420 



TBM KE ISLANBS. 



[chap. ixm. 



tliougli probably not more so than many other islands, and 

 ln)ni some uukuown causes these remote savages liave 

 come to excel in what seems a very diUicnlt art. Their 

 small canoes are beantifnlly formed, broad and low iu the 

 centre, but rising at each end, where they terminate in 

 hijjh -pointed beaks more or less carved, and ornamentijd 

 with a phmie of feathers. They are not hollowed out of 

 a tree, but are re^arly built of planks running from end 

 to end, and so acciimtely fitted that it is often dilticnlt to 

 find a place where a knife-blade can be inserted between 

 tlie joints. The larger ones are from 20 to 30 tons 

 burthen, and are linished ready for sea without a nail or 

 particle of iron being used, and with no otlier tools than 

 axe, adze, and auger. These vessels are handsome to look 

 at, good sailers, and admh-able sea-boats, and will make 

 long voyages witli perfect safety, traversing the whole 

 Archipelago from New Guinea to Singapore iu seas which, 

 as every one who has sailed umch in them can testify, are 

 not so smootib and tempest free as woitl-painting travellers 

 love to represent them. 



The forests of produce magnificent timber, tall, 

 straight, and durable, of various qualities, some of which 

 are said to be su]>erior to the best Indian teak. To make 

 each pair of planks used in the construction of the lai-ger 

 boats an entire tree is consumed. It is felled, often miles 

 away from the shore, cut across to the proper lengthj and 

 then he\^T] longitudinally into two equal portions. Each 

 of these forms a plank by cutting down w^ith the axe to a 

 uniform thickness of three or four inches, leiwing at first a 

 solid block at each end to prevent splitting. Along the 

 centre of each plank a series of projecting pieces arc left, 

 standing up three or four inches, about the same width, and 

 a foot long ; these are of great iniportance in the constmc- 

 tion of the vessel. When a suflicient number of planks 

 have been made, they are laboriously dragged through the 

 forest by three or four men each to the fieaeh, where the 

 boat is to be buHt A foundation piece, broad in the 

 middle and rising considerably at eacli end, is first laid on 

 blocks and properly shored up. The edges of this are 

 worked true and smooth with the adze, and a plank, pro- 

 perly curved and tapeiing at each end, is held firmly up 



