148 
THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
thing else along. A pole is frequently 
used as the means of propulsion in such 
cases. Punts are sometimes made in 
much improved forms, combining light- 
ness and very small draught of water. 
The punt is one of the easiest boats for 
the amateur to begin upon. 
Boats constructed to accommodate one 
person are usually termed "sculling 
boats," from the word " scull," applied to 
oars of the kind and dimensions adapted 
to the manipulation of one individual, 
who holds a scull in each band. 
The name "dingey" (pronounced with 
the g hard, as in " go,") is variously ap- 
l)lied. A short, strong, tubby .boat is 
usually understood by tiie terni ; but it is 
also sometimes given to a short skiff of 
sixteen or seventeen feet in length. 
The pair- oared " gig " and " skiff " are 
two very common and useful forms of 
rowing-boat. Some skiffs closely resemble 
the gig; there are, however, always minor 
points of difference. For example, a skiff 
is curved between the rowlocks, which is 
not the case with a gig; that part of the 
keel which ends at the prow is also much 
more perpendicular in the gig than in the 
skiff. 
A boat which is constructed to combine 
in a measure the qualities of a pair-oared 
boat and of one propelled by sculls is 
known as a " randan." Here the sculler 
sits amidships, with one rower before and 
cue behind him. This arrangement may 
be considered somewhat unsightly ; but it 
has some not inconsiderable advantages 
for travelling over long distances. 
Sometimes a pair-oared boat is fitted 
with rowlocks for double-sculliug, which 
has of late come rather into fashion. 
Where there is a marked difference in 
reach between two oarsmen, double- 
sculling has a distinct and undeniable ad- 
vantage over rowing. Occasionally, also, 
a randan is fitted up for three pairs of 
sculls, if required. 
Amongst other varieties of boat we may 
specify the "funny," which is an open 
outrigged sculling- i3oat, alike in form at 
both stem and stern, and having a keel 
which falls away at each end in a sloping 
curve. The "whiff" is a similar boat, 
but has an upright stern, not sloped away 
as the bows are. 
" Outrigged " boats are those in which 
the rowlocks project laterally outwards, 
in place of being formed on the side and 
in the substance of the boat itself. The 
rowlocks, or "ruUocks," are generally 
borne on light ironwork, and as their 
projection enables them to afford suffi- 
cient leverage to the oars, the boat can be 
correspondingly diminished in width, and 
greater lightness by this means obtained. 
Boats of this kind are made of various 
sizes, from those adapted to contain a 
sculler only, to those suited for two, four 
or often eight oars. There is considerable 
variety in shape also, within certain 
limits. When the boat is sharp at both 
stem and stern, as just described in the 
scuUing-boat, it is termed a "wherry," 
but when made upright at the stern, like 
a whiff, it is known as a " cutter." Wher- 
ries are seldom built now for more than a 
couple of rowers, as when there are more, 
provision is usually made for a " cox- 
swain," or steerer, which necessitates an 
upright stern-post. 
Kacing-boats range from twelve feet in 
length upwards ; they are built as narrow 
and with as light a draught as it is pos- 
sible to obtain, and in order to combine 
as much strength as can be got, conso- 
nant with the lightness, which is indis- 
pensable, the very best materials must be 
used in building them, as the finest pine- 
wood and mahogany. 
These boats are never provided with a 
keel, nor are they ever what is sometimes 
called " streak-built, "or " clinker-built," 
both which terms are used to signify that 
the boards on the side of the boat overlap 
each other as they ascend, something like 
the " clap- boarding," or " weather-board- 
ing," of a wooden barn. In the racing- 
])oat the boards are, on the contrary, 
quite flush or level on the exterior of the 
vessel, and with a surface as smooth both 
inside and out as sand-paper and polish- 
ing can secure. 
The canoe, which has become so popu- 
lar of late years, is, in the main, a rei)ro- 
duction, or, rather, an imitation of the 
boat in use amongst various savage, and 
semi-civilized tribes. Of these the fragile 
canoe of birch-bark, fabricated by our In- 
dians, and afterwards adopted by Ihe 
French settlers in Canada, represent one 
modification. In these slight structures 
the Indian will shoot in safety the many 
rapids of American rivers. The skin 
canoes of the Esquimaux are in many re- 
spects analogous. Not far dissimilar 
from these last must have been the light 
canoes in which our hardy British ances- 
tors pursued their fishing in the deep 
streams and broad estuaries of ancient 
Albion. The lineal descendants of those 
light barks are found to this day in use on 
the Severn and the Wye, where they are 
known as " coracles." Gibson, the trans- 
lator and editor of Camden, thus describes 
this canoe of the Severn : " The fishermen 
in these parts use a small tiling called a 
coracle, in which one man being seated 
will row himself with incredible swiftness 
with one hand, whilst with the other lie 
manages his net, angle, or other fishing 
tackle. It is of form almost oval, made 
of split sally "—(sallow, or willow)— 
" twigs interwoven, round at the bottom, 
and on that part which is next the water 
it is covered with a horse-hide. It is 
about five feet in length and three in 
