CATAMARAN. 



117 



FEEJEE DOUBLE WAR-CANOE. 



thirty-three feet; in width and depth, each 

 thirty inches ; and placed asunder, sixteen feet. 

 Each hull was furnished with a center-board 

 and a rudder; and in their form and equip- 

 ments, perfect symmetry was preserved. The 

 rig used was that of a sloop spreading about 

 900 square feet of sail; the whole structure 

 weighing 3,300 pounds. With this description 

 of double-hulled boat, a very high speed was 

 obtained. With a strong beam wind and smooth 

 sea, twenty miles an hour was made, and seven 



miles an hour in beating to windward. Since 

 1876 many catamarans of various forms have 

 been built, most of them having rigid connec- 

 tions, which in smooth water are well enough, 

 but in rough water too much strain is imposed 

 by not allowing each hull to pitch independ- 

 ently of the other. Within a few years, steam 

 has been applied for the propulsion of a dou- 

 ble-hulled vessel, both in this country and in 

 England, but in neither case was a greater 

 speed obtained than in ordinary vessels. 



CROSS-SECTION OF MODERN CATAMARAN "JOHN GILPIN. ' 



