Midships was a thwart of ash or oak pierced with four holes, two near either end, through which were rove thongs, composed of twisted osiers connecting the seat, or thwart, with various portions of the above mentioned band, so as to bind the work together. The frame was then covered over on the outside with skin, untanned, of the horse or cow; and the result was the completion of a boat well adapted for the requirements of fishermen.[78] The raw hide of a newly slain animal, properly extended presented a ready means of constructing a boat, and became to the early inhabitants of the British Islands what the birch-tree bark is to the American Indian. In the sculptures from Nineveh a similar use of the hide is observed, as a means of crossing rivers, but the application is less ingenious, being merely a skin inflated with air like what is called on some parts of the Irish coast a “stookey,” and with which, not unfrequently, fishermen, so late as the year 1860, floated their nets and lines; the skin of a dog or any other animal served the purpose.[79] [Illustration: Plate V. Curach, as used on the Boyne, 1848.] _Ingenuity of Lake Dwellers, Clothing, &c._--It has been remarked that the brains of most savages and the skulls of most primitive races are larger than, in theory, they ought to be; often rather larger than the brains and skulls of the average masses of the great cities of the present day; but this need not cause surprise, if the life of intelligent interest passed by the savage child be taken into consideration. From the tenderest age he was observant of all the devices practised by his parents for procuring clothing, food, means of defence, in short, all the essentials of existence; the natural result of his wild life was health and strength; indeed, on the principle of the survival of the fittest, it could only be the robust who lived through the hardships and climatic exposure incidental to a savage life. The lake dweller was no exception to this rule, for his ingenuity would be most fully exercised in endeavouring to procure the means of sustenance for his family. It is easy to imagine the various daily occupations needful in his struggles for existence. Timber from the forest supplied him with materials both for his dwelling and for fuel; the skins of wild animals furnished him with clothing, he shaped them with a sharp flint flake, and sewed them with thongs, using as needle the pierced bone of some bird or small mammal. In early Irish history mention occurs of skin or leather garments: when _Muircheartach MacNeill_ made his celebrated circuit of Ireland, A.D. 942, it is stated that his soldiers were clad in long leather cloaks. We are not left to mere conjecture regarding the manner in which the men of these primitive times protected themselves from the inclemency of the weather. In the year 1821 the body of a man, about six feet in height, with dark, reddish-coloured hair, short beard, and teeth in a good