cients bestowed on the decoration of their vessels. There was no
rudder-post, the steering having been effected by means of special
oars, as in the early Egyptian vessels. Into the keel were notched the
floor timbers, and the heads of these latter were bound together by the
keelson, or inner keel. Beams connected the top timbers of the opposite
branches of the ribs and formed the support for the deck. The planking
was put on at right angles to the frames, the butting ends of the planks
being connected by dovetails. The skin of the ship was strengthened, in
the Athenian galleys, by means of stout planks, or waling-pieces,
carried horizontally round the ship, each pair meeting together in front
of the stem, where they formed the foundations for the beaks, or rams.
The hulls were further strengthened by means of girding-cables, also
carried horizontally round the hull, in the angles formed by the
projection of the waling-pieces beyond the skin. These cables passed
through an eye-hole at the stem, and were tightened up at the stern by
means of levers. It is supposed that they were of use in holding the
ship together under the shock of ramming. The hull was made water-tight
by caulking the seams of the planking. Originally this was accomplished
with a paste formed of ground sea-shells and water. This paste, however,
not having much cohesion, was liable to crack and fall out when the
vessel strained. A slight improvement was made when the shells were
calcined and turned into lime. Pitch and wax were also employed, but
were eventually superseded by the use of flax, which was driven in
between the seams. Flax was certainly used for caulking in the time of
Alexander the Great, and a similar material has continued to be employed
for this purpose down to the present day. In addition to caulking the
seams, it was also customary to coat over the bottom with pitch, and the
Romans, at any rate, used sometimes to sheath their galleys with sheet
lead fastened to the planking with copper nails. This was proved by the
discovery of one of Trajan's galleys in Lake Riccio after it had been
submerged for over thirteen centuries.

[Illustration: FIG. 18.--Stem and stern ornaments of galleys.]

[Illustration: FIG. 19.--Bow of ancient war-galley.]

[Illustration: FIG. 20.--Bow of ancient war-galley.]

The bows of the ancient war galleys were so constructed as to act as
rams. The ram was made of hard timber projecting beyond the line of the
bo