ged on each side of the saloon are the cabins, each containing two
berths. These sleeping-cabins, like the saloon, are prettily furnished
and tastefully decorated. Over the saloon is another deck or platform--
the whole structure as may be seen from our illustration is very much
"be-decked"--about the middle of the vessel and in front of the funnel.
Here is situated the wheel, and here also the captain and officers take
their position. This part of the vessel is kept private to them, no
passenger being permitted to trespass on it.

Beneath the saloon-deck is the middle-deck, as has already been
indicated, which also contains a saloon of its own, as well as sleeping
apartments. This portion of the steamer is usually reserved for the
unmarried ladies among the passengers, who, as all readers of American
literature must be aware, are treated in America with an almost
chivalrous courtesy and consideration.

The dining-saloon of the vessel is situated in a third and undermost
deck, which reaches from the middle of the boat right aft, and is a
well-lighted, well-arranged room.

The cargo is placed amidships, heaped up in great piles--passenger boats
seldom or never carrying heavy goods. The American's passion for
economising time is manifest in the steamboats as everywhere else, most
of them carrying a barber, who will accommodate you with "easy shaving"
during the voyage. The barber's shop is forward with the cook's
quarters and other offices. American river-boats may vary, of course,
in details, but we have endeavoured to indicate the leading
characteristics of a typical example. The stories current in regard to
the facility with which an American steamboat blows up have been much
exaggerated, but nevertheless it is probably true that they bear the
bell in this direction of risk and danger.

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Of all craft of the canoe order, the flying-proa of the Pacific is the
swiftest. It carries a sail almost triangular in shape, and a straight
yard. It has an outrigger; and outrigger, mast, and yard are of bamboo.
Strong matting composes the sail, which is stretched very flat upon the
yard. When the crew wish to put their boat about they have merely to
shift the sail, when what was before the prow of the proa becomes the
stern. These boats are usually manned by a crew of about half-a-dozen.
One man sits at either end of the vessel and takes his tur