1. The business of the mariner consists in navigating ships and other
vessels from one port to another. This is an employment that requires
much decisive resolution; and Horace has well said, that "his breast
must have been bound with oak and triple brass, who first committed
his frail bark to the tempestuous sea." There is certainly nothing
which speaks louder in praise of human ingenuity, than that art by
which man is able to forsake the land, contend successfully with winds
and waves, and reach, with unerring certainty, his destined port in
some distant part of the world.
2. Nor are the skill and intrepidity exhibited in this arduous
employment, more worthy of our admiration, than the wonderful
advantages resulting from it; for, we are indebted to the exercise of
this art, for those improvements in our condition, which arise from
the exchange of the superfluities of one country for those of another,
and, above all, for the interchange of sentiments, which renders human
knowledge coextensive with the world.
3. Ship-building is so intimately connected with the art of
navigation, that the historical part of the former subject is equally
applicable to the latter. It is, therefore, unnecessary to be
particular on this point. We shall merely supply some omissions in the
preceding article.
4. The sailors of antiquity confined their navigation chiefly to the
rivers, lakes, and inland seas, seldom venturing out of sight of land,
unless, from their knowledge of the coasts ahead, they were certain to
meet with it again in a short time. When they thus ventured from the
land, or were driven from it by tempests, the stars and planets were
their only guides.
5. The qualifications of a skilful pilot or master, even for the
Mediterranean seas, in those days, required more study and more
practical information, than are necessary to render a mariner a
complete general navigator, in the present improved state of the
science of navigation; for then he must needs be acquainted, not only
with the general management of the ship, but also with all the ports,
land-marks, rocks, quicksands, and other dangers, which lay in the
track of his course. Besides this, he was required to be familiar with
the course of the winds, and the indications that preceded them,
together with the movements of the heavenly bodies, and the influence
which they were supposed to exert on the weather. Nor was the ability
to read the various omens which were gathered from the sighing of the
wind in the trees, the murmurs of the waters, and their dash upon the
shore, the flight of birds, and the gambol of fishes, a qualification
to be dispensed with.
6. A voyage, in ancient times, was a momentous undertaking, and was
usually preceded by sacrifices to those gods who were supposed to
preside over the winds and the waves. All omens were carefully
regarded; and a very small matter, such as the perching of swallows on
the ship, or an accidental sneeze to the left, was sufficient to delay
departure. When, under proper auspices, a vessel or fleet had set
sail, and had advanced some distance, it was customary to release a
number of doves, which had been brought from home. The safe arrival of
these birds at the houses of the voyagers, was considered an
auspicious omen of the return of the fleet.
7. Having escaped the multiplied dangers of the sea, the sailors, on
their return, fulfilled the vows which they had made before their
departure, or in seasons of peril, offering thanks to Neptune, and
sacrifices to Jupiter, or some other of their gods, to whose
protection they may have committed themselves. Those who had suffered
shipwreck, felt themselves under greater obligations of gratitude;
and, in addition to the usual sacrifices, they commonly offered the
garment in which they had been saved, together with a pictorial
representation of the disaster. If the individual escaped only with
life, his clothing having been totally lost, his hair was shorn from
the head, and consecrated to the tutelar deity.
8. There is much that is beautiful in these simple acts of piety; and
similar customs, with regard to shipwrecked mariners, are still in
existence in the Catholic countries of the Mediterranean; but the
worship of the heathen deities having been discontinued, a favourite
saint, or perchance the true God, is substituted for them. Although
such acts of piety may not avail to avert impending danger, yet their
natural tendency doubtless is to inspire courage to meet it, when it
may arise.
9. The Carthaginians, for several centuries, were more extensively
engaged in commerce, than any other people of antiquity; and, as they
carried on their lucrative trade with other nations and their own
colonies, by means of ships, they exceeded all others in the art of
navigation. Not content with exploring every nook and corner of the
Mediterranean, they passed the Pillars of Hercules, as the
promontories of the Straits of Gibraltar were then called, and visited
the Atlantic coasts of Europe, as far north as the Scilly Islands,
then denominated the Cassorides. It is asserted by Pliny, that Hanno
even circumnavigated Africa.
10. The destruction of Carthage by the Romans, in the year before
Christ 146, interfered with improvements in the art of navigation; and
the invasion of the northern barbarians, several centuries afterwards,
extinguished nearly all the knowledge which had been previously
acquired; nor was it again revived, and brought to the state in which
it existed in the most flourishing era of antiquity, until about the
middle of the fourteenth century.
11. After the period just mentioned, improvements in this art followed
each other in close succession. The chief cause of this rapid advance
was the discovery of the polarity of the magnet, and the consequent
invention of the mariner's compass. The power of the loadstone to
attract iron, was early known to the Greeks and Chinese; but its
property of pointing in a particular direction, when suspended, and
left to move freely, was not suspected until about the year 1200 of
our era.
12. At first, mariners were accustomed to place the magnetic needle on
a floating straw, whenever they needed its guidance; but, in 1302, one
Flavio Giaio, an obscure individual of the kingdom of Naples, placed
it on a permanent pivot, and added a circular card. Still, it was
nearly half a century after this, before navigators properly
appreciated, and implicitly relied on this new guide. The compass did
not reach its present improved state, until the middle of the
sixteenth century.
13. As soon as the reputation of this instrument had become well
established, navigation assumed a bolder character; and the capacity
of vessels having been enlarged to meet this adventurous spirit, oars
were laid aside as inapplicable, and sails alone were relied upon, as
means of propulsion.
14. Navigation, in the early days of its revival, was indebted to the
Portuguese for many valuable improvements. To them, also, is the world
under obligation for many splendid discoveries, among which was that
of a passage by sea to India. This long-desired discovery was made in
1497, by Vasco de Gama, who had been sent out for the purpose by
Emanuel, king of Portugal.
15. Five years before Vasco de Gama had found his way to India, by the
way of the Cape of Good Hope, Columbus made his discovery of the New
World. This great man had conceived or adopted the idea, that the form
of our earth was spherical, in opposition to the generally received
opinion, that it was an extended plane; and learning that India
stretched to an unknown distance eastward, he supposed, that, by
sailing in an opposite direction, the navigator would meet with its
eastern extremity.
16. Pursuing this idea, he applied successively to the governments of
several states and kingdoms for patronage to enable him to test its
correctness; and having, at length, succeeded in obtaining three small
vessels, with the necessary equipments, from Ferdinand and Isabella,
sovereigns of Arragon and Castile, he proceeded on his proposed
voyage, which resulted in the discovery of the American continent.
17. These two great discoveries gave another powerful impulse to
navigation; and inventions and improvements multiplied in rapid
succession. The learned and ingenious, who at different times have
turned their attention to the subject of navigation, have supplied the
mariner with various means, by which he can direct his course on the
deep with accuracy and certainty.
18. The instruments now employed in navigation, are the mariner's
compass, the azimuth compass, the quadrant, the sextant, the
chronometer, the half minute-glass, the log, and the sounding-line. In
addition to these, the general navigator needs accurate maps and
charts, lists of the latitude and longitude of every part of the
world, the time of high water at every port, and a book of navigation,
containing tables, to aid him in performing various calculations with
facility; and, with a view to calculate the longitude by observation,
he should be furnished with the Nautical Almanac, containing the
places and declinations of the fixed stars and planets, and especially
the distances of the moon from the sun and other heavenly bodies.
19. The mariner's compass, as has been before observed, is employed to
indicate the various points of the horizon; but the magnetic needle
varying more or less from the exact northern and southern direction,
the azimuth compass is used, to show the degree of that variation. The
quadrant and sextant are employed to ascertain the altitude and
relative position of the heavenly bodies, that the mariner may
determine the latitude and longitude in which his vessel may be. The
chronometer is nothing more than a watch, designed to measure time
with great accuracy. This instrument is used to determine the
longitude.
20. The log is used for ascertaining the velocity of the ship on the
water. It consists of a quadrangular piece of wood, eight or nine
inches long, to which is attached a small cord, having knots in it, at
proper distances from each other. In the application, the log is
thrown upon the water, where it will not be disturbed by the wake of
the ship; and the cord, being wound upon a reel, passes from it as
fast as the vessel moves in the water. The number of knots, which pass
off every half minute, indicates the number of miles which the ship
sails per hour; hence, in nautical language, _knots_ and _miles_ are
synonymous terms. The sounding-line is a small cord, with several
pounds of lead of a conical figure attached to it; and is employed in
trying the depth of the water, and the quality of the bottom.
21. Navigation is either _common_ or _proper_. The former is usually
called coasting, as the vessel is either on the same or neighboring
coast, and is seldom far from land, or out of sounding. The latter is
applied to long voyages upon the main ocean, when considerable skill
in mathematics and astronomy, together with an aptness in the use of
instruments for celestial observations, are required in the captain or
master.
22. The application of steam to the purposes of navigation, is one of
the greatest achievements of modern science and art. The great utility
of this agent is particularly conspicuous in our vast country, where
large rivers and bays and mighty lakes are numerous, and where an
energetic people and an active commerce require a rapid
intercommunication. Steamboats are but little used on the great
oceans; as merchandise can there be more cheaply and safely
transported in vessels propelled by sails. Since the year 1839, two
lines of steam packets have been running regularly between this
country and Great Britain. They commonly occupy, in crossing the
Atlantic, between twelve and fifteen days.
23. The chief obstacle to the employment of steam, in long voyages,
arises from the difficulty of generating a sufficient quantity of this
agent, with the fuel which could be carried without overburdening the
vessel; but a remedy for this inconvenience will probably be found, in
improvements in the construction of steam-generators.
24. The power of confined steam acting by its expansive force, was
discovered by the celebrated Marquis of Worcester, about the middle of
the seventeenth century; but the first working steam-engine was
constructed in 1705, by Thomas Newcomen, a blacksmith of Dartmouth,
Devonshire, England. About the year 1769, James Watt, a native of
Glasgow, added a great number of improvements of his own invention.
25. Steam navigation was first suggested in England, in 1736, by
Jonathan Hulls. It was first tried in practice in France, in 1782, by
the Marquis de Jouffroy, and nearly at the same time by James Rumsey,
of Virginia, and John Fitch, of Philadelphia; but it was first
rendered completely successful at New-York, in 1807, by Robert Fulton.
26. The sailors employed by the captain, to aid him in navigating his
ship, are called a _crew_; and the individuals composing it are
responsible to the captain, the captain to the owners, and the owners
to the merchants, for all damages to goods, arising from negligence or
bad management.
27. In England, ample provisions are made at Greenwich Hospital or by
pensions, for seamen disabled by age or otherwise. These benefits,
however, are extended only to those who have been engaged in the
national service. This noble and politic institution is supported
partly by public bounty, and in part by private donations, and a tax
of sixpence per month, deducted from the wages of all the seamen of
the nation. Marine Hospitals, for the temporary accommodation of
seamen, suffering from disease, have been established in several
cities of the continent of Europe, as well as of the United States.
28. Mariners have ever been a distinct class of men, and, in their
general characters, very similar in every age of the world. Their
superstitious regard of the many signs of good and bad luck, is nearly
the same now, that it was two or three thousand years ago. In ancient
times, they had their lucky and unlucky days; and now, very few
sailors are willing to leave port on Friday, lest the circumstance
bring upon them some disaster, before the conclusion of the proposed
voyage.
29. Superstitions of this nature, however, are not confined to the
navigators of the deep. Even in this country, where the inhabitants
enjoy superior intellectual advantages, and boast a high degree of
intelligence, thousands of persons who have never been on board of a
ship, are still under the influence of such heathen notions,
notwithstanding their pretended belief in Christianity, which, in all
cases, when properly understood, would prevent the forebodings of
evil, or expectations of good, from unimportant prognostics.
[Illustration: MERCHANT.]