CURIOSITIES RESPECTING THE SEA.—(Concluded.)

On the Perfection of Navigation.

The following account of the present wonderful perfection of navigation, is taken from a History of Voyages and Discoveries made in the North; translated from the German of John Reinhold Foster, LL.D.—“Of all the arts and professions which have at any time attracted notice, none has ever appeared to be more astonishing and marvellous than that of navigation, in the state in which it is at present; an art which doubtless affords one of the most certain irrefragable proofs of the amazing powers of the human understanding. This cannot be made more evident, than when, taking a retrospective view of the tottering inartificial craft to which navigation owes its origin, we compare it to a noble and majestic edifice, containing 1000 men, together with their provisions, drink, furniture, wearing-apparel, and other necessaries, for many months, besides 100 pieces of heavy ordnance; and bearing all this vast apparatus safely, and as it were on the wings of the wind, across immense seas to the most distant shores. The following example may serve for the present to delineate at full length, as it were, the idea above alluded to. But first I must premise, that a huge unwieldy log of wood, with the greatest difficulty, and in the most uncouth manner, hollowed out in the inside, and somewhat pointed at both ends, and in this way set on a river for the purpose of transporting two or three persons belonging to one and the same family, across a piece of water a few feet deep, by the assistance of a pole pushed against the ground, cannot with any propriety be considered as the image of navigation in its first and earliest stage. For it seems evident to me, that people in the beginning only took three or four trunks of trees, and fastened them together, and then, by means of this kind of raft, got across such waters as were too deep for them to ford, and across which they could not well swim, with their children, and various kinds of goods which they might wish to preserve from being wet. The canoe, however, is a specimen of the art in a more advanced state, as this kind of craft is capable of having direction given to it, and even of so capital an improvement as that of having a sail added to it. For this reason I choose this vehicle for a standard, in preference to a mere raft, to which, imperfect as it is, it is so much superior.

“Let us, then, compare this with a large majestic floating edifice, the result of the ingenuity and labour of many hundreds of hands, and composed of a number of well-proportioned pieces, nicely fastened together by iron nails and bolts; and rendered so tight with tow and pitch, that no water can penetrate it. Now, in order to give motion and direction to this enormous machine, some astonishingly lofty pieces of timber have been fixed upright in it, and so many moveable cross pieces have been added to it, together with such a variety of pieces of strong linen cloth, for the purpose of catching the wind, and of receiving its impulse and propelling power, that the number of them amounts to upwards of thirty. For changing the direction of the yards and sails, according to particular circumstances, it has also been requisite to add a vast quantity of cordage and tackling; and nevertheless, even all this would not be sufficient for the perfect direction and government of the vessel, if there were not fastened to the hinder part of it, by means of hinges and hooks, a moveable piece of wood, very small indeed, in proportion to the whole machine, but the least inclination of which to either side is sufficient to give immediately a different direction to this enormously large mass, and that even in a storm, so that two men may direct and govern this swimming island with the same, or with greater ease, than a single man can do a boat. But if, besides, we consider, that, in a vessel like this, not a single piece is put in at random, but that every part of it has its determinate measure and proportion, and is fixed precisely in that place which is the most advantageous for it; that, throughout every part of it, there is distributed an astonishing quantity of blocks, stays, and pulleys, for the purpose of diminishing the friction, and of accelerating the motion of these parts; that even the bellying and vaulted part of the fabric, together with its sharp termination underneath, are proportioned according to the nicest calculations, and the most accurately determined rules; that the length and the thickness of the masts, the size of the booms and yards, the length, width, and strength of the sails and tackling, are all in due proportion to each other, according to certain rules founded upon the principles of motion: when we consider all this, I say, our admiration increases more and more at this great masterpiece of human power and understanding.

“Still, however, there are wanting a few traits to complete this description. A man in health consumes, in the space of twenty-four hours, about eight pounds of victuals and drink: consequently, 8000lb. of provisions are required daily in such a ship. Now, let us suppose a ship to be fitted out for three months only, and we shall find that she must be laden with 720,000lb. of provisions. A large forty-two pounder weighs about 6100lb. if made of brass, and about 5500lb. if iron; and generally there are twenty-eight or thirty of these on board a ship of 100 guns, the weight of which, exclusive of that of their carriages, amounts to 183,000lb.—on the second deck, thirty twenty-four pounders, each of which weighs about 5100lb. and therefore altogether 153,000lb.—the weight of the twenty-six or twenty-eight twelve-pounders on the lower deck, amounts to about 75,400lb.—that of the fourteen six-pounders on the upper deck, to about 26,600lb.—besides which, on the round tops, there are even three-pounders and swivels. Now, if to this we add, that the complete charge of a forty-two pounder weighs about 64lb. and that at least upwards of 100 charges are required for each gun, we shall find this to amount nearly to the same weight as the guns themselves. In addition to this, we must reflect, that every ship must have, by way of providing against exigencies, at least a second set of sails, cables, cordage, and tacklings, which altogether amount to a considerable weight. The stores, likewise, consisting of planks, pitch, and tow; the chests belonging to the officers and sailors; the surgeon’s stores, and various other articles requisite on a long voyage; as also the small arms, bayonets, swords, and pistols, are no inconsiderable load; to which we must finally add the weight of the crew, which is not very trifling: so that one of these large ships carries at least 2162 tons burden, or 4,324,000lb. and at the same time is steered and governed with as much ease as the smallest boat. Now, the consideration of these circumstances alone, is sufficient to excite the most serious reflections in a contemplative mind; and yet, if such a ship sailed along the coast only, and never lost sight of the shore, as the navigators of old used to do, we might still be tempted to look upon navigation as an easy and trifling business. But the finding the straightest and shortest way over an ocean of more than sixty or eighty degrees in longitude, and thirty or forty in latitude; or across a track from 4000 to 6000 miles in extent, by day and by night, in fair weather or in foul; as well when the sky is overcast as when it is clear, and often with no other guide than the compass, and the being able to determine the true position of the ship at sea, by the height of the sun, though this latter be enveloped in clouds, or to direct its course by the moon and stars with such exactness and precision, as not to make a mistake of the value of half a degree, or thirty miles; this at least shews the progress and great perfection of an art practised by a class of people, of whose understanding many conceited and supercilious landsmen have but a mean opinion, and whose plain and simple manners they frequently take the liberty of turning into ridicule, forgetting how much they are indebted to their skill and prowess.

“A violent storm of wind will make us tremble with fear, even in a strong well-built house, and in the midst of a populous city; yet we have seldom or never either seen or experienced the vast power of the enraged waves, when beat about by the winds, and dashed against each other till they seem transformed into froth and vapour, and the whole surface of the ocean presents to the eye a confused scene of immense watery mountains and bottomless precipices; and yet on such a sea as this the true seaman, provided he has but a good ship, rides with calm and unshaken courage, and thinks himself as safe in the midst of the ocean as in the best fortified castle.”

With gallant pomp and beauteous pride,
The floating pile in harbour rode;
Proud of her freight, the swelling tide
Reluctant left the vessel’s side,
And rais’d it as it flow’d.
The waves, with eastern breezes curl’d,
Had silver’d half the liquid plain;
The anchors weigh’d, the sails unfurl’d,
Serenely mov’d the wooden world,
And stretch’d along the main.