These reproductions are most interesting in view of the development of the ship; we see in them the forms of the castle become more precise, the rigging improve and increase and the vessel itself gain in size. Attention is called to the fact that the ships in all these drawings carry a bowsprit which was used at first only to hoist the anchor, as is the practice still on the large river lakes. Let us now turn our eyes to Breugel’s pictures of which F. Huis has left some superb engravings. [Sidenote: II 132] [Sidenote: II 135] [Sidenote: II 64] A close examination of these reproductions brings out different types of ships. Several of them show us important vessels which, by their great rams, their high castles and their broad sterns, differ notably from the old Holland ship. Van Yk’s work also shows, on page 9, a reproduction of those big vessels which the author calls Spanish “Caracks” or galleons, two types of ships which arose under the influence of the Mediterranean. But, alongside of these “caracks” are also found smaller Dutch vessels. An engraving of 1564, of a Breugel picture, shows particularly an Amsterdam merchantman. It has a round stern. It can be compared advantageously with an old Flemish engraving, dating from 1480 or 1490, which shows a “Kraeck” without escutcheon, and of which the castles differ completely in form and size from those carried by the ships seen in the engravings of Maître W. A. These castles agree with the Mediterranean types. The boat with the square stern had been adopted in Holland, therefore, as far back as the end of the XVIth century. Square sterns remained in use there, for large vessels up to the end of the XVIIIth century; at that time a return was made to the old structure, in imitation of England which used the square stern for only a short time, seeing that William Pitt (~Holmes~, p. 40) introduced the rounded forms there in the XVIIth century. Hence Mr. de Jonge is in error when he says in his work that the vessel with the square stern only appeared in Holland in 1651. The adoption of the square stern, nevertheless, did not cause the old round-stern, full-bow vessel to disappear; this is an established fact. Another word about ports. The old reproductions of the XVIth century show ports; some are even found on a miniature of 1428. In any event, their general use dates back to the end of the XVth century; they seem to have been invented by a Frenchman from Brest, named Descharges. (~De Jonge~, Vol. I, p. 85.)