244 FORESTRY IN LITHUANIA. 



the water that leaks through the sides and bottom is 

 received. The bulk is kept from the sides and ends of 

 the barge by a similar plan. The water which these 

 ill-constructed and imperfectly caulked vessels receive is 

 dipped out at the end and sides of the bulk of wheat. 

 Vessels of this description draw from 10 to 12 inches of 

 water, and yet they frequently get aground in descending 

 the river. The cargoes usually consist of from 180 to 200 

 quarters of wheat. The grain is thrown on the mats, piled 

 as high as the gunwale, and left uncovered, exposed to 

 all the inclemencies of the weather, and to the pilfering 

 of the crew. During the passage, the barge is carried 

 along by the force of the stream, oars being merely used 

 at the head and stern, to steer clear of the sand -banks, 

 which are numerous and shifting, and to direct the vessel 

 in passing under the several bridges. These vessels are 

 conducted by six or seven men. A small boat precedes with 

 a man in it, who is employed in sounding, in order to avoid 

 the shifting shoals. This mode of navigating is necessarily 

 very slow ; and during the progress of it which lasts 

 several weeks, and even months the rain, if any falls, soon 

 causes the wheat to grow, and the vessel assumes the 

 appearance of a floating meadow. The shooting of the 

 fibres soon forms a thick mat, and prevents the rain from 

 penetrating more than an inch or two. The main bulk is 

 protected by this kind of covering, and when that is thrown 

 aside, is found in tolerable condition. The vessels are 

 broken up at Dantzic and usually sell for about two-thirds 

 of their original cost. The men who conduct them return 

 on foot. When the cargo arrives at Dantzic or at Elbing, 

 all but the grown surface is thrown on the land, spread 

 abroad, exposed to the sun and air, and frequently turned 

 over till any slight moisture that it may have imbibed, is 

 dried. If a shower of rain falls, as well as during the 

 night, the heaps of wheat on the shore are thrown together, 

 in the form of the steep roof of a house, that the rain may 

 run off, and are covered with a linen cloth. It is thus 

 frequently a long time after the wheat has reached Dantzic 



