another were then in use as tillers to assist the steerage.
Although a tolerably accurate impression may be formed from the monuments of the various kinds of vessels employed on the great river and the canals, there is, beyond these, no evidence of the form and dimensions of their other vessels. We may, however, presume that, till the times of the Ptolemies, the Egyptians did not build any large sea-going ships; one reason of this probably being, that Egypt, within her own territory, had no forest timber adapted for such a purpose. Hence, indeed, as is well known, arose the sanguinary wars so long and so fiercely waged between the Ptolemies and the Seleucidæ—the inheritors from the Tyrians of the forests of Lebanon, who, mindful of the elder times, as well as of the value of this property, were little inclined to give the Egyptians the means of becoming a powerful maritime people.
Variety of boats, and their superiority. But though, from the scarcity of suitable timber,[1] and the repugnance of its people to sea-faring pursuits, Egypt was never destined to occupy a position of any influence as a maritime nation, it surpassed all others of the old world in the number, variety, and excellence of its boats for inland navigation. Beyond those already described there were others of the most fanciful description, in form and rig. The mode of keeping the sail flat introduced only a few years ago by the famous yacht America, whose sails were lashed to spars to prevent them from bellying, was, after all, only the double yard used by the Egyptians four thousand years ago. The painted eye upon the
- ↑ Egypt produced no forest timber nor any lofty trees, except the date-palm and sycamore, of which the mummy cases are made.
