124 



porter's journal. 



logs laid crosswise, and projecting from four to six feet be- 

 yond the sides, and all lashed (though very insecurely) to- 

 gether. Forward and aft are some pieces of board from 

 three to four feet in length, stuck down between the logs 

 forming the floor, and serving as a substitute for a keeU 

 A mast is stepped in between the logs of the floor, and, in- 

 stead of partners, secured by a lashing from side to side, 

 and having the additional security of a stay and a shroud, 

 which is shifted always to the weather side, and to this is 

 hoisted a large lug-sail made of cotton. Their ground 

 tackling consists of some bark, twisted in the form of a 

 rope, which serves as a cable, and a large stone with a stick 

 lashed to it, of about eighteen inches long, for a stock, 

 serves as an anchor *, she is steered by a paddle, carries her 

 cargo on the logs forming the deck, and has as a substitute 

 for a caboose, a small quantity of dirt thrown on the logs 

 that project beyond the sides forward. The crews appear 

 equally as miserable in their appearance as the machine 

 they navigate ; and it excited no little surprise in our minds 

 when we were informed, that the navigation from Guyaquil 

 to Lima, a distance of about six hundred miles, against a 

 constant head wind, and frequently rapid current, should 

 be very common with those rafts. This passage takes 

 them two months ; and there can be no stronger proof of 

 the mildness of this ocean, so justly, in this part, deserving 

 the name of the Pacific, than the fact, that the loss of those 

 vessels, frail as they are, is very uncommon. Nor can 

 there be a more convincing instance of the imenlightened 

 state of the people of this part of the world, than that they 

 should continue the use of such barbarous vessels, when the 

 fastest sailing vessels are so necessary ; where materials for 

 building them are so abundant 5 and where the state of the 

 climate will admit of vessels of such construction as best 

 suits their purpose, without any apprehensions of danger 

 from the violence of the sea. But so far are they behind 

 hand in civilization and intelligence with the rest of the 

 world, that the appearance of all the vessels built on the 

 Spanish coast of the Pacific (except the few built at Guya« 

 quil) bespeaks the extreme ignorance of the constructor as 

 well as the navigator. There are established at Guyaquil 

 some European constructors, who have built large vessels 

 that have been justly admired ia Europe and other parts of 



