HISTORY OF NAVIGATION. 26 



topmost planks, to support the deck, and at the same time to keep the vessel 

 in shape. The rudder passes before the stern-post through the bottom of 

 the vessel, and can be raised up and down, as occasion requires. These 

 vessels have from one to three masts with oblique square sails, and to keep 

 them from upsetting, a sort of balance frame, consisting of a long boom, with 

 a weight suspended at the end, which can be drawn out and in by a rope, 

 and its action thus regulated. If the weight proves to be insufficient, the 

 sailor gets upon the boom himself. The coasting vessels of Cochin-China 

 {pi. 6, fg. 7) do not vary much in their construction from those now 

 described. 



We will now consider the marine of China and Japan. In respect to 

 the form and construction of their vessels, we find that they are not 

 adapted for long sea voyages, on which account the voyage of the junk 

 Kay-Ying to London was an extraordinary event in the history of the 

 Chinese marine. But it was this junk from which we first obtained an 

 accurate idea of Chinese naval architecture. We find many features in the 

 vessels of China and Japan, exactly resembling the ancient Greek con- 

 struction ; for instance, the ship's eyes, which are placed in every vessel 

 of considerable size, the Chinese seriously believing that the ship sees with 

 them, as is proved by one of their old proverbs. The freight ships are for 

 the most part from forty-eight to fifty feet in length and ten feet in breadth, 

 with a semicircular section, furnished with a deck and cabin, sharp at the 

 bows, rounded at the stern, and often flat. The mast is usually from 

 forty-five to fifty feet high, and stands about one third of the ship's 

 length towards the prow. Near it is the windlass. The anchor itself 

 is of iron wood ; it has two arms, which are without flukes ; the stock 

 consists of a bunch of bamboo rods, and is placed near the arms. The 

 rudder has the shape of a banner, and can be moved up and down by a 

 windlass worked by fifteen or twenty men. All the wood-work is coarse, 

 the timbers are seldom hewn, the Chinese regarding this as a needless 

 expense ; while on the other hand, they paint their ships with the most 

 extravagant colors. The form and adjustment of the sails are shown in 

 pi. 5, figs. 3, 4, and 5, which represent Chinese coasters under sail. The 

 reader must not be deceived by the port-holes, and take these vessels for 

 ships of war. The port-holes are only painted, in order to excite alarm. 



ThQ junk is a peculiar kind of Chinese vessel {fig. 8), forming a medium 

 between merchant-men and ships of war. The first accurate knowledge 

 of these was furnished by the junk already alluded to, called Kay-Ying, 

 which made a voyage to Europe. This junk resembles in general the one 

 represented in fig. 8. The flat surface of the stern, which is open, was 

 closed in that, and painted with the figure of a large bird, like the eagle. 

 The junk Kay-Ying is from 700 to 800 tons burden, 160 feet long, 33 feet 

 broad, and 16 feet in the hold. The entire vessel is built of the. best teak 

 wood, and the planks are joined together before the insertion of the ribs. 

 It has three masts of oak timber, the largest of which is 90 feet long in one 

 piece. The rigging is strikingly defective. The sails are made of mats, 

 which are run through with strong bamboo rods at the distance of every 



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