Samuel Bourne

Samuel Bourne

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Air-Blown Skins Boats, Bajuar, Nepal, circa 1880 Samuel Bourne, photographerAir-Blown Skins Boats, Bajuar, Nepal, circa 1880 Samuel Bourne, photographer  

This image of inflated animal (possibly goat or sheep) skins being carried to the banks of the Beas River, Bajura, Nepal was taken by British photographer Samuel Bourne. In the 1860's, British photographer, Samuel Bourne (1834-1912), traveled extensively across India photographing landscapes, historical places and people. The inflated skins would be secured to one another and a small platform placed on the top to form a buoyed raft or "sarnai." Such rafts have been used in Asia - India, Afghanistan, Tibet, Nepal, China, Iran, Iraq, and Armenia - as a means of transporting people and cargo for thousands of years. Bourne's dark room tent can be seen under the tree on the left side of the photograph.

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