It is truth that many of them have not room to
sleep at full length, for they put seven men on one bench; that is to
say, on a space about ten feet long and four broad; at the bows one sees
some thirty sailors who have for their lodging the floor space of the
rambades (this is the platform at the prow of the galley) which consists
of a rectangular space ten feet long by eight in width. The captain and
officers who live on the poop are scarcely better lodged, and one is
tempted to compare their grandeur with that of Diogenes in his tub.
"When the unpitying Libyan Sea surprises these galleys upon the Roman
coasts, when the Norther lashes to foam the Gulf of Lyons, when the
humid east wind of Syria is driving them off shore, everything combines
to make life on board a modern galley a hell of misery and discomfort.
The creaking of the blocks and cordage, the loud cries of the
sailors, the horrible maledictions of the galley slaves, the groaning of
the timbers, mingled with the clank of chains and the bellowings of the
tempest, produce sentiments of affright in the most intrepid breasts.
The rain, the hail, the lightning, habitual accompaniments of these
terrific storms, the waves which dash over the vessel, all add to the
horror of the situation, and although devotion is not as a rule very
strongly marked on board a galley, you will hear these folk praying to
God, and others making vows to the Saints; these would do much better
not to forget God and his Saints when the danger is past.
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