were all in favour of the men who filled and sweetened the cheering tea-cup that would otherwise have been altogether beyond their means. Even gentlemen' holding His Majesty's Commission of the Peace were said to connive at the 'fair trade' for a consideration, and to express no surprise at the production of mysterious casks that had been concealed in out-of-the-way corners of their premises. There were certain depôts in dry caverns, in remote farmsteads, or sequestered barns, the secret of which was religiously preserved, although it was the common property of highly questionable characters. There were codes of signals which could be clearly read by all but the preventive men, and which gave notice of danger or of a favourable opportunity, as the case might be. The officer in charge of the station had his faculties preternaturally sharpened, and could scent something wrong in the most natural incidents. The wreaths of smoke rising from a heap of