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CATAMARANS AND CANOES. 





white paint. As the sea washes over a catamaran 

 during- rough weather, on such an occasion a small 

 temporary stage is sometimes erected in the centre, 

 and on this the cargo is secured with strips of cane. 

 The canoe of this part of New Guinea is usually 

 about twenty-five feet in length, and carries seven 

 or eight people. It is made of the trunk of a tree, 

 hoUowed out like a long trough, roundly pointed at 

 each end, a foot and a half in extreme width, with 

 the sides bulging out below and falling in at top, 

 leaving only eight inches between the gunwales 

 which* are strengthened by a pole running along 

 from end to end. The ends-which are alike-are 

 carved like those of the catamaran in imitation of 

 the head of a turtle or snake, but more elaborately. 

 The outrigger consists of a float as long as the 



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