46 
PR A HUS. 
after-part of tiie vessel three feet above the water 
line, and which is actually open to the hold. It 
is quite puzzling how these boats weather a 
storm without being swamped by the first half- 
dozen seas. 
The fittings and appliances are all of native 
material, and there is an absence of the qualmish 
smells incident to a steamer, — " no grease, no oil, 
no varnish ; instead of these, bamboo, rattan, and 
palm thatch, all pure vegetable fibres, which, if 
they smell at all, smell pleasantly, and recall 
quiet scenes in the green and shady forest/’ Mr 
Wallace says of a twenty days’ voyage in one, 
that he never travelled with so little discomfort, 
and this he attributes to the absence of paint, 
pitch, tallow, and new cordage, to the freedom 
from all restraint of meal hours and of dress. 
This last consideration is by no means insig- 
nificant. It is often simply a trial to the flesh 
to sit out ^dinner in the saloon of a steamer 
in the usual dress. The large company in the 
limited space, the many servants, the smoking 
dishes, create a temperature which, long ere the 
tedious meal is finished, induces a streaming per- 
spiration, and one leaves the table with garments 
almost as wet as if one had been bathing instead 
of dining in them. Still, if one is anxious to 
