Page:Things Japanese (1905).djvu/426

414 length of time would hardly be possible, because the exertion in yuloing is very much greater than in rowing, and this for the very reason that the yulo being always submerged, every movement is an exertion, and swinging oar through the air after each stroke gives the oarsman a rest. Rowing on fixed seats means work for the arms and the back, which little affects the lungs; yuloing is as fatiguing as rowing on sliding seats. The heavier and more clumsy build of a Japanese boat does not account for this difference in speed.

"Stability of the boat.—In smooth water one man yuloing creates a most disagreeable, wobbling, side-way motion for passengers. A sampan manned on both sides goes more steadily, but yet there is not the perfect steadiness of a gig. In rough water it occurs to the most skilful of Japanese oarsmen that the yulo shifts off the pin; and putting it into position again is not always easy in a rough sea, especially as yulos are long, and necessarily made of strong and heavy wood. A good gig-oarsman will never lose his oar, and if it by mischance should jump out of the rowlock, it is easily fetched in again. Moreover, it stands to reason that men sitting down in a boat will balance a boat better than men standing up, as is the case in yuloing.

"Resistance to wind.—It is needless to point out that men sitting offer less resistance than men standing in a boat."

So far the discussion on Japanese rowing. In the north, among the Ainos, may be seen a style of rowing quaint indeed. The boatman uses his two oars, not together, but alternately; or if there be more than one rower, those on the right pull while those on the left raise their oars, and vice versâ, so that the boat goes sidling along like a sailing-craft perpetually tacking. It is hardly conceivable how so absurd a method can have maintained itself in use, as it apparently has from time immemorial.