The mode of floating timber being so very different from that in use with us, I offer a description of it, under the hope of its affording at least some variety, if not some useful information. A common pulwar, (or paunchway,) of perhaps thirty feet in length, and six or seven in width, is equipped with two sticks of saul, say forty feet long, and two feet in girth: these are placed across her gunwales, at right angles with her length, and about six feet from her centre, and very firmly lashed down. The boat, being in about three feet water, has a tree brought up to each of her sides, where they are respectively lashed to the cross timbers, and thus, in succession, until she is judged incapable of receiving more burthen. In the centre of the boat, a small cabin is generally made, either of thatch, or of arched bamboo laths, covered with durmah mats: in this the crew are sheltered at night. It is highly expedient to avoid launching such rafts when the river is at the fullest, or the current any way prone to deviate from the deepest channels, as it must do in great floods, on account of the waters finding, for a while, passages along hollows among the inland parts; that is, beyond their limits in ordinary seasons. When a float of timber once gets over the river’s bank, it must be the result of great good fortune, if the channel is ever regained. Hence, when the waters are falling, it is common to see very large pinnaces, budjrows, and boats of burthen, left upon some sand, on which they had struck, but which the rapid ebbing of the floods prevented them from quitting! In such cases, some are allowed to remain until the ensuing year, when the floods lift them; others are unladen, and, by means of the joint efforts of hundreds of villagers, are pushed along the sands to the deep water; while those which appear unequal to such a severe operation, are generally broken up, and sold for various purposes.
When a float of timber becomes thus situated, the best way is to cut the ropes of at least half the exterior sticks on each side, and so to lighten the boat, that she may be carried into a depth suited to receiving them again: but this operation, which, on paper, appears very simple, requires great exertion, and no less despatch; as the strength of the current, which often runs six or seven miles within the hour, renders it extremely difficult to manage such immense logs; especially as they are very apt to sink into the sands. We commonly see several floats in company, proceeding, when the reaches are straight, and the waters deep, with great regularity; the boatmen, in such situations, having little to do, sit smoking their nereauls, with great composure: sometimes a sail is hoisted, but, for the most part, it is deemed expedient to check, rather than to accelerate, the progress. Almost every float, or, at least, every company of floats, has a canoe attached to it; which, in doubtful waters, precedes, and directs the men in charge of the respective vessels, who, by means of luggies, (or bamboo-poles, from twenty even to fifty feet in length,) fend off the floats from banks, or guide them along the deep water: without such pilotage, they would be in perpetual danger of grounding, the inconveniences of which are, as above shewn, by no means inconsiderable.
Floats of timber cannot well come to an anchor, except in very still water; hence, they are usually brought-to under steep banks, where there is great depth; and where, in case the river should fall during the night, they would not be left high and dry.
The greatest danger to which a timber float can be exposed, is that of running upon a sunken tree, which, having been washed away, by the bank whereon it stood being undermined by the strong currents, is hurled away into deep water, where it probably lies exposed to view for the first year. During the hot season, when the waters are low, the boughs are often cut away by persons in want of fuel; or, perhaps, they are torn off by the succeeding rains, so far as to cause their being concealed a foot or two under the surface. When thus situated, they throw up a deal of water, so that their locality may be ascertained at some distance; but, owing to heavy mists, and especially to clouds of sand, they frequently are not discovered by the boatmen, until it becomes impossible to avoid them.
If the pulwar, i.e. the supporting boat, strikes upon one of the branches, her bottom will infallibly be staved in; and, in all probability, the immense body of water bearing upon the timbers, will either tear them away from the pulwar, or carry off her upper works, leaving her bottom entangled. In either case, the situation of the boatmen becomes highly critical; but, as they generally are expert swimmers, (though, strange to say, some dandies, have, like Falstaff, ‘a wonderful alacrity at sinking,’) few are drowned on such occasions. The timbers, however, rarely fail to find the bottom, so soon as their buoyant companion is wrecked.
The great number of trees thus immersed, some of which equal our largest oaks, render it extremely dangerous to go down with the stream during the night: in some strong waters, such impediments are numerous, and render the navigation very hazardous, even during the day time; especially should a goon, or track rope, give way just after getting a boat above them; when this misfortune happens, the chances of escape are comparatively small indeed.
When boats, heavily laden, strike upon a tree, they sometimes go to pieces, in consequence of the water’s rapidity; but, when so entangled as to be pierced in several parts, they very generally remain entire, presenting, as the waters subside, the very curious spectacle of a vessel, perhaps carrying twelve or fifteen hundred maunds, sitting, as it were, among the boughs, often ten or twelve feet above the surface of the stream. It is by no means unusual, in the course of a week’s travelling, to see one, or more, of these disastrous elevations; more especially about the month of October. The misfortune is, that, though the cargo may, perhaps, be saved, if not of a perishable nature, such as sugar, salt-petre, &c.; yet, that the vessel, however expeditiously emptied, can never be got off; consequently, she must be broken up.
With respect to the prices of saul timbers, we generally find them to be nearly the same, year after year, at the same places; provided a sufficient number, but not a great glut, should arrive within the proper season. On an average, near Patna, the cubic foot will cost about sixpence, at Moorshadabad, about a shilling, and, at Calcutta, about two shillings, or even half-a-crown. An extra price is, of course, put on timbers of superior dimensions, while the smaller kinds, called bautties, which rarely contain more than eight or ten feet, are, in an opposite degree, depreciated. The saul is a very solid wood, at least equally so as elm, but has not its pliancy, nor is it quite so apt to split: its grain usually runs tolerably even; it is likewise heavy, yet by no means so ponderous as teak: both, like many of our firmer woods, sink in fresh water.
In the upper provinces, some very fine oak timbers are occasionally to be seen: these are chiefly of a peculiar kind, nearly approaching to chocolate color, extremely difficult to cut up, and, consequently, very heavy: this last characteristic gives them the name of seesah, or, lead-wood. The prices of these trees, which generally measure about the same as the saul, from the same forests, (namely, from the neighbourhood of Peelabeet,) rather exceed those of the latter description; and would probably be greatly enhanced, if the natives stood in need of such very substantial wood for any of their buildings, or manufactures. The fact is, that the carpenters generally endeavor to dissuade their employers from purchasing oak, by representing it as subject to many defects; though the true reason is, that its hardness infallibly causes more grinding of, than working with, their tools; which are almost always either too much, or too little tempered. At Futty-Ghur, saul timbers commonly sell for full eighteen-pence the foot, and oaks for about two shillings. I recollect buying some of the former, that measured thirty feet in length, with an average squaring of fourteen inches, for twenty-eight rupees each; and oaks of the same dimensions, or nearly so, at thirty-five: but wood was then extremely scarce, and at full twenty per cent. above the ordinary rates.
The great aptness of saul-wood to warp, we should suppose, might have favored the importation of oak, notwithstanding the outcry against its flinty hardness: and such would doubtless have been the case, had not another kind of wood, possessing a very fine grain, and rather handsomely veined, been abundant. This, which is called the sissoo, grows in most of the great forests, intermixed with the saul; but, in lieu of towering up with a straight stem, seems partial to crooked forms, such as suit it admirably for the knees of ships, and for such parts as require the grain to follow some particular curve. This wood is extremely hard, and heavy, of a dark brown, inclining to a purple tint when polished; after being properly seasoned, it rarely cracks, or warps; nor is it so subject as saul to be destroyed by either white-ants, or river-worms. The domestic uses of sissoo are chiefly confined to the construction of furniture, especially chairs, tables, tepoys, (or tripods,) bureaus, book-cases, ecritoires, &c. &c. for all which purposes it is peculiarly appropriate, with the exception of its being very ponderous. This objection is, however, counter-balanced by its great durability, and by the extraordinary toughness of the tenons, dovetails, &c. necessarily made by the cabinet-maker, or joiner. Sissoo is, of late, more employed than formerly for the frame, ribs, knees, &c. of ships, especially those of great burthen: for such, it is found to be fully as tough and as durable as the best oak. When timbers can be had of this wood long enough for the purpose, it is often applied for bends, and, indeed, for a portion of the planking, or casing; but it is very rarely that a plank of ten feet can be had free from curve. Though admirably suited for stern and head-work, it is neither long enough for keels in general, nor sufficiently uniform in its diameter for the supply of stern-posts. Some sissoo-trees grow to a great weight; but, unluckily, the devious directions of their boughs render it necessary to lop them away for minor purposes: if, instead of dividing into several large branches, at perhaps only ten or twelve feet from the ground, one large stem were to rise, however crooked, to double that height, there would be a great encrease of substance; as it is, however, we may account it an excellent timber indeed that measures a ton (i.e. forty cubic feet).