w
, S -
' r
F R O N T V I E W OF A BOAT ,
passing over an inclined Plane or Glacis.
I n the passage from Han -tch eo u -fo u to T c h u - s a n (w h ic h was th e route o f
p a r t o f th e Em b a s sy ), the face o f th e c o u n try is m o u n ta in o u s ; therefore
th e eom m u n ica tio n o f the canals is continued b y m eans o f this sort o f locks,
two ofwhich were passed over on th e . 6th o f N o v emb e r, 1 7 9 J.
I n this subject, the dilference o f le v e l between the two canals was full
s iz fe e t; in the h ig h e r o n e , the wa te r was w ith in one foot o f the u p p e r
edge o f the beam over w h ich the b o a t passes. T h e m a c h in e ry consisted o f
a double glacis o f slo p in g m a so n ry , w ith an in c lin a tio n o f about forty
degrees from the h o rizo n . T h e boats are d raw n o v e r b y capstans,
two o f w h ich are gen e rally sufficient, tlio u g h sometimes fo u r o r six are
re q u ired for those o f gre a te r b u r th e n ; in th is case, th ere are holes in the
gro u n d to receive th em . W h e n a boat is re ad y to pass over, the rope s from
th e capstans (w hich h av e a loop at th e ir extremities) are bro u g h t to the stern
o f the v e s se l; one lo o p is th en passed th ro u g h the o th e r, and a b ille t o f
wood th ru s t in to the noose, to p re v en t th e ir sepa ration ; the p ro jec tin g g u n wale
at th e same time keeping the rope s in a p ro p e r s itu a u o n . T h is being
adjusted, the m en heave at the capstans till the boat has passed the e q u ilib
rium , w h e n , b y its own g ra v ity , it is lau n ch ed with g re at veloc ity into
th e lower c a n a l, an d is prevented from sh ip p in g too mu ch wa te r, b y a
s trong skre en o f bask e t-w o rk , w h ich is p lac ed at the h e a d . On the left
l a n d stands a m u tila te d trium p h a l a rc h , an d a sm a ll temple inclosing an
id o l, to w h ich sacrifices are fre q u e n tly made for the p re serv a tio n o f the
vessels passing o v er.
F o r a p la n an d sec tion o f th e above, v id e S ir George S ta u n to n ’s A c -
count, P la te 3 -1 o f th e folio volume.