“In the first place,” said Sir Samuel, “you must observe, youngsters, that this device of the natives is neither more nor less than a floating windlass, where the buoyant power of the timber serves the purpose of a support to the axis.  The men fixed by the slew-ropes to the cylinder, represent the handspikes or bars by which the windlass is turned round, and the hawser takes the place of the cable.  But,” continued he, “there appears to be no reason why the cylinder should be made equally large along its whole length; and were I to repeat this experiment, I would make the middle part, round which the hawser was to be passed, of a single topmast, while I would swell out the ends of my cylinder or raft to three or four feet in diameter.  In this way a great increase of power would evidently be gained by those who worked the slew-ropes.  In the next place,” said the Admiral, “it is clear that either the buoy-rope, or another hawser also fastened to the anchor, as a ‘preventer,’ ought to be carried round the middle part of the cylinder, but in the opposite direction to that of the weighing hawser.  This second hawser should be hauled tight round at the end of each successive quarter-turn gained by the men.  If this were done, all tendency in the cylinder to turn one way more than the other would be prevented; for each of the hawsers would bear an equal share of the weight of the anchor, and being wound upon the raft in opposite directions, would of course counteract each other’s tendency to slew it round.  The whole party of men, instead of only one-half of them, might then mount the spars; and thus their united strength could be exerted at each effort, and in perfect security, against the formidable danger of the cylinder whirling back by the anchor gaining the mastery over them, and dropping again to the bottom.  But without using their clumsy, though certainly very ingenious, machinery of turning men into handspikes, I think,” said he, “we might construct our floating windlass in such a way that a set of small spars—­studding-sail booms, for instance—­might be inserted at right angles to its length, like the bars of a capstan, and these, if swifted together, could be worked from the boats, without the necessity of any one going into the water.”

While speaking of the dexterity of the natives of India, I may mention a feat which interested us very much.  A strong party of hands from the ship were sent one day to remove an anchor, weighing seventy-five hundred-weight, from one part of Bombay dockyard to another, but, from the want of some place to attach their tackle to, they could not readily transport it along the wharf.  Various devices were tried in vain by the sailors, whose strength, if it could have been brought to bear, would have proved much more than enough for the task.  In process of time, no doubt, they would have fallen upon some method of accomplishing their purpose; but while they were discussing various projects, one of the superintendents said he thought his party of native coolies or labourers could lift the anchor and carry it to any part of the yard.  This proposal was received by our Johnnies with a loud laugh; for the numbers of the natives did not much exceed their own, and the least powerful of the seamen could readily, at least in his own estimation, have demolished half-a-dozen of the strongest of these slender Hindoos.