Source: Felix Fabri, "The Wanderings of Felix Fabri," vol. 7 of The Library of the Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, 1887-1897, p125-131.
General description of galleys The sea hath various and different ships, which are great, middle-sized, and small ones. A galley is one of the middle-sized kind of seagoing ships, and is not of the greatest, nor yet of the smallest sort. This vessel is named in Latin a "bireme" or a "trireme" [literally "double-banked" or "triple-banked"] É Howbeit, common people, whether they be Germans or Italians, call it a galley. The vessel is given this name because the prow has the shape of a helmet ["galea" in Fabri's Latin], when viewed from the front, and because it meets the waves like an armed man. A galley is an oblong vessel, which is propelled both by sails and oars. All galleys are alike, or very nearly so, in shape, but differ in size, because some galleys are great ones, which are called "triremes," some small, which are named "biremes"; and there is a further difference, in that some galleys are ships of war, and others are ships of burthen. In my first pilgrimage I went across the sea in a "bireme," but in my second in a "trireme." Now, a bireme is one which is rowed by pairs and pairs of oars [that is, with two rowers per oar]; but a trireme is one which is rowed by threes and threes of oars [that is, with three rowers per oar]. É Now, the galley on board of which I crossed the second time [that is, during this 1483 pilgrimage here related] had sixty cross-benches, and upon each bench three rowers É If [a galley] be equipped as a war-galley it has an archer with his bow [almost certainly a crossbow] on every bench together with the rowers.{Dan Pariser}Dimensions of Fabri's triple-banked galley The length was thirty-three cubits, understanding by a cubit as far as a man can reach with both his arms stretched out. This length is the measurement from the prow even to the stern, and the breadth thereof is seven cubits, measuring across the ship just by the mast [from side to side]. But if we were to measure the entire breadth which it has when the oars are put out on either side, then it will be thirteen cubits in width. In height, measuring from the well to the "keba," or truck, which is on the top of the mast and in the round top, it measured more than eighteen cubits. A Venetian galley's construction and parts Now, all galleys of the same size are so much alike in all respects that a man who passes from his own galley on board of another would hardly find out that he was on another, except from the officers and crews of the vessels being different, for Venetian galleys are as like one to another as swallows' nests. They are built of the stoutest timbers, and fastened together with many bolts, chains, and irons.
The prow The first and foremost part of a galley, which is called the prow, is sharp where it meets the sea, and has a strong beak [a ram], made somewhat like a dragon's head, with open mouth, all of which is made of iron, wherewith to strike any ship which it may meet. On either side of the beak are two holes [hawseholes], through which a man can put his head, through which are passed the cables of the anchors, and through which the anchors are pulled up; nor can the sea run in through those holes except in great storms. The beak of the prow reaches high up, and from it the belly of the ship begins to swell round against the sea. The prow likewise has a sail of its own, named "dalum," which is commonly called "trinketum" [a foresail]; and it [the prow] has beneath it a small chamber, wherein ropes and sails are stored, and therein sleeps the captain of the prow, who has a crew of his own, who dwell there and nowhere else, and do the work of that part of the ship; and it is also the place of the poor wretches whom the slaves of the prow pick up. Also on either side of the prow hang great iron anchors, which at fitting seasons are let down into the sea.
The stern and sterncastle The stern, which is the other and hindermost end of the galley, is not sharp where it meets the sea, like the prow, nor has it a beak; but it is wide and curves from above downwards to the water, and is much higher than the prow, having upon it a building which they call the castle. From it there hangs down into the sea the rudder, or rudder-post, above which, in a latticed chamber, is the steersman, holding the tiller in his hands. The castle has three stories: the first, wherein is the steersman and the compass, and he who tells the steersman how the compass points, and those who watch the stars and winds, and point out the way across the sea; the middle one, wherein is the chamber of the Lord and captain of the ship, and of his noble comrades and messmates; and the lowest one, which is the place wherein noble ladies are housed at night, and where the captain's treasure is stored. This chamber receives no light save through the hatchway in the floor above it. On either side of the poop [the aftermost and highest deck] hang the boats, one large, and one small, which in harbours are lowered into the sea, and used for landing people. On the right-hand side are the steps, down which one goes to the boats at sea, or up which one comes from them. The poop also has its own sail, which is bigger than the sail at the prow, and which they call "mezavala," that is, "the middle sail:" its Latin name is "epidromus" [mizzen]. Upon the poop also the flag is always hoisted, to show which way the wind is blowing. Two benches beyond the house on the poop, on the righthand side, is the kitchen, which is not covered in: beneath the kitchen is the cellar, and beside the kitchen is the stable for animals for slaughter, wherein sheep, goats, calves, oxen, cows and pigs stand all together.
Amidships Further on, on the same side, are cross-benches with oars all the way to the prow. On the left-hand side there are rowers' benches all the way from the poop to the prow, and on every bench three rowers and an archer. Between two benches on the edge of the ship on either side there hangs a "bombarda" [a cannon] in a movable iron swivel, and on either side there is a "bombardana" [a smaller cannon], from which, in case of necessity, stones are shot forth. In the midst of the ship stands the mast, a tall, thick and strong tree made of many beams fastened together, which supports the yard with the "accaton," or mainsail. On the top of the mast is the chamber which the Germans call "the basket," the Italians the "keba," the Latins "carceria" [crow's nest in English]. On deck beside the mast there is an open space wherein men assemble to talk, as in a marketplace; and it is called the market-place of the galley. The mainsail has in its width fifty-three cloths [separate strips of sailcloth], each of which cloths measures more than an ell [wide]; but to meet different kinds of weather different sails are hoisted, [some] not so large as the "accaton." In storms they set a square sail of stout canvas, which they call "papafigo" [that is, rather than reefing the larger sail in stormy weather, a smaller sail is set instead]. Now, on this upper deck of the galley dwell the officers of the galley, and the galley-slaves, each man upon his own bench, and there they sleep, eat, and work. Between the benches along either side [that is, down the center line of the ship] is a pretty wide space, wherein stand great chests full of merchandise, and above those chests there is a walk from the stern to the prow, on which the officers run up and down when the oars are being worked.
The hold Close to the mast is the main hatchway, through which one descends by seven steps into the cabin [the hold], which is the place where the pilgrims live, or where the cargo is put in galleys of burthen. Now in length this cabin reaches from the cellar in the stern to the small chamber in the prow, and in width from one side of the ship to the other, and it is like a great and spacious chamber. It receives no light save what comes through the four hatchways by which it is entered. In this cabin [the hold] every pilgrim has his own berth or sleeping-place. The berths of the pilgrims are so arranged that all along the ship, or rather the cabin, one berth joins the next one without any space left between them, and one pilgrim lies by the side of another, along both sides of the ship, having their heads towards the sides of the ship, and their feet stretching out towards one another. As the cabin is wide, there stand along the middle of it, between the berths, chests and pilgrims' trunks, reaching from the cellar to the chamber in the prow, in which the pilgrims keep their own private property, and the feet of the sleepers on either side stretch out as far as these trunks. The bilge Beneath the pilgrims is a large space reaching deep down to the bottom of the galley, which space is called the belly of the galley, for a galley is not flat-bottomed like other ships, but is sharp from the bows to the stern, so that a galley ends in a sharp foot below, so sharp that when it is not in the water it cannot stand upright on the land, but must lie on its side. This sharp hold is filled with sand right up to the deck-beams, whereon the pilgrims lie; and the pilgrims lift up the deck and bury in the sand the bottles wherein they keep their wine, and eggs and other things which need to be kept cool. Down below, [beneath] the place where the pilgrims live, is the well for bilge water, just by the middle of the mast, and this well does not contain human filth, but all the water which visibly or invisibly enters the galley filters through and collects in that well, and a most loathsome smell arises from it, a worse smell than that from any closet of human ordure. This well has to be pumped out once in every day, but in rough weather the water has to be drawn out of it without cessation. Along, the outer sides of the galley are places arranged for necessary purposes.
Waterproofing and rigging The whole galley, within and without, is covered with the blackest pitch, as are even the ropes, planks, and everything else, that they may not easily be rotted by the water. The ropes for working the sails and anchors take up a large part of the galley, because they are many, and are long, thick, and of manifold kinds. It is wondrous to see the multitude of ropes and their joinings and twinings about the vessel.
The whole galley "is like a monastery" A galley is like a monastery, for the place of prayer is on the upper deck beside the mast, where also is the market-place; the middle part of the poop answers to the common refectory; the benches of the galley-slaves and berths of the pilgrims are the dormitory; the chapter-house is over against the kitchen; the prisons are beneath the deck of the prow and poop; the cellar, kitchen, and stable are all open to the sky on the upper deck. Thus in brief, passing over many things, you have the portraiture of a galley.
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