In the first century of the Christian era, traveling by sea as well as by land was attended with far greater difficulty than at the present time. The arts of ship-building and navigation were not then matured as now. Mariners directed their course by the sun and stars; and when these did not appear, and there were indications of storm, they were fearful of trusting their vessels to the open sea. {LP 261.3}

I det første århundrede af den kristne tidsalder, var rejserne til vands såvel som til lands forbundet med langt større vanskeligheder end nu. Skibsbyggerkunsten og navigationen var ikke så udviklet som nu. Sømændene lagde deres kurs ved sol og stjerner; og når dette ikke viste sig, og der var optræk til storm, var de bange for at stole på deres både i det åbne hav.