Page:The history of yachting.djvu/407

 Rh, of the Mandarine Yatcht, owned by the Duke of Cumberland. This curious craft appears to have been the grandmother of the fashionable house-boat of the present day on the upper Thames; and seems well suited to the purpose for which she was intended.

Falconers Marine Dictionary (1771) defines a yacht as follows: "A vessel of State, usually employed to convey princes, ambassadors, or other great personages from one kingdom to another. As the principal design of a yacht is to accommodate the passengers, it is usually fitted with a variety of convenient apartments, with suitable furniture, according to the quality or number of persons contained therein. The royal yachts are commonly rigged at Ketches, except the principal one reserved for the Sovereign, which is equipped with three masts like a ship. They are in general elegantly furnished and richly ornamented with sculpture, and always commanded by captains in his majesty's navy. Besides these, there are many other yachts of a smaller kind, employed by the Commissioners of Excise, Navy and Customs; or used as pleasure-boats by private gentlemen."

In 1773 Earl Ferrers owned a yacht which is thus described in the Gentleman's Magazine, "Earl Ferrers arrived at Deptford in his yacht from a cruise of about three weeks, which he took in order to make a trial of his new method of constructing ships, and we are informed by a person who has conversed with one of the officers belonging to her, that nothing that was ever built answered all purposes so well, as they say that she is not only a fast