THE FIRST NAVIGATOR. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE ORIGIN OF NAVIGATION — THE NAUTILUS — THE SPLIT REED AND BEETLE — 



THE BEAVER FLOATING UPON A LOG — THE HOLLOW TREE THE FIRST CANOE 



— THE FLOATING NUTSHELL — THE OAR— THE RUDDER — THE SAIL THE TRA- 

 DITION OF THE FIRST SAIL-BOAT. 



The origin of navigation is unknown. It has baffled the re- 

 search of antiquaries, for the simple reason that men sailed 

 upon the sea before they committed the records of their history 

 to paper, or that such records, if any existed, were swept away 

 and lost in the periods of anarchy which succeeded. Imagi- 

 nation has suggested that the nautilus, or Portuguese man-of- 

 war, raising its tiny sail and floating off before the breeze, first 

 pointed out to man the use which might be made of the wind as 

 a propelling force; that a split reed, following the current of 

 some tranquil stream and transporting a beetle over its glassy 

 surface, was the first canoe, while the beetle was the first sailor. 

 Mythology represents Hercules as sailing in a boat formed of 

 the hide of a lion, and translates ships to the skies, where they 

 still figure among the constellations. Fable makes Atlas claim 

 the invention of the oar, and gives to Tiphys, the pilot of the 

 Argo, the invention of the rudder. The attributing of these 

 discoveries and improvements to particular individuals doubt- 

 less afforded pastime to poets in ages when poetry was more 



