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explains in the following terms : — " I cut two oar-ports to represent the 

 row-locks of the zugites, at a distance of 3 feet 6 inches from centre to 

 centre, which is the distance allowed in the launches of a man of war, 

 which are pulled ' double-banked,' or with two rowers on each bench, as 

 in the ancient Galleys ; and I found that by cutting an oar-port fourteen 

 inches below those of the upper tier, and about one-third of their hori- 

 zontal distance, reckoning from bow and stern, a rower seated on the 

 deck, and rowing in the lower port, was not interfered with by the rowers 

 seated on benches nearer the centre of the vessel, and rowing in the 

 upper oar-ports." Whether, indeed, the height of the thranites' oars 

 was only five feet from the water, is still an open question. Dr. Smith, 

 it must be confessed, at least deserves the warm thanks of the anti- 

 quarian for taking such a deep interest as he has done in the subject, 

 and aided his great knowledge of these various theories by such a highly 

 interesting and valuable experiment. 



The fact of the imperial trireme having been rowed with compa- 

 rative ease from Clichy to Cherbourg, I think, must also be a conclusive 

 argument against the theory of Sir H. Saville, of only one row of oars 

 existing. 



Perhaps, of all the various theories concerning the manner of rowing 

 these Galleys, that of General Melville is open to the least objections ; 

 the extended gallery would give facility for using the oars, and its 

 being inclined at an angle of 45° to the water's edge would render the 

 height of the uppermost tier within the bounds of probability. That 

 more than one row, or tier of oars, existed, indeed is evident from the 

 fact, that when two Galleys met in conflict, the oars of the different tiers 

 could be suspended from the outside of the ports, which would have been 

 impossible if they reached within the Galley more than a certain dis- 

 tance, which a great number of hands or rowers would necessitate. Dr. 

 Leonhard Schmitz tells us, that more than three ranks of oars were not 

 in construction in Greece till about the year 400 B. C, when Dionysius, 

 the tyrant of Syracuse, who bestowed the greatest care upon his navy, 

 first built Teipypei?, the model of which class of Galley is ascribed to the 

 Carthaginians. The egrjpei? are ascribed by Polybius to the Syracusans — 

 a fact also mentioned by JElian. 



That when these vessels exceeded a certain size they were practi- 

 cally of no value for war purposes, is indeed evident from their description. 

 Montfaucon, for instance, describes at length the great ship built for 

 Hiero by Archias, which consumed as much timber in her construction 

 as would have sufficed for sixty Galleys of the trireme class. This wood 

 was brought from Mount Etna, Italy, Sicily, Spain, and the Rhone. 

 It took three hundred skilled artizans six months to complete her ; and, 

 in order to launch her, they had to invent a machine called a helix. 

 Yet, like Ptolemy's great ship, she was considered a mere hulk upon the 

 water, that was indeed of but little use for any effective purpose. 



In conclusion, the rate of these Galleys is not very accurately known. 

 Admiral Beech er, however, is of opinion that a speed of seven miles per 

 hour was the average ; and J. Smith, Esq., F. E. S., in his " Shipwreck of 



