blistering sun, and serve to reduce the expanse of sea rin g-hot steel on deck. A brow has been rigged am idships for those going ashore by boar. Like all Harrison Line ships, l her boor-rapping was painted pink. The larges t and most long-lived shipping line of the era was the British India ,.; . i . Line, or B.I. (black funnel with two broad ~~wh.ire stripes, very close together); its port of origin was Calcu tta, nor in Britain. Few of its ships ever made their way back to the home country. B.I. starred with operations around the coasts of India and Ceylon, Tramp Steamers Alongside later extending to Burma, the East Indies, Shipowners in a large number of hear, citizens have turned out to stroll along Australi a, the Persian Gulf, East Africa, countries, but most especially in northern the waterfront and to enjoy being seen rak- and Mauritius. In due course the company Europe, decided to enter the tramping ing a turn in their horse-draw n barouches. extended its network to Indo-China, C hina, trade. Norwegian firms became particularly Wooden jetties runnin g out from the shore Japan, and New Zealand, as well as up the prominent. Many Sca ndinavian shipping provide landing places for lighters, fishing main rivers of Southern Asia. The company's lines adopted grey for their hull color, and boats, and other small craft. operations prospered through the creation after World War I rhey led rhe switch from The Traveller lies off in deeper water, of a resourceful system of shipping agencies. steam to diesel propulsion . with a swarm of attendant lighters alongThe story is told ofB.I. agents in remore The quintessential tramp owner was side. Her imported cargo wo uld consist parts oflndia during the nineteenth century, the Clan Line-Cayzer, Irvine & Co.- largely of manufactured goods, building who, on findingan opportunity for shipping a based in Glasgow, (black funnel with two red materials, machinery, and paraffin in cans. cargo, would rake their umbrella and make for stripes), but rhere were a great many British Exports might include sugar, cotton, palm the nearest sa nd y beach. B.I. captains would firms in the business. One of the besr known o il, hardwood and other non-perishable be on the lookout for a raised umbrella, head was Messrs. T. & ]. Harrison of Liverpool, agricultural produce. The ship's canvas towards shore, and run the ship agro und at (black funnel with a broad white stripe awnings rigged over the bridge, foredeck, dead low water. Frenzied work would have divided by red, popularly known as "two of and poop provide refuge from the dazzling, the ship loaded before high tide, whereupon fat and one oflean"). The SS Traveller of this CardiffDocks, Wales (1948) line is representative of the type. She was built in 1922 and measured 4,000 tons (gross registered tonnage). She can be seen in th e accompanying painting (pages 30-31), lying off the waterfront of the tiny port of Pointe-a-P irre, Guadeloupe, one of the two French islands in the Lesser Antilles. Like many minor ports-of-call, Pointea-Pitre had no deepwarer berths: seagoing vessels had to moor well offshore, discharging cargo into lighters, which carried it to a jetty for offloading, and th e same cumbersome process of trans-shipm ent had to be undertaken in reverse for loading goods for export. One can appreciate rhe importance of the ships' own derricks. Other shipping in this view includes wooden schooners used in interisland fruit and vegetable trade. The wearherworn timber of Ho rel des Anrilles, on the left, fronts onto the Place de la Victoire and is dignified by the bronze figure of a local hero. Towards sundown, in the period of bl essed relief from monotonous, steamy
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SEA HTS'. TORY 129, WINTER 2009-10