apostle, Paul,-" No doubt these men are murderers, who though they have escaped retribution at home, yet vengeance suffereth not to live." Upon their progress to Ireland, we find that their first destination was Lisbon, where they arrived just in time to lend or hire themselves to the memorable expedition of Sebastian against the Moors, when a large proportion of them, together with their leader, Stukely, left their bones to whiten on the plains of Mauritania. The remnant returned to place themselves again at the disposal of James of Desmond, who conducted them to what proved their final slaughter-house, the fatal Fort Del Ore. Their end was the melancholy but not

unnatural termination of a career on which they entered, knowing that in evading the punishment of their crimes at home they had set their lives upon the event of an all-but desperate enterprise abroad; and it seems to me more accordant with the facts of the case, to attribute the event to that Providence which so often over-rules to its own uses the "unruly wills and passions of men," than to any set purpose, which, though it might not be obnoxious to the charge of perfidy, could hardly stand free of the charge of cruelty as the act of one in Lord Grey's position.

Belmont, March 12, 1849.

Bydews, Maidstone, MR. URBAN, March 9th. A PASSAGE is extant in Xiphilinus which, if literally taken, indubitably implies that the ancient Britons fitted out powerful naval armaments in the reigns of Augustus and Caligula; but so many other passages from ancient authors are apparently repugnant to this, or at least are reputed to be so, that an examination of what is said respecting the vessels of the Britons may not be without interest. We shall find that generally they by no means make the statement of Xiphilinus impossible or even improbable, while a passage in a classic author confirms his words to a remarkable degree. Extracts may therefore follow from ancient authors, and at the conclusion of them that which has been alluded to from Xiphilinus, accompanied by its presumed corroboration.

The ancient British chronicles, could we rely on their authority, would at once obviate the necessity of the present inquiries, as they in several instances speak of the fleets of the Britons: these historical documents are, however, far too apocryphal in their earlier parts to be of any use. It is necessary therefore to set aside their testimony altogether as regards our present subject.

Whoever has referred to Lucan and Pliny will see that the Britons are

Utque habuit ripas Sicoris camposque reliquit Primum cana salix madefacto vimine parvam Texitur in puppim, cæsoque inducta juvenco Vectoris patiens tumidum superenatat amnem. Sic Venetus stagnante Pado, fusoque Britannus Navigat oceano: sic quum tenet omnia Nilus Conseritur bibulâ Memphitis cymba papyro.

Of this the following may be given as the version: "When the river Sicoris began to subside, and to be contained within its banks (by Cæsar's orders, see his Commentaries, Civil Wars, i. 54), first the hoary osier with its moistened twigs is woven into a small ship; and then covered with the hide of a slain bullock it supports its navigator upon the swollen stream. Thus the Venetian navigates the stagnant Po, and the Briton the wide-spread ocean; and thus, when the Nile overflows, the Memphian boat is interwoven of the bibulous papyrus."

In Pliny's Historia Naturalis there are several passages to the purpose. One in book iv. 30 (16). "Timæus historicus a Britanniâ introrsus sex dierum navigatione abesse dicit insulam Mictim in quâ candidum plumbum proveniat; ad eam Britannos vitilibus navigiis corio circumsutis navigare;" i. e. "Timæus the historian says that the island of Mictis, where

66

tin is found, is within six days' sail from Britain; and that the Britons navigate to it in vessels of wicker-work covered with leather." Another, vii. 57. "Plumbum ex Cassiteride insulâ primus apportavit Midacritus. Etiam nunc in Britannico oceano vitiles (naves) corio circumsutæ fiunt" i. e. "Midacritus was the first who brought tin from the island of Cassiteris. Even now vessels of wicker-work are to be found in the British ocean." Further, in book xxxiv. 47 (16) he says, Sequitur natura, plumbi cujus duo sunt genera, nigrum atque candidum. Pretiosissimum candidum a Græcis appellatur cassiteron, fabulosèque narratum in insulis Atlantici maris peti, vitilibusque navigiis circumsutis corio advehi. Nunc certum est in Lusitaniâ gigni, et in Gallæciâ, summâ tellure arenosâ et coloris nigri. Pondere tantum eâ deprenditur. Interveniunt et minuti calculi, maximè torrentibus siccatis. Lavant eas arenas metallici, et quod subsidit coquunt in fornacibus ;" i. e. "The class of metals of the nature of lead comes next; of this there are two sorts, the black and white. The white is the most valuable, called by the Greeks cassiteron,' tin, and is fabulously narrated to be sought in the islands of the Atlantic sea, and brought in vessels of wicker-work sewed round with leather. Now it is certain that it is produced in Lusitaniâ (Portugal) and in Gallæcia (i. e. Callæcia, Gallicia in Spain and the north of Portugal,) being found there in a sandy soil on the top of the earth and distinguishable from it solely by weight. Small pebbles of it are also found, principally in the dried-up beds of torrents. The workmen wash those sands, and what subsides they roast in furnaces." In book xxiv. 40, he speaks of "sutiles naves," or ships sewed together; but at that place the method of fastening the planks by sewing them together with thongs, holes being bored through them for the purpose, is solely to be understood; a contrivance we find practised with the larger canoes in the South Seas. Therefore this passage does not apply to our present purpose.

To Pliny succeeds Solinus, an author supposed to have lived about A.D. 225, in the reign of Alexander Severus. He informs us, c. 22, "Mare quod GENT. MAG. VOL. XXXI.

Hiberniam et Britanniam interluit undosum inquietumque toto in anno, non nisi pauculis diebus est navigabile. Navigant autem vimineis alveis quos circumdant ambitione tergorum bubalorum." That is, "The sea between Ireland and Britain is generally swelling with waves and untranquil the whole year, and only navigable for a few days. They navigate (it) in vessels made of wicker-work, which they surround with a covering of bullocks' hides.”

were

Further, Festus Avienus, who lived about A.D. 400, in his poem the Ora Maritima, describing the inhabitants of the Estrymenides, islands which he evidently treats of as in the neighbourhood of Britain, specifying that they "metallo divites stanni atque plumbi," i. e. rich in the metals of tin and lead, says of their shipping, Notisque cymbis turbidum latè fretum Et belluosi gurgitem oceani secant. Non hi carinas quippe pinu texere Acereve norunt, non abiete ut usus est Curvant faselos; sed rei ad miraculum Navigia junctis semper aptant pellibus Corioque vastum sæpe percurrunt salum. That is, "In their boats, as is wellknown, they navigate both the stormy narrow seas, and the ocean itself, full of sea monsters. For they have not been accustomed to build ships either of the fir tree or maple; or to plank vessels with oak, as is usually done at other places; but it may be noted, for the wonder of the thing, that they always cover their barks with hides joined together; and thus using this covering of leather they often traverse the broad seas."

A passage from Julius Cæsar's Commentaries, Civil Wars, i. 54, should not be overlooked. "Quùm in his angustiis res esset; atque omnes viæ ab Afranianis militibus equitibusque obsiderentur; nec pontes perfici possent; imperat militibus Cæsar ut naves perficiant, cujus generis eum superioribus annis usus Britanniæ docuerat. Carinæ primùm et statumina ex levi materiâ fiebant; reliquum corpus navium viminibus contextum coriis integebatur. Has perfectas carris junctis devehit noctu millia passuum xxii, militesque his navibus flumen transportat; continentemque ripe collem improviso occupat. Hunc celeriter priusquam ab adversariis sentiatur 4 G

communit. Huc legionem postea transducit; atque ex utraque parte pontem institutum perficit biduo." That is, "There being these difficulties, and all the roads being occupied by the soldiers of Afranius, horse and foot; and as there was no possibility of constructing bridges; Cæsar ordered his soldiers to make ships of the same kind as he had seen used in former years in Britain. The keels and framework were first made of light materials; the rest of vessels being woven with twigs was covered with skins. These having transported by night on cars joined together a distance of twenty-two miles, he passed a party of soldiers over the river Sicoris (see before the passage from Lucan), and unexpectedly occupied a hill close to the river.

This he quickly fortified before his adversaries perceived it. Here he after this conveyed across a legion, and beginning a bridge from both banks finished it in two days."

St. Isidore of Seville, who wrote in the beginning of the seventh century, in his work De Originibus, xix. i. has a passage relating to our subject. He says: "Carabus parva scapha ex vimine facta quæ contexta crudo corio genus navigii præbet. Papias (prodit autem); carabus navicula discurrens in Pado, id est linter. Est autem ex vimine et corio." That is, "The vessel called a carabus is a small boat made of wicker-work, which, being covered with a raw hide, forms a species of bark. According to Papias, the carabus is a little boat or skiff used on the Po, made also of wicker-work and leather."

What we otherwise chiefly know of this species of vessel is as follows:Sidonius Apollinaris, who lived in the fifth century, acquaints us that they were used to cross the seas by the Saxon pirates of his day, and several ancient chronicles mention three Irish saints who in the year 891 crossed over in a boat constructed of wickerwork, and covered with hides, from Ireland to Cornwall in seven days; intending to go from thence to Rome,

and afterwards to Jerusalem.

All these vessels of wicker-work and hides hitherto mentioned, except those referred to by St. Isidore and his authority, it is evident were not quite boats of the smallest size. They were

vessels which navigated the ocean; were sometimes used by pirates in their predatory expeditions; and are called navigia, i. e. ships, by one or two writers. Cæsar, when he builds vessels of this class, is obliged to join two cars together in order to transport them from place to place. In short, in respect to size, they must have been of the dimensions of the larger boats; and the skiff or canoe of wickerwork, and covered with a hide, used for fishing on the rivers, which would seem originally to have suggested this mode of construction, is not brought to our notice by ancient writers except as before specified. This smaller vessel, however, is still in use on the rivers in the west of England, and by its name of "coracle is well known.

Though it seems the use of wickerwork and hide-covered vessels was not peculiar to Britain (see the passage before quoted from the poet Lucan,)* yet, as connected with Britain, they appear to have attracted great notice in times of antiquity, principally, no doubt, from their navigating so tempestuous an ocean with them. However, the possession of these vessels is not necessarily a proof that the ancient inhabitants of this country used no other. Some further inquiry on the subject may be therefore requisite.

One principal testimony that the Britons did not possess shipping is found in the panegyrical writers, those

*Herodotus also mentions towards the end of his first book a species of circular vessels or floats, which he describes as resembling rounded, and of course to a cer

tain degree concaved, shields, as we find by the Phigalian marbles in the British Museum those of the ancient Greeks were. These were built by the shepherds of Armenia, who cut down willows to supply the materials of their construction, and covered them with skins. Their lading consisted of straw, casks of palm wine, &c. with which they descended with the stream of the Euphrates to Babylon. He informs us that they were of a larger and smaller size, specifying that some of the former were able to carry a burden of 5,000 ta

lents, or, as nearly as may be estimated.

about 125 tons. On their arrival at of, they were broken up, their wood-work Babylon, and their cargo being disposed sold, and the skins re-conveyed to Armenia on the backs of asses, brought down in the floats for that purpose.

well known eulogists in the later times of the Roman empire, who addressed complimentary orations to the emperors for various purposes; which flowery effusions are in many cases come down to us, and indeed very frequently afford materials for the historian. In Eumenius, who addressed a panegyrical oration to Constantius Chlorus, A. D. 296, we find the following passage, the time referred to being the earlier part of the same year, when Constantius sailed with an expedition against Alectus:-"Sed enim illâ ætate (alluding to Julius Cæsar's expeditions to this country) nec Britannia ullis erat ad navale bellum armata navigiis, et Romana res inde jam a Punicis Asiaticisque bellis, etiam recenti exercitata piratico et propiore Mithridatico non magis terrestri quam navali usu vigebat. Ad hoc natio etiam tam rudis et solis Britanni Pictis modo et Hibernis assueta hostibus, adhuc seminudi facile Romanis armis signisque cesserunt; prope ut hoc uno Cæsar gloriari in illâ expeditione debuerit quòd navigasset oceanum," i. e. "But at that time Britain was not provided with any ships for a naval war, and the Romans were no less prepared for a war by sea than for one by land, from the Punic and Asiatic wars and the recent piratical and Mithridatic wars; and thus this nation, so uncivilized, and only used to Pictish and Irish foes, easily yielded to the Roman arms and standards; so that Cæsar could only in reality boast that he had conquered the ocean." It

may, however, be contended in answer to this passage that it is of no weight, being obviously not founded on any historical information as to the state of Britain in Cæsar's time. The Picts had not at that time located themselves in Caledonia, not having emigrated to this country till shortly before the reign of Severus, according to the opinion of the best writers; nor is there authority for the wars of the early British with the Irish. The passage of Eumenius is therefore merely an oratorical flourish.

Another argument that the Britons had no ships may be deduced from the Welch Triads, which, mentioning the three British leaders who were famous for their fleets, specify not persons who lived in early times, not

Cassibelan, Timancius, or Cunobeline,—but Geraint, March, and Gwenwynnyn, the two first of which lived in the fifth century; the third also being in no early era. This again is indefinite evidence; for the Triads, written according to some about A. D. 700, do not often, or rather so to say, do not always refer to times more ancient than the Roman conquest; and if no use is made of the apocryphal testimony of the British chronicles in favour that Brennus, a British king, about B. c. 400, fitted out a fleet, and that Gurguntius, another British king, about B. C. 375, fitted out a naval armament against Denmark to enforce tribute, and that Cassibelan, in the time of Cæsar, had a fleet, so ought not adverse inferences from the Triads to be admitted.

On the other hand, as to the arguments for our purpose, i. e. that the ancient Britons had ships, there seems a higher degree of probability attached.

In the first place, it is most generally believed that the Phoenicians and Greeks traded to the island with their shipping; at any rate, it is certain from Strabo that there was a great resort of shipping hither in his time from Gaulish ports. It is therefore extremely probable that in length of time, from imitation, the Britons themselves may have attempted the construction of ships. If they did not, they must have been inferior in capacity to other nations under the same circumstances, which we have no reason to suppose.

Again, in Cæsar's Commentaries the Veneti, in their war against the Romans, are described as almost solely assisted by the maritime states of Gaul and by the Britons. (Gaulish Wars, book iii. 9.) The Osismii, Lexovii, Nannetes, Ambiliati, Morini, Diablintes, and Menapii of Gaul, as well as the Britons, came to their assistance. As the above states of Gaul, with the exception of the Diablintes, who were their near neighbours by land to the north-east, were all maritime states, it is almost unquestionable that as well as with men they assisted their countrymen the Veneti with ships, contributing to form that powerful armament which offered so great an opposition to the Roman admiral Publius Crassus. And as the Veneti re

ceived assistance from Britain, it is most reasonable to suppose that the same assistance was rendered not with men only but with ships. The presumption is here in our favour, and this is a fact that we may almost, though not with entire certainty, as

sume.

Those who are inclined to assume the affirmative will bear in mind that the ships of the Veneti were of some considerable size, as is shewn in the note below, for they are described by Cæsar as overtopping with their towers the Roman ships, to which superiority of size the great difficulty of the Romans in defeating the fleet of the Veneti is ascribed. (Book iii. 13.*) If this passage therefore proves the Britons had ships, as many think, it appears to show that those ships must have been sea-going ships and of large dimensions for ancient times.

As, however, it so happens that we are not entirely able to obviate counter statements and objections on this subject, so we have rather as qualifications to the above that Cæsar, a year or two after the said naval war with the Veneti, when he intends to invade Britain, arms a single galley to explore the British coast to ascertain the best place for landing. (Book iv. 21.) This vessel Volusenus commands, and it is out five days, and nothing is said of its meeting any British ships at sea, or apprehending to do so; though indeed hostilities do not appear at this time to have commenced, yet in the doubtful posture of affairs had the Britons possessed a naval force it is hardly probable Cæsar would have sent a single vessel only on the mission.

Again it is suggested in vol. ii. of the Archæologia Cambrensis, a work of learning and research, that the Guenethi, or inhabitants of North Wales, formerly called Venedotia, the Ordovices in fact, were from similarity of name of the same origin with the Veneti before-mentioned; that a

* i. e. admitting the Roman galleys to have been about 25 or 30 tons burden, and their war vessels of greater size, 60 or 70. Therefore the ships of the Veneti, having towers higher than the Roman ships, to have been safe as sea-going ships, which they were, must have been at the least of about the burden of 150 tons.

friendly commerce existed between these two branches of the same stock, and that it was the British Guenethi who assisted their brethren the Veneti of the continent in their naval war. This suggestion, would it hold good, might make it appear probable that this one part of Britain possessed shipping and the rest of the island none, and thus might be a species of compromise of the present question. The due degree of proof, however, seems wanting of the fact of the intercourse between the Veneti of Gaul and the Guenethi of Britain, and of the capabilities of the latter of fitting out naval armaments. The only presumption in favour is, that, being the supposed colony of a maritime state, they might possibly have been more advanced in the art of navigation than the other Britons. Against this we may place that the southern and south-eastern ports of Britain might seem primâ fucie to have been more in the thoroughfares of the commerce of Europe than those of the Guenethi.

We now come to the passage in Boadicea's speech, as in Xiphilinus, which first gave occasion to these remarks. The words of this passage before referred to are,-“'Hueîs dè dǹ пávтwv тŵv kakŵy тoútwv altioi-yeyoναμεν · οἵτινες οὐ πόῤῥωθεν σφίσιν, ὥσπερ καὶ τῷ Αὐγούστῳ καὶ τῷ Γαΐῳ τῷ Καλιγόλα φοβερὸν τὸ πειράσαι τὸν πλοῦν Tonoaμev." i. e. "We ourselves have been the cause of all these evils; who, when they (the Romans) were yeta far off, did not make the navigation hither too formidable to be attempted, as we did to Augustus, and to Caius, called Caligula." Here the meaning appears so plain, that in the edition of Xiphilinus by Guglielmo Blanci, 8vo. 1551, which was one of the earliest published, p. 152, he translates the concluding part of the passage thus,-"Qui non contra eos quùm adhuc longe abessent ut contra Augustum et Caligulam magnâ et metuendâ classe contendimus:" thinking, it is evident, that he best rendered the sense of his author

by introducing the words "with a great and formidable fleet" into his have stood in Book lxii. of Dion CasLatin translation. The passage should sius; but much of that author's work being lost, including this part, we have it in Xiphilinus, his abbreviator. It