rld to-day. The kind of vessel they used in
the tenth century is the craft of most peculiar interest to Canadian
history, though it has never been noticed there except by the merest
landsman's reference. The special type to which this vessel belonged
was already the result of long development. The Vikings had a way of
burying a chief in his ship, over which they heaped a funeral mound.
Very fortunately two of these vessels were buried in blue clay, which
is an excellent preserver of timber; so we are able to see them to-day
in an almost perfect state. The one found in 1880 at the mouth of the
Christiania fjord is apparently a typical specimen, though smaller than
many {43} that are described in the sagas. She is about eighty feet
long, sixteen feet in the beam, and seven feet in total depth
amidships, from the top of the gunwale to the bottom of the keel. The
keel runs into the stem and stern-post with very gentle curves. The
whole of the naval architecture is admirably done. The lines are so
fine that there is almost the least possible resistance to the water
when passing through it. The only point worth criticizing is the
slightness of the connection between the topsides and the body of the
boat. But as this was a warship, carrying little besides live ballast,
such a defect would be minimized. Iron rivets, oak treenails (or
pegs), clinker planking (each plank-edge overlapping the next below
it), admirably proportioned frame, as well as arrangements for
stepping, raising, and lowering the single mast, all show that the
builders knew exactly what they were about.

The rudder is hung over on the starboard, or 'steer-board,' side and
worked by a tiller. The ropes are made of bark fibre and the planking
is partly fastened to the floors with ties made of tough tree roots.
Only one sail, and that a simple square one, was used. Nothing could
be done with this unless the {44} wind was more or less aft. The sail,
in fact, was centuries behind the hull, which, with the firm grip of
its keel, would have been quite fit for a beat to windward, if the
proper canvas had been carried. The thirty oars were often used, and
to very good purpose, as the easy run of the lines suited either method
of propulsion. The general look of these Viking craft is not unlike
that of a big keeled war canoe, for both ends rise with a sharp sheer
and run to a point. A classical scholar would be irresistibly reminded
of the Homeric vessel