een it and the transom which connects the two
projecting upper timbers of the stern. Some of them are as much as 30
ft. in length and 8 to 10 ft. in beam. They are good carriers and
speedy under sail.

The Chinese in all probability were the earliest of all peoples to solve
the chief problems of boat building, and after their own fashion to work
out the art of navigation, which for them has now been set and unchanged
for thousands of years. They appear to have used the lee-board and
centre-board in junks and sanpans, and to have extended their trade to
India and even beyond, centuries before anything like maritime
enterprise is heard of in the north of Europe.

As regards the practice of long boat racing on rivers or tidal waters
the Chinese are easily antecedent in time to the rest of the world. On
great festivals in certain places the Dragon boat race forms part of the
ceremony. The Dragon boats are just over 73 ft. long, with 4 ft. beam,
and depth 21 in. The rowing or paddling space is about 63 ft. and the
number of thwarts 27, thus giving exactly the same number of rowers as
that of the Zygites in the Greek trireme. The two extremities of the
boat are much cambered and rise to about 2 ft. above the water. At about
15 ft. from each end the single plank gives place to three, so as to
offer a concave surface to the water. The paddle blade is spade-like in
form and about 6-1/2 in. broad.

Both in Siam and Burma there is a very large river population, and boat
racing is on festival days a common amusement. The typical craft,
however, is the Duck-boat, which in the shape of hull is in direct
contrast to the dug-out form, and primarily intended for sailing. It is
interesting to note that the Siamese method of slinging and using
quarter rudders is the oldest used by men in sailing craft, being in
fact the earliest development from the simple paddle rudder, which has
in all ages been the first method of steering boats. The king of Siam's
state barge, we are told, is steered by long paddles, precisely in the
same way as is figured in the case of the Egyptian boats of the 3rd
dynasty (6000 B.C.). On the other hand the slung quarter rudders are the
same in fashion as those used by Roman and Greek merchantmen, by
Norsemen and Anglo-Saxons, and by medieval seamen down to about the 14th
century.

The Malays have generally the credit of being expert boat-builders, but
the local conditions are not such as to favour the construct