A TRIP TO THE LA VAL. 65 
and whereas a pilot-boat is mainly wanted in rough 
weather, and should be capable of living in any sea, 
they have built them open, and any heavy wave breaking 
aboard would swamp them in an instant. 
But of all wonderful productions of the human mind 
the jigger excels ; a mast is stepped alongside the 
stern-post, with a little spritsail hoisted on it ; a sta- 
tionary boom, or out-rigged, is fastened in the stern and 
projects aft into the water; in the end of this boom an 
augur hole is bored, through which is rove the sheet to 
the jigger, and the sail trinmied down or eased oif. By 
this ingenious arrangement all possible disadvantages are 
combined without one conceivable advantage. How- 
ever, not to condemn unreasonably, there are conve- 
niences in this singular rig. The bowsprit can be taken 
out and used to shove off from rocks or a lee shore, and 
as these vessels are never known to go to windward, that 
is important ; the sprit of the jigger can be used to 
boom out the mainsail when going wing and wing ; any 
passenger, finding a sail incommodes him, can reach up 
and wrap it round the mast, out of his way ; and in fact, 
if he were to pull it down and put it in his pocket, no 
one would miss it ; and finally, a Kentuckian might find 
the mainmast useful, w^ith a little whittling, as a tooth- 
pick. It is also rather perplexing that the Canadians 
should call the foresail the grancle voile^ which is the 
proper name for the mainsail, and then call the mainsail 
the mizzin, in pronouncing which they endeavor to cheat 
the last syllable of its vowel ; whereas, the jigger, if any, 
is entitled to be called the mizzen. Instead of having a 
cabin, like Christians, they have amidships, for it is a 
