20 NAVAL SCIENCES. 



• 

 the principal craft in this quarter are pirogues ; these are very light vessels 

 about 24 feet long and 2| feet wide, sharper at the stem than at the stern, 

 and carrying some six men. The freight boats running between Madagas- 

 car and the Seychelles islands are broad, round at stem and stern, nearly in 

 the shape of an almond, about 25 feet long, and 5 or 6 wide. They are 

 built of the Indian teak wood, which is bent over a fire. The larger pirogues 

 of the Seychelles and Masquerines are from 28 to 30 feet long, and 3 feet 

 wide, resembling in appearance our fishing boats; they have one mast, 

 standing a little aft of the midships, with a square sail. All the vessels on 

 the east coast of Africa are of this description ; but on the w^est coast, at the 

 island of Goree, at the mouth of the Senegal, the pirogues have a peculiar 

 construction. They are from 20 to 30 feet in length, 3 feet in breadth, and 

 sharp at stem and stern ; the prow is higher than the stern ; the keel runs 

 the w^hole length of the vessel in a moderate curve, from which segments 

 are cut off below at both ends, forming a sort of knob ; the shape trans- 

 versely is like a sack, the keel not sharply projecting, but gradually rounded. 

 The mast stands obliquely, somewhat forward of the midships, with a wide, 

 but short square sail. 



2. Asia. Our description of the navigation of Asia will exclude the 

 islands of Sumatra, Java, the Celebes, Borneo, and the Philippines, since 

 these now belong to Oceanica, the fifth division of the world. 



The Asiatic navigation, in general, is far more advanced than that of 

 the other non-European nations. This is owing to the intimate connexion 

 which this part of the world has always sustained with Europe. 



Among the vessels on the west coast of India, the coast of Malabar, the 

 most remarkable are the patamars. These have a very peculiar keel, 

 which runs into a sharp curve from the prow, and in the district of Bom- 

 bay the curve even extends to the stern. But, in general, the keel goes 

 from the stern to directly under the mast, and then takes a curve of three 

 feet in ten, the prow sloping off in a straight line about fourteen feet in 

 twenty-seven. The stern is oblique to the surface of the water ; the whole 

 vessel is about seventy feet long, and the keel thirty feet. The mast 

 stands very oblique, towards the stern, and at one fifth of the distance 

 from the stern is a short mizen-mast. The vessel is eighteen feet in 

 breadth at two thirds the distance from stem to stern, with a nearly 

 flat bottom, but round in the side. They are drawn up on land so far 

 to take in cargo, that at ebb tide they are left high and dry. The planks 

 are notched in the direction of their thickness, and fastened with long 

 nails driven over the seams, which are stiil further secured with cross- 

 pieces. 



The freight boats of Calcutta are of a similar construction, their greatest 

 breadth being forward, with a straight bottom. The length of the straight 

 part of the keel is only about fifteen feet less than that of the whole vessel. 

 The bulwarks are very slender, but the interior work is of an arched form, 

 supported by strong posts. The gangway is a kind of gallery running 

 round the vessel at the height of two or three feet. The vessel has a main- 

 mast and a mizen-mast, both low, and very oblique to the prow. There is 

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