Canada is rich in all the necessaries that are called into play in ship-and yacht-building, the woods she provides for the purpose being some of the finest in the world. Nothing can come up to her timbers, such as the spruce, yellow and red pine varieties, either for length, evenness of grain, or freedom from knots, and it is to Canada that we in England are so deeply indebted for most of the timber used in our shipbuilding yards. AUSTRALIA In Australia yachting has had, and in some places still has, a hard fight to assert itself against the exciting sport of horse-racing. The oldest yachting community is that stationed at Sydney, New South Wales, where the two leading clubs date back to the years 1863 and 1867, viz. the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, and the Prince Alfred Yacht Club. Yacht-racing, however, was carried on long before those years, and perhaps owing to the fine piece of water, some twelve square miles in area, enclosed within Port Jackson Heads, which lends itself to aquatic pursuits, yachting here has taken greater hold of the inhabitants than at any other place in the Southern Ocean. No finer boat sailers exist anywhere than at Sydney. There are a goodly number of yachts connected with the Port, and no money or care has been spared to keep the Sydney fleet up to date. Both Messrs. G. L. Watson and W. Fife, jun., to say nothing of other well-known designers, have from time to time given a helping hand towards furthering this end. The classes, however, which give the most sport, and which can draw together 5,000 or more onlookers during a racing day, are those that include the open boats. These are altogether a speciality of Sydney. The limits of the three principal classes are--for the First Class.--24 ft. length, with not less than 7 ft. beam, and 3 ft. depth. Second Class.--19 ft. length, with not less than 6.5 ft. beam, and 30 in. depth. Third Class.--17 ft. length, with not less than 5 ft. beam, and 20 in. depth.