ABSTRACT
Of all sewn plank boats, the masula is possibly the one best represented by models in museum collections (no museum is known to have a full-size example) and it is frequently illustrated in general works on ethnographic craft. Yet only sparse and often contradictory accounts of it have been published: so much so that Prins (1986) was able to classify it only tentatively. This chapter attempts to provide a detailed account of the masula’s form, construction and use. This, however, is not an account of a single boat but a range of boats. Although masulas share certain common features, they are not of a single design. The materials used in construction differ from one stretch of the coastline to another. There is also some diversity in usage, in method of propulsion and even in method of sewing.
