The interior journal. [volume] (Stanford, Ky.) 1872-1881, 1875-09-03
"Ei GooHah."

st. Nicholas.
The natives of Mesopotamia possess
kind Of boat, used solely for fresh water
navigation, which, for originality of de-
sign and manner of construction, is Ger
tainly very peculiar. 1t is probable, too
that the existence Of such boats has hith.
erto scarcely been knswn beyond the
boundaries Of the country where they
are used.
"El GooAah," as the Arabic-spcaking
population commonly call this peculiar
craft, is undoubtedly boat of very an
. cient origin, dating its first use little
later than the raft - the latter being
probably the most primitive of all float.
ing structures.
There is proof positive that the Goof.
fab was in use in Assyria many centuries
anterior to the birth Of Christ, as unmis-
taxable fac smiles thereof, represented
on bass relcfs. inscriptions and other
antiquities unearthcd from among the
ruins of Nincvah, Babylon and Kufa,
attest.
The gooflah is nothing more than a
huge, perfectly round basket, of ex-
tremely strong and coarse wooden wicker
work.
II is constructed of various sizes, vary
ing between four and eight feet in diam
eter, and between three and four feet in
depth; which size, combined with it,
spherical shape and slightly rounded
bottom, renders it capable of carrying
from two to ten tons of dead weight-a
carrying capacity exceeding that of any
other kind of boat, of equal dimensions
known.
The huge basket, which constitutes
the framework of the craft, is rendered
perfectly water tight by coat of asphalt
tum, carefully applied about an inch
thick, all over the inside and outside of
the basket, after having been mixed with
some other substance, which latter causes
the asphaltum, almost as soon as applied,
to become and remain as hard as stone,
in spite even of the intense heat of the
sun.
The sides and bottom of the goohah
are from three to five inches thick, accord
ing to the size of the craft, and the rim is
nicely rounded of.
As a good breeze is seldom blowing in
that region, and the waters of the rivers
scarcely ever rutlled, the goofiah can be
loaded down with safety to within a few
inches Of the surface of the water, and,
as the craft is destitute of helm or rud-
der, it is both steered and propelled by
means of light wooden paddle, about
five feet long.
For down-river navigation one man
generally constitutes the entire crew, ex-
cept when the gooiiah is deeply loaded,
and, consequently, not 50 easily man
aged.
When going against the current, how.
ever, this padding is very fatiguing
work, even for strong and expert "goof-
fajees" ARABIC for men who navigate the
gooflah) so they prefer to fasten long
tough rope to the boat, and, while one
of them wades ashore and pulls il by the
rope, the other one, who remains aboard,
steers with his paddle, so as to keep the
goofiah out of too shallow water and
from running foul of the river bank.
Owing TO the total absence of anything
like keel in this truly Oriental craft.
it has the somewhat Objectionable char
acteristic of continually twirling slowly
round and round on its center of gravity,
as well when carried on by the current
as when propelled by one paddle only
so much 80, indeed, that persons not ac-
customed to this rotary locomotion are
apt to feel dizzy, and sometimes sick in
thereof.
This Inconvenience, however, can be
avoided by the employment of two pad
ilers instead of one, who station them.
selves little apart from each other, and
while one of them sweeps constantly to
the right with his paddle the other one
does so continually to the left, by which
simple proceeding the gooiiah is natur-
ally held in a steady position.
BY dint of time, however. people get
70 accustomed To the revolving above
referred TO, that they soon begin to con
slider il rather convenience, as the no
Iatory progress of the craft enables them
N annstantl.f L.. a -