The 'Greyhound.'
Although many thousands know well the district of the Broads, yet to the bulk of people it is still a terra incognita. It is therefore necessary to give at least a brief description of the locus in quo. Taking one's stand at Great Yarmouth, with one's back to the sea and facing inland, one sees—or could in truth see if one ascended the lofty Nelson Monument—first the narrow and busy harbour which conveys the waters of all the rivers to the sea, then a great tidal lake known as Breydon Water, four or five miles long. From this one can ascend by vessel the greater river Yare, which for twenty miles of broad and sinuous course threads the marshes to Norwich. On the right is the Bure, commonly called the North River, which twists and turns for twenty-seven miles to Wroxham, and is navigable further yet to Coltishall and Aylsham. Tributary to this river are the Ant and the Thurne, giving access to the largest of the Broads. Southward of Breydon is the deep and clear Waveney, with Beccles twenty-three miles from the sea at Yarmouth, and a short cut to the sea by Oulton Broad and Lowestoft.
The fisher's home, the Broads.
Broadenings of these waterways at many points have become, by the growth of reeds and accumulations of soil, lakes or Broads, more or less separate from the rivers, but in most cases having navigable access to them. The characteristic of the district is its extreme flatness and the consequent slight fall of the river-beds, the current being mainly tidal, with not much difference of level at that. Yet this flatness is not monotonous; for, in addition to the ever-varying and ever-pleasing cloudscapes seen to best advantage in flat regions, there are beauties on the marshes and river borders of no common order. The luxuriant growth of reeds around the lakes gives the feeling of utter seclusion from the madding crowd. The gay hues of flowering plants, altering with sunshine and shadow of clouds on the wind-swept marsh, the deep shades of groves, the clear and winding rivers, the dark-brown and high-peaked sails of the wherries with their graceful curve of leach, and the white sails of the yachts scattered here and there, now reflected in a glassy reach, and again seeming to thread the verdant marshes where no water is visible from one's standpoint; the kestrel hovering over the 'rand,' a jay hunting a reed-bed for nests and eggs, waterfowl of many kinds, the splash of fish in a quiet bay, a heron by a lilied dyke, and innumerable noticeable incidents of bird and insect life, make the hours too short which are spent on these singular waterways.
In order to fully understand the peculiarities of the craft navigating the Broads and rivers both for trade and pleasure it is desirable to appreciate the necessities of the district; and for this purpose it would be well to step on board some kind of craft on which one can be independent of hotels as well as railways. For it is quite clear that journeys by rail cannot show one the life of the Broads. It is singular what a difference the point of view makes. Thus there are reaches where the rail and river run near each other. From the rail there is nothing to see but a flat marsh and a winding river. But from a boat on the river the view assumes an altogether different aspect. If one pleases, the tall and swaying reeds, brown topped and feathery, may bound the scene, hide the rail, and provide one with the loneliness of nought but water and sky—a veritable solitude; or from a higher standpoint the eye may travel with a keen interest over the reed-beds and the brilliant-hued marsh, past windmill and dwarf tree to the undulating and wooded higher lands which are the shores of the marsh.
For choice for a mere cruising holiday, I would take, if middle-aged, a real Norfolk wherry converted into a roomy houseboat as presently to be described. The Norfolk wherry is a craft quite unlike those of any other district, and eminently suited to the shallow and somewhat narrow waters of its birthplace. The limit of suitability seems to have been reached by perfection, since of late years no alteration whatever has taken place in the design of the wherry or its sail. As it is the aboriginal craft, so to say, of these waters, and its graceful sail forms a constant object of interest upon the waterways, it merits the pride of place in a description of Norfolk craft. It has greater interest also in that it is suitable for cruising in other waters, notably in those of Holland and Friesland, where Mr. Doughty found that a Norfolk wherry was even more suitable for Dutch waters than the Dutch vessels, so far as pleasure purposes go.[23]
The draught of an unladen wherry is from 2 ft. 4 in. to 2 ft. 6 in., with a beam of 13 ft. and a length of 52 ft. It has a short hollow bow, with the greatest beam well forward and a fine run aft. It has only a few inches outside keel, yet in fairly smooth water it lies remarkably close to the wind, going fast through the water all the time. The mast is stepped 12 ft. 6 in. from the stem, and is a splendid spar of spruce fir or pitch pine 37 ft. deck to hounds, without any stay other than a forestay, and supports a single sail of the following dimensions: luff, 27 ft.; foot, 28 ft.; head, 29 ft.; and leach, 44 ft. 6 in. There is no boom, and the gaff has a high peak. The sail is hoisted by a single halliard set up by a winch on the mast. A drawing and lines of a wherry accompany an article by myself which was published in the 'Field' of March 20, 1880, to which the reader who may be interested can refer. The mast swings in a tabernacle, and the heel is weighted with lead and iron to the extent of 1½ ton, and is so well balanced that a boy can lower and raise it. It will be seen that the rig has the extreme of simplicity to recommend it. One man can sail a 30-ton wherry, although he generally has the assistance of his wife or a mate. When within a few yards of a fixed bridge the sail is rapidly lowered, the forestay tackle cast off and windlass unhitched from the mast, and down comes the mast as gently as possible; the wherry shoots through the bridge, and up go mast and sail the other side. The mainsheet works on a horse on the cabin-top in front of the steersman, and with his back against the tiller he controls the great craft with ease. The stern is pointed, and the rudder is no less than 5 ft. in breadth. Of course the tonnage of the craft varies; the above measurements are those of a medium-sized one. A cabin about 6 ft. long in front of the small steering-well accommodates the crew, and there is a long hold, reaching to the mast and protected by movable hatches, for the cargo.