INTRODUCTION 7 



the blessing of the Colonial Office and Intelligence Depart- 

 ment on our plans, and a good many months were spent in 

 " working the oracle " and clearing away the red-tape 

 entanglements. But time was not wasted while waiting, 



THK BOAT SEC'TKiN^ 



for we had sufficient faith in our luck to put the building of 

 our boats in ha,nd before we received the official sanction. 



The boats were made by Forrest Brothers in their yards 

 at Wivenhoe, Essex. They were constructed on the Hodgett 

 principle ; that is to say, they were double-keeled, with 

 slightly convex bottoms. They were made of beaten steel ; 

 26 ft. long and 6 ft. in the beam ; with a depth of 4J ft. ; 

 drawing IJ ft. to every 2J tons. They carried lug sails, and 

 were constructed in six sections, each boat taking twenty-four 

 men to carry by means of poles run through rings attached to 

 the gunwales. They were painted white, one picked out with 

 a black and green band for the Rifle Brigade, and the other 

 with a blue and red for the Scots Guards. As the former 



