CHAPTER IX. 



BOATS. 



HE Norwegian excels in the craft of 

 wood-working ; it is an art pecu- 

 liarly his own, and in the branch 

 of boat-building he is in the first 

 rank. 



It might be expected that a 

 people living upon a sea-board, with water the principal 

 means of transit, should possess boats of superior make 

 and shape, but it is not every nation which in its craft 

 combines the ornamental with the practical. 



For use upon the sea, the fjord, and the river, several 

 patterns of boat are in use. There is the boat somewhat 

 of the cutter build, whose prow is but slightly elevated 

 above the height of the gunwale amidships ; this is chiefly 

 used for fjord work in proximity to the towns. 



The peculiarity of the pattern lies in its gradually 

 decreasing beam from a point rather forward of amidships 



