Four most attractive stamps showing local dhows, a name, incidentally, that Arabs do not use for their craft, for it is a European designation, are depicted on issues from the Somali Coast. The sambuks on the 25 f. Somali stamp are typical of these craft, which are unlike other vessels in these waters. They have a multi-coloured style of panel painting in the decoration of the upper works, particularly on the poop, and seem to be copied from European sailing vessels of an early period which traded in these waters. The rudders are fully exposed and the stern is transom-shaped. Unfortunately the stamp does not give a really good idea of the intricacy of the painted decorations of these sambouks, unless, of course, as in other spheres, utility has replaced beauty because of competition from more modern motor vessels in these waters, and the once-beautifully painted craft have become almost obsolete. These are two main types of these flat-sterned craft, the single-masted and the two-masted craft.
SG477 Sea Breezes 1/65