'The Lady Hermione,' as the vessel whose qualities and characteristics it is proposed to describe is called, is the property of Her Majesty's Ambassador at Paris, his Excellency the Marquis of Dufferin and Ava. His Lordship, as is well known, has from very early days been a keen yachtsman, and though for some time past he has had no opportunities of indulging in his favourite pastime in large yachts, he has long been devoted to sailing in vessels in which he comprises in his own person the hierarchy of owner, master, and crew. During the last fifteen years, in whatever part of the world he may have been, provided sailing were possible, he has never been without a little ship specially constructed for this form of amusement. In each succeeding vessel some new invention or arrangement for her safer, easier, and more efficient handling has suggested itself, and been worked out under the owner's direct supervision. In the present boat the development of the single-handed sailing yacht seems at last to have reached perfection, and it would hardly be possible for the most inventive mind to suggest an improvement in her. [Illustration: FIG. 1.--'The Lady Hermione.'] 'The Lady Hermione' is a yawl-rigged yacht (fig. 1), built by Forrest & Son, of Wivenhoe, to the order of her owner. She is 22 ft. 9 in. long between perpendiculars, 4 ft. 2 in. in depth, has a beam of 7 ft. 3 in., and a registered tonnage of four tons. She is built with mild-steel frames, galvanised so as to resist the corrosive action of sea-water--a mode of construction which has recently been adopted for torpedo-boats--and is sheathed with East Indian teak and coppered. A novel feature in the hull of so small a boat is its division into water-tight compartments by transverse and longitudinal bulkheads, composed of galvanised steel plates riveted to the steel frames. These bulkheads form a large forward compartment, two compartments on each side of the cabin, and a compartment at the stern, thus rendering the vessel water-tight as long as they remain intact.