resting.

Any attempt to pass the surf in an ordinary boat is seldom thought of.
I remember hearing of a naval officer who crossed once in his
jolly-boat in safety, but on a second trial he was swamped, and both
he and his crew well-nigh drowned. The masullah boats of the country
resemble nothing to be seen elsewhere. They have flat bottoms,
perpendicular sides, and abruptly pointed ends, being twelve or
fourteen feet long by five or six broad, and four or five feet high.
Not a single nail enters into their construction, all the planks being
held together by cords or lacings. Along the planks, at a short
distance from the edge, are bored a set of holes, through which the
lacing or cord is to pass. A layer of cotton is then interposed
between the planks, and along the seam is laid a flat narrow strip of
a fibry and tough kind of wood. The cord is next rove through the
holes and passed over the strip, so that when it is pulled tight the
planks are not only drawn into as close contact as the interposed
cotton will allow of, but the long strip is pressed against the seam
so effectually as to exclude the water. The wood of which these boats
are constructed is so elastic and tough, that when they take the
ground, either by accident or in regular course of service, the part
which touches yields to the pressure without breaking, and bulges
inwards almost as readily as if it were made of shoe-leather. Under
similar circumstances, an ordinary boat, fitted with a keel, timbers,
and planks nailed together, not being pliable, would be shivered to
pieces.

At the after or sternmost end a sort of high poop-deck passes from
side to side, on which the steersman takes his post. He holds in his
hand an oar or paddle, which consists of a pole ten or twelve feet
long, carrying at its extremity a circular disc of wood about a foot
or a foot and a-half in diameter. The oars used by the six hands who
pull the masullah boat are similar to that held by the steersman, who
is always a person of long experience and known skill, as well as
courage and coolness--qualities indispensable to the safety of the
passage when the surf is high. The rowers sit upon high thwarts and
their oars are held by grummets, or rings made of rope, to pins
inserted in the gunwale, so that they can be let go and resumed at
pleasure, without risk of being lost. The passengers, wretched
victims! seat themselves on a cross bench about a foot lower than the
seats of the ro