618 



The rudder (Mareva), in most cases made out of an old 

 leaky dug-out, is a broad board, about 4 to 4'50 ni. long, taper- 

 ing in width towards one end (see fig. 34). 



Fig. 34. Mailu Rudder. 



Typical form of Mailu rudder (Marrra j. 



The rudder is lashed to the third Icklo from the stern of 

 the Tsebi with a piece of Vai^u rope, and it hangs down by 

 the side of this canoe and parallel to its side, somewhat after 

 the fashion of the steering oar of a Viking's galley. About 

 1 to 1*20 m. from the top of the rudder two holes are made in 

 it, one under the other, and through these two loops of rope,^ 

 called Mareva rlo'i, are passed. A stick (Mareva dora), about 

 2 "50 m. long, passes through the two loops and serves the 

 purpose of a tiller in steering (Oma). This can be done by 

 one man if the weather is not too rough. The steerer stands 

 with one foot on the Tsebi and with the other placed on the 

 rudder half a metre below the lashing, in order to keep it 

 submerged, as it naturally tends to rise when sailing. By the 

 movement of the tiller he can rotate the plane of the rudder 

 and so direct the course of the boat just as is done with an 

 ordinary rudder, with this difference, that in the case of the 

 Papuan boat the rudder, from its position not far from 

 " 'midships," serves to some extent as a leeboard, and so 

 checks leeway. 



As mentioned above, these boats are able to sail fairly 

 close to the wind, making but little leeway. They cannot go 

 about ship in the ordinary way, as the larger Tsebi dug-out 

 must always be to leeward : in fact, the smaller and lighter 

 Ldrima acts more or less in the same way as the float in a 

 catamaran, and if too much weight is put on this the craft 

 capsizes. 



In order, therefore, to go about ship, called Boedoe, the 

 natives proceed as follows : — They unship the rudder, lashing 

 it at the other end of the Tsebi, and reverse the sail, the bows 

 of the boat then becoming the stern, and they go off at right 

 angles to their former course. 



If there is no wind, or only a very little, they sometimes 

 row, the oars being rather large and quite different to the 

 paddles used for the small boats. The oar is fastened to an 

 I ado, and they pull in a sitting position. 



