Traditional Boats of Malta Joseph Muscat Around the shores of the Maltese Islands, one the ferilla and the kajjikk evolved some time can see various small, working boats which later in the same century. The Gozo boat or tal­ developed over a period of hundreds of years. latini evolved from the xprunara and appeared When we refer to the traditional boats of Malta during the last decades of the nineteenth century. we refer to the five 1 that have survived and which The luzzu evolved from the Italian gozzo as the show the same constructional characteristics. It principal fishing boat by the first decades of the is interesting to note that one may come across twentieth century. certain local boats which originated after 1800 The main characteristics of traditional with the introduction of British rule in Malta Maltese boatbuilding techniques were and still but which do not comply with the traditional are the high stemposts fixed at right angles to characteristics .2 a straight keel. Washboards were fitted on the The xprunara or speronara3 was the prototype gunwales while the catwalks to the sides joining of all traditionally built Maltese boats. During the the fore and aft tambourets· were provided with time that it was in service - a period of almost two drainholes. Maltese boats were carvel built hundred years - other smaller local boats showed - the open type without a deck - and they were the same characteristics as those found on the normally powered by sails and oars. The highly xprunara. The dgnajsa tal-pass or passenger boat decorated and brightly painted local boats have appeared early in the seventeenth century while retained this characteristic up to present day .4 Figure 1: A line drawing of a L 640Umm dgnajsa tal-pass 81625 H 458 pGHAiSA ' ' ' !..--- ~-------~- I -U I -............. I' I / v I t----... ; I I !'----, / - I ~ I I V ' 1------ ~ I ~ ~ I ~ ~ ~ 1----. I - ~ ~ ~I I I I I I I I I r I ! I I I I I I I I I I ~ ~ I I ~ ~~ ~ = ~ "-.. -4 /- __.--V ' I I ··v I 11 1'----- " :J 26 Malta Archaeological Review • Issue 6 2002/2003 Looking at the first images of boats which dates to the first decades of the eighteenth represented in Maltese maritime graffiti and century, 10 one can see that it follows the traditional which go back to the second millennium B.C., Maltese boatbuilding techniques. There is not the one may get the first inklings of the ships or least connection with a Venetian gondola. boats of the period. The Tarxien graffiti refer The British authorities in Malta introduced a mostly to open boats which came to Malta from ceremonial gondola for use by the Admiral and the Levant.5 The corbita type of boat found at a few other V .I.Ps. 11 Notwithstanding its name, Hal Far, dating to the first century B.C. and the boat was constructed according to local first century A.D., might reflect the Roman boatbuilding techniques and had absolutely no influence on local boatbuilding. The interesting connection with its Venetian counterpart. There boat graffiti found at St Paul's and Tad-Dejr were local owners of the dgPiajsa who fitted a catacombs in Rabat show the open type of boat gondola type of stem on their boats and referred with high stemposts but most probably they to them as gondolas. But the boats themselves were provided with sails and dated between the were constructed strictly according to local, well fourth to the sixth century A.D.6 known b'oatbuilding techniques .12 It is not yet possible to come across a single To see a dgPiajsa tal-pass under construction image of a boat referring to the Phoenician is an impressive sight. The frail skeleton is held period in Maltese history. Elsewhere, Phoenician in place and perfectly balanced by a system of open boats show high stemposts and they are props fixed from ground to certain vital parts rowed by men standing and facing the bows. of the frames. It remains on the stocks until It should be noted that similar characteristics such time as the boatbuilder decides that it is could be traced on boats of various harbours perfectly weighed and aligned according to the in the Mediterranean and not exclusively in empirical rules of boatbuilding. Malta. There is practically no tangible proof The exceptionally thin timbers employed to connect Maltese boats with their Phoenician on a passenger boat were intended to lower the counterparts. 7 construction costs and to produce a light craft A Maghreb-Siculo ceramic bowl dated to which was strong enough to carry ten passengers the twelfth century show certain interesting but light enough to be handled quite often by characteristics depicted on an open type of boat one rower. However, looking at a kajjikk under which deserve to be studied carefully .8 The construction one notices stronger timbers than boat shown on the bowl must have been one those employed on a passenger boat, the reason which travelled round the central part of the. being that a kajjikk was normally employed Mediterranean, especially between Tunisia and for fishing and had to face the open sea away Sicily. This image on the bowl could well be from the sheltered bays and harbours of Malta. the first and best reliable source of information A luzzu and a Gozo boat carried still stronger for the study of Maltese boats. During the timbers than those found on a kajjikk because eleventh century, Malta was still under Arab they had to carry heavier cargoes and travel domination and one can imagine how Muslim longer distances. influences affected all aspects of life including It is interesting to note that, while local boat . boatbuilding. When examined attentively, the builders, with the introduction of British rule in boat reveals the 'eye' at the bows, intricate Malta, lost a certain amount of technological decorations on the sheer strake or tappiera and knowledge acquired under the Order of St John, the high stemposts fore and aft. The lateen rig they assimilated the latest technical innovations was very popular among the Muslim masters of building, for example, diagonal and clinker and such a rig has also been employed on type of hulls. However, these last two types of Maltese boats since time immemorial. hull never attracted the attention of local boat The idea of a link between a dgPiajsa and a owners and consequently they were not built in gondola can hardly be taken seriously.9 There great numbers. was once the Wignacourt gondola, which was One cannot underestimate the important specifically built as a ceremonial barge for that role played by workers employed at the H.M. Grand Master, having the spiral type of stems fore Dockyard who gleaned the necessary latest and aft. When examining the model of this gondola technologies working at the docks, subsequently Malta Archaeological Review • Issue 6 2002/2003 27 passing their expertise to local boatbuilders. 13 During the Knights period, boatbuilders The best local experts in boatbuilding learned followed the French type of technology and the ropes at H.M. Dockyard and consequently one can still trace French terminology in new types of boats were introduced to meet local local boatbuilding. The knights constructed demand and others were acquired by British their galleys and third rates according to individuals living in Malta and elsewhere. 14 French technology and consequently the local The construction of the modern September workforce assimilated such knowledge and also regatta boats requires separate consideration applied it in the construction of small boats .17 as these boats are projected first and foremost Similarly, after 1800, with the introduction for speed and consequently certain traditional of British expertise as applied to ship and characteristics are sacrificed to achieve improved boatbuilding Maltese workers assimilated the velocity. Such racing boats were originally the latest innovations in ship and boatbuilding same type and of the same construction as those techniques. commonly employed in the Grand Harbour. In One major British innovation in naval the 1930s local competitors were demanding construction which affected local boatbuilding ever lighter boats from the local builders. was the preparation of moulds for each frame Examining, for example, the racing dgliajsa required when building a boat. Moulds were to be manned by four rowers, one wonders normally prepared on a lofting board taken from how such a frail boat constructed with very the contours of a half model of the hull. 18 The thin timbers could withstand the stress of four 'old' system based on empirical rules required men, two of them rowing in a standing position a sliding type of half frame composed of a and two sitting on their benches. Modern local flat frame and a futtock duly marked with the racing boats such as the dgliajsa, the kajjikk required number of frames which composed and the fregatina are unique in concept, light the symmetrical part of a hull but not the entry in construction and decorated but unfortunately and the exit of a boat. 19 These last parts were they have lost a good number of their traditional constructed according to the expert 'eye' of the characteristics. 15 builder following traditional rules. After fashioning the required frames, the Boat Construction keel and the stems, a boatbuilder laid down the The Cottonera boatbuilders were unsurpassed straight keel on the prepared stocks. All frames in their expertise and during the nineteenth and made up of one flat frame with a futtock on twentieth centuries they constructed hundreds either side were temporarily fitted on the keel, ·of boats ·of all types. Certain builders from duly marked with the required equal spaces.