tighter,
tougher, better put together, than that woven by the big steam-loom.
It was at one time the custom to decorate the sail, with a design of
coloured cloth, cut out, as one cuts out a paper pattern, and stitched
upon its face with sail twine. In the royal ships this design was of
lions rampant, cut out of scarlet say. The custom of carrying such
coloured canvas appears to have died out by the end of the sixteenth
century. Perhaps flag signalling had come into vogue making it necessary
to abandon anything that might tend to confuse the colours. About the
same time we abandoned the custom of making our ships gay with little
flags, of red and white linen, in guidons like those on a trooper's
lance. All through the Tudor reigns our ships carried them, but for some
reason the practice was allowed to die out. A last relic of it still
flutters on blue water in the little ribbons of the wind-vane, on the
weather side the poop, aboard sailing ships.

The great ship carried three boats, which were stowed on chocks in the
waist, just forward of the main-mast, one inside the other when not in
use. The boats were, the long boat, a large, roomy boat with a movable
mast; the cock, cog or cok boat, sometimes called the galley-watt; and
the whale, or jolly boat, a sort of small balenger, with an iron-plated
bow, which rowed fourteen oars. It was the custom to tow one or more of
these boats astern, when at sea, except in foul weather, much as one may
see a brig, or a topsail schooner, to-day, with a dinghy dragging
astern. The boat's coxswain stayed in her as she towed, making her
clean, fending her off, and looking out for any unfortunate who chanced
to fall overboard.

_Authorities._--W. Charnock: "History of Marine Architecture."
Julian Corbett: "Drake and the Tudor Navy." A. Jal: "Archeologie
Navale"; "Glossaire Nautique." Sir W. Monson: "Naval Tracts." Sir H.
Nicholas: "History of the Royal Navy." M. Oppenheim: "History of the
Administration of the Royal Navy"; "Naval Inventories of the Reign
of Henry VII."

CHAPTER XVII

GUNS AND GUNNERS

Breech-loaders--Cartridges--Powder--The gunner's art

Cannon were in use in Europe, it is thought, in the eleventh century;
for the art of making gunpowder came westward, from China, much earlier
than people have supposed. It is certain that gunpowder was used "in
missiles," before it was used to propel them. The earliest cannon were
generally of