NAVIGATION. 



151 



Anomalous as it may seem, yet it is true, that. 

 more study, more experience, and laboriously acquired 

 information, were necessary to form an Acestes, or a 

 Palinurus, than are now required to furnish forth a 

 La Perouse or a Parry. The master or pilot, of 

 ancient times, who had command of the sailors, and 

 directed all the evolutions, was not merely required 

 to know whatever related to the management of the 

 sails, the oars, and the rudder : he was to be familiar 

 with all the ports that lay in the track of his naviga- 

 tion, the landmarks by which they were designated, 

 and all the rocks, quicksands, and clangers of the in- 

 tervening deep : he was to know the course of the 

 winds, and the indications which preceded them ; 

 also the movements of the celestial bodies, not 

 merely for the purpose of directing his course by 

 them, but to understand the winds and weather, 

 which some of them, as Arcturus and the Dog-star, 

 were believed to portend. Moreover, he had to be 

 skilled in reading the various omens, which were 

 gathered from the sighing of the wind in the trees, 

 tlie murmurs of the waters, and their dash upon the 

 shore ; the flight of birds, and the gambols of 

 fishes. A voyage was, in those days, a momentous 

 and awful undertaking. When the time arrived for 

 the sailing of a ship or fleet, the masts were raised, 

 the sails bent, and all made ready with solemnity, 

 and great parade of preparation. If, as was most 

 usual, the ships were hauled up on the shore, the 

 mariners placed their shoulders at the stern of the 

 ships, and, at the word of command, pushed their 

 IK>\VS forward into the sea, leaping aboard when they 

 floated. Levers were used to move the heavier ves- 

 sels, and, in later times, the helix (probably jack- 

 screw), which Archimedes had invented for that 

 purpose. Before putting to sea, the gods were ever 

 solemnly invoked, and propitiated by numerous sacri- 

 fices ; thus we find all Homer's heroes sacrificing to 

 the gods before they undertake a voyage ; and Vir- 

 gil's Anchises ventures forth only after having 

 devoted a bull to Neptune and a bull to Apollo. 

 Nor did the voyagers alone supplicate protection ; 

 the crowds of friends and countrymen, who thronged 

 the shore, joined fervently in prayers for their deliv- 

 erance from danger, and, like the Venusian poet, 

 commended their departing friends to the presiding 

 deities of the winds and waves. All omens were 

 carefully regarded ; the entrails of the sacrifices 

 examined, with every possible prognostic of good or 

 evil ; and a very small matter, the perching of swal- 

 lows on the ships, or an accidental sneeze to the left, 

 were enough to delay departure. As this, however, 

 never took place without the most favourable aus- 

 pices, it was always joyful. The ships were adorned 

 with streamers and garlands of flowers ; and, when 

 the signal was given from the admiral ship, by sound 

 of trumpet, a shout of rejoicing rang through the 

 fleet, sent back by the responding Tjlessings of the 

 friends that remained. After advancing a short 

 space, doves, which the mariners had brought from 

 their homes, were released, and their safe arrival 

 not unfrequently charged with the last adieu of a 

 departing lover was considered auspicious of the 

 return of the fleet. The admiral led the van, con- 

 spicuous by his painted sails and streamers, and 

 opened a path in which many followed. In mode- 

 rate weather, the ships often sailed side by side ; 

 but, as the wind freshened, and the sea grew rough, 

 the order became more open, to avoid contact. At 

 all times, they kept close to the land, following the 

 indentations of the coast. When night approached, 

 it was customary to anchor, or else to beach the 

 vessels, that the crews might repose, each rower 

 sleeping on his bench, ready to renew his labours 

 with the returning sun. If the amenity of the wea- 



ther, the friendly aid of the moon, or the opeu nature 

 of the navigation, admitted of sailing during the 

 night, the plummet or the sounding-pole directed 

 their course, or it was shaped, as by day, from head- 

 land to headland. If the land were not visible, the 

 known direction of the wind continued, with the aid 

 of the stars, to guide them. Cynosura was the 

 favourite star of the Phoenicians : the Greeks aban- 

 doned themselves to the direction of Helice. Having 

 escaped the multiplied dangers of such a navigation, 

 and having accomplished their object, the ships 

 returned home with songs and rejoicings. If they 

 were to be stranded, the sterns were turned towards 

 the shore, and the vessels forced backwards upon it 

 with the oars, until the crew landing, drew them 

 beyond the reach of the surf. Sometimes they were 

 taken into the beautiful moles, or artificial harbours, 

 which the ancients constructed, with great labour 

 and ingenuity, within the natural ones. These were 

 in the shape of crab's claws, or horns, the ends, 

 which formed the entrance, so overlapping as to 

 exclude the swell of the sea. Castles defended their 

 approach, and a light-tower, placed at the entrance, 

 guided those who sailed along the coast, or desired 

 to enter by night. It was called Pharos, from the 

 island at the mouth of the Nile, where the first tower 

 had been erected. Here the vessels were not hauled 

 up, but simply fastened to the rings, or pillars, pro- 

 vided for the purpose, while at the inner port were 

 docks and stores for building and repairing. In this 

 port, too, were temples devoted to the gods, and 

 especially to the patron of the place, where propitia- 

 tory sacrifices were made, and vows fulfilled or re- 

 corded : here, too, were numerous taverns, and 

 places of more licentious gratification. Whether, 

 however, they stranded their vessels on the beach, 

 or moored them in the harbour, the mariners, before 

 repairing to these resorts, fulfilled the vows made 

 before departures, or in seasons of peril, offered 

 thanks to Neptune, and sacrifices to Jupiter, for 

 having granted them release from the durance of 

 their ships. Upon those who had escaped ship- 

 wreck, gratitude was more deeply incumbent. In 

 addition to other sacrifices proportioned to their 

 means, they usually offered the garment in which 

 they were saved, together with a picture descriptive 

 of the disaster. If nothing else remained to them, 

 the hair was shorn from the head, and consecrated 

 to the tutelar deity ; hence offering the hair was the 

 last vow of the distressed mariner. There is much 

 that is beautiful in these simple acts of piety ; but, 

 except in some Catholic countries of the Mediter- 

 ranean, where pictures of rescue and garments are 

 still hung before the shrine of an invoked intercessor, 

 and where processions are still made, after escape 

 from shipwreck, none of these touching customs now 

 remain. What can be more beautiful than the 

 grateful sense of divine interference with which 

 Columbus and his followers hasten to fulfil their 

 vows after their safe return to Palos ? Such piety, 

 if it availed not to avert present danger, at least 

 served to inspire confidence to meet it ; and, when 

 past, the gratitude which it occasioned must lia> < 

 tended at once to refine the sentiments and ennoble 

 the heart. 



Imperfect as were the means and knowledge of 

 the ancients in this noble art, yet the Carthaginians, 

 who superadded the greatest commercial enterprise 

 to the greatest skill which had yet been attained, 

 achieved results which iruiy even now be esteemed 

 brilliant. They made the whole of the old world 

 tributary to their city : not contented with exploring 

 every nook and corner of the Mediterranean, they 

 left l>ehind the ne pins ultra which had hitherto 

 almost entirely bounded the excursions of their pre- 



