and we will leave the forests
of Far-away and sit and think of them under our humble grape-vines and
honeysuckles.

BUILDING SHIPS.

[Illustration: BOAT BUILDING.]

It is a grand thing to own great ships, and to send them over the
ocean to distant countries; but I will venture to say that few men
have derived so much pleasure from their fine vessels, laden with all
kinds of valuable freight, as many a boy has had in the possession of
a little schooner, which would be overloaded with a quart of
chestnuts. And it is not only in the ownership of these little crafts
that boys delight; they enjoy the building of them quite as much.

And a boy who can build a good ship is not to be laughed at by any
mechanic or architect, no matter how tall or how old he may be.

The young ship-builder who understands his trade, when he is about to
put a vessel on the stocks--to speak technically--first makes up his
mind whether it is to be a ship, a schooner, a sloop, or merely a
sail-boat, and determines its size. Then he selects a good piece of
solid, but light wood, which will be large enough for the hull. Pine
is generally used; but if he can get a piece of well-seasoned white
willow, he will find it to work very easily. Then he shapes his hull
with knife and saw, according to the best of his ability. On this
process the success of the whole undertaking depends. If the bottom is
not cut perfectly true on both sides, if the bow is not shapely and
even, if the stern is not rounded off and cut up in the orthodox
fashion, his ship will never sail well, no matter how admirably he may
execute the rest of his work. If there is a ship or boat builder's
establishment anywhere within reasonable walking distance, it will
well pay our young shipwright to go there, and study the forms of
hulls. Even if he should never build a ship, he ought to know how they
look out of the water.

When the hull is properly shaped it must be hollowed out. This is
done by means of a "gouge," or chisel with a curved edge. A small
vessel can be hollowed by means of a knife or ordinary chisel, but it
is best to have a "gouge," if there is much wood to be taken out. When
he has made the interior of his vessel as deep and wide as he thinks
proper, he will put a deck on it, if it is a ship or a schooner; but
if it is a sail-boat or sloop, he will probably only put in seats (or
"thwarts," as the sailors call them), or else half-deck it.

Then comes the most i