The Chinese : a general description of the empire of China and its inhabitants . d volume. The oars which theyoccasionally use towards the head of their boats,besides the scull abaft, are rather short, with broadblades. These are suspended with a loop on astrong peg at the side of the boat, and there is an ad-vantage in its not being always necessary to unshipthem, as, when useless, they are drawn by the wa-ter close to the vessels side, without any retardingeffect. There is besides no friction, nor any noisein a rullock, and no encumbrance of oars within theboat. The travelling barges, used b
The Chinese : a general description of the empire of China and its inhabitants . d volume. The oars which theyoccasionally use towards the head of their boats,besides the scull abaft, are rather short, with broadblades. These are suspended with a loop on astrong peg at the side of the boat, and there is an ad-vantage in its not being always necessary to unshipthem, as, when useless, they are drawn by the wa-ter close to the vessels side, without any retardingeffect. There is besides no friction, nor any noisein a rullock, and no encumbrance of oars within theboat. The travelling barges, used by mandarins and op-ulent persons, afford a degree of comfort and accom- 346 THE CfUwBsis. modation quite unknown in boats of the same elsewhere; but it must be repeated, thatspeed is a quality which they do not possess. Theroof is not less than seven or eight feet in height,and the principal accommodations consist of ananteroom at the head for servants, a sittingrooraabout the centre of the boat, and a sleeping apart-ment and closet abaft. All the cooking goes on. %t£kS£& ^l Accommodation barge. upon the high overhanging stern, where the crewalso are accommodated. There are gangways ofboards on e^ch side of the vessel, which serve forpoling it along the shalows, by means of very longand light bamboos, and which also allow of the ser-vants and crew passing from head to stem withoutincommodirg the inmates. The oetter boats arevery well lighted by glass windows at the , or bytht, t^m mterioi laminae of oyster shells. Othershave tiaisoar^nt paper or gauze, on which are paint- TRAVELLING BY WATER. 347 ed flowers, birds, and other devices, while the par-titions, or bulkheads, of the apartments are varnished and gilded. The decks or floors of the cab-ins remove in square compartments, and adiiui ofall the bayg tg<j being stowed away in tit* hold. Ev-erything in their river boats is kept remarkablyclean, and this habit presents a strong contrast totheir general
Size: 1747px × 1430px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1800, booksubjectchinade, bookyear1800
