Large ships had two decks, an upper one and a gun-deck underneath. Towards the end of the sixteenth century, a third deck, called a false orlop was laid in the hold to carry cabins and stores. The ship was divided transversely on both upper and lower decks by means of bulkheads where the forecastle and poop ended. Gravel ballast was used to such an extent that but little room was left for stores. A large portion of the space left in the hold of the ship in the waist was taken up by the cooking-galley which was a solid structure of bricks and mortar. Raleigh[77] complains of the heat “that comes from the cook roome” as well of the risk of fire which it afforded, and of the unsavoury smells which emanated from this part of the ship. He therefore recommends that the “cook roomes” be placed in the forecastle instead, as was the custom already adopted by many of the merchant ships. When Elizabeth came to the throne, the _Henri Grace à Dieu_ had been accidentally burnt five years before. Apart from the _Jesus of Lubeck_ (700 tons), the _Triumph_ was the largest English ship afloat. Built in 1561, her tonnage was over a thousand, and her crew numbered 500. Until the launching of the _Prince Royal_ in 1610, she was the finest English ship afloat. But though there were improvements going on in regard to the building of the ships, the lot of the sailor was not entirely a happy one. Musty rations, want of clothes, and the harmful effects of the bilge water collecting in the bottom of the ship and emitting an unwholesome stench, caused scurvy and dysentery; and the sailors of both the English ships and the Spanish Armada suffered terribly from these. But on the other hand, we find that as early as the year 1601, Lancaster, during his first voyage for the East India Company, kept the crew of his flagship in comparatively good health by serving out lime-juice.[78] [Illustration: FIG. 50. THE “ARK ROYAL,” ELIZABETH’S FLAGSHIP. BUILT IN 1587.]