a salutary dread of what sailors term "blue water"--
that is, the deep, distant sea--and never ventured out of sight of land.
They had no compass to direct them, and in their coasting voyages of
discovery they were guided, if blown out to sea, by the stars.

The sails were made of linen in Homer's time; subsequently sail-cloth
was made of hemp, rushes, and leather. Sails were sometimes dyed of
various colours and with curious patterns. Huge ropes were fastened
round the ships to bind them more firmly together, and the bulwarks were
elevated beyond the frame of the vessels by wicker-work covered with
skins.

Stones were used for anchors, and sometimes crates of small stones or
sand; but these were not long of being superseded by iron anchors with
teeth or flukes.

The Romans were not at first so strong in naval power as their
neighbours, but in order to keep pace with them they were ultimately
compelled to devote more attention to their navies. About 260 B.C. they
raised a large fleet to carry on the war with Carthage. A Carthaginian
quinquereme which happened to be wrecked on their coast was taken
possession of by the Romans, used as a model, and one hundred and thirty
ships constructed from it. These ships were all built, it is said, in
six days; but this appears almost incredible. We must not, however,
judge the power of the ancients by the standard of present times. It is
well known that labour was cheap then, and we have recorded in history
the completion of great works in marvellously short time, by the mere
force of myriads of workmen.

The Romans not only succeeded in raising a considerable navy, but they
proved themselves ingenious in the contrivance of novelties in their
war-galleys. They erected towers on the decks, from the top of which
their warriors fought as from the walls of a fortress. They also placed
small cages or baskets on the top of their masts, in which a few men
were placed to throw javelins down on the decks of the enemy; a practice
which is still carried out in principle at the present day, men being
placed in the "tops" of the masts of our men-of-war, whence they fire
down on the enemy. It was a bullet from the "top" of one of the masts
of the enemy that laid low our greatest naval hero, Lord Nelson.

From this time the Romans maintained a powerful navy. They crippled the
maritime power of their African foes, and built a number of ships with
six and even ten ranks of oars. The