452 NORSK NAVAL ARCHITECTURE. 



"At the side, about 10 feet distant from the stem, the rudder was 

 discovered.^ Its length is 9 feet 7 inches, and near the middle it has 

 a hole, through which a rope may have been passed for the purpose 

 of tying it to the side of the boat. Just below this hole there is a 

 little cushion of wood fixed with three wooden pegs, intended to pro- 

 tect the rudder from injury by knocking or grating against the side of 

 the boat, and at the top end there is a loose piece with two handles. 

 . "This is the most ancient form of rudder known. Rudders quite 

 similar to this in shape and construction maybe seen on many representa- 

 tionsof ships of classic times, and always on the right-hand ["starboard"] 

 of the steersman. Lateral rudders were retained down to a rather late 

 period, and are represented, for instance, on the Bayeux tapestry of 

 the middle of the XI century ; in the bas-relief over the door of the 

 Leaning Tower at Pisa, built in the XII century, &c. 



"This kind of rudder must have been in use even after the middle of 

 tbe XIII century, for in contracts concerning sbips to be built for Louis 

 XI the builders promise to furnish them with two rudders. It was 

 only at the close of the XIII century that the side rudder was sup- 

 ])lanted by the hinged rudder now in use.^ 



" The thwarts were strengthened by two angular boards underneath, 

 and supported by three xjerpeudicular pieces of wood. Only in one 

 place, by the middle thwart, these boards were tolerably well pre- 

 served, but even there the ends were so soft as not to admit of any 

 very complete examination, and it remains uncertain in what way they 

 were fixed to the sides of the boat. A wicker-work mat covered the 

 bottom of the boat. * * * The fir boat was tolerably complete when* 

 first discovered, and its different parts were brought on shore during 

 the next foUo^v-ing day after it had been laid bare and the contents 

 taken out, on the 27th of October, 1863. In order to protect the timber 

 of this boat until the restoration of the oak boat was finished it was 

 covered over with peat, but before anything could be done to save it 

 the country was occupied by hostile armies, in the spring of 1864. * * * 

 Since then parts of it have been carried away, and the last remnant 

 will probably soon be destroyed and disappear. 



u* * * rpijg bottom plank was about 51 feet 4 inches long, and 

 ended in two points, which probably have carried long and pointed iron 

 spurs; if so, these spurs must have been under water. The side planks 

 have clamps ornamented with moldings, and cut out of the same piece 

 of timber as the planks, just as in the two oak boats. The shape of the 

 rowlocks is somewhat different, and they have formed a continuous row 

 along the gunwale. 



1 It will be observed in the representations of the Nydam boat that the positions of 

 rudder and rowlocks do not correspond ; in fact, that the rudder is located near the 

 stem. It is, however, conjectured that this apparent misrepresentation is intentional 

 to better illustrate the methods of fastening. 



'^A. Jal, Arch^ologie Navale, passim; Smith's Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul. 



