Traditional fishing boat were used for war and trade. Some ancient vessels were propelled by either oars or sail, depending on the speed and direction of the wind (see trireme and bireme). The Chinese were using sails around 3000 BC, of a type that can still be seen on traditional fishing boats sailing off the coast of Vietnam in Ha Long Bay. A jangada is an elegant planked fishing boat used in northern Brazil. It has been claimed the jangada dates back to ancient Greek time. It uses a triangular (lateen) sail, which allows it to sail against the wind. A felucca is
Cataracts of the Nile of which originated from the Mediterranean. For more information, see the Eonile as well as the Messinian salinity crisis. Despite these characteristics, some of the cataracts which are normally impassable by boat because of the shallow water have become navigable during the flood season. In ancient times, Upper Egypt extended from south of the Nile Delta to the first cataract, while further upstream, the land was controlled by the ancient Kingdom of Kush that would later take over Egypt from 760 to 656 BC. Eratosthenes gave a precise description of the Cataract-Nile: “It has a similar shape to a backwards