As soon as she had been
long enough at sea to enable the band again to recover from the effects
of sickness the oars were got out and the men practised in their use.

As in the models from which she had been built, she rowed two banks of
oars, the one worked by men upon deck, the others through small
port-holes. The latter could only be used when the weather was fine;
when the sea was high they were closed up and fastened. The lower-deck
oars were each rowed by one man, while the upper bank, which were
longer and heavier, had each two men to work it.

Before starting Edmund had increased the strength of his band to ninety
men, that number being required for the oars, of which the Dragon had
fifteen on each bank on each side. At first there was terrible
splashing and confusion, but in time the men learned to row in order,
and in three weeks after putting to sea the oars worked well in time
together, and the Dragon, with her ninety rowers, moved through the
water at a great rate of speed.

During this time she had never been far from land keeping but a short
distance from the port from which she had sailed, as Edmund did not
wish to fall in with the Danes until his crew were able to maneuver her
with the best effect. When, at last, satisfied that all knew their duty
he returned to port, took in a fresh supply of provisions, and then
sailed away again in search of the enemy. He coasted along the shore of
Hampshire and Sussex without seeing a foe, and then sailing round Kent
entered the mouth of the Thames. The Dragon kept on her way until she
reached the point where the river begins to narrow, and there the sails
were furled and the anchor thrown overboard to wait for Danish galleys
coming down the river.

On the third day after they had anchored they perceived four black
specks in the distance, and these the sailors soon declared to be
Danish craft. They were rowing rapidly, having ten oars on either side,
and at their mast-heads floated the Danish Raven. The anchor was got
up, and as the Danes approached, the Golden Dragon, the standard of
Wessex, was run up to the mast-head, the sails were hoisted, the oars
got out, and the vessel advanced to meet the approaching Danes.

These for a moment stopped rowing in astonishment at seeing so large a
ship bearing the Saxon flag. Then they at once began to scatter in
different directions; but the Dragon, impelled both by the wind and her
sixty oars, rapidly overtook them. Wh