The sails were generally square; they were sometimes of rectangular shape on the Alexandria freight ships. War ships, like important freight vessels, always had two masts. (Dr. ~Breusing~, _Die Nautik der Alten_, p. 56.) In action, the sails were furled and the masts lowered, in order to save them from being reached by the ram of the enemy’s ships. (Dr. ~Breusing~, p. 71.) [Sidenote: II 31] Attention should not bear alone on large ships, but also on the small merchant vessels. The most beautiful picture of this sort of boat is, unquestionably, the old relief of the Cathedral at Salerno. (_Jahrbuch des Kaiserlichen Deutschen Archeol. Instituts_, Vol. IV, p. 103, fig. 1_c_.) Aside from the question of the rudder, the vessel there shown would easily pass for a modern craft. This boat is in course of being discharged; the bridge is lowered and the forward panel is raised. The mast which is down had to be taken from its step for this purpose; this method was still much in use in our country in the XVIIIth century. The steering oars hang alongside of the vessel, resting against the projecting side. The boat itself is completed by a stem and a sternpost. The step of the mast is about one-third of the length of the boat from the bow, and abaft this is seen the hold. This last, as in our present river boats, is closed by means of panels. Even the grooves (half-rounds), into which the panels are set, can be made out and, in these grooves, even the openings to let the water run off (shown by little marks) are to be seen. The panels are on a slope, as shown by the upper lines. The meaning of these little half-circles was not understood by the author of the Jahrbuch afore-named. (_Jahrbuch des Kais. Deutsch. Arch. Instituts_, Vol. IV, 1889, p. 103.) Two mooring bitts are seen near the bow and four near the stern; their special form allows it to be assumed that they were to be used as a support for oars, which gave the means for going ahead in a calm. The mast, which is short and thick, is provided with cleats throughout its entire height, hence it may be supposed that these pieces of wood were placed there for climbing the mast. Hence it is probable that this boat did not have rigging sufficiently strong for this purpose. It is true that no ropes are seen in the figure in question, but it cannot be concluded, however, that the vessel had none. It is my opinion that this boat could not have been larger than a small “tialque”. Here is another proof in support of the argument that, in the course of ages, boats have been but little changed and that their construction soon reached a high degree of perfection. There is nothing surprising to be found in this assertion, if the masterpieces bequeathed to us by the Greeks and Romans be considered.