Before naming good cruising grounds and touching on cruising, just a word must be said about dinghies. A dinghy is a big piece of furniture for a small yacht, and at times becomes almost a white elephant, especially if the yacht has to make passages or go foreign. The writer has no hesitation in recommending the Berthon dinghy as the most useful, compact, and stow-awayable of any at present in use. After having had practical experience of nearly all sizes of Mr. Berthon's boats, from the 40-ft. launch supplied to the Navy down to the small 7-ft. dinghy, the size found to be most useful is the boat of 8 feet in length. A boat of 7 feet which he has, and which has been in use for fifteen years in all parts of the world, is a most clever little contrivance. She has carried on many occasions two big men with a portmanteau and other baggage, and when sitting on the bottom boards is hard to capsize--in fact, she has never turned turtle as yet. She is very easy to pull and light to carry, but is a little too small to ask a lady to take passage in. The odd foot, however, makes a great difference. A 9-ft. boat was the lifeboat complement of the 'Cyprus,' and this is the largest size of any real value to a small yacht, as the larger boats take too long to open out, and when in the water, unless well filled up and almost brought down to the gunwale, are too light to pull against a head wind. The 9-ft. boat is sometimes difficult to move when it is blowing very hard from the quarter to which it is desired to go, but this occurs seldom, and she is opened out so easily that there may be a question whether a 9-ft. boat might not be, after all, the best to have. The boats will stand any amount of sea, and they travel under sail or oar propulsion, when not too much pressed, very dry and easily. Should the canvas happen to get cut, the best stitch with which to sew up the wound is that known as the 'Cobbler's.' An awl is required to make the holes for the stitches and a couple of ends similar to those used by a cobbler. This stitch is not so likely to tear the canvas, and brings it closer together than the sailmaker's stitch called 'herring-boning,' which is no use at all for making a water-tight mend. The outer skin may want a coat of paint once a year, and if so, the paint should be mixed up with boiled oil; then, when it is put on, the canvas will remain flexible and will not harden up and crack. Mr. Berthon supplies a special paint for his boats, but it is not always procurable, and any paint mixed with boiled oil will serve the purpose. _Cruising._