838 THE OCEAN. 
fishing-boats. * * * A number of large fishing- 
boats were coming in from sea, and standing with 
us into the roads; and although we were running 
at the rate of seven knots an hour, they passed us 
with great rapidity. They had a most graceful 
appearance; many of them were fourteen or fifteen 
tons’ burthen, and each boat carried one immense 
square-sail. As the breeze was strong, a thick 
plank was thrust out to windward for an outrigger, 
on which several of the numerous crew sat, or stood, 
to prevent the press of sail they were carrying from 
capsizing the boat. They were occasionally, hidden 
from our view by their passing behind some of the 
small islets; but in a few seconds they would appear 
on the other side, having shot past so rapidly, that 
we could scarcely fancy we had lost sight of them at 
an 
In sailing amongst the numberless islands of the 
Indian Archipelago, the voyager is struck with the 
frequent appearance of towns or villages built 
actually over the sea. The houses are coustructed on 
stout piles, which are firmly driven into the ground. 
A flat place is selected, where the tide ebbs and 
flows, that all dirt and filth from their habitations 
may be regularly carried away without trouble, and 
that they may be free from the presence of unplea- 
sant and venomous reptiles. The houses are chiefly 
of split bamboo, thatched with leaves: the windows 
are made of the transparent inner shell of the pearl- 
oyster: they are arranged in rows or streets, with 
walks three or four feet wide reaching to the land, 
* Earl’s “Eastern Seas,” p. 11. 
