268 THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
is not the place for a technical description of boats' sails and
rigging but a knowledge of the elementary differences between
the various types of boats gives the same gain in intelligent
interest to a waterside ramble that a slight knowledge of botany
adds to a walk in the country. Therefore, let a "Stumpy" be
distinguished from her taller sister by the absence of topmast
and topsail, and a river Barge from a sea-going Barge by her
usually taller mast and absence of bowsprit.
All barges, being flat-bottomed, have leeboards, which are
lowered when sailing to prevent the boats being blown sideways
across the water like pieces of paper on a pond and in this
respect are similar to the Dutch Schuyts, Botters and most
other Dutch sailing vessels. Nevertheless, they have no direct
ancestry in Holland and are, in fact, the last descendants of a
long line of English cargo boats.
At one time, the Hay Barge was a familiar sight on the rivers
of Essex, loading her bulky stack at some remote farm quay in
an Essex creek and sailing on a two or three days' journey to
London. Now, this traffic is carried almost entirely by road
and I have seen but few hay-barges in the last ten years.
Timber is a frequent barge cargo in these days of much
building and so are bricks, while cement barges are more often
seen in Kentish waters than north of the Thames. Cement
barges often carry sails prominently decorated with the trade
mark of their owners. Formerly, all sorts of trades used barge
sails to carry their advertisements but now one seldom sees any
marks but those of cement companies.
Corn is never carried by water for short distances now that
the motor-lorry can reach almost every farm, but before the
war many Essex barges were engaged in this trade. For both
cement and corn, a thoroughly seaworthy and watertight hull
is essential, for if once a barge is strained or "wrung," as it
is called, by laying her on an uneven bed or across a small
runnel, she may become leaky and useless for these special
cargoes, easily spoiled by water.
For some years, I owned an Essex corn barge which had been
used by the Admiralty during the war for carrying explosives;
after at least forty years' hard work she was as sound when
converted to a barge-yacht as when she was built. "Rainbow"
(that is her name) was one of the smallest of this class of boat,