Casco (barge)

Cascos are flat-bottomed square-ended barges from the Philippines. They were used mostly to carry cargo along lakes and rivers, and as lighters to transport goods to and from moored ships.[1] Though they resemble the Chinese sampan, they are much larger with two detachable masts with junk rigs made of woven fiber. They also possess outrigger-like platforms along the entire length of the sides, which is used by punters with barge poles when traversing shallow water. They were steered by an oar or a central rudder by a helmsman housed in a small raised platform at the stern. The entire deck is covered almost entirely in removable curving or pitched panels.[2][3]

Cascos were most prevalent in southern Luzon, particularly along the Pasig River and Laguna de Bay, as well as in the Manila Bay harbor.[2][3] In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, they were often strung together in a train drawn by a steamship (vapor). They were used as transport ships by American troops in Laguna de Bay during the Philippine–American War.[4] Cascos are still used today in fluvial parades. An example is during the celebrations of Our Lady of Peñafrancia in Naga City, Bicol.[5] [6]

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  Casco (foreground) in Manila (c. 1900)
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  Drawing of a casco (c. 1906)
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  A casco in Manila Bay in full sail (c. 1906)
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  An 1855 woodcut with a casco (left) in a woodcut on the entrance to the Pasig River from the Manila Bay
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  A casco with two punters (1873)
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  Vista del Puente de Manila, an 1847 painting by José Honorato Lozano showing a casco (center left) and several sampans and other river boats