200 CANOES OF ROSSEL ISLAND DESCRIBED. 



lar to that already described, and on the other is a 

 small stag-e^ level with the g'unwale^ six feet long*^ 

 planked over^ and projecting* four feet or thereabouts. 

 The mast is a standing- one stepped into a board in 

 the bottom^ — it is lashed to a stout transverse 

 pole^ and is further supported by two fore and aft 

 stays. The halliards reeve throug-h a hole in a pro- 

 jecting* arm a foot long^ at the masthead. But the 

 sail forms the most curious feature in the whole 

 affair.* It measures about fifteen feet in width by 



eig'ht in depth and is made of rather fine matting* 



* The annexed illustration represents this kind of sail, — it was 

 not however taken from the canoe in question, but on a subse- 

 quent occasion, and at another part of the Louisiade Archipelago. 



