The Book of Ser Marco Polo : vol.1 / Page 154 (Color Image)

0154	The Book of Ser Marco Polo : vol.1

INTRODUCTION

But to give room for the play of the oars and the passage of the

fighting-men, &c., this width was

Fore. largely augmented by an opera-morta,

or outrigger deck, projecting much

beyond the ship's sides and sup-

)-r-, ported by timber brackets.* I do

a Penh. not find it stated how great this ro-

jection was in the mediaeval galleys,

c_ but in those of the 17th century it

a 41) .~ was on each side as much as ;the of

b • the true beam. And if it was as

~ c

v great in the 13th-century galleys the

Oft. total width between the false gunnels

would be about 22j feet.

In the centre line of the deck ran, the whole length of the

vessel, a raised gangway called the corsia, for passage clear of the

oars.

The benches were arranged as in this diagram. The part of

the bench next the gunnel was at right angles to it, but the

other two-thirds of the bench were thrown forward obliquely.

a, b, c, indicate the position of the three rowers. The shortest

oar a was called Terlicchio, the middle one b Posticcio, the long

oar c Piamero.t

I do not find any information as to how the oars worked on

the gunnels. The Siena fresco (see p. 35) appears to show

them attached by loops and pins, which is the usual practice in

boats of the Mediterranean now. In the cut from D.

Tintoretto (p. 37) the groups of oars protrude through regular

ports in the bulwarks, but this probably represents the use of a

later day. In any case the oars of each bench must have

worked in very close proximity. Sanudo states the length of

the galleys of his time (1300-1320) as 117 feet. This was

doubtless length of keel, for that is specified ( " da ruoda a

ruoda ") in other Venetian measurements, but the whole oar

space could scarcely have been so much, and with twenty-eight

benches to a side there could not have been more than 4 feet

* See the woodcuts opposite and at p. 37 ; also Panto a, p. 46 (who is here, however, speaking of the great-oared galleys), and Coronelli, i. 140.

t Casoni, p. 324. He obtains these particulars from a manuscript work of the 16th century by Cristoforo Canal e.

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