At the first sight of this little canoe, it was hardly possible to refrain from amazement at the courage and hardihood with which the half-naked Cingalese boatmen could put off some 30 or 40 miles to sea in such a tiny, narrow boat, that barely gives them room to sit lengthwise. Two cross-bars, or outriggers, projecting on one side, where they are fastened externally to a rather massive beam, which swims parallel with the boat, gave this canoe, apparently so fragile, such stability and seaworthiness, that it is at all times not less safe than a boat of European construction.[76]
[76] These canoes resemble very closely the "proas," of the Polynesian Islands, carrying a beam on one side, which is quite straight, and always kept on the lee of the wind and sea, the change of course being effected by simply shifting the sail, and steering with the paddle from the opposite end.
The natives steer with short paddles, and continue an incredibly long time at this most exhausting work, as we must conceive it to be. And yet they are to appearance a feeble race, except that the muscular system of the upper part of the body is remarkably developed.
The dress of these people is remarkably simple, and usually consists only of a piece of coloured linen cloth or calico, which, worn short like a woman's petticoat, is thrown single-fold round the loins.
The pilot, though he could only make himself intelligible in broken English, speedily came to a good understanding, and offered to sell us bananas, pine-apples, and cocoa-nuts, as also Ceylon jewels, the latter of which he carried on his person, secured in a parti-coloured cotton belt. This reminded us that we were nearing the shores of the country in which costly stones are found, but precisely on that account, as was natural, our speculative pilot found but a poor market for his wares.
Off the coast we caught a shark 7 feet long, and 135 lbs. weight—a rather juvenile specimen—whose teeth, which we examined, were already strong and sharp enough to seize a man, and strip the flesh off him. Also a number of large dolphins and other fish, sported in the dead water under the frigate's stern, and provided plentiful employment for the harpoon and the rod. Presently we found ourselves within six miles of the land, when a large number of pirogues forthwith came swarming about us, all of a construction similar to the pilot boat, and each manned by four half-naked bronze natives. These offered fruits for sale, especially magnificent, gigantic clusters of banana. On one such cluster we counted, arranged in five rows, one over the other, not less than 175 bananas.
On the 8th January, we anchored in the unpicturesque haven of Point de Galle, surrounded by groves of cocoa-nut palms, directly opposite the lighthouse tower, and in a fine quartz sand bottom of 16½ fathoms (103 feet English). All large ships, that only intend remaining a short time, anchor in the open roadstead, the entrance into the inner harbour being rather difficult, owing to numerous coral reefs. In the roads also lay the English frigate Shannon, from which, in the absence of her captain, the first lieutenant immediately came on board the Novara, and in the handsomest manner put his services at our disposal.
As the only Austrian Consul on the island was resident in Colombo, M. Sonnenkalb, the Consul for Hamburg, had the courtesy to receive us with the most hospitable of welcomes, and proceeded to do us the honours of the place.
On the 10th we hauled the frigate into the small inner harbour, in order to facilitate the shipping of stores. The entrance is rather winding, owing to the numerous shoals, and it is with some little difficulty that one can find a comfortable, commodious berth among such a crowd of shipping. We only saluted the flag of the dominant nationality—a customary courtesy—and were replied to by the batteries on shore. An officer of the frigate was then dispatched to announce our arrival to the governor of the station—a major in the English army. This gentleman seemed not to think it incumbent on him to put himself in the least out of his way for us. Indeed, we even experienced some little difficulty in procuring a sufficient supply of drinking water for shipment as stores; but we must at the same time add, in justice to the representatives of England in distant countries, that during our entire voyage this was the one solitary instance in which English military official men did not display that universal readiness to oblige, which, to their credit, is so conspicuously and so kindly displayed by them in their intercourse with foreign nations.