At the same time, men called oilers keep every part of the ship’s huge engines and other machinery well oiled. On some ships there is a big piston, like the driving rod on railroad engine wheels. One end of it moves in a circle. The oiler has to squirt oil in a little cup at the end of the piston. Every time the cup swings up where he can reach it, he aims his oil can. He is very careful to aim straight. If he misses the cup, oil splashes all over. No matter how careful he is, some oil does get spilled and spattered around. It is the job of the oiler to wipe it up and to polish all the brass fixtures, which he calls the brightwork. On deck, ordinary seamen polish the brightwork. [Illustration] One man is in charge of all the food on a ship. He is the steward, and the cooks work under him, and so do the messmen who are the waiters and dish washers. The radio man sends and receives all radio messages. He is called sparks. All the seamen who work on cargo vessels, and on passenger vessels, too, are divided up the same way into the deck department, the engine department and the steward’s department. As the great engine deep down in Jim’s ship pushes her through the calm blue water of the Mediterranean Sea, he stands watch in the bow. Now he begins to catch sight of small sailing vessels. When his ship enters the port of Alexandria at the mouth of the Nile River in Egypt, he is close to the place where much of the story of ships began. [Illustration: Egyptian Papyrus Reed Canoe] PAPYRUS REED CANOE. The people of Egypt discovered long ago that bundles of papyrus reed would hold up a man’s weight in the water. Later, they tied the bundles into a canoe shape which was easy to handle. [Illustration: Egyptian Dugout] EGYPTIAN DUGOUT. A log hollowed out in the shape of a reed canoe was stronger, and it lasted longer. By adding boards to a dugout along the top of each side, Egyptians had a vessel that could carry bigger loads. Paddles and their own muscles were all they had for power. [Illustration: Egyptian Oars and Sail] EGYPTIAN SAILING VESSEL. Here the power of wind was added to the power of oarsmen. Luckily the winds of Egypt blew from north to south and helped push sailing vessels up the Nile. GALLEYS. Greeks and Romans used sail-and-oar vessels called galleys. Slaves, chained to their seats, rowed in rhythm. There were many slaves, so their masters could get extra muscle-power by seating two, three or more banks of oarsmen on each side. A ship with two banks was a bireme; with three, a trireme. [Illustration: Greek Trireme] [Illustration: Rowers in a Trireme]