nd boat building
operations were carried on was the town of Saardam. This town lies
near Amsterdam, the great commercial capital of the country. It
extends for a mile or two along the banks of a deep and still river,
which furnish most complete and extensive facilities for the docks and
ship-yards.

Now it happened that, one day when Peter was with Le Fort at one of his
country palaces where there was a little lake, and a canal connected
with it, which had been made for pleasure-sailing on the grounds, his
attention was attracted to the form and construction of a yacht which
was lying there. This yacht having been sent for from Holland at the
time when the palace grounds were laid out, the emperor fell into
conversation with Le Fort in respect to it, and this led to the subject
of ships and ship-building in general. Le Fort represented so strongly
to his master the advantages which Holland and the other maritime
powers of Europe derived from their ships of war, that Peter began
immediately to feel a strong desire to possess a navy himself. There
were, of course, great difficulties in the way. Russia was almost
entirely an inland country. There were no good sea-ports, and Moscow,
the capital, was situated very far in the interior. Then, besides,
Peter not only had no ships, but there were no mechanics or artisans in
Russia that knew how to build them.

Le Fort, however, when he perceived how deep was the interest which
Peter felt in the subject, made inquiries, and at length succeeded in
finding among the Dutch merchants that were in Moscow the means of
procuring some ship-builders to build him several small vessels, which,
when they were completed, were launched upon a lake not far from the
city. Afterward other vessels were built in the same place, in the
form of frigates; and these, when they were launched, were properly
equipped and armed, under Le Fort's direction, and the emperor took
great interest in sailing about in them on the lake, in learning
personally all the evolutions necessary for the management of them, and
in performing sham-fights by setting one of them against another. He
took command of one of the vessels as captain, and thenceforward
assumed that designation as one of his most honorable titles. All this
took place when Peter was about twenty-two years old.

Not very long after this the emperor had an opportunity to make a
commencement in converting his nautical knowledge to actual use