THE BOAT AND GEAR. 



pair of sculls, made of good ash, neatly leathered 

 round the looms, so as to take off the rub of the 

 rowlock, and bound at the end of the wash with 

 a strip of sheet copper ; a boat-hook ; some oblong 

 canvas bags bound with rope, to contain coarse 

 gravel for ballast ; a wooden or tin dipper ; and, if 

 expense is no object, a " hydropult/' to pump 

 out the water which will always accumulate in a 

 boat; several sets of tholes, which in sea-going 

 boats are always movable, so as easily to be taken 

 out when alongside a quay or a vessel. A bag 

 should form a part of the outfit, to contain ham- 

 mers, nails, gimlets, awls, twine, sail needles, 

 palms, pieces of lead, and all sorts of odds and ends. 

 A creeper, as it is termed (see Plate III, No. 8), is 

 requisite, with a long rope attached to anchor by, 

 and a killick for rocky ground (see Plate IV, No. 

 2) . A locker should always be under the stern- 

 sheets, and, if possible, one forward in the bows. 

 An elm-built boat, copper fastened, will be found 

 the cheapest and most generally useful. They 

 can usually be purchased on the coast at from 

 ten to fifteen shillings per foot of length; eighteen 

 feet is the most useful length, the breadth being 

 in proportion. To the top of the stem a bump- 



