And sounded
Or let down their plummet, or sounding line; which was a line
with a piece of lead at the end of it, which they let down into
the water, and by that means found what depth it was, by which
they could judge whether they were near land or not. The sounding
line, with the ancients, was called by different names; sometimes
bolis, and this is the name it has here, (bolisantev) , "they let down the bolis": and the
bolis is, by some, described thus; it is a brazen or leaden
vessel, with a chain, which mariners fill with grease, and let
down into the sea, to try whether the places are rocky where a
ship may stand, or sandy where the ship is in danger of being
lost: it is also called "catapirates", which is thus described by
Isidore; "catapirates" is a line with a piece of lead, by which
the depth of the sea is tried. Herodotus makes mention of it
under this name, and observes, that when persons are within a
day's voyage of Egypt, if they let down the "catapirates", or
sounding line, they will bring up clay, even when in eleven
fathom deep F18 According to modern accounts, there
are two kinds of lines, occasionally used in sounding the sea,
the sounding line, and the deep sea line: the sounding line is
the thickest and shortest, as not exceeding 20 fathoms in length,
and is marked at two, three, and four fathoms with a piece of
black leather between the strands, and at five with a piece of
white leather: the sounding line may be used when the ship is
under sail, which the deep sea line cannot. --The plummet is
usually in form of a nine pin, and weighs 18 pounds; the end is
frequently greased, to try whether the ground be sandy or rocky
F19. The deep sea line is used in deep
water, and both lead and line are larger than the other; at the
end of it is a piece of lead, called deep sea lead, has a hole at
the bottom, in which is put a piece of "tallow", to bring up the
colour of the sand at the bottom, to learn the differences of the
ground, and know what coasts they are on.
And found it twenty fathoms;
or "orgyas"; a fathom is a measure which contains six feet, and
is the utmost extent of both arms, when stretched into a right
line: the fathom, it seems, differs according to the different
sorts of vessels; the fathom of a man of war is six feet, that of
merchant ships five feet and a half, and that of fly boats and
fishing vessels five feet: if the fathom here used was the first
of these, the sounding was an hundred and twenty feet; the
Ethiopic version renders it, "twenty statues of a man".
And when they had gone a little further, they sounded
again, and
found it fifteen fathoms;
or ninety feet; by which they imagined that they were near the
continent, or some island: in some places, as the coasts of
Virginia, for instance, by the use of the deep sea line, it is
known how far it is from land; for as many fathoms of water as
are found, it is reckoned so many leagues from land.
F18 Scheffer. de Militia Navali Veterum, l. 2. c. 5. p. 150.
F19 Chambers's Cyclopaedia in the word "Sounding".
