Neath Swaying Spars - The Story of the Trading Scows of New Zealand

Whitcombe & Tombs Ltd, n/d, Good condition, tape reinforcement on chipping spine, binding firm

The story of the trading scow from its earliest day to its zenith of usefulness and its gradual decline is of peculiar interest to New Zealanders. The scow-type of vessel was a factor of the first importance in the development of the northern ports of the Dominion. It was the most distinctive feature of Auckland's coastal shipping in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first two decades of the 20th century; and it was an indispenable agent in the settlement of hundreds of places on the shallow estuaries and creeks. Communications and trade would have been impossible in many remote parts of our North Auckland coast without the light-draught craft that necessity suggested and evolved and that experience improved and perfected...