To obviate the necessity for 'legs,' a simple and efficient substitute is shown in the transverse section. Two deep bilge pieces 10 feet long are bolted to broad stringers above the timbers, and extend fore and aft some 5 feet longer than the bilge pieces, thus distributing the strain over a large portion of the boat. They are wide at the skin, and taper downwards. The bolts are inserted diagonally, and the bilge pieces are shod with keel bands; they are modelled on the outsides, but the inner faces are flat and _almost_ parallel, being further apart aft than forward by one inch, for reasons that need not here be mentioned. Such a contrivance helps to improve the leeway of so shallow a boat, although not proportionately to the area immersed. It is objectionable on grounds set forth by Kemp and others, as offering a larger surface for friction than is the coefficient for the lateral gain; but it is a great comfort when you have to take the ground and wish to have dinner with ease of mind (a necessity with a dyspeptic), and a joyful exchange for the sloppy, and lumbering, and inconvenient and unsteady 'legs.' [Illustration: Section of 'Iris,' showing permanent legs.] The boat is 'ketch' rigged--probably the safest of all rigs, and certainly the simplest and least laborious to be worked by few hands; indeed, this boat has been worked to windward in a narrow tideway, single-handed, over and over again. This comfortable rig was determined upon after many experiments. The boat was originally schooner-rigged, with sails by Lapthorn; but she would not wear, at least quickly enough for safety, in narrow waters and crooked channels, especially in strong winds. This difficulty in 'wearing' is common to many good-sized boats. Quite recently I saw a revenue cutter charging away towards a bank with several hands at the tiller, and the main sheet eased off without affecting her mad career until the officer scandalised her mainsail; then she slowly yielded the point, and just cleared the bank by tearing up the sand and mud, leaving a yellow track behind her. Again, during the recent racing season, the pilot-boat (about sixty tons) started from Kingstown Harbour for her cruising ground. The old pilot at the helm sucked his pipe with confident air as she slipped; you could almost imagine his saying, 'This old boat and I are old chums; I know her. See how, with one finger on the tiller, I make her gracefully fall off to avoid that group of yachts ahead!' Suddenly the smile disappears; the pipe is chucked from his mouth. She won't fall off! she is charging bang into the yachts! The old man's legs are toughened out, and both hands grasp the tiller, as a shout from the man forward, who is hauling the jib to windward, calls the attention of the other pilots aboard, and one who grasps the situation rushes to the peak-halliards and scandalises the mainsail; then she tears away showing her copper as she fills, while