The largest were 1G2 ft. long on deck and 133 ft. on the keel, with 32 ft. beam and a stern post of 23 ft. They had three masts with one large lateen sail on each, and 32 oars on a side, arranged in a single tier, each oar being pulled by six or seven men. The deck projected beyond the hull, so that the rowing benches were on the outside, where they were protected by bulwarks and were sometimes housed over and sometimes covered with an awning. The middle of the vessel from stem to stern was thus left clear. Galleys of the second class, or demi-galleys, were of similar construction, from 120 to 130 ft. long, 18 ft. beam, and from 9 to 10 ft. hold; they were furnished with two masts, and had 25 oars on each side. Quarter galleys had only from 12 to 16 oars on each side, and were of little utility excepting in fine weather. After the invention of gunpowder, the sharp beak for running down an enemy went out of use, and galleys were armed with cannon. The large vessels of the loth century carried usually three batteries forward, in tiers, the lowest consisting of two 36-pounders, the second of two 24-pounders, and the highest of two small guns. Three 18-pounders were mounted also on each quarter. Demi-galleys carried five guns forward and a number of smaller ones on the sides and stern.

The Venetian galeass {galeazza), one third larger than the ordinary galley, had a large towering structure on the stern, a castellated structure almost as massive on the bow, and was rowed by 300 galley slaves, whose oar benches were placed amid-ship. The galleon of this period was a sailing vessel. A small galley was called a galiot or galeotte. In 1540 Gustavus Vasa sent for Venetian workmen to build for him galeottes, galeres, and galeasses, which Olaus Magnus translates biremes, triremes, and quadriremes. Until near the close of the 18th century galleys made a part of the fleet of all maritime nations. They drew but little water, and were convenient for coast service; and in calms and light winds, which often prevail in the Mediterranean, they had the advantage over a sailing vessel, being able to keep on her quarter out of the range of her guns. The advancement in naval construction and in navigation, and the improvement in guns and gunnery, finally put an end to the use of this class of war ships, which had dominated the maritime world for more than 3,000 years.-In the most ancient times, to row in the galleys was considered honorable. Among the early Greeks oarsmen were generally voluntary recruits, but at a later period prisoners of war were put to this service.

The Carthaginians manned their galleys with captive Mauritanians. The Roman oarsmen were at first citizens of the lower class, but eventually prisoners of war and slaves were also employed. A single doubtful passage in Valerius Maximus has led to the supposition that criminals were sometimes condemned by the Romans to the galleys, but it is probable that they were first used for that purpose under the Byzantine empire. In the middle ages the galley rowers were convicts and infidel prisoners, who were chained to the benches on which they sat. The Turks and Barbary corsairs retaliated, and captured Christians were put to the same labor. In the 16th and 17th centuries France, Spain, and the Italian republics made use of galleys as places of punishment for condemned criminals, who were called by the French galericns, and by the English galley slaves. In France, Richelieu ordered the courts of justice to sentence criminals to the galleys in preference to other punishments, and even those who had committed capital crimes were thus utilized. In the reign of Louis XIV. nearly all convicts were condemned to this service; and in 1676 it was seriously proposed that vagrants should be thus disposed of, but Colbert refused to sanction the measure.

At a later date this was carried into effect, and confirmed mendicants, poachers, and those convicted of the smallest crimes, were sent to the galleys. Even these did not suffice to man the benches, and various other means were resorted to. Criminals were sometimes purchased from countries that kept no galleys, slaves were bought from the Turks, and negroes were imported from Guinea. The marquis de Denonville, governor of New France, kidnapped Iroquois Indians for this service. This excited against the French a spirit of hate among the savages which culminated in the massacre of Lachine, and Louis XIV. found it necessary to send back in 1G89 all who survived. From the beginning of the 17th century to the early part of the 18th heretics were particularly sought out and condemned to the galleys. Galley slaves were subjected to the greatest cruelties and indignities. Their heads and faces were shaved, and they rowed entirely naked, wearing a uniform only when in port. They were seldom released even when their term of service was accomplished. Henry IV. ordered the captains of the galleys to retain prisoners for six years, although condemned for a shorter time; and under Louis XIV. galley slaves sentenced for only two or three years were retained often for 15 or more.

Criminals preferred mutilation and even death to labor in the galleys.' In the Italian republics many free oarsmen were employed, who in their engagements agreed to be chained like the slaves, but their heads were not shaved and they were permitted to wear the moustache. These were mostly former criminals. This system was not adopted in France because the bonnevoglies, as they were called, would not consent to be chained. In 1748 the officers of the French galleys, who had until then formed a separate corps, were merged in the royal marine. After this time convicts were employed at hard labor in the arsenals and on the public works, but it was not until 1791 that the detested name galerien went out of use.