Drua

Drua, also known as Na Drua, N'drua, Ndrua or Vaka Tepu (sacred canoe), is a double-hull sailing boat that originated in the south-western Pacific islands. Druas do not tack but rather shunt (stern becomes the bow and vice versa). Both ends of each hull are identical, but the hulls are of different sizes and the smaller one is always sailed to windward. The main differences compared to other Pacific proas, are that the hulls have a symmetric U-form profile, and a second hull is used instead of an outrigger. When a float (ama) is used in place of the smaller hull, the craft is called a Camakau (or Tamakau).

"The Fijian double canoe (wangga ndrua) was the largest and finest sea-going vessel ever designed and built by natives of Oceania before contact with europeans."

Druas were large, up to 30 meters long, and could carry more than 200 people. Despite being called "canoes" they were not dugouts, but plank-built ships.

Origins

No written record exists of the diffusion of the drua design, but most anthropologists assume its origin in Micronesia, and it probably came to Fiji through the Kiribati and Tuvalu islands. The only Polynesian shunting type is the Pahi of the Tuamotu archipelago, but it uses equal hulls and does not appear related to other proas. From Fiji, druas spread to Tonga (where they are called Kalia) and Samoa (where they are called 'Alia). Captain Cook visited Tonga in his second and third voyages, and noticed that druas were rapidly displacing the Polynesian catamaran design. Tongan chiefs taking part in Fijian wars would bring them back as prizes of war. Drua construction eventually became a monopoly of Tongan constructors living in the Fijian Lau Islands.