the bow on the upper deck, and there hove in taut and fastened. When
let down to its greatest depth it required occasionally the strength
of fifteen men to move the large tiller.

On ascending to the next deck, one passed under a covering made of
oyster-shells, similar to that over the entrance to the saloon; under
this hung a flag which had been borne before the Emperor on one of the
most solemn religious processions. On a piece of wood near one of the
windlasses was inscribed--"May the sea never wash over this junk."
Close by was the sailors' Joss-house, containing the deity of the sea
with her two attendants, each with a red scarf. Near the principal
goddess was a piece of the wood from the first timber of the junk that
was laid; this was taken to one of their principal temples, there
consecrated, and then brought on board, and placed as symbolic of the
whole vessel's being under the protection of the deity. A small
earthen pot, containing sacred earth and rice, stood in front, in
which Joss-sticks and other incense was burnt. A lighted lamp, too,
was here always kept burning; if it had gone out during a voyage it
would have been considered an omen of bad luck. On the right and left,
before coming to this Joss-house, were paintings. One panel
represented the Mandarin Ducks; another, a Chinese lady at her
toilette; a third, a globe of gold-fish. On this deck were cabins for
passengers and supercargoes, the doors painted with different devices.
Above was the lofty poop-deck, with one of the rudder-windlasses on
it, and the mizzen-mast, fifty feet long, and placed on one side, in
order to allow the tiller to work when in shallow water. The main-mast
was ninety-five feet in length, and ten feet in circumference at the
bottom. It was one spar of teak, and just as the tree grew with merely
the bark taken off. It was not perfectly straight--a defect with us,
but not so considered by the Chinese, who prefer a mast with a bend in