galley of the first century of our era represents the full development of the boat in ancient times. [Illustration: FIG. 9.--A ROMAN GALLEY WITH THREE BANKS OF OARS.] After the downfall of Rome (476 A. D.) it was a long time before there was any real progress in boat-making. The glimpses we get now and then of vessels in the Middle Ages almost make us feel that boat-building was going backward rather than forward. But such was not the case. The ship in which William of Normandy sailed (Fig. 10) when he crossed over the Channel to give battle to Harold (1066 A. D.) was not so impressive as a Roman galley, yet it was, nevertheless, a better boat. In the first place William's boat was a better sailer; it relied more upon the force of the wind and less upon the oar. In the second place, it could be steered better, for the rudder had found its way to its proper place and was worked by a tiller. Finally, the shape of the Norman boat fitted it for fiercer battles with the waves. [Illustration: FIG. 10.--THE SHIP IN WHICH WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR CROSSED THE CHANNEL IN 1066.] [Illustration: FIG. 11.--A MEDITERRANEAN GALLEY OF THE 14TH CENTURY.] If we should pass from the English Channel to the Adriatic we should find that boat-making had undergone the same changes. A Mediterranean galley of the fourteenth century (Fig. 11) shows fewer oars and more sails. Instead of three rows of oars and two sails as on the Roman galley, there are three sails and one row of oars. This was the tendency of the boat-builder in the Middle Ages; he crowded on the sail and took off the rowers. A war-boat of the sixteenth century (Fig. 12) shows that the last row of oarsmen has disappeared. [Illustration: FIG. 12.--A WAR-BOAT OF THE 16TH CENTURY, SHOWING THAT THE LAST ROW OF OARS HAD DISAPPEARED.] [Illustration: FIG. 13.--A CHINESE COMPASS. AS THE CART MOVED THE HUMAN FIGURE IN FRONT ALWAYS POINTED NORTH.]