THE PROA.
Proas.
The proas, or outrigger canoes, of the Malays and Indian islanders, are so proverbially swift that they have fairly earned the title by which they are generally known, of “flying proas.” We have seen and admired many varieties of these, as well as their fan-shaped sails, sometimes of matting—bright and yellow while new, and deepening to browner tints with age, and sometimes of snow-white cotton, or of white alternated with cloths of blue or pink, and gay streamers floating from the bending yards. The most common, and we may almost say the most beautiful of these, were the little proas sailed by one man only, as represented in our sketch. The hull consisted of a single log, perhaps twenty feet in length, and hardly as many inches in depth and breadth; the mast was about six feet in height; and the sail, of triangular form, was laced to a couple of bamboos nearly as long as the canoe; the thick ends of these crossed, and were lashed together at the tack of the sail, and were made fast, loosely enough to give them sufficient play, a little before the mast thwart; a loop attached to the upper bamboo, or yard, at about six feet from the tack, was hitched over a knob on the mast-head, instead of hoisting the sail by halyards, and the sheet was attached by loops like kite loops, or bowline bridles, to the lower bamboo or boom; in hauling to the wind, the simple gathering in of the sheet trimmed the sail nearly down to the gunwale, as seen in the distant proa, while in going free the slackening of it allowed the sail to rise to the wind, till in the distance it reminded us of the beautiful fan-shaped sea-shells, so often found upon the coast. Stability was imparted under this enormous press of sail by two bamboos twelve or fifteen feet long, and from four to six inches thick, kept parallel to the boat at six or eight feet from her sides by two beams of the same lashed across her gunwales, bending slightly downward, but the foremost less so than the after, so that the fore end of the outrigger might be raised slightly above the water, and not impede the boat. The rudder was just like that of our own boats, except in its fittings, which consisted simply of a rope grummet at its neck, by which it could be hitched on to a timber head on either quarter, and we believe it made so little difference that the boatman seldom gave himself the trouble to shift it from one to the other. Of course a tiller was used, as yokes and lines would have been inapplicable. We cannot tell exactly their rate of sailing, but they passed our swift and handy little schooner the “Tom Tough” with ease, even when the breeze was at its freshest. The hull is generally whitened with a mixture of chunam, or coral lime, and cocoa-nut oil, and the raised ends are ornamented with devices in red or green, and sometimes a red streak runs along the side. The tambanga, or waterman’s boat for passengers, has more beam, no outrigger, and a smaller though similarly shaped sail.
Some of these proas were much larger, being fifty or more feet in length, and then the sides of the log forming the bottom of the canoe would be raised either by other planks sewn on or by a framework of bamboo, with pieces cross cut from the leaves of the fan-palm, so that the leaf ribs should stand vertically, stitched to them to form the extra height of side, while a roof of the same was built over the centre where cargo would be stowed, or over the after end, to form a kind of cabin. When planks are used for raising the sides, they are not sawn like ours, with economy of time, labour, and material, but are laboriously chopped out of the solid; and, instead of being bent, are patiently dubbed down to the requisite curve with numberless strokes of the keen little Malay adze, projections being left on the inner side through which holes are bored to lash them to the timbers, while rows of holes along the edges admit of their being sewn together with strips of rattan, and shreds of palm leaf laid along the seam and confined by the tightening of the stitches, help to reduce the leakage, which, if the vessel works at all in a sea-way, can never be entirely stopped. They have two large sails similar in form to those of the smaller proas, and sometimes a third, as a mizen. This is small enough to be hitched over the mast-head, as before; but the others have to be hoisted by halyards, and the long yards supported by propping them at some distance from the slings by bamboo poles. The stays were formed of slips of bamboo, and sometimes even of the poles, which, being well fastened, would not only resist tension on the weather-side as well as ropes, but on the lee would, by their rigidity, help to support the masts. The outriggers of these were more elaborately framed with a lighter set of beams, which supported stanchions and hand-rails, so that, when the wind freshened, men might run out upon the weather outrigger and, holding on by the hand-rail and stays, which lead from the mast-head, serve as a counterpoise to the immense sails as the boat dashed through the water. Reefing seemed never to be thought of, and our own men soon got into the habit of speaking of a one-man or two-man breeze, according to the number seen on the weather outriggers of the proas that flew past us. The appearance of these vessels when going wing and wing before the wind was very pretty. And others, in the fashion of the Chinese junk, or in every modification of European, engrafted on native form, afforded picturesque contrast, but need not be here described.
The professional pirate has the outrigger only on the weather-side, and this is frequently a log of light wood trimmed sharp at either end, so that while its specific gravity is small enough to keep it buoyant, it is still so heavy as not to be easily lifted out of the water, like a bamboo, and when requisite, men sent on it, as in the former case, will give it additional weight. But the chief peculiarity is in the hull of the vessel, which is only half a boat, the lee-side being perfectly flat, while the weather, or that toward the outrigger, is rounded as usual; they will be frequently more than fifty feet in length, and six or eight in breadth. We speak of the lee-side, because when the course has to be changed—say in beating to windward—they do not go about like a ship, that must go with her bows forward and be steered from the stern, and therefore turns to receive the wind on the other side. This would be fatal to the proa, as the buoyancy of the outrigger would not prevent her from capsizing; and therefore, while the steersman lets that end which is temporarily her bow fall off from the wind, the men who have charge of the tack run round with it on the platform to windward of the mast, the sheet is brought round to leeward, a steersman takes his place at the other end, and that which has been the stern now becomes the bow, and cleaves the waves at the rate of twenty miles per hour. But no one need fear a proa with a double outrigger, for she is not intended to lay alongside and board.
PROA WITH OUTRIGGER ON WEATHER-SIDE ONLY, TO SAIL WITH EITHER END FIRST, AS REQUIRED.
The engraving represents a proa with an outrigger only on the weather-side; and not only would the sail be made to traverse by shifting the tack to that end which, for the time being, was intended to go foremost, but the mast is also fitted to be inclined forward by slackening that which happens to be the back stay, and tightening that which is pro tempore the fore. Those which serve for shrouds, being exactly abreast of the mast, are so arranged for the purpose of facilitating this.
The commander of the United States Exploring Expedition, Charles Wilkes, U.S.N., gives the following description of the Fejee canoes:—