The gypsy girl, Esmaralda, sings a song, of which one line is: "Je passe l’eau sans nacelle" = I cross the water without a little boat
Back in the twenties a lot of French words for airplanes came into use. In planes with engines mounted in leading edge or under the wing the structure was called a "nacelle"
In a note at the end of the chapter, the nacelle is called a wherry. The only place I ever encountered that word was when I wanted to use sculls from Newell boathouse. Because they were so fragile, beginners had to start with a wherry.
It was a rather sturdy clinker built single seater. I never could make it go in a straight line.
