INDIAN BOAT DESIGNS. 151 



coast canoeSj they are wider and more roomy ; that they are not used on the coast is 

 due to their great weight which would prevent easy beaching. They are undecked, 

 but cargo and passengers are securely protected against rain by a beautifully con- 

 structed arched roofing of cadjans made partly in sliding sections for ease in loading 

 and unloading. Paint is never applied and save in the ornamentation of the prow 

 they are severe in line and wanting in decoration. A rich aroma of ancient and 

 rancid fish oil hangs over all, this being found most effective as a preservative for 

 the wood, to which it imparts a rich brownish-black tint that harmonizes with the 

 heavily shaded banks of these tree- shadowed waterways. 



For festive occasions specially long and narrow canoes are brought from their 

 sheds. These are known generally as snake-boats, and while those of Cochin are re- 

 markable only for their length, those of Travancore are unique in design throughout 

 India. Instead of being deep and slab-sided as in the Cochin type, the Travancore 

 snake-boat has had the gunwale so cut down that the transverse section of the boat 

 is a very shallow crescent ; the freeboard in consequence is reduced to a minimum. 

 The stern curves high above the steersman in fashion like that of the Phoenician 

 galleys depicted on Assyrian sculptures. Like the latter also the prow is remarkably 

 low and ram-like, ornamented in the case of the Travancore boat with a large metal 

 boss in the place where the bronze spur occurs in ancient war-galleys. A further 

 point of resemblance is that the oars end in rectangular paddle blades. 



Apart from the modern cargo lighters which date back only to the introduction 

 of steamer- traffic on this coast, no sea-going vessels have here their home. This is 

 not due to any lack of skill in shipbuilding for the Malabar shipwright class are re- 

 nowned as among the best of their craft in India, so much so that they are in demand 

 as foremen shipwrights in the building of lighters, schooners and brigs at every 

 shipbuilding centre on the south-east coast from Tuticorin to Negapatam where this 

 industry still flourishes. 



The cause is to be sought rather in the lack of maritime enterprise in the coast 

 population. Stranger craft, chiefly from the Bombay coast, have ever been ready to 

 do all the coast-wise traffic, so, to compete therewith has needed greater enterprise 

 than the somewhat lethargic or phlegmatic Malayali can compass. Competition would 

 have indeed to be vigorous to oust the Kutch kotia, the Konkan pattamar and the 

 Tuticorin dhoni, and life is too easy in Malabar to justify such exertion. The damp 

 and enervating climate is a very potent brake upon energy and enterprise on that 

 coast. 



Before rounding Cape Comorin and entering on a world where entirely different 

 conditions prevail, we may note : — 



{a) That purely Arab designs prevail along the whole north-west coast. 



(b) That while the Arab types have influence from Cambay to a distance of some 



100 miles southwards of Bombay, the purity of design has gone and 

 some notable modifications have been introduced ; chief of these are the 

 increased value given to the mizzen sail and the addition of a small jib. 



(c) That on the Ratnagiri coast the larger boats, both those used in fishing 



