300 THE TREPANG-FISHERY. 



Carpentaria, until driven away by the easterly winds ; 

 that on their homeward voyage they would revisit every 

 point of the coast, anchoring in those bays and creeks 

 which give promise of a successful fishery. 



Such a crowd of men, busily labouring at the construc- 

 tion of their sheds and laboratories, gave to Raffles Bay 

 an unusual aspect, which soon excited the curiosity of the 

 savage inhabitants of the mainland. They hastened to it 

 from every quarter ; most of them reaching the island 

 by swimming, or by fording the comparatively shallow 

 channel which separated it from the mainland. There 

 was but a single canoe, and even that was made of the 

 bark of a tree, and loosely put together. It was unable 

 to carry more than three persons. 



By nightfall the Malays had completed their prepara- 

 tions ; and a few remaining to guard the articles conveyed 

 ashore, the others returned to their prahus. 



One of these was visited by Dumont d'Urville. The 

 keel, he says, seemed solidly built, and the lines of the 

 boat were not without a certain gracefulness. In the 

 stowage, however, the greatest disorder seemed to pre- 

 vail. 



Each prahu was provided with a couple of rudders, one 

 at either end, which could be readily lifted if the boat 

 ran aground. There were two masts ; shrouds there were 

 none, but the masts could be easily lowered on deck by 

 means of a hinge. The anchors were of wood, the cables 

 of rattan, or gomoton. The crew numbered about six and 

 thirty; and to each prahu were attached five or six skiffs 

 or canoes. 



On the following day, these canoes were spread all over 



