e the water. The water
was prevented from entering the ports by means of leather bags fastened
round the oars and to the sides of the oar-ports. The upper oars were
about 14 ft. long, the middle 10 ft., and the lower 7-1/2 ft., and in
addition to these there were a few extra oars which were occasionally
worked from the platform, or deck, above the upper tier, probably by the
seamen and soldiers when they were not otherwise occupied. The benches
for the rowers extended from the sides to timber supports, inboard,
arranged in vertical planes fore and aft. There were two sets of these
timbers, one belonging to each side of the ship, and separated by a
space of 7 ft. These timbers also connected the upper and lower decks
together. The latter was about 1 ft. above the water-line. Below the
lower deck was the hold which contained the ballast, and in which the
apparatus for baling was fixed.

In addition to oars, sails were used as a means of propulsion whenever
the wind was favourable, but not in action.

The Athenian galleys had, at first, one mast, but afterwards, it is
thought, two were used. The mainmast was furnished with a yard and
square sail.

The upper deck, which was the fighting-platform previously mentioned,
was originally a flying structure, and, perhaps, did not occupy the full
width of the vessel amidships. At the bow, however, it was connected by
planking with the sides of the ship, so as to form a closed-in space, or
forecastle. This forecastle would doubtless have proved of great use in
keeping the ship dry during rough weather, and probably suggested
ultimately the closed decking of the whole of the ship. There is no
record of when this feature, which was general in ancient Egyptian
vessels, was introduced into Greek galleys. It was certainly in use in
the Roman warships about the commencement of the Christian era, for
there is in the Vatican a relief of about the date 50 A.D. from the
Temple of Fortune at Praeneste, which represents part of a bireme, in
which the rowers are all below a closed deck, on which the soldiers are
standing.

In addition to the fighting-deck proper there were the two side
platforms, or gangways, already alluded to, which were carried right
round the outside of the vessel on about the same level as the benches
of the upper tier of rowers. These platforms projected about 18 to 24
in. beyond the sides of the hull, and were supported on brackets. Like
the flying deck, these passag