s corsair received his death wound.

We have seen that the organization of St. John did not confine itself
to warfare upon the land; many of the order were trained seamen, and
were always ready to take the aggressive in marine enterprises when
occasion offered. The strict vows of the brotherhood compelled the
members to wage ceaseless warfare against the infidels. This was the
most clearly defined and determined of their purposes, in the
prosecution of which they adhered tenaciously to the last. In these sea
fights their well-known courage, superior weapons, and persistency
nearly always insured success. Their galleys, well equipped for that
period, were held in readiness for service, moored in the land-locked
creeks of Grand Harbor. These were efficient vessels for the immediate
service they were designed to serve. They were over one hundred feet in
length and twenty-five wide, being propelled by oars or sails, according
to the wind. The sails were not designed for use unless the wind was
aft, as the art of tacking and sailing to windward was not then
practiced. Fifty oars, that is, twenty-five on a side, was a common
arrangement, and there were from three to six galley slaves at each oar,
according to the size of the vessel. These men were chained in their
places, and if they did not work to the satisfaction of the boatswain,
the lash fell without mercy upon their bare backs. A galley was rigged
with two masts, upon each of which a large square sail was hoisted. When
the oars were in use, these sails were clewed up. Several cannon were
fitted to each side, and one was designed to fire from the stern; but
when in action, the usual plan was to ram the enemy's craft, and thus
disable him, or, by boarding, to effect a capture in a hand-to-hand
fight. The half-naked, half-starved slaves often dropped dead at the
oars, and were ruthlessly cast into the sea. No more cruel punishment
could be inflicted upon a criminal than to condemn him to the life of an
oarsman in the galleys.

There is probably no more striking and significant example of the
material progress of the times than that afforded by contrasting the
iron-clad warship of to-day with a fighting caravel of the period of
which we are speaking.

Contrary to what might reasonably be supposed, the people who lived upon
the shores of the Mediterranean did not build vessels which were at all
comparable in general excellence with those constructed by the Northmen
at the