the same advantages of situation. They did this the more easily during a
great part of the summer, because our ships were kept back by storms,
and the difficulty of sailing was very great in that vast and open sea,
with its strong tides and its harbours far apart and exceedingly few in
number.

XIII.--For their ships were built and equipped after this manner. The
keels were somewhat flatter than those of our ships, whereby they could
more easily encounter the shallows and the ebbing of the tide: the prows
were raised very high, and in like manner the sterns were adapted to the
force of the waves and storms [which they were formed to sustain]. The
ships were built wholly of oak, and designed to endure any force and
violence whatever; the benches, which were made of planks a foot in
breadth, were fastened by iron spikes of the thickness of a man's thumb;
the anchors were secured fast by iron chains instead of cables, and for
sails they used skins and thin dressed leather. These [were used] either
through their want of canvas and their ignorance of its application, of
for this reason, which is more probable, that they thought that such
storms of the ocean, and such violent gales of wind could not be
resisted by sails, nor ships of such great burden be conveniently enough
managed by them. The encounter of our fleet with these ships was of such
a nature that our fleet excelled in speed alone, and the plying of the
oars; other things, considering the nature of the place [and] the
violence of the storms, were more suitable and better adapted on their
side; for neither could our ships injure theirs with their beaks (so
great was their strength), nor on account of their height was a weapon
easily cast up to them; and for the same reason they were less readily
locked in by rocks. To this was added, that whenever a storm began to
rage and they ran before the wind, they both could weather the storm
more easily and heave to securely in the shallows, and when left by the
tide feared nothing from rocks and shelves: the risk of all which things
was much to be dreaded by our ships.

XIV.--Caesar, after taking many of their towns, perceiving that so much
labour was spent in vain and that the flight of the enemy could not be
prevented on the capture of their towns, and that injury could not be
done them, he determined to wait for his fleet. As soon as it came up
and was first seen by the enemy, about 220 of their ships, fully
equipped an