The Evolution of Small Craft
Water Transport. By James Hornell. (Cambridge University Press. 30s.) PEOPLE are divided between those who like small boats and those who do not—with, perhaps, a third category for those inland dwellers who get no opportunity of taking sides. There was once a lady for whom the prospect of a Channel crossing was so terrible that she was prostrate with sickness before reaching Southampton and had to be taken home again. For such as she, the ' Queen Mary ' is not large enough. But the boatman in his tiny craft looks up with a certain contempt at floating hotels, only distinguishable from their counter- parts on shore by the added amenity of all windows facing the sea. The romance—if that is the right word—of going to sea is to be found among little ships with canvas spread and nothing more mechanical than a three-fold purchase.
This book is definitely for the enthusiast. It concerns the origins of primitive forms of water transport, from the simple floats employed by swimmers to the intricately constructed war-junks of China. Diversity is the keynote. The materials available, the purpose to be served, the local conditions, the tools at hand and the skill of the builders, all vary enormously in the different parts of the world ; and it is these factors which in the first place dictated the type of craft employed. Established tradition and lack of capital resources combine to perpetuate the survival of seemingly dilapidated oddities ; but for all their apparent crudity they remain in many cases the most suitable vessels for the job. An unwieldy raft supported by inflated skins of grotesque appearance is perfectly suited to negotiate a swift-moving, rock-strewn river. A dozen skins may be punctured, but they are easily replaced ; the reserve of buoyancy is ample, and great loads can be carried. A boat of more ordinary pattern would be holed by the first rock she touched.
Mr. Hornell has set about his task in an orderly fashion, carefully classifying each type of craft—floats, rafts, canoes, dugouts, skin- covered, plank-built and so on—and making further subdivisions according to materials used and geographical locality. He discusses their origins and the reasons that led to the adoption of a particular class, and traces the development towards more elaborate designs. Text-diagrams and photographs are used to illustrate his detailed descriptions of constructional methods. Among the skin boats are the coracles and curraghs of the British Isles, the only survivals from
early times still to be employed in these waters. The remains of the two ancient boats recently found buried in the mudbanks of the Humber would certainly have been given a place in the book had their excavation not been delayed by the war.
The most interesting, and perhaps controversial, questions are those concerning the origins of the different designs and constructional methods. Places thousands of miles apart are found to possess vessels of similar basic characteristics ; and in each case Mr. Hornell tries to account for it by showing that some movement of population or the cultural influences of a dominating civilisation once linked the places together. Clues of some importance in reconstructing man's early history may be discovered by this means, although the possibility of the same ideas having originated quite independently in the different localities cannot be ruled out. For example, there are certain parallels in the technique of boat-construction between Scandinavia and the Western Pacific Islands. This has led the author to suggest a cultural link between them at some very early date, in spite of the fact that no trace has been left on the intermediate regions.
Mr. Hornell has had unequalled opportunities of seeing native craft fulfilling their everyday duties in many parts of the world, and the study of the subject has been his chief interest and hobby for a life- time. Water Transport is the result. Its exhaustive detail makes it unsuitable perhaps as recreational reading except for those who share his enthusiasm ; but as a compact, authoritative record it is excellent. And anybody who harbours the longing to possess a boat will learn that many other things float besides an expensive modern yacht ; for some, the average garden and toolshed would provide all the
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