CHAPTER XVI
OF THE NAVY OF ENGLAND
[1577, Book II., Chapter 13; 1587, Book II., Chapter 17.]
There is nothing that hath brought me into more admiration of the
power and force of antiquity than their diligence and care had of
their navies: wherein, whether I consider their speedy building, or
great number of ships which some one kingdom or region possessed at
one instant, it giveth me still occasion either to suspect the
history, or to think that in our times we come very far behind
them.[1]...
[1] Here follows an account of Roman and Carthaginian galleys
which "did not only match, but far exceed" in capacity our ships
and galleys of 1587.--W.
I must needs confess therefore that the ancient vessels far exceeded
ours for capacity, nevertheless if you regard the form, and the
assurance from peril of the sea, and therewithal the strength and
nimbleness of such as are made in our time, you shall easily find that
ours are of more value than theirs: for as the greatest vessel is not
always the fastest, so that of most huge capacity is not always the
aptest to shift and brook the seas: as might be seen by the _Great
Henry_, the hugest vessel that ever England framed in our times.
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