208 LOUGH DERG. 



The cot is a rough sort of boat, very much 

 in vogue on Lough Erne. That whole lake 

 is full of islands, some of which are very 

 large, and many cultivated ; and thus the 

 cot is as necessary to these aquatic farms as 

 the cart or waggon would be to a farm on 

 shore. It is built somewhat in the form of 

 an elongated table-spoon, with the handle 

 off; it is of the rudest possible workman- 

 ship, frequently of unplaned planks nailed 

 together and roughly calked, but without 

 the vestige of a keel. 



" This is a queer concern," said the Cap- 

 tain, as this primitive conveyance neared the 

 shore : "it must have been one of the boats 

 belonging to the ark." 



"Not quite so ancient as that; though I 

 am inclined to think that the aborigines 

 must have borrowed their idea from the 

 Danes, which takes it back to very ancient 

 times. The boat is called a scow everywhere 

 except in this neighbourhood, and that is a 

 regular Danish word." 



"They do not seem much to have improved 

 in their naval architecture since the old days 

 of the Vikings," said the Captain. 



"Don't you be turning up your nose at 



