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HISTORY OF MARINE ARCHITECTURE.

equal parts, and marked with the rhumbs of the wind. This box w r as placed upona bed of sand, not only to keep the needle steady, and preserve it from themotion of the vessel, but to hold certain mixtures, which, with a conjunction ofveneration and superstition, were supposed to constitute, or, at least, strengthenthe virtues of the needle. Nor were these the only regale that the prejudices of theChinese presented to their compass, which they regarded, and, so far justly, as thefaithful guides of their voyages: they even carried their devotion to the extent ofoffering it sacrificial meats

The chief care ot the steersman was to decorate his binnacle with nails; acertain indication of the narrow extent to which the nation had carried its marineknowlege; and derogatory to its reputation in that pursuit, if, as has beensaid, it was the first inventor of the compass. The pilot laid the rhumb parallel tothe keel, by means of a silken thread, which divided the card into two equalparts, from north to south. In steering, he adopted one of the two followingmethods : designing, for instance, to run to any given point, he put the rhumbparallel to the keel, and then turned the vessel till the needle was parallel to thestring ; or, which was productive ot the same end, he put the string parallel to thekeel, and made the needle point as necessary to liis intended course. The needlesin the largest of the compasses feen by the missionaries were somewhat less thanthree inches in length One end bore some resemblance to a Jleur-de-lis, andthe other terminated in a kind of trident.’

By these, and other writers of the sevententh century, the manufacture ofthese needles is variously attributed to the people of Nanga-Saki, in Japan, and tothe Chinese themselves. The different reports are easily reconciled, by sup-

Tbe following brief remarks on the Chinese method of constructing vessels are of still moremodern date :—

“ Our head carpenter was a young man of much ingenuity and professional skill, who had served histime in London ; but the Chinese artificers in this branch had not the least idea of our mode of navalarchitecture, d he vessels of their nation, which navigate the China and adjacent seas, are of a con-struction peculiar to them. In vessels of a thousand tons burthen, not a particle of iron is used;their very anchors are formed of wood, and their enormous sails made of ma ting. Yet these floatingbodies of timber are able to encounter any tempestuous weather, hoid a remarkable good wind, sailwell, and are worked with such facility and care, as to cause the astonishment of European sailors. Itwas therefore a matter of some difficulty to turn the professional skill of our Chinese carpenters to amode of application so entirely different from their own habitual experience and practice.”

Meares’s Voyage to the North-West Coast of America,

* Du Haldc, vol. I. p. 52Q, et seq.

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