'Fishing boats off the Rock of Lisbon, Decr 24th 1856' [Portugal]
No. 11 in Fanshawe's Baltic and later album, 1843 - 83. Captioned by the artist on the album page below the image, as title. It shows 'beancods', the English name for this type of traditional Portuguese lateen-rigged fishing boat (a 'muleta' in Portuguese), here seen off the mouth of the Tagus with the range called the Rock of Lisbon to the north. The boats' English name comes from their shape. The curved bows are sharp and protected with iron plates, with the distinctive bolts seen in profile as protection against other vessels coming athwart them. They sail very well to windward, as here, where the one in the foreground is apparently streaming a net. They were also used as pilot boats and up Portugal's rivers.
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