he
arrival of the Saxons till the reign of Henry VIII.," published in 1775.
The proportions of the boat as represented are obviously impossible. The
sketch is, however, interesting, as showing the general form and mode of
planking of the vessel, and the nature of the decorations of the bow and
stern. We see that the vessel was a warship, as the keel prolonged
formed a formidable ram. We also may notice that the sail was relied on
as a principal means of propulsion, for there are apparently no notches
or rowlocks for oars. The steering was effected by two large oars, in a
similar manner to that adopted by the ancient Egyptians and other
Mediterranean peoples. The extraordinary character of the deck-house
will be observed. It is, of course, purely symbolical, and may, at
most, be interpreted as meaning that the vessel carried some sort of
structure on deck.

In the seventh and eighth centuries of the Christian era the scene of
maritime activity was transferred from the Mediterranean to the North of
Europe. The Norsemen, who overran the whole of the European seaboard at
one time or another, were the most famous navigators of the period
immediately preceding the Middle Ages. Any record connected with their
system of ship-construction is necessarily of great interest. The fleets
of the Norsemen penetrated into the Mediterranean as far as the imperial
city of the Eastern emperors. In the north they discovered and colonized
Iceland, and even Greenland; and there are good grounds for believing
that an expedition, equipped in Iceland, founded a colony in what are
now the New England States five centuries before Columbus discovered the
West Indies. Unfortunately, the written descriptions extant of the Norse
ships are extremely meagre, and if it had not been for the curious
custom of the Norsemen of burying their great chiefs in one of their
ships and heaping earth over the entire mass, we should now know nothing
for certain of the character of their vessels. Many of these ship-tombs
have been discovered in modern times, but it happened in the majority of
instances that the character of the earth used was unsuited to their
preservation, and most of the woodwork was found to be decayed when the
mounds were explored. Fortunately, however, in two instances the vessels
were buried in blue clay, which is an excellent preserver of timber,
and, thanks to the discovery of these, we have now a tolerably complete
knowledge of the smaller cl