The advantages of the new rig were quickly discovered.

Vessels carrying it were found to sail closer to the wind, were easier to handle in narrow quarters, and--what in the end proved of prime importance--could be safely manned by smaller crews.

With these advantages the schooner made its way to the front in the shipping lists.

The New England shipyards began building them, almost to the exclusion of other types.

Before their advance brigs, barks, and even the magnificent full-rigged ship itself gave way, until now a square-rigged ship is an unusual spectacle on the ocean.