2-982-548 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Sketches in India - the Catamaran Postman, 1858. Having '..."shinned" up the side [of the ship] via the chains, on to the deck, "Catamaran Jack" (as the sailors familiarly term him), with his conical cap of basket-work, his only attire, saving scanty drawers of calico...proceeds to untie the string of his cap, from the waxcloth lining of which he produces a letter wrapped in a small piece of calico. The letter he hands to the captain, and the calico is replaced in his helmet for future service. These adventurous postmen paddle forth in all weathers...Jack's calling is a dangerous one. Sharks swarm on the Coromandel coast, and Jack has frequently to do battle with them. In these encounters the paddle...is used with a desperation equal to the emergency. Although for the most part victorious, many of these boatmen fall victims to the voracity of the shark-the most deadly enemy to swimmers in tropical seas. In the Sketch a masoolah-boat is making for the beach in the distance. These vessels, which, like the catamaran, will live in almost any sea, are constructed of thin planks sewed together with coarse rope and caulked; they are, consequently, very flexible, and give way to the force of the surf, which is always running high on this coast. From "Illustrated London News", 1858.