[23] Sagas—or “says,” narratives—are records of the leading events of the lives of great Norsemen and their families. Hundreds of these records exist, though many of them are purely mythical. They date from a period not earlier than the sixth century of our era, but the downward limit cannot be exactly fixed. Not unnaturally, in such national epics as centre round the kings of Sweden, Norway and Denmark, we find references to sailing ships both frequent and detailed. [24] “This northern civilisation,” says Du Chaillu, in his account of these people (“The Viking Age,” vol. i. p. 4, London, 1889) “was peculiar to itself, having nothing in common with the Roman world, Rome knew nothing of these people till they began to frequent the coasts of her North Sea provinces, in the days of Tacitus, and after his time, the Mediterranean.... The manly civilisation the Northmen possessed was their own ... it seems to have advanced north from about the shores of the Black Sea, and ... many northern customs were like those of the ancient Greeks.” [25] Cæsar, “De Bello Gallico,” iii. chap. 13: “Pro loci natura, pro vi tempestatum, illis essent aptiora et accommodatoria.” [26] “Notes on Shipbuilding and Nautical Terms of Old in the North,” a paper read before the Viking Society for Northern Research by Eiríkr Magnússon. London, 1906. [27] It was presented to the Hull Museum while this book was in the press, June 1909. [28] “A Prehistoric Boat,” a lecture by Rev. D. Cary-Elwes. Northampton, 1903. [29] Tacitus, “Hist.” v. 23. [30] “Annual Report of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution: Prehistoric Naval Architecture of the North of Europe,” by George H. Boehmer. Washington, 1892. (See p. 527.) [31] Cæsar, “De Bello Civili,” book i. chap. 54: “Imperat militibus Cæsar, ut naves faciant, cujus generis eum superioribus annis usus Britanniæ docuerat. Carinæ primum ac statumina ex levi materia fiebant: reliquum corpus navium viminibus contextum, coriis integebatur.” [32] Cæsar, “De Bello Gallico,” III. xiii.: “Namque ipsorum naves ad hunc modum factæ armatæque erant: carinæ aliquanto planiores quam nostrarum navium, quo facilius vada ac decessum æstus excipere possent: proræ admodum erectæ atque item puppes ad magnitudinem fluctuum tempestatumque accommodatæ; naves totæ factæ ex robore ad quamvis vim et contumeliam perferendam: transtra pedalibus in altitudinem trabibus confixa clavis ferreis digiti pollicis crassitudine; ancoræ pro funibus ferreis catenis revinctæ; pelles pro velis alutæque tenuiter confectæ, [hæc] sive propter lini inopiam atque ejus usus inscientiam, sive eo, quod est magis verisimile, quod tantas tempestates Oceani tantosque impetus ventorum sustineri ac tanta onera navium regi velis non satis commode posse arbitrabantur.” Mr. St. George Stock in his edition (Cæsar, “De Bello Gallico,” books i.-vii., edited by St. George Stock, Oxford, 1898) understands “transtra” not to mean the rowing benches but crossbeams or decks.