THE INDIAN OCEAN. 



325 



adverse to any improvement in these singular struc- 

 tures ; indeed, an attempt at innovation, some years 

 ago, in their form, bringing them nearer to the model 

 of an European ship, was so severely reprehended in 

 high quarters, that it was found prudent to desist 

 from the indiscreet improvement. At the same time 

 it must be confessed, that, compared with the vessels 

 of their immediate neighbours, the junk, as a com- 

 mercial vessel, has a vast superiority : and in the 

 seas which they navigate, so regular are the monsoons, 

 that they get on tolerably well. 



Occasionally, however, they must encounter those 

 terrific tempests called typhoons, which are peculiar 

 to these seas, and which, with the hurricanes of the 



SnrP UNDER BAUK hOI,) 3. 



opposite hemisphere, are the most furious slornis 

 that blow. They rise witli fearful rapidity, often 



