vessel straight. They have very many of these vessels, and some of them carry many thousand talents."
Mode of building them. The following drawing, taken from Champollion's "Description de l'Egypte," furnishes monumental proof of the accuracy of Herodotus, in his description of their construction.[1]
Men may be seen building a boat, much resembling a modern barge, with a high poop, and a long bow, apparently binding bands of papyrus round the boards, while others are bringing, on their backs, baskets filled with reeds, to be twisted into similar bands. But the larger vessels must have been fastened together (though Herodotus does not mention this) by either metal bolts, or trenails.
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Cargo barges. Herodotus, therefore, probably refers to the smaller craft employed upon the Nile.
Many interesting drawings of these river boats are to be found in Wilkinson's "Manners and Customs" of that ancient people. Most of them have been copied from ancient monuments, and have evidently had their imperfections corrected, as far as practicable, by a reference to the boats and
- ↑ See also Rawlinson's "Herodotus," vol. ii. p. 132.
