Sea-Wolves of the Mediterranean: The grand period of the Moslem corsairsCurrey, E. Hamilton (Edward Hamilton)
History
Sea-Wolves of the Mediterranean: The grand period of the Moslem corsairs
Currey, E. Hamilton (Edward Hamilton)
Africa, North -- History; Pirates
So distinct at this time was the line drawn between the sailing vessel
and the galley that the actual terminology used was entirely different;
that is to say, the names of such things as masts, sails, rudder,
tiller, stern, stempost, cutwater, etc., were not the same words; the
sailor who used sails could not understand his brother mariner who used
oars, and _vice versa_.
[Illustration: GALLEY UNDER OARS.]
What was necessary of course in the galley was many oars and many
hands to use them; the vessel was most skilfully constructed for this
purpose so as to get the fullest power from her human engines; the
result was that men were crowded on board of her to such an extent that
there was scarcely room to breathe, such a craft as the one of which
the dimensions have been given having on board some four hundred men.
Barras de la Penne, a French officer who in 1713 first went on board a
galley, thus describes what he saw:
“Those who see a galley for the first time are astonished
to see so many persons; there are an infinite number of
villages in Europe which do not contain an equal number
of inhabitants; however, this is not the principal cause
of one’s surprise, but that so many men can be assembled
in so small a space. It is truth that many of them have
not room to sleep at full length, for they put seven men
on one bench; that is to say, on a space about ten feet
long and four broad; at the bows one sees some thirty
sailors who have for their lodging the floor space of the
rambades (this is the platform at the prow of the galley)
which consists of a rectangular space ten feet long by
eight in width. The captain and officers who live on the
poop are scarcely better lodged, and one is tempted to
compare their grandeur with that of Diogenes in his tub.
“When the unpitying Libyan Sea surprises these galleys
upon the Roman coasts, when the Norther lashes to foam
the Gulf of Lyons, when the humid east wind of Syria
is driving them off shore, everything combines to make
life on board a modern galley a hell of misery and
discomfort. The creaking of the blocks and cordage, the
loud cries of the sailors, the horrible maledictions
of the galley slaves, the groaning of the timbers,
mingled with the clank of chains and the bellowings of
the tempest, produce sentiments of affright in the most
intrepid breasts. The rain, the hail, the lightning,
habitual accompaniments of these terrific storms, the
waves which dash over the vessel, all add to the horror
of the situation, and although devotion is not as a rule
very strongly marked on board a galley, you will hear
these folk praying to God, and others making vows to the
Saints; these would do much better not to forget God and
his Saints when the danger is past.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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