o high, for if they were too high they hindered
the mariners, when they ran the cannon out in action (_Norton_, _Moore_,
_Bourne_, _Monson_). Moreover, if the wheels were very large, and the
ship were heeled over, the wheel rims would grind the ship's side
continually, unless large skids were fitted to them. And if the wheels
were large they gave a greater fierceness to the impetus of the recoil,
when the piece was fired. The ports were to be rather "deepe uppe and
downe" than broad in the traverse, and it was very necessary that the
lower port-sill should not be too far from the deck, "for then the
carriage muste bee made verye hygh, and that is verye evill" (_Bourne_).
The short cannon were placed low down, at the ship's side, because short
cannon were more easily run in, and secured, when the ports were closed,
owing to the ship's heeling, or the rising of the sea. A short gun,
projecting its muzzle through the port, was also less likely to catch
the outboard tackling of the sails, such as "Sheetes and Tackes, or the
Bolynes." And for these reasons any very long guns were placed astern,
or far forward, as bow, or stern chasers. It was very necessary that the
guns placed at the stern should be long guns, for the tall poops of the
galleons overhung the sea considerably. If the gun, fired below the
overhang, did not project beyond the woodwork, it was liable to "blowe
up the Counter of the Shyppes Sterne," to the great detriment of gilt
and paint. Some ships cut their stern ports down to the deck, and
continued the deck outboard, by a projecting platform. The guns were run
out on to this platform, so that the muzzles cleared the overhang. These
platforms were the originals of the quarter-galleries, in which, some
centuries later, the gold-laced admirals took the air (_Bourne_).

Sir Jonas Moore, who published a translation of Moretti's book on
artillery, in 1683, added to his chapters some matter relating to
sea-gunners, from the French of Denis Furnier.

"The Gunner, whom they call in the _Straights Captain_,
_Master-Canoneer_, and in _Bretagne_ and _Spain_, and in other places
_Connestable_, is one of the principal Officers in the Ship; it is he
alone with the Captain who can command the Gunners. He ought to be a man
of courage, experience, and vigilant, who knows the goodness of a Peece
of Ordnance, the force of Powder, and who also knows how to mount a
Peece of Ordnance upon its carriage, and to furnish it with Bolt