ower parts of the
holes through which the oars passed were covered with leather. Till the
invention of the rudder, vessels were steered by two large oars, one on
either side of the stern, with very broad blades. Ships were also
furnished with long poles, by which they could be shoved off the ground.
The triremes were fitted with two masts, and so were even smaller
vessels; the larger had three masts, the largest of which was nearest
the stern. They were usually of fir; and the head of the lower mast,
which is at present called the top, was in the shape of a drinking cup.
Some of these tops were of bronze; the largest held three men, two in
the next, and one in the smallest; and breast-works ran round them to
defend the occupants from the darts of the enemy. They were also
furnished with tackles for hoisting up stones and weapons to hurl at the
foe. Above the main-mast was a top-mast or topgallant-mast, called the
distaff; the yards were hoisted up much as in the present day, and were
secured by parrels or hoops to the mast. They were fitted with
topping-lifts and braces. Each mast carried two square sails, and in
after days the Romans introduced triangular sails. Though they
generally ran before the wind, they were also able to sail on a wind,
though probably not very close-hauled.

Ships were supplied with weather-boards, or broad belts of canvas, to
keep out the sea, and were surrounded, also, by lines of ropes one above
another, to prevent the seamen from being washed overboard. Sometimes
these breast-works were made of skins or wicker-work, and in bad weather
were raised to a considerable height above the bulwarks. It is said
that Anacharsis, upwards of 500 B.C., if he did not invent, greatly
improved the form of anchors, which were already made of iron. The
anchor had generally two flukes or teeth, and was then called bidens;
but sometimes it had only one. We use the same terms as the ancients,
to cast anchor or weigh anchor, whence the latter term is equivalent to
set sail. Each ship had several anchors; that in which the Apostle Paul
sailed, we know, had four, and others had eight. The largest and most
important anchor was denominated "the last hope," hence, when that
failed, arose the expression "the last hope gone." A buoy was used
fixed to the anchor by a rope, to show the spot where it lay.

The Romans possessed no war fleets till the year B.C. 260, when a fleet
of triremes was built to oppose