the idea of match-making among watermen. The title of a Champion of the Thames seems first to have been held by one R. Campbell, who beat C. Williams, another waterman, in a match on September 9, 1831, and also beat R. Coombes in a match the date of which is doubtful, but it was in heavy beats. Campbell was a powerful and heavy man, while Coombes weighed less that ten stone. Coombes turned the tables on Campbell a few years later (in 1846), and for some years Coombes was held to be invincible. In those times London watermen could, at scratch, man an eight to hold or even beat the best trained crew of amateurs. The original waterman’s wherry was a vehicle of conveyance ; il was of much greater size than would be required to carry one man alone in a shcer contest for speed, but so soon as ‘racing’® came into yogue among watermen, lighter craft were built for matches, and were called ‘wager’ boats, The hull of the wherry was constructed as narrow as possible, and the sides flared out just at the greatest beam, so as to allow of sufficient width to carry the rowlocks with the requisite leverage for the sculls. ‘his detail has already been treated in Chapter XI. under the head of ‘ boat building.’
Coombes had been beaten by Campbell in old-fashioned wherrics, such us could be used for the business of conveying passengers. When he inturn defeated Campbell both men used “wager boats.’ ‘he time came when years told on Coombes, and he had to yield to his own pupil Cole. Coombes was not convinced by his defeat, and made another match, but Cole this time won with greater ease. They rowed in ‘outriggers’ on these occasions, Cole in turn succumbed to Messenger of Teddington in 1855, and two years later Harry Kelley, the best waterman the Thames ever produced, cither as an oarsman or as a judge of rowing, beat Messenger. Up to this time London watermen had been considered invincible at sculling. Harry Clasper had produced four-oar crews from the Tyne to oppose Coombes and his four, but no ‘I'yne sculler had dared to lay claim to the Championship. However, in 1859 Robert Cham- bers was matched with Kelley, and to the horror of the Thames
