IN bringing this book to the notice of the readers of the LIFE-BOAT JOURNAL, it is felt that no apology is necessary on account of the subject not being one purely relating to Life-boats. The two volumes, which are adopted by the Victoria and Albert Museum as Science Text-books, are of such deep interest to those whose calling has been to follow the sea, or who, for other reasons, are attracted by ships and shipping, that a debt of gratitude is due to Sir George 0. V. Holmes for having given us this history of ships from practically their first inception. It is no " dry as dust" account, this " Ancient and Modern Ships," but pleasantly written, with a notable absence of too many technical and scientific words : not that the scientific aspect is avoided, as witness Appendix I., Part II., relating to that deeply scientific and difficult subject, "The external forces which act on ships and the strains which they produce." In the Preface to Part I. -we are told that the task has been difficult, "for the annals of shipbuilding have been very badly kept down to a quite recent period, and the statements made by * By Sir George 0. V. Holmes, K.C.V.O., C.B. Victoria and Albert Museum Science Hand-Book. Messrs. Wyman & Sons, Ltd., Fetter Lane, E.G.

old writers concerning ships are not only meagre, but often extremely inaccurate.

Moreover, the drawings and paintings of vessels which have survived from the classical period are few and far between, and were made by artists who thought more of pictorial effect than accuracy of detail. Fortunately the carvings of the Egyptians were an exception to the above rule. Thanks to their practice of recording and illustrating their history in one of the most imperishable of materials, we know more of their ships and maritime expeditions than we do of those of any other people of antiquity"; and "The researches now being systematically carried out in the Valley of the Nile add year by year to our knowledge, and already we know enough to enable us to assert that shipbuilding is one of the oldest of human industries, and that there probably existed a sea-borne commerce in the Mediterranean long before the building of the Pyramids." It is pointed out that next to nothing is known of the vessels of the Phoenicians, the principal maritime people of antiquity, and the same may be said of the early Greeks, though it is hoped that further research will bring to light more concerning the earliest types of Greek vessels, for in 1899 a vase of the eighth century B.C. (now in the British Museum) was found with a representation of a "bireme" of the Archaic period on itf. " The drawings of Greek merchant ships and galleys on sixth and fifth century vases are merely pictures which tell us but little that we really want to know. If it had not been for the discovery this century (the nineteenth) that a drain of the Piraeus was partly constructed of marble slabs on which were engraved the inventories of the Athenian dockyards, we should know but little of the great triremes of as late a period as the third century B.C." Apparently there is not a single illustration of a Greek or Roman trireme in existence. For the first eight centuries of the Christian era (the author states) records and illustrations of ships are extremely meagre.

Something is known about Scandinavian boats, owing to a recent discovery, and it seems probable that the Norsemen's types of vessels were dominant in Northern and Western European waters from the tenth to the twelfth century. From the Norman Conquest to Henry VIII. " we have to rely for information about ships upon occasional notes by the old chroniclers, helped out by a few illustrations taken from ancient corporate seals and from manuscripts.

From the time of Henry VIII. onwards information about warships is much more abundant ; but unfortunately little is known of the merchant vessels of the Tudor, Stuart, and early Hanoverian periods, and it has not been found possible to trace the origin and development of the various types of merchant sailing ships now in existence." Part I., which deals exclusively with wooden sailing ships, takes us from the earliest known vessels down to the development of the magnificent clippers built in mid-Victorian time which were afterwards superseded by iron and steel vessels. An introductory chapter deals with statistics, and gives a table of the number of sailing and steam vessels of over 100 tons belonging to twelve different nations in the year 1898, from which it is seen that out of a total tonnage of 27,673,528, the United Kingdom and Colonies owned no less than 13,988,508 tons, and the chapter explains how this position has been attained.

The book then goes on giving some account of every known type of vessel of antiquity in chronological order.

It will no doubt be information to most people that there are now in existence boats which were built prior to the date usually assigned to the Ark, viz., 2840 B.C. "In the year 1894 the French Egyptologist Monsieur J. de Morgan discovered several Nile boats of the time of the twelfth dynasty (2850 B.C.) admirably preserved in brick vaults at Dashur, a little above Cairo. . . . The boats are about 33 feet long, 7 to 8 feet wide, 2J to 3J feet deep." From Egypt we are introduced to the progress of naval architecture in the time of ancient Greece and Rome, illustrated by numerous engravings taken from Persian and Etruscan ware, marbles, etc. A most interesting chapter describes the construction of Greek and Roman galleys and explanations are given a» to how the tiers of oars were worked.

On leaving this early period the ancient ships of Northern Europe are described, with an interesting allusion to the active part taken, by Alfred the Great, who is generally regarded as the founder of the English Navy. He designed ships superior in type and size to those of his enemies the Danes. " They were fully twice as long as the others ; some had sixty oars and some had more; they were, shaped neither like the Frisian nor the Danish." The result being that in 897 King Alfred met and defeated a Danish squadron. A full description and illustrations are given of the Viking ship discovered at Gogstad at the entrance of the Fjord of Christiania in 1880, from which such a fund of valuable information accrued. Mediieval ships of course occupy a considerable space in Part I. and are profusely illustrated.

Graphic descriptions of Columbus's ships are given, and later on the vessels both of England and Spain in the interesting period of Queen Elizabeth's reign are described.

Part I. concludes with accounts of various merchant vessels in the 19th century, showing how such celebrated clippers as the The Great Republic (American), the Stornoway, Chrysolite and Cairngorm (Aberdeen), grew out of the old slow type of sailing vessel chiefly in consequence of the keen competition between Great Britain and the United States.

It will probably be Part II. which will most appeal to the general reader, for, with the exception of a most interesting chapter on " Early Wooden Steamers," in which a description is given of the first vessels in which steam was used for marine propulsion, it is concerned with iron and steel ships.

Quoting from the preface to Part II.

" This volume is in the main devoted to mercantile ships. The man-of-war considered as a fighting machine, has not been touched ; in fact, war vessels have only been alluded to when the introduction o£ peculiarities in their construction seriously influenced the development of shipbuilding. . . A large part of the book has, necessarily, been devoted to a description of steamships that have, at one time or another, played, or that are actually playing, an important role in the history of navigation." It is an absorbing volume and many familiar ships will be found described in it, only to mention such well-known names as the Scotia, Great Eastern, City of Paris, Teutonic, Campania, Oceanic, Kaiser Wilhelm II. and laernia. Appendix I. has already been, alluded to.

Appendix II. treats of "Tonnage and its Measurements at Different Times," an interesting subject to all who love a ship or boat; in fact this remark applies with force to both volumes, and as probably by far the greater proportion of the readers of the LIFE-BOAT JOURNAL have a warm corner in their hearts for ships and boats, it is felt that a benefit is conferred on them by calling attention to Sir George Holmes' delightful work, which also has the great merit of being inexpensive.