Herodotus has furnished an interesting description of how the Egyptian boats and barges were built. From the acantha[160] tree the Egyptians cut planks about two cubits in length, arranging them like bricks. “They attach them,”[161] he adds, “to a number of long poles till the hull is complete, when they lay the cross planks on the top from side to side. They make no use of ribs, but caulk the seams with the papyrus; they make only one rudder, and that is driven through the keel. They use a mast of acantha and sails of papyrus. These vessels are unable to sail up the stream unless they have a brisk breeze, but are towed from the shore. They are thus carried down the stream. There is to each a raft made of tamarisk, wattled with a band of reeds, and a stone, bored through the middle, of about two talents[162] in weight; the raft is fastened to the vessel by a cable, and allowed to float down in front, while the stone is held by another cable at the stern; by this means the raft, by the stream bearing hard upon it, moves quickly, and draws along the ‘baris’ (for this is the name given to these vessels); but the stone being dragged at the stern, and sunk to the bottom, keeps the vessel straight. They have very many of these vessels, and some of them carry many thousand talents.” [Sidenote: Mode of building them.] The following drawing, taken from Champollion’s “Description de l’Egypte,” furnishes monumental proof of the accuracy of Herodotus, in his description of their construction.[163] Men may be seen building a boat, much resembling a modern barge, with a high poop, and a long bow, apparently binding bands of papyrus round the boards, while others are bringing, on their backs, baskets filled with reeds, to be twisted into similar bands. But the larger vessels must have been fastened together (though Herodotus does not mention this) by either metal bolts, or trenails. [Illustration] [Sidenote: Cargo barges.] Herodotus, therefore, probably refers to the smaller craft employed upon the Nile. Many interesting drawings of these river boats are to be found in Wilkinson’s “Manners and Customs” of that ancient people. Most of them have been copied from ancient monuments, and have evidently had their imperfections corrected, as far as practicable, by a reference to the boats and barges of modern times, similarly employed. For instance, the following sketch, taken originally from one of the paintings on a tomb at Kom-el-Ahmars,[164] near Minieh, represents, in many respects, one of the large Nile barges still in use. From having twenty-two oars on each side, her length could hardly have been less than from eighty to one hundred feet, and her form shows considerable capacity for cargo. [Illustration] [Sidenote: Their rig.]