was unknown to the ancient Greeks, who used thongs of leather; their chief dependance was on their oars: the greatest danger was from the stoutest ship, since light vessels could keep close in shore, and find immediate safety in shoal water, or upon the open beach. Mr. Wood, in his Essay on Homer, appears to be of opinion that with all these disadvantages, Actions at sea could not have been known in the time of Homer; but as Mr. Mitford justly observes, this appears unlikely, since the terms used by the Grecian Poet seem to prove the contrary.

*

The Men of War used by the Greeks had by way of distinction the terms; their other vessels received a name from the service on which they were engaged: thus those of burden were styled ὁλκάδες πλοῖα; such as were destined for the transport service τρατιώτιδες, ὁπλιταγωγοί ; those intended to convey horse, у; and store ships, with provisions and other necessaries, spolyuhat. Their Men of War also, as extending to a greater length, received sometimes + the appellation of μxxpas, and from being chiefly managed by oars, that of επικωποι, and κωπηρα. These were little better than large row boats; for, which is a singular circumstance, the knowledge they had of sails, was for a long time chiefly confined to their ships of burden. Their rowers accordingly, who were their principal support in action, became extremely dexterous; they pulled round, or brought the Ship to bear on the Enemy, with considerable skill; and though their mode of attack may appear puerile, since the valuable discoveries of the compass, and of gunpowder, yet still they displayed a gallantry, and firmness, that was peculiar to their Character.

that he did not scruple, in tolerable weather, to work to windward within the Arches, as our Seamen call the Archipelago (which is itself corruption of the modern Greek Aigiopelago), but he made it a rule never to take off his clothes; and without leaving orders, to be called in the instant of any threatening appearance in the sky, or any dubious sight of land, never to quit

the deck.

• Navuzxa. Iliad, l. 15. v. 389 and 677.

Demosthen. Orat. adv. Septinem,

The principal writer on this subject is Scheffer, who has explained the different parts of which the Ancients formed their Ships with much accuracy and ingenuity. The learned Dr. Potter, in his Antiquities of Greece, has in the article of The Marine, paid great attention to this author. The Grecians divided their ships into the Body, the Prow, and the Stern: in the first was the keel, composed of wood, from its strength and firmness called Only those styled paxpa, or Ships of War, whose hulls were straight, and of a small circumference, were provided with them, the rest having usually flat bottoms. Around the outside of this keel pieces of wood were fixed, to prevent its being injured when the ship was first launched into the water, or afterwards struck on the rocks; these were termed Xvopata, cunei. Thus Ovid:

Jamque labant cunei, spoliataque tegmine ceræ

Rima patet.

After

Next to the keel was pass, the pump well, or well room, within which was contained the author, or pump. this, there was deuTepw Tρowis, or the second keel, resembling in some degree what is at present called the false keel; it was placed below the pump, and called λεσβιον, χαλκήνες κλειτοπόδιον ; by some it is falsely supposed to be the same with pares. Above the pump was an hollow place, called also by Herodotus κοίλη της vnos, by Pollux and αυτος γαστρα, as being large, and capacious; by the Latins testudo: this was formed of crooked ribs, rising upwards from the keel, called by Hesychiuso, and by others fa, in Latin costa, and with us the floor timbers; upon these were placed planks, which Aristophanes calls εντερωνειας, Οι εντερωνίδα.

The hufai, latera, or sides of the ship, completely encompassed all the former parts; these were composed of large rafters, extending from prow to stern, and called Carnes, because the whole was by them girted, and surrounded. In both these sides the rowers had their places, above one another, the lowest was styled Banapos, the middle ya, and

the uppermost pavos. In these births were holes through which the oars entered; sometimes there was a continued opening from head to stern, called pang; but more commonly they had oar holes, which were styled papaia, and plan, as resembling eyes. The passengers appear to have found a birth between the respective banks of oars, athwart ship: on the top of all was a kind of deck to walk on, called παραδος.

μέτωπον,

The prow, or fore deck, sometimes called Two, the forehead, was also distinguished by other metaphorical titles taken from the human face. Some ships appear to have been built with a double prow, as well as a stern, as was that of Danaus, fabled to have been decorated by Minerva, when he fled into Egypt. On the fore-deck was a kind of tower, which so long afterwards continued to be built on this part of a vessel, whence the present term Forecastle is derived. It was customary to adorn the prow with gold, and various ornaments of sculpture, such as animals, helmets, and triumphal wreaths, and to fit out the whole more in the manner of a yacht than as a man of war. On the extremity of the prow was placed a round piece of wood, called the Tux, from its bending, and sometimes op, the eye of the ship, because fixed in the fore-deck; on this was inscribed the name of the ship, which was usually taken from the figure painted on the flag: hence came the frequent mention of ships called Pegasi, Scylla, bulls, rams, and tigers, represented by the poets as living creatures, who transported their riders from one country to another. That chaste simplicity which so much characterised the Greek nation, does not appear to have extended to their Naval Architecture, which was gaudy, and out of character. It is curious to observe that a nation famed for carrying The Arts to the utmost perfection should fail in this respect; and that a more modern kingdom, fond of heavy decoration, and a gaudy pageantry, should have first displayed a correct taste in the decoration of their Ships: in this respect the French have shewn themselves superior to all the rest of Europe.

The Grecians, as already observed, covered the Prow of their vessels with gold, and various sorts of paint, and other ornaments. In the Heroic Age red was the favourite, and we accordingly find Homer gives his ships the title of Qonxomapni, or red faced. The sky-blue was also used, as harmonizing with the colour of the ocean, whence we find ships called by Homer, xavompopo, and by Aristophanes a. They had also the art of covering the sides of their ships with wax, which they understood the secret of introducing with much success on different occasions: the wax was prepared in such a manner, as neither for the sun, wind, or water, to have the least effect. Vitruvius describes the process in the ninth chapter of his seventh book; and we find the following allusion to this custom in Ovid:

κι ανίμσολοι.

Picta coloribus ustis

Ceruleam matrem concava puppis habet*.

To such readers as wish more fully to examine the ornaments used by the Antients in decorating their ships, we refer them to the monuments published by Baysius. That part of the ship which is now called her bows, was then styled her wings, repa, or according to others, Tafai, her cheeks since the prow, as already noticed, was termed the forehead, it was more natural to suppose that the side should also be compared to some part of the human countenance.

The after-part of a Ship with little variation has continued to have the same name; quum, puppis, and poop, considering the different construction of these languages, has always kept close to its original term; nor is the French pouppe, an exception. The Greeks sometimes called it epz, or the tail of the ship. In the Stern of their vessels the Greeks reversed the present idea of ship building, since by making them swell into a bold round, they more resembled the bows of a modern ship, than her quarter. The whole of this part was very cumbersome, and ill adapted for the intended. purpose. Two oars, of considerable size and length, served

Fastorum, lib. iv.

the pilot on each side as an Helm; some ships had four of these, two of which were then occasionally fixed in the bows: these gubernacula were made different from the rest of the oars, as being wider and longer in the blade; which was also formed in another manner, being wider at each extremity than in the middle. Over The Poop a lanthorn was suspended. The ornaments on the Stern were generally of an orbicular figure, or were fashioned like wings, to which a small shield was usually suspended. They also occasionally fixed in this part, a sort of pole, in some degree resembling our Ensign Staff, from which waved ribbands of various. colours: these served them as a vane to shew the direction of the wind, and also to distinguish their ships.

The first invention of the Anchor, which afterwards was so much improved by Epilamius*, is ascribed by Pliny to the Tyrrhenians; and by other writers to Midas, the son of Gordias, whose anchor Pausanias declares, was preserved until his time, in a temple dedicated to Jupiter. The most antient Anchors were made of stonet, and afterwards of wood, which contained a great quantity of lead: on some occasions baskets filled with stones, or shingles, and even sacks of sand were used. Those made on a more improved plan by the Greeks, when either Epilamius, (Eupalamus) or the Scythian philosopher Anacharsis, had added the double fluke, are said by Dr. Potter to have been much the same with what are used at present, except the transverse piece, which now forms what is called the stock. Each ship had an anchor which surpassed the rest in size, answering to our sheet anchor, which was never used but in cases of extreme danger, and therefore was esteemed sacred.

The Grecian sailors used the lead in sounding, which they hove by a chain; they had also long poles to discover the depth in shallow water; these they frequently employed to force the ship forward. Their harbours in general had large stones bored through, to which cables were carried out, and

Nav. Chron. vol. i. p. 463.

Apollonius Argonaut. Arrianus in Periplo ponti Eux.