MASSOOLAH BOATS. 
3 
your passage beyond the perilous barrier which they op- 
pose to your landing ; the varieties of the shipping and 
smaller craft., from the smartly-built fishing-smack to the 
unsightly catamaran ; the uncouth-looking Massoolah 
boat, labouring along by the side of the buoyant yacht 
and lighter wherry — severally afford an agreeable 
relief to the dull uniformity of a four months’ voyage. 
Shortly after the Atlas had cast anchor, with some 
half-dozen of my fellow-passengers, I got into a Mas- 
soolah boat, which immediately made for the shore. 
These boats are most singularly constructed; they 
have the appearance of a rude barge, are flat-bottomed 
and without timbers, the planks being sewed together 
with line made from the outer coat of the cocoa-nut, 
and caulked with the same material. They are 
rowed with broad elliptical paddles, and are so ex- 
tremely lithe, that the planks yield readily to the 
percussion of the waters, and thus, by diminishing 
the resistance, so break the force of the concussion, 
that they sustain little injury from the lashing of the 
surf, which is so terrific in its might and violence 
that a European boat has scarcely ever been known 
to pass through it without being dashed in pieces. 
It is really astonishing to see with what dexterity 
the boatmen manage these awkward-looking machines, 
steering them through the most boisterous sea, skil- 
fully avoiding the stroke of the billows, and bringing 
them safely on shore through a surf that would appal 
the stoutest heart which had never before witnessed 
nature under any similar aspect of her power and of 
her sublimity. The Massoolah boats are almost in- 
variably attended by catamarans ; so that should any 
