DEPARTURE FROM SAIGON.--VISITING A CHINESE JUNK.
When the party went on board the _Danube_, the boys found that they were
not to have the comforts of the great steamers that had brought them
from Shanghai and Hong-kong. The _Danube_ was a small ship, and her
builders did not design her for carrying passengers; she was constructed
in England, and, after she arrived in China, a little cabin was built on
her deck, so that a couple of passengers might have a room to share
between them. The dining-saloon was about six feet long, and as many
wide, and its cushioned sofas could be used as beds. Consequently, she
could carry four passengers with comparative comfort, and, in
emergencies, another could sleep on the table when the sea was smooth,
or under it in rough weather. The captain was a jolly Englishman, who
gave a hearty greeting to the American strangers, and before they had
been ten minutes on board they felt quite at home. Their heavy baggage
was sent below, and there was plenty of room under the bunks in the
cabin for stowing all the articles they needed on the voyage.
The _Danube_ moved from her anchorage and turned her prow down the
river.
"Hurrah!" shouted Frank, "now we are off for Siam."
Fred joined his cousin in raising a cheer.
"Don't be in too great a hurry," said Captain Clanchy, "we are not off
yet. We are to go along-side that Chinese junk you see just at the bend
of the river, and will take some cargo from her. We shall probably be
two or three hours about it, and then we will be off for Siam."
Frank's face fell at this intelligence, but only for a moment.
"We shall have an opportunity of seeing a junk and going on board of
it," he remarked, "and that will repay us a dozen times over for the
delay."
Fred was equally happy at the prospect, and both the boys were impatient
to be on the deck of the strange craft.
[Illustration: A CHINESE JUNK.]
In a little while their wishes were gratified, and they were able to
step from the _Danube_ to the great junk. Before they did so Fred
suggested that he had just thought why these Chinese ships were called
junks.
"Why is it?" Frank asked.
"Because," was the reply, "you can see from the shape of them how they
are built. The Chinese make a ship a mile or two long, and when they
want one they cut off a junk, or chunk, just as you like to spell it.
Then they stick masts into it, and it is ready to sail away. It is
square at both ends, and resembles a chunk out of a log more than
anything else."
There was a laugh all around at Fred's humorous description of the
Chinese process of shipbuilding, and by the time the joke had ceased to
amuse they were ready to go over the side. Captain Clanchy accompanied
them, and pointed out several objects of interest that otherwise might
have escaped their attention.
"You observe," said the captain, "that the deck of the junk is lumbered
up with all sorts of stuff. How the men manage to get around is a
mystery, and it is a wonder that they can keep the craft on her course
with everything in such confusion."
The boys were equally puzzled, and thought there must be a good many
junks lost every year. The captain said such was the case; but, on the
other hand, there was such a great number of these craft that a few more
or less made no perceptible difference.
"Except to the owners and the men that are lost with the junks,"
remarked the Doctor. "It must be a very serious affair to them."
"Sometimes these junks last to a great age," the captain continued.
"There are junks now navigating the China seas that are more than a
hundred years old; at least so I am informed."
"How long have the Chinese had this model for their ships?" Frank asked
of the captain.
"Nobody knows how long," was the reply. "We are ignorant of the early
history of China, and can only guess at many things. But we have reason
to believe that the Chinese were the first people that ever built ships
to be propelled by the force of the wind alone. They began with the
model they now have, and have stuck to it ever since."
"Where is the captain of this junk?" Fred asked. "I would like to see
him."
"She has probably half a dozen captains," Clanchy replied; "perhaps a
dozen."
"A dozen captains! how can that be?"
"They build these junks in compartments," said the Doctor, in response
to Fred's inquiry, "and each compartment has a captain."
[Illustration: OUTLINE OF MODERN SHIP, SHOWING COMPARTMENTS.]
"I thought the plan of building ships in compartments was of modern
invention, and had only been applied to ocean steamers in the last
thirty years. Seems to me I heard so," Frank remarked.
"In one sense you are right," the Doctor answered; "it is only about
thirty years ago that the English and American ship-builders began the
adoption of this principle. Nearly all the great steamers now navigating
the Atlantic Ocean are divided into compartments--generally five or six;
and even should two of these spaces become filled with water from any
accident, the ship will continue to float. Several steamers have been
saved after collision with icebergs, or with other ships, by reason of
being thus constructed. Had they been of the old model, they would have
infallibly gone to the bottom.
"But the Chinese are ahead of us, as they have built their ships in this
way for centuries. Six hundred years ago Marco Polo visited the East,
and on his return wrote a book about the country and people. He
describes the compartment ships that the Chinese built at that time, and
explains their advantages. The wonder is that it took the European
builders so long to copy the idea. Not till well into this century was
it adopted."
"But how about the half-dozen captains?" Fred asked. "Why should a ship
like this have so many, when the _Great Eastern_ or the _City of
Chester_ can get along with one?"
"The way of it is," said Captain Clanchy, "that the junk has a lot of
compartments--anyway from six to a dozen--and each compartment is let
out to a merchant. He is captain of that compartment and all it
contains; and if there are ten compartments, he is one-tenth captain of
the whole. The crew is under a chief who gets his orders from the
merchants, and they have a great deal to say as to how the junk shall
sail. Sometimes they want her to go to half a dozen places at once, and
in as many directions, and not infrequently they get into frightful rows
about it. Don't understand me to say that this is always the case, or
anything like it, as a good many of their junks are managed pretty much
as an English ship would be. We will see how the matter stands on this
one."
A little inquiry revealed the fact that there were two men on board
equally interested in the cargo, and with equal authority over the
movements of the junk. But they were evidently working in perfect
harmony, and so there was no chance that the strangers would be
compelled to witness a row among the commanders.
[Illustration: A JUNK SAILOR AT BREAKFAST.]
The boys found the deck of the junk covered with a very complex
arrangement of ropes, windlasses, tubs, and baskets. Some of the crew
were sitting around waiting for orders, and others were at breakfast. As
soon as the _Danube_ was made fast along-side, they were set at work to
remove the cargo from one of the compartments and transfer it to the
steamer. The steamer's crew assisted in the work, and in a little while
it was accomplished. During this time the great sail of matting was
flapping against the mast, and the ropes were swinging as though they
would become hopelessly entangled. But no accident happened; and when
the _Danube_ had moved away, the sails were run up and the junk began to
push slowly through the water. This gave the boys an opportunity to see
her general shape and mode of construction.
They found that she was built of heavy planking, and that many of the
planks retained the shape of the tree from which they were taken. These
planks, as they were told, were fastened together by wooden tree-nails;
in fact, there was very little metal about the fastenings; and, as a
further security, there were a good many lashings of ropes to hold the
outside timbers to the frame. The stern rose high out of water, and was
cut off square, and the same was the case with the bow. The funniest
thing was a pair of great staring eyes, to enable the ship to see her
way, and to frighten off the demons that infest the waters and have a
particular hostility to sailors. Every boat and ship of Chinese
construction is provided with eyes, and the larger the eye the better
the craft can take care of herself.
[Illustration: CHINESE RIVER BOAT.]
The junk in question had three masts, and there was a gay assortment of
flags and streamers flying from them. The mat sails were held up by a
great many ropes--there being a rope to each section where the bamboo
poles ran across. There was a great advantage in this arrangement, as it
enabled the sailors to shorten sail in case of an increasing wind by
simply lowering it till one of the sections could be taken in. And when
they wish to furl the sail altogether, they have only to let go and the
whole thing comes "down with a run." The construction of the sails can
be better understood by reference to the picture here presented of a
boat such as the Chinese use for river navigation.
As the _Danube_ steamed on down the river and out to sea the
conversation between the boys and Doctor Bronson turned very naturally
upon ships and their peculiarities.
[Illustration: SHIP OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY.]
"The difference between us and the Chinese in the matter of ships is
that we have progressed, while they have remained stationary. Their
junks are of the same pattern as they were a thousand years ago, while
we are making changes every year. Look at a picture of a European ship
of the fourteenth century, and see how closely it resembles a Chinese
junk. Both the bow and stern are very far out of water, and the
arrangement of the sails is quite Chinese in its character. About the
year 1520 the English built a war ship which they called the _The Great
Harry_, and it was considered a wonderful specimen of naval
architecture. Who would venture to sail in her now, and how long would
it take a war steamer of 1880 to send her to the bottom? Compare _The
Great Harry_ with the _Tennessee_, which is one of the recent American
ships, and observe the progress that has been made in three centuries
and a half. The bow and stern have been brought to a level, and the
shape of the hull is such that the ship glides through the water
instead of ploughing over it. Navigators have found that the ship that
makes the least 'fuss' while in motion is the best, and they have
devoted a great deal of study to finding the proper shape for the least
resistance."
[Illustration: "THE GREAT HARRY."]
"Yes," remarked Captain Clanchy, who was standing near, "and it took
them a long time to find that the shape of the stern of a ship was
almost as important as that of her bow, in regulating her speed. A
square stern makes a great boiling and depression in the water, while a
long tapering stern allows the water to close silently and with the
least possible resistance. You can easily illustrate what I mean by
taking a stick of wood that is square at both ends, and tying a string
to it so as to drag it endwise in the water. You find that it moves
easier when the forward end is sharpened than when both ends are blunt,
and then if you sharpen both of them you find it moves still more
easily. This is what the naval architects were a long time discovering,
and the most of them are wondering why they did not think of it before."
[Illustration: THE "TENNESSEE."]
"Then, too," said Doctor Bronson, "it was found that by lengthening a
ship of the old model a great deal was gained. This has been done in the
last ten or fifteen years, and many of the steamers now running between
New York and England have been lengthened in this way. They have not
been built on at either end, but have been cut in two in the centre, and
had a new section built in. A ship to be lengthened would be placed on
the ways, and then cut open in the middle. If she was to be extended a
hundred feet, the two ends would be drawn apart for that distance, and
then the space would be filled up. She might be two hundred feet long
when taken on the ways, and without any change of bow or stern her
length would be increased to three hundred feet. With this addition to
her tonnage she is much more valuable than before, and her original
speed can be maintained with only a small addition to her power. Then
there have recently been great improvements in the construction of
engines; and I think it safe to say that what with changes in length,
engines, and some other things, a ship of a given number of tons can be
run for half the expense that was required twenty years ago. Steam
navigation is now so economical that it is rapidly driving sailing
vessels from the ocean. The number of sailing ships on long voyages is
diminishing every year, and that of steamers is increasing."
"What is the greatest speed that steamers can make nowadays, with all
these improvements?" Frank asked.
"There is much dispute," Doctor Bronson replied, "over the performances
of ships at sea, and it is not at all easy to get at the actual facts.
Take the great steam lines between New York and Liverpool, and there are
two or three of them that claim to have done better than any of their
rivals. The managers of the White Star Line can show that their ships
have made the voyage quicker than the Inman steamers, and the Inman
managers can as readily prove that their ships have surpassed all
others. There are several steamers afloat that have made more than four
hundred miles in twenty-four hours, but they can only do it when all the
circumstances are favorable. There are many men who believe that
steamers will be built before the end of this century that will make
five hundred miles in a day, and if we judge of the future by the past,
I see no reason to doubt that the feat will be accomplished. We may yet
come to the speed of a railway train on the water, and more than one
inventor believes that he can do so. The prediction that we will yet
cross the Atlantic in three days is no wilder than would have been the
prediction, at the beginning of this century, that we could travel on
land or sea at our present rate, and that intelligence could be flashed
along a wire in a few seconds of time from one end of the world to the
other. The railway, the ocean steamer, the telegraph, the telephone,
and many other things that seem almost commonplace to us, would have
been regarded as the emanations of a crazy brain a hundred years ago."
"Perhaps," said Fred, "the year 3000 may find us travelling in the air
as freely as we now travel on land."
[Illustration: THE PUBLIC HIGHWAY OF THE FUTURE.]
"Not at all impossible," the Doctor answered. "We, or our descendants,
may be able to go through the air at will, and show the birds that we
can do as much as they can. Not long ago I was reading a sketch which
was supposed to be written a thousand years hence. The writer describes
his travels, and gives a picture of the public highway. An omnibus
supported by balloons, and drawn by a pair of them--harnessed as we
would harness horses--is represented on its way through the air. The
driver is on his box and the conductor at the door, while the passengers
are looking out of the windows. A bird, who has doubtless become
thoroughly familiar with the aërial craft, has seized the hat of a
passenger and flies away with it, and the victim of the theft is vainly
stretching his hands towards his property. Balloons are sailing through
the air, and in one a man is seated, who is evidently out for a day's
sport. He has a rod and line, and is industriously occupied in birding,
just as one might engage in fishing from the side of a boat. A string of
birds hangs from the seat of his conveyance, and he is in the act of
taking a fresh prize at the end of his line.
[Illustration: THE BOMB FERRY.]
"There is another picture representing the ferry of the future. It
consists of an enormous mortar, from which a couple of bombs have been
fired; they are connected by a chain, and each bomb is large enough to
contain several persons. The passengers are supposed to be quite
comfortable, and to be whizzed through the air at the speed of a
cannon-shot."
"But, of course, such a thing is impossible," said Fred; "nobody could
stand it to be shot through a tube at that rate."
"But something very much like it has been proposed in all seriousness; a
few years ago an inventor in New York had a scheme for a line of tube
four or five feet in diameter, and extending to the principal cities of
the land. His cars were to consist of hollow globes or spheres, and they
were to be propelled at a very rapid rate by exhausting the air in front
of them. His plan was regarded as quite visionary, but it is not at all
impossible that it may yet come into use. Small pneumatic tubes are in
successful operation for the transmission of letters and little parcels;
and in London there is a tube four feet in diameter from the General
Post-office to a railway station more than two miles away. The mail-bags
are transported through this tube, and on several occasions men have
taken their places in the carriages and enjoyed the sensation of this
novel mode of travel."
[Illustration: MOONLIGHT AT SEA IN THE TROPICS.]
The steamer held her tortuous way down the Mekong, and at length she
passed the light-house and went out to sea. The weather was delightful,
though a trifle warm, and the three passengers found the cabin
oppressive at times on account of the closeness of the atmosphere. A
good deal of their time was passed on deck both by day and by night,
and, as the moon was then at the full, the night on deck was thoroughly
enjoyable. Occasionally they were joined by the captain, and, as he
possessed a good fund of marine stories, the boys picked up a great deal
of information of a varied character. As they were bound for Siam, they
overhauled their trunks for all the books they possessed on that
country, and happily they found several volumes in the captain's library
that were of use to them. Among them was the account of Marco Polo and
his travels in the East. What our friends found in the work in question
we will reserve for the next chapter.
[Illustration: A STORY OF THE SEA.]