Saman (boat)

“ For some moments no one on the little boat spoke a word. The boys sat and looked at Sam, and he sat and looked at them and at the boat and the boundless ocean stretching on every side as far as the eye could see. Not a sign of life could be seen on it anywhere. There was no trace of the other boats that had set out from the burning brig and it was impossible to conjecture what had happened to them. ”

“ The Japanese sampan, as well as other boats, is never painted, but it is always scrubbed clean. The sampan has a sharp bow and a wide, square stern, and navigators say it will live in a sea which would swamp the ordinary Whitehall boat of our water-front. The Japanese oar is long and looks unwieldy, being spliced together in the middle. ”

“ Slack water had come, and, as the ebb was commencing, there was need for hurry if we cared to escape waiting half a day for the next tide.
But the land breeze had begun to die away with the rising sun, and now came only in failing puffs. The salmon boat got out its oars and soon left us far astern. Some of the Chinese stood in the forward part of the cockpit, near the cabin doors, and once, as I leaned over the cockpit rail to flatten down the jib-sheet a bit, I felt some one brush against my hip pocket. ”

“ As the boat rounded the stake a shout of anger arose from all on board the Black Growler when it was seen that their rival again was trying to cut in upon the course.
"She wants to box us," muttered Sam. "She thinks if she can get right in front of us that we'll have to take her breakers and that we'll not be able to make up any of the distance."
Rising to his feet Sam seized the megaphone and called in his loudest tones, "Don't you try that! We shall ram you if you do. Keep to your own course and we'll keep to ours." ”

“ Watch out the boom don't hit you, Miss Fairfax. Now, Sam, off with that red shirt; tie it on the boat hook, and let fly. They can't help seeing us if there is any watch on deck."
We swept about in a wide circle, shipping some water as we dipped gunwale under, but came safely out from the smother, headed straight across the bows of the oncoming vessel. All eyes stared out watchfully, Sam's shirt flapping above us, and both Watkins and Schmitt straining their muscles to hold the plunging quarter-boat against the force of the wind. A man forward on his knees growled out a curse. ”

“ Fortunately we had men enough to manipulate the sails, real seamen, able to work swiftly. Sam started a fire in the galley, and prepared a hot meal, singing as he worked, and before noon I had as cheerful a ship's crew forward as any man could possibly ask for. The weather kept pleasant, but with a heavy wind blowing, compelling us to take a reef in the canvas, but the schooner was an excellent sea boat, and all alike felt the exhilaration of rapid progress. ”

“ Tentatively, she edged toward the path that led to the boat-landing. But the boatman understood and shook his head.
"When we go, we go together," he assured her. "That dress you're wearing looks all right. Whatever you need in the line of clothes we can get when we hit the mainland.
"As far as I'm concerned, all I have to do is to put on my hat. And that's down in the boat, I think; if it isn't, it doesn't matter. We'll start, I guess."
He turned toward the path and beckoned.
"I refuse to stir a foot!" exclaimed Rosalind.
She compressed her lips.
"That means carrying you, then, ma'am." ”

“ Half an hour later we are all aboard, bound for the island near the French Somaliland border, where a party of Chinamen are collecting bêche-de-mer and shark's fins. With her nose pointing North of West, her dhow-rigged sail bellying to the fresh north-east breeze, the little government boat is soon making her seven knots. Syyed, the Arab, [125] has brought lines and hooks and is busy adjusting the bait. A small fish, a little bigger than a sardine, is attached to the hook at a special angle, so that it will spin as it glides over the water. ”

“ I am not a sailor, and except that I cannot help seeing paragraphs about Shamrock IV. in the daily papers I do not think I know the name of a single yacht.
"Well," said Sam, "she's O'Meara's boat. I've sailed in her sometimes in cruiser races. She's slow and never does any good, but she's a fine sea boat. My idea was that Hazlewood had hired her, and I didn't find out till after we had started that O'Meara was on board. ”

“ The salmon, swimming near the surface, as is their custom, run their heads through these meshes, and are prevented from going on through by their larger girth of body, and from going back because of their gills, which catch in the mesh. It requires two fishermen to set such a net,—one to row the boat, while the other, standing in the stern, carefully pays out the net. When it is all out, stretching directly across the stream, the men make their boat fast to one end of the net and drift along with it. ”

“ We had taken the sand lightly, and were able to pole the boat into deep water with no great difficulty. I remained crouched at the bow, ready for any emergency, while the engine resumed its chugging, and Sam guided us out toward the swifter current of the stream. The broader river behind us remained veiled in mist, but the gray light was sufficient for our purpose, enabling us to proceed slowly until our craft had rounded the protruding headland, out of sight from below. ”

“ They breakfasted in the boat, first stripping to the waist and sluicing their heads, necks, arms and chests with water. Breakfast was scarcely over when the boat shot out of the Nepalgah into the Connecuh river, whereat the boys gave a cheer. About noon they entered the Escambia river, and their speed slackened. Here they had met the influence of the tide which checked the force of the current, and their progress grew steadily slower, until Sam directed the use of the paddles. ”

“ As they neared the shore the boatman made his first remark since the engine had resumed wheezing.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to know—"
"I haven't run a six-cylinder car for nothing," interrupted Miss Chalmers sharply. "Is this the dock?"
For answer he stopped the engine and guided the boat alongside a low wharf, at the end of which burned the lantern they had seen.
"Witherbee's Island," he said as he reached to help her ashore.
Miss Chalmers sprang upon the wharf without aid and demanded her trunks. The boatman heaved them out methodically. ”

“ At the first cast of the second drop, before the fly has fairly lit, a great flash of silver darts from the waves close by the boat. Usually a salmon takes the fly rather slowly, carrying it under water before he seizes it in his mouth. But this one is in no mood for deliberation. He has hooked himself with a rush, and the line goes whirring madly from the reel as he races down the pool. Keep the point of the rod low; he must have his own way now. ”

“ In some of the salmon rivers it is quite impossible to fish from the banks, but the sportsman hires a boat, and angles in the centre of the stream, which is generally interrupted by large stones, or pieces of rock, in the eddy of which the salmon delight to sport.
P—— was the first to get his rod together, and selecting a particular fly that he had considered as "a certain killer," jumped into his pram. The men who row these prams are generally Norwegians, born on the banks of the river, and knowing pretty well under what rocks, or in what eddy, the salmon abound. ”

“ Modesty is one of Sam’s virtues. He is, I believe, an excellent hand in a small yacht, and does a good deal of racing.
“I asked him what put it into his head that I could sail a boat, and he said O’Meara told him. O’Meara is a man I sail with occasionally, and I thought it nice of him to mention my name to this old boy. I can hoist a spinnaker all right and shift a jib, but I’m no good at navigation. Always did hate sums and always will. I told him that, and he said he could do the navigation himself. All he wanted was a good amateur crew for a thirty-ton yawl with a motor auxiliary. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Despatched a couple of boats to the prize schooner to bring away some of the live stock, and sent orders to the prize master to set fire to the prize and return on board. These orders being all executed and the boats run up, at 8.30, steamed in pursuit of the strange sail. At eleven came up with, and sent a boat on board of the Danish brig Una, from Copenhagen to Santa Cruz, sixty-nine days out. Permitted her to proceed on her course after a detention of about half-an-hour. We showed her the United States colours. ”

“ Accordingly we put the boat ashore, and hauling her up as high as we could, we ran out the cable and made it fast round the stem of a cocoanut tree, and then began to make our preparations for the night.
“To-night,” said Tom, “as there’s no time to build a hut, we can use the sail for a tent; so, Bill, you bring it ashore, while Sam and I lash the mast to those two palms for a ridge pole.”
The rising of the clouds warned us that we had no time to lose, so as quickly as we could we rigged up our tent and tied the sail down to small palm trees to prevent its being blown away ”

“ The officer in charge of the whaleboat grumbled at being thus obliged to turn back and travel some distance to reach the wherry. The latter had by this time cast out an anchor so as to hold the boat in place near the spot where the mine had gone down.
“What is this for?” demanded Sam, clambering over into 216 the wherry, his clothes still wet and dripping.
“I did not think best to ask the captain for his reasons for giving the orders,” answered Dan, with a meaning smile.
“I didn’t mean that. Look out, the ship is making signals. Why don’t you tend to your business?” demanded Sam. ”

“ Three other boats came out across the reef, ventured a little way in the Gulf Stream, and then went back to grouper and barracuda. But that one boatman, B., stuck to us. And right away things began to happen to his anglers. No one so lucky in strikes as a green hand! I saw them get nine strikes without hooking a fish. And there appeared to be a turmoil on board that boat. I saw B. tearing his hair and the fishermen frantically jerking, and then waving rods and arms. Much as I enjoyed it, Sam enjoyed it more. ”

“ There was enough of that, and the boat went this way, that way, so far as Sam could see, with very little regard to the direction the breeze came from. He said so to Pete.
"Guess so," replied the 'longshore boy. "He knows his boat. So long as a wind isn't dead ahead, he doesn't care. But he hates oars. So do I."
There the oars lay, along the sides of the boat, two of them; but an oar stands for work, and Sam was quite willing to let the sail work for him. He was now sitting forward of the middle of the boat, looking ahead, but every now and then he glanced back at Mr. Kroom. ”

“ Originally a small raft of three timbers with fore end upturned, it grew into a boat in very early times, and has given its name to a very large class of vessels. With flat bottom, and considerable width in proportion to its length, the normal sanpan runs out into two tails astern, the timbers rounding up, and the end being built in like a bulkhead, with room for the rudder to work between 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. ”

“ It's all right, however; he's at the wharf."
"That's very lovely of you," declared Rosalind graciously. "We might bring some of the others, too, if you like. Suppose you hunt them up. I'll go down to the boat."
She found the boatman wiping the seats and otherwise engaged in the discouraging task of trying to make his craft tidy. He greeted her with a brief nod.
"Fishing?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Muskies?"
"Why—yes."
"Well, that's good sport," he commented.
"You can take us to the proper place, of course?" ”

“ I never had Sam throw out the clutch and stop the boat until after I had hooked the fish. I wanted the boat to keep moving, so if I did get a chance to strike at a fish it would be with a tight line. These sailfish are wary and this procedure is difficult. If the fish had run off swiftly I would have struck sooner. Everything depends on how he takes the bait. ”

“ Sam was not in the best of humor at this moment. He took an instant and violent dislike for the young officer who had rebuked him.
Dan, in the meanwhile, was wig-wagging to the ship, sending the request for another diving suit.
A few moments later, as he peered through the spy glass, he saw a boat starting off in their direction.
“Motor boat under way. I think she is coming with the diving suit, sir,” Davis called.
“Very good. Have you located that mine yet, men?” 220
“I think we have, sir.”
“Then hold it. Do not let it get away from you. ”

“ This task completed to his satisfaction, he pushed the boy over on his bunk and tossed Mose on top of him.
“There!” he cried. “You keep quiet, or I’ll turn Sam loose on you! And, Sam, if you molest the boy again I’ll settle with you for it. I take it he had a right to fight for his boat! And the little coon! You keep your hands off him, too!”
The man called Sam flashed an ugly look out of his foxy, inflamed eyes and went out on deck. In a moment he was seen in the doorway again, dragging Captain Joe after him.
“Shall I pitch the dog overboard?” he asked, in a surly tone. ”