class="left3">  54.

The "Falmouth." East Indiaman. Launched 1752 124   55. The "Royal George." 1746 127   56. The "Commerce de Marseille. 1792 130   57. British First-rate. 1794 132   58. British First-rate. 1794 133   59. Heavy French Frigate of 1780 134   60. Heavy French Frigate of 1780 135   61. The "Howe." 1815 136   62. Sir Robert Seppings' System of Construction 138   63. Sir Robert Seppings' System of Construction 139   64. Sir Robert Seppings' System of Construction 140   65. The "Waterloo" 141   66. The "Queen" 143 †67. The "Thames." East Indiaman. 1819 144 †68. The "Thetis." West Indiaman 146 †69. Free-Trade Barque 148 ‡70. The "Bazaar." American Cotton-ship. 1832 149 ‡71. The "Sir John Franklin." American Transatlantic Sailing-packet. 1840 151 ‡72. The "Ocean Herald." American Clipper. 1855 152 ‡73. The "Great Republic." American Clipper. 1853 154   74. Archaic Greek Bireme. About 800 b.c. 158

The illustrations marked * are published by kind permission of the Committee of the Egypt Exploration Fund. Those marked † are taken from "The History of Merchant Shipping and Ancient Commerce," and were kindly lent by Messrs. Sampson Low, Marston & Co., Ltd. Those marked ‡ are reproduced from "La Marine Française de 1792 à nos jours," by l'Amiral Paris.

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ANCIENT AND MODERN SHIPS.

Part I.

WOODEN SAILING-SHIPS.

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CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION.

A museum relating to Naval Architecture and Shipbuilding is of the utmost interest to the people of Great Britain, on account of the importance to them of everything that bears on the carrying of their commerce. Every Englishman knows, in a general way, that the commerce of the British Empire is more extensive than that of any other state in the world, and that the British sea-going mercantile marine compares favourably in point of size even with that of all the other countries of the world put together; but few are probably aware of the immense importance to us of these fleets of trading ships, and of the great part which they play in the maintenance of the prosperity of these isles. The shipping industry ranks, after agriculture, as the largest of our national commercial pursuits. There is more capital locked up in it, and more hands are employed in the navigation and construction of ships, their engines and fittings, than in any other trade of the country excepting the tillage of the soil.

The following Table gives the relative figures of the merchant navies of the principal states of the civilised world in the year 1898, and proves at a glance the immense