Proceedings of the expedition to explore the northern coast of Africa, from Tripoly eastward

by Frederick William Beechey; H. W. Beechey

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.