HISTORY OF MARINE ARCHITECTURE.

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** The steersman made no use of the mariner’s compass, but determined hiscourse by means of a box, the exterior of which was divided into twenty-four

equal

and by picking up what has been thrown overboard from other vessels. For this purpose they tie severalhooks to a cord, and throw them out in different places, almost in the same manner as fishermen laytheir eel hooks. They have better or worse fortune, as it happens. There is nothing so filthy but whatthese people will use as food ; and the hogs, which having died are thrown overboard, when they be-gin to putrify, float in a few days, often become the occasion of quarrels, which end in battles.The reason why the Europeans sink the hogs which die on board their ships, is, that the inhabitantsof this place may not feed upon them ; for it is said, that the Chinese, when they go on board anyships, will give pepper to the hogs, which they think is poison to them, that they may get themagain if they should die. It is certain, that numbers of hogs die in the possession of the Europeanswhilst they stay in China.

Duck-sampanes are boats in which they feed four or five hundred ducks. They have on both sidesabridge, which may be let down. In the day-time the ducks feed in the river upon herbs and fish :at night their master calls them into his boat; they immediately obey him, and come on board as soonas he lets down his bridge. Sampar.es of burden are the largest boats, by which all porcelain,silk, and other commodities, are conveyed from Canton to the European ships. But these boatsdo not serve for the above-mentioned purposes only, but are used besides as houses for wholefamilies, which are born, marry, and die in them. They commonly have, besides hogs, somechickens and dogs, and some flower pots, containing Guinea pepper, or some other plants, in theseboats. All the above-mentioned sampanes are not embellished by painting. Mandarin sampanes aregreater or less red painted boats, ornamented with dragons, and such like figures, or with little flags.The Chinese also use galleys, sao sjoan, with eighteen or twenty oars, and as many men. They laynear the city of Canton, and some of them near the European ships, probably for the security of thecountry.

Junks, called Yoan sian by the Chinese, or, according to Du Halde, Thouen : in the Portuguezelanguage, soma or somraes, are the greater vessels, above two hundred feet long and twenty broad.With these ships the Chinese sail along the coasts of Batavia, Manilla, Ainam, Cochin china, Cam-bogia, Chinchiu. From the last-mentioned place comes the white sugar candy, which, at present,costs six talc three mace peckuls. Such a vessel holds one thousand chests of tea.—It is high andround on each side, the rudder is very slender, and can be taken out with very little difficulty, andhung at the other end of the ship; it has no upper sails, but only one great sail, the fore-sail, thesprit-sail, and the mizen-sail, all which are made of mats, tied together, quite across; with bamboo-sticks. They strike their sails with difficulty, as they can only effect it but by sending a sailor up theyard to tread the sails down. In these vessels there is a continual noise, because t ie person in com-mand dots not insist on silence. They are painted either black or white, and have always an eyepainted on each side. Their compass is divided into twenty-four points. The timber of which theseships are built, is called Saaomock. The anchors are made of hard wood, which is called tat siew,or tie meu; but they are commonly plated with iron at the extremities, and aie more handy thanEuropean anchors of iron, as well as of more service to small vessels.

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