the Chinese of the ancient world, and the ships of all nations, except their own, laded in their harbours.”  As soon, however, as it passed from the power of its native sovereigns, and became subject successively to the Persians, Macedonians, and Romans, it furnished large fleets, and, as we shall afterwards notice, under the Greeks, Alexandria became one of the principal commercial cities in the world.  The Greek inhabitants of Egypt were the carriers of the Mediterranean, as well as the agents, factors, and importers of oriential produce.  The cities which had risen under the former system sank into insignificance; and so wise was the new policy, and so deeply had it taken root, that the Romans, upon the subjection of Egypt, found it more expedient to leave Alexandria in possession of its privileges, than to alter the course of trade, or to occupy it themselves.

We possess scarcely any notices respecting the construction and equipment of the Egyptian ships.  According to Herodotus, they were made of thorns twisted together, and their sails of rush mats:  they were built in a particular manner, quite different from those of other nations, and rigged also in a singular manner; so that they seem to have been the mockery of the other maritime states in the Mediterranean.  But this description can hardly apply to the Egyptian ships, after they had become powerful at sea, though the expressions of Herodotus seem to have reference to the Egyptian ships of his age.  There can be no doubt that the vessels that navigated the Nile, were very rude and singular in their construction; and most probably the description given by the historian ought to be regarded as exclusively confined to them.  They were built of the Egyptian thorn, which seems to have been very extensively cultivated, especially in the vicinity of Acanthus:  planks of small dimensions were cut from this tree, which were fastened together, or rather laid over one another, like tiles, with a great number of wooden pins:  they used no ribs in the construction of their vessels:  on the inside, papyrus was employed for the purpose of stopping up the crevices, or securing the joints.  There was but one rudder; whereas the ships of the Greeks and Romans had generally two; this passed quite through the keel.  The mast was made of Egyptian thorn, and the sail of papyrus.  Indeed, these two plants appear to have been the entire materials used in the construction and rigging of their ships.  They were towed up the Nile, as they were not fit to stem its stream, except when a strong favourable wind blew.  Their mode of navigating these vessels down the river was singular; they fastened a hurdle of tamarisk with a rope to the prow of the vessel; which hurdle they strengthened with bands of reeds, and let it down into the water; they also hung a stone, pierced through the middle, and of a considerable weight, by another rope, to the poop.  By this means, the stream bearing on the hurdle, carried down the boat with great expedition; the stone at the same time balancing and keeping it steady.  Of these vessels they had great numbers on the river; some very large.