226 On the Australian and Malayu-Polynesian Nations. 
state than elsewhere; but this is, evidently, the result of contact 
with strangers, by whom, indeed, the navigation is personally con- 
ducted. 
The highest state of the art among the Papuans, without foreign 
assistance, is met with in Torres Strait, and upon the south coast of 
New Guinea. Here they possess large canoes of such construction, 
and propelled in so peculiar a manner, that we must consider them 
purely Papuan. Some very excellent sketches of these canoes are 
given in Flinders’ Voyage, with so full a description, that. it will be 
unnecessary for me to enter into minute particulars, These canoes 
or boats are from thirty to forty feet long, and the planks with which 
they are constructed are sewed. together with the fibres of the cocoa- 
nut. ach is provided with an outrigger, and a platform of bamboo 
occupies the centre of the boat on a level with the gunwale. They 
are propelled in calm weather by paddles with long handles, the 
rowers all standing, as is generally the case among the Papuans. 
But the most striking peculiarity of their vessels consists in the sail, 
which is an oblong piece of matting, set up in the fore part of the 
vessel, by means of two poles or masts, to which the upper corners 
of the sail are fastened. These masts are moveable, and the sail is 
trimmed by shifting the head of one of the masts aft, According to 
my experience, these boats sail very indifferently, except before the 
wind; but Captain Flinders, who had good opportunities of judging, 
maintains a more fayourable opinion. They are often to be met 
with about the month of March, three or four hundred miles down 
the north-east coast of Australia, the islanders being in the habit of 
making an annual voyage in this direction. The stopping places 
are usually the islands lying off the coasts, where they obtain tor- 
toise-shell and trepang, the chief objects of their voyages. 
The natives of the south coast of New Guinea have very large 
canoes of a similar, but more unwieldy construction, and propelled 
by a.similar description of sail. These have never been seen far 
from the coast, and, in fact, are almost unmanageable, from the dif- 
ficulty experienced in steering such unwieldy masses with paddles 
alone. It is, therefore, difficult to conceive for what purpose they 
have been constructed, unless. it should be for war, in which case 
their large size would give them an imposing appearance. 
The New Guinea canoes generally are of light construction, and 
are provided with an outrigger. The larger ones have an attap 
roof, and are capable. of containing an entire family, with household 
furniture and: domestic animals.—(Vide The Journal of the Indian 
Archipelago and Eastern Asia, Vol. III., No. xi., p. 1, for this ex- 
cellent Ethnological memoir.) 
