Chap. I. 



AMERICA. 



Brittains amongft the 

 firft Inventors of Naviga- 

 tion. 



1 he firft Invenrers of fe- 

 veral things belonging to 

 Shipping. 



loner before gives the'Invention of this Art to Erythra, King of Egypt, who upon 

 Pieces of Timber, conjoynd andbrae'd together, crept along the Shores, and 

 ventured to Difcover the Iiles in the %ed-Sea. But others give that honor to the 

 Trojans, and Micians, when with a Fleet by Sea, they Invaded Thrace : Others, 

 to the 'Brittains, who made little Veflels of Leather, and were the firft that by 

 this Invention found how to Float upon the Waters : Some plea^ that the 

 Samothracians were firft ; Others, that Dantus before M , found a way by Sea 

 from Egypt to Greece. But without all Contradiction, Ityab's Ark was the Pat- 

 tern or Sample, that fucceeding Ages imitating, built their Ships by ; and the 

 more probable, becaufe his Offspring multiplying fo faft, that they were en- 

 forced to inlarge their Colonies, by pafling Seas, and other broad Rivers, to 

 fettle their Super-numeraries there. 



So J a/on Invented a Ship, which he call'd Jrgos, which Sefo/lris King of Egypt 

 took as his Pattern. Next, the Biremis, a Galley with double Banks of Oars, 

 was made by the Erythreans 5 with treble Banks , by the Corinthian Armeies 5 the 

 addition of the Quadruple, the Carthaginians boaft 5 of the Quinqueremis 2S[eJichthon } 

 Alexander the Great , brought them to twelve Banks ; Qtolomy Sotcr, to fifteen 5 

 Demetrius, Antigonus Son, doubled them to thirty • ftolomy Pbiladelpbus, to for- 

 ty ; and laft of all, Tbilopater rais'd them to fifty Banks of Oars. Hippus a Ttri- 

 an, was the firft that fet Ships upon the Stocks . the <%Jiodians a Ketch, and the 

 <BataYians a Boat . the Copes made the firft Oar ; Dedalus the Maft and Boltfpritj 

 <Ptfcus the Beak ; - the Tyrrheans the Anchor . Tiphys the Rudder • taking exam- 

 ple from the motion of a Kites Stern ; Icarus found Sails, fancy'd by the Poets 

 for Wings,though fome afcribe that honor to his Father Dedalus. 



Minos was the firft that Ingag d in a Sea-Fight, whereby we may eafily con- JgS^^g 

 jefture, that of old none adventured far into the Offin, or to remote Countreys, 

 not daring to truft their fo Height contriv'd Veflels. But thefe later times have 

 ilrangely and fuddenly improv'd this growing Art of Navigation, yet pitch'd 

 not to that height at firft, as boldly to adventure, and loofe fight of Land. 



The Tynans firft underftood how to Steer their Courfe by the North-Star, 

 and when dark and foul Weather had Clouded the Sky , that they could nei- 

 ther fee Heaven or Earth i but onely Sea, they directed their Courfe by the 

 Wind ; and if they doubted the change thereof, they let fome Birds fiie, whom 

 they follow'd , fuppofing that they ftood directly to the neareft Land. But 

 thefe are but poor helps, and blind Guides to fhew you Land from the middle 

 of the boundlcfs Ocean. It is certain, that the Romans in the time of Julius Cajar 

 and Auguftus, ftretch'd the Bounds of that Empire Eaft ward to Euphrates , the 

 <%J>yne, and the Danube, and Weftward to the Ocean and Mount Atlas , Sailing up b^own, 

 and down the Mediterranean, with great Fleets, which ftoutly endur'd the vio* 

 lence both of Waves and Weather • but all this made them not fo hardy, as 

 once to think or look after new Worlds. But after the %pman power decreas'd, 

 by feveral Eruptions of the Goths, Vandals, Huns, Nornwis, Lumbards, and other 

 Northern Countreys, which fwarm'd with People, that overflow'd all places 

 like a Deluge, fo that Europe was every where puzzel'd and Imbroyl'd, their 

 whole bufinefs confiding in conjoyning Forces to withftand fuch bold Invaders, 

 and fo vexatious an Enemy. 



And farther Eaft, AJia was at the fame time little better, ftill trembling 

 at the daily Alarms and Incurfions of the Scythians, Verfians, and Saracens - and 

 afterwards the Turks growing upon them more than any of the former, expect- 

 ed no other than a fad Cataftrophe, fo that the known World had too much 



C work 



covertf. 



The manner of the Anti- 

 cnts Sailing. 



Of the Komansl 



Why Amtr'tca was fo late- 



