126 THE FIRST NAVAL BATTLE. 



The Carthaginians were at a greater distance from 

 the seat of war than the Romans who had only to sail 

 across a narrow strait. However this was counter- 

 balanced by the superiority of the Punic fleet. At 

 that time the Carthaginians were completely masters 

 of the sea : they boasted that no man could wash 

 his hands in the salt water without their permission. 

 The Romans had not a single decked vessel, and in order 

 to transport their troops across the straits they were 

 obliged to borrow triremes from the Italian-Greeks. 

 But their marvellous resolution and the absolute 

 necessities of the case overmastered their deficien- 

 cies and their singular dislike of the sea. The 

 wreck of a Carthaginian man-of-war served them 

 as a model : they ranged benches along the beach 

 and drilled sailors who had just come from the 

 plough's tail to the service of the oar. The vessels 

 were rudely built and the men clumsy at their work 

 and when the hostile fleets first met, the Carthag- 

 inians burst into loud guffaws. Without taking order 

 of battle they flew down upon the Romans, the 

 admiral leading the van in a seven-decker that had 

 belonged to Pyrrhus ; on they went, each ship in a 

 bed of creamy foam, flags flying, trumpets blow- 

 ing, and the negroes singing and clanking their 

 chains as they laboured at the oar. But presently 

 they perceived some odd-looking machines on the 

 forecastles of the Roman ships : they had never 

 seen such things before : and this made them hesitate 

 a little. But when they saw in what a lubberly 

 fashion the ships were worked, their confidence 

 returned ; they dashed in amongst the Roman vessels 

 which they tried to rip up with their aquiline prows. 

 As soon as they came to close quarters the machines 



