This model represents a type of Chinese junk which is still in use in the ports of the province of Fukien. These vessels, unlike the junks of southern China, show few signs of European influence, and appear to have remained practically unchanged for at least 500 years.
Such vessels are still engaged in the general cargo and passenger trade between Foochow and other Chinese ports, both to the north and as far south as Hongkong, but are now rapidly decreasing in number.
The hull is subdivided by bulkheads in the usual Chinese fashion, so as to form a number of watertight compartments, while the heavy rudder is arranged for raising and lowering, so that it serves in part as a drop-keel The heel of the rudder is secured by ropes which pass right under the vessel's bottom and are made fast in the bows.
The sails, although stiffened by battens in the ordinary Chinese style, are of canvas, instead of the earlier bamboo matting, while their heads are rounded off in the fashion of southern China. Fifty years ago the sails were rectangular with square heads, Dimensions:—Length overall, 123 ft; breadth, 23.25 ft; moulded depth 13,25 ft.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.