There is a marked advantage in taking the Erie Canal to reach the great lakes; with a vessel of proper size the passage of the canal is safe and easy, whilst the trip around by the Gulf and River of St. Lawrence is very long and surrounded by difficulties, although the voyage will richly repay one for taking it, as it affords greater variety in sea and landscape than any other possible in America. Steam yachting on the great lakes is also increasing rapidly, and in the harbours of the large cities, as Buffalo, Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Chicago, many steam pleasure craft may be seen, usually of a length of 100 ft. or less, so as to make their way to the salt water by the canal. As in the case of sailing yachts, 95 per cent. of steam craft are to be found north of the capes of the Delaware, but their numbers are increasing south of that point more rapidly than their sailing sisters. The Gulf and tributary waters as yet show very few pleasure craft of either sort, and the Pacific coast, on account of the high cost of fuel, is not the scene of steam yachting to any considerable extent. In the Bay of San Francisco, however, are a large number of naphtha launches that find very favourable water in that shallow sea. There is far less variety of form and rig among steam yachts than in any other pleasure craft. The accepted form at present is a flush-deck vessel with pole masts, triple-expansion engine, and some modification of the old Belville boiler, a form that has many varieties, none of which are satisfactory in more than a few points. They are generally safe from explosion, but very short-lived, and difficult to manage. The compound engine was introduced into yachting craft about the year 1875, and its success was as marked as in all other branches of marine construction. The triple-expansion engine was first used in 1884 with increased success over its ancestor, the compound, and in 1888 the quadruple engine was put into a few yachts; but it may be questioned if it possesses any advantages over the triple for the general uses of yachting. The use of high-expansion engines not only results in a marked economy of fuel, but, through a wide distribution of power and strain, far greater durability is attained, as well as greater freedom from vibration, which often imparts discomfort to the passengers, and injury to the hull of the yacht.