Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms, Volume 3

The Annam Maritime Region

The centers of these vessels are hollowed out using fire, and subsequently shaped and refined with knives, axes, and adzes adze (jiàn): a woodworking tool similar to an axe but with a blade at right angles to the handle, used for smoothing rough-cut timber. Every city along the rivers maintains a supply of these boats to be ready for emergencies; upon a single summons, five hundred vessels can be assembled at once. Each boat is rowed by fifty to sixty men, all of whom carry long spears and short swords. They are further manned by thirty musketeers.

The bow of the boat is flat and straight, where a single cannon is mounted. These cannons range in weight from six to twelve pounds original: 棒 (bang), a transliteration likely referring to the weight of the shot in pounds.. When encountering an enemy, they arrange their boats in a horizontal line and sing battle songs in unison. They row with all their strength to close the distance in an instant, immediately engaging in a fight to the death. If a large enemy ship attempts to ram these small boats, the small boats dodge with great agility and speed.

The ships usually used by the King and the nobility are adorned with carvings and gilding, shimmering brilliantly upon the water; commoners and lower officials do not dare to overstep their rank by using such decorations overstep (jiàn): to usurp the honors or styles reserved for those of higher status.

Recently, the construction of Annam’s warships has become even more refined and ingenious. Each ship measures ten zhang and nine chi in length Approximately 120 feet or 36 meters. A zhang is roughly 10 feet.; the quality of the timber is so excellent that it could serve as the mainmast for a Western warship. In the land warfare of the two nations of Myanmar and Siam, they rely entirely on sturdy, sharp wooden palisades, which encircle...