This brings us to the earliest indication that I can find of the use of guns afloat. It is a document dated 1338, in which Guillaume du Moulin, of Boulogne, acknowledges to have received from Thomas Fouques, the custodian of the enclosure for the King's galleys at Rouen, a _pot-de-fer_ to throw "fire garots", together with forty-eight garots in two cases, 1 pound of saltpetre, and 1/2 pound of sulphur "to make powder to fire the said garots". Now it seems more than probable that this _pot-de-fer_ or _vase_ was very similar to that in the Oxford manuscript and that it was intended for use afloat, or it would not have been among the stores belonging to the galleys. The recipient being at Boulogne, we may fairly assume that it was required by him for use on shipboard. "Garots", we know, were very commonly used in naval actions at this date, either thrown by hand from the tops or propelled from espringalds. Moreover, it is evident that the gun open at both ends would be a great source of danger on board ship. The system of breech-closing on shore was singularly rough and ineffective; there must have been nearly as much "back-fire" at the breech as flames from the muzzle. This would be a constant danger afloat, and, unless a few _vases_ like those described were sometimes used, it is probable that cannon were not adopted for sea service until some more regular and effective breech-closing apparatus had been evolved. But for this seamen had not very long to wait. The progress of gun-making was now proceeding apace, especially in Germany and Flanders. At first, and for some time, there do not seem to have been any what we may call "moderate-sized" cannon, or, at any rate, they are not so much in evidence as the very large ones and the very small ones. The latter were not bigger than very heavy muskets, and it was with weapons of this kind that the many-gunned ships of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century were principally equipped, though, as time went on, heavier pieces were added. To show how very small these little cannon were, it is only necessary to quote from Monstrelet's _Chronicles_, in which he tells us that, in 1418: "The Lord of Cornwall ... crossed the Seine ... having with him in a _skiff_ a _horse loaded with small cannons_". When one reads of the extraordinary numbers of guns which are said to have been used in some mediæval battles and sieges, one should always bear this passage in mind. [Illustration: _Photo by the Author_ THE _DULLE GRIETE_ AT GHENT This gun dates from 1384, and is very similar to the "marvellous great bombard" mentioned by Froissart as employed by the men of Ghent to attack Oudenarde.]