APPENDIX.
OBSERVATIONS ON THE PORTS AND HARBOURS FROM TRIPOLY TO DERNA, IN THEIR ACTUAL CONDITION.
In addition to what we have already observed with respect to the shores of the Syrtis and Cyrenaica, we have thought it necessary to subjoin the following short description of them, and of the supplies that ships may expect to meet with at the different places situated along the coast from Tripoli to Derna. The several places therein alluded to, will be found in the accompanying chart, which has been constructed from a succession of angles, carried on along the coast, assisted by astronomical observations, and chronometrical measurements, between three distant points, whose positions were well determined by Captain W. H. Smyth, R.N.
The instruments with which we were furnished, in consequence of the difficulty of carriage, were small, and their number limited; they consisted of a five-inch theodolite, one four-inch and two eight-inch sextants, a telescope for observing the eclipses of the satellites of Jupiter, a Kater’s azimuth compass, two pocket chronometers, Nos. 2164 and 2184 of Mr. Arnold’s make[1], and a measuring chain and tapes, &c.
Before entering into any particular description, we shall premise by stating that, between Tripoli and Bomba, there is not a harbour capable of containing a man-of-war brig; though several anchorages will be found along the coast, well sheltered with particular winds.
Tripoly.Tripoly itself is a secure harbour, and has from four to six fathoms water in it: the protection is afforded by a chain of rocks which project from the north-east angle of the town, and by a shoal lying off Caluisa Point. A heavy swell sometimes rolls in from the northward, between the reefs, to which quarter ships should moor with open hawse. On entering the harbour care must be taken to avoid a rocky patch, with only three to three and a half fathoms water upon it, which lies nearly mid-channel. But we shall abstain from entering into further detail, in consequence of this place having been surveyed by Captain W. H. Smyth, from whose plan indeed, partly, we are now enabled to offer these few remarks. When off the port a pilot may always be procured on making the necessary signal.
At Tripoly vessels will find fresh provision, fruit, vegetables, and water.
All vessels from the eastern ports of the Mediterranean must land their cargoes at the Lazzaretto, and perform a stated quarantine.
Tagiura.About seven miles eastward of Tripoly is Tagiura point, which may be known by the clusters of date-trees around the village of Tagiura, terminating there. From Tagiura to Cape Sciarra there is a sandy desert, traversed by two small streams, Wadey Rammel and Wadey M’Seidi, which give a supply of water throughout the year. Eastward of Cape Sciarra the coast gets higher, and is formed in rocky points and capes, with sandy bays between them. The mountains, which are a continuation of the Tarhoona range, here approach the sea within seven or eight miles; and a little beyond Sidi Abdellati, throw off a branch at right angles to them, which extends to the sea, and then continuing eastward, nearly parallel to the coast, terminates a few miles south-west of Mesurata[2].
There are several towers upon the summits of this range, of which the most conspicuous is Mergip. These mountains form the western Lebdalimit to the great plain of Lebda, (the ancient Leptis Magna.) The ruins of the ancient city stand close upon the beach: they are more than half buried in sand, and are situated about three miles west of the groves of date-trees, which are easily distinguished from the sea. The port, or cothon of Lebda, is now filled up, but there is a small place called Mersa Ligatah, a mile and a half to the westward of the ruins, where small vessels may find shelter, except with the wind from the eastward. The sea here affords good fish; and the shore is stocked with sheep, fruit, vegetables, and corn, which with the help of a chaous, may be obtained at a cheaper rate than at Tripoly.
Tabia Point.Seven miles south-east from the ruins of Lebda, is Tabia Point, a rocky headland, about forty feet high, with some rocks at the foot of it. Near it, there will be found indifferent protection for boats behind some rocks, that form Mersa Ugrah; but these rocks are sometimes covered.
Mersa, and Point Zeliten.Immediately round Tabia point, the coast forms a bay as far as Zeliten Point: this is a rocky projection with several sunken rocks lying off it. Near the point there is a small cove, which has obtained the name of Mersa Zeliten, but it is too small for even boats to remain in blowing weather. It lies a mile and a half to the westward of a márábūt’s tomb, which will be seen upon the beach supported upon small marble columns.
At Zeliten, sheep, fowls, butter, oil, fruit, vegetables, corn, and sweet water, may be procured in abundance, and very reasonably. The town is a short walk from the Mersa, over a ridge of sand-hills, which extend along the coast towards Mesurata.
Eastward of Zeliten, the coast is rocky, and at times rises into cliffs. About mid-way between Cape Mesurata and Zeliten Point, there is a small Arab village, that may be distinguished by a cluster of date-trees, at the foot of some high sand-hills. Several reefs of rocks lie off here, and form Mersa Zoraig, and Mersa Gusser[3]. The inhabitants of Zoraig are about one hundred in number, and nothing but water could be procured in any abundance.
Toward the eastern termination of the sand-hills, the rocky coast gets higher, and when four miles from the entrance of the Gulf of Syrtis, forms three cliffs, which, at a distance, Monsieur Lauthier informs us, appear like as many islands. The eastern one of these Cape Mesurata.three is Cape Mesurata (the Cephalus Promontorium of Strabo).
Entrance of the Gulf of SyrtisThe entrance to the gulf is formed by a low rocky point: at the back of it there are groves of date-trees among low sand-hills; and a mile to the southward is the white mausoleum of Márábūt Bushaifa, which gives name to the bay it overlooks[4].
Bushaifa Bay.There is good landing under the low point before mentioned, in a small sandy bay abreast of a low sand-hill. The bay appears to be full of fish, and the seine might here no doubt be hauled to advantage.
Mesurata.The Town of Mesurata is about two miles to the southward of the cape of the same name; it is governed by an Aga, to whom it would be found advantageous to make a small present. Fresh provision, fruit, vegetables, and sweet water, may be procured here in abundance.
AarārAbout ten miles south of Bushaifa there is a solitary date-tree, overlooking a low sandy tract of coast, bearing the name of Aarar. Off here, Monsieur Lauthier informs us, at two leagues distant from the shore, there is a rocky bank, a league in length from east to west, with from fourteen to seventeen feet water upon it. The date-tree, the position of which is well determined, will serve as a mark for this bank.
Leaving Aarār and coasting southward, the shore is very low and sandy, with apparently no danger. A low ridge of hills extends along the coast from one to three miles distance from it. Some few of these hills are covered with vegetation, and now and then a straggling flock of goats or sheep may be met with; but otherwise no supplies of any kind are to be procured until you arrive at Zafferan—firewood excepted, which may be obtained from the wrecks upon the beach in large quantities.
Kusser el Jébbah.Jébbah is the first conspicuous object that presents itself after Aarār. It is an old Arab building, upon an eminence about four miles from the coast. Its position is well determined, and its distance from the beach ascertained by a base purposely measured.
The whole of this coast is very low, and in blowing weather should be avoided, as there appears to be a great set down upon it from the north-east, judging from the number of wrecks, masts and yards, &c., that are thrown upon the beach, on this side of the gulf only—none being seen on the eastern shore.
Shoals.Until we arrived at Jaireed, in latitude 31° 23′ 27″ N., we did not perceive any dangers lying off the coast; but at that place we observed the sea breaking heavily over two shoals, distant from the shore about a mile and a quarter[5].
From Jaireed the coast trends more easterly, but still continues low and sandy, with small hillocks at a short distance from the coast. When near the latitude of 31° 16′ N., ships must avoid some Dangerous Shoal.dangerous shoals that branch off from the shore at Jiraff, and extend westward seven or eight miles—their most distant part from the shore being about two miles: the sea broke heavily over them when we passed, but within them it was more quiet; and if a passage should be found between the breakers, a tolerably secure anchorage will in all probability be discovered.
Eastward of Jiraff the coast alters its character: the shore is rocky, the land gets more hilly, and is covered with vegetation. In one part, in latitude 31° 12′ 48″ N., some high sand-hills, surmounted with small tufts of trees, will be seen overlooking the Mersa Zafferān.beach; at the foot of them there is a small port called Mersa Zafferan, in which boats may find shelter with all winds; but it will be difficult to find, in consequence of there being no object to distinguish it from the other ports of the coast, except indeed the wall of a building which stands upon the beach be seen protruding through the sand that has nearly covered it. At Zafferan supplies of meat, some few vegetables, and good water, will be found. The Arab tents are at the back of the sand-hills. These hills extend a few miles to the eastward of Zafferan; the coast then rises into cliffs of about fifty feet in height, and is covered with vegetation and brushwood. These cliffs terminate at a wadey eleven leagues eastward of Zafferan, and the coast then continues low and sandy, with sand-hills, at a short distance from it. There are here several small bays, Hammah.and one in particular at Hammah, in which boats may find shelter with almost all winds, and may procure good water, from some wells situated close to the beach. The country about it abounds in game; but we would not recommend landing here, or, in fact, on any part of the coast, without being provided with a chaous. Five miles eastward of Hammah the coast is hilly, but soon declines again to the low sandy beach which continues to Ras How-y-jer, having a range of hills about two or three miles from the coast.
Ras How-y-jer.Ras How-y-jer is a bluff rock, that has the appearance of a ruined castle; it stands at the entrance of a spacious bay formed between it and a bold rocky promontory, called Bengerwad. South 76° east (true) from How-y-jer we noticed the water discoloured, but the sea did not break. In the above-mentioned bay ships may find shelter from east to west north-west, and boats may land in a sandy bay a little south of How-y-jer with almost all winds.
Ras Bengerwād.Bengerwād is about sixty feet in height, and has been strongly fortified, but the ruins are not visible from the sea. There is a small sandy bay, close round the cape, convenient for landing; but care must be taken to avoid the mouth of a ravine, that comes down from the mountains, and deposits a soft quicksand, upon which it is dangerous to land. The range of hills that extend from Boosaida are distant from Bengerwad only a few hundred yards, and afterwards recede to a mile or more from the sea. From Bengerwad the coast gets low, and small sandy bays are formed between very low rocky flats, some of which project a mile into the sea, and are not more than a foot above water. Sixteen leagues from Bengerwad Abanbāsathere are some high sand-hills, called Abanbāsa; and a few miles Jebel-Allasouth-east of them a remarkable table-hill named Jebel-Alla. Coasting along this part of the gulf, care must be taken to avoid a low rocky islet, with breakers east and west of it. It lies one mile and a half off shore, Bushaifa Islet.and is called Bushaifa. Upon the beach opposite the Islet, there are two wells of good water: they point out Secherine, which is the bottom of the Gulf of Syrtis, in latitude 30° 16′ 00″ north.
GartúbbahFrom Secherine to Gartúbbah, there is a sandy beach; but the general appearance of the coast will be hilly, with high mounds of sand. Near to Gartúbbah is Mersa Braiga; the only place that we have seen in the Gulf of Syrtis, that is at all entitled to the name of a port, and here the protection is made by breakers.
Mersa Braiga.Braiga may be known at a distance, by some very high sand-hills situated at the back of it, and on a nearer approach, by a heap of ruins upon a rocky point, at the western extremity of the Mersa. On the sandy beach within this point, there is safe landing with all winds. Fresh provisions may be procured from the Arab encampments at the back of the sand-hills, and in all probability, a plentiful supply of fish will be found in the bay[6]. The water here is brackish, and tastes of sulphur; it is contained in wells high up among the sand-hills.
We should not recommend Mersa Braiga being approached in bad weather, on account of the number of reefs lying off it, and the difficulty there would be of working off, in consequence of the lee-set which the northerly winds always occasion in the Gulf.
From Braiga, the coast trends north-east by east, is rocky, and slightly indented; the shore, generally speaking, is high and hilly. Ras Tabilbey.Ras Tabilbey is a bold promontory, with a sandy bay on either side of it. The summit of the Ras has been strongly fortified; and the walls are carried up to a castle on the hill at the back of it, but these are now all in ruins, and cannot be discerned from the sea. The promontory is excavated into compartments, which from time, and the constant washing of the sea, are in a very dilapidated state, and dangerous to remain in during windy weather.
There are several Arab encampments a short distance from the Ras; from which small supplies of fresh provision may be procured.
North-eastward of Ras Tabilbey, there is a cliff of white sand-stone, somewhat conspicuous, with some sunken rocks lying off it. The Rocks.rocks bear north 9″ west (true), from the northern one of two conical hills, that will be seen situated between the before-mentioned Cape and Ras Tabilbey; they are two or three miles off shore. Eastward of the white cliff there is a deep ravine, and then a remarkable Allum Limàrish.peaked hill, called Allum Limàrish. Between these two is situated Ain Agān.Ain Agān, an Arab encampment, from which small supplies of meat, corn, and brackish water may be procured.
North 38° west (true) from Allum Limàrish, there is a remarkably white rock, about forty feet in height and steep on all sides, with reefs of breakers extending east and west from it. It lies about half Ishaifa Rock.a mile off shore, and is known by the name of Ishaifa. From the Breakers.top of Allum Limàrish, we observed the sea breaking heavily over some reefs three or four miles off shore, and appeared to extend From N. 78° W. (true).toward the island of Gāra.
Island of Gāra,Gāra is a small island, bearing north 13° east (true), from Allum Limàrish, and distant from the shore four miles and a half. It is tolerably high, and appeared steep on all sides. South-west (true) Rocks and Shoals in its vicinity.from Gāra at two miles and a half distance, a rock makes its appearance among a reef of breakers; and south 16° east (true), three miles, another. There is also a bank east by south (true), three miles from it, over which the sea constantly broke.
The coast about here is low and sandy, and, in consequence of the above-mentioned reefs, somewhat dangerous to be approached; but when Gāra and its reefs shall be better known, I have no doubt ships will find shelter from all winds within them.
Several hills, covered with brushwood, will be seen a short distance from the coast, and near the beach there will be found wells of water somewhat brackish, and strongly impregnated with sulphur.
North 52° east (true) from Gāra, at one and a quarter to one and a Islets.half off shore, lie a group of rocky islets, connected by breakers; behind which, I have no doubt, small vessels will find shelter with all winds. They are in the neighbourhood of Rhote el Assoud, (or black valley,) so called, it is said, from the dark appearance of the hills.
North-eastward of these islets, there is a Marabot upon a pointed hill at Shāwhan, and inland two ruined towers, upon the summits of hills.
From Shāwhan, the coast trends to the westward of north up to Carcōra.Carcōra, and forms a large open bight. The shore is low and sandy, with hills of brushwood or sand, a short distance from the sea.
Carcōra may be known by some high sand-hills, which overlook the beach. The coast thereabout is much indented, and there are two small places, somewhat sheltered by projecting points, that would afford protection for boats with northerly or easterly winds.
The most desirable of these is the one at the northern extremity of the sand-hills, a small tower upon a ridge inland, bearing south 77° 45′ east (true). Among the sand-hills will be found several wells some of which will furnish sweet water, but the greater part of them are stinking or brackish. From Ain Agān to Carcōra the country is very thinly inhabited, and no supplies, except what may be procured from straggling flocks, are to be expected. But northward of Carcōra Arab encampments are very numerous. The hills abound in hares, partridges, and pigeons, &c.
Carcōra to Bengazi.From Carcōra to Bengazi, the shore is low and sandy, rising as it recedes from the coast, and is covered with vegetation. Several ruins of forts appear at a little distance from the sea: the most remarkable of these are at Ghimenes, and Imshali, and all of them are laid down trigonometrically in the chart.
Breakers.Care must be taken, as you approach Bengazi, to avoid some breakers, which extend southward from Juliana point, and lie about three-quarters of a mile off shore.
Bengazi.Bengazi is situated at the eastern entrance of the Gulf of Syrtis, and may be known by the clusters of date-trees in its vicinity. They are the only ones that occur upon the coast westward of Derna; but on making the land, the hills, about fourteen miles west-south-west from Bengazi, will be first seen. On a near approach, a white Marábot upon an eminence near the sea, and a square castle at the entrance of the harbour, will serve more immediately to point out the town. During the summer months north-easterly winds are very prevalent in the day time, but generally die away towards night. They are said to extend about forty miles off the coast; and ships bound to Bengazi should in consequence keep to the eastward, as well to take advantage of them, as to counteract the effects of the strong current which they occasion, sweeping along shore into the gulf.
The port of Bengazi is formed by rocks, that project from the castle, and Juliana point; and is rendered very secure by a reef that extends across at a short distance from the mouth of it, leaving a narrow channel on either side: both these passages are very difficult, and upon an average the depth of water in the harbour will be found greater by a foot and a half, or two feet, in winter, than in summer. But we must not always depend upon this, or upon a rise with the winds that may be blowing at Bengazi at the moment; as they may be confined to a short distance only from the coast; whereas it is the wind generally prevalent over the Mediterranean at the season that occasions the increase.
The port of Bengazi is fast filling up with sand, and alluvium, brought down by the heavy rains that annually deluge the town, and boats only can now enter where the Bashaw’s ships were used to remain forty years ago.
The castle is strengthened with bastions at the north, south, and eastern angles; but is deficient at the western one, which is that which would prove most destructive to ships entering the harbour: there are nine guns, eighteen pounders, mounted; they are the only cannon Bengazi can boast of, and the walls which support them would not long withstand the broadside of a man-of-war brig.
Supplies.At Bengazi, ships will find a plentiful supply of fresh beef, mutton and poultry, vegetables, fruit, good water, and sometimes wood; but the latter is very small.
Bengazi toward Bomba.From Bengazi to Bomba, a chain of mountains, from eight hundred to eleven hundred feet in height, extend along the coast in a diagonal direction with the shore, being distant from Bengazi thirteen and a half miles, from Tochra five, Ptolemeta one and a half, and coming close down to the sea in the neighbourhood of Ras Sem. From a rocky point, four and a half miles north-east of Bengazi, the coast runs low and sandy to, or a little way beyond, having at the back a woody country extending to the mountains.
Tochra, or Teuchira.The ruins of Tochra stand upon a small rising ground, which terminates toward the sea in a cliff; the landing here is bad, except in very smooth water, and there is nothing but water to be procured. Between Tochra and Ptolemeta, the woody country approaches the beach.
Ptolemeta, or Dolmāita.Ptolemeta may be distinguished by a large square tomb near the beach, and by the ruins upon the hills to the eastward of it. A mile from the tomb (to the eastward) will be found a small bay, offering convenient landing for boats, except with the wind on shore. It is immediately round a rocky promontory, the first that occurs after the tomb. There are no supplies to be had at Ptolemeta, and no water except, occasionally, in some ancient cisterns.
Mersa Sūsa, or Apollonia.Mersa Susa Hammām, or Apollonia, is situated in the bight of a large bay, formed by Ras El Hilal, and a cape, designated in the charts as Cape Ras Sem. The ruins of the ancient town stand upon a rising ground close to the beach, and may be easily distinguished from the sea.
Though the Arabs have dignified the small indentation of coast that here occurs, with the title of Mersa, and we have the authority of the ancients for its being used as a port formerly, yet it cannot with any propriety be recommended as such for vessels of the present day; nevertheless, boats, or perhaps small craft, may find some shelter behind the islets that lie off the town.
Ranges of mountains.Shipping off this coast will see two distinct ranges of mountains, one above the other. The upper one we ascertained to be one thousand nine hundred and ninety-two feet above the sea[7], and the lower one thousand and fifty-five[8].
The upper range, upon which is situated the ancient Cyrene, declines gradually to the eastward, and unites with the lower one near Cape Bujebāra.
Wadys, or ravines.These mountains are frequently broken by deep chasms that extend far inland. In them grow vast numbers of pine-trees fit for small spars; but we saw none sufficiently large for topmasts, except in Wady Jeräib, far inland. The largest and most remarkable of these chasms, or fiumaras, is at Cape Ras Sem; an abundance of firewood will be found a little way up it, and water may be procured from a stream in the bed of it, which receives its supply from the fountain at Cyrene.
Between Ras Sem and Ras El Hilāl, there are several rocks above water close in shore.
Ras El Hilāl.Ras El Hilāl, or new moon, so called from a round hill upon the range above it, is a rocky projection which extends a mile and a half from the foot of the mountains. On the eastern side of the promontory there is a bay about three-quarters of a mile deep, in which vessels may ride with the wind any way from the southward or westward.
Bujebāra.From El Hilāl to Bujebāra, the next promontory eastward, the shore is rocky; and there is bad landing, except in a small sandy nook, two miles west of the latter place. About mid-way between these capes at Elthroon, a fine stream of water falls into the sea from a deep fiumara.
From Cape Bujebāra to Derna, the same rocky coast continues; but the ravines are fewer, and the mountains somewhat farther removed from the coast.
Rocky Islets.Eight miles westward from Derna, at two miles distance from the shore, there are three small rocky islets, which must be avoided.
The whole of this coast is very thinly inhabited.
Derna.Derna is situated at the mouth of a large fiumara, and is surrounded by clusters of date-trees, which are sufficient of themselves to distinguish the place; but it may also be known by a ruined castle upon a ridge above the town, on the western side of the fiumara, and a márábūt, which stands upon a point, a mile from the town.
There is a good roadstead about a mile and a half off shore, and some shelter for small craft close in shore with the wind from north-north-west to south-east; but they cannot remain with a north-east or easterly wind, nor should they hang on too long in the event of the wind coming in, or they will find it difficult to weather either of the capes.
Supplies.Supplies of fresh beef, vegetables, fruit, and water may be had in abundance. Cattle are from seven to nine dollars a head, and fine sheep about a dollar a-piece.
The town is the residence of Sidi Mahommed, Bey of the district, and eldest son of the Bashaw of Tripoly; to whom it might be found advantageous to make some little present, and to notice by firing a salute.
Strength.Derna is not at all defended; there is an old fort upon the sandy point, but the guns are not in order, and those which once occupied the turrets of the castle upon the hill are thrown down and rendered useless by corrosion—the only annoyance boats attempting to land could find, would be from the few muskets which the inhabitants might furnish.
Landing.The best landing place is to the eastward of the date-trees in a sandy bay round a low point about half a mile eastward of the márábūt. Some rocks lie off this point which boats should avoid.
Prevalent winds.At Derna, as at Bengazi, the most prevalent wind during the summer is along shore; but here it comes from the west north-west. The north wind appears to diverge at Ras Sem, and takes the direction of Bengazi on one side, and Alexandria on the other; for which reasons vessels bound to Egypt frequently make Ras Sem, and continue along shore.
Pilot.Vessels desirous of entering the harbour, may always procure a pilot, by making the usual signal, except it blow hard, in which case he prefers standing upon the point near the castle, and waves his barracan to the right or left, as he wishes the helm to be put. But as this pilotage may not suit every person, ships would perhaps prefer standing off, until the weather moderated; particularly, as at such times the channel is difficult to hit, on account of the breakers extending across it. But should it be attempted, the weather channel will of course be preferred.
Marks.The mark for the southern one, is the castle in one with the márábūt on the hill to the north-east of the town, and for the northern one, the four date-trees on Juliana point in one, with an old ruined fort upon the rising ground inland of them. But both these passages are very narrow, and it would be more advisable to conn the ship between the reefs, than trust to the marks, as the slightest deviation from them would put the vessel on shore.
When through the breakers, avoid the shore off the castle, as a shoal extends some distance off it; the edge of it is steep, and may generally be seen, and continued along to the west anchorage, which is about three hundred yards west-north-west of the point of a narrow pit of sand, that contracts the port to its present limit.
The depth of water in the harbour varies constantly, according to the winds which prevail in the offing. We observed that the greatest increase was with north-westerly gales, and vice versâ; they generally occasioned a rise of two or three feet, and if continued, even more than that. North-easterly winds had but little effect upon it.
REMARKS ON THE NAVAL AFFAIRS OF THE ANCIENTS, AND THE RATES OF SAILING OF THEIR VESSELS AT DIFFERENT PERIODS.
The Greater Syrtis appears to have been at all times ill provided with ports and harbours, and may at the present day be considered to be wholly unprovided with any; that is to say, with any which could be used as such by ships of modern construction. It will be observed that the whole line of coast laid down in the chart is, at the same time, very indifferently formed by nature to afford security to vessels of any description.
It was not, however, necessary that the ports of the ancients should possess wholly by nature those local advantages which are at the present day considered to be essential for affording protection; and we find that many of them existed in places which must always have been unqualified by their position for affording the security required. In such places art was made to supply the deficiencies of nature, and harbours were built where none could otherwise have been obtained. The mode of constructing these artificial ports has been clearly defined by Vitruvius; and as it may serve to explain what we have stated with respect to the present state of the ports of Ptolemeta and Aspis, we shall submit the passage in question as we have extracted it from Wilkins’s translation.
“A spot was, if possible, selected, which had the advantage of some protection on one of its sides; and the want of a corresponding defence on the other side was supplied in the following manner:—rows of grooved beams were driven in the water, connected by oaken planks, and bound together by chains. The surface of the ground below the water was then levelled and consolidated by means of transtilli, and the space comprehended between the beams filled up with a composition of rough stone, and cement formed of sea-sand mixed with lime, in the proportion of two parts to one, which soon produced a solid wall.” The author adds, “that sand should be procured for this purpose from the sea-coast between Cumæ and the promontory of Minerva,” which seems to be considered by him as most efficient in forming the cement here alluded to.
If the beams could not, however, be firmly fixed, on account of the action of tides or currents, or from being too much exposed to a heavy swell from the open sea, a strong buttress is recommended by Vitruvius to be built upon the water’s edge, and a portion somewhat less than half the upper surface of the buttress to be constructed upon a horizontal level, the remaining part inclining towards the sea. Upon the edges of this part of the buttress walls were to be raised to the height of the level part, of a foot and a half in thickness, and the intermediate space filled with sand. Upon this foundation a solid pile, we are told, may be built, which, after being finished, should be left to dry for two months at least. The walls which were raised upon the edges of the inclined surface of the buttress, and which seemed to confine the sand, should then be destroyed; and the water, in washing away the sand by degrees, will undermine the pile, and cause it to be precipitated into the sea. This operation should be repeated until the whole is complete.
In places, however, (Vitruvius observes) where this sand is not to be procured, other methods must be resorted to. The space, which the mole is intended to occupy, having been inclosed by a double range of beams connected by planks and chains, the interval between the ranges should be filled with loam, rammed into baskets made of the ulva palustris. The space being filled by masses of this kind, stowed as closely together as possible, the water contained in the inclosed area may be removed by engines calculated for the purpose, such as cochleæ, rotæ, and tympana; and when the ground is left perfectly dry, the foundations may be dug of greater width than the walls they are intended to support, and filled in with rough stone, lime, and sand. Piles of charred alder, olive, or oak, must first be driven into the ground if it be soft, and the intervals between them filled with charred wood, in the manner recommended for forming the foundations of the walls of theatres. The walls should then be built upon these foundations with squared blocks of considerable length, so that the stones between these blocks, which extend across the wall, may be bound firmly together. The space inclosed by the walls may be filled in with rubble, or stone-work, and be made so firm that a tower may be erected upon it. The mole being completed, (continues our author) the docks should be built facing the north; because the greater heat of a southern aspect occasions a more rapid decay, and engenders and nourishes moths, ship-worms, and other noxious insects. Timber should, at the same time, be used as sparingly as possible in works of this kind, that they may not be liable to accidents by fire[9].
Harbours[10] of this kind were usually built in a semicircular form, with arms of great length extended into the sea; these were sometimes called χηλαι, from their resemblance to crabs’ claws[11]; Cicero terms them cornua (horns). (Epist. ad Attic. lib. ix. ep. 19.)
For the better security of the ships within the harbour, it was usual to draw strong chains or booms across the entrance, and to defend them with large pales, fortified against the water with pitch. On both sides of the mole were strong towers, which were garrisoned with troops; and not far from these was a watch-tower, or lighthouse, called Pharos, which name belonged originally to a little island in the mouth of the Nile, where the first of these towers was built, but was afterwards naturalized both in Greece and at Rome. In the innermost part of the harbour vessels were often suffered to lie unmoored, whereas in other parts of the port, which were not so well secured, they were either chained to the land, or obliged to lie at anchor. This portion of the harbour was divided into several partitions by walls, constructed for the most part with stone, within which the vessels laid very securely, without the necessity, as we have just mentioned, of using either cable or chain. These places were termed ορμοι, υφορμοι, ναυλοχοι, ormoi, uphormoi, naulokoi, &c., and formed altogether what was called ναυσταθμος (naustathmos[12]).
Here were likewise the docks in which ships were built, or careened, drawn up on the beach.
Most harbours were adorned with temples, or altars, where sacrifices were offered to the tutelar deities of the place, and to those which presided over the sea and the winds. The adjacent places were filled with inns and other places of public entertainment, for the use of mariners, merchants, &c., who might be stationed or touch at the port.
In times of war, harbours were also defended on the land side by a ditch and parapet, or by a wall, built in the form of a semicircle, extending from one point of the sea to the other. The wall was occasionally defended by towers, and beautified with gates, through which the garrison sometimes issued to attack their enemies.
Towards the sea, or within it, pales of wood were also fixed, like those in the harbours, before which the vessels of burthen were placed in such order as to serve instead of a wall, and to give protection to those within. Nicias is reported by Thucydides to have entrenched himself in this manner; but it seems only to have been practised when the enemy were supposed to be very superior in strength, or excited unusual apprehension: at other times a few ships were appointed to reconnoitre the hostile squadron, and to observe the enemy’s motions.
When the fortifications were considered sufficiently strong to resist any assault which might be made upon them, the vessels were usually hauled up on the beach, and around them were pitched the tents of the soldiers and sailors, as appears everywhere in Homer, Thucydides, &c. This practice, however, seems only to have been resorted to in the winter season, when the enemy’s fleet was equally laid up, and there was no apprehension of an assault; or in long-continued sieges, where no danger was to be apprehended from the enemy’s navy, as in the Trojan war, when the Greeks were never attacked by sea. At other times the ships lay at anchor, or were made fast to the shore, that upon any alarm they might be ready to receive the enemy.
Construction of ancient vessels.The ships of the ancients were very differently constructed from those which are at this day in use; and their rate of sailing was, for the most part, even lower than that of the dullest sailing vessel we are at present acquainted with. The rate, however, varied at different times, and will be found at some periods of the Roman empire to have been extremely respectable.
The earliest ships were built with very little art or contrivance, and had neither strength nor durability, beauty nor ornament; they consisted of nothing more than single planks laid together, just sufficiently united to keep out the water, and were in some places nothing more than trunks of trees hollowed out, forming vessels of single pieces of timber. Other materials besides wood were also employed in the construction of ships; among which may be mentioned the Egyptian papyrus, and more especially the hides of different animals, of which the primitive vessels were very frequently composed. These were sometimes girt with wicker-work, and frequently used in that manner, even in later times, on the rivers of Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sabæan Arabia.
In early periods, however, when vessels of this construction were employed, we find no mention of anything but leather, or hides sewed together. It was in a ship of this kind that Dardanus secured his flight from Samothracia to the country afterwards called Troas; and Charon’s boat was also (according to Virgil) constructed of the same material[13].
On their first invention, all ships, for whatever purpose they might have been designed, appear to have been of the same form; but the various ends of navigation, some of which were better answered by one form, some by another, soon gave occasion for a distinction, not only in point of size, but also in the mode of construction and equipment.
Without attempting to enumerate every trifling alteration, we may state generally, that the vessels of the ancients were divided into three classes—ships of burthen, of war, and of passage; and these again had their several distinctions into other classes and subdivisions. Ships of burthen were usually of an orbicular form, having large and capacious hulls for the convenience of stowage; whereas, ships of war were of a greater length in proportion to their size, as we find to be the case at the present day. Transport vessels were of a form between the ships of war and of burthen, being more capacious than the former, and longer than the last-mentioned species.
Management of the vessels.There was at the same time a difference in the management of the vessels enumerated. Men-of-war, though not wholly destitute of sails, were chiefly managed with oars, that they might be more able to tack and manœuvre in light or contrary winds, and to lay themselves alongside the enemy to advantage; while the other two species were commonly governed by sails, and vessels of transport were towed, when it was practicable, with ropes. All three modes of government (by sail, oar, and tow-rope) were, however, occasionally adopted by each of the classes. The rowers were not placed, as some have imagined, upon the same level in different parts of the ship, nor perpendicularly above each other’s heads; but their seats, being fixed one at the back of another, ascended gradually in the manner of stairs. The most usual number of these banks was three, four, and five, composing what are called trireme, quadrireme, and quinquireme Number of banks of oars.galleys; the second of these having a range of oars more than the first, and the third a range more than the second—the height of the vessel always increasing in proportion to the number of ranges. In primitive times, the long ships had only one bank of oars; and therefore, when we find them called πεντεκοντοροι (fifty-oared), and εκατοντοροι (hundred-oared), we are not to suppose they were rowed with fifty and an hundred banks, but only with so many oars. The ship Argo, invented by Jason, was rowed with fifty oars, and, according to some writers, was the first of the long ships; all vessels, till that time, having been of a form much more inclining to oval. Others carry the invention of long ships somewhat higher, referring it to Danaus, who sailed from Egypt to Greece in a ship (we are told) of fifty oars; and even if Jason be allowed to have been the first who introduced the long ships into Greece, yet he cannot be considered as the original contriver of them, but rather an imitator of the Egyptian or African model, the latter of which was constructed some time before by Atlas, and much adopted in that part of the Mediterranean. The first who used a double bank of oars were the Erythræans, and Aminocles of Corinth added a third, as Herodotus, Thucydides, and Diodorus have reported; although Clemens Alexandrinus attributes this invention to the Sidonians. A fourth bank was added by a Carthaginian called Aristotle; and Nesicthon of Salamis (according to Pliny), or Dionysius the Sicilian (according to Diodorus), increased the number to five; Xenagoras of Syracuse added a sixth; and Nesigiton increased the number to ten. Alexander the Great and Ptolemy Soter had vessels of twelve and fifteen banks of oars; and Philip, the father of Perseus, is said to have had one of sixteen.
Extreme bulk of some of the vessels.As the method of erecting one bank above another came to be generally known, it was easy to make further additions; Demetrius, the son of Antigonus, built a ship of thirty banks; and Ptolemy Philopator, that he might outdo his predecessors, enlarged the number still further to forty; which, as all other parts were necessarily in proportion, raised the vessel to such an enormous size, that it appeared at a distance like a floating mountain or island, and on a nearer view took the form of a huge castle in the midst of the waves. This enormous structure contained four thousand rowers, four hundred sailors employed in other services, and a body of nearly three thousand soldiers! But this, and such like fabrics, (says the author of the Archæologia, from which we have extracted these particulars,) served only for show and ostentation; being by their great bulk rendered unwieldy and unfit for ordinary use. Athenæus (he adds) has informed us, that these vessels were commonly known by the names of Cyclades and Ætna; names of islands and mountains, to which they appeared almost equal in size—consisting, as some report, of materials sufficient for the construction of at least fifty triremes.
Besides those already mentioned, there were other vessels fitted with half banks of oars, which seem to have been between a unireme and a bireme, and consisting of a bank and a half: also some between a bireme and a trireme, having two banks and an half of oars. These, although perhaps built in other respects after the model of the long ships, or men-of-war, are seldom comprehended under that name, and are sometimes mentioned in opposition to them.
Various descriptions of ancient vessels.Several other kinds of ships are enumerated by different authors, which varied from those already described; being fitted for particular uses, or seas, or employed upon urgent occasions in naval fights, but more commonly as υπηρετικαι (or tenders), and as victualling ships for supplying the principal fleet.
Some were built for expedition, to carry expresses, or to observe the enemy’s motions, without incurring the danger of being taken by the heavier, and armed vessels; these were distinguished from the former by the manner of their construction and equipment, being in part like men-of-war, and partly resembling ships of burthen, while in some things they differed from both, as the various exigencies for which they were fitted might seem to require.
Mode of rigging.Every ship in later times had several masts; but we are told by Aristotle, that at first there was only one mast, which was fixed in the middle of the ship. On landing, the mast was taken down, as appears everywhere in Homer, and placed on a thing called ιστοδοκη, which according to Suidas, was a case wherein the mast was deposited; but Eustathius will have it to be nothing more than a piece of wood, against which it was reared. About the mast was constructed a kind of turret for soldiers to stand upon and cast darts.
Sails are by some thought to have been first invented by Dædalus, and to have given rise to the fable of his using wings; others refer this invention to Icarus, making Dædalus the contriver of masts and yards. There was originally only one sail in a ship; but afterwards a greater number was found convenient; the names of which are enumerated by Potter.
Sails were commonly of linen; but sometimes of any other material fit for receiving and repelling the wind. We occasionally find mention of leathern sails; and it was usual with the ancients, when none were at hand, to hang up their garments for this purpose: whence arose (continues our author) the fable of Hercules, who is feigned to have sailed with the back of a lion, because he used no other sail but his garment, which was a lion’s skin. Occasionally the ropes and rigging were for the most part composed of leathern thongs; afterwards cordage of hemp and flax came into use, as well as of broom, palm-leaves, philyry, and the bark of trees, such as cherry, vine, maple, &c. The oars were usually covered with brass in the blade, or broad part of the oar, to make them stronger and more durable; Oars and anchors.the oars of the lowest bank were shorter than the rest, and those of the uppermost ranges were necessarily the longest, being at the greatest distance from the water, for which reason it was customary to load their handles with lead, lest the bottom should outpoise the top. The row-locks, and the seats of the rowers were generally covered with hides.
The most ancient anchors are said to have been of stone, and occasionally of wood, to which a quantity of lead was attached. In some places, baskets full of stones, and sacks filled with sand, were employed for this purpose. In later times they were composed of iron, and furnished with teeth (arms,) whence οδοντες and dentes are frequently used for the anchors themselves in the Greek and Latin poets. Originally there was only one tooth; but a second was added by Eupalamus, or by Anacharsis, the Scythian philosopher.
The Scholiast on Apollonius confidently asserts, that this species of anchor was used by the Argonauts; but herein (says Potter) he appears to deserve no great credit, for his assertion is contrary to the testimony of other writers, and his own author, Apollonius, makes mention of none but those of stone. The anchors with two teeth appear, from ancient monuments, to have been much the same with those which are used in the present day, except that the transverse piece or anchor-stock is found to be wanting in all of them. Every ship had several anchors, one of which surpassed all the others in point of size and strength, and was never used but in cases of extreme danger; for which reason it was termed ιηρα, in Latin, sacra; and sacram anchoram solvere, is proverbially applied to such as are forced to their last refuge. The instrument which answered to the lead of modern days was also composed of lead or brass, and lowered by a chain instead of a line.
Cables were sometimes called καμιλοι, or καμηλοι, (cámili, or camēli,) whence, in the passage of St. Matthew, where our Saviour remarks, that “it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven,” Theophylactus, and some others, have interpreted the word καμηλος, (camēlus) not as meaning the animal, but the cable so called.
Equipment of vessels.With regard to the equipment of the vessels of the ancients, we are told by Thucydides, that there was originally no distinction of Ships’ companies.rank among their crews; but that the same persons were employed indiscriminately in those duties which in later ages were executed by separate orders of men, that is to say, by rowers, mariners, and soldiers. The same men originally filled these three offices; they laid down their arms to labour at the oar, and to do, perhaps, what was necessary in other respects for the management of the vessel they belonged to; but resumed them as often as occasion required, to assault, or defend themselves from, their enemies. At these periods no extraordinary preparations were made for the equipment of ships of war, but the same vessels were thought sufficient to answer the purposes of fighting and transport indiscriminately.
As the arts of navigation and of naval warfare improved, it was found that any one of the occupations we have enumerated was enough to engross the whole time and application of the persons employed in the performance of it; and it then became customary to furnish ships of war with three distinct orders of men; viz., rowers, mariners, and soldiers. The rowers were divided into three classes; those of the upper, the middle, and the lower ranges. Each person had a separate oar, for, except in cases of necessity, one oar was never managed by more than one person; but the labour and pay of the several classes of rowers were not at the same time equal: they who were stationed in the uppermost banks, by reason of their distance from the water, and the consequent length of their oars, underwent more toil and labour than those in the inferior banks, and their pay was on that account greater.
The crew took their rest upon the deck, or upon the seats where they rowed; and the officers only, or persons of more than ordinary rank on board, were permitted to have clothes spread under them; of which the following instance is quoted by the author of the Archæologia from Homer:—
But clothes the men for great Ulysses spread,
And placed an easy pillow for his head;
On these he undisturb’d, securely slept,
Lying upon the stern.
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:
Sol ruit interea, et montes umbrantur opaci,
Sternimur optatæ gremio telluris ad undam,
Sortiti remos, passimque in littore sicco
Corpora curamus, fessos sopor irrigat artus.—Æneid, iii. v. 508.
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.
The general rate of sailing of the vessels of the ancients appears to be even lower than we might naturally expect from their clumsy and imperfect construction. This will be sufficiently evident from the examples collected of their voyages, by the justly-celebrated author of the Illustrations of Herodotus, a work which we are sorry to say has become extremely scarce, since there are few books whose circulation would be more advantageous to those who value historical and geographical research.
It will be seen, from a view of the examples in question, that the mean rate of sailing of the best-equipped vessels of antiquity, was no more than thirty-five and thirty-seven geographic miles per day, equivalent to two and a half or three geographic miles an hour, taking the day at twelve hours. We will give them in Major Rennell’s own words.
“Miltiades, under favour of an easterly wind, passed in a single day from Elæos, in the Chersonese of Thrace, to Lemnos (Herod. Erato 40); the distance is thirty-eight geographic miles only.”
“The fleet of Xerxes sailed in three days from the Euripus to Phalerus, one of the ports of Attica (Urania 66). This is about ninety-six geographic miles, or thirty-two per day. The fleet was unusually great.”
“Nearchus reckoned the promontory of Maceta a day’s sail from him when he first discovered it; and it is shewn by circumstances that the distance was about thirty-eight geographic miles (Arrian’s Voyage of Nearchus).”
“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.
Independent of the operations for laying down the coast, an account of the various windings of the road travelled by the camels was regularly kept by Lieutenant Coffin as far as Bengazi.
This was done by observing the direction of their route by compass, and noticing the time they were on the road; proper deductions being made for stoppages, &c. At the end of each day the courses and distances were collected into a traverse-table, and the latitude and longitude deduced therefrom, as is usual with the D.R, on board ships at sea. If the latitude by these means differed from the observation, a proper correction for error in course, distance, or both was made, and the result noted accordingly.
A more favourable opportunity of proving the dependance that may be placed on such a reckoning on land, could not, in all probability, have offered itself; as the extent of each day’s progress was accurately determined by the means adopted for carrying on the survey. And it may be useful to future travellers, as well as to those persons who may have to compile maps from camel journeys, to insert an abstract of the different days’ works, compared with the latitude and longitude by observations, which will be found annexed.
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.
| TABLE OF DISTANCES MEASURED BY CAMELAND HORSE PACE. | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Left. | Arrived. | Interval | Rate per hour. | Distance | REMARKS, &c. | ||||||
| Place. | Time. | Place. | Time. | ||||||||
| H. | ′ | H. | ′ | H. | ′ | Miles. | |||||
| Teuchira | 10 | 10 | Wady | 12 | 00 | 1 | 50 | 3½ | 6¼ | ⎫ ⎬ ⎭ | These distances are by horsepace. |
| Wady | 12 | 00 | Wady | 1 | 00 | 1 | 00 | „ | 3½ | ||
| Wady | 1 | 00 | A Fort | 3 | 10 | 2 | 10 | „ | 7½ | ||
| Fort | 4 | 00 | Ptolemeta | 6 | 25 | 2 | 25 | 2½ | 6¼ | This by camel pace. | |
| Whole distance | = | 23½ | From Teuchira to Ptolemeta. | ||||||||
| Bengazi | 7 | 00 | Aziana | 9 | 15 | 2 | 15 | 3 | 6¾ | ⎫ ⎬ ⎭ | Camel pace. |
| Aziana | 9 | 15 | Birsis | 5 | 08 | 7 | 53 | 3 | 23¾ | ||
| Birsis | 6 | 10 | Teuchira | 8 | 30 | 2 | 20 | 3 | 7 | ||
| Whole distance | = | 37½ | From Bengazi to Teuchira. | ||||||||
| Teuchira | 8 | 30 | Wady El Assa | 11 | 25 | 2 | 55 | 3 | 8¾ | ⎱ ⎰ | Horse pace. |
| Wady El Assa | 11 | 25 | Ptolemeta | 4 | 10 | 4 | 45 | 2¾ | 13¼ | ||
| Whole distance | = | 22 | From Teuchira to Ptolemeta. | ||||||||
| Ptolemeta | 7 | 10 | Wady El Assa | 11 | 07 | 3 | 57 | 3¼ | 13 | ⎱ ⎰ | Horse pace; camels arrived an hourafter. |
| Wady El Assa | 11 | 07 | Teuchira | 1 | 45 | 2 | 38 | „ | 8⅛ | ||
| Whole distance | = | 21⅛ | From Ptolemeta to Teuchira. | ||||||||
| Teuchira | 7 | 00 | Birsis | 9 | 10 | 2 | 10 | 3 | 6½ | ⎫ ⎪ ⎬ ⎪ ⎭ | Single camel. |
| Birsis | 9 | 10 | Handoola | 4 | 00 | 6 | 50 | 3 | 20¼ | ||
| Handoola | 7 | 00 | Aziana | 8 | 00 | 1 | 00 | 2¾ | 2¾ | ||
| Aziana | 8 | 00 | Bengazi | 10 | 25 | 2 | 25 | 2¾ | 6¾ | ||
| Whole distance | = | 36¼ | Teuchira to Bengazi. | ||||||||
| From | To | ||||||||||
| Teuchira | Ptolemeta | 23½ | By first measurement. | ||||||||
| Ditto | Ditto | 22 | By the second. | ||||||||
| Ditto | Ditto | 21⅛ | By the third. | ||||||||
| Ditto | Ditto | 22⅕ | Mean. | ||||||||
| Actual distance | 22 | By observations of latitude and longitude. | |||||||||
| Teuchira | Bengazi | 37½ | By second measurement*. | ||||||||
| Ditto | Ditto | 36¼ | By third. | ||||||||
| 36⅜ | Mean. | ||||||||||
| Actual distance | 34½ | By latitude and longitude. | |||||||||
| And by these the wholedistance, | |||||||||||
| From | To | ||||||||||
| Bengazi | Ptolemeta | 59½ | By one measurement. | ||||||||
| Ditto | Ditto | 57⅜ | By the other. | ||||||||
| 58½ | Mean. | ||||||||||
| Actual distance | 56½ | By latitude and longitude. | |||||||||
| *The first measurement fromBengazi to Teuchira is omitted, in consequence of the camels havingdeviated a little from the road afterwards travelled. | |||||||||||
POSITION OF PLACES BY OBSERVATION.
| TABLES OF LATITUDE ANDLONGITUDE. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Names of Places. | Latitude N. | Longitude E. | ||
| ° ′ ″ | ° ′ ″ | |||
| Bashaw’s Castle, Tripoli | 13 10 42 | 4 Im. | ||
| Mergip Tower | 32 39 11 | R | ||
| Tabia Point | 32 33 41 | + | 14 22 20 | Ch. |
| Mersa Zeliten | 32 30 20 | ☉ | 14 33 18 | Ch. |
| Ditto | 14 31 18 | + | ||
| Town of Zoraig | 32 26 48 | R | 14 52 20 | R. |
| Cape Mesurata | 32 25 01 | ☉ 2 | 15 10 19 | 3 Im. |
| Date-tree at Aara | 32 10 15 | ☉ | 15 24 49 | + |
| Ditto | 15 25 14 | Ch. | ||
| Melfa Sand-hills | 32 03 43 | ☉ | 15 29 08 | + |
| Soolub | 31 45 40 | ☉ | 15 29 29 | Ch. |
| Ditto | 15 28 08 | + | ||
| Maháda | 31 31 57 | ⚹ | 15 40 45 | Ch. |
| Ditto | 15 37 58 | + | ||
| Jebba Ruin | 31 33 23 | + | 15 32 18 | + |
| Jaireed | 31 23 27 | ⚹ 2 | 15 52 26 | Ch. |
| Ditto | 15 50 21 | + | ||
| M’Had Hassàn | 31 16 53 | ⚹ | 16 06 40 | Ch. |
| Ditto | 16 04 40 | + | ||
| Jiraff | 31 13 27 | ⚹ 3 | 16 23 31 | Ch. |
| Mersa Zafferan | 31 12 48 | ☉ | 16 41 29 | Ch. |
| Jedeed | 31 12 43 | ⚹ 3 | 16 47 40 | Ch. |
| Shwaisha | 31 10 42 | ⚹ 4 | 17 02 18 | Ch. |
| Medina Sultan | 31 07 25 | ⚹ ☉ | 17 15 18 | Ch. |
| Nahim | 31 04 23 | ⚹ 2 | 17 26 58 | Ch. |
| Boosaida | 30 59 39 | ⚹ ☉ 5 | 17 39 15 | 5 Im. |
| Shedgàn | 30 55 30 | ⚹ 2 | 17 51 27 | Ch. |
| Howyjer Rock | 30 55 37 | ☉ | 17 57 46 | + |
| Shegga | 30 49 17 | ⚹ 2 | 18 4 47 | Ch. |
| Hoodea | 30 44 13 | ☉ ⚹ 3 | 18 17 55 | „ |
| Mahirrīga | 30 34 21 | ⚹ 3 | 18 30 38 | „ |
| Linoof | 30 23 51 | ⚹ 3 | 18 44 18 | „ |
| Muktarr | 30 17 43 | ⚹ 3 | 18 59 18 | „ |
| Bushaifa (Rock) | 30 17 40 | ⚹ | 19 12 05 | + |
| Sechereen (Bottom of the Gulf) | 30 16 00 | ⚹ 3 | 19 18 33 | Ch. |
| Gartubba | 30 18 48 | ⚹ 3 | 19 32 15 | „ |
| 123 | 30 22 22 | ☉ & ⚹ | 19 32 31 | + |
| Braiga Sand-hills | 30 23 39 | ⚹ 2 | 19 39 45 | „ |
| Ditto | 19 39 19 | + | ||
| Oorartow | 30 25 59 | ☉ | ||
| Tabilbey | 30 28 53 | ⚹ 3 | 19 46 06 | Ch. |
| Ishaifa Rock | 30 36 18 | + | 19 52 56 | + |
| Ain Agan | 30 33 57 | ⚹ 3 | 19 50 42 | Ch. |
| Allum Limàrish | 30 35 88 | ☉ | ||
| Shiebah | 30 38 35 | ⚹ 3 | 19 58 23 | Ch. |
| Gara Island (N. E. end) | 30 47 20 | + | 19 57 24 | + |
| Rhowte Elassouad | 30 50 00 | ⚹ 3 | 20 05 51 | Ch. |
| Ditto | 20 06 28 | + | ||
| 149 Rock | 30 53 32 | + | 20 06 20 | + |
| Shawhan | 31 02 44 | ⚹ 3 | 20 12 26 | Ch. |
| Carcora Sand-hills | 31 26 23 | ⚹ 2 | 20 02 50 | Ch. 2 |
| Ditto | 20 02 45 | + | ||
| Point of Mersa | 31 28 25 | + | 20 00 30 | + |
| Amara Marabot | 31 54 57 | ⚹ 2 | 19 58 19 | Ch. |
| Ditto | ||||
| Bengazi Castle | 32 06 54 | ☉ 4 | ||
| Tochira (S. E. end of the town) | 32 31 44 | ⚹ 2 | 20 33 23 | Ch. 2 |
| Ditto (Mean) | 20 34 10 | R. 3 | ||
| Tomb at Ptolemeta | 32 42 12 | ⚹ 2 | 20 55 08 | Ch. 2 |
| Ditto | 20 54 57 | R. 3 | ||
| Cyrene (Tents near small Theatre) | 32 49 38 | ⚹ 3 | 21 49 05 | Ch. |
| Mersa Suza (or W. end of the Town) | 32 54 53 | ⚹ 4 | 21 55 57 | Ch. 2 |
| Castle at Derna | 32 46 18 | ⚹ 3 | 22 40 48 | Ch. |
| El Hilàl (small Ruin on the Cape) | 32 55 48 | ⚹ 2 | 22 11 00 | Ch. |
| Ditto | 22 11 45 | + | ||
| Bujebara (Cape), or Ejeburni | 32 53 13 | ⚹ 3 | 22 24 52 | Ch. |
| Ditto | 22 23 30 | + | ||
| Cape Rasat | 32 56 50 | — | ||
| Cape, N. E. Ptolemeta | 32 46 38 | |||
| Rock off El Hyera | 32 50 20 | + | 22 34 12 | R. |
| Cape N. E. | ||||
| Note.—Ch. stands for chronometer; + intersections ofbearings and latitudes, or ∠’s; Im. for observations withsatellites of Jupiter; R. reduction by camel pace, or otherwise;and the figures denote the number of observations, of which theresults are a mean. | ||||
| OBSERVATIONS FORVARIATION. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date. | Place. | Latitude. | Longitude. | Variation W. | Remarks, &c. | |
| ° ′ ″ | ° ′ ″ | ° ′ ″ | ||||
| Oct. | 8 | Tripoly | 32 54 00 | 13 10 27 | 17 07 40 | Azimuth. Kater’s Compass. |
| Nov. | 10 | Sidi Abdelati | 32 42 25 | 16 31 00 | Azimuth. | |
| Nov. | 17 | Zeliten | 32 29 04 | 16 43 52 | Azimuth. | |
| Nov. | 24 | Mesurata | 32 22 41 | 15 10 35 | 16 57 00 | Azimuth. |
| Dec. | 1 | Mesurata | 32 22 41 | 15 10 35 | 17 12 36 | Azimuth. |
| Dec. | 6 | Soolup | 31 45 40 | 16 19 40 | Azimuth. | |
| Dec. | 14 | Zafferan | 31 12 21 | 16 39 04 | Azimuth. | |
| Dec. | 26 | Hoodea | 30 44 24 | 15 26 45 | Azimuth. | |
| Dec. | 31 | Braiga | 30 23 40 | 14 21 20 | Azimuth. Theodolite. | |
| Jan. | 3 | Braiga | 30 23 40 | 14 28 53 | Azimuth. Kater’s Compass. | |
| Feb. | 16 | Bengazi | 32 10 18 | 20 03 00 | 14 44 13 | Azimuth. Theodolite. |
| March | 26 | Bengazi | 32 07 07 | 20 03 00 | 14 51 0 | Amplitude. Kater’s Compass. |
| July | 25 | Bengazi | 32 06 41 | 20 03 00 | 15 13 40 | Azimuth. Kater. |
| June | 20 | Apollonia | 32 54 53 | 14 12 40 | Azimuth. Ditto. | |
| June | 11 | Apollonia | 32 54 53 | 14 29 00 | Amplitude. Ditto. | |
| June | 12 | Apollonia | 32 54 53 | 14 33 00 | Amplitude. Ditto. | |
| June | 19 | Apollonia | 32 54 53 | 14 27 30 | Amplitude. Ditto. | |
| June | 1 | Derna | 32 46 24 | 14 30 10 | Azimuth. Ditto. | |
FOOTNOTES:
[1]In justice to Mr. Arnold, we must say that these two watches gave results beyond our most sanguine expectations.
[2]We had no opportunity of ascertaining the height of this range.
[3]Neither of these afford shelter for shipping.
[4]Monsieur Lauthier informs us that there is good anchorage in this bay in six fathoms water, muddy bottom, at a quarter of a league distance from the shore.
[5]This distance is by estimation.
[6]A large rock cod was taken alive among the rocks, by one of our party.
[7]This was ascertained from several observations of the depression of the visible horizon, corrections for spheroidal figure of the earth, and northern deviation being made, and ¹⁄₁₁ allowed for terrestrial refraction.
[8]The height of this range is ascertained trigonometrically.
[9]See Wilkins’s Vitruvius.
[10]The following remarks on the ports and vessels of the ancients are drawn from the Archæologia of Potter; and we have thought it not irrelevant to the subject to bring them together on the present occasion.
[11]Diodorus, lib. xii.
[12]The harbour at Ptolemeta presents an example of works of this description.
——— Gemuit sub pondere cymba
Suctilis, et multam accepit rimosa paludem.—Æneid, vi. 414.
Invenies aliquo cum percussore jacentem,
Permixtum nautis aut furibus aut fugitivis.—(Sat. viii.)
[15]This engine appears to have been invented by Anacharsis the Scythian, and although one somewhat similar is said to have been employed by Archimedes against the enemy’s fleet at Syracuse, it is difficult to conceive how it could be used with advantage at sea; except, perhaps, by a vessel very considerably heavier than that against which it might be employed.
[16]The rate given by Scylax between Leptis Magna and Abrotonum, is even lower than this,—being under thirty geographic miles per day; that is, supposing Tagiura (which is fifty-eight miles from Lebida) to occupy the site of Abrotonum.
[17]Because his fleet was composed, in a great part of vessels ill calculated for long voyages; and the sailing of the slow-goers would naturally regulate that of the rest.
[18]The constant yawing to which the vessels of the antients must from their build have been necessarily exposed, in a far greater degree than even our light colliers, (their upper works being lofty, sails small, and floor flat,) would also materially contribute to retard their progress.
[19]Jam vero nec vela satis esse majora navigiis. Sed quamvis amplitudini antemnarum singulæ arbores sufficiant, super eas tamen addi velarum alia vela, præterq; alia in proris, et alia in puppibus pandi, ac tot modis provocari mortem.
[20]“And here I cannot chuse but marvell much at some men, who making such profession of learning, and namely, in the skill and science of agriculture, as they have done; yea, and seeking thereby to win all their credit and name of erudition and litterature; have, notwithstanding, omitted many things requisite thereunto, without any mention made, or one word spoken of so many hearbes and simples, which either come up of themselves, or grow by meanes of man’s hand: considering that the most part of them are in greater price and reputation, yea, and in more use and request for the maintenance of this our life, than either corne or pulse, or any fruits of the earth whatsoever.”
“And to begin first at those that are knowne commodities, and so notorious, as that the use thereof not only reacheth all over the maine and continent, but extendeth also to the very seas, and overspreadeth them: what say we to line or flax, so commonly sowed as it is? yet may it not be raunged either among the fruits of the field, or hearbes of the garden. But what region (I pray you) or part of the earth is without it? and what is there so necessarie for this life of ours in all respects? Againe, is there any thing in the whole world more wonderfull and miraculous, than that there should be an hearbe found of this vertue and propertie as to bring Egypt and Italie together? Insomuch, as Galerius, Lord Deputie in Egypt under the Romanes, was knowne to set saile from the firth of Messina in the Streights of Sicilie, and in seven daies to arrive at Alexandria: Babilius also governour there likewise, in six; and that by the meanes of the said hearbe? Moreover, what say you to this, which was seen no longer since than the summer past; when Valerius Marianus a Senatour of Rome, and late Lord Pretour, embarked and took ship at Puteoli, and in nine daies sailed to the said Alexandria, and yet he had but a very mild and still wind to helpe him in that voiage? Is not this a strange and sovereign hearbe thinke you, that in a seven-night space can fetch Gades from as far as the Streights of Gibraltar, or Hercules’ pillars, into the harbour of Ostia in Italie? can shew (I say) the kingdome of Catalogne in Spain before the said port-town in foure daies, Provance in three, and Barbarie in twain? For C. Flaccus, lieutenant under Vibius Crispus the Pro-consull, did as much as I speak of, and that with no great forewind, but a most gentle and mild gale. Oh the audacious boldnesse of this world, so rash, so full of sin and wickednesse, that man should sow and cherish any such thing as might receive and swallow the winds, stormes, and tempests; as if the float and tide alone were not sufficient to carrie so prowd a creature! But now are we growne to this passe, that sailes bigger than the ships themselves will not serve our turnes. For albeit one must be sufficient to carrie the biggest crosse-yard that can be devised, yet are not we content with a single maine-saile thereupon, unlesse we set up saile upon saile, top and top-gallant: unlesse (I say) wee have foresailes and sprit-sailes in the prow, misns also hoisted up and desplaied in the poupe; and all to set us more forward upon our death, and to hasten our end. Finally, is there ought againe so admirable, as that of so small a graine as the lini-seed, there should grow that which is able to carrie too and fro in a moment, this round globe of the earth; the same being so slender a stalke as it is, and not growing high from the ground? considering withall, that twisted it is not entire and whole in the stem: but before it can be occupied it must bee watered, dried, braked, tew-tawed, and with much labour driven and reduced in the end to bee as soft and tender as wooll: and all to doe violence to nature and mankind even in the highest degree, in such sort, as a man is not able to proceed so farre in execration as is due unto this invention. The first deviser whereof I have inveighed against in convenient place elsewhere, and not without desert: as who could not bee content that a man should die upon the land, but he must perish upon the sea, to feed hadockes there, without the honour of sepulture.”
“In the booke but next before this, I gave warning and advertised men, that for to enjoy corne and other victuals necessarie for this life and suffisance and plentie, we should beware of wind and rain. And now behold, man is so wicked and ungracious, his wit so inventive, that he will be sowing, tending, and plucking that with his own hand which cals for nothing else at sea but wind; and never rests till burning bee come. See moreover how well this unhappie hand of his speeds, for there is againe commeth up sooner, or thriveth faster than this flax? And to conclude, that wee may knowe how nature her-selfe is nothing well pleased therewith, and that it groweth maugre her will, it burnes the field wherein it is sowed; it eateth out the heart of the ground, and maketh it worse, wheresoever it comes; this is all the good it doth upon land.”
[21]In caravans where the road lies over a wide expanse of desert, and where it is the interest of every man to accomplish as much distance in a day as he can, the average will of course far exceed that which was made good by our party.
[22]See the Table annexed.