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CATAMARANS AND CANOES. 



white paint. As the sea washes over a catamaran 

 during- rough weather^ on such an occasion a small 

 temporary stage is sometimes erected in the centre^ 

 and on this the cargo is secured witli strips of cane. 

 The canoe of this part of New Guinea is usually 

 about twenty-five feet in leng'th^ and carries seven 

 or eight people. It is made of the trunk of a tree^ 

 hollowed out like a long' trough^ roundly pointed at 

 each end^ a foot and a half in extreme width, with 

 the sides bulging out below and falling in at top^ 

 leaving onlj" eight inches between the gunwales 

 which are strengthened by a pole running along 

 from end to end. The ends — which are alike — are 

 carved like those of the catamaran in imitation of 

 the head of a turtle or snake, but more elaborately. 

 The outrigg'er consists of a float as long as the 



