342 THE OCEAN. 



square-sail made of mats of split bamboo, extended 

 by horizontal rods of bamboo, on which the sail 

 is rolled up when reefing is necessary. The largest, 

 though sometimes of twelve hundred tons, have but 

 one deck, but the immense hold is divided into com- 

 partments, allotted to the several adventurers and 

 their goods. Mr. Earl describes one which he met 

 with in Banca Straits, in somewhat unfavourable 

 style. " While wind-bound," he observes, " a Chinese 

 junk passed close by us. A considerable number 

 of the crew were standing on the high, thatched 

 habitation erected on their quarter-deck, and per- 

 ceiving a Chinese passenger whom we had on board, 

 they all hailed together to demand the state of the 

 markets ; but they asked so many questions at once, 

 that our friend became quite bewildered, and the 

 junk passed astern before he could decide to which 

 he should first reply. Even if he had spoken, the 

 junk-people could not have profited by his efforts, 

 for they continued bawling until quite out of hear- 

 ing. This junk, which was about two hundred tons' 

 burthen, carried two immense mat-sails, with a num- 

 ber of small yards extending along them, giving 

 them the appearance of bats' wings. She passed us 

 quickly, on account of the current being in her 

 favour ; but, although the breeze was strong, she 

 went slowly through the water, and might be deemed 

 little better than an unwieldy hulk."* — The inflated 

 ideas which the Chinese maintain of their own per- 

 fection are adverse to any improvement in these 

 singular structures; indeed, an attempt at innova- 



* Eastern Seas, p. 129. 



