$72 
said to excel at the present day is 
naval architecture, for which, how- 
ever, they are nota little indebted 
to the size and quality of the timber 
employed for that purpose. ‘Their 
rowsgallies for pleasure are remark- 
ably fine vessels.  ‘I’hese boats, 
frem filty to eighty feet in length, 
are sometimes composed of five sin. 
. gle planks, each extending from one 
extremity to the other, the edges 
morticed, kept tight by wooden 
pins, and bound firm by twisted 
fibres of bamboo, without either 
ribs or any kind of timbers. At 
the stem and stern they are raised to 
a considerable height, and are curi- 
ously carved into monstrous figures 
of dragons and Serpents, ornamented 
with gilding and painting. A num. 
ber of poles and spears bearing flags 
and streamers, pikes ornamented 
with tufts of cows’ tails painted 
red, lanterns and umbrellas, and 
other insignia denoting the rank of 
the passenger, are erected at each 
end of the boat. And as these peo- 
ple, like the Chinese, differ in most 
of their notions from the greater 
portion of mankind, the company 
always sit in the fore part of the 
boat; but as it would bea breach 
of good manners for the rowers to 
turn their backs on the passengers, | 
they stand with their faces towards 
the bow of the boat, pushing the 
oars from them instead of pulling 
towards them, as is usnally done in 
the western world. The servants 
and the baggage occupy the stern of 
the boat. The vessels that are em. 
ployed in the coasting trade, the 
fishing craft, and-those which collect 
the trepan and swallow’s nests 
among the cluster of islands called 
the Paracels, are of various descrip- 
tions ; many of them, like the Chi. 
nese Sampans, covered with sheds 
ANNUAL REG ISTER, 1806, 
of matting, under which a whole 
family constantly resides; and 
others, resembling the common 
proas of the Malays, both as to_ 
their hulls and rigging. Their fo. 
reign traders are built on the same 
plan as the Chinese junks, the form 
and construction of which are cer- 
tainly not to be held out as perfect 
models of naval architecture; yet, 
as they have subsisted some thou. 
sands of years unaltered, they are at 
least entitled to a little respect from 
the antiquity of the invention. As 
these vessels never were intended 
for ships of war, extraordinary 
Swiftness for pursuit or escape was 
not an essential quality : security 
rather than speed was the object of 
the owner. And as no great capi. 
tals were individually employed in 
trade, and the merchant was both 
owner and navigator, a limited tone 
nage was sufficient for his own mer. 
chandize; the vessel was therefore 
divided, in order to obviate this in. 
convenience, into distinct compart. 
ments, so that one ship might sepa. 
rately accommodate many mer- 
chants, The bulk heads by which 
these divisions were formed consist. 
ed of planks of two inches thick, so 
well caulked and secured as to be 
completely water-tight. 
Whatever objections may be 
_ Started against the dividing of ships’ 
holds, and the interference in the 
Stowage seems to be the most mate- 
rial one, it cannot be denied that it 
gives to large vessels many impor. 
tant advantages, A ship, thus for- 
tified with cross bulk heads, may 
strike on a rock and yet sustain [no 
Serious injury; a leak springing ‘in 
one division of the hold will not be 
attended with any damage to the 
articies placed in another : and b 
the ship being thus so well bound 
together, 
