SHIPS AND SEAMEN 



King Ptolemy of Egypt somewhere about the year 150 B.C. According 

 to Greek authorities she was 420 feet long by 56 beam, 80 feet deep 

 from the keel to the top of the poop, had two prows and seven beaks, 

 and was propelled by forty-eight rowers whose longest oars, 56 feet in 

 length, had leaden looms in order to balance them better. She also 

 carried 400 personal servants and 2,800 mariners and soldiers, but it is 

 more than doubtful if she ever put to sea. It is said that she could only 

 be launched by a wonderful mechanical contrivance invented by a 

 Phoenician and many unconvincing attempts have been made to illustrate 

 her probable appearance. 



Phoenician Ships. 



It is suggested that the Phoenicians first learned the art of ship- 

 building in the days when they lived in the Persian Gulf, and that the 

 idea of planking came when the dug-out canoe was in danger of being 

 swamped and was saved by the use of strips of bark or mats. In their 

 earliest recorded days in the Mediterranean they had carried the science 

 well forward and were navigating sizable vessels which were carefully 

 designed and constructed. The age-old fear of being pooped by a 

 following sea led to the high stern which survived for centuries, and in 

 bad weather they would always turn and run before it. For caulking 

 between the planks they used fibre and mortar, and they knew the use 

 of both metal bolts and trenails. The single mast was amidships and 

 the crow's nest appeared early for the better convenience of the pilot. 

 The sail was originally simply a square and was used for running only ; 

 otherwise the ship depended upon her oars. The Phoenician method 

 of manning the oars does not appear to be recorded, but one can under- 

 stand the difficulty of getting slaves when they were not naturally a fight- 

 ing nation and desired to keep on good terms with every possible 

 customer. It may have been that the oars were for free men as in the 

 case of most Viking ships but that is not altogether likely, and there is 

 also the theory that their rowers were often their debtors. The question 

 of the arrangement of the oars and the numerous banks is a subject for 

 infinite argument and nobody has satisfactorily settled the question, but 

 it is certain that some big galleys had surprisingly large crews. It is 

 impossible to reconstruct the heavy Phoenician merchantmen, but it 

 may be mentioned that the speed of an early man-of-war trireme was 

 estimated at a hundred miles per day, with a maximum of eight miles 

 per hour for a spurt when all the watches were at the oars. 

 Viking Ships. 



Luckily the Gokstad ship and others which have been discovered in 

 somewhat similar circumstances, together with the very full literature of 

 the people, have given us a very clear idea of what the Vikings' vessels 

 were like, and this knowledge only increases our admiration of the work 

 they performed in them. It is reckoned that this ship dates from about 

 A.D. 900, which was a period when the Vikings were making long 

 voyages. Most of the ships of this period are generally presumed to 

 have had twenty oars aside— " Tyvesser " — while Olaf Tr^'ggvason's 



167 



