s. It was no easy
task to board so lofty a ship, but the king urged on his men, some of
whom, jumping overboard, swam to the rudder, to which they secured
ropes, and thus gained the power of steering her. The most active now
climbed up her sides, but were driven back by the overwhelming number of
her defenders. The galleys were next ordered to try the effect of their
beaks; retiring to windward, and setting all their sails, as well as
working away with their oars, they bore down on the Dromunda with such
force and velocity, that their iron beaks pierced the sides of the
monstrous ship, which instantly began to sink, and out of fifteen
hundred officers and men who composed her company, the whole, with the
exception of fifty-five, were drowned. These latter were chiefly
officers, none of the common men being received on board the galleys.

It is very evident that the art of shipbuilding must have made
considerable progress in that part of the world, when a ship of such a
size could be constructed. The Dromunda could scarcely have been less
in size than a fifty-gun ship in Nelson's day.

We here see the effect produced by rams, much in the way it is proposed
to employ them in modern warfare. There will, however, be this
difference in a naval battle of the future, that both sides will be
provided with these formidable implements of warfare. Before Richard
reached Acre a fierce naval engagement had taken place between the
besiegers and the besieged. The latter came out of port with their
galleys two and two, preserving a similar array in their advance. The
Crusaders prepared to receive them, moving to a distance, so that they
should not be denied free egress. The Crusaders then disposed their
ships in a curved line, so that if the enemy attempted to break through
they might be enclosed and defeated. In the upper tiers the shields
interlaced were placed circularly, and the rowers sat close together,
that those above might have freer scope. The sea being perfectly calm,
no impediment was offered to the blows of the warriors or the strokes of
the rowers; advancing nearer to each other, the trumpets sounded on both
sides, and mingled their dread clangour. First, they contended with
missiles, but the Crusaders more earnestly plied their oars, and pierced
the enemy's ships with the beaks of their own. Soon the battle became
general; the oars became entangled, and the combatants fought hand to
hand.

There was one