Page:History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce (Volume 1).djvu/351

 annals of the ancient Britons, though very limited with regard to their shipping and maritime commerce, have been so often thoroughly investigated that little remains to be done beyond collecting the leading facts which antiquarian industry has preserved, and endeavouring to re-produce them in a manner as pleasing and instructive as possible.

Separated from the rest of Europe by a sea, which in winter is very boisterous, and in summer often disturbed by currents and uncertain winds; surrounded by a coast full of danger, and with the channels to its principal havens interspersed with treacherous sand-banks, the ancient Britons must have been an adventurous race to launch their frail barks, for even a limited voyage, on waters so often disturbed by storm and tempest. Their trade, moreover, during the early periods of their history, was very inconsiderable, notwithstanding the convenient situation of their island for carrying on an extensive commerce; and the greater number of their vessels were of the rudest description. Cæsar speaks of them as being, even in his time, of the slightest construction, with the keels and ribs framed of some light wood and covered with leather; and Lucan says "they were constructed of osiers, twisted and interwoven with each other, and then covered with strong hides." In such vessels as these the Britons worked their way along their iron-bound and tempest-tossed shores, and frequently made the passage to Ireland and the coasts of Gaul. From the fact, however, that they carried on a trade, though limited,