1886.] PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 457 



at some distance from the bottom, thus affording space for stowing 

 away beneath them a good many of the articles belonging to the ship 

 or to the crew, bat no accommodation for the men. To provide some 

 protection against the weather it was customary in the ships of that 

 period to stretch a teut-(}loth above some part of the vessel, under which 

 most of the hands could find shelter. In the ship discovered at Gokstad 

 were found the four supports of such a tent, together with fragments 

 of the cloth and the cords. The supports are heavj^ boards, 11 feet 8 

 inches (3.5 meters) in length, finely carved at the upper extremities to 

 represent the head of some animal, and in part painted. They had 

 been placed obliquely, so as to form two crutches, one at each end of 

 the tent, with the carved heads i)rqjectiug, and connected together by 

 the pole, or rather transverse bar of the tent, which thus formed a 

 gable-ended roof, extending fore and aft from the pole to the rail of the 

 ship. Tlie tent cloth is made of a rather fine woolen texture, white, 

 with broad red stripes sewed on ; the cords for fastening it are hemp. 

 The pieces of ship's rope, of which a good many were found, are all 

 made of bast. 



The rudder is hung by a rope a little forward of the stern-post, on the 

 right-hand side, as usual in all vessels of the Viking period, and long 

 after — down, indeed, to the XIV century (hence " starboard ''). The 

 method of fastening and guiding this ancient style of side-rudder was 

 not satisfactorily known previous to the discovery of the Gokstad ship. 



Of the numerous articles of antiquarian value found in or about the 

 ship, more or less perfectly preserved, the following deserve special 

 mention : 



a. Fragments of three oak boats that had been broken up previous 

 to being deposited in the vessel, and no part of which, with the excep- 

 tion of the keel, can now be put together. Like the ship, they were 

 clinker-built, but instead of holes for the oars they have rowlocks of a 

 peculiar form, fastened to the gunwale. Two of the boats have cer- 

 tainly carried a mast. Tneir size has been comparatively considerable, 

 the keel of the largest boat measuring 22 feet 4 inches in length, and 

 that of the smallest 14 feet. Several of the oars belonging to the boats 

 are preserved ; they exactly resemble those used for rowing the ship. 



h. The stock of the anchor; being of iron, it had almost corroded 

 away. 



c. A landing-stage, or gangway, 25 feet long, but only 20 inches 

 wide. It has the upper surface transversely ribbed, to give a secure 

 footing. 



d. Fragments of sleeping berths, at least four. These berths, a 

 couple of which have been restored, are of much the same shape as the 

 bedsteads now in use among the Norwegian peasantry. They are very 

 low and put together so as to be readily taken to pieces and stowed 

 away. 



