Catamaran
a kind of boat, vessel, or, more accurately, raft or float used by the Hindoos of Madras, the island of Ceylon, and the parts adjacent. It is formed of three logs of timber, secured together by means of three spreaders and cross lashings through small holes, The central log is much the largest, with a curved surface at the fore-end, which terminates upward in a point. The side logs are very similar in form, but smaller, and with their sides straight; these are fitted to the central log. The length of the whole is from 20 to 25 feet.
The crew consists of two men. In the monsoons, where a catamaran is able to bear a sail, a small outrigger is placed at the end of two poles as a balance, with a bamboo mast and yard, and a mat or cotton sail. Frail as such a structure may appear, it can pierce through the surf on the beach at Madras and reach a vessel in the bay when a boat of ordinary construction would be sure to founder.