ears a greater proportion to its canvas
than that of a frigate or a smaller vessel. The apparent inequality is
most obvious in the smallest vessels, as cutters: and of those kept for
pleasure, and therefore built for the purpose of sailing as fast as
possible, without reference to freight or load, there are many the hull
of which might be entirely wrapt up in the mainsail. It is of course
very rarely, if ever, that a vessel carries at one time all the sail she
is capable of; the different sails being usually employed according to
the circumstances of direction of wind and course. The sails of a ship,
when complete, are as follows:--

The lowermost sail of the mast, called thence the _mainsail_, or
_foresail_; the _topsail_, carried by the _topsail-yard_; the
_top-gallant-sail_; and above this there is also set a _royal_ sail, and
again above this, but only on emergencies, a sail significantly called a
_sky-sail_. Besides all this, the three lowermost of these are capable
of having their surface to be exposed to the wind increased by means of
_studding_ sails, which are narrow sails set on each side beyond the
regular one, by means of small _booms_ or yards, which can be slid out
so as to extend the lower yards and topsail-yards: the upper parts of
these additional sails hang from small yards suspended from the
principal ones, and the boom of the lower studding-sails is hooked on to
the chains. Thus each of the two principal masts, the fore and main, are
capable of bearing no less than thirteen distinct sails. If a ship could
be imagined as cut through by a plane, at right angles to the keel,
close to the mainmast, the _area_, or surface, of all the sails on this
would be five or six times as great as that of the section or profile of
the hull!

The starboard studding-sails are on the fore-mast, and on both sides of
the main-top-gallant and main-royal; but, in going nearly before a wind,
there is no advantage derived from the stay-sails, which, accordingly,
are not set. The flying-jib is to be set to assist in steadying the
motion.

The mizen-mast, instead of a lower square-sail like the two others, has
a sail like that of a cutter, lying in the plane of the keel, its bottom
stretched on a boom, which extends far over the taffarel, and the upper
edge carried by a _gaff_ or yard sloping upwards, supported by ropes
from the top of the mizen-mast.

All these sails, the sky-sails excepted, have four sides, as have also