of our course, and must get back to our point of departure. Although Henry VIII is inseparably connected with the _Henri Grace à Dieu_, this famous ship was by no means the only improved type of fighting-ship which dates from his reign. There were, besides the great ships, such as the _Henri_, the _Jesus of Lubeck_,[19] and others, a class known as galleasses, without a raised poop and forecastle, with a single tier of heavy guns, and a protruding spur or "beak" forward. They had fully-rigged main- and foremasts, a mizen and a bonaventure mizen--these last two masts very small and carrying a single lateen sail apiece--and a long bowsprit. There is little doubt that these were an adaptation of the Mediterranean galleys modified to suit Northern seas. Ships were longer-lived in those days than at present, and though many of those in Elizabeth's navy had originally belonged to that of her father, in the newer vessels their constructors endeavoured to combine the best qualities of both the great ships and the galleasses. The ships of this improved type were known as "galleons", a word that is generally, but erroneously, taken to refer only to Spanish ships. The battleships of both nations were galleons at this period, but they differed considerably in their general lines and in their armament. Generally speaking, the Spanish ships were higher out of the water and carried lighter cannon than our own. An Elizabethan battleship, then, was rather longer than earlier great ships, and, though she still had a comparatively high stern, it was not to be compared in this respect with that of the _Henri_. The "fore castle" had come down to a very low affair, the bows finishing with a "beak-head" adopted from the galleasse, but with the spur at its extremity replaced by a figurehead--generally a lion, dragon, or unicorn. The general uniformity in colouring which marked the earlier Tudor men-of-war had been replaced by a "go as you please" system, under which one ship had her upper works painted red, another white and green, a third black and white, while a fourth might retain the old regulation timber colour. Considerable sums were expended in carving, gilding, and decoration in colour, not only at the bow and stern, but along the exterior of the bulwarks. As regards the armament carried afloat, at this and later times, particulars will be given in a future chapter.