THE HOUSEBOAT. 91 



advantageous for turning the boat in a narrow creek and as some place can usually be 



found where it will extend over the bank the landing plank may often be dispensed with. 



The frame-work should be iron or steel : the planking of hull and decks of teak ; and the 



house and joiner-work of California red pine or Japan cedar. 



There should be no keel, but a keelson formed of intercostal plates, riveted between 



the floors, which, besides strengthening the hull, will confine the water from any local leak 



to one side of the boat. To facilitate passing under narrow and low arches the top of the 



house should be well rounded transversely ; the mast-stump should not project above the 



house, the sky-light and mast should be removable and the after-house or shed be so fitted 



as to be easily unshipped. Or better still the posts should be hinged at both ends to permit 



of being slanted backwards as far as may be required to lower the roof below the top of the 



house. For protection against ice, a strip of copper or metal sheathing 14 inches wide 



should cover the water-line, extending as far above as below it. Originally the heel of the 



mast was pivoted between two thick and cumbersome planks, the same as in native boats, 



the braces to which prevented a full length entrance to the cabin, but, as an improvement, 



the writer devised the mast-stump now in general use. But the best arrangement is the 



open socket, made of boiler plate, fitted in the Curlew and in the Elephanta from a design by 



Mr. R. W. Shaw, which in principle is a return to the native method. The mast should be 



of China pine, of medium size, and instead of the shears in general use, a single spar hinged 



to the mast-band supported by wire stays will be found equally efficacious — less than half 



the weight, easier to handle, less cumbersome, and when the mast is up it can be used as a 



ridge-pole for an awning. The Elephanta possesses as yet the only one of the kind. The 



sail should be proportioned to the mast, and the lower halliard-block should unhook from 



the yard to enable the sail to be covered with a tarpaulin in wet weather. The ropes in use 



on board of most houseboats are, as a rule, too large. They jam in the blocks and wear out 



through chafage sooner than from age. A good l|-inch rope will lift with safety 700 lbs., 



and is big enough for the shear tackle or halliards of any houseboat in the port. When 



new it will look small to a landsman's eye, but it will soon swell to a size that will make it 



appear large enough, and certainly afford sufficient grip. Small ropes besides lasting 



longer than big ones cost considerably less and are more easily worked. The deck plan 



should be: — 



From bow to front of house 14 feet. 



Length of cabin 12 „ 



„ wash-room and pantry 5 „ 



„ kitchen and store-room 4 „ Sin. 



„ after-deck 9 „ 



exclusive of a projecting fan-tail. The fore-deck should be 10 ft. 6 in. long, leaving 



a " well " between it and the house, on one side of which should be a water-closet fitted 



with a pump for sluicing in preference to a tank and connections. Under-deck, 5 ft. 



6 in. from the bow, there should be a transverse bulkhead, open and grated at the top, 



forming a coal-bin and chain-locker accessible throght a hatch ; and a longitudinal bulkhead 



should divide the after pace into two dog kennels, with grated doors opening into the 



" well." With the coal-bin hatch open, or with the cover on at various degrees of angle 



ventilation of the kennels can be easily regulated. The floor-plate and frame below the 



