Page:History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce (Volume 1).djvu/347

 not have been of the form generally drawn. They are more likely to have been oblong, fashioned so as to allow the oar—which in galleys of many banks could only have been unshipped by being passed outwards—to be brought pretty close alongside of the vessel when the rowers ceased work. In regard to the seats, stools, or benches of the rowers, so frequently mentioned, and which have created a good deal of controversy, the plan here suggested satisfies all these requirements, for to each rower a separate seat or stool attached to the oblique benches or steps is appropriated. The height of each of the oar-ports above the level of the water in that of the quinquereme, and in all vessels of greater dimensions, would be as follows:—

ft. in.

From the first or lowest port to water-line 2  0 Distance between 1st and 2nd port             1  9 "      "    2nd  "  3rd  "                1  9 "      "    3rd  "  4th  "                1  9 "      "    4th  "  5th  "                1  9 9 0

So that the height of the sill of the port on the fifth or highest bank would be nine feet above the water-line.

The space between the rowers, seated on their respective benches or platforms, doubtless varied according to the size of the galley. While from four to six feet between each rower seated on the same level would be ample in the case of uniremes, biremes, or triremes, galleys of the larger class, in many cases, most likely had an intervening space of from six to even ten feet, so as to afford room for