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J. HORNELL ON 



the greatest possible tightness. The free end of the tourniquet rod is then seized 

 to the gunwale or the boom as the case may be, and if the various parts be sound, 

 this lashing will maintain attachment under any ordinary violence. Its chief advan- 

 tage lies in the rapidity with which it can be operated. A couple of seconds 

 suffice to release the boom and scarcely more are required to reship it. 



For pearl-fishing work large carvel-built boats, long and narrow, are used, 

 designed on the lines of a dug-out canoe; they accommodate a large number of 

 divers, and by their length and narrowness are capable of being rowed with the 



Fig. 8. — A balance-board fishing canoe of Tirupalakudi, Palk Bay. 



minimum of exertion from place to place in search of a good pitch. Both ends 

 are sharp, the point of the prow being wrought into the usual coiled ornament. 



Palk Bay and Strait — Indian side. 



From Pamban in the south to Muthupet on the north, this region has a very 

 distinctive type of fishing canoe. It comes into the class of outrigger canoes, 

 but instead of stability being obtained by a float boomed out on one side, the 

 outrigger consists of a long and heavy plank laid athwart a dug-out canoe or a 

 carvel-built boat (both are employed), so that each end projects out-board a con- 



