. An American engineer in China . ons, andon the rivers one more adapted to the particularneeds. Except for use on the lower reaches ofthe Yang-tze, where deeper water permits somelatitude in construction, the up-river boats are ofone general tvpe. The hull is flat-bottomed andconstructed of heavy planks, with a stout half-round timber at the deck line, to serve as a guardwhen the boats are banging together at landing-places. The bow and stern are square, and thelatter is curved upward to form a poop. The hullis divided by transverse wooden bulkheads intowater-tight compartments. It is a singu
. An American engineer in China . ons, andon the rivers one more adapted to the particularneeds. Except for use on the lower reaches ofthe Yang-tze, where deeper water permits somelatitude in construction, the up-river boats are ofone general tvpe. The hull is flat-bottomed andconstructed of heavy planks, with a stout half-round timber at the deck line, to serve as a guardwhen the boats are banging together at landing-places. The bow and stern are square, and thelatter is curved upward to form a poop. The hullis divided by transverse wooden bulkheads intowater-tight compartments. It is a singular andinteresting fact that Marco Polo noted this veryuseful device when he was in China in the thir-teenth century, and, after giving a minute de-scription, so that there is no possibility of his mis-taking it, shows the intent by stating, The objectof this is to guard against accidents, which mayoccasion the vessel to spring a leak. Stauntonsaccount of Lord Macartneys Embassy in 1796again reports it, as did Abbe Hue some years. tn a J3ho Chapter VIII: Inland Communication 229 later. The bulkhead was introduced in Europeanship building in 1840 as a brilliant and new it is that at almost ever}- turn in this queerland one meets with some device which we regardwith pride as a modern invention, but which theChinese have employed so long that its origin isforgotten. A deck load can be housed under curvedcovers of bamboo matting resting on permanentframes. Under these covers the crew of five menor more also find quarters, while the owner andhis family reside in the stern. There are one ortwo masts, according to the size of the boat, stand-ing without stays and carrying large sails ofcotton canvas or light bamboo mats. Of boatsof this description there are tens of thousands,and they pass and repass in endless the boat itself is kept in fair condition,but the same cannot be said of the sails. A newsail is scarcely ever seen, and many of them areso dilapi
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectrailroa, bookyear1900
