invention; while
venerable patriarchs, of seven or eight hundred summers, gazed in
wonder, with almost prophetic solemnity, and exclaimed that they had
never before seen the like of _that_ in all the course of their long,
long lives!

Those times are old now--so old that men can scarcely get their minds to
realise how old they are; nevertheless, the craft that were used then
are used even now, and that not only among the savages of distant lands,
but by men living at our very doors.

The _coracle_, a basket-boat of the most primitive description, is still
occasionally met with in South Wales. It is neither more nor less than
a large wicker basket covered with a hide, and is tub-shaped, and clumsy
to a degree. When the Romans invaded Britain, this species of boat was
in common use. Like the canoe of the North American Indian, it is
easily upset, and we should think must be rather unmanageable; but as we
are not likely ever again to be reduced to it in this country, we can
afford to regard its faults with indifference.

From little boats to big boats there is but a step; and no doubt rivers
were soon navigated, and new countries explored, while those who lived
near the sea-coast dared even to launch their boats upon the ocean; but
they "hugged the shore," undoubtedly, and seldom ventured to proceed at
night unless the stars shone brightly in the sky.

Years rolled on, and dwellers on the sea-coast became more and more
venturous in their voyages along the shore. It behoved them to have
larger boats, or barges, with numerous rowers, who would naturally carry
weapons with them to guard themselves from foes. War-galleys sprang
into being. Strong winds sometimes carried these off-shore, and out of
sight of land. Ah, reader! who can conceive the feelings of the first
mariners who saw the solid land sink on the horizon, and beheld nothing
substantial in all the waste of waters, save their own tiny bark that
reeled beneath them on the heaving billows? Perchance these first
adventurers on the deep found their way back to land, and afterwards
tried the bold experiment of steering by the stars. Perhaps not; but at
length it did come about that ships were built, and men were found bold
enough to put to sea in them for days and weeks together.

The ark is the first ship of which we have any authentic account. We
now leave the region of conjecture; for the ark was built by Noah under
the immediate direction of the Almigh