抄録
In contrast to the wide-scaled cargoships, skin floats or boats in the ancient times were undoubtedly the most convenient means of transportation invented more than likely to suit chiefly the purpose of crossing relatively small streams and rivers.
Air was blown into the skin bags with the bundles of straws so that they would not give way and loose shapes half way in the river at the time of crossing by some careless and unexpected mischiefs. Boats must have been paddled either by wooden paddles or one's own hands.
With the animal-skin boats most rampantly utilized in the orient, as a means of most accessible and handy transportation system, slowly but surely the custom spread out into such areas as Asia Minor, Central Asia and China environ.
