320 COCHINCHINA. 
sential quality : security rather than speed was the object of 
the owner. And as no great capitals were individually 
employed in trade, and the merchant was both owner and 
navigator, a limited tonnage was sufficient for his own mer- 
chandize ; the vessel was therefore divided, in order to ob- 
viate this inconvenience, into distinct compartments, so that 
one ship might separately accommodate many merchants. 
The bulk heads by which these divisions were formed con- 
sisted of planks of two inches thick, so well caulked and 
secured as to be completely water-tight. 
Whatever objections may be started against the dividing of 
ships' holds, and the interference in the stowage seems to be 
the most material one, it cannot be denied that it gives to 
large vessels many important advantages. A ship, thus for- 
tified with cross bulk-heads, may strike on a rock and yet 
sustain no serious injury ; a leak springing in one division of 
the hold will not be attended with any damage to the articles 
placed in another : and by the ship being thus so well bound 
together, she is iirm and strong enough to sustain a more than 
ordinary shock. It is well known to seamen, that ^vhen a large 
ship strikes the ground, the first indication of her falling in pieces 
is when the edges of the decks begin to part from the sides ; but 
this separation can never happen when the sides and the deck 
are firmly bound together by cross bulk-heads. In fact, this old 
Chinese invention is now on trial in the British navy, as a new 
experiment. Other schemes > have likewise been proposed in 
this country for propelling ships in a calm, by large scullers, 
by water wheels placed at the sides or through the bottom. 
