48 ALL AFLOAT 



troubles with his crews. The average man 

 of any time cannot be expected to have the 

 sustained enthusiasm, much less the mani- 

 fold interest, which inspires his leader. Nearly 

 every commander of the fifteenth, sixteenth, 

 and seventeenth centuries had to face mutiny ; 

 and, even apart from what might be called 

 natural causes, men of that time were quite 

 ready to mutiny for what seem now the most 

 absurd of reasons. Some crews would not 

 sail past the point of Africa for fear of turning 

 black. Others were distracted when the wind 

 held for days together while they were outward 

 bound, lest it might never blow the other way 

 in North America, and so they would not be 

 able to get back home. The ships, too, often 

 gave as much trouble as the men. They were 

 far better supplied with sails and accommoda- 

 tion than the earlier Viking ships had been ; 

 but their hulls were markedly inferior. The 

 Vikings, as we have seen, anticipated by centuries 

 some of the finest models of the modern world. 

 The hulls of Cabot, Columbus, and Cartier were 

 broader in the beam, much bluffer in the bow, 

 besides being full of top-hamper on the deck. 

 Nothing is known about Cabot's vessel except 

 that she must have been very small, probably 

 less than fifty tons, because the crew numbered 



