125817
MUSEUM
AM
101
H815
A3
no. It
A 1,082,730
LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL.
THE HORNIMAN MUSEUM
AND LIBRARY.
FOREST HILL, S.E. 23.
A HANDBOOK TO THE CASES
ILLUSTRATING SIMPLE MEANS
16 APR 4
OF
TRAVEL & TRANSPORT
BY LAND AND WATER.
No. 2392 Price 6d.
1925.
PUBLISHED BY THE LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL
and may be purchased, either directly or through any Bookseller, from
PS. KING AND SON LIMITED,
AND 4, GREAT SMITH STREET, VICTORIA STREET, WESTMINSTER, S.W.
Agents for the sale of the Publications of the London County Council.
1925.


ARTES
S
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1817
LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
VERITAS
KUN
BUS UNUM
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EXC PLURION
SCIENTIA
OF THE
TUEBOR
SI-QUERIS-PENINSULASIAMŒNAM
CIRCUMSPICE
MUSEUM
VUWA
MHING
(astrolitekn
:
:
1
LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL.
THE HORNIMAN MUSEUM
391
AND LIBRARY,
FOREST HILL, S.E. 23.
A HANDBOOK TO THE CASES
ILLUSTRATING SIMPLE MEANS
OF
TRAVEL & TRANSPORT
BY LAND AND WATER.
3000—(0.14497) −5.8.25-11919
1925,
по кадра
NOTE.
The exhibits to which this Handbook relates will be found at
that end of the lower hall (South Hall) which is furthest from
the entrance to the Museum.
The Handbook has been prepared by Dr. H. S. Harrison,
A.R.C.Sc., F.R.A.I., the Curator of the Museum.
Museums
AM
تو رح
.H815
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G. TOPHAM FORREST,
Architect to the Council.
Museum
4-16-130G
PREFACE.
An attempt to provide an introduction to the subject of travel
and transport must be restricted to limited and definite aims.
The appliances, vehicles, and vessels that have been devised,
especially by civilised man, are so varied, and often so complex,
that even the barest outline of the whole subject would occupy
far more space than is available in a handbook such as this.
Since a museum handbook is, moreover, necessarily based on
the museum collections, the limitations are in a large degree
predetermined. It is the general practice in the ethnological
(and technological) collections in the Horniman Museum to
restrict exhibits to those which illustrate the culture of the less
advanced peoples, ancient and modern, though this limit may
be in special cases overstepped. The exclusion of civilised
developments of the last hundred years or so would be sufficient
to reduce the subject of travel and transport to manageable
proportions, but further reductions have been found necessary.
Thus, the origin of the wheel has been briefly discussed, but no
general account of wheeled vehicles has been attempted; the
development of the plank boat has not been carried as far as
the origin of the decked ship; and the subject of sails has only
been touched upon.
In the treatment of the simpler appliances,
such as sledges, bark canoes, and dug-outs, the object has been
to throw light upon the museum collections, and at the same
time to lay a foundation for a closer study of the whole subject.
The book-list at the end of the handbook will, it is hoped, be of
service in this direction, though it contains only a small fraction
of the books and papers that might have been included. The
notes at the bottom of the pages refer to this list.
Most of the specimens exhibited in the museum cases are
necessarily models, and in practically all cases native-made
models, of appliances still in use, or in use till recent times, by
the less civilised peoples of Africa, America, Oceania, Asia,
and to a less extent of Europe; the scale of the models is
naturally very varied, but this is unavoidable. Specimens
of archæological interest are very few in number.
H. S. HARRISON,
Curator.
MLS
PREFACE
DESCRIPTION OF PLATES
INTRODUCTION
The Baby
Goods
TRAVEL AND TRANSPORT BY LAND
Aids in Carrying
Litters and Palanquins
Special Footgear (Snow-shoes, etc.)
Sliding Vehicles
The Travois
Floats
Rafts
CONTENTS.
Slide-cars
Sledges
The Wheel ..
Beasts of Burden
TRAVEL AND TRANSPORT BY WATER
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Wooden Rafts
Reed Rafts and Canoes
Bark Canoes
Skin Canoes
11919
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Dug-out Canoes✔
Dug-outs with wash-strakes
Built Canoes and Boats
Tied Planks
Pegged Planks
Nailed Planks
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Outrigger and Double Canoes
Paddles and Oars.
Evolution of the Rudder
Sails.
Book List
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DESCRIPTION OF PLATES.
PLATE I. (Frontispiece).
Model of river cargo-boat, Burma. High poop and large
deck-house; oars and a Ʌ-shaped mast (for a simple square-
sail). Quarter-rudder (see p. 64) lashed above and turning
below in a grooved batten; the blade has two attaching
cords, one vertical and the other horizontal, and its
expansion extends slightly forward of the axis. High
platform for the steersman.
PLATE II.
Above. Model of a balsa (see p. 34) from Lake Titicaca,
Peru. This is a raft-canoe made up of four bundles of
reeds. The simple reed-sail is not shown.
Below. Model of an outrigger-canoe, South-east British
New Guinea. The outrigger-log has indirect attachment
to the booms, which carry a platform (see p. 59). The
canoe itself is a dug-out with a deep wash-strake on each
side. Carved prow and stern boards, with shells for
ornament. The oval mat-sail is not shown.
(Photographs and Blocks by the Council's School of Photo-
Engraving and Lithography.)

PLATE 1.-MODEL OF A RIVER CARGO-BOAT, WITH QUARTER-RUDDER. BURMA. (See page 64.)
INTRODUCTION.
At an early stage in the evolution of man the abandonment
of the tree-living habit, accompanied as it was by important
bodily changes, permitted the wandering of the ape-men beyond
the limits of their forest or woodland haunts. Less fitted for
climbing trees, and better adapted for progress on the ground,
they became less restricted in their habitat. As they grew more
straight-footed and erect, the legs became the only organs of
locomotion, and the hands, no longer needed for gripping branches,
or as aids in walking, were set free for more delicate and important
uses. The brain, already large, became larger still, whilst its
convolutions increased in complexity. There was a gradual
development of a higher degree of manipulative skill. Increasing
knowledge of materials, and growing recognition of the value.
of artificial contrivances, formed the base on which were laid
the foundations of the modern triumphs of invention. Many
thousands of years have elapsed since man, or his precursor,
first became a tool-user and a tool-maker,* and thus acquired an
ever-increasing power of control over his environment.
Much concerning the earlier steps in invention may be learnt
or deduced from the relics of prehistoric man, and from the simple
appliances of modern backward races. As regard travel and
transport, however, little is available from the former source,
and the simple devices of modern " savages ”—especially those
for land transport-do not take us far along the lines of invention.
Amongst existing backward races there is rarely to be found
anything in the nature of a conveyance for land-transport, and
the human beast of burden is almost alone available. From
the beginning woman has of necessity carried the baby, and other
burdens were added to her load as man widened his activities
and increased his possessions. As protector of the family
and provider of much of its food, the hands of savage man must
be free to hold his weapons, especially when the tribe is on the
move and is liable to attack; woman was, therefore, the earliest
beast of burden.
* See Horniman Museum Handbooks, "The Ascent of Man," and "From Stone to Steel.”
8
The most primitive devices are those which render the bearing
of burdens less difficult, and, by distributing and balancing
the load, enable the weight to be increased. Such appliances
are sometimes adapted for joint labour; but conveyances like
litters and palanquins are mainly confined to the less backward
peoples. Vehicles, even for dragging along the ground, are not
common, the sledge being the best known type. The wheel,
which is entirely an Old World device, is of ancient origin, and
to its unknown inventors we owe practically the whole of our
modern facilities for travel and transport by land. Domesticated
animals which can be used for carrying or hauling are in origin
almost entirely restricted to the Old World, though amongst
the Eskimo and the North American Indians, for example,
the dog has had to work in this way; in Peru, also, the llama
has long been used as a pack animal.
In the early days of his journeys over the land, man must have
found that his movements were often restricted by broad rivers
or large bodies of water. Not naturally a powerful swimmer-
or perhaps no swimmer at all-such obstacles were at first too
great for him to overcome. His early aquatic adventures and
escapes probably gave rise to the use of drifting logs as floats,
either in sport or as an aid in crossing a stream. In any case it
appears that at a relatively early period he found out how to
make rafts or simple canoes, since such craft are found even
amongst peoples in the lowest stages of culture. Outside the
influence of the ancient and modern civilisations of the Old World,
and their offshoots, the art of navigation has remained dependent
on the canoe in one form or another, propelled by paddles and not
oars, and in one or two regions provided with sails. The earliest
vessels worthy of the name of ship were probably built by the
ancient Egyptians, and following them the Phonicians established
the main types used in the Mediterranean in classical times.
A study of the means of travel and transport of the present
day, and of the past as far as evidence is available, provides
ample confirmation of the working of the evolutionary principle
in the progress of man's inventions. As in other cases, however,
it is often impossible to trace the development of individual
appliances or improvements, and for the earlier stages no evidence
at all may be forthcoming. It is necessary to exercise caution
in reconstructing the successive stages of invention, and to remem-
9
ber that the most that can be reached is a greater or less degree
of probability, which may rarely approach practical certainty.
There are, for example, certain existing forms of wheel which
are similar to some ancient types, and which are in all probability
representative of stages through which the spoked wheel-itself
an early type-has passed in the course of its evolution. Again,
several forms of rudder survive in use to-day in the rivers and
seas of south-eastern Asia which are very similar to, if not
identical with, ancient types from which the more efficient
European rudders have been evolved (see p. 65). The evidence
in such cases as these, and in many others, is strong enough
to demonstrate the general course of evolution of the appliance,
but not sufficient to enable us to reconstruct its history in detail.
In this respect there is close agreement with our knowledge of
evolution in the animal kingdom.
"side lines
There are
in
invention as well as in organic evolution, and in both cases it
is difficult to distinguish them from the main line of descent.
""
The difficulties encountered in an attempt to trace the evolution
of any appliance are greatly increased by the fact that the succes-
sive stages have not necessarily been passed through in one region.
Of late years there has been a growing tendency to regard the
widespread occurrence of similar appliances as due to transference
from one people to another, and not as the result of independent
development. In many cases the probability of this is obvious,
especially as regards such inventions as the wheel, the plough,
or the quern. The greater the ingenuity or the complexity
of the appliance, the less likely it is to have been invented in-
dependently in more than one area, though in each region where
it occurs it may have undergone special modifications. It may
reach maturity far from its birthplace, and critical stages of
its development may have been passed through in different regions.
Such a weapon as the bow, simple as it may seem, involves a
principle which would not obviously suggest itself to early man,
and it is not easy to imagine the steps by which it was invented.
Nevertheless it occurs all over the world, though not all peoples
make use of it. If we assume that it was only invented once,
then it has spread either by transmission through intercommuni-
cation, or by migrations and conquests. The bow, moreover,
presents a variety of modifications, and if each main form (e.g.,
composite bow, crossbow) represents a type that has only been
10
invented once, then the occurrence of the same type in different
regions affords evidence of transference in the past. To make
reliable deductions from the evidence it is necessary to study
not one appliance but many, and to bring the facts into relation
with comparative observations on all the phases of the life
of the people under consideration. The subject can only be
touched upon here, but it has important bearings on the problems
of the evolution of man's appliances, as well as upon questions
of racial origins and intermixture, and of the movements and
contacts of peoples.
#
HANDBOOK
TO THE CASES ILLUSTRATING MEANS OF
TRAVEL AND TRANSPORT.
TRAVEL AND TRANSPORT BY LAND.
AIDS IN CARRYING.
The simplest methods of carrying small burdens are exemplified
by those which involve merely the balancing or supporting of a
bag, basket, or pot, in a manner most convenient for transport.
The pitcher of water balanced on the head, with or without the aid
of a head-pad and the support of the hand, may be seen in many
parts of the world. Or the pitcher may be held on the hip or
the shoulder, and other burdens may be carried in a similar way.
A light basket or bag may be held in the hand, but for the large
market basket the forearm and hip come into action. A heavy
bundle or sack on the back may be gripped by the two hands
over the shoulders, though some form of special support is usually
employed (see models). It is clear that loads carried without
attachment cannot be of great weight, and devices to increase
the carrying power of the human beast of burden are widespread
and various, especially amongst civilised and semi-civilised
peoples. The effect of these is to distribute the load in such a way
that the muscles of the body, and especially of the upper portion,
are used to the best advantage. The neck, the shoulders, the
arms, the back, the loins, play parts of varying importance,
and in the carrying of a heavy load there are few muscles of the
body or the limbs that are not called into action.
"Almost
from the crown of the head to the foot loads may be attached.
They are borne on the head, on one shoulder, on both shoulders,
on the atlas, on the hips, on the thighs, on the arms, on the knees,
and they are suspended from the top of the head in front; from the
forehead, resting on the back, from the neck, shoulder, breast,
arms, hands, waist, and even from the knees. To suit these parts
of the body there have been invented, the milkmaid's pad,'
12
the forehead band, the porter's knot, the Holland yoke,' the
Chinese yoke, the pedlar's stick, market baskets, knapsacks,
burden baskets, panniers, haversacks, grip-sacks, and all the rest.”*
Baby-carriers. It is probable that woman has been the
inventor of some of the simple burden-bearing devices. She
began with the carrying of the baby, and amongst backward
peoples this is often combined with active work, such as hoeing
or reaping. It is appropriate that first consideration should be
given to methods of attaching the baby to its mother.
The Eskimo woman stows away her baby in the large hood of
her sealskin coat, where it has warmth and support at the same
time. In many parts of the world a broad band is worn, often
of skin or fur, which is adapted for supporting the child on its
mother's back or at her side. A similar band, but made of bark,
is worn across one shoulder by the Andamanese mother to help
to support the baby's weight, in much the same way as a shawl
is sometimes used in our own country. The Madi woman of
East Central Africa carry the child in the skin of a goat, gazelle,
or other animal, the legs of the skin being tied together and slung
round the mother's neck. Specially made skin bags, decorated
with beads in the example shown, with the hair on the inside,
are used by some South African tribes, and similar methods
are widespread. In parts of British New Guinea a string bag is
employed, the weight being supported by a band passing over the
head of the mother; the bag may be slung behind or in front.
In some parts of Australia the baby may be carried in a wooden
trough (pitchi), which has also other uses.
99
It is amongst the North American Indians that the most
elaborate provision is made for the convenience of the mother
and the safety of the child.† Most Indian tribes made " papoose
frames or portable cradles (see model), the materials and con-
struction of which varied greatly in different regions. They
ranged from simple skin bags, or skin-covered boards, to frames
or cradles of wood, bark, or basketwork, provided with soft bed-
ding. They were usually carried by means of a band passing
over the head of the mother, and the baby was tightly strapped
* Mason, O. T., "The Origins of Invention," p. 341. See also the same author's "Primi-
tive Travel and Transport," in U.S. Nat. Mus. Ann. Rep., 1894, and his "Woman's Share in
Primitive Culture."
† See Mason, O. T., "Cradles of the American Aborigines," Smith. Inst. Ann. Rep., 1887,
Pt. 2.
13
in the cradle so that falling out was impossible. It may be noted
that amongst certain tribes (Choctaw, Chinook, and others)
a portion of the cradle, or of the bandaging, was arranged so as
to press upon the head of the child, and by deforming the develop-
ing skull ensure that, in the adult, the head should be of the
flattened shape that was the fashion in the tribe. Amongst
the Chinook a head of natural form was one mark of a slave, and
the deformation was therefore of social significance. Cradles
essentially similar to some of those of North America occur in
South America, and in parts of Asia; an example from Borneo,
with bead decoration, is shown in the Decorative Art section.
Carriage of Goods. The construction of the numerous
kinds of baskets, bags, knapsacks, and other receptacles need
not be discussed here, but it may be noted that large carrying-
baskets are made by peoples of various grades of culture. These
may be carried by means of a band passing over the head, across
the chest, or over the shoulders. In parts of Europe and Asia
wooden burden-frames are carried on the back, a loop of cord
passing round each shoulder. The Eskimo have a curved
wooden breast-yoke for attachment to a burden carried on the
back. Amongst most backward peoples, however, the carrying-
band is more often passed over the head-across the forehead for
heavy weights, when leaning forward is necessary, and further
back for lighter loads, or for one carried in front of the body.
Special carrying-bands for use in this way occur both in the
Old and the New Worlds. These bands, several of which are
shown, have a broad portion in the middle of the length, where
they press upon the head; the remainder is cord-like and is
looped round the load.
11919
The balancing of pitchers on the head has already been men-
tioned, and head-pads are often used with loads carried in this
way. Carrying on the head (sometimes called toting") is
especially characteristic of Africa, but it occurs in America,
India, Europe, and elsewhere.
In many of the above methods the head, neck, shoulders,
and back all play their part, as is also the case when large sacks
of coal are removed from a vehicle. The coalman may use an
empty sack for protection, and for distribution of the load
or he may have a strong flap attached to the back of his hat.
The Billingsgate porter's knot, which is a pad fitting over the head,
M
с
14
shoulders, and upper part of the back, is specially constructed
to help in the same way as the coalman's improvised devices.
(See also model from Mexico.)
A stick over one shoulder, with a load at one end, is not only
a pedestrian's method of relief from monotony, but is widely
spread as a more or less casual means of transport. The brick-
layer's hod and the butcher-boy's tray are not dissimilar.
The carrying-stick to which the name of single yoke" is
applied, is an important means of transport in southern and eastern
Asia, and it occurs elsewhere, as in Polynesia and in East Africa,
for example. Two loads are carried at a time, one on each end
of the stick, which is balanced on one shoulder. In China
and some other eastern countries the single yoke plays an
important part in transporting goods both for long and short
distances. Stronger sticks or poles may be used, singly or in
pairs, for combined labour, the load being then slung from the
middle of the pole or poles, the ends of which rest on the shoulders
of the bearers, going one behind the other. Stones weighing
several tons may be transported in this way by a number of
bearers. Such methods of carrying are especially characteristic
of civilised or semi-civilised countries where vehicles and beasts
of burden are not plentiful, and they are also serviceable in hilly
country.
"C
Whilst the single yoke is typically Asiatic-though not exclu-
sively so—the double yoke, passing over both shoulders and behind
the neck, is a European appliance. It is, or was, most familiar
as an aid in the distribution of milk, and though it has never
acquired the importance of the single yoke, it is well-adapted
for economising energy. The Mexican model illustrates the
transference of the appliance to America by the white man.
""
It is interesting to note that the weight that can be carried
by one man for any considerable distance-from 60 to 100
pounds avoirdupois-has been adopted as a unit of weight by
some peoples. The Malays, for example, have a "natural
load unit of about 80 lbs.
Specimens exhibited (Cases 88–90).
Baby-carriers: Model of papoose frame, North American Indian
(Red River); model of woman carrying baby at the hip, supported
by a shawl, Mexico; bead-decorated skin-bag for baby, South Africa;
baby-sling of bark, Andaman Islands.
15
Carrying-baskets: Philippine Islands, Khasi Hills (Assam), Nagas
of Assam; shell-basket used by the Germans in the Great War.
Carrying-bands: Maori of New Zealand, Indians of North-west
Coast of North America, Ainu of Yezo (Japan); model of a wood-
cutter carrying a load by means of a head-strap, Mexico.
Carrying on hip, head, etc. : Ancient Egyptian wooden models of
porters with head-loads, Dynasty IX., about 2,500 B.C., from Sedment ;
clay-model of man with basket on hip, India, and other models of men
and women with loads carried in various ways; head-pad, a ring
of fibre, Ancient Egyptian, about 1350 B.C., from Tell el Amarna.
Carrying-sticks: Ivory figure of man carrying a basket by means of
his parasol held over his shoulder by one hand; single yokes from
Hawaii (Pacific Is.), the Malay Peninsula, and models of a Chinese
coolie and an Indian using the single yoke; double yoke shown on a
model from Mexico.
LITTERS AND PALANQUINS.
The essential feature of these conveyances, which are used
almost exclusively for travel and not for transport, is a hammock,
bed, or seat, slung on a pole, or between two poles, so as to enable
the bearers to share the load. Where men undertake the work
the poles are usually supported on the shoulders, the arm and the
hand also assisting. Such vehicles have been regarded, at various
periods and in many regions, especially by the "well-to-do,"
as convenient modes of conveyance.
Amongst the ancient Romans the litter was borne by special
slaves; whilst horse-litters were much used in Europe before
coaches and carriages became general. Horse and mule ambu-
lances, as well as those carried by men, have played a considerable
part in war-service down to the present day.
Detailed accounts of the various types of palanquin need not be
giver, since no variations of principle are involved. For their
construction the models exhibited may be studied. The dandy
of the hills of North India is specially shaped for carrying up
and down hill. The palanquin of the Indian cities is a kind of
enclosed litter in which the passenger may squat or recline,
and it has a pole at each end for two or more bearers. The
Chinese kiaotsu is an enclosed seat with two poles, one at each
side; whilst the Japanese norimono has one pole along the top.
In parts of China the kiaotsu may be borne by two horses, ponies,
or mules, and in Egypt camels are used for the same purpose.
The European Sedan-chair, a typical 18th century vehicle,
is a closed-in seat with door and windows. It was a fashionable
16
conveyance in towns until the early years of the 19th century.
An example, of the Queen Anne period, is exhibited in the collec-
tion of Old English objects. It appears to have first come into
prominence at Sedan, and to have been introduced into England
in 1634. A pole was fitted to each side and it was carried by two
men, who in London were usually Irishmen. The weight was
supported not on the shoulders but by the hands and arms held
straight downwards. Straps over the shoulders were sometimes
used for additional support. The Sedau-chair is still in occasional
use, though only for invalids, under special circumstances.
Specimens exhibited (Cases 88-90).
66
Models of conveyances of
Assam, India (including a
A full-sized specimen of an
the carrying-chair and palanquin type from
dandy "from Darjeeling), China, Japan.
old English Sedan-chair, of about the time
of Queen Anne, is shown in the collection of "Bygones," on the next
floor of the Museum.
SNOW-SHOES
AND OTHER APPLIANCES FOR
TRAVELLING UNDER SPECIAL CONDITIONS.
Sandals, shoes, and other footgear may be important accessories
in travel and transport, but a consideration of their varieties
is outside the range of the present handbook. Brief reference
must be made, however, to certain appliances adapted to special
conditions.
Snow-shoes are widely used amongst peoples of the northern
parts of Europe, Asia, and America. They range from flat
pointed boards covered with sealskin, as used by the Ainu of
Japan, to the well devised and finely made snow-shoes of the
Eskimo* and some North American Indians. These are supports
consisting of a wooden frame, of round, oval, or elliptical form,
but often pointed behind, across which is a network of sinew
strands, or of hide thongs or strips. There are usually, also,
one or two wooden bars fixed transversely across the frame.
Those for use on the softer and deeper snow often found on the
land have finer meshes of the network than those used on the
sea-ice; very coarsely netted snow-shoes may be used for snow
that is frozen hard; whilst oval snow-shoes made entirely of wood
may be used for very soft snow. An ice-staff with a miniature
* See Murdock, J., "Ethnological Results of the Point Barrow Expedition," Bur. Ethn.,
9th Ann. Rep., Washington, 1892.
17
snow-shoe at the lower end, and a point beyond it, is employed
by some Eskimo at certain seasons for testing for thin and
dangerous ice whilst travelling on snow-shoes, and such a staff
is also of greater use on snow than is one with a simple point.
Considerable variation is met with in North America, both
in the construction and the finish of the snow-shoes. The
Nanénot, or Nascapee, Indians of the Hudson Bay region have
three forms, only one of which, the swallow-tail, has a point
behind. In this tribe the network is made of deerhide in fine
strips; the finest netting is at the back, and the coarsest in the
middle of the snow-shoe. The wooden crossbars may be either
one or two in number. In the Pacific states of North America
the crossbars may be replaced by stout rawhide rope, and the
netting is of the simplest kind, or even practically absent. It
seems probable that the more finely constructed snow-shoes
of North America are of Indian origin, and have been copied
by the Eskimo. Various types of snow-shoes are met with amongst
the Lapps and Finns of Europe, and the Gilyaks and other
north Asiatic tribes, but they are of less advanced construction
than those of America.
For travelling over slippery ice or frozen snow the Eskimo
sometimes use
99
ice-creeps attached to their boot soles. These
are small flat bars, often of ivory, with deep crossing grooves,
the projections between which afford a grip on the surface.
Skis are long wooden strips or planks, turned up in front,
covered with skin on the under side, and provided with straps
for attachment. They appear to be of Norwegian origin, and
they are now widely used in sports and athletic exercises.
Skates are mainly used for pastime in civilised countries,
though where opportunity offers they may serve as means of
rapid travel over frozen lakes, rivers, or canals, as in Holland.
Stilts are in this country usually associated with boys' games,
but their use for crossing streams in the region of the upper
Tweed and Clyde is recorded. They are also still in use in the
Landes of Gascony, where floods are frequent owing to the imper-
meability of the subsoil. The conditions have been greatly
improved by draining works, but formerly the farmers, shepherds,
and marketmen had to spend a large part of their lives on stilts.
The stirrups were about five feet from the ground, and the
wearer often carried a long stave provided with a narrow board
66
18
at one end, which could be used as a seat. The city of Namur,
in Belgium, formerly suffered greatly from floods, and it was
celebrated for its stilt-walkers for a long period. After the need
for stilts had gone they still played a part in certain sports
and festivals. The stilt is known in China, Africa, and in the
Pacific, where it is used during the rainy season in some parts.
In New Guinea stilt-walking appears as a children's sport, and
in the Marquesas Islands stilts with well-carved rests were
dancing accessories. In New Zealand stilts were used in racing
and in wrestling, and for crossing streams. It is interesting
to note that the Maori digging-stick is very stilt-like, having a foot-
rest which corresponds to the stirrup.
The use of stilts in Europe for gigantic figures in processions
and masquerades is well known, and they have even been used
in Paris as aids in hanging pictures high up on the walls of
an exhibition gallery.
Specimens exhibited (Black standing case).
Snow-shoes, North American Indian, Skis from Norway. (Stilt-rests
from the Marquesas Is. are in the Decorative Art section, under
Polynesia.)
SLIDING VEHICLES.
The means of travel and transport so far considered have been
discussed very briefly, since they are all of them of great simplicity,
and lead up to no important steps in invention. Wheelless
vehicles for dragging over the ground are also simple in principle,
but they stand at or near the beginning of the series of conveyances
which are associated with the use of the wheel.
The Travois.
*
The travois of the North American Indians of the plains
consisted of two shafts joined at one end and open at the other,
and crossed by a rectangular frame, or an oval network, for
the support of baggage. The whole was therefore in the form
of a letter A, and in use the closed end was attached to, and
rested on, the back or shoulders of a dog, the two limbs of the
open end dragging along the ground. After the Indians obtained
the horse from the white man the travois was made of larger
size, and some tribes were in the habit of making improvised
* See Wissler, C., "The American Indian."
19
contrivances of this kind by tying tent-poles together in two
sets, and placing across these the skin cover of a tent. The
poles were then attached to a horse, one set on each side, and
considerable weights could be carried on the travois thus formed.
The travois could be used to carry women and children, screens
or shelters being constructed over a platform in some cases.
During the Great War a form of ambulance was used on the
Balkan front, in which the principle of the travois was employed.
This ambulance resembled a Sedan-chair, the two carrying poles
of which were attached in front to a mule, and dragged along
the ground behind. For work in the hills this arrangement
had its advantages, though to a wounded man the defects must
oftentimes have been more obvious.
The Slide-Car.
The Irish slide-car* is essentially similar to the permanent
form of the Indian travois, though its form is rather that of
an H than an A. There are two side poles, or shafts, connected
by crossbars, and fitted with a cage or frame to hold a basket,
or other load. The horse is harnessed to the front ends of the
shafts, whilst the other ends rest on the ground, or, more fre-
quently, terminate in wooden runners which save the shafts
themselves from wear and tear. In parts of Ireland, and
especially in the glens of Antrim, the slide-car is still in use,
whilst similar vehicles have been employed in Scotland and
in Wales down to recent days. They are clearly adapted for
service in hilly country where roads are few, for carrying peat
or agricultural produce in small quantities. They can be made
without the use of any metal in their construction, and the aid
of an expert carpenter is not required. A few wooden poles
and some thongs or rope are all that is essential, and they are
therefore easily made by those for whom carts are too expensive.
In many of the conditions under which they are employed they
are more convenient than wheeled vehicles would be, and, like
other survivals, they justify their persistence by their fitness
to their surroundings.
The Sledge.
To those living in warm climates, or in temperate regions with
short and mild winters, the sledge may be an object of curiosity,
* See Haddon, A. C., "The Study of Man," p. 164.
20
or known only by its occasional use in winter sports. In the
Arctic regions, on the other hand, the sledge is a necessity for land
transport, and it is also important in countries such as Russia
and Canada, where winters are severe. The woodcutter's sledge
is a type which may be used on suitable ground at any season
of the year, and there are other sledges that do not need a frozen
surface to be of use.
The Eskimo, some tribes of North American Indians, the
Lapps of northern Europe, and the Arctic peoples of Asia, make
constant use of sledges. Man-haulage is frequent, but the
Eskimo also use their dogs, whilst in northern Europe and Asia
the reindeer is available.
A very simple sledge is the Lapp pulka, of which a specimen
is shown; it is a boat-shaped vehicle with ribs, to which the
planks are fastened with wooden pegs. There is a single broad
flat runner of wood, which is median in position. The pulka
is usually drawn by a reindeer.
To the Eskimo* the sledge is of the utmost importance, since
it is their only means of rapid transport, and to a less extent
of travel, over the snow and ice of land and sea. They are
people of great ingenuity in the making of effective weapons
and other appliances, and their sledges illustrate the skill with
which they exploit the scanty resources of their inhospitable
regions. Various types of sledges are made by these people,
some for temporary use, others of a permanent character; some
for carrying heavy loads, such as dead seals or deer, others for
the moving of camp equipment and other possessions. Blocks of
ice may serve as improvised sledges, and temporary runners
for a sledge may be in the extraordinary form of frozen salmon.
A complete sledge may even be constructed from frozen skins,
and in a recorded case, that of a musk ox, flattened out and
allowed to freeze till it was "as stiff as a board," was cut up
into pieces which were fastened together in the form of a sledge.
The vehicle would, of course, only serve during winter, since it
would collapse on thawing.
A simple type of Eskimo sledge, obtained from Alaska (Bering
Straits) had two strong runners of walrus tusks, about 15 inches
long, which were held together by three round wooden crossbars
* See Murdoch, J., op. cit, p. 353.
21
about 14 inches long, lashed at their ends to the tusks. This
form was used for transporting masses of meat and blubber
from the site of the kill to the camp. A more usual form of
Eskimo sledge, for heavy work, consists of wooden runners
5 to 15 feet long and fixed about 2 feet apart, upon which rest
a number of flat wooden or bone crossbars (see small model
of Eskimo dog-sledge). These are not in all cases in contact
with each other, but may be attached at a short distance apart.
The sledge may be small enough to be drawn by a man, even
when loaded, or it may be pulled by a dog-team and steered
by a man travelling behind on his snow-shoes. The skull of
a deer, with portions of the antlers left on, is sometimes attached
at the back to serve as a handle in steering.
A more elaborate Eskimo sledge, for carrying camp equipment,
has a body raised well above the runners. The ladder-like
bed rests on curved supports attached to the runners, and at
a higher level are side rails for keeping the luggage in position.
A network of hide thongs below the rails aids in preventing
objects from falling out. The rails project at the back to form
handles for steering from behind.
Eskimo sledges are made chiefly of driftwood, since trees of
any size do not grow in the Arctic, but considerable use is made
of bone (and especially of bone of the whale) and whalebone.
The fastening of the parts together is done by means of mortises,
lashings of hide, and to a less extent, wooden pegs. These
fastenings stand the frost and strain much better than metal
nails or bolts, even if these were easily obtainable by the Eskimo.
The runners are often portions of a whale's jawbones, and they
may be shod with strips of bone, ivory, or whalebone. It is:
a common practice to give the runner a coating of ice, which
may be done by blowing water from the mouth along the shoe,
and allowing it to freeze. Sometimes, however, long blocks
of fresh water ice are cut to fit the runners, to which they are
frozen.
Dog teams are used by the Eskimo of North America and
Greenland, whilst those of the extreme north-east of Asia make
use of the reindeer, as do also the Chukchi of this region. All
across northern Europe and Asia sledges are employed, and they
vary in form and detail of construction, but not in principle.
11919
D
22
Those of civilised Russia and Scandinavia (and also of the white
man in northern North America) may be finely built, but they
consist of two runners with a raised body, and are essentially
similar to the better types of Eskimo sledges; metal may play
an important part in their construction, however. In towns
and cities where the roads are snowbound during the winter
they replace carriages for road traffic, and they are built for
speed and for the comfort of the passengers. Sledges are some-
times used on frozen waters in China, and are not pulled but
are pushed from behind by a man by means of an iron-shod
pole.
+
Of the sledges used for sports, little need be said here. · With
racing sledges built of steel a speed of over 70 miles an hour has
been achieved on the coasting runs of Switzerland. These types
have the usual pair of runners, but the true toboggan is merely
a flat slab of wood curved upwards in a semicircle in front,
having a length of 3 to 8 feet and a width of 2 to 3 feet. It has
no runners. The sporting toboggan is derived from that of
the Indians of parts of northern North America. This is a
larger structure, 10 to 13 feet long, but similar in form to that
just described. That used by the Nanénot Indians of the
Hudson Bay region is made of two boards, joined closely together
by means of crossbars. The front is steamed and bent upwards
in a semicircle, the curve being retained by means of thongs
tied to one of the front crossbars. This type has been compared
to two skis joined together, but the curve in front is greater.
The native toboggan is pulled by a man or woman, and is not
used for coasting. It may be noted that the flat underside
of the toboggan adapts it for use in the softer snow of the less
northerly regions, whilst the runners of a sledge are suited to
a surface of ice or frozen snow.
It is interesting to note that amongst the relics of prehistoric
man in France is a piece of bone bearing a carving which has
been interpreted as that of a sledge, very similar in type to some
Eskimo sledges. On the other side of the bone a running reindeer
is carved, and it is possible that we have here, on a relic of the
remote Old Stone Age, not only the earliest representation of
a vehicle, but the earliest evidence of the domestication of
animals—in this case the reindeer. This interpretation of the
carvings is not accepted by all authorities.
23
Specimens exhibited (Cases 88-90).
Model of travois with horse, Blackfeet Indians, North America ;
models of slide-cars, Ireland; sledges, pulka of Lapland, and model
of Eskimo sledge; large meerschaum pipe, carved in the form of a
sleighing party, Russia.
THE WHEEL.
The wheel was invented in the Old World* at a remote period,
and has long been in use amongst both barbaric and civilised
peoples. It was not known to the backward peoples of Africa,
Oceania, and America. There is no clue as to its actual place
of origin, though it is probable that this should be sought in one
of the seats of ancient civilisation in Western Asia, where a
settled life and the development of agriculture led to such great
advances in other directions. The most favoured hypothesis
as to the manner of its origin is that which derives it from the
use of rollers in moving heavy weights, a well-known device in
the ancient world. It is suggested that this led to the production
of a pair of solid wheels in one piece with the axle, by the simple
process of reducing the thickness of the middle of the roller;
a pair of downward projecting pegs on each side would then
suffice to keep wheels and axle in position below a stage or
sledge.
Amongst the specimens exhibited, special attention should
be paid to the models of the cart from the north of Ireland, with
solid or block wheels turning with, and not on, the axle. They
are also placed below the body of the cart, and are necessarily
of small size. In order to give room for the wheels the back
of the cart is raised on supports. Similar carts were in use in
Scotland till quite recent times, and in some cases they were
merely slide-cars fitted with wheels. The Irish type exhibited
is still used, but the axle is sometimes fixed, with the wheels
revolving on it, as in the vast majority of such vehicles; the
wheels may then also be outside the shafts.
The plaustrum, or farm cart, of the Romans had massive
block wheels (in one piece or in more than one) turning with
the axle, and the type was common in the ancient world.
Similar arrangements occur in modern wagons and bullock-carts
* See Haddon, A. C., op. cit., and Tylor, E. B., “On the Origin of the Plough, and Wheel-
Carriage," Jour. Anth. Inst., Vol. 1o (1880).
24
in Portugal, Turkey, China, India, and elsewhere. It must
be noted that the solid wheel is not necessarily fixed to the axle,
though this must be the case when the ends of the axle are square
where they pass through the centre of the wheel.
In some cases the block wheel is reduced in weight by cutting
out portions between the rim and the centre. These solid, or
nearly solid wheels are strong, and therefore well-adapted for
use in undeveloped countries where roads are bad or wanting.
At the same time the simplicity of manufacture is a recom-
mendation where economy is essential, or where skilled labour
for the construction of spoked wheels is not available. Where
block wheels in one piece are (or were) in use, there may usually
be found also solid wheels made up of three or more short lengths
of plank clamped together. Those observed by Burt in Inverness
about the middle of the 18th century consisted of "three pieces
of planks, pinned together at the edges, like the Head of a Butter
Firkin." Such wheels, having some parts of the margin with
the grain and others not, wore unequally, so that in time they
lost their circular outline. Some ancient Greek and Roman
wheels were of similar construction, and their counterparts are
found amongst the Basques of Spain. A reversion to the wheel
turning with the axle may be seen on modern railway carriages
and wagons, and on other vehicles, though the wheel is, of course,
unlike the ancient type in other features.
""*
Notwithstanding the widespread survival of the solid wheel,
the spoked wheel is also of very ancient origin, and was known
to the Assyrians, the Egyptians, the Greeks and others. War-
chariots especially, had spoked wheels, though they were not
confined to these vehicles. It is probable that spoked wheels
reached the British Isles in the Bronze Age (i.e. after about
1800 B.C.), along with the war-chariot itself; but it is not known
whether this was the first appearance here of the wheel in any
form.
It is possible that the block wheel gave rise to the spoked
wheel through stages in which perforations were made, at first
one on each side of the axle. Four symmetrically arranged holes
of relatively large size, would produce a wheel with a rim and
four broad spokes, all in one piece. On the other hand, there
*Quoted by Haddon, op. cit., p. 174.
25
is more evidence, and greater probability, that the course of
evolution was somewhat as follows :
1. Block wheel, in one piece, a section of the trunk of a tree.
2. Solid wheel of several pieces, with two or more crossbars.
3. Solid wheel of several pieces, with one main and median
crossbar, and a rim.
4. As in the last case, but the boards making up the body
of the wheel reduced to two, the median crossbar being also
retained.
5. As in the last case, but with only one of the boards,
represented by a bar across the middle of the wheel, at right
angles to the median crossbar. At this stage the wheel becomes
a true spoked wheel, but with only four spokes.
Most of the stages here suggested are represented by ancient
or modern wheels that are known. A series of models, made
in the Museum, is exhibited to illustrate the main features
of this conjectural reconstruction of the course of development.
At what stage the wheel was fitted to a circular termination
of the axle, so that it could revolve upon it, cannot be determined,
but the improvement may have been associated with the later
stages of development. If the wheel arose from the roller, the
earliest wheeled vehicles were no doubt for heavy work, and light
vehicles such as war-chariots would be of later origin. It does
not seem improbable that these chariots played an important
part both in the development of spoked wheels and in the setting
free of the wheel from its rigid connection with its axle. The
stimulus of war has at all periods, and amongst races in all stages
of culture, led to the greatest strides in invention.
It may be noted that for the full development of its usefulness
the wheel has had to wait till steam and electricity afforded an
adequate driving power for great speeds. Until the construction
of the first railway, rapid land travel and transport in Europe
depended mainly on the horse, just as it had done for several
thousands of years before. Within the last hundred years the
advances made have been incomparably greater than in all those
of man's previous history. In the cycle and the motor-car
the wheel has reached a remarkable degree of efficiency.
The models exhibited are by no means representative, those
from India and Burma being in the majority. In any case,
however, it would not be possible to give detailed descriptions
26
of a large number of types of carts, coaches, chariots and other
wheeled vehicles. The use of the wheelbarrow in China, as a
means of travel and transport, calls for brief mention however.
In China the wheelbarrow is used both for luggage and for
passengers. In size it may be similar to our own form, or it may
be as large as a handcart, and the wheel itself is fixed nearer to
the body of the vehicle, especially in the larger examples. On
the plains of north China it is not uncommon to see one or two
persons seated on the body of a wheelbarrow, pushed by a man,
and, if going with the wind, aided by a sail on a movable mast.
Relatively enormous loads may be carried by these vehicles, as
may be judged by a recorded case, in which one man was guiding
from behind, two men steadying and pushing at the sides, and
two mules and an ass, driven by a man, pulling at the front.
Specimens exhibited (Black standing case).
Models of carts with block-wheels, Ireland, Burma, India; models
of carts, etc., with spoked wheels, chiefly bullock carts, from Burma,
Ceylon, and India; models of wheelbarrows, Mexico and China ;
models made in the Museum to illustrate the possible course of
development of the wheel from the roller.
BEASTS OF BURDEN,
Before passing on to the consideration of travel and transport
by water, the subject of domesticated beasts of burden may be
touched upon.
Nothing is known, though much may be conjectured, as to the
steps by which man was led to the taming of wild animals. It
seems probable that in some cases the animals themselves became
willing associates of man, and that he was thus led to the capture
and domestication of others which required coercion before sub-
mitting themselves to his will. The dog, which is the only animal
tamed or possessed by all modern races of man, and which was
the first to be domesticated, was perhaps a prowler round the
settlements of early man until the mutual attitude of semi-
hostility was replaced by one of friendliness. In this case, as in
many others, the process of domestication probably depended,
in part at least, on the capture of young animals, which were
treated as pets. Persistence in attempts at taming and training
depended upon such factors as the intelligence and docility of
the animals themselves, and also upon the extent to which they
27
could be of use to their masters. The ox, the goat, the reindeer,
for example, would be valuable sources of milk and meat, as was
no doubt the case with the horse in early times, and even down
to our own day in parts of Central Asia.
Except in civilisation man has rarely troubled to domesticate
animals which could be of no material use to him, and the large
group of mammals known as the Ungulata, or hoofed animals, has
provided him with by far the most numerous and the most useful
of his friends and helpmates. To this group belong the horse,
ass, ox, sheep, pig, and others, whilst the dog and the cat are
almost the only representatives of the rival group of the Carnivora.
The Ungulates, with their diet of wild plants, can find most of
their own food, and in disposition they are usually gentle and
tractable. Many of them, also, are of large size and great
strength; hence they supply much milk and flesh (both rendered
palatable by their diet), and are capable of bearing or pulling
heavy loads. That they breed freely in captivity is a feature
which is of fundamental importance. The dog is typically the
guardian of the home and the companion of the hunter, and is
rarely called upon to act as a beast of burden. He does not
escape entirely, however, even in Europe, and amongst the
Eskimo he is specially trained for drawing the sledge.
The horse, the ass, and others, were used as pack-animals, and
probably ridden, before they were ever attached to vehicles, and
these methods of using them persists under various conditions.
The camel is typically a pack-animal, often used also for riding.
The Indian elephant, by virtue of its great strength and its pre-
hensile trunk, is adapted for various kinds of work, but its
African cousin is not sufficiently tractable for domestication on
an extensive scale; in recent years, however, some success
has been achieved in the Congo State in training African
elephants captured whilst young. The reindeer, apart from its
value as a source of food, is a beast of burden in the arctic
portions of the Old World, where it is harnessed to the sledge by
the Lapps, and by various tribes of northern Asia.
In the attachment of loads to pack-animals many appliances
are used, and even more are required for riding and for harnessing
to vehicles. Some of the models exhibited show methods of
loading, saddling, and harnessing. No attempt can be made to
28
illustrate the variety or the development of such appliances as
panniers, saddles, howdahs, harness, bits, whips, goads, and other
accessories.
Specimens exhibited (Case 90).
Various models of beasts of burden, including: clay model of bullock
with water-bags, India; camel and rider, in ivory, India; clay and
ivory models of elephants and riders, India; clay model of horse and
rider, India; ivory model of pony, with paniers and passengers, Japan.
Dog-whip, Eskimo of Alaska; elephant driver's crook or ankus, Malay
Peninsula and India; ox-goad, Pyrenees; models of panniers for rein-
deer, Lapland.
29
TRAVEL AND TRANSPORT BY WATER.*
In discovering or devising means of travel and transport by
water the difficulties encountered by early man were greater than
those involved in land transport. To travel over land with his
few possessions, savage man needs only time and bodily strength,
and in most cases he has rarely got beyond a few simple expe-
dients for convenience of carriage. For the crossing of rivers,
lakes, or arms of the sea, and still more for long sea-voyages,
greater ingenuity is needed, and the considerable variety in the
materials and construction of canoes and boats, even amongst
the backward peoples, is evidence that this has not been wanting.
The evolution of water-craft has also been greatly stimulated
by the advantages they afford for fishing, and for the hunting
of such animals as the turtle, the seal, or the whale. It is clear,
moreover, that there have always been rewards for the inventive-
ness of those who could produce vessels of greater strength and
stability, and so diminish the dangers of deep waters. The
desire for greater accommodation and speed has also played
an important part, whilst competition in Dreadnoughts was only
a later phase of competition in war-canoes. Very few backward
peoples have, however, produced vessels which are safe beyond
the limits of rivers, lakes, and Lays, and the ocean-going craft
of the Polynesian navigators are exceptional.
References are made at a later stage to the general distribution
of the chief types of canoe, but it may be mentioned here that the
raft, the bark canoe, and the dug-out, are almost universal in
their distribution, though one type may be predominant in par-
ticular areas. The skin canoe is chiefly found in northerly regions,
and it is not improbable that it is a derivative of the bark canoe.
Boats of planks laced or lashed together at their edges are not
restricted in their distribution, though they are found chiefly
in the Indian and Pacific Oceans; boats (and ships) of planks
pegged or nailed together are mainly the creations of the civilisa-
tions of Europe and Asia. Such anomalous types as the earthen-
ware tigare of Eastern Bengal-a bowl-shaped vessel about 2 ft.
across and 15 ins. deep-are not common.
Not many
The specimens exhibited are chiefly models, and they illustrate
all the main types of vessels used by backward races.
paddles or models of paddles are shown, but they are sufficient
* See Pitt-Rivers, A. H. Lane Fox, "Early Modes of Navigation" in "The Evolution
of Culture.
11919
>>
E
30
to indicate the general range of form. The origin of the rudder
from the paddle (see p. 63), is illustrated in a special series.
Sails are not well represented, but where so little space can be
devoted to the collection, it would not be possible to attempt
to deal in detail with such a complex subject.
Although models of some advanced types of sailing-vessels
are shown, it must be borne in mind that the chief object of
the collection is to give an account of the water-craft of modern
backward peoples, and to show how some of these help to the
understanding of the evolution of the simpler built-up vessels
of Asia, and of early times in Europe. The development of the
ship proper must be studied elsewhere.
FLOATS.
The use of a float as an aid in swimming short distances no
doubt dates back to very early days in the history of navigation,
long before rafts or canoes were constructed.
There are many
records of modern peoples using this ancient method, in some
cases with a natural float, such as the unhusked coconuts occasion-
ally used in India and in the South Seas, in other cases with
floats that need some preparation, as when an inflated oxskin
or goatskin is used for crossing a river in Africa, India, or Meso-
potamia—a form of float employed also by the ancient Assyrians.
The Hottentot may use a drift-log, and the Australian aboriginal
may swim with a log under his chest, or sit astride a log which
he has taken the pains to point at both ends; and even to provide
with a rail of sticks on each side, upon which his legs may rest
whilst he paddles with his hands. An efficient kind of float
is made by the Buduma of Lake Chad, in Central Africa, amongst
whom "each house owned [owns] one or two ambach floats-
great logs of the wonderful Herminiera claphroxylon wood,
which is so light that a child can hold in its arms half-a-dozen
or more logs, each of which looks heavy enough to form a man's
full load. When dry it is one-fifth the weight of cork." The
floats are roughly shaped in the form of a fish, curved upward
at one end, on which a rude head is carved, the other end narrowing
off to a point. On these the men and women lie, and swim
almost as rapidly as they can run on land. The logs form easy
means of evading capture when pursued, and a fugitive will
seize a log, carry it to the water, swim off to another island in
P
31
the lake, land and carry his log to the other side, and so gain
opportunities of putting his pursuers off the track. Largely
in consequence of these special facilities for evasion the lake has
become a place of refuge for lawless characters from the west
and central Sudan.* A sample of ambach wood is exhibited.
is used for rafts as well as for floats.
It
In the same region of Africa floats are made by attaching
two large empty calabashes to the two ends of a stout stick;
the native sits astride the stick and paddles with his hands.
With this may be compared the float-almost a raft-of North
Arcot (India) in which two inverted pots are joined by two parallel
bamboo rods, on which a man sits and paddles.
Some American Indians of the Gulf of California lash pieces of
wood together for a float, which they place under the chest.
The surf-board, or wave-sliding” board of Hawaii, in the
Pacific, is used by the natives in a favourite sport of riding on
the huge waves which break on the shores of the islands. It
consists of a board, five or six feet long, and rather more than a
foot wide, sometimes flat, but usually slightly convex on both
sides. The native may ride standing or lying down. These
surf-boards are highly-valued and carefully preserved. In this,
as in some other cases, it is not easy to decide whether "float"
or "raft" is the more accurate term.
<<
The highest developments of the float are reached in modern
life-saving appliances, such as life-buoys, inflatable waistcoats,
and the like.
No specimens or models of floats are on exhibition at the time of
writing.
RAFTS.
Two chief kinds of raft occur, both being of wide distribution.
In one type, logs or poles are bound or pegged together, whilst
in the other, the raft is made up of bundles of bark, or of thin and
light stems, such as reeds. When the reed raft is shaped with a
point at one or both ends, and has the sides raised above the
level of the middle, the vessel becomes a kind of canoe, though
it is not watertight.
* Talbot, P. A., "The Buduma of Lake Chad," Jour. Roy. Anth. Inst., Vol. XLI., 1911.
32
Wooden Rafts.
To a large extent, though not exclusively, wooden rafts are used
for travel or transport on lakes or rivers, and also for fishing.
They are especially suited for carrying cargo down stream, since
in many cases they are too clumsy for effective propulsion by
means of paddles. They are readily made in an emergency,
if the materials are available, and they have survived for various
special purposes, even in civilisation. Their stability and carrying
power are their most useful features.
The Australian aborigines have several forms of raft. The
log with a rail of sticks on each side (referred to in the last section)
is almost a raft, especially when the sticks are connected by
means of interwoven twigs, as is sometimes done. A true raft
was also made by pegging two logs together, but both forms are
one-man craft, and the hands were used for paddling. The natives
of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and some other parts, bind together
mangrove stems by the narrow ends, forming a raft which is
wider at one end than the other. Sometimes this is completed
by the attachment of a four-sided wooden frame.
Wooden rafts of various sizes are used in some of the Pacific
Islands for small traffic and fishing, and in New Guinea, for
example, there may be found rafts of several tree-trunks bound
together, sometimes having a platform raised above the reach
of the water. (For the New Guinea lakatoi, see p. 59).
On some of the lakes of Southern Abyssinia (Abaya, Chamo).
rafts, or canoes, are made of very light wood, with sides and
curved bow, but open stern; the vessels are not in any sense
watertight, and they float because of the lightness of the wood
of which they are made.
The exhibited model from Brazil illustrates a fishing-raft
(jangada) of logs pegged together, bearing a small platform
carrying a shelter; a mast with triangular sail is fitted, but this
is wanting in the model.
In India, on the Ganges, four or five plantain (banana) stems
are made into a raft by running across and through them three
skewers of bamboo. Other rafts are made of three large bundles
of light sticks bound together and with three bamboo poles
lashed across, above and below.*
* See Hornell, J., "The Boats of the Ganges," Mem. As. Soc. Bengal, Vol. VIII., No. 3.
33
The fishing-rafts, or catamarans*, which are typical of the
east coast of India, consist of three to seven logs or thick planks,
the middle one (or more) projecting aft beyond the lateral logs,
and being continued forward by an upward-curving stem piece
(or pieces.)† Sometimes, also, the logs are arranged so that
the raft is like a canoe with low sides, and either open or closed
stern; a wash-strake or weather-board may be added. The
parts are usually lashed together, the raft being built up anew
at each occasion of using; pegs are used for fastening the parts
together in some forms, and these are not dismantled after use.
Sails are often employed, and sometimes a rowing-rail is attached
on one side, but the paddle (of undeveloped form) is the usual
means of propulsion.
The Formosan raft, of which a model is shown, is made of
bamboo poles, bent with the aid of fire, and so constructed
that the whole is concave above. It carries a sail, and is steered
by means of thin boards let down between the poles. In Sumatra,
rafts of tiers of bamboo poles pegged and lashed together have an
elevated stage above the reach of the water.
Rafts of timber, or of interwoven reeds and branches, used on
the Tigris and Euphrates, are often buoyed with inflated skins of
sheep and goats, the timber being sold, as well as the cargo, at
the journey's end. This method of water transport was practised
in Mesopotamia several thousands of years ago. On the Nile,
earthen pots may be used as buoys for the raft, and in this case,
cargo, logs, and buoys may all be sold. These buoyed rafts have
their parallels in India. On parts of the Ganges, skins of
buffaloes, turned inside-out, and with the openings tied, are
lashed together after inflation, in varying number according
to the size of raft required. A common form is a charpoy,
or native bedstead, tied across two inflated skins. Two men,
each with an inflated skin as a float, guide the raft as it drifts
down stream. In these types of buoyed rafts the skins are
deflated at the end of the journey, and are carried back as
bundles on the head. Some rafts on the Ganges are buoyed
with inverted earthenware pots; frequently nine pots, arranged
in a square, are connected together by bamboo poles.
* Tamil, Kathu maram, or “tied logs." The term catamaran is often applied in error
to the outrigger canoes of Ceylon.
† See Hornell, J.," The Origins and Ethnological Significance of Indian Boat Designs "
Mem. As. Soc. Bengal, Vol. VII., 1920.
See Hornell. J, "The Boats of the Ganges."
34
In some parts of the East rafts of very large size are made,
and those seen on some Chinese rivers are like great floating
villages; a raft of this kind may carry twenty huts and a number
of people, together with pigs, dogs, fowl, and other property.
In Canton and elsewhere, many natives live permanently afloat
on moored rafts of bamboo, some of which support houses con-
taining each several families. Shops are also built on such
rafts.
It seems probable that some broad, flat-bottomed boats are
derivatives of the raft. The model from the Maldive Islands
(Indian Ocean) suggests a raft with an upcurved bow and a low
parapet on the other three sides, rather than any type of cance
or boat.
Specimens exhibited (Case 91).
Log of ambach wood, used for making floats (and rafts) by the Buduma
of Lake Chad; wooden rafts from Brazil, Formosa (of bamboo), and
examples of the Madras catamarans with 3, 4, 5 and 7 logs respectively,
some with sails; also model of canoe-catamaran from Cape Comorin;
model of rectangular flat-bottomed boat used for collecting cowries,
Maldive Islands.
Reed Rafts and Canoes.
66
Rafts of rushes or reeds are still used on the Nile, as they
were in ancient times. The ark" of Moses was made of such
materials, and papyrus boats are mentioned by ancient writers.
The Assyrians had reed rafts, some canoe-shaped, for marshy
districts, the water being sometimes excluded by a coating of
pitch, or even a covering of leather. In modern times in the
same region, rafts of rushes are made, one type resembling in
form a mattress with a pointed end, turned up and over at the
front. Some reed rafts are buoyed up with supports, as in the
case of the wooden rafts mentioned above.
The reed raft easily develops into a canoe-shaped vessel, aš
was the case in ancient Egypt. The Seri Indians of California
use reeds or canes which are tied up in bundles, three of which
are joined together to form a vessel, sometimes as much as 30 feet
long, pointed at both ends and having the two side bundles
higher than the middle one.* It is very permeable to water,
but is safe even in rough seas and strong currents. The balsa
of the Cordillera region of South America (see Plate II.) is of
* See Hodge, F. W. (editor), "Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico." (Boats.

CH.
OF
SNIE
0.0
PLATE II.-MODEI. OF A BALSA, OF FOUR BUNDLES OF REEDS. PERU. (See page 34.)
35
essentially the same character. It is much used
It is much used on Lake
Titicaca, and even before the discovery of America the natives
are said to have employed a square-sail on their balsas. Canoe-
like reed rafts are used on various rivers and lakes of Africa.
An advanced type of "reed " vessel was made by the Moriori
of Chatham Islands, near New Zealand, by fastening bundles
of stalks of the flax plant on a framework of poles and fern-
stalks to form a well-shaped canoe,* though it was not water-
tight; it was propelled by rowing and not by paddling.
To be classed with these reed canoes are the only vessels
made by the recently-extinct Tasmanians. In this case, however,
the material was bark (usually of a Eucalyptus) which was tied
up in bundles by means of grass or strips of bark. Three bundles
formed a canoe, those at the sides being higher than that in the
middle. The canoe was pointed at both ends, which were also
raised a little above the level of the water, and a large example
measured was found to be about 15 feet long and 5 feet broad.
Long poles or strips of bark were used as paddles. Fire was
carried on a bed of earth or cinders. Six or eight persons could
be taken on the larger canoes, and though they were mainly
calm-water vessels there is evidence that the Tasmanians were
not restricted to coasting along the shore, and rough seas were
sometimes safely weathered.
Specimen exhibited (Case 91).
Model of a reed raft, or balsa, canoe-shaped, from Lake Titicaca,
South America (see Plate II.).
BARK CANOES.
Canoes made of the bark of trees are widespread in their
distribution, and are especially characteristic of Australia, many
parts of America, and a few parts of Asia. They are rare in
Africa, and there is no evidence that they were ever used in
Europe-though the absence of all traces of them may be due
to the perishable nature of bark.
The main use of bark canoes is on rivers, lakes, and near the
seashore, as they are too light and fragile for use on rough and
open waters. In river-voyaging their lightness is an advantage,
especially where rapids and falls necessitate frequent portages.
For temporary purposes, also, bark canoes may be made very
* See Skinner, H. D., “Moriɔri Sea-going Craft," in Man, 1919, No. 34
36
quickly, and with comparatively little labour and skill. Canoes
intended to last are often made with great care, and are designed
for speed as well as for as much stability and strength as can be
achieved with such material.
The bark canoe may have originated, partly or wholly, through
the use of pieces or bundles of bark for floats or rafts-the curved
shape of a large piece may, for example, have suggested the tying
of the ends to make it into a canoe.
There are two chief methods of constructing bark canoes. In
what is probably the more primitive, since it is the simpler, a
single sheet of bark is used. The more advanced form is built
up of several pieces sewn or lashed together; these pieces may
be few in number, running from one end of the canoe to the other,
or they may be smaller pieces necessitating transverse as well as
longitudinal seams.
Except when they are made for a temporary purpose, such as
crossing a river, bark canoes are usually strengthened by the
addition of internal wooden supports. The most constant of
these are curved sticks or laths which are fixed transversely
inside the bark; they occupy the position of ribs, but they are
more numerous and may be so close together as to form an almost
continuous layer. Thin wooden slats are often interposed between
the bark and the ribs, and the upper edge of the canoe is usually
protected and kept in shape by wooden strips or rods, forming
a gunwale. The wooden crossbars (struts or thwarts) which are
tied to the gunwale, also help to keep the canoe in shape, and some-
times serve as seats. The parts are fastened together by sewing,
lacing, or tying, and the internal supporting structures are added
after the bark has been shaped or fastened together (but see
below, p. 38). Caulking is essential, and all canoe-making
peoples are acquainted with gums or resins which will serve this
purpose.
Both single-sheet and built-up bark canoes are made amongst
the Australian aborigines*. For emergencies, and sometimes for
fishing, a very rough canoe is made from a wide strip of bark
from the stringy-bark tree or other Eucalyptus. The ends are
tied up and plugged with clay, and struts are fixed across to
prevent the canoe from collapsing. For canoes of a more per-
manent character the piece of bark is shaped with the aid of heat
* See Thomas, N. W., "Australian Canoes and Rafts," Jour. Anth. Inst., Vol. 35, 1905
37
and sometimes turned inside-out, so that the exterior of the bark
is on the inside of the canoe. The ends are tied or sewn up
(sometimes also skewered with wooden pegs), and caulked with
grass, wax, or tree-gum; transverse struts are added to give
additional rigidity, and the gunwale may be strengthened with
wooden rods (see model exhibited). Ribs are inserted in some
canoes. The built-up canoes of some parts of Australia are made
of a few strips of bark such as that of the gum-tree; the pieces
are sewn or laced together, and the seams caulked, ribs and
struts being added. The length of such canoes may be from
5 to 20 feet. For paddling, poles and bark scoops, as well as
proper paddles, are used by the aborigines.
The Kayans and some other tribes of Borneo make single-
sheet bark canoes, with ribs, longitudinal slats, and cross-struts.
The two ends are closed with lashings of rattan, and the gunwale
is formed of strips of the same material.
66
""
The woodskins of some Indian tribes of Guiana are made
from one piece of bark, which is stripped from the tree and cut
to the form of half a hollow cylinder. At a little distance from
each end two triangular pieces are cut out, each gap facing its
fellow. The ends beyond the gaps are bent upwards so that the
triangles are closed up, and the opposed edges are then sewn
together, the turned-up ends forming bow and stern of the canoe.
No ribs are fitted, but sometimes the gunwale is strengthened
with wooden strips.
The bark canoes of the Fuegians of South America are made
of strips of bark running longitudinally like the planks of a boat,
but they are only a few in number-three in the models exhibited.
Wide and closely-set ribs are fitted after the bark is sewn up, the
gunwale is strengthened by wooden supports, and struts are tied
across.
The birch-bark canoe of the North American Indians*, and
especially of the Athapascan tribes, is found on the Great Lakes,
and in the region adjoining the Arctic zone. In this type several
pieces of bark are used, and the seams are transverse as well as
longitudinal. The shape is better than that of any of those
previously described, and better workmanship is shown in the
lining of the bark with ribs and longitudinal slats, and in the
fitting of the thwarts and gunwale supports (see especially the
* See Hodge, F. W. (editor), "Handbook of American Indians north of Mexico." (Boats.)
38
largest model exhibited). There are variations in form and con-
struction, but these Indian canoes are the finest bark vessels
found in any part of the world.
Some Indians of the Hudson Bay region obtain the proper
shape for the canoe by moulding the bark, after scraping and
soaking it in water, on a clay model of the interior of a canoe,
The pieces are then sewn together with spruce root, and the
gunwale supports fixed in position. The canoe is removed from
the model, and the longitudinal slats, the ribs, and the thwarts
are fitted. The seams are caulked with spruce-gum and seal-
oil, and the canoe is ready for its trial.
Another unusual method was practised by the Menomini
Indians of the Great Lake region—a framework of ribs, struts,
and gunwale strips was first set up, and to this the bark skin was
fitted.
mdagi
The Indians of the Kutenai river (north-west North America)
had bark canoes with pointed bow and stern, forming a sort of
underwater ram at each end, and the same type is found on the
Amur river in Mongolia. The Kutenai form has ribs, slats,
thwarts, and gunwale supports, as in most North American types,
and that of the Goldi and some other peoples of the Lower Amur
is similar in construction. The Goldi and Yakut use the double-
ended paddle with this form of canoe.
The Tungus of north-eastern Asia have a canoe in which the
strips of bark pass round the canoe, instead of—as is usual in the
built-up form-running in the direction of the length. The
interior has ribs, and an external strengthening strip of bark is
attached along the middle line.
The evidence from all the regions of distribution of the bark
canoe indicates that the ribs and other supporting parts are
secondary additions, though in one case at least (Menomini
Indians) the bark is fitted to the frame, and not the frame to the
bark. It will be seen later (p. 55) that the plank boat also
passed through a stage in which ribs were added as supports,
and that it was only at an advanced stage in the development of
boat-building that the planks were attached to a framework
already prepared.
Specimens exhibited (Cases 91–92).
Model of very crude form of bark canoe, Australia; models of various
types made by the Indians of North America, and of Tierra del Fuego,
South America.
39
SKIN CANOES.
Canoes or boats of skin stretched over a framework are not
so widely distributed as are bark canoes and dug-outs, and their
use is almost confined to the Northern Hemisphere. It is not
improbable that they were derived from bark canoes by the
substitution of skin for bark, but this can only be conjectured.
The mode of construction is necessarily different, since the hide
must be stretched over a framework which has been prepared
for it, and this appears to be a relatively advanced method.
Some skin canoes are of the type of the ancient British coracle
or the American Indian " bull-boat," and they can only be used
in the calm waters of rivers or lakes, or near the sea-shore;
they may be oval or circular in form, but the Eskimo umiak and
the Irish curragh are boat-shaped.
The ancient British coracle was described by Cæsar as con-
sisting of wickerwork covered with skins, and the same type
occurred in other parts of Europe at that time, in Scandinavia
for example. As might be expected, no specimens have come
down to us, but the modern Welsh coracle, of which an example
is exhibited, must be regarded as a survival-probably with
little modification except in the substitution of tarred canvas
for skin. The modern Irish curragh, of which only a model is
shown, is a higher type, both in its less clumsy form, and in the
provision for the use of oars instead of paddles. Down to quite
a recent date some Irish curraghs were covered with leather
instead of canvas. In Scotland a currock of wicker covered with
bull's hide was used in the 16th century, and no doubt later.
Another ancient record of skin canoes is that of the round
coracles of willow frame and skin covering, described by Herodotus
as coming down the rivers from Armenia to Babylon. Similar
vessels often 12 feet in diameter, of split bamboo covered with
raw-hide—are used to-day in parts of India, but the modern
coracle (the Arab guffa) of Mesopotamia is of basket-work coated
with bitumen, though the use of hide or leather persisted down
to modern times. Further east in Asia coracles are sometimes
used for crossing rivers, as on the Yellow River in Mongolia.
The bull-boat of some North American Indians is-or chiefly
was- a tub-shaped vessel of willow and bison-hide. It was
used especially on the Missouri River, but similar forms occurred
in California, Newfoundland, and elsewhere. In an emergency
40
a temporary canoe was sometimes made from a tent-skin, by
fastening it to a hastily-improvised framework. In California
large coracle-shaped vessels, coated with bitumen or other water-
proof material, were used for crossing streams; in this case, as in
the modern Mesopotamian guffa, the frame was of closely-
woven basket-work, and not an open crate such as is used for the
skin canoe.
The pelota of South America corresponds in structure to the
bull-boat of the north.
The umiak, or so-called woman's boat, of the Eskimo, is made of
a framework of driftwood-sometimes whales' ribs are also
used-over which is stretched a covering of seal or walrus hide
from which the hair has been removed. The parts of the frame
are fitted together by means of lashings, mortises, and trenails.
Unlike the kaiak (see below), the umiak is an open boat, used for
hunting and fishing as well as for transport. Amongst the
Greenland Eskimo, however, it is entirely a women's boat, and
the men are not allowed to interfere in its management. Umiaks
range from 15 to 40 feet in length, and they are propelled by means
of oars which, as a rule, pass through an ingenious form of row-
lock made of two hide loops interlocked; in the model exhibited,
however, the oars have loops which fit over pegs on the gunwale.
A sail of matting or of seal intestine is sometimes used. It is
probable that both oars and sail were adopted through contact
with more civilised peoples.
The kaiak of the Eskimo* is the highest development of the
skin canoe, in the degree of its adaptation to difficult and danger-
ous conditions of use, as well as in the ingenuity of its construction.
The framework is chiefly of pieces of driftwood, fitted together to
form a canoe-shaped cage, complete above and below, except
where a circular opening is left for the occupant. The kaiaks of
the Aleutian Islands may have two or three such manholes. The
covering of seal-hide is complete except over the manhole, and
when the canoe is in use the occupant is able to arrange his outer
garments so that no water can enter the interior. The main use
of the kaiak is for hunting, and the upper side of the vessel is
sometimes provided with ingenious fittings for the attachment
of harpoons, and other appliances, used in the pursuit of large
sea-animals such as the whale and the seal (see model exhibited
* See Murdoch, J., op. cit, p. 328.
41
here, and the still more varied outfit of the model kaiak shown
with the harpoons in the Weapons section). A double-bladed
paddle is used for the kaiak.
Specimens exhibited (Cases 92-93).
A modern coracle from South Wales, with baler, paddle, and salmon-
club; model of a curragh, with oars, Donegal; model of Eskimo
umiak, with oars, North America, and of Eskimo kaiaks from Labrador,
Greenland, and the Aleutian Islands; also the skeleton or framework
of a kaiak, to show construction, Eskimo of Alaska.
DUG-OUT CANOES.
There is no form of vessel which is more widely distributed, or
has a longer traceable history, than the dug-out canoe.
It was
used in our own country, and in Europe generally, from Neolithic
times until a recent period, and it is still found in Asia,
Africa, America, and the Pacific. The cruder forms of dug-out
are narrow unstable craft, but in some regions methods of
increasing the width of the vessel have been devised, as well as
of adding to the height by fixing one or more planks, or strakes,
along the sides. These additions will be discussed later, as will
also the outriggers and double canoes which are so characteristic
of the Malayo-Polynesian region. For the present we may
confine ourselves to the plain dug-out, made by hollowing out
the trunk of a tree, and sometimes having the sides spread out-
wards to give a greater width or beam. It may be noted that the
dug-out has survived alongside much more advanced types of
craft, as, for example, on the coasts and rivers of India.
The dug-out ranges from a short, narrow, hollowed-out log,
holding only two or three people, to well-finished vessels over
100 feet in length. The narrow forms are too unstable for rough
water, unless they have an outrigger or another canoe attached
alongside, but some of those which have been widened are used
for traffic and hunting on the sea, without any device for securing
extra stability.
The dug-out canoes of Africa, south-eastern Asia, the Pacific,
and America, are constructed by similar methods, though with
differences in detail. In the Pacific and in the greater part of
America the only tools available for carpentering work are, or
were, of stone or shell. Axes and adzes with stone blades, and
in some cases stone wedges and chisels, were the main tools of
the canoe-maker. In Africa and Asia iron is available, but the
42
axe or adze is still the principal tool. Fire is often employed in
the construction of dug-outs--to aid in the felling of the tree,
the hollowing-out of the trunk, the hardening of the wood, and
also to enable the sides to be stretched outwards. Hot water
may also be employed for the last-named purpose.
Long canoes are occasionally made by joining together two
or three hollowed-out logs by their ends, the vessels being thus
built up of sections. Side planks, or wash-strakes, are usually
added to such canoes. It will be convenient to consider the
dug-outs of various regions of the world in the geographical
order-Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, America.
The dug-out in Europe: The use of dug-out canoes by the
ancient Germanic tribes was mentioned by Pliny and by later
writers, and there is no doubt that in the more backward parts
of Europe and the British Isles they survived until quite recent
times.* Stray examples were still in use a few years ago in
Scandinavia. Examples have been found which date back
to the Later Stone Age, though there is rarely satisfactory
evidence as to the age of the many ancient dug-outs which have
been found in England, Scotland, Ireland, Scandinavia, the
Swiss Lakes, and elsewhere. Some are, however, certainly of
the Neolithic Age, whilst others belong to the Bronze Age, the
Early Iron Age, the Roman Period, or later. There is no evidence
that Palæolithic man had dug-out canoes, and tnough it is
possible that they were in use even at this early period, the
nature of the stone implements scarcely suggests that they were
used for working wood on such a large scale.
Oak was the usual material for the ancient British and other
European dug-outs; they were sometimes as much as 40 or 50
feet long by 5 feet broad, and the choice of wood was no doubt
partly due to the large diameter of the trunk of the oak. Some
are trough-shaped and narrow, others flat-bottomed and wide.
The ends may be pointed, blunt, or square, with stem and stern
alike or unlike. Raised cross-bands, in the position of ribs,
were sometimes left in the process of hollowing out, and this
may have been in imitation of the ribs of built-up boats. There
is no evidence as to the method of manufacture, but this cannot
have differed greatly from those employed by backward peoples
* See Boehmer, G. H., "Prehistoric Naval Architecture of the North of Europe," in U.S.
Nat. Mus. Rep., 1891.
སྐ
43
of the present day. A good example of the type was found
some years ago at Brigg in Lincolnshire, and is now in the Hull
museum. It is apparently pre-Roman in date, and is made
of oak. Its length is nearly 50 feet, breadth from 4 to 5 feet,
and depth 18 to 32 inches. The sides and bottom are flat,
except at the bows. The stern is open and has a groove into
which is fitted a separate stern-board. Under the portico
of the British Museum (Bloomsbury) are examples of dug-out
canoes, probably dating from the Bronze Age; one of these was
found at North Woolwich, and another at Walthamstow.
are both of oak, and are flat-bottomed.*
*
They
The dug-out in Africa: The dug-out may be regarded as the
typical canoe of those parts of Africa which have been least
affected by Mediterranean and Asiatic influences. Although
the vessels are well made in many cases, they are not seaworthy
craft, and their main use is on rivers and lakes. The African
negro and the Bantu cannot be described as seafaring people,
even on the coasts, and the vast bulk of the population lives in
the interior. Some lake tribes, however, make excellent built-up
plank canoes, which will be considered in a later section (p. 54).
The African dug-outs are often narrow, no process of widening
being attempted, and, except through Asiatic influence, the
outrigger is not employed. The dwellers on the Congo and its
tributaries are clever canoe-makers, as are also some of the west
coast tribes. In the Cameroons, for example, well-finished and
richly-ornamented canoes are made, which will hold about a
hundred men.
Lake Tanganyika was explored by Captain Speke, in 1858,
in a narrow dug-out. This had been made by burning out the
interior of a tree-trunk and finishing off with axes. For the
process of burning, fire was made on the surface of the trunk,
and prevented from going too far by smearing the wood with
mud.
The Cross River natives (Nigeria) make primitive dug-outs,
the tree being felled, and partly hollowed out on the spot, with
the aid of fire. It is then hauled on rollers to the water, and
finished with knives and adzes. A war canoe may be 60 feet
long, with a steering platform, and sometimes with thwarts
for paddlers.
* See British Museum Guide to the Antiquities of the Bronze Age, 2nd edition, 1920,
P. 116.
44
Dug-outs, as well as plank boats, are used by various tribes of
the Victoria Nyanza. Those of the Baganda are made of a
fairly soft wood that hardens in water and then becomes almost
unworkable. The dug-outs are about 20 feet in length, and are
used as ferry-boats, and for fishing in shallow water.
"When
a man wished to cut a tree either for building a 'dug-out,' or for
making boards for the better kind of canoe, he asked the medicine-
man near at hand to consult the oracle and to tell him whether
he might venture to fell the tree.
Most people held the
belief that the trees were possessed by spirits, and that the
spirits needed to be propitiated by an offering of a goat or a
fowl, with some beer and possibly a few cowry shells."*
Fire was
sometimes used to aid in the hollowing-out.
The dug-out in Asia: Although a large part of the enormous
coast-line of Asia and its islands is occupied by seafaring peoples
who make vessels of considerable size, the dug-out still plays a
part of some importance for river and shore navigation. This
is especially the case in Indo-China, and in many of the islands
of the south-east. Even where the simple dug-out is not used,
it may be the foundation of the mainly built-up boat; on the
rivers and coasts of India both types are frequent.
The Andaman Islanders have a simple dug-out, narrow and
unstable, which is provided with an outrigger (see p. 58). They
also make a broader dug-out which is used without an out-
rigger, but this type is said to have only been made since their
ineffective shell-bladed adze has been replaced by one with an
iron blade the result of contact with a higher culture. Models
of both forms will be found in the special Andaman collection
in the Domestic Arts section.
The Kayans of Borneo have dug-out war canoes, which are
usually 60 to 70 feet long, and sometimes reach nearly 150 feet.
They will hold from 50 to 100 men. As the sides of the large
canoes are raised by added planks, or wash-strakes, they should
be described under a later section, but it is permissible to refer
here to the method of constructing the dug-out, as this forms
the greater part of the canoe. The hollowing-out is aided by
first charring the wood by firing shavings on it, fire being also
applied to the outside of the canoe. The width is increased
by forcing in cross-bars whilst the wood is hot, the cavity being
* Roscoe, J., "The Baganda," pp. 385-6.
45
also filled with water at the time. The proper thickness of the
various parts of the shell of the canoe is arrived at by using
gauges in the form of wooden pegs of the right length, these
being driven into half-inch holes made through the shell at
frequent intervals. Before beginning the manufacture of a
canoe it is necessary to ascertain if the omens are favourable.
In Burma and Siam dug-outs of 100 feet in length by 8 or 10
feet beam, have been recorded. The old Burmese war canoes
were of this class, and they were paddled by 60 or 70 men. For
such canoes the trunk of the teak tree was hollowed out, partly
by fire and partly by cutting. The whole canoe was often gilded,
and decorated with flags and banners. Some canoes carried
(6
30 soldiers, in addition to the paddlers. Steering was done by
means of a paddle-shaped quarter-rudder" (see p. 64) at the
side of the vessel, near the stern, as in the case of many types
of boats from this region.
The dug-outs used in India* (e.g., on the shallow tributaries
of the Ganges) include one specially interesting form.
"Com-
monest of all is the little dug-out made from the lower end of
the stem of the Palmyra palm (Borassus flabelliformis). The
entire butt-end of the tree is used, together with 8 or 10 feet of
the cylindrical stem above. The butt-end of this palm is unusually
bulbous, and when hollowed out gives a wide roomy cavity
where quite a considerable quantity of goods can be stored, or
several passengers accommodated if they sit close together at
the bottom. This wide end forms the forepart of the canoe,
which narrows off as the bulbous base passes into the cylindrical
stem.
A large donga [dug-out] can accommodate
three people sitting tightly packed in the butt-end; an ordinary
size is 11 to 13 feet in length, with a diameter at the fore-end
of 2 ft. 8 in. to 2 ft. 6 in., while the narrow posterior portion
is usually not greater than 10 or 11 inches. These dongas form
excellent ferry boats when used in pairs side by side and lashed
to connecting poles laid athwart them.
The canoe-man
usually propels his craft, whether single or double, by means of
a pole." With regard to other Ganges dug-outs, the same
author says:
“But all dongas are not made from Palmyra
palms. Many are less primitive, being hewn from the trunks
of such trees as the mango, sal, and cotton-tree. The wood of
* See Hornell, J., "The Boats of the Ganges," p. 177.
46
these trees being workable with axe and adze, the village canoe-
maker, who is usually the village carpenter, has scope for the
exercise of considerable skill in shaping his hull to the best
advantage from the trunk.
They are slab-sided, flat-
bottomed craft, with massive ends, sloped down internally,
but more or less truncate externally.
In size they run
from 12 to 25 feet in length, sometimes even more, with a width
of from 18 inches to 3 feet, and a depth generally of a foot or
15 inches. A single paddle about 6 feet in length, is used.”
In Indo-China, and amongst the Malays, the dug-outs are
widened with the aid of a slow-burning fire, lighted beneath
the hollowed-out log. By forcing in cross-pieces whilst the wood
is hot the sides are thrust outwards.
The dug-out occurs, together with other forms, such as the
bark canoe, on the rivers of the interior of Asia. On the Upper
Amur River there are dug-outs with pointed ends, resembling
in form the bark canoes of this region. (See p. 38).
The dug-out in Oceania: The dug-out is widely used in the
Pacific, but in its simpler form only for minor purposes. As will
be seen in a later section (see p. 49), the more typical vessels
of the Pacific Islands are either formed by the addition of side
planks to the dug-out, or have only a dug-out keel, or have
even lost all traces of the dug-out and are built up entirely of
planks. An outrigger is usually attached to the simple dug-
out, as well as to other forms.
Methods of increasing the width of the canoe by forcing the
sides outwards are rarely employed, and it is probable that this
is in part a result of the use of the outrigger. A narrow dug-out.
with an outrigger is more stable than one which has been widened
but has no outrigger; a platform on the outrigger-canoe also
gives a greater capacity.
The dug-outs of the Papuans of the Mimika river (Dutch
New Guinea) are usually about 35 feet long by 18 inches wide,
and above the water-line the bow is square and the stern pointed.
A small compartment is hollowed in the stern to hold sand on
which a fire may be kept burning. No outrigger or wash-strake
is added to these canoes. The tree for the canoe is cut down
with stone-bladed axes, and the trunk is hollowed out with
sharpened shells. The trunk is roughly shaped on the spot
where the tree is felled, and is then hauled to the river and towed
47
to the village, where the hollowing-out and final shaping are done.
Small children may be seen in dug-outs 3 or 4 feet long almost
before they have learned to walk.* Some New Guinea dug-outs
are open at the stern, and as the bow is very low the water can
wash through from one end to the other.
There are few, if any, of the many groups of islands in the
Pacific in which the dug-out has not been recorded. Even where
the typical canoe is a well-made vessel built of planks, the dug-
out has survived for small traffic and for fishing near shore.
The use of fire for the hollowing-out is not general, but in parts.
of New Guinea, for example, it is employed to harden the wood
against decay and the attacks of insects. Before the coming
of the white man the felling of the tree and the construction
of the canoe were done with tools of stone or shell, the adze
being the most important implement of the carpenter, though
the axe was sometimes employed.
The dug-out occurs in Australia, but only as a result of out-
side influence.
The dug-out in America.-The canoes of the first American
Indians encountered by Columbus were dug-outs, and the type
is widely distributed both in the north and south. In many
cases the width is increased by methods such as those referred
to below, but the addition of side planks, or wash-strakes, is not
common. No form of outrigger is known to the Indians, and
large vessels such as those of the Pacific Islands, combining
canoe and raft, are also unrepresented.
The Indians of British Guiana hollow out their canoes partly
by burning and partly by means of axes. The sides are spread
by forcing in cross-pieces after the wood has been heated, or
soaked in running water, or filled with wet sand. Sometimes
the dug-out takes the form of half a hollow cylinder, open at the
two ends; V-shaped planks are fitted in to close the ends.
(Wapisianas). In this form wash-strakes are added.
Some tribes of the Amazon region fell a tree, preferably a cedar,
for making a dug-out, by boring holes which are widened into
grooves with stone-bladed axes, and these are deepened till the
tree falls. The hollowing-out is done by boring holes along the
trunk and splitting off the wood with the axes. The splinters
* Wollaston, A. F. R., Pygmies and Papuans, p. 55.
48
A
are used for a fire which is kindled along the groove, and whilst
the canoe is still hot from the burning, transverse logs are forced
into place to widen the vessel.
In North America a traveller in 1747 described the Indians of
the Delaware river as felling a tree by means of fire, and burning
dry branches on the trunk to assist in the hollowing out. Water
was poured on the parts that were not to be burnt. Stone-bladed
axes and shells were used in the completion of the canoes.
The finest dug-outs of the American continent were made by
the Haida and other Indians of the north-west coast. The usual
trees to be chosen were cedars, the best wood being that of the
Yellow Cedar. Four types of canoes were made, the largest
carrying about 100 people and quantities of goods. All the
canoes were simple dug-outs, without wash-strakes, but in their
buoyancy, capacity, graceful lines and finish, they indicate great
skill in construction, specially when it is borne in mind that no
metal tools were available.
The hunting canoes were light portable vessels for one to three
men, similar to the model exhibited, which contains two men and
a dead seal. The small full-sized canoe over Cases 91-93 is
probably of this class. The transportation canoes were from
25 to 35 feet long, and 4 to 6 feet across. They would carry
about 15 persons, with cargo, their total capacity being two tons
or more. The voyaging canoes and the war canoes were from
35 to 65 feet long, and 6 to 8 feet across, with long projecting
spurs on bow and stern. Their capacity was about 5 tons.
+
A single tree-trunk was used for each canoe, the tree being
felled by means of stone-bladed axes, stone chisels, and wedges.
The same tools were used in hollowing-out, though the most
important part was played by the adze; some accounts state
that fire was also employed. After the trunk was hollowed out,
it was filled with water, which was heated by dropping in hot
stones. Wooden cross-bars were then forced in, and the width
increased. By this means a log 3 feet across could be made to
furnish a canoe 5 feet wide, great skill being exercised in allowing
for the effect of the widening on the general form of the vessel.
The final processes of construction involved the smoothing of the
surface with chisels, sandstone, and sharkskin, and the appli-
cation of painted designs, often of a totemic character.
49
Specimens exhibited (Cases 94–96).
Model of dug-out, Guiana, South America; dug-out canoe, 7 feet
long, Indians of North-West coast, North America, and models of dug-
out canoes from the same region (Haida Indians, etc.); model of dug-out,
Wanyagatwa tribe, Rufiji River, East Africa; model of dug-out
with cover of thatch, Sulu Archipelago, East Indies; model of dug-out
river-boat, with paddlers, Burma.
Dug-Outs with Wash-Strakes.
The addition of side-planks or wash-strakes to a dug-out, in
such a way as to increase its height and width, is a very general
practice in the Pacific. It occurs (or occurred) for example, in
New Guinea, New Britain, the Admiralty Islands, Hawaii, and
New Zealand. All dug-outs are not provided with this addition,
but it is usually present in the larger canoes, and in those which
form a part of the composite vessels which are made up of canoe,
outrigger, and platform, or double canoe and platform (see p. 59).
The wash-strake on each side of the canoe may be long enough to
reach from bow to stern, or more than one plank may be needed.
At the two ends there are often specially-shaped additions which
take the place of the wash-strakes, and sometimes cover in the
bow and stern. In all cases, in the Pacific, the wash-strakes are
attached to the dug-out by means of lashings which pass through
holes in both, the seam being caulked with fibre, vegetable gum,
etc. The planks are usually fitted on the edge of the dug-out
without overlap.
Wash-strakes are frequently added to the canoes of South-
Eastern Asia and its islands, as for example on the coasts and
rivers of India, Burma, Ceylon, and Borneo, but they are rarely
found on dug-outs from beyond the limits of the Indo-Pacific
region. They occur in East Africa (specimen shown), West
Africa, and British Guiana; they have also been adopted by
some of the natives of North Queensland who have come under
Papuan or Melanesian influence.
A model of a Maori canoe (New Zealand) is exhibited, and in
this the method of attachment of the wash-strake is well shown.
The seam is covered inside and out by thin strips of wood, lashed
on with the same cords that tie the wash-strake to the dug-out.
The elaborately carved prow and stern are separately attached
to the canoe. A large Maori canoe measured by Captain Cook
was nearly 70 feet long, by 5 feet wide, and 3 feet 6 inches high.
50
The dug-out itself was made from three tree trunks, the three
sections being lashed together end to end. The wash-strakes
were two stout planks, each over 62 feet long. Outriggers were
rarely used by the Maori, both this type and the double canoe
belonging to the early days of their migrations across the Pacific.
When first visited by Europeans, and for many years afterwards,
they were a very warlike race, and their long finely-built
and elaborately ornamented canoes were used for predatory
expeditions.
The canoes of Hawaii were dug-outs with wash-strakes. Each
was made from a single tree, and the length sometimes reached
70 feet. Outriggers and double canoes were usual, and a model
of each is shown; in both of these the wash-strake is indicated,
but it is not shown as a separate attached plank.
In the model of a double canoe from Manihi, shown in an
adjacent case, the height of the canoe is increased above the
wash-strake by a strip of matting.
Other types of Pacific canoes with wash-strakes will be referred
to in connection with outriggers and double canoes. The main
object in devoting a separate section to this feature is to empha-
sise the fact that the addition of a wash-strake must be regarded
as the first step in the evolution of the plank-boat from the
dug-out. When two strakes are added, one above the other,
the dug-out portion is beginning to decrease in importance; the
large outrigger canoe from the Gilbert Islands (above Cases
99—106) may be seen to consist of planks laced together, but
the dug-out is represented by a long log forming the keel. This
log is hollowed out inside, and it is an obvious remnant of a
dug-out. More close attention must now be given to these built-
up vessels.
Specimens exhibited (Cases 94-96).
Dug-outs with wash-strakes from New Zealand (Maori), East Africa,
Madras (other examples may be seen in later series).
1)
BUILT CANOES AND BOATS.
(a) The Planks Laced or Tied Together.
The construction of canoes from planks which are laced or
tied together is especially characteristic of some of the islands of
the Pacific. The method is used by some Asiatic peoples of
51
Siberia and of the shores of the Indian Ocean, and it occurs,
though with restricted distribution, in Africa and North America.
There is evidence that the method was once widely used in
Europe, where it is scarcely yet extinct.
In the Pacific, canoes made of planks are (or were within
recent years) found in New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Fiji,
Gilbert Islands, Society Islands, and Samoa. Full-sized examples
from the Solomons and the Gilbert Islands are exhibited over
the cases, but there are at present in the museum no models
of canoes of this class from the Pacific. Of the two full-sized
canoes, that from the Gilbert Islands is the more primitive,
since, as already mentioned, the keel is formed by a slender
hollowed-out log which clearly represents the vestige of the
dug-out. It will be seen that the vessel has a single outrigger.
It will also be observed that the pieces of wood forming the
canoe are not uniform in size, and that the stitches joining them
together are visible on the outside of the canoe. The Gilbert
Islanders were good navigators, and their larger canoes were
50 to 60 feet long, and held 40 to 50 people.
The canoes of the Society Islands, described by Cook, were of
excellent construction, but they still retained evidence of their
development from the dug-out. The keel was a length (or two or
three lengths) of tree-trunk hollowed with a groove which was
in section in the form of a letter V. Side planks were lashed
on to the edges of this trough, and above these a line of planks
curved in the transverse plane; forming the upper edge or
gunwale of the canoe were planks of T-shaped section. The
shape and position of the curved planks caused the canoe to
swell out considerably below the gunwale. Holes were bored
in the planks-by means of awls made of human arm bones-
through which the lashings were passed to tie the planks together.
Outriggers and double canoes were usual in this group of islands,
and were used for fighting expeditions and long voyages.
M
In the plank canoes of the Solomon Islands (Melanesia)* the
keel may be rounded, slightly V-shaped in section, or flat. lt
is usually made up of two narrow planks, whilst two wider ones
form the sides. The ends of the canoe, as may be seen in the
specimen, are prolonged upwards so that the whole shape is an
*See Woodford, C. M.," The Canoes of the British Solomon Islands," in Jour. Roy, Anth.
Inst., Vol. 39, 1909.
52
elongated crescent. The specimen shown is for two or three men,
but large vessels 50 to 60 feet long by four or five feet beam,
for 20 to 25 men, were also made, and these were the war-canoes
used on head-hunting expeditions. Such large canoes would
have 3 or 4 (rarely 5) lines of planks for the sides. In all cases
the planks were lashed together edge to edge, without overlap
(carvel-built) by means of strips of strong fibrous plant stems,
and the seams covered with resinous material (see specimen)..
Ribs were fitted after the building-up of the canoe, and these:
were lashed to the planks through projecting bosses left out-
standing for the purpose. The high prow and stern were fitted
separately; often they had decorative carving, and were orna-
mented with large shells. The sides of many canoes were inlaid
with pieces of shell and mother-of-pearl, and a carved wooden
figure-head was fixed at the bow. The attachment of an
outrigger to these built-up canoes was very exceptional, but
this was used for the simple dug-outs also, though less frequently,
found in the Solomons.
">
In the Fiji Islands (Melanesia) several types of canoe were in
use, all having an outrigger attachment, the "log or float being
in some cases in the form of a smaller canoe. When not more
than 30 or 40 feet long the canoes were often cut out of a single
tree trunk, but the largest canoes were built-up. What appears
to be the largest example recorded was 118 feet long with a
broad deck 24 feet wide built across amidships. Such a canoe
"would safely convey a hundred persons, and several tons
of goods, over a thousand miles of ocean." As regards the
fitting together of the planks of the larger canoes it is important
to note that along the internal edge of each plank a flange was
left, and through this flange the holes were bored for the sinnet.
which bound the planks together; these holes, therefore, did
not come through to the exterior of the canoe, and there was
so much less chance of leakage. As in the Solomon Islands, ribs
were inserted after the building-up was completed.
The natives of Samoa (Polynesia) were much more enter-
prising navigators many years ago than they have been in recent
years. Dug-outs and built-up boats were made, the former for
fishing inside the reefs. "The beautiful carvel-built canoes to
*See Decorative Art section for one of these figure-heads and their significance.
†Williams, T., Fiji, p. 76.
53
carry four were principally used for bonito-fishing.
They
were generally built of bread-fruit [tree] planks sewn on to a
keel made of greenheart. After the same model, but much
larger, were the dolphin canoes, which were built with four seats
for eight people besides the steersman, or with five scats for
twelve persons.
All these canoes had outriggers, and in
the case of the sailing canoes they had one on both sides.
The sails were made of mats, and something like a leg-of-mutton
sail with the broad end uppermost. The ropes were made of the
bark of Hibiscus tiliaceus. All the carvel-built canoes were
fastened together by sinnet passing through holes gouged in a
projecting part of the edge of each plank. The planks were
fitted by rubbing turmeric along the edges. These were rubbed
together, and any part not properly jointed was at once shown
by the absence of the turmeric mark on it. They were caulked
with gum made from the bread-fruit trees, spread on both sides of
strips of native cloth, and placed between the planks before
they were sewn together. After the canoe was finished it was
rubbed with ana, a species of coral used as pumice stone.”*
The use of stitches or lashings for the construction of boats
still persists on the shores of the Persian Gulf and the Indian
Ocean. The dug-outs from Ceylon and elsewhere, with an added
plank or wash-strake, have already been mentioned, and there
are also boats consisting of a dug-out with several rows of strakes.
The Madras surf-boat (“Masula " boat), of which a model is
shown, is a good example of a vessel made entirely of planks
sewn together. It will be noted that the stitches joining the
planks also bind to the seam a fibrous material which serves as
caulking. The dug-out is entirely unrepresented in this boat,
which may reach a length of over 40 feet; it is used as a cargo-
lighter, and also for shooting shore seines. The Ainu, a back-
ward race of Yezo (Japan) and some neighbouring islands, have
canoes made of planks lashed together; they are of small size
and are propelled by means of oars, the rower standing up to
the work. In Siberia there are boats made in the same way,
the lashings being of willow-strands, and in one form leathern
straps are used to attach the planks to the frame.
* Brown, G., “Melanesians and Polynesians," p. 349.
54
Although the dug-out is the typical canoe of the greater part of
Africa, vessels of planks are made by a few Bantu tribes. The best
examples are the canoes of the Baganda and other tribes of the
Victoria Nyanza. The model exhibited is a good representative
of the type. The keel of a full-sized canoe was made from a tree
50 to 60 feet long, and since it was given a concavity above it
may represent the vestige of a dug-out. The sides were each
made up of two planks, the lashing being done with creepers
passed through holes made with heated iron bradawls. The
seams were caulked with fibrous material, and protected with
thin strips of wood. No nails or pegs were employed, and no
deck, masts, or sails were fitted, the canoe being driven by paddles.
Projecting from the bow of the canoe and attached to its keel,
was a wooden ram, which was used to ram other canoes in the
“naval” battles which took place on the lake; large fleets of
canoes were possessed by the more warlike tribes. Reference
has already been made to the formalities practised in connection
with the felling of a tree for a canoe (p. 44). Only three one-
inch planks could be obtained from a good-sized tree, say two
feet in diameter. The upper surface of the felled tree was adzed
down till it was fairly flat, and then grooves about three inches
wide were chipped out on either side of the pieces that were to
serve as planks. The greater part of the tree was, therefore,
chipped away in fragments. This method was, however, not so
wasteful as that of some Pacific and other peoples, who could
only obtain one plank, or sometimes two, from each tree-trunk.
Built-up canoes are extremely rare in America, though this
method of construction is reported from California.
Up to a recent period in parts of Europe (Lapland, Finland),
boats were made by lashing the planks together by means of
reindeer sinew, or rope.
Specimens exhibited (Cases 94-96).
Canoes of sewn planks from the Solomon Islands (over cases 93-96),
and the Gilbert Islands (outrigger canoe, over cases 99-106); models
from Uganda (East Africa), India (river-boat), Madras (masula boat).
(b) The Planks Fastened by Means of Wooden Pegs.
The next stage in advance beyond the lashing of the planks
together is that in which they are fastened to each other by means
of wooden pegs (or trenails). An interesting example of this
55
stage of evolution of the boat is afforded by the vessels made by
the Ké islanders (west of New Guinea), who excel in boat-building.
Wallace, in 1857, gave a clear account of their methods. Large
trees were used, and the planks cut from them were long enough
to reach from one end of the boat to the other. The entire
trunk of a tree only provided one pair of planks, since it was
split down the middle, and each half cut away so as to leave a
plank 3 or 4 inches thick. The planks were adzed to fit very
closely edge to edge. Auger holes were bored along the edges
into the thickness of the planks, and stout pins or dowels driven
in. A plank containing these pins was fitted to the one below
it, and the pins were forced into the corresponding holes. Where
two planks were in contact, therefore, they were held together
by the wooden pins which were embedded in each of them—a
method of attachment which is known as dowelling. After the
building up of the boat, ribs were added, and these were lashed
(not pinned) to the inside of the planks; projecting flanges were
left on the planks for this purpose, holes being bored through
them for the lashings-which therefore did not appear on the
exterior of the boat. The large boats were as much as from 20
to 30 tons burden.
It may be noted here that the method of fitting the planks
together edge to edge without overlap, corresponds to the method
used in the majority of the built-up canoes of the Pacific. Such
vessels are said to be carvel-built; where the planks overlap like
the tiles of a house, the vessel is said to be clinker-built (see model
of Viking boat in the series illustrating Sails). The position of
the wooden pegs in the boats of the Ké Islands suggests that
the method was one that immediately succeeded the lashing of
the planks together, whilst the tying of the ribs to the inside of
the planks is further evidence of a transitional stage.
A model of a boat from the Maldive Islands (Indian Ocean)
shows a combination of dug-out with pegged planks. In this
case, however, the planks are pegged to incomplete ribs, which
extend only a little below the lowest plank or strake. Another
model from the same islands shows a carvel-built boat made
entirely of planks pegged to a framework, a method which is
frequently used in the Malay Peninsula, and elsewhere in this
area.
56
In the carvel-built Roman boat of the third century A.D.,
dug-up on the right bank of the Thames near Westminster in
1910, and now exhibited in the London Museum, iron nails were
only used to a small extent, and perhaps only for repairs or
additions. In the fastening of the planks, or strakes, to the ribs,
oak trenails were used, whilst the strakes were dowelled to the
keel, and to each other, by draw-tongued joints. The boat was
originally about 60 feet in length by 16 feet beam.*
Specimens exhibited (Case 96).
Models of boats partly or wholly made of planks pegged together
and to a frame, from Maldive Islands, Malay Peninsula, and India.
(c) The Planks Fastened Partly or Wholly with Metal
Nails or Bolts.
It has already been mentioned that dug-outs are the earliest-
known canoes of Europe and our own islands, and there is also
evidence that these were sometimes increased in height and in
beam by the addition of a wash-strake lashed on. In western
Europe, built boats appear to have been made in the Bronze Age,
and this was certainly the case in the Early Iron Age. In the
eastern Mediterranean, built boats were of still earlier date, as
might be expected from the far more advanced condition of culture
in this region. In Egypt, boats made of thick planks dove-
tailed together and pegged with trenails were made at least as
early as the 12th dynasty (about 2,200 B.C.). They had no keel
or internal ribs and it has been suggested that they were
developed from reed-canoes and not from dug-outs.
The best evidence of the method of construction of ancient
built-up boats in western Europe comes from Scandinavia.†
The Nydam boat of oak planks was found in Sleswick in 1863.
Its length is about 70 feet, and its beam 11 ft. Stem and stern
are alike. The keel plank is 2 feet wide, and the body of the
boat is formed by five planks, each 15 to 20 inches wide, on each
side; these overlapped like the tiles of a roof, as in all clinker-
built vessels, and were fastened to each other by iron bolts. Ribs
were present, each of one curved piece of wood, and they were not
nailed to the planks, but tied to them with cords of bast: short
projecting ridges were left at intervals along the planks, and
*See London County Council, "Ship of the Roman period discovered on the site of the
New County Hall."
†See Boehmer, op. cit.
57
through these were bored holes for the cords.
The boat was
propelled by oars, 14 on each side, and the rowlocks were of a
crude type.
It was steered by means of a quarter- rudder at
the right side ("steerboard," or starboard, side) of the stern-
the median rudder was a development of much later date (see p. 64)
This boat is believed to have been made about 300 A.D.
Another oak vessel, a war-galley or "long-ship," of the Viking
period, and probably dating from about 900 A.D., was found
at Gokstad, in Norway, in 1880. It was built up of keel, stem
and stern posts, frame timbers, beams, knees and external planking.
This also is clinker-built, and the strakes are fastened together
with iron rivets, but connected with the ribs by lashings. Oak
pegs, or trenails, occur in some parts of the boat. The total
length is about 78 feet. There are holes in the sides (oar-ports)
for the oars (of which there were 16 on each side) and at the
side of the stern is the quarter-rudder, provided with a tiller.
The Oseberg boat was discovered in 1903, and dates from about
800 A.D.
It is of oak and is over 70 feet long, and was probably
a pleasure boat for use in the fjords.
A simple square-sail was sometimes used, as well as oars, in
the Viking boats. In the course of construction it appears that
keel, stem and stern posts, and ribs, were fitted together first
and the planks attached to this framework. The fact that the
ribs were tied to the planks illustrates the persistence of an
older method of construction, and has its parallel in the boats
of the Ké islanders, already mentioned. The exhibited model
of a Viking boat is based on the Gokstad specimen, but is not
an accurate copy in some points of detail (e.g., rudder).
From the use of nails or bolts for parts of a boat, to their
employment throughout, is a small step, and the main course
of evolution from this stage onwards has resulted in the pro-
duction of vessels of larger size, with decks, masts, complex
rigging, and other features. To attempt to follow the methods
of construction of the hulls of larger vessels beyond the point
already reached would be to deal with matters which are best
left to more technical works. It may be noted, however,
that by the time of the 18th dynasty (about 1500 B.C.) the
Egyptians were using vessels large enough to be called ships,
in the Red Sea trade. The progress of shipbuilding in the Mediter-
ranean and on the Atlantic coasts went on to some extent in-
58
dependently, and although Western Europe had much leeway
to make up, the demands of navigation in stormy seas were
met by the great development of shipbuilding from Viking
and Norman times, through the Middle Ages, down to the wooden
battleships and clippers of the first half and middle of the 19th
century. A new age in navigation began with the application
of iron and steam, but the dug-out must always retain its position
as an essential stage in the progress of invention.
Specimens exhibited.
There is no special series to illustrate vessels made of planks fastened
together with iron nails or bolts, but most of the larger vessels of
which models are exhibited come into this class.
OUTRIGGER AND DOUBLE CANOES.
An outrigger is a device for increasing the stability of a narrow
canoe; it consists of one or more poles or booms, projecting
outwards from the side of the canoe, and supporting a log or
float at their outer ends.* (See Plate II.) The outrigger very
much reduces the risk of capsising, since its weight keeps the
canoe from being overturned towards one side, and the resistance
of the float to submergence prevents an upset towards the other
In a strong wind, and when a sail is in use, the pressure may
be sufficient to break the outrigger-booms, and for this reason
it is usual to keep the outrigger to windward. An outrigger
on each side is often used, but it is not so common as the single
form.
Canoes with outriggers are almost restricted to the Indo-Pacific
region, where they are found on built-up canoes as well as on
dug-outs. They are entirely absent from Europe and America,
and in Africa they only occur on a portion of the east coast
from Dar-es-Salaam to Mombasa, and in Madagascar. This is
a clear example of transference from the Indo-Pacific, as is also
the occurrence of the outrigger in Queensland.
The single outrigger is characteristic of South India, Ceylon,
the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, etc., and it is found on the
greater part of the New Guinea coast, and in most of the islands
of the Pacific. The double outrigger is the Indonesian type, but
it is found in East Africa, two areas in New Guinea, and it was
*See Hornell, J., "The Outrigger Canoes of Indonesia," Madras Fisheries Department,
Bulletin, Vol. 12.
59
probably at one time widely spread in Oceania. An example
from the Sulu Islands is exhibited.
In the construction of the outrigger the float may be lashed
to the ends of the booms, which may curve downwards as in
the models from Tahiti, the Sulu Islands, and Ceylon; or the
attachment may be made by means of short sticks connecting
the booms and the floats, as in the models from New Guinea
(Plate II.), Savage Island, and the real canoe from the Gilbert
Islands. There are many variations in the details of the attach-
ment, but these cannot be discussed here.
The connecting together of two canoes, side by side but at a
little distance apart, to form a double-canoe, is mainly Indo-
Pacific in its distribution, but not exclusively so. The Eskimo
occasionally tie two kaiaks together in this way, though only
as a temporary means of ensuring stability, and on the West
African coast double canoes are sometimes used. Models are
exhibited from West Africa, Tahiti and Manihi in the Pacific,
and Ceylon.
a canoe.
The outrigger canoes from British New Guinea and Santa
Cruz, in the Pacific, and the double canoe from Ceylon, of which
models are shown, afford evidence that it is not only greater
stability which may be gained by adding another element to
It is a frequent practice to build a platform across the
gap between the canoes, or partly over the canoe and partly
over the outrigger booms. The whole structure then becomes
raft-like, both in capacity and stability, whilst the resistance
offered to the water is only that of the canoe and float, or the
two canoes. It has, indeed, been suggested that the two types
in question are derived from a raft in which a central platform
was supported above two logs, which alone touched the water.
By the replacement of one or both the logs by a dug-out, the
outrigger canoe and the double canoe, respectively, may have
arisen. It has also recently been suggested that such craft as
the sampan and the junk of China, arose from the double canoe.
Mention may be made here of the large trading lakatoi of the
Motu people of British New Guinea, which consists of a number
of dug-outs on which a platform is built. The main object
for which these "rafts" are constructed is to carry earthenware
pots to tribes of the Papuan Gulf, who supply sago and logs
for canoes in exchange.
60
The use of outriggers and double canoes has played a great part
in the spread of the Melanesians and Polynesians from island
to island, and from group to group, in the Indo-Pacific region.
The Polynesians in particular, have colonised the Pacific with
the aid of such vessels, and they undertook journeys of hundreds
of miles across the open ocean for the purpose of trading for
war-like enterprises, and as voyages of exploration. They used
both the outrigger and the double canoe, and both devices are
found in Melanesia; the Micronesians appear to have employed
only the outrigger. The Maori, who are Polynesians, have
traditions preserving the names of the large double canoes in
which their ancestors reached New Zealand, over some 2,000
miles of ocean. There are also legends and traditions in other
Polynesian islands indicating the course taken in migrations
from one group of islands to another, the chief vessel used being
the large double canoe with platform.
""*
Many outrigger canoes and double canoes are pointed at both
ends, so that they can sail in either direction.
"When they
wish to tack, instead of luffing and coming about, they bear
away, until the vessel gets on the opposite quarter, and then,
by shifting the sail, they sail away again stern first.' This
method makes it possible to keep the outrigger always on the
windward side. Where the canoe has well-marked bow and
stern the vessel can only sail one way, and, in tacking, the out-
rigger must sometimes get to leeward; in some cases, to meet
this difficulty, a platform is built out from the canoe on the side
opposite to the outrigger. When the latter is to leeward and is
being pressed down too strongly by the wind, some of the crew
will run out on to this weather platform in order to give counter-
balancing weight. This device is found in some parts of the
Pacific, and in some Indonesian islands the outrigger log has
been discarded in favour of a weather platform on each side
of the vessel. These keep the canoe from capsising, since, when
it heels over, the ends of the platform, which is usually of bamboo,
offers so much resistance to submergence that the canoe has
time to right itself. The balance-board used in the Pacific
and on the Madras coast is a long plank projecting outwards
on each side of the vessel; in case of need members of the crew
run out on the plank to weight the canoe on one side or the
other.
*Pitt-Rivers,
Essays," p. 222.
"Early Modes of Navigation," in "The Evolution of Culture and cther
61
Resembling outriggers in their function, though differing in
structure, are the bundles of bamboo stems which are sometimes
used (in parts of the outrigger area) to buoy up the sides of canoes.
These increase stability, but they have the disadvantage of
offering much greater resistance to the passage of the vessel
through the water.
Specimens exhibited (Cases 97-98).
Double canoes: models from Hawaii, Old Calabar (West Africa),
Ceylon.
Outrigger canoes: models from Santa Cruz Islands and British New
Guinea (Plate II.), with platforms; Savage Island and Hawaii;
Maldive Islands, Ceylon, Madras; full-sized outrigger canoe from
the Gilbert Islands (over cases 99-106).
Double-outrigger canoe: model from the Sulu Archipelago, East
Indies. Canoes with balance-boards, etc., from the Malay Peninsula
(weather platform), Madras (narrow transverse balance-board).
PADDLES AND OARS.
The paddle was certainly an earlier invention than the oar,
though this was used quite early by the ancient Egyptians. Even
in our own time, however, paddles are employed by the natives
of Oceania, America, the greater part of Africa, and some parts
of Asia.
Since a paddle is essentially a slender pole, with an expansion
at one end, it may easily have originated from a stick or spear
or club, such as have been recorded in use for paddling by some
modern backward peoples; the hand, a strip of bark, a length of
split bamboo, a narrow board, etc., may also serve on occasion.
In any case, however, all peoples who make rafts or canoes have
also true paddles, with pointed or rounded blade. The specimens
exhibited, together with the models to be seen in many of the
models of canoes, give sufficient indication of the general range
of form. The blade may be long and narrow, short and broad,
or long and broad; it may pass gradually into the handle or
shaft, or it may be sharply marked off from it; it may be leaf-
shaped, oval, four-sided, and so on. The handle may taper or
end abruptly, or it may end in a thicker portion several inches
long. In some cases the termination is a cross-piece or crutch-
handle, which may be straight or curved. Paddles are often
decorated with carvings or paintings, and the best examples of
these are ceremonial, and will be found in the Decorative Art
62
section. An unusual type of paddle is that which has a blade at
each end. This is very characteristic of the Eskimo, who use
it in their kaiaks, but it occurs also amongst the Gilyaks and
some other tribes of north-east Asia. Those of the Greenland
Eskimo have the ends of the blades protected by plates of bone
or ivory.
Most paddles are in one piece, but sometimes the blade is a
separate piece attached to the shaft.
The native paddler may sit, crouch, kneel, or even stand up to
his work. In some cases the feet are used to help in forcing the
blade through the water.
In the use of paddles the arm action is direct, though one hand
serves to some extent as a fulcrum. The canoe is pulled along
in the direction towards which the paddler is facing. An oar
is adapted for working against a fixed fulcrum at the edge of the
boat, and the blade is forced through the water in the direction
opposite to that in which the handle is pushed or pulled. More
force can be exerted in pulling the end of an oar towards the chest
than in pushing it away, and for this reason the rower faces in
the direction opposite to that taken up by the paddler.
Little need be said here concerning oars and their use, since
they are, in the main, appliances of civilized man. They were
in use in ancient Egypt, and they were the chief propelling agents
of the war-galleys of the ancient peoples of the Mediterranean,*
in many parts of which they were more serviceable than sails.
The oar persisted in these waters, even for vessels of some con-
siderable size, until quite a recent period. With some rather
doubtful exceptions oars are not used outside the range of
influence of Europe and Asia.
The chief differences in form between paddles and oars arise
from the fact that the paddle is plunged almost vertically into
the water, whereas the oar enters it obliquely and edgewise. A
pointed or rounded blade is therefore best for a paddle, but that
of an oar may be square-ended, and also curved, to take a better
grip of the water. Oars are usually longer and stronger than
paddles, and they may be provided with pads or other arrange-
ment for fitting against the row-locks. These occur in various
forms, those with which most people are familiar being the least
commɔn outside Europe. There may be pegs (thole-pins) on
*See Torr, C., "Ancient Ships."
63
the gunwale to pass through holes in the oars, or through attach-
ments of the oars; loops of rope or hide (grommets) through
which the oars pass; or even holes in the sides of the boat (oar-
ports) for the passage of the oars. The oars used by the Eskimo
for their umiaks are, as a rule, each held by two interlocking
loops. In the model umiak shown in Case 92, however, there
are loops on the oars and pegs on the gunwales. The model of
the Viking boat illustrates the perforation of the sides of the boat
for the oars, and the model of the Irish curragh has pegs on the
gunwales which pass through holes in flanges fixed to the oars.
Specimens exhibited (Cases 99-100).
Paddles from New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Santa Cruz Islands,
New Zealand, East Africa (Lake Tanganyika), Southern Nigeria,
Benin (West Africa). Numerous models (and a few real paddles)
will be seen in the specimens and models of canoes and boats.
THE EVOLUTION OF THE RUDDER.
As is well known, the use of a rudder is to change the course
of a boat or other vessel by developing at the stern a one-sided
resistance to progress in a straight line. In the water-craft of
civilised peoples this is usually effected by means of a rudder
fixed in the middle line of the stern, and it is therefore a median
rudder. By moving it through a greater or smaller angle, so
that its blade is turned across the line of the vessel's motion, the
resistance of the water pressing on the blade pushes the stern to
one side, and the bow necessarily swings with it, but in the
opposite direction. Since a vessel going ahead moves in the
direction towards which its bow is pointing, the rudder is obviously
an efficient mechanism for steering. The median rudder, fitted
so that its only movement is one of restricted rotation on its axis
of suspension, is a device with a long history, and stages through
which it must have passed in the course of its development are
still represented in the steering appliances of relatively backward
peoples.
In small and light craft, such as many of the canoes of native
peoples, steering may easily be effected by means of a paddle
which is also in use for propulsion; or, in larger canoes, one or
two men in the stern may use their paddles, differing in no
respect from the others, mainly or wholly for steering.
A step
beyond this is the provision of a special steering paddle of larger
64
size, which may be required to be lashed to the side of the stern;
it is still a paddle in form, however, and it is only attached at one
point in such a way that the range and variety of its movements
are considerable.
From this stage onwards the development of the true rudder
may be studied from two points of view, (1) suspension or attach·
ments, which determine the possible movements, and (2) form.
There are rudders which are entirely, or essentially, paddle-like
or oar-like in form, but whose mode of suspension is that of true
rudders; and there are, less frequently, rudder-shaped forms
which owing to their mode of suspension have too much freedom
of motion to be called true rudders. The method of attachment
and consequent range of motion will here be regarded as deter-
mining whether an appliance is or is not a true rudder, whatever
may be its form.
The distinction between a steering-paddle (or steering-oar)
and a true rudder may be said to be established when the single
attachment of the paddle is supplemented by a second, the two
attachments being of such a nature as to permit of only one
kind of movement, that of rotation on the long axis. The
points of support are usually such as to balance the rudder, in
order that its turning movement may not be hampered by
unnecessary friction; the true rudder will, therefore, as a rule,
come under the description of a “balanced” rudder. It should
be noted that whilst one of the attachments must secure the
rudder, by a lashing or otherwise, in such a manner that it cannot
slip away, the other may only appear as a fitting into an angle or
notch, preventing lateral movement. In the case of a quarter-
rudder, i.e., a rudder which is attached at the side of the stern
and not in the middle line, one of the attachments is near the
water-line and the other at or above the gunwale. There may
be additional attachments, but these two are the essential.
As long as a steering-paddle is attached at one point only,
the steersman can best manage it by means of a direct hold on
the handle, or loom, but when it becomes a rudder, in virtue of
its second attachment, the addition of a tiller is necessary in
order to facilitate the movement of rotation. As will be scen
from specimens and illustrations exhibited, the paddle-shaped,
or oar-shaped, rudder with two points of support and a tiller,
was characteristic of the ancient Egyptians, and persisted in
65
the Mediterranean and in the North Sea for many hundreds of
years. In almost all cases it was a quarter-rudder, though on
some ancient Egyptian boats of as early a date as about 2500
B.C. a paddle-shaped rudder was attached at the extreme stern
of the boat, in the middle line (see below). This type may
have been restricted to the smaller boats, the larger ones retaining
the quarter-rudder, several of which could be in use at once
on the same boat.
Although, as has been said, the term rudder must be allowed to
apply to steering appliances which are paddle-like in form, providing
their attachments are double, there is still the important question
as to the steps by which the more typical median rudder acquired
its form. In most rudders there is very little suggestion of the
paddle or oar, but examples occur, especially in south-eastern
Asia, which help to bridge over the gap between the form of the
oar or paddle, and that of the fully-developed rudder. The
symmetry of an oar or paddle is such that it can be divided length-
ways, in a plane perpendicular to that of the blade, into two
similar halves; a corresponding division of a fully-developed
rudder would give the whole of the blade to one of the parts.
That is to say, the longitudinal axis of a paddle passes through
the middle of the blade, whereas in a typical rudder the whole
of the blade is on one side (astern) of the axis. A brief con-
sideration of the mode of attachment of a median rudder of a
European boat or ship will show that this form is essential, but
even before the quarter-rudder became obsolete the blade had
in some cases partly or even wholly disappeared from the forward
edge of the rudder (see model from Burma, and the illustrations
of early European and English ships), whilst on the other edge
there had been expansion.
The translation of the rudder from the quarter to the middle line
of the stern took place before vessels of any great size were built,
and the “stern-post," or prolongation of the keel, afforded a
convenient place for suspension. The modern Asiatic method of
attaching a quarter-rudder is by means of cords, one (or more)
low down, near the blade, and the other high up, near the tiller;
the same is true of the early quarter-rudders of the Mediterranean
and the North Sea. Probably the median rudder was at first
tied to the stern post in a smilar way, though pintles and gudgeons
were used in the early days of the European median rudder.
66
With the increase in the size of ships the rudder came to occupy
a position below the overhanging stern, but the further develop-
ments cannot be discussed here.
Of the stages in the evolution of the rudder to which reference
has been made, links in the chain are represented in the special
series, and additional examples will be found in other models
exhibited.
Specimens exhibited (Cases 99-100).
The large steering-paddle of the Manihi (Pacific Islands) double
canoe shows a stage beyond the use of an ordinary paddle for steering,
since it has a notch to go over a spar. With this may be compared
the steering-oar of the Eskimo umiak, in the series of Skin Canoes.
The model of a Burmese river canoe shows a rudder which differs
in no way from an ordinary paddle in its form, but it has a tiller;
it is also attached to a boss near the water-line, and to a spar projecting
over the gunwale. It is, therefore, a true quarter-rudder. This is
closely parallelled by the quarter-rudder of the Viking ships from
Gokstad and Oseberg, in Norway, dating from about 900 A.D. In
these the rudder is in form a steer-oar, but it is attached at two
points, permitting only of the movement of rotation. The model
shown in the series illustrating Sails does not show the attachments
accurately.
The ancient Egyptian model boat of the IX. Dynasty (about 2500
B.C.) illustrates the earliest known type of median rudder. This is
in form a paddle or oar, but its double attachment and its position
make it a true median rudder; it has, also, a tiller.
The large model of a Burmese trading ship (shown in the Frontis-
piere, Plate I.) has a quarter-rudder in which the form of the blade
is no longer than that of a paddle or oar, but closely approaches
that of an ordinary median rudder. Owing to its weight it has an
extra attachment, but its movement is one of rotation only.
In the model from Japan the median rudder is set low down in a
deep bay in the stern.
Models of sailing vessels from the Malay Peninsula and India show
median rudders of the more usual types, in which all obvious relation-
ship with the lateral steering oar has disappeared. That on the ship
from the Malay Peninsula is fixed under the overhanging stern.
In addition to the models exhibited, there are photographs (of
ancient seals, etc.) which illustrate some stages in the evolution of the
median rudder on old English vessels. The photograph of the seal
of Dover (1305 A.D.) shows a vessel with a steer-oar which has a tiller,
but the attachment of which is apparently single. In the vessel
shown on the seal of Pevensey (13th century) it is not possible to say
whether a steer-oar or a true quarter-rudder is represented. On
the Tournai font (1150-1200 A.D.) in Winchester Cathedral, there
is shown a vessel with a true quarter-rudder, whilst the seal of Ipswich
(13th century) shows what is probably the earliest representation
of the fully developed median rudder.
67
SAILS.
The use of sails is almost confined to advanced peoples, and
to those backward peoples who may be described as seafaring.
They have long been employed in the Mediterranean, in the
North Sea, and in the Indo-Pacific region.* They are not used
by the aborigines of Australia, or by the natives of the greater
part of Africa, and they were only known to a few of the American
Indians. Many tribes of these Indians were so quick in adopting
the appliances of the first explorers that even early records of
the use of sails by the natives are not always convincing, though
as regards two or three areas the evidence is generally accepted.
The Eskimo have long used both sails and oars for their umiaks.
Since the effects of strong winds must have been obvious even
to early man, it only required frequent experience in the navigation
of canoes for observations to be made which led to the invention
of the sail. The skin, mat, or blanket, held up to catch the wind,
was perhaps the first stage, leading to the invention of sails
made up of sail and support combined. The employment of
single leaf-fronds of the Nipa palm has been recorded in New
Guinea. The natives of some of the islands of Torres Straits,
between Australia and New Guinea, formerly used long rectangular
mat sails, the two long sides being attached to bamboo poles;
masts were also used in this case. Widely distributed in the
Pacific are triangular mat sails, kept in shape by poles attached
to the two longer sides. One of the poles may serve as the mast,
but it is more usual for a separate mast to be erected; from
this the sail is suspended, with the angle made by two poles
pointing obliquely downwards and forwards. The shortest
of the three sides of the triangle has no supporting pole, and it
is usually concave, sometimes so much so that the form of the
whole sail has been compared with the outline of a crab's claw
(Santa Cruz Island, New Guinea, Motu tribe). A mast in the
form of a Ʌ occurs in Ceylon, Burma, and was used in Ancient
Egypt. A tripod form has also had a wide distribution. The
triangular sails of the Pacific are probably more nearly related
to the lateen sail than to any other, but it is difficult to bring them
into relationship with other types used in European and Asiatic
Here the simple rectangular, or square sail hanging
from a yard which is slung from its middle across (or athwart)
€6
seas.
* See Smyth, H.W., "Mast and Sail in Europe and Asia."
""
68
the mast, appears to have formed the starting point for more
developed types. This form was used by the ancient Egyptians
and other Mediterranean peoples, by the Vikings, and by other
European peoples in the Middle Ages. It has persisted in such
vessels as the modern Norse herring-boat, as well as in some
Asiatic vessels (see models from Burma and the Maldive Islands).
The simple square-sail, or course as it is sometimes called,
is suitable for sailing before the wind, and the rig of an old English
wooden warship or of a modern square-rigged merchant ship
consists mainly of a number of such sails attached to yards which
are slung from the masts at different levels (see models of 19th
century sailing vessels for this type of rig).
66
""
Although the square rig has been retained for large ocean-
going vessels there has been a great development in modern
times of what is called the fore-and-aft rig,* which is now practic-
ally supreme for smaller vessels, and in the narrower waters.
The fore-and-aft rig,such as may be seen in any sloop, cutter,
or yawl, is distinguished by the disposition of the plane of the
sails in the line of the vessel, and not across it as in the square
rig. This arrangement renders it possible to sail much closer
to the wind, and so to beat more quickly to windward. Fore
and-aft may be used in conjunction with the square rig, as in
barquentines and brigantines (see below). An account of the
various types of fore-and-aft sails which may be met with on the
seas of Europe and Asia cannot be given here.
The triangular lateen sail (sometimes with one corner cut away),
which is an early fore-and-aft type of lug-sail, is the predominant
form in the Mediterranean and in the Indian Ocean; it has made
its way wherever Mahommedan influence has penetrated, and
from about 1400 A.D. till the end of the 18th century the mizen
mast of square-rigged English ships had a lateen sail. Of the
other types of lug-sail-dipping-lug, standing-lug, balance-lug-
of the sprit-sail (to be seen from London Bridge, on the Thames
barges) and others, and of the complete rig of sloops, cutters,
yawls, ketches, schooners, and other fore-and-aft rigged vessels, no
details can be given, but it is hoped that additional models
may be acquired which will illustrate more fully than it is possible
to do at present the main types of sails and rigs. The model
of the trading-vessel from the Malay Peninsula is rigged on the
*See Chatterton, E.K., "Fore and Aft."
T
69
general lines of the fore-and-aft schooner, and it illustrates the
adoption of a European rig by the Malays.
To discuss the application of steam to navigation, and the use
of metal in shipbuilding, would be to go far beyond the purposes
of this Handbook and the scope of the Museum. It must not
be forgotten, however, that the ocean liner and the post-Dread-
nought have been derived, in the course of many centuries, and
by the inventive efforts of many generations, from the canoes
and boats of the remote past, and it seems probable that the
dug-out is the father of them all.
Specimens exhibited (Cases 101-106).
Model double canoe with triangular mat-sails, Manihi, Paumotu
Archipelago, East Pacific; model of cargo boat with triangular canvas
sails, Java; Ancient Egyptian boat model with square-sail, from
Sedment, Dynasty IX.; model of a Viking war-vessel, with square-
sail, about 900 A.D.; model of a bamboo raft with square mat-sail,
Formosa; fishing-vessel, with square mat-sail, Maldive Islands; trading-
boat with square-sail, deck-house, and high poop, Burma; model ship,
with square-rigged mainsail, Maldive Islands; model of square-rigged
war-ship of the Victory period, made by French prisoners of war;
model of three-masted barque of about 1860, mainly square-rigged,
English; model of a corvette of about 1850, mainly square-rigged,
English; model of trading-vessel with lug-sail, Persian Gulf; model
of dhow with two lateen sails, Persian Gulf; model of boat with
lateen sail, Madras; model of ship with schooner fore-and-aft rig,
of European type, Malay Peninsula.
Miscellaneous models :-Boat with palm-leaf shelter, Sulu Archi-
pelago; ivory houseboat, carved bamboo boat, and sampans, China.
Balers from Fiji, Maldive Islands, Madras.
70
LIBRARY OF THE
SOME OF THE BOOKS AND PAPERS IN THE
HORNIMAN MUSEUM
WHICH DEAL WITH THE SUBJECTS OF THIS
HANDBOOK,
BOEHMER, GEORGE H. Prehistoric Naval Architecture of the North
of Europe. U.S. Nat. Mus., Rep. 1891, p. 527.
BRITISH MUSEUM. A Guide to the Antiquities of the Bronze Age
in the Department of British and Mediæval Antiquities. Second
edition. 1920.
Brown, GEORGE. Melanesians and Polynesians, their life-histories
described and compared. 1910.
CHATTERTON, E. KEBLE. Fore and Aft. The story of the fore &
aft rig from the earliest times to the present day. 1912.
HADDON, ALFRED C. The Study of Man. 1898.
HODGE, F. W., editor. Handbook of American Indians North of
Mexico. Bur. Am. Ethn., Bull. 30. Washington, 1907-1910.
2 vols.
HORNELL, JAMES. The Outrigger Canoes of Indonesia. Madras
Fisheries Department, Bull, Vol. 12 (1920), p. 43.
The Origins and Ethnological Significance of Indian Boat
Designs. Asiatic Soc. of Bengal, Memoirs, Vol. 7 (1920), p. 139.
The Boats of the Ganges. Asiatic Soc. of Bengal, Memoirs,
Vol. 8 (1924), p. 171.
LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL. Ship of the Roman period discovered
on the site of the New County Hall.
MASON, OTIS TUFTON. Cradles of the American Aborigines. Smith-
sonian Inst., Rep. 1887. Part 2 (U.S. Nat. Mus.), p. 161.
1910.
The Origins of Invention: a study of industry among
primitive peoples. 1895.
Woman's Share in Primitive Culture. 1895.
MURDOCH, JOHN. Ethnological Results of the Point Barrow
Expedition. Bur. Ethn., Ninth Ann. Rep., Washington, 1892, p. 3.
PITT-RIVERS, A. LANE-Fox. The Evolution of Culture and other
essays. With an introduction by Henry Balfour. Oxford, at
the Clarendon Press, 1906.
ROSCOE, JOHN. The Baganda. An account of their native customs
1911.
and beliefs.
SKINNER, H. D. Moriori Sea-going Craft. Man, 1919, 34.
SMYTH, H. WARINGTON. Mast and Sail in Europe and Asia. 1906.
TALBOT, P.A. The Buduma of Lake. Chad. Jour. Roy. Anth.
Inst., Vol. 41 (1911), p. 245.
71
THOMAS, N. W. Australian Canoes and Rafts. Jour. Anth. Inst.,
Vol. 35 (1905), p. 56.
TORR, CECIL. Ancient Ships. Cambridge University Press, 1895.
TYLOR, E. B. On the origin of the Plough, and Wheel-carriage.
Jour. Anth. Inst., Vol. 10 (1881), p. 74.
WILLIAMS, THOMAS. Fiji and the Fijians. Vol. 1. The Islands
and their Inhabitants. 1858.
WISSLER, CLARK. The American Indian. An Introduction to the
Anthropology of the New World. New York, 1917.
WOLLASTON, A.F.R. Pygmies & Papuans: the Stone Age to-day
in Dutch New Guinea. 1912.
Woodford, C. M. The Canoes of the British Solomon Islands.
Jour. Roy. Authr. Inst., Vol. 39 (1999), p. 506.
In addition to the above, papers by Grimble, Haddon, Hornell,
and others, on the subjects of this handbook may be found in the
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute and in Man, Other
useful papers are contained in the Annual Reports of the Bureau of
American Ethnology and the Smithsonian Institution.
Printed by ОDHAMS PRESS LTD., Long Acre, W.C, 2,
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