266 THE SEA. 



Malmesbury mentions the silks, shawls, incense, spices, and aromatic gums which Alfred 

 received from the Malabar coast in return for presents sent to the Nestorian Christians. 

 Alfred constantly and steadily encouraged the science of navigation, and certainly earned 

 the right of the proud title he has borne since of " Father of the British Navy." 



Time passes and we come to Canute. On his accession to the throne as the son of 

 a Danish conqueror, he practically put an end to the incursions and attacks of the 

 northern pirates. The influence of his name was so great that he found it unnecessary 

 to maintain more than forty ships at sea, and the number was subsequently reduced. 

 So far from entertaining any fear of revolt from the English, or of any raid on his 

 shores, he made frequent voyages to the Continent as well as to the north. He once 

 proceeded as far as Rome, where he met the Emperor Conrad. II., from whom he 

 obtained for all his subjects, whether merchants or pilgrims, complete exemption from the 

 heavy tolls usually exacted on their former visits to that city. Canute was a cosmopolitan. 

 By his conquest of Norway, not merely did he represent the English whom he had 

 subjugated, and who had become attached to him, but the Danes, their constant and 

 inveterate foes and rivals. He thus united under one sovereignty the principal maritime 

 nations of the north. 



And still the writer exerts the privilege conceded to all who wield the pen, of 

 passing quickly over the pages of history. "The stories," says a writer* who made 

 maritime subjects a peculiar study, " as to the number of vessels under the order of the 

 Conqueror on his memorable expedition are very conflicting. Some writers have asserted 

 that the total number amounted to no less than 3,000, of which six or seven hundred 

 were of a superior order, the remainder consisting of boats temporarily built, and of the 

 most fragile description. Others place the whole fleet at not more than 800 vessels of all 

 sizes, and this number is more likely to be nearest the truth. There are now no means 

 of ascertaining their size, but their form may be conjectured from the representation of 

 these vessels on the rolls of the famous Bayeux tapestry. It is said that when William 

 meditated his descent on England he ordered ' large ships ' to be constructed for that 

 purpose at his seaports, collecting, wherever these could be found, smaller vessels or boats, 

 to accompany them. But even the largest must have been of little value, as the whole 

 fleet were by his orders burned and destroyed, as soon as he landed with his army, so as 

 to cut off all retreat, and to save the expense of their maintenance." This would indicate 

 that the sailors had to fight ashore, and may possibly have been intended to spur on his 

 army to victory. Freeman states, in his " History of the Norman Conquest," that he finds 

 the largest number of ships in the Conqueror's expedition, as compiled from the most 

 reliable authorities, was 3,000, but some accounts put it as low as 693. Most of the ships 

 were presents from the prelates or great barons. William FitzOsborn gave 60, the Count 

 de Mortaine, 120; the Bishop of Bayeux, 100; and the finest of all, that in which 

 William himself embarked, was presented to him by his own duchess, Matilda, and named 

 the Mora. Norman writers of the time state that the vessels were not much to boast of, 

 as they were all collected between the beginning of January and the end of August, 1066. 



* (The late) W. S. Lindsay, M.P., &c., "The History of Merchant Shipping." 



