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ING CHARLES appears to have possessed a genius for amusing himself; he is known in history as the "Merry Monarch." Fortunately, yachting was one of his pleasures, and it seems reasonable to suppose that during his exile, some seventeen years, and while in Holland, he acquired a knowledge of yachts and yachting. The first yacht ever known in England as such was the one that, as we have seen, was presented to King Charles II. before his departure from Holland. In due course, she came to England, together with her appellation.

Concerning the yachts of England at that period, we are indebted to Samuel Pepys, John Evelyn, and the Admiralty and State papers, for nearly all our information, but chiefly to Pepys, who was Clerk of the Acts, and subsequently Secretary to