1(34 



J. HORN ELL ON 



Of the three masts the short foremast (13J feet long) is stepped right in the 

 bowSj the mainmast of 22 feet a little forward of amidships and the mizzen (14^ feet) 

 fairly far aft. Only the mainmast is furnished with stays, one on each side to 

 the projecting end of the balance board and one aft. The sails are square-headed 

 lugs. The balance board, kadisu, about 17 feet in length, is a plain plank as in 

 the southern forms ; according to the nature of the weather some of the crew, in 

 emergency the whole available four, stand outboard on the weather section to prevent 

 capsizing. x\s the bottom is rounded and without keel owing to the shallowness 

 of their muddy home river, leeway is counteracted by a useful-sized leeboard ; with a 

 good wind these long narrow boats under full sail are accounted the swiftest in 



Fir,. 10. — An Adirarapatnam fishing canoe. 



these seas. The rudder is large and powerful, attached by pintle and gudgeon at 

 the lower end and by a coir lashing below the tiller. 



Nearly 200 of these boats hail from Muthupet and the adjoining villages. Some 

 owners leave them bare of paint, while many paint the hulls any colour from gaudy 

 green or blue to sombre black and then ornament the whole length of the sides 

 with crude and conventional devices ; the most frequent are diamonds, flags, flower 

 sprays and birds, roughly and inartistically executed, and wholly without vigour or 

 spirit. 



Their occupation is that of net fishing but the lure of the pearl sometimes 

 attracts a few to the Ceylon pearl fishery, where their peculiar rig and long narrow 

 hull and curious ornamentation render them conspicuous. 



At the neighbouring port of Adirampatnam the fishing boats are generally 



