28 NAVAL SCIENCES. 



inhabited by blacks in the east and south-east. 5. South Oceanica, with 



Australia, Van Diemen's Land, New Caledonia, &c. 



a. West Oceanica, or the Country of the Malays. The close con- 

 nexion which has always existed between the country of the Malays and 

 the neighboring continent of Asia, enables us to consider the navigation of 

 the two nations also in connexion. The vessels from the Straits of Malacca 

 are here of interest, especially the little pirogues which are known under the 

 name of toucangs. These have departed from the usual form of pirogues, 

 being shorter and broader, sometimes having a slightly curved keel, and 

 sometimes one entirely straight; they have square sails joined together 

 with rice-straw, and rolled up when not in use ; the rudder rests on a small 

 platform in the stern of the boat ; the oars are rhomboidal, or in the shape 

 of a myrtle leaf Freight ships of a larger size are propelled partly by sails 

 and partly by oars. We have already mentioned the vessels (/?/. 6, fig. 3) 

 which form the principal communication between Sumatra and the Malacca 

 peninsula; to this class also belong the large coasters of the Maldives {pi. 5, 

 fig. 9), which, in their construction and the arrangement of the masts, resem- 

 ble the European cutters. At Sumatra we find a peculiar kind of pirogue, 

 called pulo-rajahs, which are 28 feet long, 5 feet broad, and hewn out from 

 one piece, in the shape of a trough, their sides being raised through nearly 

 their whole length by wicker-work, the upper part of which is kept in its 

 place by beams ; the oars are hung on small trestles, and the rudder works 

 in a singularly shaped box at the side of the stern. These pirogues have a 

 mast with a straight square sail. The proas of Achem in Sumatra are 

 coasters which can also be equipped for longer voyages. They lie deep in 

 the water, and their section forms a perpendicular semi-ellipse. They are 

 45 feet long and 9 feet broad, with three masts, of which the two after masts 

 stand very near the stern. A sort of bowsprit is held in its place by three 

 ropes, on which a jib is rigged ; the keel forms a very long semi-ellipse ; the 

 vessel is blunt in the stern, and has a rudder on each side ; it is provided 

 with a convenient deck, and is nine or ten feet deep in the hold ; the masts 

 stand on supports of a peculiar arrangement; the sides are sometimes raised 

 with trellis- work two or three feet high through their whole length ; the 

 rigging is more ample than in Asiatic vessels generally. 



The Java pirogues are long and slender to an extraordinary degree, 

 consisting of hollow trunks of trees, and their outline forming the larger 

 segment of a perpendicular ellipse. They usually have two masts with 

 triangular sails, and always double balance frames ; the rudder is supported 

 at the stern on a trestle. One of the Java coasters is represented on 

 pi. 6, fig. 6, which shows the difference of these vessels from our own in the 

 form of the keel and the arrangement of the masts. The rudder is here, as 

 in almost all Malay vessels, set at the side of the stern-post, and is simply a 

 very long oar. The construction of the Malay vessels, and the arrangement 

 of their sides and deck, are shown in pi. 5, fig. 10, which represents a coaster 

 drawn up on the land ;fig. 11 is a Malay anchor. These anchors are of oak ; 

 instead of the stock in use with us they have a bundle of bamboo rods, placed* 

 however, on the arms ; still European anchors are often used. The vessel 

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