HISTORY OF NAVIGATION. 5 



almost every third vessel was lost. Pilotage was in use among the 

 Romans. 



A large sum was expended by some of the ancient rulers for the building 

 of show ships. Thus a ship was constructed by the orders of Hiero of 

 Syracuse (264 b. c.) with flower gardens, canals, eight large towers, and an 

 engine for throwing stones of 300 pounds' weight and arrows twelve yards 

 long. Archimedes was required to exert all his mechanical skill to float 

 this vessel. PL I, fig. 8, gives a representation of this ship, which was 

 sent by Hiero to King Ptolemy II., as it was too large for every harbor 

 but Alexandria. Ptolemy IV. had two ships built in the roads of Alexan- 

 dria, one of which was 560 feet long, 76 feet broad, 96 feet high at the 

 stem, and 112 at the stern. This ship was guided by four oars 60 feet in 

 length. The upper bank of oars was 76 feet long, with melted lead in 

 the handles as a counterpoise. Four thousand rowers were required to 

 propel this vessel, which carried in addition 400 sailors and 2850 fighting 

 men. PL 2, fig. 11, represents this ship. The other ship was 590 feet 

 in length, 60 feet in breadth, and 80 in height, containing numerous sleep- 

 ing rooms and banqueting halls, magnificently adorned with gold and ivory. 

 A double gallery was extended along the outside. The show ship in 

 which Queen Cleopatra (30 b. c.) visited Antony in Cilicia (pL 2, fig. 10), 

 had a gilded stern, oars inlaid with silver, and sails woven with purple. 

 Delicious music accompanied the stroke of the oars, and a band of beautiful 

 maidens clad as Graces stood at the rudder and managed the ropes. Cleo- 

 patra herself reposed on a splendid couch beneath a golden canopy, while 

 she was fanned by boys who personated Cupid. 



3. Marine Affairs of Different Nations, a. The Phcenicians. This 

 nation, which first inhabited ancient Palestine, then the coasts of the Red 

 Sea, and finally settled on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, was the 

 first that we find spoken of as addicted to navigation. About the year of 

 the world 2560 the Phoenicians had colonies on almost all the islands of the 

 Greek Archipelago, and 1250 years before Christ they made the first attempt 

 to pass through the Straits of Gibraltar. Soon after they had colonies on 

 the west coast of Spain, and it was the Phoenicians who changed the 

 original coast navigation into the actual navigation of the sea, steering 

 their course by the stars. Their polar star was not the same as that of the 

 present day, according to Flamsteed and Bode being the star ^ in the 

 shoulder of the Little Bear. 



The Phoenician ships of war were sharp pointed at both ends, and moved 

 by from 20 to 60 rowers. They were attended on their voyages by 

 several transports. In general they bore the name of Argos. They had 

 several banks of oars, sometimes amounting to twenty. The merchant 

 vessels were round, the smallest of them being of very simple construction 

 (fig. 2). Afterwards when their size was increased and they were used as 

 transports they were made longer and more rounded at the ends (pL I, fig. 1). 

 These were called Hhurnce or three-oared gauli. The increased size of the 

 vessels and the use of sails soon introduced an improved mode of ship- 

 building, and the merchantmen took the form as in pL \, fig. 2. They 



ICONOGRAPHIC ENCYCLOPEDIA. VOL. HI. 42 657 



