2 NAVAL SCIENCES. 



Diomedes at Troy. The sounding-line is mentioned in the New Testament 

 (Acts 27) as something in common use. Every ship was under the protec- 

 tion of a god, with whose image it was decorated. Other emblems were used 

 at a later period : dragons, serpents, and so forth, from which at length the 

 ships took their name. It was an old custom to steer by the heavenly bodies, 

 following the sun by day and the fixed stars by night. The ancients for 

 some time had no knowledge of the pole-star, but steered by the Great 

 Bear, which constellation in almost all oriental histories is symbolized by an 

 animal, as among the Arabians and Persians by a bull. 



1. Parts of Ships. The oldest and best known vessel of the ancients 

 was Noah's Ark. This indicates a great progress in the art of ship-building, 

 of which we have 1:10 previous historical accounts. The Bible describes 

 this structure as 300 cubits in length, 50 cubits in breadth, and 30 cubits 

 in height; a proportion (1:2:: 10 nearly) which we often find in modern 

 ships of war. 



The most ancient boats, composed of a single piece of wood, appear to 

 have resembled those now in use on the Tigris, Euphrates, and other rivers 

 of the East. PL 2, fig. 2 is a Phoenician boat of that kind, to which we shall 

 presently recur. In sea-going vessels, the hull was usually parallel with the 

 surface of the water, the prow and stern, however, curving upwards. The 

 hull was built on a keel, to which, as now, the curved or knee timbers were 

 fastened. Along the side was a row of square holes, columbares (fig. 17), 

 for the oars. The prow consisted of two parts : 1. A continuation of the 

 keel (pi. I, fig. II ; pi. 2, fig. 8), which served as a cutwater. PI. 1, 

 fig. 12, shows an ancient ship, after a drawing from Herculaneum. The 

 flag-staff is at the stern. 2. The stem (rostrum, embolus), which at first was 

 found only in ships of war, but afterwards in merchant vessels. Figs. 3 

 and 4 represent such rostra, which at first were nothing but strong beams 

 covered in front with metallic plates, and serving the same purposes as 

 battering rams in the military service. Afterwards the prow was con- 

 structed of planks hewn to a point, or with the metallic covering in the 

 shape of a ram's head. Finally, two or three points were used instead of 

 one (figs. 9 and 14). Figs. 3 and 4, and pi. 2, fig. 18, show only the part 

 of the prow above water. PL 1, fig. 10, gives the most simple form. As 

 a defence against the prows of the enemy, stout beams projected from the 

 ship, as in figs. 11 and 12. The stem was usually provided with one or 

 two openings, called the ship's eyes (fig. 11), through which the ropes were 

 passed on landing. The poop was higher than the prow, and more richly 

 adorned. In many ships there was here a kind of tent, from which the 

 commander gave his orders to the crew (pL 2, figs. 4, 6, and 7). This was 

 sometimes placed at the prow. 



Among the more ornamental parts was the aplustre, a piece of carved 

 wood at the stern, usually in the form of a pendent bunch of feathers 

 (fig. 6). The ship's lantern was sometimes hung on this, or a small sail, 

 to show the direction of the wind. PL 1, fig. 5, shows the most common 

 {oxm oi X\iQ aplustre ; but it was often found as in figs. 11 and 12. The 

 possession of the aplustre decided the possession of the ship, and it was 

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