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een it and the transom which connects the two projecting upper timbers of the stern. Some of them are as much as 30 ft. in length and 8 to 10 ft. in beam. They are good carriers and speedy under sail. The Chinese in all probability were the earliest of all peoples to solve the chief problems of boat building, and after their own fashion to work out the art of navigation, which for them has now been set and unchanged for thousands of years. They appear to have used the lee-board and centre-board in junks and sanpans, and to have extended their trade to India and even beyond, centuries before anything like maritime enterprise is heard of in the north of Europe. As regards the practice of long boat racing on rivers or tidal waters the Chinese are easily antecedent in time to the rest of the world. On great festivals in certain places the Dragon boat race forms part of the ceremony. The Dragon boats are just over 73 ft. long, with 4 ft. beam, and depth 21 in. The rowing or paddling space is about 63 ft. and the number of thwarts 27, thus giving exactly the same number of rowers as that of the Zygites in the Greek trireme. The two extremities of the boat are much cambered and rise to about 2 ft. above the water. At about 15 ft. from each end the single plank gives place to three, so as to offer a concave surface to the water. The paddle blade is spade-like in form and about 6-1/2 in. broad. Both in Siam and Burma there is a very large river population, and boat racing is on festival days a common amusement. The typical craft, however, is the Duck-boat, which in the shape of hull is in direct contrast to the dug-out form, and primarily intended for sailing. It is interesting to note that the Siamese method of slinging and using quarter rudders is the oldest used by men in sailing craft, being in fact the earliest development from the simple paddle rudder, which has in all ages been the first method of steering boats. The king of Siam's state barge, we are told, is steered by long paddles, precisely in the same way as is figured in the case of the Egyptian boats of the 3rd dynasty (6000 B.C.). On the other hand the slung quarter rudders are the same in fashion as those used by Roman and Greek merchantmen, by Norsemen and Anglo-Saxons, and by medieval seamen down to about the 14th century. The Malays have generally the credit of being expert boat-builders, but the local conditions are not such as to favour the construct
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