Page:History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce (Volume 1).djvu/245

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remarkable among men in other respects so ignorant; their recovery from crushing defeats being often scarcely less glorious than their victories. Thus, when joined with the Vandals in the expedition that ended in the possession of Dacia, they soon made themselves masters of the Black Sea. An enormous army needs an ample fleet; but it would seem that the fearless courage of the Goths made up for want of skill in the construction of their transport vessels. The natives of the coasts of that sea had for centuries made use of very frail boats for its navigation;^[1] and there is no reason for supposing that the Goths had better ships than Tacitus describes as on the Euxine in his day. Speaking of a sudden invasion of Pontus, A.D. 69, that historian says: "The barbarians even insolently scoured the sea, in hastily constructed vessels of their own, called 'cameræ,' built with narrow sides and broad bottoms, and joined together without fastenings of brass and iron. Whenever the water is rough, they raise the bulwarks with additional planks, according to the

↑ The Ukraine and Black Sea boats of the middle ages resembled in most respects, but with little or no improvement, those of more ancient times. They usually had ten or fifteen oars of a side, and rowed faster than the Turkish galleys. They had one mast, which carried an ill-shaped sail, used only in fine weather, as their crews preferred to row when it blew hard, and when, to prevent the waves from washing on board, they formed temporary bulwarks of reeds, which were more conveniently carried than planks. If about to undertake a hostile expedition by sea, it was not uncommon to employ at once from five to six thousand Cossacks skilled in seafaring matters, to construct the necessary number of boats, and as sixty hands could complete one in a fortnight, they could finish at least two hundred of them in a month, well-armed and ready for action. In these frail craft, the hardy mariners of the north frequently crossed the whole extent of the Black Sea, sometimes performing the voyage from the Borysthenes to Anatolia in from thirty-six to forty hours.

[1] The Ukraine and Black Sea boats of the middle ages resembled in most respects, but with little or no improvement, those of more ancient times. They usually had ten or fifteen oars of a side, and rowed faster than the Turkish galleys. They had one mast, which carried an ill-shaped sail, used only in fine weather, as their crews preferred to row when it blew hard, and when, to prevent the waves from washing on board, they formed temporary bulwarks of reeds, which were more conveniently carried than planks. If about to undertake a hostile expedition by sea, it was not uncommon to employ at once from five to six thousand Cossacks skilled in seafaring matters, to construct the necessary number of boats, and as sixty hands could complete one in a fortnight, they could finish at least two hundred of them in a month, well-armed and ready for action. In these frail craft, the hardy mariners of the north frequently crossed the whole extent of the Black Sea, sometimes performing the voyage from the Borysthenes to Anatolia in from thirty-six to forty hours.

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