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 it to one without, thinking it adds to the strength, and is conclusive evidence of the goodness of the spar.  This mast was hooped round, in consequence of being cracked while undergoing the process of hardening.  The mode adopted for this purpose by the Chinese is to bury the timber for a considerable time in marshy ground; thus treated, they say teak becomes hard as iron.  The mast did not go within four feet of the bottom—­the ship having no kelson—­but, to use the technical term, was “toggled” to two large pieces of wood which answered as partners.  To these were added two other heavy pieces as chocks, which were intended to keep the huge spars in their places.  Neither stays nor shrouds were used.  The main yards were made of teak quite rough; the upper one was seventy-five feet long, and the lower sixty.

The sails were made of closely-woven matting, a substance much lighter than canvas.  It holds the wind better, and rarely splits, because it never shakes in the wind.  So large and heavy was the mainsail of the King-Shing, that it required forty men with the aid of the capstan to raise it.  Without the capstan eighty men would have been needed.  It had eighteen reefs.  The sails were reefed by being lowered, which precluded any necessity for going aloft.