THE TIMBER RAFT.
The picturesque ghāt of Sirsya is in the distance, in front of which is an enormous boat, called a Kutcher, or Kutchuā; the bows and the stern are both square. A vessel of this description has frequently two rudders, like the one before you. It is laden with bales of cotton, which extend, supported on bamboos, far beyond each side of the boat. The next vessel is a large patailī, called a ghor-daul, or ghora-wal, because the bows are ornamented with a horse’s head. She is laden with salt.
In the foreground is a timber raft, one of the most picturesque objects to be seen on the Ganges. The men who accompany the raft have a strangely wild appearance; fresh from the jangal, they come down with the floating timber for scarcely any payment, just enough to feed them. They are small in stature, their skins are very dark, they shave the head completely, and their bodies are all but naked. They direct the course of the raft with long bamboos; a small thatch is erected upon her, under which they creep, and there they sleep. A picture in itself is the wild, strange-looking timber raft, which is generally decorated with two or three small red flags, and is always accompanied by a very small, narrow canoe, hollowed out of the trunk of a tree.