H 



U 



M 



A 



N 



S 



P 



E 



C 



I 



E 



S. 



459 



tlie 



■the keel, but never exceed three. The next board is fet on 

 keel in a diverging diredlion ^ the third board has a convex fliape on 

 its outfide, but on the infide is concave, and the lafl board is fet 

 on this bilging board : thefe'four boards are fitted amazingly tight 

 and clofe, and afterwards faftened by cordage * made of the fila- 



r 



I 



jnents furrounding the coco-nuts ; and drawn together, that thefe 



velTels are fufiiciently water-tight, without any caulking; and 



though in the larger boats one perfon is conflantly employed in 

 ■baleing out the water, it never gains upon them. The head and 

 ilern are carved and commonly reprefent a rude figure of a man, called 

 hy them E-teeJoe -, which might be compared with the tutelar 



ARTS 

 AND 



■ 



SCIENCES 



genius of the antient Romans and Greeks. Boats ufed 



for long 



voyages have on their foreparts fmall huts covered with thatch, and 



N n n 2 



defended 



* The moft antient and raoftfimple manner of conftruaing embarkations, before the ufe of 

 nails and iron to fix the planks to the knees and timbers, feems to have been that of fcwing them 



/utiles fit 



Al- 



together with firings. Plin. Hill. Nat. lib. xxiv. v. 40. Cum 



tame7i^ nonfparto unquamfutas. In the ninth and tenth century of tb 



the veffels in the Mediterranean Sea were nailed together, a vcfTcI was flranded on fome part 



- of the Syrian Coaft, whofe planks were all fewed together : this the author of the vo-ages to 



d by Renaudot, p. 53, declared to be 



:b that the planks are not nailed, but joined 

 icgether in a peculiar manner^ as if they had Been fevjed, &c. &c. When the mare civilized 

 nations had better contrivances' for the conflruftlon of their fliips, by means of iron nails and 

 bolts, the cuftom of fewing the planks of veffels together, was left to thofe that were lefi 

 acquainted with the arts. The whole Eail has now the ufe of iron, and the cuftom of fewing 

 the planks of embarkations is only found in the iiles of the South Sea. 



me Mahammedan travellers, publilh( 



'eJ/elfro?n Shiraf^ n;jho/e conftru^ion is fi 



