The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1889-01-04
STRANGE SHIPS.
A NOVEL EXHIBITION IN THE
NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Queer Boats From an Parts of the
WorId-Secrets of Naviga-
ton Known BY Rude
Sayages

story Of the ship. 1t is not a written or
printed story, but enc told by the collee-
tioh OF rats, canoes, catamarans and
shlps that fill a large exhibition hall.
AN old idea was fhat the first boat was
a log. There are, however, treeless
lands, where the people have no logs to
pegin with They start, perhaps, by
making boats Of skins In some parts of
the world, where there are neither logs
nor skins available, savage men construct
boats or RATS By binding together in
sheaves.
From the log the next step is to the
oug-out VIII Oh savages fashioned by
hoilowing out 4 log with fire or rude
tools When saTages began to make
bark canoes they s0ok quite step to-
ward the modern ship, as a bark canoe,
with It's framework and outer covering.
illustrates in a parliamentary way import
ant principles involved in the shipbuld-
er's art. Savages. too. observed that the
WIND could tie used to prOpel their boats
II Is supposed that the first sail was 2
BUSH Prom the bush the savage went
to piece Of skin or bark, or q mating
rudely triced up on a pole. II is curious
to cote that the forms of sails used on
yachts and ships Of the most highly civ
lifted people have been developed nat
urslly from the primitive forms used by
savage people.
The primitive is either square or a
lateen or triangular sail. The lateen
SAL is so named because it is the form
used on the Mediterranean by people of
the Latin races. When men learned
more OF the sbipbuilding art, and boats
grew bigger, the iateen sail was enlarged,
oooms were projected fore and aft. and
the sail extended 50 as TO reach beyond
the bows in front and beyond the stern
in the rear.
Near the centre Of the hall kyak
from the Greenland coast, made of skins
by the Esquimaux, hangs from the cell
ing 1t IS decked over as tight as a
drum, and the ends are sharpened and
curved mp. III the centre Is a hole IN the
deck Just large enough TO admit mans
body The Esquimaux, whel in his
kyak, sits s9uareiy on the bottom, his
legs stretched out before him, all Of his
body below the waist being under deck.
lie has garment or coat of skin, the
49, - NAe- - u WHICH art the
rim Of the hole or cockpit, thus making
Il water-tight. In this cockel shell of a
boat the ks9uimaux, with paddle and
spear in hand, hazards his life on rough
Arctic seas in pursuit OF seal or walrus,
- human nautilus upon the tide. There
are kyaks, too, from Alaska, and from
other Arctic regions. Bidarkas, or skin
boats from the Aleutian Islands. are
decked over ike Esquimaux kyal1s, and
are Ornamental with colored fringes at
the seams, Jslst as Indians love TO orna-
ment their clothing.
Some Of the bidarkas are three 7
holed, or have places for three men TO 1
sit in them, and TO tie little models +
shown in the Museum miniature spears
are lashed Just as the Indians lash their
spears to theiE boats when they start ont
70 hunt seal
The rudest form Of the bark canoe
Shown in the collection IS from British
Ia. It was inside merely BY taking
sheet Of bs-k Of suitable size, ,
a5tie- .iagi
IS by means OF slender splinis
- TO them with thongs. The ends
1f the canoe are left open and the savage
navigator has to use much skill TO pre-
vent water from washing in At stem Oh
sterr- An Indian canoe made By the
Passamaquoddy Indians Of Maine, is
shown as a model of tbs type It's
made Of birch bark, over light wooden
Ir9me, with one thwart amid hips. The
bark IS sewed together at the ends and
10 the gunwales with dyed wooden
s5er. t mas a round bottom the ends
being alike, sharp and curved upward.
A bsisa OF swimming raft from the
East Indies is made simply OF long bun-
lies OF Tushes bonnd together. a cat
lma-an from Madras, India, IS made of
logs, bound together with ropes and
fashioned 50 that they tend TO point
aud bend upward slightly in front. This
IS used as a surf boat When a heavy
s~eil threatens the craft the native
masiner deserts it altogeter, jumping
into the wave aud then clambering upon
il when he comes to the surface again. !
On this craft, too, he sometimes sets up (
s tiny mast and hOists q bit Of cotton as 4
a sail.
A simple dugout, perhaps the simplest, 4
IS ''donga" from Jessore, India. It is
made from the stem Of the tar palm. (
The natural form of the tree. with its /
Dubious end, Is preserved, and the boat 1
looks ike a b g spoon The native sits 1
in the bow Of the spoon or boat, and his I
weight keeps the other end out Of the T
wafer
A dugout made BY hinese fishermen t
IS a log completely followed out from
end % end. Instead OF gouging the
logs IS as to letve the ends solid, the !
simple ChinRman cuts on. she ends then
stops them up again with pieces OF wood (
made to fit the apertures. a dugout from
Patna. India, made from the trunk Of
Semul tree, looks much like q shallow
wooden trough with square ends.
The Indians Of the northwest coast of /
America developed the art Of making (
boats from single logs 10 the highest 1
degree. The huge cedar trees that grow
on The coast. the wood being soft enough /
10 be worked with theiT rude tools, az, .
forded tiaern a natural opportunity that
shcy did .sas4 neglec- The areat-canoe I
ia { IS suspended from the ceiling on I
one side OF the hall aHd makes all other I
canoes look like piga,ies. is a specimen (
OF the work Of the Haidah Ind ans and (
was brought to the museum from the 4
Queen Charlotte Islands, British Column I
bia. Il was hewn out Of a single log OF I
yellow cedar. The length is fifty nine
feet and the bear eight feet. The ends T
ere sharp and alike. the stem bsing car
RED IN and finished ia an angular sort (
of ornament suggested the outline Of =
head Of some aquatic animal. The body [
Of the canoe is painted dingy wisite, (
and at each end is a series Of figures +
painted 10 white, blue and green, rude f,
circles and rhombo.ds enclosing repre- I
sensations Of eyes These figures are /
symbols OF totems Of the chief who +
owned the canoe, representing the tradi- [
tioEs Of his family, Ike the heraldie /
coat of-arms ofsome ROYAL or noble family I
Of Europe. In this canoe a chief would |
set cut with fifty or more men, on a war
ike expedition None but men or con |
sequence, who could command the labor /
Of many hands could own such canoe.
To cut down the immense tree, hollow
out the log, and fashion the cauoe with /
the rude store hatcbets and ch;sils with |
which these Indians worked, required I
the labor Of many men for monfhs and /
years. A dugout canoe in which Hoopah /