They who could not content themselves with the accommodation here afforded to the son of Laertes, were looked upon as effeminate, and unfit to endure the toils and hardships of war: we find accordingly, that Alcibiades was censured by the Athenians, for having allowed himself the luxury of a “bed hung on cords,” or, in other words, a cot or a hammock.

The class termed mariners were exempt from drudging at the oar, but performed all the other duties of the ship; and in order that every thing might be carried on without tumult or confusion, each had his peculiar office assigned to him, as appears from the Argonautics of Apollonius and Flaccus. We there find one employed in rearing the mast, another in fitting the yards, a third in hoisting the sails, and the rest employed fore and aft in the ship, each in his proper place. Hence, they had different titles to distinguish them, taken from the parts of the ship where they were stationed, and the offices which they were in the habit of performing.

There was a class of men inferior to the rest of the crew, which was not confined to any particular station or duty, but was ready on all occasions to attend the other seamen, and supply them with whatever they wanted.

“The whole ship’s crew,” says Potter, “were usually wicked and profligate fellows, without any sense of religion or humanity, and therefore reckoned by Juvenal among the vilest of rogues[14]!”

It does not, however, follow, because Juvenal here alludes to sailors of the worst description, that he considered every ship’s company in the light of thieves and deserters.

The soldiers who served at sea were armed after the same manner with those designed for land service; only that among them there seems to have been a greater number of heavy-armed men than was considered to be necessary on shore; for we find in Plutarch, that of Themistocles’ ships, four only were light-armed. Indeed, it highly imported them (says Potter) to fortify themselves in the best manner they could, since there was no possibility of retiring, or changing places: but every man was obliged to fight hand to hand, and maintain his ground till the battle was ended; wherefore their whole armour, though in form usually the same with that employed on land service, yet exceeded it in strength and firmness. Besides Instruments of war.this, we find also some instruments of war used at sea, which were never employed on shore; the principal of which were:—spears of an unusual length, sometimes exceeding twenty cubits; instruments of iron crooked like a sickle and fixed to the top of a long pole, wherewith they cut in sunder (continues our author) the cords of the sail-yards, and thereby letting the sails fall down, disabled the light ships. Not unlike this, he adds, was another instrument, armed at the end with a broad iron head, edged on both sides, wherewith they cut the cords that made fast the rudder of the ship.

There were also engines to cast stones into the enemy’s vessels; and another engine is mentioned by Vegetius, which hung upon the mainmast, and resembled a battering ram; it consisted of a long beam with a head of iron, and was pushed with great violence against the sides of adverse ships. Besides these, there were grappling irons, which were cast out of an engine into the vessels of the enemy; these are said to have been first used in Greece by Pericles the Athenian, at Rome by Duilius; hooks of iron were also used, which were hung on the top of a pole, and being secured with chains to the masts or some other lofty part, and cast with great force into the enemy’s ship, caught it up into the air[15].

The means used to defeat this extraordinary engine, were, (it is said) to cover the ships with hides, which cast off, or blunted the stroke of the iron.

With regard to the naval officers employed by the ancients, we find that in all fleets there were two superior to the rest; one took the command of the vessels and seamen, the other of the soldiers; Officers.but this latter had also some power over the ship-masters (as Potter calls them) and their crews.

The commission of admiral varied according to the exigency of times and circumstances, being sometimes held by one alone, sometimes in conjunction with others; as happened to Alcibiades, Nicias, and Lamachus, who were sent with equal power to command the Athenian fleet in Sicily. The period of command was also limited by the people, and shortened or prolonged as they pleased. We read of Epaminondas (continues our author), that, finding his country would probably be exposed to great danger upon the resignation of his office, he held it four months longer than he was commissioned to do; during which time he put a new face upon the affairs of the Thebans, and by his skilful management dispelled the fears under which they laboured: this done, he voluntarily laid down his power; but had no sooner relinquished it, than he was called to account for having held it so long, and narrowly escaped being condemned to death! It was feared, it seems, that a precedent of this nature might at some future time be dangerous to the commonwealth, and facilitate the views of ambitious persons intrusted with so high a command, who might avail themselves of it to enslave their fellow-citizens. For the same reason, probably, by the Lacedæmonian law, no person could be admiral more than once, a regulation which nevertheless (continues Potter) stood them in no good stead, it thereby often happening that they were forced to commit their fleet to raw and inexperienced commanders.

Next in rank to these were what may be termed vice-admirals, who acted under the admirals.

The captains of vessels took their names from the rate of the ships they commanded; and, without enumerating all the different persons intrusted with commands of various kinds, we may observe that the duty of master appears to have been split into several parts, and each person holding a portion of it (whom we may call master’s mate) to have been distinguished by a different appellation.

The master himself (properly so called) took charge of the helm as well as of the ship, and sat at the stern to steer; he was obliged, at the same time, to be an accomplished pilot, and familiar with all the harbours, rocks, quicksands, &c., which were likely to present themselves in the voyage.

The labour of the rowers, which must have been excessive, was cheered by a musician appointed for the purpose, who at the same time contributed, by his voice and his instrument, to make the rowers keep time and pull together. This office could have been no sinecure; and the lungs of the musician must have been formed of no ordinary materials.

Steering by fixed stars.The heavenly bodies (continues our author) were observed by sailors on a twofold account; being of use to them in prognosticating the Which were the chief stars observed by the ancients.seasons, and as guides to direct their course. The chief stars observed in foretelling the weather were Arcturus, the Dog-star, Aræ, Orion, Hyades, Hædi, Castor and Pollux, Helena, &c. It was likewise Reliance upon omens of various kinds.customary to take notice of various omens offered by sea-fowl, fishes, and divers other things, as the murmuring of the floods, the shaking and buzzing noise of trees in the neighbouring woods, the dashing of the billows against the shore, and many more, in all which good pilots were nicely skilled. As to the direction in their voyage, the first practitioners in the art of navigation, being unacquainted with the rest of the celestial motions, steered all the day by the course Exclusive course by the sun practised in early times.of the sun, betaking themselves at night to some safe harbour, or making fast their vessel to, and sleeping on, shore; not daring to venture to sea till their guide had risen to discover the way: that this was their constant custom, may be observed from the ancient descriptions of those times, whereof, says Potter, I shall only give the following instance:

Afterwards the Phœnicians, who some will have to be the first inventors of navigation, discovered the motions of other stars, as may be observed in Pliny (lib. vii.), and Propertius (lib. ii. v. 990). We find the Phœnicians to have been directed by Cynosura, or the Lesser Bear (which was first observed, in the opinion of some, by Thales the Milesian); when the mariners of Greece, as well as of other nations, steered by the Greater Bear, called Helice. For the first observation of this they were obliged to Nauplius, if we may believe Theon; or, according to the report of Flaccus (Argonaut 1), to Tiphys, the pilot of the celebrated Argo. But of these two, we are told by Theon, the former was the securer guide, and therefore was followed by the Phœnicians, who for skill in marine affairs outstripped not only all the rest of the world, but even the Grecians themselves.

RATES OF SAILING OF ANCIENT VESSELS.

“Scylax allows seventy-five days and a quarter for the navigation between Canopus and the pillars of Hercules; equal to about thirty-two per day (Periplus of Scylax, p. 51)[16].”

“The Red Sea is forty days’ navigation (Eut. 11), and the track which a ship must necessarily make through it is about thirteen hundred geographic miles, or less; so that the rate must be taken at thirty-two per day.”

“The Euxine is said by the same author (Melp. 186) to be sixteen days’ navigation from the Bosphorus to the Phasis; producing about thirty-eight per day; he says, indeed, nine days and eight nights, which, according to his own rule given in the same place, is equal to sixteen days.”

“The Caspian Sea is said by the same author (Clio, 203) to be fifteen days’ navigation for a swift-rowing vessel; and being about six hundred and thirty miles long, this allows a rate of forty-two.”

“Pliny says (lib. vi. 23), that it was forty days’ sail from the outlet of the Red Sea to the coast of India (Malabar), which is about one thousand seven hundred and fifty geographic miles, equal to forty-four.”

“He also reckons it thirty days’ sail from Berenice to the outlet of the Red Sea; this would give about thirty per day only.”

“It will be seen that the mean rate of sailing, resulting from these examples, is thirty-seven geographic miles per day; and that of the six first, which Major Rennell considers to be the fairest, no more than thirty-five such miles in the same time.”

“We may add (continues our author), that the mean rate of Nearchus was no more than twenty-two and a half during his voyage; and less than thirty through the Persian Gulf. But we regard his rate as unusually low, for the reasons above stated[17].”

“It appears from Procopius (Vandal. lib. i. c. 12), that the fleet of Belisarius was sixteen days on its passage from Zante to Caucana in Sicily. The distance being three hundred and twenty geographic miles, gives twenty such miles per day, or about two hundred and fifty stadia. This must be regarded as the effect of oars generally; there being very little wind, or almost a continued calm.”

“Diodorus (lib. v. c. 2) says, that tin was carried across in four days from Britain to Gaul, where it was landed, and carried across the Rhone in thirty journies. From the descriptions and the circumstances altogether, it appears to have been embarked at St. Michael’s Mount in Cornwall, and landed near the other mount of the same name in France; perhaps at St. Maloes.”

“This would give a rate of about forty miles per day: but he says (Diodorus) that the western promontory of Britain is four days’ sail from the opposite continent.”

“It is conceived (Major Rennell continues) that the slow progress of the vessels of the ancients will be readily admitted; since in addition to so many other examples, we have the reports of Herodotus and Nearchus,—of the latter respecting the length of a day’s sail; of the former, as to the space actually sailed through in the course of a day, and remarked as an uncommon long run in those days: as also the time required to navigate the Red Sea and the Euxine, the latter of which appears to be reported from Herodotus’s own experience.”

“In effect none of these differ materially from the rest:—the mean rate of all, then, being so low as thirty-seven geographic miles, we are naturally led to inquire (continues the Major) why there should be so great a disproportion between the sailing of ancient and modern ships; since a day’s sail (of four-and-twenty hours) of a modern ship cannot be reckoned at less than three times that of the ancient ones?”

“Even the worst description of modern vessels of which we have any knowledge seems to be superior to the antient ones in respect of their daily progress. And therefore we suppose that some cause is to be looked for, besides that of dulness of sailing.”

“That this had a considerable share in the delay is evident, by the circumstance mentioned by Pliny (if we may depend upon the numbers), of the Roman Ships sailing no more than about forty-four geographical miles per day across to open sea between Arabia and India, in which we cannot suppose them to have absolutely stopped at night, as in their coasting voyages and in soundings.”

“We may reckon, at a medium, from thirteen to fourteen hours of daylight throughout the year in that parallel; so that three miles per hour for the daylight makes up the whole sum (bating three or four miles), which is a very slow rate of sailing before the brisk monsoon that prevails in that sea, and leaves little or nothing for the night; and although it is possible, and even probable, that they may have lain to during this interval, yet ten or eleven hours drift must amount to something. Hence we shall not lay so great a stress on this instance, being a solitary one of the kind, as on the others in the coasting navigation. In these it appears almost certain that the ordinary mode of sailing was confined to daylight; for without a compass, or a substitute for it, great danger must have been incurred in the night, when a small error in the angle of the course would be fatal. Lighthouses, on prominent parts of the coast, would doubtless direct them; but this could not be a general arrangement, and must have been confined to particular coasts only. Notwithstanding, sailing by night was doubtless practised occasionally, as in clear moonlight, or at other times when necessity pressed, or the nature of the shore (as at the mouths of the Tigris and Euphrates) prevented his coming to an anchor or landing. Sailing by night is also implied, when Scylax admits nights as well as days in his calculation of the distance between Carthage and the columns of Hercules; a navigation by no means intricate, and perhaps assisted by lighthouses or signal fires. It must also have been occasionally practised in the Euxine. (See Note to p. 678, article 6.)”

“In effect, then (Major Rennell continues), we must suppose a rate of sailing of only two and a half sea, or geographic, miles per hour, or less than three at the utmost. The cause must either have been the defective form of the ships’ hulls, or the faulty disposition of the cargo and ballast, which might not permit them to spread sail enough[18]. Certainly the sails of ancient ships are represented, on medals, as being remarkably small, and do not seem to be on a par in that respect even with Chinese junks, which, like the others, have generally lower masts only. If we reject the examples given by Herodotus on the Caspian Sea, and by Pliny in the open sea, as being out of rule, we have thirty-five (miles) only for the mean rate per day of the Grecian, Egyptian, Phœnician and Carthaginian ships, between the times of Darius, Hystaspes and Alexander, generally; and in which none rise above thirty-eight, or fall below thirty-two sea miles.”

“It appears (continues our author) that the principal difficulty to be surmounted in antient voyages, arose from the impracticability of storing the ships with provisions adequate to the vast length of time required for their navigation, when the rate of sailing was so remarkably slow. They were ill adapted to distant voyages, which indeed they seldom, it appears, undertook, but did very well in situations where they could land and command provisions almost at pleasure; or, at any rate, by compulsion, when they sailed in fleets. But, on the other hand, they were better adapted to those coasting voyages which constituted almost the whole of their navigation. The flatness of their bottoms required much less depth of water than modern vessels of the same tonnage: whence arose an incredible advantage over ours in finding shelter more frequently; and indeed almost everywhere, except on a steep or rocky shore—since, in default of shelter afloat, they drew their large ships upon the beach, as our fishermen do their large boats. And we may certainly conclude, that vessels of a construction and size best adapted to the service of discovery and long voyages were chosen on occasions like the present.”

In addition to the instances selected by Major Rennell, as proofs of the slow rate of sailing of the vessels of the ancients, we here submit a few examples of a contrary tendency; and from these it will appear (if the numbers of Pliny may be relied upon), that navigation under the Romans had made rapid strides, and that voyages undertaken by the vessels of the empire must have been performed under other disadvantages than those resulting from a slow rate of sailing, when they are found to be so bad as those which we have instanced above.

The Præfect Galerius is stated by Pliny (lib. xix, Proemium) to have employed no more than seven days in the voyage from Sicily to Alexandria; and Babilius is said, immediately afterwards, to have made the same voyage in six.

We cannot reckon less than one thousand Roman miles for the distance between the Faro of Messina and Alexandria; which performed in the space of seven days (as first mentioned), would give a rate of one hundred and forty-three M. P. per day; and being reckoned at six (as in the latter instance), a rate of one hundred and fifty such miles.

In the same place we find that Valerius Marianus accomplished the voyage from Puteoli to Alexandria in the space of nine days (lenissimo flatu), under the disadvantage of extremely light winds. This may be reckoned at two hundred and fifty M. P. more than the voyage above stated, or one thousand two hundred and fifty Roman miles; and from it will be found to result a distance of nearly one hundred and forty M. P. per day—differing very little from the instance first mentioned, and much less from the latter than might reasonably be expected, from the circumstances under which it was performed.

We also find, from what follows, in the passage alluded to, that the voyage from the Straits of Gibraltar to Ostia was accomplished in the course of a week; and as it cannot be reckoned at less than one thousand three hundred Roman miles (supposing it to have been a coasting voyage), or at less than one thousand two hundred and twenty-five M. P., in straight course to the southward of Sardinia, we must conclude that the vessel in which it was performed actually sailed at the rate of more than one hundred and eighty-five M. P. in the first instance, and one hundred and seventy-five in the latter.

Other examples follow, of the coasting voyage just mentioned in detail—viz. from Ostia to the Provincia Narbonensis (say, the south-east point of the Gulf of Lyons), the Gallicus Sinus of the Romans, a distance of four hundred and fifty M. P., performed in the space of three days; this gives a rate of one hundred and fifty miles per day.

From Ostia to the coast of Spain (Hispania Citerior), say the south-western point of the same Gulf, which is the nearest that can be taken, is four days; this would give a rate of more than one hundred and sixty M. P. per day.

Again, from the same port (Ostia) to the coast of Africa, in two days; which, taken at the nearest points, Carthage, or Utica, on the extremity of the Hermæum Promontorium, could not be less than three hundred and fifty Roman miles in straight course. This will afford us a rate of one hundred and seventy-five M. P. per day, the exact rate of the sailing from Ostia to Gibraltar, in the straight course imagined above.

It does not appear that there is any mistake in the numbers here mentioned by Pliny; for the instances are all of them consistent Allow current 2½ miles per hour.with each other; one only being a little below one hundred and forty M. P. per day, and another one hundred and forty-three; two examples afford one hundred and fifty, one hundred and sixty, two one hundred and seventy-five, and one one hundred and eighty-five. The lowest of these rates of sailing may be reckoned at between six and seven M. P. per hour, and the highest at something less than eight; giving a mean of seven M. P. per hour, which would be reckoned a good one for ships of the present day.

Mean rate.One of the reasons to which this great improvement in ancient vessels may be attributed, appears to be clearly stated by Pliny himself, in the Proemium from which we have selected the examples here[19] adduced: we allude to the increased number and size of the sails in use, at the time when the historian flourished, as noticed in the preface in question attached to the nineteenth book.

Before entering upon the dissertation on flax, with which this book opens, the Roman naturalist indulges himself in calling to mind some of the extraordinary effects resulting from the various applications of that humble and unassuming plant; and gives way to his feelings with so much enthusiasm and good sense, that it will not, we think, be considered tedious or superfluous, if we extract the greater part of the preface from the old English translation of Holland[20].

It seems evident from the remarks here quoted below, that the rate of sailing in Pliny’s time was greatly superior to that which has been given (from the Illustrations of Herodotus) down to the time of Alexander the Great; and when we find that other voyages described by this author (as well as those which various writers of his time have recorded) fall short of the rate of sailing deduced from the last mentioned instances; we may probably be allowed to make the following conclusion—that the difference did not really so much consist in the faulty construction of the vessels themselves, or the little sail which they were able to carry, as in circumstances which would equally contribute to retard ships constructed in modern days. At the same time we may suppose that the voyages here enumerated by Pliny were performed under the most favourable circumstances which could be commanded. They were government vessels, and probably equipped in the most liberal and judicious manner possible at the time; they were navigating a sea which long habit must have rendered familiar to them, and where they must have known the best courses to be steered under every change of weather and season. The voyages were not sufficiently long to be retarded by want of provisions, and the confidence resulting from experience and comparative security would have induced them to carry all the sail they could command without hesitation or dread. Under these circumstances we may also suppose that the day intended was twenty-four hours, and indeed, in the passage to Alexandria, and other parts of the African coast, it could scarcely have been any other.

OBSERVATIONS ON ROAD MEASUREMENTS DEDUCED FROM THE ORDINARY WALKING PACE OF HORSES AND CAMELS.

By this Table it will be seen that the average rate of travelling has not exceeded two miles and a half per hour, and that at the end of the journey from Mesurata to Bengazi, a distance of four hundred and twenty-two miles, there is only a difference of 9′ in the longitudes. This is an error so small, that there are few persons who would object to the accuracy of the places laid down by the means employed, and yet there are many who would feel inclined to dispute the accuracy of the average rate. But the truth is that, in travelling through countries in general, there are so many things to obstruct a direct track, that, though an animal may actually pass over the ground at the rate of three or three and a half miles per hour, as the camel in reality does, yet, in estimating the distance for a traverse-table, great deductions must be made, or our reckoning will far exceed the truth[21].

The journey round the Syrtis having satisfied us with respect to the rate which might be allowed, and the accuracy that was to be expected under general circumstances, we determined to ascertain what precision we could arrive at when the direction of the road and nature of the ground were the most favourable. For this purpose we kept a track from Bengazi to Ptolemeta; and having occasion to go over the same ground a second time and return, we had three measurements between the places independent of that of the chronometers[22], which, as well as those of the intermediate stations, agree together and with the truth, to an exactness which we did not expect; and will serve to show that, under favourable circumstances, and when attention is paid to the rates of the camels, the topography of a country may be laid down sufficiently accurate for most purposes. We should have informed our readers, that the track from Bengazi to Ptolemeta is particularly straight, and encumbered with as few obstructions as are likely ever to occur in a country where, properly speaking, no road exists.

POSITION OF PLACES BY OBSERVATION.