ICE YACHTING.
FescrNATnia pastimes like yacht and boat sailing ought to sink into insignificance when compared with the fascinations of ice yachting, if speed alone be the cause of excitement. It is, however, difficult for a Briton to realise the extraordinary enthusiasm ice-boat racing or sailing gives rise to in Canada, the United States, and some parts of Europe. The mere idea of being conveyed through the air in a boat at a rate equal to the speed of the fastest express train repels rather than fascinates; however, those who have experienced the extraordinary velocity of an ice yacht say that when the first dread of the lightning-like flight is over come, the longing for the fast travelling of an ice yacht becomes quite a fascination.
Ice boating in England has been attempted on many occasions, and in Folkard's " Sailing Boat" are numerous plans for making such con trivances ; however, none of these agree with the American plan of making ice boats, but, as the Americans have had more experience of ice-boat sailing than any other people in the world, we may take it for granted that their plan is in every way better adapted than any other for the attainment of high speed and safety. A winter seldom occurs in America when no ice-boat sailing is possible ; and on the Hudson and smaller lakes of Canada the sport is as much a winter amusement as cat-boat sailing is at the watering-places during the summer months.
In the British Isles we do not often get a long enough duration of frost to render ice boating possible; but ice boats have been constructed and sailed, and the frequent inquiry for information concerning them would lead one to think that, with suitable opportunities, ice-boat sailing would become as popular here as it is in North America ; and, as the boats are very simple and inexpensive in construction, there is no reason why the amusement should not be taken up by anyone who knows anything at all about boat sailing or boat steering. The engraving which we give of the American ice yacht, Haze (owned by Mr. Aaron Ines, of Pough keepsie, U.S.), is, we presume, a fair example of Transatlantic ice yachts, although they are not all exactly alike in every detail. The different parts of the yacht and the mode of construction can be readily understood from the engraving, and all we need do is to describe these parts, and