Floats.
When swimming our horses over many of the wide and rapid rivers of Central India, the natives who were employed in guiding the animals, first swam across with them without any artificial assistance, and then returned for others with billets of a peculiarly light wood held between their left arms and sides, under the shoulders; with these appliances, they floated with extraordinary buoyancy, and made rapid progress across the stream.
The inflated skins or intestines of animals, hollow gourds, earthen pots, bladders, or bundles of bark, may be used as aids in crossing rivers where canoes or rafts cannot be constructed.
Cattle boat.
On some of the great Indian rivers, large dish-shaped boats are used for the conveyance of horses or cattle. A boat of this description is very quickly made by first forming a basket-shaped framework of bamboo, here and there interwoven; this is securely lashed together with strips of raw hide, twisted cane, or common cord. When completed, the basket, or frame, is turned upside down, on the ground, pegged fast with hooked pegs cut from the branches of the nearest tree, and then covered with raw bullock hides, which are sewn fast to the frame, and to each other, grease being well rubbed into the seams. When complete, the boat is not unlike a common tea-saucer—measures between fourteen and fifteen feet in diameter, and is about two feet eight inches deep; made to these dimensions, the hide boat will safely carry from three to four tons of cargo. There is no possibility of upsetting it. When horses or bullocks have to be conveyed in contrivances of this kind, it will be necessary to lay branches of trees, and a good layer of reeds, or sedge grass, on the bottoms, in order to prevent the animals from thrusting their hoofs through the hides. The water-draught of hide boats is surprisingly slight, from five to eight inches being sufficient to float one with a full load on board. Long-handled shovel-shaped paddles are used to propel them with, and a store of raw hide, and some tallow, and an eyed awl, or large needle, for patching, enables the boat voyager to execute with expedition all the repairs his leather craft may need. All hide-covered boats, or floats, should be occasionally placed bottom upwards, on shore, to dry, in order to render the skins more durable.
Coracle.
The coracle, so much used by Welsh fishermen, is made much after the same fashion. A smooth level piece of turf being chosen, the frame-sticks, just such as coopers use for making into hoops, are bent and interwoven until the requisite form of the frame has been arrived at, the bottom being upwards. The edge, which afterwards becomes the gunwale, is formed by making a border of hazel-wand basket-work, the ends of the frame-sticks are trimmed off even with this, and a covering of Russia duck, or light canvas, is neatly sewn over all. The coracle is then paid over with tar, or some other water-proofing material; one thwart, or seat, is secured from each end to the framework, holes are made in this for a leather strap to pass through, which enables the fisherman to carry his coracle on his back. A single-bladed paddle, like a baker’s oven pile, is used to paddle with. Some considerable practice is needed to enable a new hand to conduct, or, as it is called, drive a coracle—not a little caution is required in both getting in or out. It is best, if possible, to depart from some shallow sand-spit, or gravel bed, where the coracle may be shoved off into deeper water, after the tyro has taken his seat, and established the proper balance. In landing, it will be well to observe the same caution until practice and experience give the confidence and dexterity which they alone can confer. There is a peculiar stroke of the paddle much used in coracle driving, to which the canoe man seldom has recourse. This is gained by turning the left arm round the handle of the paddle, until the hand is a short distance above the blade, and the shaft rests against the shoulder. The paddle blade is then worked in a figure-of-eight direction.
SKIN BOAT.