f the canoe is caused by the out-rigger. When the
breeze freshens so much as to lift the weight higher than the natives
like, one, and sometimes two of them, walk out on the horizontal
spars, so as to add their weight to that of the out-rigger. In order
to enable them to accomplish this purpose in safety, a "man rope,"
about breast high, extends over each of the spars from the mast to the
backstays.

But of all the ingenious native contrivances for turning small means
to good account, one of the most curious, and, under certain
circumstances, perhaps the most useful, is the balsa, or raft of South
America, or, as it is called on some part of the coast, the catamaran.
The simplest form of the raft, or balsa, is that of five, seven, or
nine large beams of very light wood, from fifty to sixty feet long,
arranged side by side, with the longest spar placed in the centre.
These logs are firmly held together by cross-bars, lashings, and stout
planking near the ends. They vary from fifteen to twenty, and even
thirty feet in width. I have seen some at Guayaquil of an immense
size, formed of logs as large as a frigate's foremast. These are
intended for conveying goods to Paita, and other places along-shore.
The balsa generally carries only one large sail, which is hoisted to
what we call a pair of shears, formed by two poles crossing at the
top, where they are lashed together. It is obvious that it would be
difficult to step a mast securely to a raft in the manner it is done
in a ship. It is truly astonishing to see how fast these singular
vessels go through the water; but it is still more curious to observe
how accurately they can be steered, and how effectively they may be
handled in all respects like any ordinary vessel.

The method by which the balsas are directed in their course is
extremely ingenious, and is that to which I should wish to call the
attention of sailors, not merely as a matter of curiosity, but from
its practical utility in seamanship. No officer can tell how soon he
may be called upon to place his crew on a raft, should his ship be
wrecked; and yet, unless he has been previously made aware of some
method of steering it, no purpose may be answered but that of
protracting the misery of the people under his charge. Nothing can be
more simple, or more easy of application, than the South American
contrivance. Near both ends of the centre spar there is cut a
perpendicular slit, about a couple of inches wide by o