30 NAVAL SCIENCES. ^ 



est degree of perfection. Pirogues, with one or two balance frames, sailing 

 with great ease and swiftness, and adapted to coast navigation and quiet 

 seas, are in general use among the inhabitants of the Marian and Caroline 

 islands, and in fact among all the Polynesians. The people of the Caroline 

 islands, especially of the Guliai groups, are the most skilful and fearless 

 mariners of Oceanica. Their pirogues are the swiftest and most complete 

 known. These islanders divide the points of the compass precisely in the 

 manner which prevailed among the Greeks and Romans from Alexander to 

 Claudius. At the other extremity of Polynesia the natives use large double 

 pirogues, in the management of which they exhibit quite skilful seamanship. 

 The New Zealanders have splendid war pirogues, without balance frames, 

 but they never go out of sight of land, like the islanders just mentioned, who 

 steer by the stars. These pirogues, which have awakened the admiration of 

 all European seamen, have until recently been the objects on which the 

 natives bestowed all their industry and skill. The simplest pirogues, hol- 

 lowed out from the trunk of a tree, may be found in many other places, but 

 the double pirogues, or those fitted to each other in pairs, cannot be found 

 in so great perfection among any other people. In Tahiti and the island 

 of Pomotoo, there are similar double pirogues, which are adapted to long 

 trips, carrying a supply of provisions for the sailors, who live in a wooden 

 box erected over the boat. The hull of each of the two pirogues is covered 

 with planks nicely fitted together, carefully caulked, and protected with a 

 water-proof cement. The rudder is remarkable for its ingenious mechanism. 

 These pirogues were formerly ornamented with carved wood-work, which 

 is seen at pi>esent in the slender vessels of the New Zealanders. They are 

 everywhere alike, being the remains of the traditional art which these 

 people have preserved. Their excellent finish is surprising, when we 

 consider the rudeness of the tools with which they are constructed. 

 The double pirogues are in use in Tahiti and the neighboring groups of 

 islands, in the Sandwich islands, and the Marquesas. They are not found 

 in New Zealand, as the nature of the bays of that island requires light ves- 

 sels ; yet it would seem as if they had been used there also. All the New 

 Zealand vessels have on their elevated prows a hideous head, with the 

 tongue protruding, this being regarded as an emblem of war and glory. 

 The stern terminates in an image four feet high, representing a god and 

 endless circles. This is evidently symbolic. 



SHIP BUILDING. 



1. Theoretical Part. 



The art of ship-building, in all its departments, depends on the laws of 



physics, especially of statics and dynamics. We must hence consider the 



points of mathematical and mechanical science which relate to this subject 



before commencing the description of its practical elements. The capacity 



682 



