DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5831#0018
MASSOOLAH BOATS.
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your passage beyond the perilous barrier which they op-
pose to your landing; the varieties of the shipping and
smaller craft, from the smartly-built fishing-smack to the
unsightly catamaran ; the uncouth-looking Massoolah
boat, labouring along by the side of the buoyant yacht
and lighter wherry — severally afford an agreeable
relief to the dull uniformity of a four months' voyage.
Shortly after the Atlas had cast anchor, with some
half-dozen of my fellow-passengers, I got into a Mas-
soolah boat, which immediately made for the shore.
These boats are most singularly constructed; they
have the appearance of a rude barge, are flat-bottomed
and without timbers, the planks being sewed together
with line made from the outer coat of the cocoa-nut,
and caulked with the same material. They are
rowed with broad elliptical paddles, and are so ex-
tremely lithe, that the planks yield readily to the
percussion of the waters, and thus, by diminishing
the resistance, so break the force of the concussion,
that they sustain little injury from the lashing of the
surf, which is so terrific in its might and violence
that a European boat has scarcely ever been known
to pass through it without being dashed in pieces.
It is really astonishing to see with what dexterity
the boatmen manage these awkward-looking machines,
steering them through the most boisterous sea, skil-
fully avoiding the stroke of the billows, and bringing
them safely on shore through a surf that would appal
the stoutest heart which had never before witnessed
nature under any similar aspect of her power and of
her sublimity. The Massoolah boats are almost in-
variably attended by catamarans; so that should any
3
your passage beyond the perilous barrier which they op-
pose to your landing; the varieties of the shipping and
smaller craft, from the smartly-built fishing-smack to the
unsightly catamaran ; the uncouth-looking Massoolah
boat, labouring along by the side of the buoyant yacht
and lighter wherry — severally afford an agreeable
relief to the dull uniformity of a four months' voyage.
Shortly after the Atlas had cast anchor, with some
half-dozen of my fellow-passengers, I got into a Mas-
soolah boat, which immediately made for the shore.
These boats are most singularly constructed; they
have the appearance of a rude barge, are flat-bottomed
and without timbers, the planks being sewed together
with line made from the outer coat of the cocoa-nut,
and caulked with the same material. They are
rowed with broad elliptical paddles, and are so ex-
tremely lithe, that the planks yield readily to the
percussion of the waters, and thus, by diminishing
the resistance, so break the force of the concussion,
that they sustain little injury from the lashing of the
surf, which is so terrific in its might and violence
that a European boat has scarcely ever been known
to pass through it without being dashed in pieces.
It is really astonishing to see with what dexterity
the boatmen manage these awkward-looking machines,
steering them through the most boisterous sea, skil-
fully avoiding the stroke of the billows, and bringing
them safely on shore through a surf that would appal
the stoutest heart which had never before witnessed
nature under any similar aspect of her power and of
her sublimity. The Massoolah boats are almost in-
variably attended by catamarans; so that should any