" There was but one oar in the boat, which the negroes used as a scull.

Little availed their naval arts, such as breaking off the oars of a ship, and eluding the beaks of the enemy by turning aside; for the grappling-irons and other instruments, which, before the engagement, had been greatly derided by the enemy, were fastened upon their ships, and they were compelled to fight as on solid ground.

Each of us contributes valuable and essential services, mademoiselle, the skipper, my kid-brother, even Iand I pull a strong oar with the New York Police Department into the bargain.

As soon as I found water enough, for my raft drew about a foot of water, I thrust her upon that flat piece of ground, and there fastened or moored her, by sticking my two broken oars into the ground-one on one side, near one end, and one on the other side, near the other end; and thus I lay till the water ebbed away, and left my raft and all my cargo safe on shore.

We lay on our oars for ten minutes.

And I will haste together, to set free Our oars at last to beat the homeward sea!

A line was towed behind the boats, and this being made fast on either side of the river the rafts crossed and recrossed by haulage on the rope, in order that no disturbance on the surface by oars on even such a wild night should cause an alarm.

And therewith he fell a-cursing and swearing, frothing at the lips as though he had gone clean crazy, while the black men, bending once more to their oars, rowed back again across the harbor as fast as ever they could lay oars to the water.

Williams caught one of the oars from his friend, and both directed their whole strength to this object.

" All the while Bert Winton just sat there holding his oars out of the water and watching me steady, like a fellow watching a bird that he's been stalking.

O ships, O crowding faces Of ships, O hurrying beat Of oars as of crawling feet, How found ye our holy places?

All that I could do was to wait till the tide was at the highest, keeping the raft with my oar like an anchor, to hold the side of it fast to the shore, near a flat piece of ground, which I expected the water would flow over; and so it did.

Jem was following my grandfather, with the oars over his shoulder.

Then, the bo'sun whipped in his oar under the cover, and, reaching forward, drew the canvas aft, so that it covered the entire boat, and he held it down against the gunnel upon the starboard side, shouting in my ear to do likewise upon the larboard.

Ofella sent the head of Marius to Sulla, who had it fixed up before the Rostra, and jeered at it in his pitiless fashion, quoting from Aristophanes the line, You should have worked at the oar before trying to handle the helm.

As to making sail, we had none, nor, if we had, could we have done anything with it; so we worked at the oar towards the land, though with heavy hearts, like men going to execution; for we all knew that when the boat came near the shore, she would be dashed in a thousand pieces by the beach of the sea.

The wind had become lighter, but it was still contrary, and the galleys were indebted for their progress much more to their oars than to their sails.

"Cease rowing!" The remaining three Germans shipped their oars without a word, although each bestowed an evil glance upon the lad.

I lifted my feet out of the inches of water that had nearly filled it, put my oars across her tiny boat, and, leaving my own River-Ribbon to its fate, I entered that wherein my preserver had come out.

What Marco meant by oars they did not know, so they paid no attention to the command, but some stopped rowing in despair, while others kept on, banging the blades of the oars against one another, and plashing the water, but produced no effect whatever in respect to propelling the boat.

And then I had the steering-oar by the middle, and was smiting downward with the loom over the side of the boat; but the thing was gone from my sight.

This, however, was opposed to their general practice, for the captives are usually employed at the oars during the continuance of the foray, and afterwards sold as slaves in the islands of the Sulu sea.

Old Jervis lashes his oar through the water, the boat answers to the spurt, and Tom feels a little shock, and hears a grating sound, as Miller shouts, "Unship oars, bow and three."

Sometimes everything was black before me, and then again I could see plainly the wide expanse of the river, the wide expanse of the gray sky, and between themthe empty, motionless boat, and the floating oars beyond upon the tide.

Ithuel was no sooner awaked when he called two trusty men, whom he had prepared for the purpose, entered a light boat that was lying in readiness on the off side of the lugger, and pulled with muffled oars toward the eastern part of the bay.