Hold of a Down Easter

This photograph shows the large volume of a Down Easter available for cargo. There is another deck below for carrying more. The L-shaped pieces of wood called hanging knees support the deck beams and resist twisting. They are typically made from the hackmatack trees of Maine. The hackmatack (or tamarack or larch) root leaves the trunk at a right angle, creating wood with a grain that bends in an L. Similar L-shaped pieces between the deck beams are called lodging knees.

Scattered about on the 'tween deck (between the main deck and the hold or bottom of the ship) are bits of wood called dunnage that were used to wedge and support cargo so it could not move.