wing to a comparatively recent
discovery we know something of Scandinavian boats. When we consider the
way in which the Norsemen overran the seaboard of Europe, it seems
probable that their types of vessels were dominant, at any rate in
Northern and Western European waters, from the tenth to the twelfth
century. From the time of the Norman Conquest down to the reign of Henry
VIII. we have to rely, for information about ships, upon occasional
notes by the old chroniclers, helped out by a few illustrations taken
from ancient corporate seals and from manuscripts. From the time of
Henry VIII., onwards, information about warships is much more abundant;
but, unfortunately, little is known of the merchant vessels of the
Tudor, Stuart, and early Hanoverian periods, and it has not been found
possible to trace the origin and development of the various types of
merchant sailing-ships now in existence.

The names of the authorities consulted have generally been given in the
text, or in footnotes. The author is indebted to Dr. Warre's article on
ships, in the last edition of the "Encyclopaedia Britannica," and to Mr.
Cecil Torr's work, "Ancient Ships," for much information concerning
Greek and Roman galleys, and further to "The Royal Navy," a history by
Mr. W. Laird Clowes, and the "History of Marine Architecture" by
Charnock, for much relating to British warships down to the end of the
eighteenth century.

5, ADELPHI TERRACE, W.C.,
_January, 1, 1900_.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
PAGE.

INTRODUCTION 1

CHAPTER II.

ANCIENT SHIPS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN AND RED SEAS 5

CHAPTER III.

ANCIENT SHIPS IN THE SEAS OF NORTHERN EUROPE 55

CHAPTER IV.

MEDIAEVAL SHIPS 65

CHAPTER V.

MODERN WOODEN SAILING-SHIPS 112

APPENDIX

DESCRIPTION OF AN ARCHAIC GREEK BIREME 157

INDEX 161

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

FIG. PAGE

*1. EGYPTIAN SHIP OF THE PUNT EXPEDITION. ABOUT 1600
B.C. _From Der-Bahari_ _Frontispiece_

2. THE OLDEST KNOWN SHIPS. ABOUT 6000 B.C. 10

3. EGYPTIAN BOAT OF THE TIME OF THE THIRD DYNASTY