The oars or paddles that are used with these boats, have a long handle and a flat blade, not unlike a baker’s peel. Of these every person in the boat has one, except those that sit under the awning; and they push her forward with them at a good rate. These boats, however, admit so much water at the seams, that one person at least is continually employed in throwing it out. The only thing in which they excel is landing, and putting off from the shore in a surf: by their great length and high sterns they land dry, when our boats could scarcely land at all; and have the same advantages in putting off by the height of the head. The Ivahahs are the only boats that are used by the inhabitants of Otaheite; but we saw several Pahies that came from other islands. Of one of these I shall give the exact dimensions from a careful admeasurement, and then particularly describe the manner in which they are built. Feet. Inches. Extreme length from stem to stern, not reckoning the 51 0 bending up of either Breadth in the clear of the top forward 1 2 Breadth in the midships 1 6 Breadth aft 1 3 In the bilge forward 2 8 In the midships 2 11 Aft 2 9 Depth in the midships 3 4 Height from the ground on which she stood 3 6 Height of her head from the ground, without the figure 4 4 Height of the figure 0 11 Height of the stern from the ground 8 9 Height of the figure 2 0 [Illustration: Drawing of Vessel] To illustrate my description of the manner in which these vessels are built, it will be necessary to refer to the figure; in which _a a_ is the first seam, _b b_ the second, and _c c_ the third. The first stage or keel, under _a a_, is made of a tree hollowed out like a trough; for which the longest trees are chosen that can be got, so that there are never more than three in the whole length: the next stage, under _b b_, is formed of straight plank, about four feet long, fifteen inches broad, and two inches thick: the third stage, under _c c_, is, like the bottom, made of trunks, hollowed into its bilging form; the last is also cut out of trunks, so that the moulding is of one piece with the upright. To form these parts separately, without saw, plane, chissel, or any other iron tool, may well be thought no easy task; but the great difficulty is to join them together.