Page:A voyage to New Holland - Dampier.djvu/56

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18
Frape-boats described.

except the Carriage: And that also is very cheap; the Inhabitants having plenty of Asses, for which they have little to do besides carrying the Salt from the Ponds to the Sea tide at the Season when Ships are here. The Inhabitants lade and drive their Asses themselves, being very glad to be imploy'd; for they have scarce any other Trade but this to get a Penny by. The Pond is not above half a Mile from the Landing-place, so that the Asses make a great many Trips in a day. They have a set number of Turns to and fro both Forenoon and Afternoon, which their Owners will not exceed. At the Landing-place there lies a Frape-boat, as our Seamen call it, to take in the Salt. 'Tis made purposely for this use, with a Deck reaching from the Stern a third part of the Boat; where there is a kind of Bulk-head that rises, not from the Boats bottom, but from the Edge of the Deck, to about 2 foot in heighth; all calk'd very tight. The Use of it is to keep the Waves from dashing into the Boat, when it lies with its Head to the Shore, to take in Salt: For here commonly runs a great Sea; and when the Boat lies so with its Head to the Shore, the Sea breaks in over the Stern, and would soon fill it, was it not for this Bulk-head, which stops the Waves that come flowing upon the Deck,