There Are Also Some Ten [Small] Boats For The Service Of Each Great Ship, To Lay Out The Anchors, Catch Fish, Bring Supplies Aboard, And The Like.

When the ship is under sail she carries these boats slung to her sides.

And the large tenders have their boats in like manner.

When the ship has been a year in work and they wish to repair her, they nail on a third plank over the first two, and caulk and pay it well; and when another repair is wanted they nail on yet another plank, and so on year by year as it is required. Howbeit, they do this only for a certain number of years, and till there are six thicknesses of planking. When a ship has come to have six planks on her sides, one over the other, they take her no more on the high seas, but make use of her for coasting as long as she will last, and then they break her up.[NOTE 6]

Now that I have told you about the ships which sail upon the Ocean Sea and among the Isles of India, let us proceed to speak of the various wonders of India; but first and foremost I must tell you about a number of Islands that there are in that part of the Ocean Sea where we now are, I mean the Islands lying to the eastward. So let us begin with an Island which is called Chipangu.

NOTE 1. - Pine [Pinus sinensis] is [still] the staple timber for ship-building both at Canton and in Fo-kien.

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