th leather, or by copper or tin
vessels, or by any other equivalent. I quite agree with Dr. Barth, that a
makara would be particularly suitable for a traveller. In Bornu, they
make large rafts, by putting a frame over several of these makara, placed
side by side.
[Sketch of sailing boat].
Rude Boats.--Brazilian Sailing-boat.--A simpler sailing-boat or raft
could hardly be imagined than that shown in the figure; it is used by
fishermen in Brazil.
Log Canoes are made by hollowing out a long tree by axe and by fire, and
fastening an outrigger to one side of it, to give steadiness in the
water. Recollect Robinson Crusoe's difficulty in launching his canoe
after he had made it. (See "Rafts of Wood.") It is not a difficult,
though a tedious operation, to burn out hollows in wood; the fire is
confined by wet earth, that it may not extend too far to either side, and
the charred matter is from time to time scraped away, and fresh fire
raked back on the newly-exposed surface. A lazy savage sill be months in
making a single canoe in this way.
[Fig 1 and fig 2 sketch of boat and pattern].
Canoe of Three Planks.--A swift, safe, and graceful little boat, with a
sharp stem and stern, and with a bottom that curves upwards at both ends,
can be made out of three planks. The sketch, fig. 1, is a foreshortened
view of the boat, and the diagram, fig. 2, shows the shape of the planks
from which it is made. The thwart or seat shown in fig. 1 is important in
giving the proper inclination to the sides of the boat, for, without it,
they would tend to collapse; and the bottom would be less curved at
either end. If the reader will take the trouble to trace fig. 2 on a
stout card, to cut it out in a single piece (cutting only half through
the cardboard where the planks touch), and to fasten it into shape with
pieces of gummed paper, he will understand the architecture of the boat
more easily than from any description. If he wishes to build a boat he
had best proceed to make as large a model in pasteboard as his materials
admit, and to cut the planks to scale, according to the pattern of his
model. The grace of the boat depends on the cut of its planks, just as
much as the elegance of a dress does on that of its cloth. These
three-plank canoes are in frequent use in Norway. Bark may be used
instead of planks. If the canoe be built of five planks instead of three,
a second narrow side-plank being added above each gunwale, the section of
th
|