APPENDIX. 
xli 
has been given (from the Illustrations of Herodotus) down to the 
time of Alexander the Great ; and when we find that other voyages 
described by this author (as well as those which various writers of 
his time have recorded) fall short of the rate of sailing deduced from 
the last mentioned instances ; we may probably be allow'ed to make 
the following conclusion — that the difference did not really so much 
consist in the faulty construction of the vessels themselves, or the 
little sail which they were able to carry, as in circumstances which 
would equally contribute to retard ships constructed in modern days. 
At the same time we may suppose that the voyages here enumerated 
by Pliny were performed under the most favourable circumstances 
which could be commanded. They were government vessels, and 
probably equipped in the most liberal and judicious manner possible 
at the time ; they were navigating a sea which long habit must have 
rendered familiar to them, and where they must have known the best 
courses to be steered under every change of weather and season. The 
voyages were not sufficiently long to be retarded by want of provi- 
sions, and the confidence resulting from experience and comparative 
security would have induced them to carry all the sail they could com- 
mand without hesitation or dread. Under these circumstances we may 
also suppose that the day intended was twenty-four hours, and 
indeed, in the passage to Alexandria, and other parts of the African 
coast, it could scarcely have been any other. 
againe commeth up sooner, or thriveth faster than this flax ? And to conclude, that 
wee may knowe how nature her-selfe is nothing well pleased therewith, and that it 
growetli maugre her will, it hurnes the field wherein it is sowed; it eateth out the 
heart of the ground, and maketh it worse, wheresoever it comes; this is all the 
good it doth upon land.” 
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