Ships and Boats

This is a very extensive and interesting exhibit. Notices of a part of it only can be given.

Rigged models - a fishing ketch, chebacco boat, pinkey and square stern bunker, showing the early forms of vessels used in the fisheries of this country from its settlement down to the present time.

A Series of models illustrating the changes in the form of fishing vessels from 1835 down to the clipper of the present day.

A sectional model of a Gloucester fishing schooner.

Rigged model of a three - masted cod - fishing schooner.

Models of fishing boats, canoes, dugouts, &c., representing types of all the smaller fishing craft used in the United States.

Fishing boats and models from the West Indies and other parts of the world. A series of models of pilot - boats from 1845 to 1884.

A very unique type of fishing boat, and perhaps one of the most peculiar dugout canoes used by man, comes from Jessor, in Bengal, where it is known as a "donga." This is constructed from the stem of the tar palm tree, the hard outer layer of which, after the soft portion is scooped out, being very serviceable for this purpose. It has much the appearance of an exaggerated spoon, with a deep bowl and large handle, the latter concaved on one side and convened on the other, its end stopped or rendered water-tight by a partition placed crosswise. The shape of the boat is due to the peculiar growth of the stem of the tar palm, which swells out into a rounded bulb-like form at one end. When it is said that the length of this curious boat is less than 13 feet, and that it is only 30 inches wide in its broadest part and does not average more than a foot in width for about two-thirds of its length, one will be fully able not only to appreciate the manner in which man adapts means to ends to provide himself with some sort of craft for carrying on his operations, but will also be able to understand that a considerable degree of skill is required to navigate a boat of this kind.

A full-sized catamaran (13 feet long and 3 feet wide), such as is used for fishing in the Presidency of Madras, is another very interesting object in the collection of primitive types of water craft. Rudely constructed of logs, and apparently as iffy adapted as anything well can be for encountering rough water, craft of this kind are nevertheless said to be very serviceable for crossing a heavy surf, and it is stated that they will make a landing in breakers which would prove the destruction of any ordinary boat that should dare to make a similar attempt. It is said that these rafts rise lightly over an ordinary surf, but if caught by a great breaker are overwhelmed and knocked about. At such times the natives, who are semi-amphibious in their habits, will leap overboard, and after their vessel has passed the surf, they will clamber on to her again, and go on as if nothing had happened.

Among the models of East Indian boats there is a very remarkable one of a fishing craft used at Chittagon, in the Presidency of Bengal. This is a long and narrow dug-out canoe with scoop-shaped, narrow square ends. Its special peculiarity consists in an arrangement for catching fish automatically. On one side of the boat is a broad bamboo platform, fixed to the gunwale in such a manner that it projects out into the water, and to this is attached a string of palm leaves something in the form of a broonu. This strange device, when slightly agitated by the motion of the boat, has the effect of frightening any fish that may be near, which immediately jump upon the half-submerged bamboo platform, and thence into the boat, where they fall among the branches of trees with which the canoe's bottom is strewn, while the fisherman sits on the gunwale with one foot in the water and heels the craft the proper angle, or gives it the requisite motion for frightening the fish. To prevent the fish from leaping over the other side of the boat, and thus regaining their liberty, a net is fixed obliquely or vertically along the opposite gunwale, and serves as an effectual barrier to their escape.

The most interesting model, perhaps, in this collection of Indian water craft, is that of the Bombay fishing boat known as the "machva " in the region where it is used. No boat in the world is more distinctive in type than this, and there are, perhaps, few others which would sooner attract the attention of those who are familiar with vessels. In the shape of its bottom the "machva " differs from all other boats, and the peculiar form of its keel is seemingly at variance with all of the recognized rules of naval architecture. The keel curves upwards in the centre in an arch like shape, and is deepest at the bow where it forms nearly a right angle with the straight raking stem; it also drops down aft considerably. This boat, which is carvel built, of teak, has a long, sharp, scoop-shaped bow. The deep projecting keel serves the same purpose as a double center-board for providing the requisite lateral resistance when the boat is sailing close-hauled. The rig consists of a single short, stout mast, stepped almost amidships, and having a strong rake forward. Upon this is spread a large settee sail, which tacks down to the stem.

The "machva" is credited with being the swiftest of Indian sailing craft, and a claim has been made that boats of this type could beat English yachts.

A full-sized Irish "curragh." This boat, made of tarred canvas, stretched over a light frame-work of willow withes, is probably one of the most primitive forms of water craft used by civilized man, and it forms an interesting "connecting link," if we may so call it, between the boats of a remote age and the higher types of vessels in use at the present day. Remarkable as it may seem, craft of this kind are still in common use for fishing purposes on the west coast of Ireland. Though extremely frail in appearance, the craft, from their lightness, are very buoyant, and it is said of them that they will rise like a feather upon waves which would prove troublesome, if not dangerous, to the ordinary fishing boat.

Two full-sized British "corracles," one from the river Boyne in Ireland and the other from the river Dee in Scotland, are oval-shaped boats about 51 feet long and two-thirds as wide, the depth being about 18 inches. The Boyne corracle is made of leather, fastened to a basket-like frame of willow withes, while the Scotch corracle is constructed of breadths of tarred canvas drawn over a light framework of thin, flat, wooden strips. Each of these corracles has a single thwart, placed nearly amidships, upon which the occupant sits to paddle the boat.

Among the interesting novelties is a model of a Belgian fishing sloop, which represents the peculiar style of boats used for beam-trawling on the coast of Belgium. This boat, which is designed for landing on a beach and is, therefore, flat-bottom, very broad and full, differs in the form of its hull and its rig from any other fishing boat used by man at the present time. This model is rendered doubly interesting by having attached to it the peculiar forms of fishing apparatus used by the Belgian boats, and also because there are a number of figures of fishermen in it.

Water-color sketches of ships of the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries, are of special interest as being connected with the early history of America. One of the sketches represents the ships of Columbus. Another is that of the Mayflower under sail on her passage from England to America in 1620. A third sketch represents a "barrack " of the sixteenth century. These vessels were large and full, of great depth, and were designed for fighting as well as trade. The fourth sketch is that of a Spanish "galleon" of the sixteenth century (1520). In their traffic with America, galleons were much used by the Spanish as treasure ships during the sixteenth century. They were always heavily armed, but it is said that owing to their unwieldiness they generally fell an easy prey to their assailants. --From, Captain Collins' Report

Return to start of the North East Range of the National Museum in 1886