24 NAVAL SCIENCES. 



which form a transition between the vessels which we have described in 

 the Bay of Bengal, and those of European construction, although they are 

 generally propelled by oars. Their length is from eighty to one hundred 

 feet ; they usually have eighty rowers, thirty musketeers, and a cannon. 

 We may here notice the small vessels with which the Irrawaddy River is 

 alive ; for instance, the rice boats, forty-eight feet long and five feet broad. 

 They have a short deck at both ends for the oars, but in the centre a tent- 

 shaped roof of rice-straw. The pirogues in use here are forty feet long, 

 three or three and a half feet broad, and hardly two feet deep. The stem 

 and stern are greatly elongated, and they commonly have a cabin. The 

 most remarkable are the rangoon pirogues, the transverse section of which is 

 in the form of a slightly compressed semicircle. The sides are considerably 

 higher at the stern than at the prow. These pirogues are constructed out 

 of a single piece of wood, and only slightly hollowed in the centre. They 

 are one and a half feet high, eighty feet long, and six feet broad. Seen 

 from above, they look precisely like a fish lying on the water. 



In the peninsula of Malacca, the original construction has been almost 

 entirely superseded by the European model. PL 5, fig. 12, is a sampan- 

 pucatt, at anchor and with sails. These vessels are usually propelled by 

 oars. When it is wished occasionally to take advantage of the wind, small 

 masts are put up in diflferent parts of the vessel, carrying each a square 

 sail. They are constructed almost entirely like the Bengal hauleahs 

 which we have already described, though they are sometimes built with 

 an arrangement like the patileh, but lowei', and often merely in the form 

 of a tent. The pind-jejab (fig. 13) are smaller vessels, of a similar con- 

 struction, which have only a tent-shaped cabin at the stern. The sail is 

 the main reliance in these vessels, the oars being used only as an additional 

 help, and hence they have a permanent mast of bamboo, placed at about 

 one third the length from the stem to the stern, and also a kind of bowsprit. 

 In the Straits of Malacca, a communication is kept up with Sumatra by a 

 kind of coasting vessel (pi. 6, fig. 3), which is built on a narrow keel and 

 bottom, projecting at the sides, and running off almost square at the stem 

 and stern. They are covered, like a tent, with matting, and are usually 

 propelled by oars, although they have a main-mast for a sail, and a mizen- 

 mast of nearly equal height. 



As we approach the eastern coast of Asia, the vessels assume more of the 

 adventurous form of the Chinese, and in the Gulf of Siam we find those 

 which are very similar to the Chinese junks. We will only allude to these 

 at present, as we shall have to speak of them again. Of a similar construc- 

 tion are the vessels of Cochin-China. We must here notice, however, the 

 gay-you, a kind of fishing boat in the bay of Touranne. These are fifty 

 feet long in the centre, with only a breadth of six feet, and are sharper 

 forward than at the stern, where they rise to a great height. The section is 

 a regular half decagon, one side of which forms the flat bottom of the vessel. 

 The planks are fastened with wooden clamps, and hollow wooden wedges 

 placed over the joints, overlapping each other like the European ridge-tiles, 

 and secured with wicker-work. Beams are extended through the two opposite 

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