MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 191 



shoulder-of-mutton sails, are extremely stiff, buoyant, 

 work well, and sail remarkably fast, but require to 

 be well ballasted. These little vessels are very 

 numerous, and are, like the larger vessels, built of 

 the native cedar, an expensive but durable wood. 

 They do not rise in a lively manner in a heavy 

 sea, in consequence of their having generally iron 

 ballast, but throw the spray over the deck, the lee 

 gunwale, when it blows hard, being under water, 

 which is protected by a deck of about eighteen inches 

 wide, that extends from the forecastle to the stem. 

 These little boats are unsurpassed in their good 

 qualities, and are more easily managed than any 

 similar class of vessels we have ever met with in 

 Europe. 



Sea-bathing is very deHghtful along the shores to 

 those who are accustomed to that source of health 

 and enjoyment. A walk along the margin of the 

 ocean, from Middleton's Beach to Port Royal, is one 

 of the best relaxations to a stranger who is fond 

 of walking, and musing, as he goes, on man and 

 nature; for there the sea in all its grandeur on a 

 stormy day wages war with the land. There, too, 

 late in spring, you may see the huge whale gam- 

 bolling; and there man, busy man, is fishing for 

 the finny treasure of the sea in a boat, reduced by 



