Toward afternoon he descried far off a strange vessel with funereal purple sails, that drove steadily on an eastering course against the mighty current.

Lord Ermenwyr stared at the purple sails a long moment.

Smith watched the purple sails.

Far on the skyline behind them appeared a racing-galley, with full spread of purple sail.

A number of tiny boats with single masts and bright white and purple triangular sails scudded across the smooth green water.

They followed the pattern of longships although highly decorated and fitted with purple sails (purple sails remained standard for royal vessels the next 400 years).

Shaped like a dragon, with green sides and a purple sail.

Her silver-oared barge had purple sails and an orchestra of lyres, flutes and pipes, everything perfumed by "countless incense offerings."

The third was bigger, a salt sea trader with two banks of oars, a gilded prow, and three tall masts with furled purple sails.

A single mast extends from the center of the main deck, and holds a single, large, square, purple sail.