HISTORY OF MARINE ARCHITECTURE.

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under Hengist and Horsa, amounting only to fifteen hundred, could haveappeared in an hostile character. As these (according to a remark alreadymade were embarked in no more than three vessels, it may certainly beinferred, that the Saxons at that period stood very high in the scale of marineimprovement, a consideration which materially relates to the present subject, asBritain, soon after, falling in a great measure under the rule of that warlikepeople, embraced likewise most of their manners, and customs, and partook oftheir advantages. There are indeed some reasons for supposing that theywere superior even to the Romans in every branch of nautical knowlege andpractice, and if these be admitted, the coming of the Saxons into this islandmay be considered as a grand epoch in its naval history.

The favourable reception v/hich the followers of Hengist and Horsa metwith from Vortigern, the British prince, was, owing to reasons before assigned,the signal for a second expedition. A numerous body of their countrymen,with a fleet of forty ships, arrived on the northern coast, and, as allies to theBritons, furiously attacked the Scots and Piets, whom they repeatedly van-quished with great slaughter, and afterwards sat down quietly in the Hebrides,and on the western shores of Scotland. But they soon quitted that situation, and,spurred on by the ambition of Hengist, as well as by the desire of settling in aclimate more hospitable and productive, turned their arms, jointly with thoseof his troops, against the too credulous Britons. An horrible devastation fol-lowed, but in the end, the latter proved successful. Vortimer, the son of theBritish ruler, after having defeated the Saxons in three engagements, anddriven them to their ships, gave them battle by sea, in which proving equallyfortunate, the invaders turned their backs for a while on Britain, and fled totheir own coast. This action is said to have happened off the isle of Thanet.It may be asked here, how came the Saxons, whom we have just conjecturedto be very superior in naval skill and strength to the Britons, to be conqueredat sea by the latter ? Doubtless, because the whole British navy, however illappointed, was infinitely more numerous than that which transported theSaxons hither. But hence arises another question seemingly more difficult.Why then did not the Saxons send for a naval succour from home ? Theanswer is to be found in their own system of polity. It was among the cus-toms of Germany to assemble, from time to time, the young men of the

* See page 217.

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country,