74

HISTORY OF MARINE ARCHITECTURE.

or vessels required for any light service, and those with one tier of oars, as sloops -of war, supplying the place of scouts and advice-boats.

The same author, whose account, not as deserving implicit belief of its cor-rectness, but, as containing more arithmetical statement, appears better to beadhered to, than any other, after having, with no small degree of labour, endea-voured to clear a long existing doubt, and fix a true standard to the ancient mea-sure, adds some interesting information relative to the seats themselves. 41 Thethwarts, or seats, (says he) which were placed across the vessel, were either boardsfixed for that purpose on brackets fastened to the lining, or benches regularlypropped, and extending either partially or intirely from one side of the vessel tothe other.” These different arrangements were dependent merely on the size ofthe galley : in such as were of inferior force and dimensions, it is evident therecould not exist that necessity for under propping, which, if the thwart was ofgreat length, was unavoidable. It is, however, an opinion* which has beenmost generally held, that the thwarts, even in gallies of the greatest breadth,extended completely from one side to the other,, and being firmly boltedto the frame itself, served, not only, in its first intention, for the accom-modation of the rowers, but also, in a secondary point of view, most mate-rially to strengthen and support the whole fabric. That this was the two-fold application, may be very fairly collected from Eustathius: ha to <rv[*fitfivix.Bvai,Totg r otovToif £uyotg Qjywvat T£ t ovg tuv veuv t olyovg, xal £<ff xaSefyag %g7]<n'pev£iv toi$Bge<r<rouo-t. 44 It happens, therefore, that the £uyu, anglice thwarts, served as beamsto strengthen the vessel, while at the same time they are principally intended asseats for the rowers.” Again: u$ Qoyuv Xeyopivuv tuv fuyaXuv ^vXuv, tuv tovsTorxcvs hr[/.cvvTuv xai truvayovruv, Slxrjv £vyou, 44 the beams were called £uya bythe Greeks, because, like couples or ties, they served to strengthen and keeptogether the sides of the vessel.”

Some few persons, indeed, among whom is Meibomius himself, seem rather towaver in their opinion concerning these juga, or transtra, as they were indiscri-nately called, and trace the etymology to the structure and position of the thwartitself. They declare it as their idea, that it was called jugum, not from the verbjungo, signifying to join, as others imagined, but from the similarity which itsform, consisting of a plank supported by two uprights, bore to the jugum *,under which it was customary with the Roman republic, and its rivals, to

* Two spears stuck in die ground, and a third tied across on the top of them.

decree,