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Show IIIU TESSFLS OF THE A5CIEMS. cdsii'aked ami ODlt voder:. nXAXIMItl'S. We moderns are ju'tly proud of the wouderful and magnificent -peclraejis uf naval arcnitecture liiat crowd the grent ports of tho world. If there Is an thin; siw underthu tuu, a flM-elus ocean Utiiutr. it la believed, is that rarity. In our conceit we recall uuly.Uit galleys and trlremesof the ancients tnat fccarce ever vmtured beyond the.coa-UIn-, and the email barks iu which Columbus and those that followed him coaqueieJ the new-world, new-world, and gaecuiumerceits greatest great-est field, ilut the ancients built man goodly fclzed crift, and made luxury a study on some uf Uum. That much contro erted iraft, the ark, lsan example of bigues. Her tonnage in e-timateJ at about 15,009 ton, smaller, it U true, than that of the Orcuf JjaUcra. 2vo Its an authority au-thority than iilndsay thinks tLat the was dimply a rait of etuiiendoua tizc, lia Ing upon it a structure resembling re-sembling a huge vari houte. As no mean!) of propulsion were necessary, tills decnilon may be correct. Tbe caro, however, was unique, and probably the largest and must valuable valu-able etr carried. The description of tho aik, as given In the rcrlpturc, makes the vcssil about 433 feet in length, "j feet in breadth, and 45 feet In depth proportion similar to those no.r In use today for great eeL?. I5ut as the agnostic Is nt sure that this liXdoat of the human race ever existed, ex-isted, and as the materialist is sure she neer was built, let us take for example of big ancient vessels some other icraft ouched for upon the authority of profaue aui not sarrttl writer The" llgypllans, fond of lanje things and big dimensions, made the big touuage vessels of ancient an-cient times. Ptolemy (I'hilopater) would have appreciated the Great Intern. He was fond of building big boats. One of thtee is said to have been 420 feet long, 57 feet broad, and 2 feet deep from the highest point of tbe stern. This ves elhadfourrudderw, or what some would call Uterinx oais, as they were cot. fastened, eatli V feet lung. She carried 40J0 roweis, besides 50 mariners, a large body of servants under her leeks, and stores end provisions. Her oars w ere .T7 feet long, and the bandies were weighted with IeaJ. IherewereSXK) rowers on a side, and it is supposed that these ere divided into Uve banks. That this extraordinary vessel ever put to sea la doubted, but that she was launched and used at times, if only for display, several historians are airreed. Another ship, the Thalamtgci built for me of tho Itolemies, is said to have been J00 feet loui:. 4 J Jeet broad, and 49 feet deep. This was a far more magnificent es-tl than any previous one. An Alex andrian historian, Catllxenus, in describing her, speaks of her having colonnaif, marble stairs and gardens. gar-dens. Another great vessel, historical histori-cal by reason of lit sis:, is one bu'.it by Hiero, King of Syracuse. Her dimensions are estimated ta bo large from the description of her cargo, and the number of her decks anu hou. She Is supposed to fcave, been sheathed with lead, and ac mmplMied -at least ona sJCceisful trip. a full -description cf her would rerd wmewbat like that of on of oar ions Jsland Sound or Hudwn tlfver steambosts. She had three entrances, the lowest leading to the bold.the. second to the eating iooms and the third was appropriated to the soldier. There were thirty rooms, each haslsc fcur couclits, fur the fcoldlersrtbt.ro em Cftcen touches in the sallars' upper room, aud there were three more cabin", ach having tlireo oouchca. The floors of all these rooms were laid in itnne mosaic work. Tlicre was alo temp! cf cypres Inlaid Willi Ivory aud Uedicxted to Venus. Th aialumata9 camnoiod "f a.lrglt tree, and ILe vea-l carried four wooden aud eight iron anihor. As a freight carrier alio would rival the largest of our ocean tramps. It is recorded that one or two of the launches belonging to her would carry about eighty tons. This vessel tJWld to have carried 'CO 000 measures of corn, lv,VJp jars of Hicilian salt fish, ),0ital. enU' weight of wool, ni cf other cargo 20 OJO'taUnU, all of whlcl was in addition to tuuprovlslon re .julredforthecrew." T Jlrte are th-notably th-notably big vessels of ancient tln.es, but tlio rjppo"iUon is that, as ru!er. whether Line or people, were rs emulous In those days as thse. other big craft wcro sliO built. Fromtbf foregaing description the thought is suggested that the first designers of our on river steamboats steam-boats may have heard of the Egyi-tian Egyi-tian and Syra-usau vessels and taken a hint from them i In 1"" floating paLices. ifjrtUme Regit Ur. |