342 THE OCEAN. 
square-sail made of mats of split bamboo, extended 
by horizontal rods of bamboo, on which the sail 
is rolled up when reefing is necessary. The largest, 
though sometimes of twelve hundred tons, have but 
one deck, but the immense hold is divided into com- 
partments, allotted to the several adventurers and 
their goods. Mr. Earl describes one which he met 
with in Banea Straits, in somewhat unfavourable 
style. “ While wind-bound,” he observes, “a Chinese 
junk passed close by us. A considerable number 
of the crew were standing on the high, thatched 
habitation erected on their quarter-deck, and per- 
ceiving a Chinese passenger whom we had on board, 
they all hailed together to demand the state of the 
markets; but they asked so many questions at once, 
that our friend became quite bewildered, and the 
junk passed astern before he could decide to which 
he should first reply. Even if he had spoken, the 
junk-people could not have profited by his efforts, 
for they continued bawling until quite out of hear- 
ing. This junk, which was about two hundred tons’ 
burthen, carried two immense mat-sails, with a num- 
ber of small yards extending along them, giving 
them the appearance of bats’ wings. She passed us 
quickly, on account of the current being in her 
favour; but, although the breeze was strong, she 
went slowly through the water, and might be deemed 
little better than an unwieldy hulk.”*—The inflated 
ideas which the Chinese maintain of their own per- 
fection are adverse to any improvement in these 
singular structures; indeed, an attempt at innova- 
* Eastern Seas, p. 129. 
