Page:History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce (Volume 1).djvu/105

 barges of modern times, similarly employed. For instance, the following sketch, taken originally from one of the paintings on a tomb at Kom-el-Ahmars, near Minieh, represents, in many respects, one of the large Nile barges still in use. From having twenty-two oars on each side, her length could hardly have been less than from eighty to one hundred feet, and her form shows considerable capacity for cargo.

Like the other boats of the Nile, this vessel has only one sail, but the mast appears to have been composed of two spars of similar size, secured by backstays to her after-part. It is not easy to understand why two spars should have been used; but it is possible that by these means a large and heavy sail might in stormy weather be lowered on either side, according to the direction of the wind; this, however, would require some mechanical contrivance not indicated. If the yard was a fixture aloft, moving