ON RIVER STEAMERS. 271 
vessels of large dimensions from entering the upper branches and minor 
tributaries of the great Indian rivers. 
15. Taking into account the provisions already made, or in process of con- 
struction for opening up the interior of India, by trunk-lines of railway, by 
roads, canals, and steam navigation on the main channels of the great rivers, 
and also taking into account the present and probable future condition of 
India for many years to come, it would appear that the most urgent and im- 
perative requirements of India are not so much for additional trunk-lines of 
traffic, as for feeders to supply them—not so much for main arteries of com- 
merce as for the capillaries by which they are to be kept alive. Railways in 
India or elsewhere would be comparatively useless if it were not for the means 
by which merchandise is conveyed to their termini. 
16. However comprehensive the scheme by which the railway system of 
India has been arranged, no system which does not take into account the 
minor tributaries or existing means of communication with their termini can 
be considered complete. 
17. The Improvement of Native Bouts proposed.—The entire traffic on the 
upper branches and minor affluents of the great rivers is at present conducted 
by means of native boats of a peculiar description, which have been in use 
from the earliest periods; and since the construction of roads by the natives 
themselves has ever been most unwillingly undertaken, there can be no hope 
of their ever improving much in this respect. 
18. There is therefore every certainty that for many years to come these 
native boats must be the means of conveying the great bulk of Indian pro- 
duce either to the termini of the railways, or to those stations on the main 
channels of the great rivers which can be reached hy the large steamers 
now employed. 
19. From this point of view, then, it will be seen, that on the improve- 
ment of the native river craft depends a very considerable portion of what- 
ever success may attend the opening up of the country by trunk-lines, either 
of roads, canals, river navigation, or railways. 
20. Review of Native Boats and record of the earliest Steamers built in 
Bengal.—With the view of calling public attention to the important functions 
fulfilled by these boats, I have prepared the accompanying brief description 
of the principal types of vessels now in use. 
21. Quoting from an account of steam navigation in British India, com- 
piled by G. A. Prinsep, Esq., and published by the Government at Calcutta 
in 1830, Appendix, A 4, containing etchings illustrating twenty-eight different 
kinds of native boats used on the Bengal rivers, from the ponderous Budge- 
row or accommodation boat and fast-pulling Bhauleah used by the English, 
to the burthensome Patela and Chuprah Oolak of forty tons,—also to the 
Pansuai fast-pulling fishing dinghee and Mor Punkhee or native pleasure- 
boat, all being of the Nautilus type of form, use the balanced rudder, steer- 
oar or skull at the stern; the latter using an oar as a bow-rudder. 
22. The notable features of these vessels are, that they are generally built 
upon rounded lines, the bottom resembling the immersed portion of a Nautilus 
shell. This general contour, together with the absence of dead wood and 
gripe, appear to be dependent upon the character of the rudder employed, 
which is generally a large triangular board, with a post attached to the centre, 
so that the fore-part of the blade falls under what would be styled the dead 
wood of a river barge. The whole arrangement is intended to give the boat 
great facility for quick turuing, to avoid sand-banks, &e. The dimensions 
appear to be from 20 to 80 feet in length, and from 7 to 26 feet in breadth, 
the draft of water varying from 1 to 5 feet, and the burden from 4 to 40 tons. 
