ADVERTISEMENT.

THE COUNCIL of the ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY of Great Britain and Ireland takes this opportunity of informing the Members of the Society and the Public, that in selecting papers for publication in the Society's JOURNAL, it is guided by the importance or singularity of the subjects treated on, or by the advantageous manner of treating them, but that it does not guarantee the certainty of the facts, or the propriety of the reasonings contained in the papers so published, which must still rest on the credit or judgment of their respective authors.

ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY.

ART. I.-Description of the various Classes of Vessels constructed and employed by the Natives of the Coasts of Coromandel, Malabar, and the Island of Ceylon, for their Coasting Navigation. By JOHN EDYE, Esq., late Master Shipwright of His Majesty's Naval Yard at Trincomalí, now in the Department of the Surveyor of the Navy.-Communicated by the late Major-General Sir JOHN MALCOLM, G. C.B. K.L.S. M. R. A. S. &c. &c.

Read 1st of June, 1833.

THE following Paper having been referred by the COUNCIL of the ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY to Sir JOHN MALCOLM, for his opinion as to its eligibility for insertion in the Printed Transactions of the Society, was returned by that distinguished and lamented individual, with a Letter of which a copy is subjoined, and which will be found to point out, in a very satisfactory manner, the practical value of Mr. EDYE'S communication.

"SIR,

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To the Secretary of the ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY.

"Before I comply with the desire of the COUNCIL to report on Mr. EDYE's Treatise on Indian Vessels, it may be useful to explain how it came into my possession.

"When on a visit to Chatham, Mr. EDYE, who is now employed in His Majesty's dock-yard at that place, shewed me this manuscript; and deeming it very curious, I begged he would allow me to present it to the ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY, which might, I thought, consider it worthy of a place in its Transactions; not only as it exhibited the actual state of the art of Ship-building in India, but on account of the evidence it contained of that art being at the same stage at which it now is, at a period of the most remote antiquity. Mr. EDVE's manuscript appeared to me to possess more value from the remarkable fact, that many of the VOL. I.

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vessels of which he gives us an account, illustrated by correct drawings of their construction, are so admirably adapted to the purposes for which they are required, that, notwithstanding their superior science, Europeans have been unable, during an intercourse with India of two centuries, to suggest, or at least to bring into successful practice, one improvement. I may adduce the Masula boats, on the Coast of Coromandel, in proof of this assertion; and, to my knowledge, both talent and skill have laboured in vain to improve the shape and construction of those vessels. The COUNCIL having referred this paper to me, I shall shortly state its contents, and my opinion of its value.

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"Mr. EDYE, by a residence of five years in India as His Majesty's Master-shipwright in Ceylon, had singular opportunities of becoming perfectly informed on the subject of which he treats in this Memoir. He describes in a clear and concise manner the various vessels of the coasts of Coromandel, Malabar, and Ceylon; which he classifies as follows:

:

of Ceylon, the Malabar and Coromandel coasts, &c.

of Point De Galle and the Malabar coast.

Jangár

of the Malabar coast, for rivers.

Pambán Manché .. Snake Boat of Cochin.

Bandar Manché.

...

Boats used to load ships and carry goods on the coast of Malabar.

Masula Boats .... Used chiefly at Madras in lading and discharging cargoes, and carrying passengers to and from ships in the Roads.

Mangalore Manché

Calicut Manché

Panyani Manché
Patamár

Arab Dow

Baggalah, or Budgerow

These are coast boats, of construction suited to the places from which they are named.

Vessels employed in the coasting-trade from Bombay to Ceylon.

Vessels employed in the trade between the Red Sea, the Arabian coast, the Gulph of Persia, and the Indian coasts of Cutch, Gujarát, and Malabar. These Dows are also used in the Persian Gulph, for the purposes of war and piracy. They are always manned by Arabs.

These vessels trade from Cutch, Gujarát, and the

Malabar coast, to the Gulph of Persia, the coast of Arabia, and the Red Sea. They are Indian vessels, and manned with Indian seamen, called Lascars.

A vessel used in the coasting-trade of Coromandel, from which they often carry cargoes to Ceylon and the Gulph of Manár.

Used in the Gulph of Manár and the southern parts of the Peninsula, and trading from these to Ceylon.

“The shape and materials employed in the construction of the vessels are minutely stated by Mr. EDYE; and the well-executed plans and sections of each class, by which their descriptions are illustrated, will, I am assured, attract the particular notice of the COUNCIL; to whom I have no hesitation in stating, that I deem Mr. EDYE's Treatise highly valuable; and am of opinion, that while it merits attention from those engaged in the study of nautical science, it must be acceptable to antiquarians and philosophers, who seek, by comparisons of the works of man in various ages, to draw conclusions as to the progress of human art. And, assuredly, no branch of science merits more of their consideration, than that which enabled him to have intercourse with distant nations, and through such means to advance knowledge and civilization!

"I am, Sir, your obedient, humble servant,

(Signed)

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JOHN MALCOLM."

MR. EDYE'S PAPER.

AMONG all the numerous vessels of every class and description which traverse the ocean, there is a peculiarity of form and construction, intended to meet the various localities of the ports or seas in which they are navigated: and perhaps in no part of the globe is this principle more fully displayed than in the Indian Seas, and on the coasts of the Southern Peninsula of India, including the Island of Ceylon, where the nature and change of the seasons, the monsoons, and the navigation of the seas and rivers, are singularly well provided for, by the truly ingenious and efficient means adopted by the natives in the formation of their rude, but most useful vessels. I shall endeavour to describe these more explicitly, with the aid of Sketches and Designs, the correctness of which I have been most scrupulous to ensure.

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